the sportsman's show

It was John's idea to go today, maybe check out some options for the dock at the cabin.

t.c. posed for us by that big monkey-looking dude, but he was more aware of the statue on the other side.

Here's a picture from the musical program yesterday.  He sang great, all the kids did.  The program was about appreciating diversity, and in view of all the bullying in the news, it can't hurt.

Anyway, Buddy, it was fun to see you two days in a row.    love you, Grandma

a january thursday

 There he is, the one in the aqua shirt.   He looks normal.  

Well today he came racing into the house on a mission.  Little Jay's car needs tires and he was all about that.   I tried to show him the time and directions to the kids' swimming lessons tonight and he barely glanced up.

Okay then, just wanted you to know.

Then he went running for the office to get something, and as he passed the bathroom, saw the annihilation from the dog's bath.

And then he said this, "Oh, I wondered why you were in pajamas, all soaking wet."

What?   What other possible explanation would there be? 

Yeah.   That's where thirty-five years of marriage will get you.  We're both still wandering around in our own little worlds.

Love you Buddy,  Val

fun on a freezing cold day

 Sam, as usual, inserting herself right in the middle.  So helpful.

Dan called last night while I was working, left a voice mail, and when I listened to it, I could hear the aggravation in his voice:  the aggravation of parents with no daycare on twelve hours notice.

"Yes, I can watch them."

I wanted them regardless.   Later maybe they had daycare?  Bullshit.  No!  I want them.

It's so cold here the public schools were closed again today, but it was warm inside.

They are so civilized these days.  They played with barely the least arguing, actually watched part of a movie, were honest-to-goodness perfect little angels.  (Except for that jumping on the couch and spitting on the mirror moment that Maria witnessed, which caused no actual harm.)

 There was a nice, healthy kid mess around the place.

 Some art:

A bit of video games, but not enough to make people cross and irritable.

And a huge blanket fort:

It was a great day all because of these funny, sweet people living it up with us on a cold winter day.

January?  I don't hold you to very high standards, but this was a July kind of day.

love you kids, GRANDMA aka MOM

a prank and tim's sleeping school

Okay, so this morning, I wandered upstairs while everyone was still sleeping, and found this note on the bathroom door.

Whaaaat?

Okay this:

Julia has a subscription to a fan magazine, a birthday gift years in a row from my sister Pam and her family--truly a spectacular gift.   But they have way too many posters not being used and Kari/aka Lydia just kind of went nuts, thinking of how she could sort of booby trap the bathroom with them.

I did laugh.  That guy on the toilet seat cracked me up, and also the one next to the soap dish.

WEIRD.

And yet I'm laughing again now.  Lydia?  You got me again.

Oh, and this guy--he sleeps anywhere from twelve to fifteen hours at a stretch. He's an amazing, extravagant sleeper, and he does not even snore.  No noise bothers him, no kisses on his hair, no disturbance.  He rolls over and goes right back to sleep.

I told him he should open his own sleeping school.  

Lesson one:  Have a nice sized bed.

Lesson two: Flannel sheets and plenty of stuffed animals and pillows

Lesson three: Wrap the blankets around yourself and burrow down

When it's this cold, honestly this is where we'd all prefer to be, rolled in blankets.  love you kids, MOM

silly socks

These are her socks.  She doesn't leave on socks for more than a minute--then they go flying to wherever.    Even -15 F, no socks.

Christmas Eve she wouldn't put her socks back on to come up from the playroom to the church service, marched up all the stairs and over the icy tile in her bare feet.   Very dignified, elderly people asked her weren't her little feet cold?   She said no.

Anyway, all over the house is a trail of her socks.  I find them in toy bins, couch cushions, the coffee table, the stairway.

I tease her about this, and have also showed her cousin, b.g. about this when he's been here, "Look, more of p.j.'s dirty socks.   Buddy they are EVERYWHERE in my house."   He looks at me, not sure what to say.

Well yesterday morning when I was getting dressed, she was in my bed, on Jay's pillow and she chirped, "Grandma, wook-it me!  Dirty socks! In your bed!"   She was waving her little socks over her head.

Oh my goodness.  I guess I knew it would happen eventually, but the kid is TEASING ME BACK.

How is that possible?

Earlier in the morning when we were both in bed, her having me unwrap gold foil off little chocolate candy coins during Curious George, she told me she was going to visit Grandma Stacy, her dad's mother.

I asked her, "Are you going eat chocolate in her bed too?"

"Yes."

The child knows how to live.     Plus it's at -11 degrees now, supposed to over zero for good tomorrow.

We'll take it.  In January, we take what we can get.  Onward.   love, Val, aka GRANDMA

miss fourteen

 

Here you are with your enormous pile of gifts.  ( Aeropostale is closing the location near us and everything there was so inexpensive, I bought a whole heap.)  Your enthusiasm about this random mountain of clothes made me so happy. 

 

Here's a picture I love.   I peeked in the doorway and saw my dad helping you tune your guitar.  It was so sweet, I quick snapped this picture and left, trying not to disturb.

 

 

And this is so cute too, you two girls.

 

 

Anyway, I went looking for pictures of you and found so many of you and Lydia together.   Though  you two sometimes struggle and don't understand each other, the affection is clear.

 

Beautiful, funny m.c.?   Four years ago you became ours and we love you so much.   Thanks for being our kid.   Lucky little old us.     love always, Grandma and Grandpa and Everybody

 

ridiculously cold

This weekend it will be 25 below.  

What?

It was so cold there was a power failure in the suburb where the kids' swimming lessons were supposed to start tonight. 

Four thousand people don't have power, including the swimming school. 

No power usually = no heat.

That's not right.  It's all kinds of wrong.  That's just too cold.

That's like the icy blasts of Wisconsin farms in the winter when I was a kid.  It was pretty, no doubt about that, big light over the driveway, snow crunching under out boots, how warm and yellow lights of home were and the barn was inside, sleek cows and the giant farm dog with his bulked up winter coat, panting and having to go outside again.

But dang.

Or walking to school over the freeway bridge where the air was so cold it caused an ice-related tickly cough.   My fondest wish was for one of those utterly ugly coats where the hood zips out into a skinny tube like an arctic explorer.    

Remember how your hands itched and stung when they thawed out after recess?

I hate winter so much.

Today Dannell stopped by with her littlest guys and they hung out laundry on a clothesline and it was 72 degrees and sunny in the family room.

Happy New Year.   love always, Val