snowy monday

It's been a mess today, but schools closed early and everyone was prepared to cut the day short and get off the roads.

These are pictures from the weekend, rowdies kicking it up on my bed.

 Saturday night we went to a Housewarming Party at these people's house.  It was so fun to see their house and spend a little time with them, old friends we very much enjoy.

Sunday we went to my parents for dinner. That's the two of them there, at a Thanksgiving occasion at my house.  I took no pictures this weekend, never thought of it, dumb me.

We ate chicken and noodles and there was a big, fat chocolate cake and it was lovely.

Later in the evening we went to these guys' house for supper and the football game was on, and we played Mexican Train and laughed when they were twerps.  It was a very easy-going evening.

In the morning they came to stay with us while their parents worked and we had a good time. They watched The Captain Underpants Movie, which I had never seen, and they kept me up to speed on what was happening while I did baby care. 

It was actually a pretty entertaining movie.  We even missed switching back to Channel 2 for Curious George.

 She was here too, always glad to have cousins to hang out with.

 This guy has a very big soft spot for babies, and I appreciate that a lot in a person.

 They asked me to fold and staple papers together to create little books they could illustrate and tell stories. They're actually good at this and pretty creative.  I wish I'd have had time to look at the books more closely, but they took them home, I think. 

The little girl wanted to participate, but didn't totally understand.  Finally I got a glue stick and scissors and cut out pictures from magazines for her to glue to piece of paper.  She loved that and was really good at the glue stick, understood how to apply it to the back of the picture and stick it on.

 She didn't do any art, but enjoyed hanging out in the kitchen, Miss Cheeks.

And now it's the end of a very fine Monday.  Heidi came late in the afternoon with pizza and pajamas and is spending the night, rather than travel back and forth multiple times to go home again in a blizzard, only to struggle back over here on slippery roads in the morning.

She works from home, is a Business Analyst who mostly telecommutes anyway, so telecommuting from here tomorrow works just as well.

We both work from home--I do too, so what even is the point in battling it?

We blew up the air mattress and made a bed on the love seat for the little one.

As a team, we got this.

Onward, to beautiful snowy Mondays, always,  Love, Val

a warm and sunny thursday in january

It was gorgeous today.  After weeks of deep cold, this warm weather and sun were incredibly welcome.

 She's working her toys.   That big one on her lap was Kari's.  Guess we've got our use out of that.

 Here she's playing in the doll corner, taking care of babies.

 The duplo blocks were grubby as heck, so we washed them in the sink.  She loved this, and she wore that Halloween cape as a skirt for hours.

 Here they're wolfing down pickles.  After eating celery, half a tangerine, and a handful of M&Ms the whole day, now gobs of pickles.

Shortly after this her mama came to take them both home while I was working.

Onward to Friday.

Love, Grandma

a winter week

 This week it's been very cold again.  Jay goes back and forth all bundled up.  Some of the construction projects he's working on are outdoors, so he's been doing service calls instead--will get back to those when it's warmer.

But it's warm inside the house and we spend the day taking care of these two.  They're a quite a team.

 Kirsten gave her this funny stocking cap with matching pants.  Check out those cheeks.

 Yeah, you!

Tomorrow it's Thursday, which puts us one day close to Friday, best day of the week.  There's a housewarming party on Saturday night for some friends, and Sunday we're eating dinner with my parents.

And my sister is here:

It's the Dominican Republic, so beautiful.

Love, Val

passing them around

This cute little matching outfit set was bought in October as a  Christmas gift for another little granddaughter, but it didn't fit--too narrow in the shoulders, not the least bit of stretch in flannel, and she didn't care much about the doll's outfit, so they left it here.

After Christmas I went online and ordered something different, and things were on clearance, so I kind of hit the jackpot there.

But this outfit was still so cute, and I HATE returning things--so I gave it to John and Dannell's child, and her brother sent this adorable picture.  So glad, so much fun.

Lots of Love, Grandma

a lovely thursday

 After Julia's orthodontist appointment we went to my parents for lunch.

We didn't know it, but the little girl on the couch asleep was coming down with strep throat, just like her sister and two other cousins.

But we ate, and played with toys, and eventually this fine nap finished out the afternoon.

 Now they're all taking medicine and will be feeling better soon.

Onward.

Love, Grandma

a trip to the zoo, part 2

 She loved this children's area very much.

 There are little blue frogs in there.

 Venus Flytrap?

 Then we went to the tropics room. This was as far as I originally intended to take this trip, figured this would take about 45 min, and that would be great.

 She's all interested in that bird on top of that little wooden box.

There's the sloth.  I pointed it out, but not sure she saw it.

 Things were going well, so we put on coats and hats and went outside.

 The orangutans were adorable, but there are times when a zoo feels a bit wrong.

 She was fascinated by this funny, lively baby.

 There's a reindeer in the middle.

After a little bit, she asked to put her coat back on, and we washed her hands and sat on a bench and ate some popcorn before we headed home.

Hey, Little Girls--thank you for making this a very sweet trip to Como.

Love, Grandma