All three little ones

It is still so hard to think of myself as the grandmother of three children. They are all so healthy and happy and being raised by very wonderful parents. I couldn't be prouder.

But now they are actually from two families, so getting them in a picture together is always my goal. They are together quite a bit, but I still try and get them in pictures together whenever I can. Another summer picture that I just came across was when we had Abby and Lily for a weekend and Lissy, Chad and Jacob came over. We were all outside in the front and pulled the wagon over for a picture. Aren't they absolutely adorable - sometimes it is hard to get them all with good smiles at the same time. Here is a winner!!

Fountain Fun

We recently had the girls over for the weekend and decided to take them to our cities' newest attraction. Columbus recently developed a mile of downtown riverfront with decorations and attractions for the citizens. One of the attractions is a fountain display for children to play in. Since we had the girls, we decided to go see what it was like. We called Chad and Lissy and they met us and a great time was had by all. Just wanted to share some pictures.

Abby absolutely loved it. She ran and ran and ran through those fountains.






Lily - not so much




Now Jacob was a bit too tiny to actually play in the fountain, but he graciously offered up his stroller to Lily for the ride back to the car after a tiring, but fun play in the fountains. Doesn't he look handsome in his baseball cap and sunglasses!?!

It's done- Yahoo!!!

Well, I finally finished Jacobs quilt. I didn't start it until after he was born, so I actually think I did pretty well. He is now 2 1/2 months old. I fell in love with the fabrics and it was a joy to work on. I can now say that I have made a quilt for each of my grandchildren.

I love doing it and am getting better and better at it. I am not a professional yet, but this could be my retirement pursuit. I might even be able to make a bit of pocket change at it.

Anyhow, here goes. I must brag a bit and tell you that I designed the owls myself and am pretty happy with the results.

Oh my goodness!! oh my goodness!!

We have two baby birds - Unbelievable!!! They are a little "new" looking, but there they are. We are just waiting for two more. Then we can watch them grow. I am still being realistic that they are very close to the ground and very vulnerable. But for now, how exciting!

Amendment to Spring Blog

Guess what!!! Our little robin mama has not given up. She has laid four more eggs in the nest in our little tree. We have seen her sitting on them. Unfortunately I really do not have much hope since she is only a few feet off the ground, but I hope with all my heart that it will turn out okay. I will keep you posted as I check in on her. I think I will name her Adar, which is the Welsh translation for Robin. And by the way, are those not the most beautiful little blue eggs you have ever seen?

Just a little hint

I took the day off on Monday. I have a project that I needed to work on and it is alway so much easier to take off work and just work with no distractions. My project is Jacobs baby quilt. My goal has been to make a quilt for each of my grandchildren, ever since I started quilting 9 years ago. Jacob is my third grandchild and he must have a quilt too. I now have the top done and just need to put the layers together. I would hope that I can finish it this next weekend. It has been so enjoyable to work on.

I have told Melissa that she cannot see it until it is done, but I thought I might give her a bit of a hint. Now if the truth be known, Melissa may have an idea of what it looks like if she has been paying attention when she is here. But for the fun of it, I will just give my hint and hope for the best.

My hint is my wastebasket from the sewing room, among other things.

A little Ray of Sun

I just love it when I see sunrays shining through the clouds. I rarely get the chance to grab a camera or if I do, it rarely turns out. This time you can actually see them. Aren't they beautiful? There are theories about what sunrays mean, but I just like to see them because they are so gorgeous!!

The best of spring and the worst of spring

We were about to have some rain and thunderstorm activity, so I headed outside to get some pictures of our flowering tree before all of the blossoms were blown off. It happens every year; the tree blossoms so beautifully and then just as it becomes as full as it can be, a storm comes along and the blooms are blown away.Anyhow back to my story, I was out taking pictures of the tree and I happened to notice some sticks built up in the crotch of the tree. Lo and behold, it was a birds nest. Well, now I really had something to take pictures of. The only thing was that nothing was in the nest. No eggs, no birds, nothing. The tree itself is not very tall; and if you know me at all, you know that neither am I. However, I was able to see into the nest and in fact take pictures. So I did not have a very good feeling about this empty nest.I walked around and took pictures and headed back into the house. On my way back in, I discovered the reason for my bad feeling. The nest was really too low and was just in a dangerous place to raise little birds. It would have been fun to watch, but as you can see that was not to be.

More Little Dresses - for Africa

I had a friend send me a link to a wonderful site recently. This site is for a charity that makes little dresses for little girls out of pillowcases. The dresses are sent to Africa and given to little girls who may have never had a new dress. I hope to participate and make a few to send on. I share it with you so that you too can help, if you enjoy sewing or would like to learn. It is a very simple pattern and many sizes can be made from one pillowcase.

I love it when I can give to others in a way that gives me pleasure as well. I am looking forward to making and embellishing the dresses, knowing that little girls will look so cute in them. They are all little princesses and deserve to have pretty things.

Here is their web site - stop in and see if this might be something that you would like to participate in.
http://www.littledressesforafrica.org/blog/

Renaissance Woman - my sis!

My sister is amazing. She re-invents herself on a regular basis and how exciting that makes her life. She has been into painting, framing, music, yoga, running writing, drawing and now she is sewing. By the way, I am sure that I have only scratched the surface of what she has done. Anyhow, I thought I would show a few of her creations. She got some material from a friend and has begun making little girls' dresses for her shop. Aren't they darling? She has a shop in Covington and a shop at St.Simons Island. I hear that they are selling quite well. She has procured a sewing machine and is just humming away on her machine. Good luck Sandi and by the way, what is next?

I hear leather tanning is on the rise (LOL).

Speaking of little dresses, stay tuned for my next post. I have a proposition for all you seamstresses.

Jacob's outing

Our little Jacob has now been to the mall. Lissy and I had an errand to run at the mall when I stayed with her on Friday. So we bundled up Jacob and off we went. We didn't go for very long, and it wasn't an all out shopping trip, but all of the 'firsts' of course, must be documented. That is part of my job, right?!?!

First we dressed him up in Aunt Carries giraffe outfit. He was absolutely darling and then off we went.
We had an errand to run at Cheryl's cookies. A thank you gift for a special friend of Lissy's.
We were both good and didn't buy any cookies for ourselves. Then we stopped in at Bath and Body Works.We strolled through Sears on our way in and out and then headed for home. A long enough trip for a two week old and a new mommy.

Easter is coming

I have not been very good at decorating for holidays for the past few years, but I hope to improve on that. I think that decorating and celebrating the holidays keeps life interesting and keeps the creative juices flowing. Anyhow, I decided to hang a few eggs above my table and I decided to share. I thought it turned out pretty cute.

Peter picked a peck of pickled peppers

When the girls were here this past weekend to visit the new baby, one of the activities that Abby did was to make pickles with Papaw. The adventure started on their last visit, when Abby asked a question about the bumps on pickles and how they got there. Well, Papaw said that next time she came, they would make pickles so that she could see how it works. So, he was true to his word and they made pickles when they came on this trip. So, a picture is worth a thousand words. She was going to give a jar to her teacher and I heard that she took them to school for show and tell today. Still waiting to hear how it went.




A proud pickle-maker!!

Announcing "Jacob William"

Announcing the birth of my third grandchild and my first grandson. Jacob William Forbes was born on March 16th, 2011 weighing 7 lb. 11 oz. and measuring 20 inches long. He is just the most handsome little man that I have seen in, well just forever. Congratulations to the happy parents!!





Momma and baby are doing fine:
and Grandma is absolutely delighted:

Snacktime

When I was at Carries helping out, I realized the importance of snacktime for little girls who had been playing hard and working hard at school all day. The girls get a snack after Abby gets home from school to keep their energy level and sugar boost up until dinner. A very important ritual which I had a hand in, since I was the helper for Carrie.

Carrie had found a very fun looking snack and I proceeded to carry it out. They were called apple sandwiches and in a very small explanation. Apples were sliced crossways to create the slices of "bread". The slices were spread with peanut butter and the peanut butter was topped with mini chocolate chips. The top slice was added and VOILA - a healthy yummy snack. Let me just say that the snacks were great and I have made them twice (one sandwich at a time) since I have been home. Leon loved them too!

On the day that I fixed them, Lily woke up from her nap in a, shall we say, not-great mood. She sat on Carries lap and just couldn't get her mojo going. That is, until I gave her her snack. Suffice to say, that she really liked it and we managed to have a smiling Lily from then on.

Soup Sunday

Pasta Fagioli -topped with parmesan cheese - ummm ummm good!!

Filling in

I just got back from Carrie's where I have been helping out while she recovers from knee surgery. She had surgery Tuesday morning, after I rolled in Monday night to take care of the little ones. I might mention that I left a daughter 9 months pregnant and hoping that she would make it until I got back. Luckily she did and the waiting game goes on.

Carrie, in the meantime, has had her surgery and is doing fine and I had a very busy and fun week helping to take care of Abby and Lily. I thought I might do a blog in the 10 hours a day format using pictures from all of the days that I was there.

As I mentioned I arrived Monday night and was given a most wonderful suite. It had beautiful gowns to wear, my own kitchen and lots of things to keep me busy. Sometimes it was the place to be for certain young ladies. I slept like a dream.

Tuesday morning I was up and at 'em with the girls while Carrie was at the hospital having her surgery. Pack Abby's lunch, get breakfast and then talk for a minute while they eat.

Thank goodness for frozen waffles.

Also thank goodness for already made PB & J sandwiches - pre-cut apples and caramel, already cut cheese sticks and packaged flavored water.

Now it is off to the bus stop and of course Lily is raring to go. I think she is forgetting something. But luckily Grandma remembered.

The bus stop is only a block away and we only had one day of rain when Lily couldn't go. She was not a happy camper.

It is back home for Lily and I and we chilled for a while, cleaned up and then it was off to Gymboree (on Tuesday only). Mommy came home in the meantime and we got her all settled and Matt and I started the icing (1/2 hour on, 1 hour off for days, except at nighttime).

Gymboree is a play skills active play center that Lily goes to once a week. Here she is practicing her skills. The lovely lady is Miss Wendy and she leads the class.


We went out for lunch (McDonalds, of course (it's all about the happy meal)). Then home we head for naptime.

Grandma too!
After school, of course, even in kindergarten there is homework. So I helped Abby with her homework. She is just so smart!!! I think she surely must be the smartest one in her class, says Grandma!!

10 things

HAPPY

I am always looking for things to blog about and I came across this list and thought it might make for some good material to write about.

• 10 things that make me happy are...
• 10 things that I value about life are...
• 10 things that I would love to have for my birthday are...
• 10 things that I believe in are...
• 10 lessons that I have learned so far in my life are...
• 10 things that make me laugh...
• 10 things that make me cry are...
• 10 ways that I can help someone else are...
• 10 accomplishments that I have done are...
• 10 places that I would like to visit are...
• 10 memories from the past 12 months are...
• 10 people that I would love to meet are...
• 10 things that I would like to carry with me at all times are...
• 10 expectations that I have of myself are...
• 10 things that I do well are...
• 10 things that I can improve on are...
• 10 things that I love about my family are...
• 10 beautiful things outside are...
• 10 things that I hope happen within the next year are...
• 10 good books that I have read are...
• 10 popular movie stars are...
• 10 popular music groups/artists are...
• 10 fun things to do are...
• 10 great daydreams are...
• 10 special people in my life are...
• 10 responsibilities that I have are...
• 10 things that I would like to do this summer are...
• 10 great movies are...
• 10 skills that I have are...

I am going to start out with number 1, because isn't being happy our ultimate goal in life? Upon reflection I guess that not everyone strives to be happy. Some people strive for money, status, fame, objects and other material things. I guess maybe I think happiness is about little things and I also think that if you seek happiness first, you can attain the other things in your life that you want easier and with much less stress.

10 things that make me happy:
1.) smiles from my grandchildren
2.) a walk in the snow in the evening
3.) my family
4.) sunshine on a spring day
5.) creating things, crafts, sewing
6.) reading
7.) chocolate
8.) trees - I love trees
9.) shopping
10.) a day off work

So my challenge to anyone who reads this is to consider what makes you happy, and then pick out one of the other choices and try it for yourself. I think I will try '10 things that make me laugh' next.

A fulfilling day

I had a very fulfilling and interesting experience this past Saturday. Leon and I have, through our church, volunteered to help staff the food pantry in our area. Leon has already been there a couple of Saturdays ago, but alas, I was too busy with shower business and working a ton.

But I had my first shift this past Saturday and enjoyed it very much. For obvious reasons, I don't have any pictures. I don't want to show any disrespect to anyone, whether they need the help of a food pantry or not. Leon had told me about the procedure and what to do, so I pretty much knew what to do when I arrived. It was a slow day, so I only had the opportunity to work with three clients. My job was to help them through the "store" and help them to select the amount of food for which they were qualified.

I would like to anonymously describe the clients. My first client was a single lady. For some reason, I did not expect singles. I truly thought that it would be all families. I guess that lesson learned is that hunger and tough times does not discriminate. Everyone is vulnerable.

My next client was a single mom. She had a 5 year old daughter, but the daughter was not with her. As we shopped our aisles, I noticed that she was bending very tentatively as though she was hurting. She was a young gal, surely not over the age of 30. As I helped her out to her car with her groceries, I mentioned that she looked as though she was hurting and she said that she had hurt her tailbone. I didn't question her anymore, but wonder if that is why she is struggling. As we approached her car (it was actually an SUV or van), she said that I could just put the groceries in the front seat. Her car looked very "lived in" and I couldn't help but wonder if the cliche was true. I was unable to see behind the front seat, but I actually had the impression that she didn't want me to. Oh an interesting little side note about this sweet girl, she actually brought back the grocery bag that was given to her the time before.

My last client was a Hispanic family of 4. Again the parents came without the children. I honestly don't know that they spoke English, because they communicated only with each other or with very simple nods or yes/no answers with me. Now that I think of it however, when I offered them another loaf of bread, she smiled, chose the cinnamon swirl bread and said "They like it". So I now smile when I think of two little boys eating cinnamon swirl bread.

I enjoyed my experience and yet I feel badly for those folks that just don't have the means to feed their families like they want to. All of these people were very grateful for what they received and I was happy to help them out. If you have the opportunity to support a food pantry, I hope that you will take advantage of the opportunity.

Our Littlest Guests

Well, this is the last post on the shower, but it has the cutest guests of all. We had our little great nephew from Florida and our two granddaughters from Indianapolis that helped us celebrate. It comes to light that Miss Abby wasn't sure that she wanted to attend the shower. She declared to Carrie and Matt that she thinks showers are boring, and thought that she might like to go with the guys to 'Dave and Busters'. Although I am sure the guys had fun as well, Abby finally decided to tough it out with the ladies.

Anyhow, I don't think they had such a tough time. I managed to snap a few pictures as they played and helped Lissy unwrap presents. And in the true childhood tradition, had a great deal of fun playing with the boxes.