Happy Birthday Sweet Hubby

I racked my brain trying to think of something to get my hubby for his birthday.

Actually, I do know what he would love to have but it is a bit out of my price range.

But Hubby is still young enough to dream.


This morning, I thought it would be nice to go with Bob to check the hives. As we approached the hives and then a few minutes later he marveled, "This is a small piece of heaven!"


It made his day to find all four hives in this yard doing well!
We had a mild winter and also, Bob is pleased with his winterizing job.

Just for fun, I tried something new for our little family celebration tomorrow. They do not look quite right to me but they taste good and are pretty cute and fun to do.

This evening we watched Morgan perform in her eighth grade musical. Isn't she beautiful!

What a perfect birthday!

The Sports Report

The Big Man is Jacob, a basketball machine. Here is a video of him at home shooting baskets but not a typical video. Usually his routine is to chew gum and play music loudly on the boom box while shooting baskets. This week his music of choice was one of the Casting Crowns cds. Of course he must always be dressed appropriately. His field goal percentage must be somewhere around .899 or better!





Unfortunately, my second video doesn't show as much as I had hoped. I allowed Allie to use my camera to look at photos and videos and did not realize that as she pushed the buttons, she was deleting videos and pictures. I will pay more attention next time. At his game, Jacob did some cute little lay ups. The hoops are at 6 feet for his league.



Speaking of Allie, oh my! She has become such a little toddler since I saw her in November! She HAS to do everything that her brothers are doing and does not want to be left out for a minute. I cracked up at her shooting baskets like Jacob. Allie is very opinionated about clothing! She wanted to wear a "ball" shirt (Jocob's hand-me-downs) everyday.



Here are some Allie-oops with an assist from Ryan.



Ryan has improved in basketball. He guards really well, with his arms up but looking for the ball. He tries to rebound, also. It was fun to see him try to make baskets. He will soon be making his shots. He does great with the six foot hoops but the eight foot hoops are a bit of a challenge. At practice though, he made six baskets. The first video is of Ryan passing the ball inbound.



This video shows Ryan taking a shot at the basket.



You have a phenomenal team! I am a die-hard fan!

Happy Days are Here

In a few days, I will go to NC and see these three sweet children.



I will surely take my camera and won’t be able to resist taking pictures because to Grandma everything they do or say is shutter worthy.

However, I have done nothing with the pictures I took on my last visit in November and lest I get too far behind in recording these special moments, I am doing another recent history post.

I am tempted to give a play by play of our entire visit but will limit myself to just reflecting on things observed, enjoyed, appreciated about the kids—characteristics that I love.

Sweet Ryan is a nurturer. For a long time, he had a special stuffed animal that he cared for—Fanny the fox. But that is no longer good enough. Ryan wants a pet—something real—something alive—something to care for. A pet is just not an option for the family right now and so I gave him an ant farm. And though the whole family did enjoy it, it required to no care and eventually the ants all died.

Later Ryan received some tadpoles and watched them develop into little frogs. That was some improvement over the ants. While I was visiting in November, it was time to release the little creatures. It could have been a traumatic except that his mama figured out how to lessen the pain by including friends and following up with the gingerbread party.







One way that Ryan expresses his nurturing is in his care of his little sister. Ryan knows how to make her smile. He plays with her and comforts her when she is sad.

He rescues her when she get stuck or needs a boost on the play equipment.

He watches over her and makes sure that she is safe.

Ryan loves Allie and it is just sweet to observe.

Ryan loves building things whether from legos, or setting up the train tracks or hot wheels. It seems to me that his joy comes from the sense of accomplishment in getting it put together right and working.

While we were visiting, the kids got flue shots. G & G promised them a treat if they were brave and both of the boys were incredibly brave with no tears. When we went to get a surprise for the boys, Ryan said, “I don’t think I really deserve a treat because it really didn’t even hurt.” That child is such a sweetie and so responsible.

Mom and Dad also gave us permission to take the kids for a haircut. Their daddy usually cuts their hair but had been busy and it is a process to get both boys done. This was their first time in a regular barber-type shop. Again, both boys were scared but very brave. Ryan was willing to go first.



Jacob makes me chuckle. Jacob plays basketball all day, every day. There is a hoop in the family room so it is handy to toss a ball and make a basket before coming to the table or quickly before putting on his shoes. He usually plays for Duke but sometimes he plays for the Bulls. He knows the players by name and even recognized one in Dunkin Donut one day.

One thing that is fun about Jacob is that he changes clothes several times per day. If he is playing basketball, he runs to put on his basketball shirt. When he plays with cars or trains, he has a need to be dressed appropriately for whatever activity he is engaged in. He loves “short pants” finding jeans and long pants too confining. He frequently asked if he could wear shirts with “short pants” also. His daddy reminded him that those are called short sleeves but I think it is so cute that I never correct him.

Jacob loves cars and trains. He has loved them since before he was two years old. He is consistent in that.

Jacob also loves music.

He was into Toby Mac in November. Jacob is the DJ. He does not read but knows the track for every song on every CD they own or have from the library so that if you have a request, he immediately chooses the correct CD and selects the track and plays it for you.

Allie is becoming more her own little independent self. She likes to do things by herself and she wants to be included in everything that her brothers are doing.

Wherever they are, she is not far behind. When their daddy is tossing the football with the boys, Allie has to have her turn running out for a pass.

If someone is wrestling, guess who is right in the mix.

I get tickled when the kids join forces. “Me and Ryan want to talk before lights out.” “Me and Ryan like McDonalds.” Recently, Andy (their daddy) posted on his facebook page a little video of Allie joining forces with Jacob. Jacob was in the bedroom with the doors closed playing with Ryan’s legos. When their daddy started to go into the bedroom to see what was going on, little Allie came and pushed on his legs to keep him from going in the room. Then she said, “Bye Bye” to Daddy and closed the bedroom door clearly protecting Jacob by being the bouncer.

Allie also loves music and dancing and can act like a singer. She knows when she is being a ham. Oh how I love these kids.

The kids have great parents that are teaching them the things that they need to know. I will end with this little bit of evidence from a recent conversation.

Andy to the kids: "We don't like commercials and advertisements because they are always wanting us to do stuff we don't need to do."

4-year-old Jacob: "Daddy, you are kind of like a commercial."

They are going to keep me busy and smiling. What a privilege!

Breaking the Rules

Subtitle: Recent History Post #1

Rule #1: Blog posts must be current.

Rule #2: Do not use oxymorons such as “Recent History." It is just positively wrong.

Rule #3: Do not start a post with an apology.

Rule #4: A blog is a journal—a reflection—not a diary.

Sister Week on Hilton Head Island was superb—the weather, the beauty, the experiences and being with my sisters.


First things first, I want to mention the food—for three reasons . . . It was fabulous and secondly, if I do not record the places, I will not remember them if we ever have the opportunity to visit again. Thirdly, I am dieting—yes, again—it is January and hope springs eternal but I am thinking about food.

At Stacks Pancakes we shared these yummy entrees . . .

• Crème Brûlée French Toast,
• Bananas Foster French Toast
• And more!
• Yum! Yum! Yum!
  
We also ate at these incredible places!


• Molly MacPherson's in Savannah, GA
• Guiseppi's Pizza at Sea Pines
• San Miguel's Mexican Cafe in Shelter Cove
• Kingfisher Seafood and Steakhouse in Shelter Cove

Enough said. I am drooling.

Here are some memories to put my mind in a better place.

Riding bike

Walking the enormous, beautiful, perfect beach

Touring Savannah

Surprises

Beauty, beauty, everywhere!

The Coastal Museum

The sunrise


The fall color on the homeward road trip

The week was a memory treasure worthy of recording.
We were blessed!

Extraordinary Gifts

I had such fun shopping for and giving some grandchildren gifts . . . Jessica’s cowgirl hat . . .

Morgan’s Harry Potter necklace . . . Allie’s dollhouse furniture . . . all ordinary gifts but fun nonetheless.

However, Bob and I were given some extraordinary gifts this year—gifts of the heart—given in love and with joy.

Bob’s son, Kevin, gave us a fabulous gift. He is perspicacious regarding what would be helpful for his dad—for us. He is observant, creative, considerate, perceptive, hard working, and generous. For Father’s Day 2011, Kevin floored part of our attic.



I have no photos of the process because Kevin and his children worked while we were gone for the week and surprised us with this practical and wonderful labor of love.

For Christmas, he gifted us again. While we were gone enjoying Christmas with our extended Gisel family, Kevin with the help of all of his children designed and installed a lift for the heavy beekeeping equipment that we use to extract honey.

He placed it above the garage door with a crank shaft so that it is easily lowered and raised as needed.

And that is not all! Our garage pull down ladder required two people and a stepladder that needed to be moved twice to pull the ladder down and pull it up again. Kevin invented and installed a system so that one person can easily get the ladder down singlehandedly with no stepladder.


See that hole in the very top step? It is an ingenious idea! You just put the pole in the hole and gently move the ladder down. Kevin made a pole and a handy place to hang it right by the pull down.

I was skeptical and wondered if it really could be that easy but I have done it now several times by myself.


It was an extraordinary gift! We are incredibly blessed! Thank you! Thank you!

Brian and Sharice, my nephew and niece by marriage, gave us a wonderful gift of time and talent and camaraderie and generosity—twice! The two of them honored us with their presence! They bring fun and laughter!

The first weekend they came, Sharice helped me decorate our master bedroom. She used a picture that I had tried to sell numerous times on Craig’s list. I like the picture but thought it was too large for our house. First we shopped together for a whole day! She listened to my likes and dislikes and came up with a plan that I love.

She also helped me buy frames for the grandchildren’s pictures, taught me about monkey hooks, mounted the photos, and hung them.


She and Brian hung a clock going down my stairway.



We even enjoyed little Coco, their sweet Chiweenie. He can make ambivalent, tolerant dog people into receptive though cautiously reserved admirers.


A few weeks later, Brian and Sharice came again.


On Saturday, we spent a little time in Chicago enjoying Christmas.

Sunday, they attended church with us and relaxed and seemed to enjoy just being together.

Then on Monday, we tackled the guest bedroom. Once again, Sharice looked at what I already had and used that for her inspiration and then we shopped—quickly this time—just two stores. We went to Kohl’s armed with my 20% off coupon and then to TJMaxx, heading straight for the clearance items.

Within a few hours, the guest room looked like House Beautiful. (I have ordered a blue drape to hang down the left side of the window that will finish the room.)

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! for your wonderful, extraordinary, immense gifts from the heart. Our hearts were touched and we are still smiling!