We Both Won!

Beautiful Morgan celebrated 14 years in February.


She has a full and busy life. Recently she had a part in her 8th grade musical, Oklahoma.

Our Grandma Date waited until Spring Break. We started it on Thursday by making dinner for Grandpa and a co-worker that was traveling through on business—on his motorcycle.

Grandpa suggested short motorcycle ride in our neighborhood might be a fun (and learning) adventure and Gary acquiesced.

After dinner, and a couple of TV shows (American Idol and Touch), Morgan beat me in a friendly but competitive game of Scrabble. A “Q” was the last tile left for me to draw and then Morgan played her last piece. I want a rematch soon, girl.

On Friday, we went on a Chocolate Segway tour.

It was perfect for Morgan because it included adventure and her favorite food group. For me, sharing the time together made it absolutely fabulous.

Later we dined with Grandpa and then saw Mirror, Mirror at a local movie theater. The movie did not do much for either of us but afterward we played games again and Morgan again won every game we played—Word on the Street, and Rumikub.

On Saturday, we planned to visit bee hives with Grandpa but Morgan and I did not get an early start. Instead we did a little shopping and ate lunch at one of her favorite places.


Being with Morgan makes me smile. I’m pretty sure that I was the real winner.

Turning Over the Reins

Today, Grif turned 16 years old.


Graciously, this week, on his Spring Break, he blessed me with a Grandma Day.

It was his request to just stay local and do things right around home.

First he accompanied me to Willowbrook Wildlife Haven.

Then we did a little slot car racing at Mid America Raceway.

After lunch, we went to one of our favorite places--Cantigny.


Before we left, I took a deep breath and invited Grif, who has a driver's permit, to take the wheel. And so, Grif became the chauffeur and I became the passenger.


He drove to a forest preserve and we walked a new bike path by a little creek.


Grif then drove to our house where we quenched our thirst and watched the birds from the deck.

I had a few errands and so Grif took me to buy bird seed and mail a card and then we headed back to Geneva.

I seldom pressed my imaginary brake. I did not hug my door. My fists did not clench up. There were no moments of panic. I did not hyperventilate and my pulse remained in the sixties. The only words of instruction were directions on what streets and roads to take. He passed my inspection with flying colors.

Perhaps this was a defining moment. I may have just lost my driving privileges any time that we travel in the same car together. I would gladly give up much more than that for time with Grif. He is so worth it!

Our Effective Efficient Sower

This Year

One long legged, young, uncomplaining sower
+ 1.5 hours = One big task completed

Last year
Two old, able-bodied, though a little arthritic seniors
+ 3 hours = One big task completed

Thanks, Steven, for graciously coming to our rescue!

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!