Wednesday, May 27, 2009
While on the way to our favorite Wednesday spot, Teddy fell onto the floor in the back seat of the car. To stop the onslaught of the melt down I knew was coming if Teddy stayed on the floor. This is the thanks I got for my efforts:

Annabelle: Why did you do dat, Grandmomma? Why did you pick Teddy up off the floor? I can do it myself with my legs.

And she showed me exactly how it’s done, successfully, I might add. Nice trick you’ve learned there, Annabelle. It keeps me from breaking my back twisting around to pick up Teddy.

At Captain D’s since Annabelle loves her dippy sauce, which can be anything from ranch dressing, tartar sauce or packaged butter, she cracked open a package of butter and dipped her trees (bunches of broccoli which she has stolen from my plate) into the butter. When she ran out of broccoli, and I had already finished mine she decided it’s not good to waste the remaining butter. She covers her tiny little mouth and nose with the container as she tries to lick the whole thing clean. Anyway, while trying to clean out the container with her face she got butter all over that sweet nose, mouth, cheeks and chin.

She was sooo funny. She had fun. And Grandmomma had fun making pictures. Kids can really be quite amusing if you just let them do harmless things and not worry about whether they will grow up to be adults who will embarrass themselves at that important job interview. Chances are they will outgrow most of it by the time they need to, but oh, how much entertainment they can provide us just on an everyday basis if we just stop and watch them. I guess that’s the joy of being a grandparent. As parents, we worry too much about making sure they are guided in the right direction that we miss the best parts. But luckily we are redeemed when we see life through the eyes of our smart, precious grandchildren. We have been blessed four times over and each is very different from the other, so we have much spice in our lives at this time, and we are so thankful for each of our grandchildren.

On a recent day when I talked with a neighbor, she and I were talking about Annabelle. I had told her we were keeping her overnight, and she referred to her as our Little Blessing. She has used this little expression before and I have to agree with her 100%. She is our Little Blessing or Big Blessing. She came at a time when our son, daughter-in-law and the three grandsons were leaving town for bigger things. Two years can be a lifetime when you don’t get to see the grandkids you’re accustomed to seeing frequently. She didn’t replace them, no one could but she certainly helped make the change just a tiny tad easier to handle.

On the way back to our house we usually pass this certain restaurant. A few weeks ago when we passed by I showed it to Annabelle, pointing out the mouse on the sign. The name of the restaurant was Chuck E. Cheese. Today as we neared the spot she proudly proclaimed, “Dare’s Chuck E. Cheese!" or more like Tuck E. Tease! I shared the story with her Mommy later in the day and she found it pretty hard to believe she had recognized the place and knew it by name. She said Annabelle was really tiny, like two years ago or more since she had been to Chuck E. Cheese for one of her cousins’ birthday party and there was no way she would have recognized that sign from being there.

I explained I had told her once on a prior occasions it was Chuck E. Cheese. She certainly has an excellent memory to have pulled that out of her hat at this time. There had been several weeks' time since I had told her because we had eaten at other Captain D’s or she had been on vacation, etc. She’s just a very careful listener and she observes everything.

I have been making mini-scrapboook pages to scrap little events in Annabelle’s life. It’s easier than making 12 X 12 pages, cheaper to print up, easier for Annabelle to hold while looking at them and just fun little card-sized pictures to share with people who love her as much as I do. If that is possible!

I had packed the scrapbook books for Annabelle to entertain herself while we were in the restaurant waiting for our food. She wanted to look at them in car, so I showed them to her and let her hold them. She loved looking at the pictures of her and most recent new friend, Annalee as they shared time together on vacation this year. This is the conversation from the back and front seat regarding those pictures of the two of them.

In a laughing and sometimes giggling sweet little voice:
Annabelle: I see me and Annalee!
Annabelle: I see another picture of me and Annalee!!
In an effort to attempt to teach her a little bit of proper grammar, (yes, I really do know a little, I'm just always so busy trying to document things I get a bit slack, so quit being so critical!) I made the following comment:

Grandmomma: Annalee and me. Pictures of Annalee and me.
Annabelle in an excited little voice: Where? Where? Grandmomma? I don’t see you and Annalee!

So much for trying to teach a 2 ½ year old the importance of putting someone else before yourself.

And to show you a bit of her creative side: I had bought some of these foam kneeling pads for the two of us to use either at her house in the yard while playing in the sandbox or at home while sitting on the floor and one was still in the back seat of the car. Of course she found it and asked that I remove the plastic from it so she could use It as a lapboard to put her Teddy and other things on while we traveled. It did make a pretty good little lapboard because it is soft and safe for riding in the car and a nice size as well. That little mind doesn’t stop working and I hope it never will. She’s got so far to go in life, it would be a big shame and loss if she ever stopped exercising that little brain.

The Pillow or The Piddow
For some reason over the past week I had decided Annabelle needed a pillow for her bed. It may have been prompted by her asking for a pillow in her pack and play when she spent the night last week. I only had a nursing pillow I had bought a long time ago thinking it may come in handy somewhere down the line for a good neck pillow. It was an older version and not one of the soft wrap around type her Mommy used when she was a newborn. I gave her the pillow because it too up less room in the small space and it was the smallest one I had. She slept all night with it in her bed.

I think she’s had it in her little brain since she and Annalee spent part of their vacation together and Annalee had one of her own cute little My Little Kitty pillow. Annabelle had to settle for a place mat she spread on the floor. I think she has been sort of envying her new little friend’s pillow. She needed her own.

I had seen them at Sears last week and kept putting it in the back of my mind thinking I would go back later and get one for her. They had them buy one/get one for $4.99. I could get on for her to keep at home and one to keep at my house.

In yesterday’s blog her Mommy mentioned that Annabelle wanted a pillow in her bed with her before going to sleep late. She had given her one of her big pillows, but Annabelle had abandoned it before she went to sleep.

This reminded me I needed to check into finding her one. Actually I was reminded yesterday as we walked through Sears and saw the regular sized pillows, but no child sized one, and then her Mom wrote the blog and it stirred my memory.

This morning when we went over to pick up Annabelle for our lunch date and day together with her, I suggested to Granddaddy we should maybe stop by the Sears close to us since that is where I found them before. I had planned to take the camera in with us and let her pick her pillow out of the travel sized pillows. I just wanted to make sure they still had some before we made the trip out here, kid in tow just to be disappointed. After a good 20 minutes wasted trip we found they had no more. Why couldn’t I learn my lesson and just buy the things when I found them? If I didn’t like them I could always take them back.

We decided we would go by the Sears nearest to them to see if someone had put them somewhere else. I really wanted those cute pictures of her picking out her much desired pillow! Camera and Toddler in tow we headed for Sears. Into the store we went, hopping between Grandmomma and Granddaddy, jumping like a jumping bean, then onto the escalators with Grandmomma and Granddaddy helping her on and off, to the bottom floor and the coveted pillow.

Yes, they thought they did have some more left, back in the far corner. Off we go, camera ready for those special photographs and an excite 2 ½ year old finally able to pick out her pillows. She thought she was only getting one; she didn’t understand the meaning of buy one, get one. She posed occasionally for my shots. More than usual.

Of course I was carrying the first digital camera we bought a hundred years ago when they first

came out, so it was hard to get my shot before she moved, but I think a lot of them came out alright. Why did you take the old camera, you ask? Well, I have been known to be asked not to take pictures inside a mall since 9-11 so I wanted to be a little lesson conspicuous by carrying the smaller camera. Did I say how much I wanted those pictures. The employees were pretty cooperative and didn’t ask me to put the camera away as my sweet little darling plopped her two pillows and two covers onto the counter for Granddaddy to pay for. She was beaming from ear to ear. $4.99 for two pillows and $2.69 each for to pillow case covers wasn’t too shabby for the beautiful look on that little girl’s face. May you have sweet dreams tonight and every night on your new pillow, Little Princess. You are so worth it.

Favorite words of Annabelle today probably were:
“I do!” with different expressions each time she said them. She’s practicing for saying those big important words in about 16 or 18 years.

She’s one stubborn little girl as she tries to move the step stool from its designated spot into the kitchen area so she can help Grandmomma “wash da dishes.” “I do it by myself!” she announces as she gently pushes me way from the sink and holds that sassy little hand out to keep me from moving forward again to help her as she puts water onto her napkin to wash the dripping watermelon juice from her face and hands.

And with each little piece of watermelon I put in front of her as she watched me cut up the big watermelon she says, “Tank ooo, tank ooo, tank ooo” over and over and over. So sweet.
When she saw the watermelon seeds on the counter she asks “What’s doze” and I tell her they are what make new watermelons if you plant them in the ground at the right time of the year. “Oh,” she says. Then as she picks the seeds from one of the pieces she says, “I help you. I pick da seeds out of dat one, Grandmomma!” When we put them in a bag and Granddaddy put them outside for the critters, she asked what we were doing with the seeds. I told her we were putting them out there for the birds and other critters. “Why?” So the birds and critters would have some good, sweet watermelon to eat as their dessert.

Oh, how I hate those watermelons with seeds in them! I usually avoid them like the plague, but I really wanted a watermelon to share with Annabelle since she loves them so much. And those seeds kept Annabelle entertained for as long as I needed.

More thoughts:
Around Easter time I had bought a little chicken that lays eggs (bubblegum). I thought Annabelle would enjoy watching the hen “lay” her eggs. She found the little chicken one day recently and we pulled her out to play. I wasn’t sure we could persuade her not to eat the eggs, but she did a good job of ignoring them. Besides she needed something for the chicken to lay. We did lose a few of them. Some of them scattered under the sofa, making friends with the dust bunnies hidden from sight, some disappeared underneath the recliners and others just managed to disappear like the proverbial socks that are lost in the washing machine each week.
We were down to about 5 today until some just happened re-appear out of nowhere until we finally ended the day with around 11 or 12 and her favorite one, purple had re-appeared also.
She loves purple at this point in her life. Anything purple, Annabelle will choose! When we were checking up on some paint yesterday I found a booklet on purple and I picked it up just for you, Annabelle. You were so thrilled to get it and we packed it with your stuff to take home. You showed it to your Mommy and laid it down and promptly left it behind. I’ll save it for you for next time. At least you know Grandmomma thought about you when she saw your favorite color.

You also left behind your red calculator Grandmomma got for you, too. You were so busy showing it to Mommy and letting her know you had your very own calculator that you forgot it, too!

But she did remember to take the bag of cotton candy I got her. Mommy asked me if she had told me she wanted cotton candy. I told her she had not and asked her why she thought she had. She said when the two of them were looking at pictures from the circus we went to earlier in the year, Annabelle had told her Mommy, “I didn’t get any cotton candy!” That had been an almost promise that Granddaddy would get her some cotton candy when we go to the circus. It turned out the cotton candy was way too expensive for melt in your mouth instant satisfaction we had decided not to get it.

But Annabelle, you got it today, sweetie. And you asked if you could take it home with you and, of course, we bagged it up and you took it home. A dollar spent at the Dollar Tree made you very happy.

It made you remember to pull out the little Fisher Price Circus or County Fair toy I had bought earlier for you. It was your idea to open up the cotton candy and enjoy our day at the fair. And we did as we put pieces into our mouth and waited for it to melt! I didn’t have to suggest it. Was I surprised? No, not really because you’re pretty good at thinking things up to do.

I love standing in the background and listening to all the interaction you have between you and the toys you are playing with. If I could, I would just sit and listen, but that isn’t your idea of fun. You would rather see my interaction, but yours is always cuter! I only do it to watch your face as you react to whatever goofiness your Grandmomma can think up.

Airport Park and Picnic with Annabelle

Thursday, May 28, 2009
Annabelle’s Mom called to see what we were doing and if we’d like to join the two of them for a picnic at either the park at the airport near their house or at McDaniel’s Farm near ours. Annabelle finally chose the airport park near her house after we had made plans to go to McDaniel Farm.

Granddaddy has been working on painting the ceiling to the carport and he was still working on it and wanted to complete taping around it so he could work on it later. But, of course, he was all up for taking a few hours out to spend time with Annabelle and her Mommy. I was so surprised! Not!

We packed our picnic goodies and were just getting ready to pull out of the driveway when her Mommy called to see how far we were on the way down. Annabelle was refusing to wash her hands despite threats we would stop our picnic at the park and not come down at all. When she was given a choice of us staying home since we were still at home. The little stink told me, “No, don’t come.” She stuck to her guns, but we headed there anyway. Mommy finally had to pick her up and use Mommy rules before she got to go to the park. She is one stubborn little kid when she wants to be. She had shown that to me yesterday when she refused to finish her dinner and get some Bugles treats. She called them Doritos.

Just as we were pulling off the expressway her Mommy called again to tell us she was almost there. Then she realized she had left her part of the picnic at home on the counter. We offered to go by there since we were closer, but she wanted to turn around and go back for it. So, we continued on to the park expecting a miracle for us to continue on this picnic.

We were able to get the table set up with her favorite Snow White/Disney tablecloth we have been using on some of our picnics. It was a little brisk and the sun decided to peek out but we were underneath a nice covered top of steel. Granddaddy met them at the parking lot and escorted them in. We had a nice picnic, but not before Annabelle spotted the pools of water trapped underneath the picnic area. She tromped through those puddles, back and forth, back and forth in her tennis shoes. But she had loads of fun!

She played on the playground (after being slicked up with sunscreen) for quite some time. She rode the planes which were the little back and forth see saw type things. She piloted the plane sometimes and invited Mommy to pilot it at other times as she became the co-pilot. Then she moved over to the “castle” as she called it. The Castle became a bus which she also collected the money and drove across the city, with Mommy as it’s only passenger. Sounds about as efficient as our federal government, doesn’t it? But she did try to get her second passenger on board, namely me, but I told her it was very difficult for me to climb those steps and if I fell and got hurt that would mean I wouldn’t be able to spend as much time with her as I’d like.

She did get to swing in the swings as Mommy pushed her up to the sky. She didn’t let a little (really lot, lot, lot) of hot sun keep her from enjoying her day at the park. We stayed there for a good while, while she changed from fun thing to another.

I know she was very tired and exhausted when got home for her nap in the afternoon. And probably when she went to bed, too, if she wasn’t too hyped up.

We left them around mid afternoon and back home for Granddaddy to start his work again. And I could work for a while playing around trying to figure out PSE 5. It’s getting a little easier for me since I bought a very expensive book over the internet. It just seemed to help make some of the things clearer so I could finally have a light bulb moment. I’m certainly not the expert I want to be, but I’m getting there and it’s more fun with each new thing I learn new.

It's all in a day in the life of Annabelle

Friday June 5, 2009
We met Annabelle and Mommy at BJ’s after Granddaddy and I had gone for our usual morning walk. I wanted to check out the breaded eggplant I knew they had carried in the past. I love the Eggplant Parmesan that Spaghetti Warehouse has, and I almost never get anything but that when we make the long trip across town to eat there.

Annabelle’s Mommy had fixed an eggplant casserole for Mother’s Day because she knew I also liked the Michael Angelo’s eggplant casserole carried by Costco and sometimes Sams. The eggplant casserole on Sunday was the beginning of me trying to find an Eggplant Parmesan recipe such as Spaghetti Warehouse makes. There is a difference...one goes into the oven as a casserole and the other is served on the side with spaghetti and marinara type sauce. I like both, but since I was adventuresome and I had already had the casserole earlier, I wanted to try my skills with the eggplant on the side. Years ago, over the internet, I had found a knock off recipe for Olive Garden’s recipe that sounded like it would be comparable. I had already bought some eggplant and started on a mission to fix that eggplant from scratch. (Insert here, 'Granddaddy has never thought it necessary to try anything he considered as nasty as eggplant! Until he sampled some of the eggplant as it was frying at my daughter's house. Then he had a change of heart. He actually liked it...which I was so glad he did because he is going to be eating it in the future! Until I get sick and tired of it. I know, I know, poor Granddaddy! Phssst!') The knock off was indeed very good but it was a major time-consuming recipe much like my daughter had discovered about the one she fixed for Mother’s Day…delicious but very time consuming. So it was time for some adjustments to that time-consuming recipe.

I remembered BJ’s had carried those already cooked eggplant patties and that was my next quicker, easier way to prepare my eggplant, so it was off to BJ’s to find them. (Footnote here: They are really good. You can just pull out the number you need, pop them in the toaster oven for 5-7 or 10 minutes, serve them topped with a quick homemade (um hum out of the jar spaghetti sauce doctored up) and you've got a really great meal in a pretty fast hurry.) Really.

Since we now had frozen eggplant on our hands we had to abandon our original plans to eat at Cracker Barrel. I'm usually better organized that this, but hey, I was having one of those days, I guess, so we decided we would at least check to see if they still carried them and come back to get them after lunch. Then when we found them we didn't want to make another trip back over there after all and just decided to buy the silly things and eat at Golden Corral instead. Granddaddy would take the frozen eggplant by the house while Annabelle, Mommy and I concentrated on Annabelle's need to potty. But, I have to interject here that she was very good about 'holding' it until we were ready to leave the store. We all made it back to Golden Corral almost exactly the same time.

Bathroom adventures with Annabelle:
While at Golden Corral with Granddaddy, Annabelle and her Mommy, she had to go to the bathroom...again...so grandmomma was the designated “bathroom taker in-er”by Annabelle. I was hoping I would be able to miss this pleasure since her Mommy knew where the bathroom was and I didn’t. Neither Annabelle or her Mommy would go for that. They were in collusion. It had to be Grandmomma. When I'm around it's always, "No, Grandmomma do it." I am, indeed, a very lucky woman! But at least it gives her Mommy a much-needed break. I suppose.

I did my usual bathroom speech: “Annabelle, please don’t touch anything! Keep your hands off the walls, off the toilet, off the floors. Let Grandmomma put the paper on the toilet, please. Don’t touch! It’s nasty, really nasty! Please do, please don't, please, please, please…” all of which fell on deaf ears! She always attempts to speed clean every tile, every steel rail, the steel door, the entire toilet seat and every inch of grouted tile she can run her little fingers over. Today would be no different. And heavens forbid you should also need to use the potty! She loves working the lock on the bathroom door! With you on the throne. And she’s very, very good at working it. Thank goodness most doors open inward and not outward, so to leave the stall, I have to pull the purse holder which is high out of her reach. I fear that someday I may have to scream bloody murder trying to get myself out of those stalls...or make a cellphone call to my husband to rescue me...or worse yet, attempt to crawl out from under the door. But probably not as long as I have Annabelle with me.

Today this particular stall had water on the floor near the bowl. Why, you ask, would I pick a stall that had water on the floor when I had a 2 year old in tow? Because I love to see toddlers play in toilet water? I’m not really actually sure, except that we both were in a hurry and because of all my usual warnings to her, I simply didn’t notice the water on the floor. Sometimes that happens, you know. You just get distracted.

Anyway, I decided I would turn this into another learning experience, so I pointed out to her that there was water on the floor which we needed to avoid if we could because some other little boy or girl may not have made it to the bathroom in time and had accidently peed on the floor. We sometimes walk into stuff such as that and then when we put our shoes on or take them off, we have germs on our feet from this nastiness, therefore, the reason for not touching our shoes and certainly we don't put them or our hands to our face because we’ve come in contact with such germs through many means.

With that sweet little face, she looks up at me and asks, “Did I do dat Grandmommy?” I assured her she had not done that, unless she had done it when she made the first trip in with her Mommy earlier. Are you listening to me, Annabelle? Did you get my message about the germs? Probably not. She was too busy concentrating on the tee tee on the floor! Germs are such a minor consideration when you're worried about whether you had tee-teed on the floor! She was completely dry when I put her on the seat. Now I won't promise you she remained that way after pottying. Just kidding, she really was still dry.

Now I ask you, why do we constantly warn these little kids about not touching things in the bathroom. It’s always a given conversation between Moms/Grandmothers and their kids. (I even heard a mother or grandmother warning the little one she was with. Same conversation I had with Annabelle minutes earlier.I have to admit I was snickering behind the toilet door because I knew there on the other side was another little kid with totally deaf ears to what was being said!) So apparently some of them don’t listen any better than a certain little somebody I know. I think next time I’ll just say, “Annabelle, why don’t you clean up the bathroom walls, doors and floors for me while I’m getting the potty seat ready for us.” Do you think it might help her ignore all the nasties she gets into? Who am I kidding?

Purple Toenails:
We made our way to the outside to wash our hands. A lady had suggested I might need to get soap from a dispenser next to her since the one I was furiously pumping had nothing coming out. Annabelle says, “Why it empty, Grandmomma?” “Because other people used that sink and probably used it all up.” “But why?” We washed our hands to get all those nasties off, I put her down on the floor and while she’s still drying her little hands she looks down…at the lady who suggested we swap soap dispensers…and she spots something interesting...and she begins to tell me something. “She’s got purple polish on her toenails!” She did indeed have purple polish on her toenails. The lady laughed and said, “You noticed my purple toenail polish!” Of course she could have escaped with Annabelle at that moment because Annabelle fell in love with the lady’s purple toenails. Anybody who paints their toenails purple can’t be all bad now can they?

Still more adventures with Annabelle:
The day wasn't over. Mommy had promised Annabelle we would look for some new tennis shoes and sandals for her to wear this week end if she was good and stayed in the stroller. All went well until it came time to try on the shoes and she had to get out of the stroller to be sized. Then she was one excited kid to be loose and that was the end of the stroller until the end of the shopping trip. Actually, I think it was the end of the stroller for the rest of the day!

Mommy looks at the same shoes over and over each time we go shoe shopping, and tries them on her again and again just in case she hasn't grown a shoe size or two since we've been in the store and still has a problem deciding which pairs she wants. Let me add here, she could indeed grow a couple of shoe sizes as long as it takes for Mommy to make a decision. The decision of whether to buy the shoes or just walk out and leave them because something didn't satisfy Mommy about them. Me, I’m a 'get in and get out' kind of person. So, while Annabelle explores the store in between shoe sizing, and after tiring of running after her, I sought sanctuary in a nearby chair. Which she also decided she wanted to sit in. Then she found another one closer to the door, so now I had to watch after her there to make sure she didn’t escape. She was all over the store, back, front, up, down and all over it. Over to check out the bubble gum machines, back to Mommy and then she ran around two rows of shoes each time Mommy told her to try out the new shoes she was considering. Around and around and around she went. Just being the kid she is. Just watching her is completely exhausting. If only I had that much energy! But I’m glad she does indeed have it.

Finally several hours later Mommy picks up three pairs of shoes and buys them while Annabelle and I went outside to the mall and she climbed into every toy ride that charged .75 a ride. Thank goodness she doesn’t know you can make them run by adding money. Those things could break you. I know from experience with the three older boys.

Then Mommy came out and she let Annabelle play a while longer. Then it was back to the bathroom, naturally.
Oh, I am having flashbacks of her Mommy's first years of life.

At last we headed home for Granddaddy to feed Annabelle a bunch of junk food behind her Mommy’s back. No, she doesn’t get that at Mommy’s and she hadn’t had it before the shopping trip, so we can’t blame it on the junk food. She’s just a healthy, happy, busy, little girl.­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ I don't want her any other way, except maybe when she's here with...

WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN???

Where have I been for the last two months you ask: Building memories with my precious little Annabelle. I'll begin with the current and work down as I have a chance to post them. I've written down some dates, but haven't worked on the pictures yet. You get unedited mistakes and all because as you can see I've been pretty long-winded on this one.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Today would have been my parent’s 81st wedding anniversary. Yes, I stand corrected by my daughter. How do I remember the number of years? Simple…I was very, very pregnant with my baby daughter 31 years ago when they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. We celebrated their special anniversary by giving them a party and inviting their friends and neighbors. The party was at our local little community church the four children had grown up in and my father’s family had chartered. It was a very, very hot day for this already suffering pregnant woman who had chosen to wear the only dressy dress she had available to her. (Long sleeves, long dress, and silky, clingy to my bulging body. But my soon to be daughter (six weeks away from delivery) was there whether she knew it or not! I just add her age to 50 and know how long they would have been married.
To add to the misery my father-in-law had been and was in the hospital suffering from a heart attack. We had made many trips 2 ½ hours drive away on the week end and this would be the first we missed for maybe 4-6 weeks. I had been restricted from long drives on the road until after my delivery and the prior week end was to have been the last time I traveled to see them. Sadly, he would pass away the Friday following my parent’s anniversary.

About six weeks to two months earlier my sister-in-law had passed away. My mother-in-law and father-in-law had both come up for the funeral. Things moved fast in a very short time.

Earlier in April my only sister-in-law had passed away at a very young age of around 38 of a blood clot to the heart/lungs. She was a wonderful sister-in-law and I felt as though she was my sister, too. She taught me so much, or she tried to. She was fun and she and I could find lots of things to get into and relate to. She helped me make my first meal of hamburgers the summer my first niece was born. She took me to my first movie (a drive in showing ‘The birth of twins’, yuck!. My brother just happened to work at the drive-in to support his young family while putting himself through college and we were able to get into the movies free, I’m sure.

After Granddaddy and I married we still maintained our relationship with them and spent a few week-ends with them. Anytime she got a new gadget or appliance, she made it look like so much fun to use, and easy, too, that Granddaddy knew he would be looking for one in the stores for me later that week. I had to have the exact same Kenmore blender she had because she could make the best coleslaw in hers. Mine didn't quite turn out the same. The cookie maker that made the best spritz cookies was just for me. I could go on and on at the money she costs us during my early marriage.

My sister-in-law had a built-in sense of anything domestic. Too bad more of that didn’t rub off on me. She taught herself how to decorate the most beautiful cakes, probably long before Wilton started offering cake decorating classes. I had to pay for two courses with my best friend to learn how to make and decorate cakes that didn't look nearly as pretty as hers. I remember being in awe at the lovely cake covered with her very first perfectly sculpted home-made roses made from frosting that she brought for either my Daddy’s or my Mother’s Father/Mother Day celebration. She was very young when she came into our family, still in college, and it was such a shock and a very big loss when she passed away, way too soon, in April.

I have always said the ending of 1977 and the first 7 months of 1978 were the worst years of our marriage or even my life that I had ever lived through with all the tragedies we had gone through. They just didn’t seem to end. But the sorrows we had suffered were finally replaced with one of the biggest and best blessings we have ever had…we got the beautiful little girl we had so hoped and prayed for and our little girl was here, safe and sound. She was the very best thing to come out of 1978.



Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Now on to sharing some of the good things that came out of the year 2006…Annabelle!
We had our fairly regular routine of time with Annabelle, today. Her Mom has lots of meetings to go to especially during the summer so we get to spend time with Annabelle and since this was Wednesday we went to her house. We weren’t sure if we would eat fish with her today because my sister and my brother-in-law had other obligations to fulfill and didn’t know if the would finish in time to eat fish. But they did and we did. But first we had to convince Annabelle she really wanted to eat out today. We had to finish dressing in a hurry. There was hair to comb, shoes to find and put on, sippy cups to fill, bathroom runs to make and lots of other things to do, but she had decided she didn’t want to go out to eat today after all. Mommy says she has gotten to the point she doesn’t want to go anywhere anymore. Just likes to stay home and this was another one of those days. When I reminded her we needed to go out to eat she said she didn’t want to go out to eat and ran over to her left-over breakfast I had moved over to her high chair and out of the way. She had something to eat. She didn’t need to go out. I finally had to get strong with her and made her help me get finished. She settled down but not without giving me a bit of trouble.

Earlier in the week I had bought some cute little flower shaped silicone cupcake holders and I just knew Annabelle would love to use them to eat her food from. They came in a set of 12 for $10 from Wilton and I got them at Joann’s using a 40% off coupon, so I got them for only $6.00. There were six yellow ones and six pink ones. My choice would have been to have gotten them all in purple since that is her very favorite color for now, but I had to settle for what I could fine.
She found them on Monday before I had a chance to wash them and she did love them as I knew she would. I know my granddaughter, at least at the moment. I told her what they were for and that we would use them when we ate out or went on a picnic.

I had packed them in the car because I wasn’t sure if it would be a picnic or eat out day. So, I pulled them out at lunch and we divided her meal into those darling little cupcake holders! We used four of them because we just didn’t have a lot of room at the table because we were too late to get our usual favorite spot.

We put her favorite item of cooked broccoli in one, shrimp in another one, coleslaw in still another one and her fried okra in the remaining one. We didn’t have room for her hushpuppy. It drained off some of its grease on a napkin on the side. She chowed down on her food, so much so that she finished off most of my broccoli, as well as hers.

On the way over she had told Granddaddy exactly what she wanted for lunch: Broccoli with butter (so she could stick the broccoli into the butter like they were trees growing out of the butter) coleslaw, okra, shrimp, not macaroni and cheese, hushpuppy, and water. She tells us exactly what she wants each week and usually it’s pretty much the same as above. But it’s fun to listen to her ‘order’ though we know what it’s going to be.

After finishing her meal we headed back home. If you know Annabelle you know she moves at her own pace. She doesn’t let your time constraints affect her schedule. Somehow we were foolish enough to leave the Sunday paper in the backseat beside her. Lucky for us she didn’t see it when we were running late earlier. But she did see it this time. And the particular section she found was covering summer places to enjoy the water around the area. It took a bit of persuading but we finally got her in the car seat and buckled in.

She didn’t stop by casting the newspaper aside. No, she had to ‘read’ the paper all by herself. She examined every inch of the pictures on the page. She reminded me of the days when her oldest cousin always examined pictures on his presents and books, etc. when he was very, very young. She was just too cute not to take pictures of her. I hope my pictures came out, but I had to stop taking them because the camera showed a card error, so I may not have gotten them. (I found out my camera didn’t take but 2 pictures and it really didn’t take those two, so I’ve missed all those great shots of her being her natural self. It just makes me sick. I had taken quite a few of them and it looks like some of them would have been on there. And after Granddaddy reformatted the card and everything was erased he decided I should reset the date on it. I know little about whichever camera I’m using and having switched from the first camera we had to the second camera didn’t help. While I was fiddling with it I happened to come across a picture of my oldest grandson and me when he was just a wee tiny little fellow. How it survived all the previous reformatting we’ll never know, but it was there. Granddaddy swore up and down that it wasn’t possible until he saw it for himself. We just don’t know how to get that one little picture off the camera. I would love to have it so I can see how long ago it was. I’m wondering now if it wasn’t some that were stored on the camera itself and not the card!) Back to my original story…She was engrossed in her newspaper almost all the way home. Finally, she handed me the paper and said, “Read this to me, Grandmomma.” And after reading under one picture she wanted to continue to the next until we had read the page again and read it all. I didn’t mention that when she first picked up the newspaper with the water/beach pictures she found a Joann’s page. Being her grandmother’s grandchild she is she asked if she could put it with her paper and carry it home with her. You can’t start them too young on that crafty stuff!

Later in the night her Mom asked why I had left the newspaper at their house. Because it was her paper and she had really enjoyed reading her paper on the way home.

Since she had slept a little later this morning I knew my dreams of her naptime were just that…dreams…and I was so right. I had gone to bed so late and gotten up early for the last few days and I found it very difficult to stay awake. I suggested we both take a nap. She was having none of that. I laid down on the floor and closed my eyes and a busy little body would fall on top of me and pound me In the chest. “Don’t go to seep, Grandmomma, Wake up, Grandmomma,” so many times I finally gave it up and we played “Let’s go shopping, Grandmomma!” We sorted our goods into sections: food, toys, jewelry, etc. and then went shopping, only to have her finally knock her shopping bag off onto the floor…kerplunk, where it stayed until the day was almost over.

At one point she decided she wanted to put her sippy cup filled with her water/apple juice over in her shopping cart. I knew we would forget where we put it. At least I would forget. I suggested we move it from the cart because we would forget. She looked at me and said, “Nooo, I say, ‘Where are you, apple juice? And it will say ‘I right here, Dannabelle!” This was her logic for finding it. And as she was imitating her talking apple juice that cute little hand was just a moving as though her juice was holding up its hand telling her where it was. And this was all said in Annabelle’s precious little sing-song voice with much animation added.

At some point in the day Annabelle thought it would be a good idea to bake a puppy dog cake. She had found her two ended spatula I had bought her earlier to use with her cooking utensils. She left the room to find the puppy dog cake we would decorate. This was a little pull toy doggy that Aunt Kate, Uncle Ken and the boys had given to her when she was younger. She has loved that puppy and loves pulling him around the floor, but today he would become a puppy dog cake. She handed him to me and said, “You decorate the puppy dog cake, Grandmomma.” And I did. I spread plenty of white frosting on his body with that spatula. I added black for his eyes and she pointed out I need to add blue for his collar until finally I thought I had finished decorating him. But, alas, I had missed a few spots here and there and had to add the frosting to the missed spots until he was perfect to both of us. Until she holds up her hand and says, "Wait…wait Grandmomma, I haven’t baked him, yet!" She had to bake him in her oven and I had to frost him all over again, but he turned into a beautiful, delicious tasting puppy dog cake.

Conversation between Annabelle and Daddy at dinner:

Annabelle: “Daddy, where’s Mommy? Is she stuck in twaffik?”
Daddy after recovering from his shock: “Yes Sweetie, she is stuck in traffic.”
Annabelle as she twists and turns that cute little silly face around in front of Daddy: “But you didn’t get stuck in twaffik, Daddy!”
Daddy: “No, Sweetheart, I didn’t.”
Annabelle, after a moment of thought: “You need to fix doze twaffik lights, Daddy!”

There were two things going on in that little mind. First of all she was remembering what Grandmomma had told her earlier on the way to eat. We had gotten stuck behind a malfunctioning traffic light and it seemed to never want to change. Once it did change, it was a very, very short turn signal and it seemed we might have to sit for another long period of time behind that same light. Grandmomma made the comment that the next time she was with Mommy or Daddy and the light turned red she should say to them, “Daddy needs to fix that light!”

So since Mommy was apparently late due to being caught up in traffic it must have been Daddy’s fault because she couldn’t get through those badly mistimed traffic lights between Mommy’s office and home.

Daddy was a bit puzzled where all this came from. It didn’t take him long to figure out Grandmomma was somehow connected. After all, she gets blamed for quite a bit.

Annabelle has such a tremendous memory! It’s really hard to believe things she can remember from a while back and some from times when she wasn’t as vocal as she is now.

From the mouth of Annabelle...

This is a conversation that occured yesterday while we were in route to get Mommy's hair cut:

Mommy: Annabelle?

The conversation stopped at this point because Annabelle's Daddy had called on the cell phone and Mommy had to stop to answer it. After a very patient moment or two, and in that very sweet little voice that she has, Annabelle says, "You called me, Mommy?"

Where in the world did that come from? She simply amazes me with the thoughts and sayings she can come up with. But then, she is just Annabelle.

Adding more dolls...

Today Annabelle's Mommy and I went to our usual semi-annual consignment at a big church near them. Granddaddy and I left early and waited outside until we saw there was life in the house. Annabelle stayed in bed until around 9:00 per Granddaddy, who drew the straw to stay home with her while we played around.

Mommy and I left around 8:30 to stand in line for almost another hour before they finally let us in...almost ffteen minutes late.

I went in my favorite direction...to the toy department...and Mommy headed for the clothes.

I was a little disappointment in the fun toys I was looking for, but I did find a cute, cute small, soft Cabbage Patch kid, maybe 6" tall. She was a little red head so I needed to take her home for Annabelle! She was only $1.50! Also, I found another Cabbage Patch Kid with a sticker that said she was only $5.00. I scooped her up. She was supposed to be new. Well, maybe the owner didn't notice some little kid had placed their artistic mark on her face with a red marker, but she was still in very good condition, overall.

I also gathered up a few other goodies for her Mommy's approval or disapproval and moved on to the books. I felt someone crowding me out and looked up and there stood her mother. I was very surprised because she never finishing finding clothes in that short period of time. She had promised herself she would only spend (X) number of dollars on those clothes.

Then we moved on to the reject room only to find someone had the nerve to occupy our little room before we could get there, so we moved to a corner of the room and sat on the floor to decide which ones she would keep and which she would put back.

I showed her my goodies first and of course, she didn't want me to get the big Cabbage Patch Kid. (Annabelle had just this past week taken one of her mother's old dolls back home (Rebecca Ann) and I guess her bed is beginning to be filled to the point where the child will be able to use them as a means of escaping from her bed.

Reluctantly I put the doll back with the hopes that some other little girl would get her. (Before we left we went back over to the toy area and saw that someone had picked her up and put her with their things, so I felt a little better putting her back.)

Her Mother managed to cull out a few of the cute clothes and kept within $2.00, but put another one back to keep within the limits, with the exception of a couple of books she did buy for Annabelle. After taxes she still went over the set goal but she found some cute outfits.

That is a first for us. We usually have to wait for the classrooms to clear out and the parents to go through pick up before we can continue our shopping, but this time we managed to get out before all that mayhem started.

We found a garage sale on the way back to their house. Guess what I found? Several more of the little small dolls and a very small replica of Annabelle's favorite teddy bear. It wasn't made by the same company, but it was so close you couldn't tell it. So, I bought it so teddy wouldn't be lonesome. And I found some smaller little dolls like McDonald's has had in the past. I couldn't leave them there. They were a quarter each but the lady told me I could have them all for $.50. I can't pass up a bunch of dolls and a teddy bear for $.50. I don't know who loves them more, Annabelle or me!

We got back to their house and Annabelle was glad to see me. I showed her Little Teddy and Baby Lorraine (She is a baby match for her bigger Cabbage Patch Kid, Lorraine.) She liked Little Teddy best, of course, but they both must go through the washing machine before she can have them. That's Mommy's job.

I had missed her this morning since she was in bed when we left. I got my loving and Mommy pulled out the clothes she had bought. She and I talked about them and I asked her which one she liked best and she picked the wildest color in the batch and said that one was her favorite. It was a lime colored beach jacket with matching Pooh Bear bathing suit. She loves her loud colors! I think she loved them all, but that was her favorite just based on the color.

We went to lunch at Piccadilly and she spotted a muffin I had gotten for her after she finished her lunch. She knew it was for her because I usually get her one when we go there. She ate a fairly good lunch after begging for Mommy's biggest piece of fish. It was better than hers. She also didn't want to eat her carrott souffle. She wanted the food from her Mommy's bowl. Mommy had to be sneaky and load it from Annabelle's plate and pretend it came from Mommy's bowl...then she wanted to finished up what Mommy had, but Mommy had already given her the last bite of fish (which Mommy really wanted) and she wasn't going to give her all of the remainder in her bowl.

We ended the day once we were back at her house. She needed a nap and so did we. I got part of mine on the way home. But it was a fun day anyway.

It's like herding cats...

I’ve heard that statement a good bit lately and pondered its meaning. Well, after tonight I can, with great authority, tell you what it means. Obviously it was a comment made by someone who has three little boys, probably ages 9, 7, and 3 they were responsible for keeping together in one big house.

It is highly likely that one or more of the three could be found in an entirely different part of the house in one of three levels that constitutes their home. You just have to make sure your one body can keep tabs on the three of them. Cats would be more easily herded, I’m sure. And anyone who knows anything about cats realizes that is virtually impossible. Cats have wills and minds of their own. So do kids.

Oh wait, did I say there were three of them to herd? Well, yeah, in my case there were three little boys, but I forgot to add the newest little baby girl in the family,
and she was right there with the three little boys. She was just about as devilish and as active as
they were.

We picked the boys up at the day care center afternoon just before 4:00. Surprise for us…Beautiful Blue Eyes (3) and child number 3 greeted us warmly and was ready to go home with us. His Dad said this morning when he reminded him we would be picking them up, he wanted to take one of his toys over to Grandmomma and Granddaddy’s house. (Though we were only going back to his house.)

When he first saw us he came over and what were the first words out of his mouth? “Where’s Annabelle?” She’s the baby in the whole family. I think he thinks she lives at my house. I have told him in the past that Granddaddy and I will arrange to pick him up sometimes and bring Annabelle with us. I guess he was hoping this would be the time.

Once we were all safely back at their house, the three of them decided to play a nice quiet (ha, ha) game of Nerf darts with their Nerf guns. They each took careful aim at each other as well as every window in the living area.

I was afraid one might pop the windows. Please, not on my watch. Wait until Daddy gets home.
They romped and ran and hid and screamed at each other as they fought their battles. They lost the darts and Sophie found them.
She would scamper away like the little thief she was,
leaving BBE, AKA James, the human baby in the family, very frustrated as he tried to catch her without luck. The Analyzer, AKA Carter the oldest brother, would finally intercede and take the dart away and return it to BBE, over and over and over.

Then Sophie found an over sized tennis shoe that probably fit the 9 year old. She chewed a while until I took it away from her. She loves their stuffed dogs and other toys. She chews with those little sharp teeth and broke off a piece of what had just been the very favorite toy of the seven year old when his three-year old brother wanted to play with it. I had to throw that broken piece into the trash can. He forgave Sophie even after she broke his toy. Little Brother would never have been forgiven so easily. It’s amazing the working of a child’s mind.

At one point BBE, child #3, became very frustrated and wanted the fan turned off. Well, good luck! Finding out which light switch works which thing is very confusing. But, I did finally figure out how to stop the fan. And there stuck to one of the fan blades was his perfectly fired dart.
How he made such a perfect shot is beyond me. Then came the challenge of how to get it down without breaking the light bulbs. I think big brother was the best shot and got it down for him.

Thank goodness dinner time came, finally and we were off to Moe’s for dinner. The boys love eating at Moe’s. Not particularly our favorite but we ate there anyway. I won’t go into the evening there. The meal wasn’t that great, order got mixed up, at least one kid went home hungry or at least that’s what he says, but then he is a nearly pre-adolescent and what are you supposed to expect from that. The chicken was left off of three quesadillas and a sprinkling of cheese was all that graced the poor quesadillas. Ah, I won’t really to go there with the rest of the story. Guess it will be The Varsity next time. They all love their grease fix there, anyway.

Then it was time for bed. I didn’t really have a big problem with the two older boys. They got themselves ready for bed without much ado. But…that little one, who was supposed to be in bed by 8:00 sharp, kept dilly dallying around with more things to keep him from going to bed. It’s amazing how many things he can think up to stay out of bed! And he’s only been here on earth for three short years!

Of course the seven year old would have nothing to do with allowing the three year old share the shower/bathroom part. It is a shared bathroom, but not according to the seven year old so we moved on to find another bathroom.

I’m not sure the three year old wasn’t in on this little deal because he immediately told me his Mommy had told him he could take a shower in her bathroom so a bit reluctantly we took his towel into Mommy and Daddy’s bathroom for a shower. My doubts were well placed as soon as I saw the shower/bathtub. Mommy surely wouldn’t be foolish enough to allow a three year old to take a shower in that bathroom with hardwood floors. Then he said, Mommy wouldn’t let him take a shower in there, but he could take a bath. Check out the bath. It was a large oval tub with the faucets to the outer side of the tub, and it was deep, deep, deep. Hard for me to get the plug into the tub without practically getting into it from a very awkward position. But I did try. Just as I thought I had the plug almost arranged like I needed it, I felt a very cold sensation running down my right arm.

BBE says, “I help you Grandmudder!” And he had. He turned on the cold water just as my arm reached across. My sweater was completely soaked. “What are you doing, James?” I asked. “I helping you, Grandmudder!” “But James, now Grandmother has a very wet sweater, and I don’t have any dry clothes! Now I’m all wet!”

He reaches over and feels my arm. “Oh,” says he. He tried to help me dry it with his towel, but it was still soaked! I reached over again to put the plug in place and caught sight of him once again trying to help me.”No, James, don’t do that again!” He really was trying to help, I just didn’t trust him after an arm full of water running down my arm.

We finally finished the bath and moved on to finishing up for bed. Daddy had said the younger two needed to be in bed by 8:00. The other one could stay up. He likes to read before he finally settles in usually by 8:30 or 9:00.

“Where are your pajamas, James?” “I don’t know.” (He also didn’t know where his tennis shoes were when we got ready to go eat. We had to grab a pair of Velcro type ones to wear. And I still don’t know where his other shoes are.) So remembering some clothes that had been washed and sorted but, thank heavens, hadn’t yet made it to their proper place, I searched to find a pair that looked like they belonged to him. Size 5 Toddler. Looks about right. I grabbed them and headed upstairs. “Are these yours, James.” "I think so, I think they the ones from Grammy’s house.” Good. I stood behind him while he tried to shove his little feet and legs and arms into them. All went well…until I noticed one ribbing around the arm didn’t seem to match the ribbing around the other side. We had managed to put an arm into a leg hole and visa versa, but they almost fit…until I tried to zip the pajamas. Then they didn’t fit so well. He began to get hysterical because Grandmomma didn’t get his pajamas on right. I laid him on the bed and we started over again, my way. This time we finally got him into them the right way.

“Almost 8:00, James, we must be in bed by 8:00. Daddy says so…” I’m really trying, and I’m completely ignoring the older two. They are big boys and don’t need me breathing down their neck. Then James picks out two good, long books that don’t look at all interesting to me (a book about pirates and another about trains and how they work.) Mommy reads those books to him, says he. And I had promised him I would read a couple of books, so I was committed.

Granddaddy’s main job was to make sure Sophie didn’t come upstairs while I was working with James. That was a very simple task anybody should be able to handle, right? Well, why did James and I suddenly find a bouncing, biting, sharp toothed little white Bison puppy flouncing around in the middle of the two of us as one of us tried to read bedtime stories and the other tried to rescue treasures from the deep, deep sea with his Rescue Heroes anchor guy, whatever his name is.(I’m really not that good with this boy stuff once they pass the trucks and tractors stage!) How did Sophie manage to escape Granddaddy’s sharp eye?

It took a while before Granddaddy realized we were being charged and eaten alive by Sophie. He finally did come up, but long after he was needed. Finally story time came to an abrupt end after I accidently flipped through a few pages that happened to get stuck together, and I realized I could get away with it, hee, hee, hee, hee. But at the end of each story he had to read the book in condensed version to me.

Finally, at around 8:15 after much insistence that we just HAD to be in bed by 8:00, he settled down. And then after he remembered he hadn’t brushed his teeth, and after he had to search for his toothpaste in the drawer, and after he had to stop to sip water through the toothbrush a hundred times, and after he had to return his toothbrush to his drawer…but wait, that wasn’t where he had found his toothbrush. It was in his glass on the counter. No, No, No, he wanted it in the drawer. Who cares? Not me. Just get to bed, please, please, please. I am responsible for you right now, and if you are grumpy tomorrow at school, I don’t want to be blamed!

So we moved to the bed…again. But not before he had to show me his tractor blanket Mommy had made for him and not before we had to remove the stuffed green dinosaur he wraps around his little neck and has for the past couple of years. He seems to be a bit spooked out with this dinosaur in his room and asked me to put him in Charlie’s room. He didn’t feel comfortable with sleeping in the same room with that dinosaur. Charlie didn’t want the dinosaur in his room either, so I put him just inside the bathroom door, out of sight and out of James’ mind. Whatever brings happiness to him makes me happy.

After the final tuck in of the night he looks at me and this is his basic revelation:

“Grandmudder, my teacher says, ‘How did you get that bruise on your four-head, James?’ and I said, No, free, my free-head! (3) and she said, ‘your four-head’, and I said no, not my four-head, I free. And she said, ‘yes, you are three.’” Somehow she made him understand she was talking about the bruise on his head. I think she finally rephrased it by asking how he got that bruise on his head, no four head, no free head, and he went on to explain it got there when his older brother and he were playing with the Legos and bumped heads or something, I’m really not sure. I really only heard something about Legos...I was too busy convulsing.

I have to tell you I really was almost popping, trying so hard to hold back the giggles. How could anybody not follow the logic of that sweet little boy. His teacher knows he’s ‘free, not four’. What was wrong with her, it was not his four-head! You just have to love a little "free-year old" guy with his practical reasoning. It certainly made sense to me.

And it was just one of those sweet moments I was able to hear him tell himself, and not having it retold by a parent, who would probably have forgotten to tell me. I got it first hand! I felt myself to be quite privileged. He shared the moment with me.

This is one of those times I wish I had taken my little digital tape recorder along with me. It was a Christmas present so I could record these precious children and their straight-forward statements. So innocent, so sweet, so real, he was just like a typical three year old, only smarter. Of course I would think so. But I had forgotten to take it along. Sophie probably would have chewed it up, anyway. Sigh. Really must get into the habit of making sure it’s with me at all times.

What really amazed me was that when I shared the story with Granddaddy he just stared out into space trying to figure out the logic. His Daddy reacted in the same way. What’s the matter with you people? Again, he’s not old enough to have a four-head! Not when he’s only free! Really, now.

The night with the sweet boys ended after I kissed that sweet little face good night and promised him he could leave his bathroom light on and the door cracked. Because Mommy lets him. After saying our good nights and giving kisses to the other two, and just as I had gone down the stairs and into the living room his Daddy called and said he was ten minutes away. He missed so much fun tonight! But he almost didn’t!

Attempting to herd the cats, oh, I meant the kids, can be fun when you see the funny little twists and turns that can take place while you’re herding them, in a four or five hour span. What a blessing they are. It's all in the little moments.