137 days left... and a day at the movies

Wow... it is mid year, mid summer, mid vacation.  Every night I sit in front of the TV, knitting, trying desparately to get these snuggle blankets done by Thanksgiving...  at the very latest.   I am not as fast as I thought I would be... but I am persistent.  
Anyway, I am enjoying my summer, especially now that I just realized it is about 1/2 over. 
I still have 3 days left of my summer holidays, 3 days to try to get something done...  from the list I made a week ago, before I started my vacation.
Today was a wonderful rainy day.  Bob & I picked up our 5 year old grandson and his very bestest friend, and headed off to the movies... Ice Age to be exact.  First of all the conversation in the car left Bob almost unable to drive.  Our little friend started almost every sentence with "when my dad was living...." and as far as we know, he is alive and well.  Then the two boys discussed that they are probably twins.  I tried to explain that twins would be brothers and since both of them are brothers with other syblings, that almost confirms it for them...  they are twins.  Then the fart, poop, and bum jokes started.  Keep in mind that these boys are 5.  Once we get to the theatre and are seated, with our popcorn, there is lots of talk about whether they have already seen this movie before, will it be too scarey for them because they are only five, what if they have to go pee when the theatre gets dark.... the questions, fears and solutions continue until the theatre darkens. 
Have you ever watched a movie in a theatre filled with small children.  The chatter never stops.... the laughter and giggles are so honest and contagious.... and comments on almost every scene are heard throughout the theatre.  We were lucky that our boys did not have to pee until the movie was over... other parents and grandparents were not so lucky.  One dad in front of us, had to leave 3 times for a bathroom break... and everyone in the theatre knew where they were going....
That is the other joy of small children... they do not understand whispering or even "inside" voices.
In the movie, there is a joke, and the word "booger" is used.  We heard that joke at least 10 times during supper, and then the giggles would last for 2 or 3 minutes.  No one in the restaurant seemed to mind...  the giggles were contagious for everyone around us.
Finally the ride home.  We tried to play "I Spy".  The boys did not quite get the concept.  They would "spy" things in their own bedrooms, or something they had seen another day.  Then we tried to play "car bingo"..  you know, the first person to find items on a list, wins.. just like bingo.  That got boring when someone had more items than the other.  That was when "are we home yet?" started.  I quickly ran out of treats to distract them, and Bob's knuckles were getting pretty white on the stearing wheel, when the "are we home yet?", started again...  
Tomorrow, I think we will head out on our own, I will try to stay quiet, so that Bob's last day of vacation is more relaxing.........

oh ye of little faith

I know that several of you out there do not think I will get all my "homemade" Christmas gifts done in time, but I will have you know that I have one snuggle blanket about 1/2 finished.  That leaves only 1 1/2 blankets, about 10  pair of slippers, unknown numbers of cookies, tarts and breads, mittens and hats to do.  No worries.  There are still 150 days until Christmas.... that's lots of time.
I have about a dozen of those knitted dish clothes done if any body wants one. 
I have been spending so much time with my grandsons these days.  It is hard to believe that they are already 1 and 5.   Caleb turned 5 a couple weeks ago and now believes that there is nothing he can't do because he is five. 
Right now I am trying to prepare myself for another session with a contractor in my house.   We finally decided to go ahead and get the main floor bathroom done.  All I ask is that they show up everyday until they are done...  seriously... is that too much to ask for.  I can imagine what my boss would say if I  just didn't show up because I had other stuff to do. 
Well..  I had better not start thinking that way before the poor fellow starts to work.    As you know, if things don't go well, I will be venting or rather posting to the blog, every day.

Summer at last... and only 7 months to Christmas

I had an amazing day today.  Slept until 9, had breakfast with my youngest son & his wife, then I worked my butt off in my flower beds.  And, as if I don't have enough flowers to water, cut back and lord knows what else needs to be done to them... I went to visit a friend and brought home a black eyed susan big enough for 6 gardens. 
But on arriving at home, my grandsons were here waiting to go swimming.  The best part about this hot weather is that my grandsons are over to swim almost everyday.  Today they didn't come alone, they brought 2 of their little friends.  Let me tell you... 4 kids all under 5, 4 adults and me in the pool, does not make for a relaxing time in the water... Between the exciting squeals, the "watch me, watch me" yelling, and all the splashing, well let's just say it was like going back in time to the Fergus public pool.  Now it is after midnight and I am thinking I should probably go for quiet swim before going to bed... just to experience the quiet again....
It is now less than 7 months until Christmas and I have been thinking alot about what to get everyone.   I have made a decision...  way too much money is spent, so I decided to make my gifts very very personal this year.   There are 2 little boys that I like to buy for and this year I am making them both cuddle blankets that will be just for them.  Others will get wonderful, well in my opinion, they will be wonderful.... baskets filled with homemade "stuff"...  maybe jams, maybe breads, maybe cookies, maybe slippers....  this all means that I have to start now...  Adam, my first born, is already making fun of me, saying I will never get it all ready in time.  Little does he know, that I get 6 weeks vacation now and every second Friday off...  I may not sleep much for the next  6 months, but I will "git er done".  

So much for regular posting.......

Wow..  March already... and the last half of March.  Today is in the mid 20's out there and I just came back to work after a short walk.   It was very difficult to open that front door and walk thru it.
Well.. now it is Mar 27th.. I spent the past weekend bonding with my 4 yr old grandson.  If I could just tap into his energy source.  We walked to the park twice on Friday and then back to my place for a game of hide and seek.  I had forgotten how much running is involved in that game.  I drove him home about 5pm, came home and crashed until Bob came home from work at 8.  I grabbed a frozen pizza from the basement freezer, and thru that in the oven for his supper.  He is lucky to get that considering I had to walk down those basement stairs and back up again, after my very active day. 
Saturday I foolishly went to Costco....  dear God, what was I thinking.   I figured if I went as soon as they opened, I could be out of there in record time and back on the road home.....  wrong.... my own mistake of course.   I browsed thru the clothing section, the book section, the seasonal section and the candy.....
I took by son Brandon along so I did get some quality mother/son bonding in as well.  After we escaped from Costco, we slipped around the corner to the Lindt outlet... that's right..  the chocolate place.   Big bargains on those cute little gold bunnies, plus they gave us a free bunny when we left.  That made the stress of Costco all go away.  And to top the morning off, I had a wonderful breakfast with my son.  I dropped him off, with his Costco treasures and headed home for a nap.  After my nap, I think my mental balance was off because I walked up to Bob's workplace as part of my new exercise program.  I am starting to wonder if I have an inner death wish, because I truly thought I was going to die by the time I got to Nexans. 
It's not over.....  Sunday I spent the day bonding with Caleb again...  we really do have a wonderful time together, but he wears me out.  This time we went for a walk and then headed to a "new" park.  The park was between my house and Bob's work.   After about 20 minutes at the park, Caleb had to poop.... really badly.. in his words.  It was closer to Nexan than home so we headed to see Papa.  Well, he obviously didn't have to go that badly because we stopped at every ant hill, unusual stone and picked up half a dozen sticks.  When we finally got to our destination he was distracted again and did not have to go.  He was abit tired after our adventurous walk and actually asked Papa for the truck keys, so Grandma could drive him back to the park.  Bob almost wet himself.  He was sure Caleb would be at least 16 before he came around looking for the keys to his truck.  Anyway, he reached into his coat pocket and gave him the keys.... I guess it is what we can expect for our future with our grandsons........ with no regrets...

2012... Let's start over

Well...  it has been way to long since I have written anything.  I just had the most wonderful Christmas & New Year holiday.  I spent a great deal of time with my family and my friends............. and we ate & ate & ate.  I was grateful to return to work and some normal routine and back to three meals a day, instead of 16 hour grazing from morning to night. 
I also spent a great deal of time cooking in my wonderful new kitchen which also didn't help the grazing. 
I just spent the last couple hours looking up new recipes.    But the recipes were health and heart wise.  Have you noticed where my mind is always gathering?  Food, food food.   I think I might have a problem.  Well..  I have to sign off now....  there's a fresh ham in the fridge that would make a lovely sandwich...........