My Grandsons are Brilliant!

We have always known that Kevin is precocious with amazing abilities. We learned very quickly that little Kien is a bright star too. Cathi has been teaching him to count. At Easter time, I set down two grapes on his high chair, and he said, "Two"!!! They have been practicing counting to 10, and he can fill in the blanks. Today, she and a neighbor boy overheard him counting all by himself -- all the way to 10! And he isn't even two yet; not until June 6! Smart little monkey. So Mommy called Grandma to let me witness his achievement. He didn't do the entire count for me, but I got the idea, and he continued with prompting!
Also, he is beginning to put 2 words together. They called twice last week to demonstrate that he could say, "chocolate milk," and the next day, "dog food."


Not be be left out, Jeremy was awarded a commendation for outstanding performance in band last night at their spring concert! Only a dozen students out of 100 in the band were commended. He was the only clarinet that received the award! Yay, Jeremy!

My Last Full Day

Today was the closing Preschool program for parents. The kids were lined up as seen here when I entered. Kevin called to me and waved a couple of times, "Hi, Grandma!" Warms a Grandma's heart! He also said, "Hi!" to Daddy and Heather. The children sang several songs and danced around before having a certificate presentation along with a Bible given to each child.


Mrs. Hill, the lead teacher, handed out certificates to each child identifying a Christian characteristic which describes the child. Kevin's characteristic is "Diligent" because he works diligently on projects for extended periods of time.

Refreshments were a potluck dessert buffet. Here are Kevin's choices --

The Preschool Director, Mrs. Carricker, having a conversation with Kevin. Kevin is completing three years in this school.

After most were gone, Kevin helped stack chairs. Then we took a picture with his three teachers: Mrs. LaMantina, Mrs. Hill, Mrs. Watson.

Spunky is not afraid of Guinness and wanders into the house at will! They were nose to nose, but I didn't have my camera. This was their position by the time I snapped a shot.

We tied Guinness to a tree and planted two marigolds and a bean plant that came home from Preschool and a baby oak tree that we started from an acorn given to us by Laura, Mom's hairstylist, as something living to remind us of Mommy. During a break from work, Kevin tried climbing this tree and swung from a branch upside down!

Active Day

Kevin watching TV while Grandma takes a shower.

Guinness trying to get Mommy's attention with a shoe. He has been phenomenally good with the cats! He could easily become their buddy if he lived with them long enough. The cats themselves have reacted the opposite of what I expected. I thought that James would warm up to Guinness rather quickly. He tried once, and that was the end. He has remained in the sunroom since. Spunky, the one who hid in the box springs for two days several years ago when Hershey came to visit, has decided to take back her house and tolerate the big brown creature.

Helping to walk Guinness.





Today was Kevin's Preschool Family Picnic at a local park. Grandma was very happy to be a part of it!
Having fun on the tire swing with Heather pushing.





Lunch.

Sand, water, and boys go together like peanut butter and jelly!



Kevin helped Grandma prepare dinner. It was meat and cheese stuffed in giant pasta shells. I think he does better at helping in the kitchen than my own kids ever did. And then he ate a very good helping of it! As a reward, we all (with Heather) went to Goodberry's tonight. It is tough for a little boy to sit still while eating a yummy Concrete!





He managed to fall twice and ran around the ice cream building before we realized he had done it.

Cats Rule; Dogs Drool

Today was not a horribly exciting day for Kevin. He finished watching Prince Caspian this morning (his second time to see it in as many days!), he had his hair cut, we bought cookies and M&Ms (Grandma has a sweet tooth), and did some projects in a workbook practicing cutting skills, that Grandma bought.

Guinness found access to a prize: Karin's leftover birthday cake! :-0 When we returned from the haircut, the large Tupperware container was on the floor, licked clean. Not a crumb to be found. It had been left on the counter. He had neatly knocked the lid to the side (on top of the range) while taking the container to the floor for better access. Karin would NOT be happy!!! But the top layer is still in the freezer, so all is not lost.


Spunky also had an exciting day! Spunky, who is VERY shy, wandered into the house from the sunroom THREE times today!



First, this morning, she shocked us by appearing on the kitchen table!



This afternoon, she materialized behind the puppet theater with only an eye peeking out.



Tonight, she was ON the puppet theater.

Each time, Guinness came within two feet for a better look, but gave her her space and never tried to invade her territory or to scare her.

Mother's and Grandmother's Day

When Grant suggested that I come to visit Kevin over Mother's Day, I wasn't sure that that was a good idea. Steve encouraged me to come -- that I would be a distraction. At church this morning, the children's sermon was about "life savers." A man dressed like a lifeguard explained that he saved lives and was a life saver. Then he put on a stethoscope and said that doctors were life savers. He went through a variety of objects and occupations which are life savers, and ended with mothers and talked about Mother's Day. Kevin piped up distinctly in his inimitable, charming, persuasive way, "And Grandmother's Day!" The congregation chuckled. The speaker mentioned Mother's Day three or four times, and every time, Kevin said, "And Grandmother's Day!" and each time the congregation laughed louder while I sat there laughing with tears of gratitude for my darling grandson. Finally, in his next mention of Mother's Day, the speaker said, "Mother's and Grandmother's and Great Grandmother's Day!" At the end, all of the mothers and grandmothers were asked to stand. Each child was given two envelopes of lifesavers to give to two mothers on their way back to their seats. I was very glad that I was there to receive Kevin's envelope and to be a diversion for him.

After church, we came home to change clothes, pack our picnic lunch, and bring Guinness with us to the park. On the way, Kevin informed me that he could scratch his ear with his foot just like Guinness!

It was a perfect day -- sunny, mid 70's, and we found the perfect spot for our picnic -- a table in the shade with a tree perfect for tying up Guinness.

Our menu consisted of one of Mommy's favorite sandwiches -- egg salad, veggies and dip, applesauce, and some of Mommy's leftover princess birthday cake. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ5GeuTq4Tick2H_ELPoN5fhBpN8CbqHp-Ag1mP0wzHyiOmovI7dPJKVdMHVgxxtZJDM4WkrWXYMbcJS89o_MRyzfZOKgwpReA8rFGtWV5g7cORc42qgTWQ3xBAeOCysVSU0JmhUVm8JQ/s1600-h/2008_09280134+(2).jpg

We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the park. Kevin and Daddy loved the rock climbing area. Both of them were amazingly brave and talented! I don't think that Mommy would have been happy about either of their shenanigans! But I was relieved knowing that she was being their guardian angel!

Obviously, this is a bit dangerous...

These next three pictures may seem fairly tame, but they are equally dangerous and strenuous!

Kevin is attempting to come down off the rock. He needed a foot stopper (me) as he slid down, then insisted on jumping from a foothold halfway down. The ground is very soft to prevent broken bones!

This wall is not straight up and down; it is an incline angled from the top, in to the bottom.


We met up with two church families at the park -- one by accident and one by plan. The Pechaceks were there. Ryan is 2 swings away from Kevin. Kevin is learning to pump the swing himself.

The Hobbles met us there. Kate is making sand volcanos with Kevin.

Guinness would really LOVE to have a bath with Kevin!

A Guinny Day

Kevin has awakened me from a sound sleep at 6:15 for two mornings! He got in bed with me, but a 75 pound dog wanted to cuddle on TOP of a 44 pound boy. In fact, he insisted!!! So, we gave Guinness his breakfast and took him outside. After Kevin had breakfast, he pulled out a puzzle of the states. We spent a long time with that, learning about geography, and talking about some of the pictures on each state.

Kevin's puzzle ability continues to amaze me. Yesterday, we did a cube puzzle that makes 6 very similar Bambi puzzles -- each of the 6 faces of the cube is a part of one of the 6 puzzles. Man! That is way too difficult for me, but Kevin had minimal trouble. Today's puzzle was more "normal," yet his way of finding connecting pieces is by shape, not the way I do it: by the objects or color on the puzzle piece.

Daddy appeared and we talked about where I drove coming here, the routes they took to FL last month and to TX in January. Daddy showed us the route he took to cross the country on his motorcycle from CA to PA many years ago. Then we counted the states Kevin has been in. At 5 years old, he as been in 12 states plus 7 countries!!!

Guinness was getting antsy, so we took him outside again with Kevin holding the leash. We walked around the yard, then Kevin ventured into the woods behind their house ending up in the meadow. I had no camera to capture the adorable boy with his straight, blonde hair flopping up and down with each step holding Guinness's leash and running through the field. The proverbial scene of a boy and his dog!

As we sat down for lunch, we noted that James was sitting in the middle of the family room floor while Guinness, lying beside the kitchen table, seemed to be unaware of him. Ever since we arrived, the cats have stayed in the sunroom glaring at Guinness who would bark at them through the door wanting to meet them. After lunch, we all went into the family room. James arched his back and hissed at Guinness. Guinness honored James' request for space. James settled on the sofa while Guinness sat on the floor eyeing this cute fluffy creature.



When Guinness would move, he would walk behind the rocking chair to keep as much space as possible between himself and James. James had managed to eek out a place for himself in his own house which had been interloped by this big dog.

Since arriving, Guinness has been playing his normal game of reverse retrieves. His specialty in Kevin's house is grabbing one of the stuffed animals. He swiped a tubular neck pillow intended for a tiny tot, but it made a great tug toy. Kevin had great fun pulling Guinness around the house with that neck pillow as a tug toy.




This afternoon, we found a box on the front porch addressed to me from Greg and Cathi. Kevin helped me open it -- a Guardian angel. I immediately said, "It looks like your Mommy." He agreed, and was quite upset when he realized it was not for him. We set it on the kitchen island under the red roses from Grampy. Later, I noted that he had placed a Christmas angel, which represents Mommy to him, beside it.