Grandma's Last Morning

I was awake and at my computer at about 5 AM. I noted Jeremy's light was on, but no Jeremy. I found him sleeping on another area of the sectional sofa where my pull-out bed is!

At 5:30, Brandy's alarm went off! I was feeling badly that she had made a mistake with her alarm on a Saturday morning. Meanwhile, I crawled back in bed, then heard someone in the kitchen. Brandy! She WAS up at that hour! And needed to be driven to school for a swim meet. As she was awakening her parents, I said, "I can drive you!" So off we went. Returning home, Gabe was up in his highchair eating breakfast. I showered and repacked all my belongings for leaving mid-morning. Three emails came announcing my flight was later and later until there was no way I would make it home today and had to call to rebook another flight. Then I had a couple extra hours to play!

Mommy enjoying her boys.



Grandma playing "Ride a Cock Horse to Banberry Cross..."




Kien kept wanting more, so we switched to piggy back rides instead.

Look at those baby blue eyes!

In the boys' bedroom, Gabe was experimenting with jumping off Kien's bed! Reminded me of his Daddy jumping from the landing of our stairs down a step or two which we have on a movie. Kien joined the fun, and Mommy took some movies.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r69OGyjbDZk

Jeremy developed a new way to carry his little brother around.

Day of Running

Lots of running this morning. First, Jeremy had to be at school extra early. Then back home for Brandy to take her to school. I learned last night she is studying the Civil War right now. So I told her about my great great grandfather's diary and the book I am writing. As she jumped out, she said, "I have something interesting to tell my teacher today!" Then I realized... too bad we had not had this conversation earlier in the week. Maybe I could have talked to her class! Oh, well...

The little boys go to Mother's Day Out Wednesdays and Fridays. Now that Grandma knows where to go, I took Kien to his class while Mommy took Gabe.

First, he ran to the little kitchen and got inside it (green shirt).

Then he ran out...

and jumped into the train (I think?). Busy boy!!!

Even though Mommy is doing very well, Grandma can still move a lot faster. I was back at Gabe's room (and their two rooms could not be farther apart! Not good for Mommy in the coming weeks!) before Mommy had left. She was watching Gabe through the one-way window. Since his back was to us, I snapped this shot.

What did Mommy and Grandma accomplish in the intervening hours? Mommy had physical therapy while Grandma mopped the kitchen floor and vacuumed a few rooms. I LOVE the vacuum I bought for Cathi for Christmas! An Electrolux Oxygen. I want one!!!! It is so lightweight and easy to maneuver! Perfect for Cathi right now.

Then we were back for the boys. Kien wisely asked Grandma to carry his backpack and lunchbox, whereas Gabe is an I-can-do-it-myself type of boy.

They MUST sit in these childsize seats before moving on!

Outside, they both ran away from the parking lot, and Grandma had to retrieve them one by one flying them like an airplane.

Mommy had some errands to run. After the first store, we sat in the vehicle and watched the Wiggles. Both had entranced faces until the camera turned towards Kien, so I couldn't get his cute pic.

Grandma intended to do a slow cooker meal for tonight. Somehow that did not happen, plus dinner hour came quite late by the time Daddy was home. The kids (except Gabe) stayed home while we enjoyed a steak dinner.

Epiphany

Grandma has completed the mountain of laundry and now is starting on the upkeep of laundry. After I emptied their clothes hamper, Kien climbed in it.

Cathi spent the day deep cleaning, sorting, and rearranging the little boys' room. Obviously, she is doing really well with her recovery!!! I think she will survive next week just fine without extra help, though she knows she can call me back if she needs to.
Gabe picked up a piece of a floor puzzle Mommy pulled out of the closet and wore it on his head! LOL


When the little boys awoke from their naps, Grandma took them outside on this gorgeous 60 degree day for some outdoor fun.
Gabe wanted to be in the car swing, but he did NOT want it to swing!

Kien loved going as high as the swing would go!

They found the leaves on the ground to be a fascinating toy.

Gabe climbed up on the trampoline by himself! It took him a few tries to become comfortable, but he was soon dancing around.


Grandma wrapped little gifts, made chicken pot pie and a cheesecake dessert for our Epiphany celebration. While eating dinner, Brandy asked how I prepared the chicken. After telling her, she pulled this bone out of her pot pie!!!! How could I have missed it??? LOL

Before dessert, we read the story of the Wise-men from Matthew 2. Then everyone opened their "last gift of Christmas." I gave Greg a little book of drawings he created when he was 11 years old illustrating the story of "Twas the Night Before Christmas" in which Santa looks strangely like his father! Brandy has sparkly earrings and Cathi a Starbucks gift card. Here are the three boys' gifts.

After dinner, Jeremy put his shoes on Gabe. Gabe thought that was cool!

School for the Babies/Toddlers/Dudes and Church for Teens

This morning was Mothers' Day Out for the little boys. They love going to "school"!!!
Kien can manage his backpack and lunchpack handily,

but Gabe's lunchbox and rolling bag is quite the process for such a little guy. He absolutely does not want any help! He can do this all by himself, but it does take a long time! ha!






At the end of the day, Kien was with a group of friends when I came to pick him up.(Notice how much smaller he is than the "average" three year old!)

Again, Gabe had to lug his lunch bag and school bag on wheels all by himself! So cute and so determined!!!


Jeremy watching new videos for the little ones which Mommy bought today at a Chirstian bookstore.

Kien asked me how to build a sports car. LOL I told him to ask his Daddy.

Wednesday night is youth group night at their church. Cathi drives her two teens, then hangs out at a sandwich restaurant across the street for 1.5 hours with the two babies, or shops at Target, or volunteers at church. BIG commitment!!!! Usually Greg meets them at the restaurant for dinner, but he had a meeting tonight.

Brandy called from swim practice, announcing she wanted to take two friends with her tonight. One problem: with Grandma in the car, there is only room for one friend other than the 5 family members. Big problem! But there are only so many seats. Well, the friend who did go, accepted Jesus tonight!!!! When I first met Brandy about four years ago, she said she wanted to be a missionary to China. I told her she is being a missionary right here!

While traveling in the car tonight, Jeremy said to Kien, "You are the cutest baby besides Gabe!"
Kien responded, "I not a baby. I a toddler."
Then Jeremy agreed, "And Gabe is a toddler too."
To which Kien retorted, "I a dude!"
Jeremy expanded that Mommy and Grandma are Dudettes. I corrected him that Grandma is a Lady! Ha!

Blocks and Books and More Blocks

Cathi asked if I tried to read to Gabe. "Yes." She said that both of her boys came to her with books in hand this morning wanting her to read! :)

I made my favorite muffins this morning -- oatmeal, banana, chocolate chip. When Cathi tasted one, she said, "This just isn't right!"
"Why?"
"Bananas and chocolate don't go together."
"That combination works in banana splits and chocolate fondue!"
At least, the boys like them! :)

Before lunch, the boys had emptied the toy bin and were sitting inside it together.

Look at those cute little heads!


For lunch, we had some of Grandma's homemade chicken noodle soup. Gabe has learned the fine art of sucking noodles! Cathi took a video which I managed to post on FaceBook, but I can't seem to upload it on the blog. While Grandma cleaned up the kitchen, Mommy had the boys help put the toys away before naptime.

Following their nap, they played how far can you throw the blocks! Oh, my.... After they went to bed for the night, Grandma packed up the blocks and put them away. Enough is enough for the time being... ha!

It seems that Grandma was too busy today to focus on photography! I am making some headway in the mounds of laundry that had accumulated during recent days. But I do need help in putting it all away. Maybe tomorrow Cathi can guide me.

Managing Kids

Grandma needed some negotiation skills this morning. Both wanted to play with the firetruck. Grandma was successfully able to interest Gabe in the garbage truck.

Grandma always has to have a cookie break mid-morning. Gabe caught me nibbling and wanted some. I gave him several little bits of my cookie. Each time I handed him one, he said, "Thank you"!!!! So sweet!!!

Kien wanted a drink while watching a video, so I moved the highchair to be where he could see the TV from the kitchen while drinking his juice.

Jeremy was working on his math homework tonight and needed some help while I was washing dishes. Brandy gave him the information he needed, but I was curious to see if I could do 8th grade math! I could! :) He was finding the surface area of 3-D figures. I needed some prompting for the formula to use with a cylinder, but then it was a piece of cake.

Gabe working on a construction project.


Jeremy commented tonight that Kien is so acrobatic and can do great handstands. I asked how well he could do one, so he demonstrated.

Then he called Kien to do one. Wow!

Cathi mentioned Gabe will not listen to a story; he does not seem to be interested in books. I picked out a couple of books that would interest him and showed them to him. We sat and went through them page by page. He just needs some encouragement and the right books to grasp his attention.

Lazy Day and Busy Teens

As usual, the dogs sleep with Grandma when I am here. However, this time, they have been sleeping more with Kevin than Grandma! It is Kevin they have been cuddling up to and lying on, somewhat to Kevin's chagrin! Before Kevin got up today, it was a good time to record his sleep buddies of the past few days.

Kevin and I were up early to complete our preparations for the day before others were awake. By the time everyone else was getting up, we were ready for another snooze. Kien climbed up on me, and the three of us had some rest before the day was in full gear. Reminiscent of "The Napping House!"


This morning, Jeremy planned and prepared breakfast!!! Wow! This kid is growing up! He looks and acts so much more mature now than he did four months ago! We had a spread of scrambled or fried eggs and beef or pork sausages. It was a hearty, delicious breakfast with barely a crumb left over.

Between breakfast and some late sleepers, we did not make it to early church, and could not go later as we had to have Kevin at the airport to go home with Daddy at 12:30.

At the moment we were to walk out with our driver Greg, Kevin was in hiding because he didn't want to leave, and Greg bumped Cathi's cup of coffee flooding her scrapbooking table and ruining three pages she made in the past few days! We were barely in the car when Steve called as his plane had landed. It was a cheerless goodbye for Kevin and Grandma. We had so much fun together!

Later this afternoon, Mommy's little boys were snuggling with her while she was making a video to email to Daddy out in his backyard shop.


After dinner, Grandma, who is supposed to be in charge of household functions this week as Mommy continues to recover from survery, fell asleep! I awoke to Brandy having thoroughly cleaned up the kitchen and the babies in bed. Teenagers are handy to have around!