you can turn the world on with that smile...

...you can take a nothing day and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile.

Miss Maude on her first day of first grade....watch out world!

Please, please tell me now...

Happy Leap Day everyone...leap yourself into something new and fun.



Now, if you know, tell me how this little chub-a-love with red hair and bare feet became this:

 amazing five year old, chub-a-love, full of mischief, a photo exact image of her daddy, and still bare footed girl.  Happy Birthday Maude, I adore every bit of you my sweet bug.

This is the three-tiered cake as requested and made by her daddy.  Good job dad!  Each layer a different colour and flavour.

Yes...

A little fuzzy, cell phone pic, but I think she likes it!

Monday snap...no snap...layers and tiers

yes this will be random and 'snap' less since I still cannot access my photos.  I hate posting without some sort of photo so just look up to my header pic and that should make you smile.  My grandgirl and her friend playing at the park last summer when this was taken, wow, what timing to get that action.  Love it.

Okay, so we are random this week since I have been so nonchalant about posting.  I have good reason though...I'm sick.  I know I'm always sick but having a chronic illness that begs for attention every minute over the last fifty years is waaaay different than being sick.  I'm never sick, never have colds, flu, migraines, etc.  Well in the last three weeks I've run the gambit.  I started with that feeling that I was fighting off something, which turned into a cold, then that turned into bronchitis and now here I sit with pneumonia.  Good grief.  I've not felt this punky in a long time.  It's exhausting.  To be honest just life has been exhausting lately but I don't admit that to get sympathy or a lecture so if you want to join in the pity party you are welcome, and if you want to whine or bring wine that's fine too!

While most of the country is shivering in sub-zero temps and snow we have been enjoying very warm, for us, temps.  It was 65degrees yesterday and we have not had a freeze all winter long.  I enjoy seasons and especially our occasional snow events but it's been a few years since we have had snow.  You know what that means right?  Bugs.  Bugs, crawly, flying, stinging, creeping bugs.  Without a freeze the summer will be miserable with them.

No silver lining there.

We decided to have a 'no spend' month.  Since February is the shortest month we thought it would be a good place to start.  Keeping track of all our out of pocket expenses, only buying groceries at the grocery store, only the necessities of paying bills, gas for the car.  No spending on coffee out, dinner out (which is rare), no goodies for the grands.  So far it's been very eye opening.  Our co-pays for doctors and rx are out of sight...well over $$$ so far this month and growing.  Now I can see some big changes having to take place if hubby wants to retire in two years.  PLUS, I am really itching to take a stroll around Target!

I was unable to attend my beautiful, smart, sassy, funny, artistic, joker, grandgirls birthday party yesterday.  She turned the big 5!  I can't remember how so much time has passed so quickly.  She was just a newborn, all red and wrinkly, laying in her isolette while her poor mamma was drunk with that new baby happiness/pain med mixture.  Now she's going to be headed to school in the Fall after two years of pre-school.  She is such a treasure, something I could have never imagined feeling in this life.  In a word: delightful.

She put in a special order for her birthday cake this year, which her daddy made and I am anxious to see pics of.  She did not want a 'layer' cake but a three 'tiered' cake.  Basically a wedding cake!  He did it, pulled it off, each tier a different colour, shape, and size.  I'm sure they had a blast.  Darn I missed it...two years in a row, I really suck a making special memories.  Just ask my own.

Have a good week peeps.  Stay clear of those 'sick' people because this stuff is ugly.  I even got my flu, whooping cough, pneumonia and booster shots this year.  gah.

the santa story...

...yes, I realize that Christmas has come and gone again, already.  But I haven't been able to upload any pictures until this past weekend and there are some things that just need to be shared.  Like this wonderful albeit fuzzy picture of my darling grandgirl Maude holding a Santa.  And this Santa is the one who gets to have his story told. 

Waaay back when my parents were first married (1945) they were young and eager and excited to be starting their new life together.  After much confusion with my father's passport and whether or not he could come into the country to wed (he was French-Canadian) they finally had their special day.  A very small affair one afternoon in church with only their witnesses there to take part.  A few months passed and the holiday season was coming near, like all young couples they struggled to make ends meet and had few luxuries.  My father worked three part-time jobs and my mother worked full-time so they could save money to buy a house, yet things were still difficult.  I can only assume they had a "Charlie Brown " Christmas tree and a few decorations, that I still have, but were still full of the Christmas spirit.  Living in New York...what could be more festive at Christmas?

As I said, my father worked three part-time jobs one of them being a banquet houseman at a uppity up hotel in the city.  Banquet housemen set up banquets, set the tables, acted as servers and then cleared up afterwards.  Oddly enough when I first met my husband to be he was working as a banquet houseman in a fancy schmancy hotel in our big city!  Anyway, after this particular Christmas party was cleaned up these Santa Claus were sitting on the tables.  They had been part of the centerpieces along with flowers, candy canes, and small toys.  The man in charged told my dad that if he wanted to take one he could, otherwise they would be thrown out.  (!)  And so we had a Santa, my parents first real decoration who was carried to dozens of different houses and set up every single Christmas.  He is made of wood, meticulously carved with wonderful facial features.  A small turned up nose, rose cheeks and of course sparkling eyes.  He has a 'real' beard which has turned it's own special colour over the years, a big round belly, black boots and the red outfit.  He really is a treasure and everyone of us kids loved him.

We used to joke with our parents that they needed to put visitation directions into their will because non of us would ever want to share him.  And true to form we tried to act like grown ups and decided he would rotate around to each of our houses alternating every year.  As you can see I have him, he lives with me...not for the reasons that seem obvious though.  That's another story.

This picture means more to me than any words I could say.  My parents didn't live to see their grandchildren grow up and have their own families.  Maude would be their great-grandchild, or as she says, 'gamma-gamma.'  My lovely son's girl holding the Santa that brought so much joy to our family...my parents would be over the moon.  As for the grandboy?  He ran screaming from the room and wouldn't come open presents until Santa went into the closet for the afternoon.  Maybe next year.

headers...

...just a quick note today regarding my header photo.

this is what you get when you ask your four-year-old grandgirl to help clean up the back porch.  Notice the careful placement of the fall leaves in all their glory, the dirty planters placed at an angle and the 'pop' of colour that the kiddie pool balls add to the overall decor.  Also, having a bench one step outside the back door is absolutely genius for those who can't walk more than ten inches without resting!  I think we may have a future decorator on our hands.   Have a great Thursday peeps.

what matters most...

Miss M self-portrait

Note:
I am not sure where I found this quote or who to credit it to, if you have that information please leave it in the comments.  Enjoy 


"What matters is how kind we were, how considerate of others, how we followed our dreams and encouraged others to do the same, how we made others feel special and cherished. What matters is what we did when no one was looking and how we taught our children to be giving and kind and make the world a better place."

Let's make a deal...

...there is nothing my grand-girl dislikes more than to have her picture taken, unless it's getting her hair washed or taking a bath/shower, but I digress.  If she sees you with your camera she will do one of the following; leave the room, crawl under a table or behind a piece of furniture, hide behind the curtains, you name it.  If you start to insist that she stop for just a minute and have her picture taken then the tears will come and really no body wants to push a little one into crying over having a photo taken.

So a few weeks ago at great-grandmothers house I asked Maude if I could take her picture (she had already seen me with the camera) and her usual response was 'no.'  We talked about it for a bit and I was trying to convince her that grandma wanted these photos so we could see how much she is growing because we don't see her very often, that we wanted to see her ballet outfit and her dance routine and have a way to save it forever and someday she would be able to see what a special, beautiful, wonderful girl she was.  She started to soften ever so little so I told her that I would take one picture of her and then put my camera away where she could see that I wasn't going to pick it up again.  She agreed but it had to be of her choosing, she would tell me when she was ready.   Here it is folks, the one and only photo of my beautiful grand-girl at her great-grandmas house.

monday snap...

I believe I can fly!
All I need is: a happy heart,
bare feet, denim leggings, a princess dress, a pioneer hat and of course a cape.  Got it!

seeking, Monday snap...

...sometimes we have to search for joy,

and sometimes it finds us.  BE playful.

Serendipity or coincidence?

SERENDIPITY

1. The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident.
2. The fact or occurrence of such discoveries.
3. An instance of making such a discovery.

I almost chose serendipity as my word for 2015, then decided to go with be.  Something told me, after much deliberation, to use be.  What was that something?  My heart?  My head?  Serendipity? Co-incidence?  I am not a believer in coincidence.  (A sequence of events that although accidental seems to have been planned or arranged. )  Every part of me believes that everything happens for a reason.  The Universe is a living, breathing, entity and we may never know the how's or why's of it's working.  With that said there are so many things that happen without apparent cause and my heart wants so desperately to believe in the occurrence of some message or meaning held within.

a little story;

last weekend I took my grandgirl to a Princess Tea.  Leading up to and for many days afterward I had been thinking of my mother.  She was an English/Irish red-headed tea drinker.  We grew up drinking tea at meals and I hold some very dear memories of our times together shared over a cup of tea. Not surprising that she has been on my mind.

Yesterday my ex-SIL, whom is one of my besties now, called and we decided to meet for coffee.  It was a wonderful sunny day and I was excited to see her and my niece and to tell them all about tea with Maude. When my friend C came into the coffee shoppe and sat down she pulled out a package, for me.  I thought it was a belated Christmas gift as we had not gotten a chance to visit before the holidays.  No she said, "it's something that has been in the back of my closet for years and I just keep forgetting to bring it to you."  Me??  She thought perhaps that it was something my Mother had bought and put away for one of her daughter's or grand-daughter's.  I opened the box and was overcome.  It was a miniature tea set.

Not something my mom collected but it is something she would have liked.  I think maybe it was something my dad picked up on his travels, put away, forgot about it, and died.   It's been 19years since she passed away and for this to pop up now tugs at my heart so.  I stopped on the way home and bought some roses, her favourite, to add to the display.  It wasn't until I was loading these photos that I noticed a faint rose design on the set.  My eyes are over-flowing and my heart is overwhelmed.  I don't know who it was meant for but somehow it trickled down to me, who happens to collect them for her grandgirl.  So what do you say...Serendipity? or Co-incidence?  My heart says one but my Spock-like brain says the other.  I think I will just enjoy and give this one over to the Universe.   ~j

 

ANTICIPATION...

...the little grandgirl has three cousins on the other side of the family, all girls, all older by several years.  I don't think their mother ever, EVER gave anything away and saved it all for the day her sister-in-law (my dil) would have a child.  Once that happened all sorts of things started showing up at their house, toys, clothes, books, you name it she has want for nothing.

This weekend grandma (me) is taking grandgirl to her first, and more importantly my first, Princess Tea.  It is a grand event put on by the Daffodil Princess' and includes tea, pictures, tiara's, baton-twirling and chatting with the lovely ladies.  I will try to control myself and not wear my fairy grand-mother dress, twirl my baton or wave my magic wand but the little one?  Oh Lawdy.  Let me just say that anticipation is at a fever pitch.

Her daddy called awhile ago to tell me that the little one can't decide which Princess dress (passed down from the cousins) she should wear.  She has at least 1/2 dozen.  So she is going to bring them all to my house in the morning, try each one of them on for papa and I and then decide which to wear.  I'm getting a little excited myself...anticipation!

be joyful and expect beautiful things! 

with silver bells and cockle shells...

everybody needs a little fairy in their life.  How does your garden grow?

the one about the quote...

we had a 'family' get-together last weekend at the great-grandmas house and the kids had a blast picking, eating, throwing, stomping and just plain being goofy in the blueberry patch. (my daughter says she is going to have to watch more carefully just how much of the blueberries get eaten by the baby boy ;))

not long after g'pa had taken this picture Miss M came into the house, gave me a very serious look and very carefully said,  "g'ma, it's a long car ride to Christmas."  What??

Wordless Wednesday...

'punky' gets a 'pixie'

monday snap...

...it's a rainy day in the neighborhood, a rainy spring day in the neighborhood, what is a bored three year old in bare feet and shorts supposed to do?  First off, get mommy and dadda to take you to g'ma and g'pas house.       

 then search for your best 'derby' outfits making sure everyone is wearing a hat.  I ended up with reindeer ears but there will be no pics of that!

 set up an obstacle course and play mini-golf.

 patiently wait your turn while thinking of your next shot...or use your golf club as a flute.

silly.


rather a long week and typing is still a chore so I will update best I can...
Monday last, I had a procedure on my back.  For the most part it went well and I am in considerably less pain.  On Wednesday I had follow-up x-rays on my arm.  They showed no new bone growth after three weeks so surgery was to be scheduled.  Heart doc not happy about that since I would have to be off of some meds for several days and had just done so for the back.  So Thursday I had a CT scan of the arm, cast off, ick, and it showed a small amount of bone growth.  No surgery.  The dr said if I was twelve there would be no discussion about surgery, plates, pins, etc. but since I'm a little past twelve  we would wait to see how the healing goes on it's own. Next check four weeks.  Friday I got a new and improved cast, the colour purple as chosen by M.     How was your week?   I miss you all so much.  I need your comments to keep my spirits up!   Happy Monday y'all.

Monday snap...

...yesterday we celebrated the wonderful, sweet, beautiful Miss M's third birthday.  I'm not quite sure how that could possibly be, I mean, weren't we just in the hospital waiting room waiting, waiting, waiting for her to arrive?  And now?  Three.   Lord, I must have blinked for now I have a son who is a parent of a three-year-old daughter.    As per Miss M's usual behaviour she would not allow pictures to be taken so we had to sneak around to another room and peek around corners to try and get them.

Here she is with her very first baby doll (from her g'ma/g'pa).  A soft little baby that eats and sleeps and will be loved dearly.  The very first thing M did was strip off the dolly clothes to check and see if she needed her diaper changed! 

(Ness) We had chocolate cake with bright princess pink frosting that M and mommy made and that M gobbled up.  (long story for another day).   Lots of gifts and balloons and all her cousins who with the exception of one, our little H, are all girls.  So many girls = much silliness and giggling.  As for the H boy he grabbed on to a balloon and apparently thought it was holding him up for he started toddling all over the house on his own.  Without the balloon he would stop and tentatively take a step, then the string of safety would float his way and he was up and all over the place dodging little girls and big people and toys.  So exciting to be witness to his first steps.  I thought I was 'in love' with my children but being g'ma to their children is a love I never expected to experience.  Gifts of the heart.

Happy Monday y'all.  Hope the weather is warming up for you, we finally got some snow (yay).  I am having some 'minor' surgery tomorrow so please keep a good thought for me as there seems to be no such thing as 'minor.'  

afternoon dellight...

...it's not what you think, at my age the only afternoon delight is when your grandbaby comes for a visit.  And that is how I spent my Friday afternoon.

 We made snowmen since we have no snow to play with.  These were from a little kit that I got at Target for $5 at Christmas.  All the pieces are sticky-back so it's very easy to use, if you are three, if you are an ol' g'ma then it's a different story.

 here is the child completely exasperated because g'ma asked to take her picture, actually g'pa took it but she still was not happy about it.

here are a few on the dozen we put together...all of them represent someone in the family, including our dog.

she's a pretty good speller for her age.  Here she is pretending that her picture is not being taken again.  That girl just kills me!   Happy weekend peeps, stay warm (it was 65degrees here today), be safe, be happy, and go get yourself some afternoon delight.  ooooh that sounds dirty doesn't it!

Monday snap...

...g'baby love~~ain't it grand!

grand-babies lovin' on Christmas Eve. Photo taken with a really crappy iphone so let's call it 'soft focus.'   Happy Monday all.

adorable sweetness X infinity...

I have a secret.  A secret garden.  I only share it with a few special individuals, you know, the ones who love me and think I'm the best grandma ever!

A few summers ago, when I was once again confined to the house and in a wheelchair, my hubby helped me plan a secret garden.  He built a little deck area for me to put a small bistro set on and filled it with many plants that never grew.  Oh well, he did a lovely wonderful caring thing for me and I love his heart for it.

I have since then 'found' many garden kitsch that I have placed in very special places.  One of these is a small bird bath.  It is small.  really small.  Maybe 3x5 and has two tiny birds that sit on the edge.

A few weeks ago, when the sun was still shining, Maude went out in the backyard to play 'chuck it' with Charlie the dog.  Afterwards everyone was thirsty, then she remembered the little birds.  She ran over to the secret place and gently bent over.  Slowly she put her finger in the water and gently touched it to the bird's beak.  She did this over and over until she was satisfied that they were no longer thirsty.

She left a permanent smile on our hearts.