Wet Velvet

I read this really great blog post recently and I just really agreed with the mom.

Don't Carpe Diem

www.huffingtonpost.com

Parenting is hard and yet we keep doing it. It is a difficult climb that you look back on with both frustration, failure, and humiliation and joy, pride, and hilarity. Even as a Grandma, I am still climbing that mountain. And because of that I feel I can share this story.

It's scary and messy, and after a couple weeks even a little funny. But like all the other spikey outcroppings you have to get over on your way up the mountain, you just keep going.

It's about my cute granddaughter, Kelly. I LOVE HER. She is absolutely adorable. And we are the best of friends. We like the same toys and scary movies. I love her sparkly shoes and her tutus and wish I could find them in my size.

She's quirky!

Dramatic!

Imaginative!

Helpful!

She's 3.

I left her alone in the living room, watching a movie on the iPad and playing

with her own toys. I didn't think I had left her there long when she came to me saying, "I have just gotten marker all over me." She had marker on her arms and ankles, feet, and toes.

I jumped up and ran into the living room. This is what I found:

I just stood there without a clue as to what to do. I called for help. Rich and Harry came running. I was crying a little. This sofa belonged to a great aunt of my father's and was given to my parents and then to me. I was really glad my mom was not here to see it. (I felt a little like the day my 2yr old daughter had peed in a velvet chair at my mom's.) Anyway...

I wished I'd just flipped the cushions and left it. But maybe out of fear of my mother, I felt I had to try to clean it up. Do you know what happens when velvet gets wet?

(By the way- do you see the little happy face in the corner?)

I wasn't as worried about my iPad. I'd had one of those expensive shields put on it- thank goodness! It took a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (what an amazing invention) but I got it clean.

Harry took Kelly upstairs to give her a bath. She went calmly and enjoyed splashing Harry as he scrubbed her clean. I congratulate myself for not screaming at her or spanking her- 2 things I'm sure I did often as a young mom. (See? Experience is a good thing.)

I spent a night really upset. And old wet velvet is SMELLY!

Kelly stayed with Sissy (Sandi) the next day. And you know what? I missed her. A lot.

The next day Kelly came running in with the cutest "I'm sorry" card (colored with markers of course).

And the best "I'm sorry" present.

I climbed over that spike on the mountain and kept going, hugging, tickling, and loving Baby Kelly all the way!

P.S. On Wednesday we went out and bought Color Wonder markers and paper.

Nativity

Luke 2:40
40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.

As I watched my grandchildren running wildly through the house during our annual Christmas pajama party, I sat (amongst the Mr. Potato Head parts and Lala Loopsey dolls) and wondered how Mary and Joseph felt when Jesus was three. OK, really I was wondering where Mr. Potato Head’s nose went (hopefully not into Roko’s mouth) and how come the three years olds never step on Hot Wheels when my feet are totally bruised from them. But I have been thinking about Jesus as a toddler all season long.

Mary and Joseph knew they were raising the Son of God. So what was it like for them? Were they more diligent in telling him stories from the scriptures? Were they more careful not to let him get hurt? Did they worry they weren’t feeding him the best foods or keeping him warm enough? In other words were they like any other parents?


Did they marvel at his smiles and giggles?


Did they watch him run with his cousins and hope he didn’t fall and get hurt or put a hole in the wall?


Did they teach him to play nice with everyone even girls and even if they’re having a tea party?


Did they build forts with him and snuggle him close?

The scriptures don’t tell us what He was like as a toddler except for that one verse in Luke. But I’m sure He was sweet and kind and polite and fun. Just like my grandchildren.

Now, if I could just find Mr. Potato Head’s nose.

A Shared Birthday

I have 2 granddaughters. Sabrina and Kelly. They were both born on the same day...9 years apart. Today is their birthday. Kelly is 3 and Sabrina is 12. Each year since Kelly was born they have their picture taken together in matching outfits and they go out to dinner together (This year it was Kelly's turn to choose. She chose Chuck E Cheese.). Then they have separate parties at some point. This year, Sabrina's is a swim party tomorrow and Kelly is having pink cupcakes at her house tomorrow night at 7. They are such good friends (of course being the only girls helps). They love to shop and dance. Sabrina will occasionally play Barbies with Kelly and Kelly will sometimes let Sabrina hold her on a floaty in the pool.
I hope Kelly and Sabrina always have fun sharing their birthday. I think it's great


PS. Ya know what's really strange? My sister and I (we're twins) share our birthday with our cousin, Anita. And we are 9 years apart.





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad.

Miscellaneous Stuff

On Sundays I doodle on little scraps of paper. Sometimes I will post them on facebook. But most often they just sit around until I throw them away.

I came across a few that I decided to color and finish and share, along with what was going on in my head while I was drawing.

ONE JUMP AHEAD OF THE BREAD LINE

Harry played Aladdin in his school's muscial. I was really proud of him. Lots of kids came to see him and he was so sweet to take pictures with each. While thinking of him one Sunday, I doodled an Aladdin.

IF WISHES WERE VWs WE'D ALL DRIVE

I'd like to be able to draw cars and rockets, but I really can't. The cars always look like this one:

And the rockets almost always look like this one:

A HOPE FOR SUMMER

We had a really wet spring this year and it seemed as though Summer would never get here. We'd have a couple warm days and then it would pour. And the snails! They were every where. Waiting for warmer days and dead snails led to these Sunday doodles.

THE THICK AND THE THIN OF IT

One Sunday I was thinking about my continual battle with weight. I am round. I've tried to be skinny and managed it for a few weeks here and there during my life. But I always return to my plump self. Why is that? And then it hit me. It's about carrots and Fudgecicles. Which one would you choose?

OLLIEBOT

Kelly had her second baby last month. His name is Oliver. We call him Ollie. And sometimes Olliebot. I made him a cute romper to be blessed in and embroidered robots on it. Although two of the robots came from Stampin Up, I drew one and his little dog too.

CANNON BALL SPLASHES

And then summer was here with hot days filled with swimming and cannon balls. We've had some great parties so far. We've swum into the dark of night while the Tiki Torches blazed. There have been under water voyages and jungle cruises. And Andrew can do an AMAZING cannon ball!

THE BLACK CLOUD

If you read my previous post, you know that my life is not going the way I'd like. I'm mad at God, the Church, BYU, all the perfect people in sacrament meeting, and I have no intention of coming out from under my black cloud any time soon.

SO THERE!

Rain Rain Go Away

Rain, rain, go away,
Come again some other day
Little Johnny wants to play.

It's been raining and raining.
Chairs in the pool.
The lemon tree blew over again.
The church parking lot was flooded last night when I took Harry to Mutual- which, actually was kind of fun.
I left my rain coat at Dave and Nancee's. So I really couldn't go anywhere today.

The first day was OK. It's exciting to listen to the rain hitting the windows and the wind whipping the trees. But after the third, fourth, fifth day it's ENOUGH already. It's not fun anymore to dart from the car in the parking lot to Target. It's no longer funny to see how much debris has blown into the pool. Even splashing through puddles is getting old.

I don't know. Should I start studying up on how to build an ark? Or should I just accept it and enjoy the knowledge that eventually it will stop. The sun will shine again. Then the flowers and trees will begin to bloom and before I know it, it will be warm again and I will be floating in the pool.

So...today, while it's raining and I can't go anywhere (because I did my hair and I do not want to get it wet even if I would like to wander through Target) I decided to doodle some "rainy day" thoughts.

Whether it's struggling through with the help of an umbrella, or splashing into puddles with complete abandon, or just snuggling with your favorite quilt, let's just make do and look forward to the sunnier days ahead.

I AM the GRAMMA!

My patriarchal blessing is kind of boring. It just says the normal stuff about being a good girl, getting married, stay faithful- ya know nothing huge like "you'll be a great leader" or "you'll succeed as an artist" (which was what I was going for). It really only says one personal thing to me- "Your children will be the brightest jewels in your crown". I was nineteen and this just wasn't the "fortune" I wanted to hear. So I went on my merry way. I eventually got married and started a family, never once thinking that they were in any way "jewels".

Fast forward some 37 years. It's Christmas and everyone is seated at the dining room table. The grandkids are wiggling around. Kelly is expecting her first in March. Before the blessing I stand up to give a toast.

Before I tell you the rest I need to explain that all 4 of my kids live close. Sandy and Dave live in the next town over, Kelly lives about two hours away, and Harry is still at home.

So ... the Toast. I tell them about my patriarchal blessing. I hadn't thought about it in years and never understood what it meant until recently. I tell them that they truly are the jewels of my crown and that they are the reason for my life. Then David's wife, Nancee, announces she's pregnant with their 3rd so I sit down.

There's a saying that I've seen on those boards you hang in your living room: "Each time a child is born, so is a grandmother." I'm one of those grammas. Neither my grandmother nor my mother was one of those grammas so I decided to make a real effort to be THE GRAMMA.

So what makes a great "GRAMMA"?

In my opinion she needs to be round (OK, she doesn't have to be, but I am.)

There are the fun things grammas should be able to do:

• Baking cookies with small children who are messy and drop eggs on the floor is helpful.
• Having toys -no-having lots of toys and preferably in a huge closet or playroom is a big thumbs up.
• Cooking only favorite foods for dinner is popular and having every kind of ice cream flavor for dessert doesn't hurt either.
  
• Riding bikes, practicing ballet, swinging, swimming, playing catch, crashing hot wheels cars are also good skills.
• Sleepovers are a "MUST".

Then there are the serious things grammas should be able to do:

• Saying "NO" without causing a fight is crucial - I'm still trying to master this one.
• Making sure every grandchild feels equally special is so important. I try really hard, but sometimes the parents get jealous.
• Sometimes being "Doctor Gramma" is important: "He'll be fine." "Use Desitin not organic Buttpaste." "It's just a cold." "Eating dirt will not kill her." or "You need to take him to the doctor. I've never seen that before."
• Always having a lap to sit on, a shoulder to lean against, a knee to bounce, a listening ear and a kiss on the cheek are standard equipment.
• If at all possible BABYSIT! If a gramma is at home and her grandchildren need a sitter the gramma should help.

Now I realize that not all grandmothers have the ideal situation that I have with my grandchildren living close, but there are lots of ways to BE THE GRAMMA. My sister talks on the phone to her granddaughter everyday and they visit through the computer by skyping and email. I know grammas who text or even write letters. My son-in-law posts a picture of Roko everyday on Facebook for me (and everyone else) to see.

Being THE GRAMMA really starts in your heart. You have to realize what a special role you have and how it influences the lives of your grandchildren and your children.

Bill Cosby once talked about his parents, as grandparents, were not the same people they were as his parents. I think I've heard my kids say the same thing about me.

So my patriarchal blessing...the brightest jewels in my crown...watching "Hot Wheels Force 5" with Andrew...what more could I ask out of life?

The End of Summer

It's the last Saturday of summer vacation. Harry starts school on Monday and I get to go back to watching Andrew and Kelly while their mom serves lunch at Nate's school.

Harry has had a great summer. He never went a week without seeing some if not all of his friends. They had movie nights and beach parties. To end the summer, Kelly took him and his girlfriend, Rebecca, to the Warp Tour in Sacramento yesterday and I babysat Roko. Today, Harry is at a swim party celebrating the finish of his summer homework.






Other great accomplishments this summer include Nate learning to ride a two wheeler, Andrew swimming under water and Kelly learning to walk (both she and Roko turned


one this year). Sabrina spent the summer between me and Gramma Pam. She kept me active all summer, riding bikes and exercising on Wii. Harry did not get his license-we both dragged our feet and now he won't get it til Feb (but it will be a great birthday present).

I love to see summer come and hate to see it go. I'm not ready to give up the pool (although I don't really have to until the middle of next month- it just gets harder to find the time). I love having sun light until 9pm. And oh how I love sleeping in (which of course will end with the beginning of seminary).

As far as I can tell, the only good thing about summer ending and school beginning is Back To School Shopping! Harry went with Rebecca and came home looking like a Jonas Brother! Sabrina, of course was the cutest to dress. But really what I like, what I look forward to every year, what I'm probably addicted to, what I can't walk by in Target without stopping to dream... is School Supplies- mostly crayons. I had Sabrina take inventory the other day:
18 boxes of crayons- after we donated 6 boxes to the 1st grade
6 boxes of colored pencils
6 boxes of skinny markers
5 boxes of fat markers
some scissors
I didn't even count the pencils because I buy them by the box



What's really strange is this doesn't even seem like alot. There's just something about new pencils and crayons and scissors, and rulers, and notebooks, and cute folders. My cousin, Barbara, didn't like school until the invention of colored Flair markers. After that she did all her homework in different colors.

So another summer ends. 294 days to go.

Tresures in the Attic

OK, so we don't have an attic, but that sounded better than Treasures in the Old Storage Unit.

We've had this old storage unit for probably 20 years. (That's 20 yrs at $42 a month...I don't want to know or hear about it.) It hasn't been opened in 15. Today we decided it was time to empty it. Why today? Well... David wanted his GI Joes for Nate because the movie comes out next week.

Did we find the GI Joes? Yep, along with Rambo, Masters of the Universe, Star Command, baseball cards and Construcs.



Nate was in Heaven!
We also found the Cabbage Patch dolls and other "girl" stuff: yearbooks, New Kids On The Block, love notes, etc., but we took it all over to Sandi's garage so no pictures.

We kept toys so our children could share them with their own kids. Wow! How time flies!

Did we find anything else? You bet!

• Antique hats and china that belonged to my Aunt Martha. My Aunt Martha didn't have any children. Jeanette and I were her favorite nieces. She bought enough china for both of us. The hats are beautiful. One is from Neiman Marcus. I tried them all on.

• Tons of old books. Including this gem: "Welcome Aboard An Informal Guide for the Officer's Wife" from when Rich was in the Navy. I don't remember reading it.

• Rich's old record albums. He was so thrilled! They're all in perfect condition. Too bad we don't have a turn table anymore. He also found our first computer-an Amiga!

• But the real find were all my Uncle Jimmy's (married to Aunt Martha) cameras.

There was one antique Poloroid. The rest are all Kodaks. One is a Brownie that was in the box! One looks really antique and one looks like it just came out of the store. Along with the cameras were a million slides I can't wait to look at, a very old slide projector, and lots of old flash bulbs, camera bags, and other supplies.

What a day it was!

Where am I going to put the china?