I have the BEST daughters, husbands and grandchildren

What does that really mean?

Last Saturday was the celebration of Casen's reaching 1 month of age.  Michelle invited Gary and I to the ceremony at Loan and Ha's as well as to their house for the afternoon celebration.  What fun to be included in the traditions of another culture.  Michelle and Jeremy are amazing as parents to little Casen.  He is a joy to hold and watch as his personality comes shining through all he does.

Then on Sunday, Mother's Day, we got invited by Eme and Jon to have lunch with them and Brianna.  Jon and Eme made wonderful brats with a salad for lunch and spent time just talking and watching a little Twins action.  Brianna is such a cute little girl.  It is so cute how she sucks on her tongue when she gets hungry.  She very much loves her daddy and smiles often when he talks to her.  I am so proud of Jon and Eme and know that they are loving parents who will continue to teach Brianna what she needs to know.

On Saturday, at the big celebration for Casen, Margaret and Jerimy came with Oliver and Lucius.  Neither boy has been feeling terrific but they came to support J and Mick.  Oliver, as I have been told by my other daughters that I talk about all the time, is such a joy to watch exhibit his independence.  Lucius is the smiliest little one that I have encountered.  He seems to always have smiles for his Mormor and loves to come and cuddle with me.  Jerimy and Margaret are also doing a fantastic job raising two little men to be what they need to be.  I love how they both take turns to make certain that time is spent with both of the boys.

On Sunday, Mother's Day, in the afternoon; I talked briefly with Laura as she shared the story of flowers and "doo doo".  At these times, when I want nothing more than to be with all of my daughters and their families, it is hard to be so far from John, Laura and Danya.  I love so much to read Laura's blog on all of the fun updates in little Danya's life.  John will soon graduate with his doctorate and we could not be prouder of what he has accomplished in these past years, raising a daughter, being a husband and provider and finishing school too. 

As I reflect on the blessings of my children, I think about what each had to say to me on Mother's day -- Eme said, in her card -- "I can only hope to be as wonderful of a friend/mother to Brianna as you have been to me.";  Laura sent me an email to simply say "I Love you so much!"; Michelle brought me a flower to work with a card that said "What a blessing you are to me."; And Margaret, too, sent me an e-mail to say "I Love you.  Hope you had a great day."  What wonderful sentiments from 4 wonderful daughters.  I love each of them and pray that what they have received from me over the years will be sufficient to keep them able to teach their own children with love and understanding.

Oliver's First "Camping" Trip with Mormor & Morfar

Oliver joined Gary and I for a Friday night sleepover at the trailer. What fun it was to take him with for his "first camping" trip with Mormor and Morfar. Jerimy dropped Oliver off at the house with certain instructions: What do we do with fire? O's response: Don't touch, fire is hot!; What happens if we spit? O's response: Time out (Daddy politely informed him that Mormor and Morfar would put him in time out too); When can you drive? O's response: Not until I am 16 years old (not sure what this had to do with camping but great response).

After packing up the car we headed out for our adventure. Oliver shared all kinds of wisdom with Mormor ad Morfar as we took the 40 minute drive to our trailer at Kozy Oaks Kamp in North Branch. He was a very excited little boy.

We got to go for walks, sit by the fire, stay up late, have breakfast, go to the park, walk the dog and most of all spend a wonderful time with Mormor and Morfar. He has such wisdom for his age. It is so fun to hear what he will share with you. He is also one who can make anything sound like it was your idea -- i.e. Oliver: "Oliver wants to go for a walk." Mormor: "Oliver, do you want to go for a walk?" Oliver: "Okay". And he does it with great success.

We kept him up a bit beyond his bedtime because it was a beautiful evening and he was enjoying watching the fire (and selfishly, we were thinking he would sleep later in the morning). However, he did not really sleep all that much later than normal but was so cute when he woke up in the morning. On the back of the couch, where he slept, I have several stuffed moose. I hear him not saying good morning but instead he says "silly moose" to no one in particular.

Enjoy the little slideshow of Oliver's "camping" trip. And thanks Oliver for coming to spend time with Mormor and Morfar. We will go again soon.

Spring Break Fun

This past week was Spring Break from work. It was my privilege and honor to spend that time with my granddaughter, who is a special little sweetheart. What fun it was to have mommy drop her off so she could go back to work and watch her. Our days were filled with inter-acting with each other , playing on the floor , and just cuddling .

Thanks Brianna for coming to share Grandma's spring break.

Friday, because Eme wasn't working I had the opportunity to have "the boys" over for the day. Lucius is such a smiley baby and loved to be on the floor looking at the baby gym and smiling at his Mormor .

Oliver was more than happy to discover that Mormor has a "big" back yard that he could go and play in with Kleo . Of course we had to bring out the sandbox to play in and discovered that Mormor would let us go up and down the stairs by our self this year .

Thanks Oliver and Lucius for spending your Friday with Mormor.

What better way to spend your spring break than with three very lovable grandchildren. Well, I can think of one but we are still waiting for Mick and J to have their new little one.

Sunday Afternoon

On Sunday afternoon, I was invited to have some snuggle time with my grandsons while Marmee and Daddy went to a movie. I love to have the grandkids over and jumped at the chance to have some time to spend with them.

When they arrived at lunch time, Oliver having already eaten said to us "actually (his new cutest word) I'm hungry". Of course, how can you turn down feeding him yet again when he says things like that. He also asked if he could have a chip, please Morfar and who are we to refuse such a polite request.

After Marmee and Daddy left, Oliver and Morfar went outside to play as the sun was shining and it was warm. Morfar told Oliver that they had to stay on the deck because of the dog poop that he had not picked up. Oliver turned to Morfar and said, "Dog poop is huge mess." Boy, does he have that right. He played for quite a while with Morfar outside and then came in to play inside.
Lucius fell asleep before Marmee and Daddy left and stayed asleep swinging in the swing. He did wake for a while and I got the chance to hold and snuggle on him while Oliver dumped all the toys out of their baskets and took his Morfar downstairs to play with the "new" toys and animals.

When he came upstairs, he shared that "actually, the big Teddy Bear is right there (on the couch)". He carries the big bear all over and likes to sit in the little rocking chair and rock with it, however there really isn't enough room for the two of them. Oliver doesn't mind, he just squeezes in the chair with him.

Thanks Oliver and Lucius for spending Sunday afternoon with Mormor and Morfar.

Actually, I suppose I should thank Marmee and Daddy for bringing you over for the afternoon.

What weekends are for . . .

Celebrating, Dining with Family, Snuggling with Grandbabies; and Doing Laundry. This was a weekend to do all of those things mentioned.

Saturday morning we celebrated with Michelle at a baby shower that Margaret and Eme hosted. What fun to play games with family and friends. As a surprise to Michelle, Jenny Gable showed up to share in the fun with her baby, Rainey along with 14 others. Michelle received lots of fun things and all had a good time.

Snuggling with grandbabies is just something fun that I get to do quite often. Thursday evening I snuggled with Oliver while Margaret and Eme did the shopping for the shower on Saturday. Then on Friday night I went over to Eme's to snuggle first with Lucius, then with Brianna while Margaret and Eme prepared the food for Saturday's shower. Both of the girls commented on the fact that they didn't know how I did it with two babies AND a three year old. I guess I made it through because I had to and when you do it you just don't think about it, you just get it done. It wasn't without it's frustrations but the time spent was also a joy. And what fun to be a help to both of them so they could enjoy each other with babies near by but not to have to run each time one fussed. Then during the shower, I had the joy of holding Lucius, Brianna and Oliver.

On Sunday Eme and Jon provided lunch for the family. What fun to sit around the table and enjoy conversation and stories with each other. The girls gifted me with an early birthday present, explaining that I am hard to shop for and they thought they had an great idea for a gift and then I went and bought it myself. A week ago I bought myself and new rocker/recliner (which is what they were going to help pay for) so that when I did get those times when grandbabies came to the house I could rock-a-bye with them. But still their gift was very humbling for me and appreciated more than they will know. Thank you so much Laura & John, Margaret & Jerimy, Michelle & Jeremy, and Eme and Jon. I love you all.

And then Sunday afternoon arrived and I realized that if I wanted clean clothes for the week, I had better do laundry. So the afternoon and evening was spent doing that task. Now I am ready for another work week.