Week One

The week of June 20 - 24 Emery was signed up for C3 camp. It's a summer camp at a church near their house. The kids just go during the day, but it's all day. Savannah didn't want to go, so Jodi asked if I'd like to have her for a week by herself. That way, after she dropped Emery off each day she could (and did) get a WHOLE LOT done at home. That was fine with us.

We had a good week. She got into the daily routine of things around here and helped out when asked and then we did some "special" things. We ran errands one day and had lunch at Cici's pizza. A few days that week my friend, Gail, and her granddaughter, Laney, came over to swim. Savannah wanted to give Laney swimming lessons...and she was very sweet and encouraging to her. Okay...so they got a little silly, too, but that's okay.

On Tuesday Savannah and I rode along with Grandpa when he went to get some mulch. The place where he gets it also has various rocks, gravel and stones for landscaping. We took sandwich bags and I asked the lady there if we could get a few small, smooth stones. She said yes. Savannah enjoyed climbing in the rock pile and picking out some "special" stones, even though she didn't know what we were going to do with them. But I knew. I had a plan. :) When we got home I explained to her that we were each going to make our own Fairy Garden and those stones could be used for paths between our plants. She really got into it and it turned out great. I had found some little things we could use. She chose a couple of fence pieces, a small watering can, a shovel and a tricycle. For some reason, she laid her tricycle on it's side in the "grass" (moss) and Jerry said that was his favorite part. I had gotten a little metal angel for each of us and she came in and rooted through her toys to find a dog to visit her garden. (You can see the stones of her path behind the angel's wings.)

On Wednesday I took her to the Covington library to see Barry Stewart Mann, a story teller. He was really good and we both enjoyed him. On Thursday afternoon we went to the movies to see Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer. It was cute.

So before we knew it, Friday was here. Aunt Jess picked her up after lunch and took her back home. It was a fun week and we each have our Fairy Gardens to remember it by.

Big Project

I am woefully behind in my blogging, so I'll try to catch up...but I need to go back a ways to begin to do that. So please bear with me.

The Monday before Easter (hey...I said I was behind!), I told Jerry there were a few things I wanted to get done that week. One of them was to assemble the swing/play set we had ordered for the grand kids. He said, "We can't get it done by then!" I told him the literature said two adults could do it in two days...after inventorying everything. So on Monday he began to take inventory of the lumber. There were a LOT of boards. He had to measure each one and put little numbers on masking tape to identify them with the instructions. Luckily, the hardware was already in marked packages...because there was LOTS of hardware, too!

I'm not sure how many hours the two adults mentioned in the literature have in their days, but we put in a full day on Tuesday and more than half a day on Wednesday. And we were still only about half finished.

But on Thursday, the "cavalry" arrived in the form of Jodi and the kids. I had wanted to surprise them with the finished product, but they were in town and stopped by to "help". Jodi's intentions were good, but as it turned out -- just about the time she got to our house she started feeling very sick. Sore throat, aches and chills. That was the beginning of a very long bout of flu stuff that was going around here about that time. I had it a few days after her. So she went to lay down and the kids got busy helping us with construction. Actually, it was fun having them involved. They decided their gardening gloves could also be used for work gloves...so they were good to go. After a bit, Savannah was less enthusiastic about the construction and decided to set out a picnic for the workers. So we had a lemonade and goldfish cracker break. But Emery was all about the building and he did a good job with the hammer and screw driver. And he learned what a ratchet was.

Despite all the help, we didn't completely finish until Friday. But it looks great! And now that summer is here, they're in the pool all the time. But they do remember that it's out there every once in a while.

Sunday With the Grand Kids

Those of you with grandchildren know that just spending time with them is the greatest...no matter what you're doing. We had a fun day this past Sunday. Our local high school was putting on their production of Wizard of Oz last weekend and there was a Sunday matinee. I thought it would be a great "girls day" for me to take Jodi, Jess and Savannah to see it. Emery could easily hang with grandpa until we got back. But, as it turned out, Jess had plans to go into Atlanta with friends, Jodi really didn't care to sit through it, and Savannah has decided she doesn't like it because it's scary. We were amazed that a few years ago she would watch it all by herself...but she's changed her mind about it. While we were discussing it, Emery kept saying, "I want to go! I want to go!" So I had a Sunday afternoon date with my grandson. And that was great. (Rest assured, he did not wear the wig to the performance. This is him clowning around in Savannah's costume when she was Dorothy for Halloween the year before last.) He sat very patiently watching everything quietly even though it did drag a little with all the musical numbers. The school kids did a great job, but it was a little slow compared to the movies he's used to watching. Just before intermission, he turned to me and said, quietly, "I don't like it". I told him that was fine and that we could leave when they took a break. So when the lights came up I asked him if he wanted to leave. He thought about it a little, but decided that yes, he had seen enough. He was fascinated with the stage, the props and all the people and we still had a good time.

Meanwhile, back at home, Jodi and Savannah decided they would spend some mother-daughter bonding time and go get manis and pedis. They were back at the house by the time we got there. Savannah also brought her new best friend...a life size (bigger than her) Pink Panther that she got from her other grandma's house and now takes everywhere. It is a hoot. She was sitting on the couch with it and posing it in other places around the house. Finally she decided that PP would make a great new friend for grandpa. So she posed him the way she always sees grandpa: with a coffee cup in one hand and a crossword puzzle book and pen in the other hand. And he really did make a good companion.

One Cheap Nanny

Did anybody else buy their kids Loc Bloc brand building blocks back in the 70s? They were the cheaper counterpart to Legos. Looked just the same and worked just the same. I'm glad they're one of the things I've kept over the years...because now the grandkids are enjoying them all over again. It's just funny to get the (original) boxes out and see the pictures of the little boys on the boxes with their long, shaggy, 70's-style hair cuts. :)

I Didn't Even Know it Was His Birthday

We had the grand kids for the weekend, and that's always fun...and interesting. On Saturday they were both busy for quite a while. I was vaguely aware that they were getting out all their favorite toys from one end of the house to the other. That's normal. Then, after a bit, they came in and announced to Grampy that it was his birthday and they had set up a party for him -- with surprises. All that was required of him was to close his eyes so they could lead him to where they had set up the festivities.

In this first picture, you can see that along with a couple of plates of plastic food, Emery is "gifting" Grampy with a small, fuzzy white evening bag. In the background, Savannah is getting the little Sammy Sosa bear fitted with his Cubs' hat. What becomes more clear in this second picture is that the whole shindig took place in our bathroom! You can see more party food set out on plates on the toilet...and heaven only knows what Savannah is showing him in the "surprise box".

Maybe it's me. Maybe I misunderstood. Maybe they said they were having a "birthday potty". I guess I need to play closer attention when I'm baby sitting.

Philately

Do you know what that word means? If not, now you will. It might come in handy some time in a trivia game. I've been a Philatelist since I was in the 8th grade. No, I don't need a 12-step program. A Philatelist is a stamp collector!

Even though I haven't done anything with my stamp collection for many years, I'm still intrigued and notice the commemorative stamps on the mail I get. When I see one that's different or interesting, I tear off the corner of the envelope around the stamp and put it in a little box in my desk drawer. When the little box gets full -- like it did the other day -- I take them out and soak the stamps off the paper and dry them flat and get them ready for mounting.

Since most of my correspondence these days is by e-mail, most of my commemorative stamps are the Christmas issues for the past few years. But in going through what I had put in the box, I was pleasantly surprised to see some really neat ones again.

Of special interest were these three. When I got my 2006 Christmas card from Jodi and Jeremy, I was excited to see that she had a stamp on it that had the kids' picture on it! The U.S. Postal Service has never come up with a commemorative that's been anywhere near as cute as that. Maybe if they had a series with my grand kids' pictures on them, they wouldn't be in financial trouble. But that's just my opinion. That year I also got one from a friend of mine that had her granddaughter's picture on it, too. Too cute! (That's her -- Mary Catherin Dunne -- in the top right corner of this post). Then in 2007, Jodi again put the kids on the envelope.

She didn't send cards this year, so I don't have one for 2008...but it was such fun to see these stamps again. One of these days I'll get my albums out and play around and I will find a very special page for these very special stamps of these very special little people.

What could be more exciting than this for a Philatelist Nanny?

Tiny Talkers

Every once in a while Jodi will post "Tiny Talk Tuesday" on her blog and share something cute the kids have said. Even though I've been in a sort of a blur ever since getting back from vacation, I AM aware this is not Tuesday. But the kids were over here the other day and said a couple of things that made me laugh.

Emery is newly potty trained now and doing very well. But he was spending the night and so I just felt better if he wore a diaper for overnight. (After all...he was sleeping with grandpa and grandpa can't swim.) Sure enough, it was wet in the morning. But he got up before me and took it off to go potty. Later, I looked for the diaper in our bathroom and the guest bathroom and didn't see it anywhere. I asked him where he put it and he matter-of-factly said, "It was wet, so I put it in the dryer." (!!!! LOL)

Later the two kids were playing together with some toy figures. Have you ever listened to kids when they're playing and using their imaginations? It's pretty cool. I was only slightly tuned in, but I heard Savannah say, "This is the guy that poop decks the ship." (Say what????)