A day of conversation with a four year old.

My Hubby John, AKA Papa, my four year old Cutie-Patootie Neve, and myself went out for a drive in the car this afternoon. The purpose of the road trip was to do an errand, stop at the DQ for ice-cream and then to try to lure Cutie Patooie into falling asleep for an hour or so....plus it was a beautiful afternoon to just take a drive. After errands and ice cream Cutie Patootie was quite content with her blanket and thumb and the Hanna Montanna CD playing and spent most of the drive just watching out her window and enjoying the scenery.
HJ and I also enjoyed the ride. On the way back into town, Neve started becoming more alert and was quite eager to tell Papa and me stories. She is very good at story telling and although most of it made no sense at all to us we enjoyed every thing she said. When we got back home it was off into the back yard to plant magic paper (paper with flower seeds embedded in it) and tomato plants and to scrub down a stool that has been waiting for Neve to get at it for the last two weeks or. While we were working on the various projects Cutie -Patootie kept up a steady flow of conversation. It was pure girl talk this time. We talked about hair barrettes and finger and toe nail painting, the pros and cons of her high heels and why ladies shave their legs and men don't. We talked about her getting pierced ears...when she's a big girl and she also told me why boys shave their faces but girls don't. Apparently boys are scratchy when they kiss you if they haven't shaved. Girls don't get scratchy, well maybe a little bit when they get really, really,really old. (See what I have to look forward to in my old age?) We discussed a certain boy in school, (she is in preschool BUT NOT with the toddlers, her words not mine.) and how a certain boy always calls her names. She told me that her teacher said that he just liked her and that's how boys show that they like a girl. We both decided that boys could be weirdo's sometimes. We also discussed how boys shouldn't wear too much jewellery and that boys shouldn't wear lipstick. After a small comfortable silence Neve looked me in the face and said, "Grams, I'm glad I'm a girl" When I asked her why she said, "Because girls rule and boys lick and drool!" How could I argue with that logic? She obviously gets her intelligence from the females in the family.

Forever and Always No Matter What!

For the last twelve weeks, at least, life at our house has been upside down and turned around! Lots of hours banked at work and lots of stuff going on in our home life. New houses being built for John Vincent, Sarah and Neve, teachers college started for Jaime and lots of travelling here there and everywhere for Mike. Fundraisers attended for Benjamin and a benefit dance that had to be organized. A major illness with my mother to deal with too. House repairs and redecorating got started and is still happening. A fiesta reunion with family and friends that attended Mike and Jaime's Mexican wedding was held at our home and there was a university graduation to attend also. I was so busy that I forgot my own anniversary. Hubby John had a beautiful bouquet of flowers sent to me at work and was kind enough to only tease me a little bit about my forgetfulness. Shows how busy my mind has been. Sometimes it felt overwhelming. This was a wet summer with all the tears that have been shed. Thank God for really supportive family and friends. They were and continue to be a tremendous support group for us. Yesterday as we ate lunch outside under a beautiful Indian summer sun, Hubby John commented on how our summer was gone already and that because of having such a busy schedule we didn't get a chance to really enjoy it. Yes, we did get away for a week in September to the beach and had a grand time with the cutie-patootie Neve. It could have snowed that whole week and it wouldn't have mattered as all that counted was that we were with her. We also got a extra long weekend at the end of July and again were able to spend time with Neve. It's too bad that all of our gang could not have taken time off work to go to the beach. As it was we got one day with son John Vincent & Neve and one day with daughter Jaime and Neve. Unfortunately Sarah(JV) and Mike (J) could not join us so that was a bit of a bummer! It is really hard to get the whole gang together. I told Hubby John not to worry. Another summer would be here before we knew it and we still had lots to do around the house to get us through the upcoming winter season. I am done for the time being with extra hours at work and fund-raisers and am looking forward to spending time with my little pieces of the world, Hubby John, Neve, John, Sarah, Jaime and Mike. I've missed all of them this summer and am looking for some quality quiet time with them over the next few months. They are all, each one of them, my heart light and I love them all. Forever and always no matter what!

PS....I love you too!

Hubby John and I were married quite young. I was only seventeen, he was nineteen. We weren't pregnant so didn't "have" to get married but we were very much in love. I was very naive in the ways of the world and he was not that much more worldly. By love, devotion, and sometimes the seat of our pants we got through all the hard and bad times. Along the way we raised two beautiful intelligent kids, John Vincent and Jaime (who take after their mother of course! hee...hee...) and have managed to create lots of wonderful memories. I have had the pleasure of being married to Hubby John for almost 36 years. That's a lot of time spent together. Like most other couples our age, we are very busy in our lives with immediate and extended family, a cutie-patootie granddaughter that we adore, jobs and everyday living. We get so busy with everything else that sometimes we forget how important the small stuff can be.
The other night at dinner, Hubby John reached over and took my hands in his, looked me in the eyes and said, "I love you so much."
Awwwww............
That was not what I expected him to say. I thought he would say how happy he was or make a comment about the cutie-patootie, or about Benjamin or tell me how tired he has been lately or how he wants to get the house renovations finished. But those three words? Boy, he caught me by surprise with that. It's not that we don't tell each other that often, we do. It's just that he was so serious when he said it.
"I Love You." Even after all these years, Hubby John saying those three little words can make me smile and remind me again, why I married him. He is my better half, my best friend and the man I love. He is everything I have ever needed in my life. He has been with me through laughter and tears, good times and bad times. He is, partly, why I am the person I am today. I am so lucky that he is my husband. I am so blessed! I thank God every day for having brought Hubby John into my life all those many years ago. So John, this blog is for you. I want to thank you for best years of my life.
PS....I love you too!

This is what makes me happy.

With one thing and another

and a dash of plain laziness added in,

I didn't get my weekly "This Is" blog

done in a timely fashion.

So this week I am posting it late.

As a wise woman once said,

better late than never.

P.S. A big thank you to Jacinta for this weeks topic choice.

THIS IS WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY.
The "F" word makes me happy.

Actually there are 3 "F" words that make me happy......
Family, Friends and Food.

What more does one need in life?

pics by Jaime M. & Tami's Photo's

OUR WONDERFUL EVENING.

Yesterday was not a good day and I signed off my blog with hopes of a better evening. The evening turned out to be a very good one. Our Cutie-Patootie Neve came racing to the front room after we arrived at her house. When we asked her why she was naked and had no clothes on she replied that she had to come to see us before she got dressed. After hugs and kisses, off she went to get her clothes on. She was in good humour which is always a good thing.

We had a wonderful evening full of hugs, kisses, laughs and giggles and ice-cream at Micky D's.

We sat in the car to eat our ice-cream and watched as cars on the road tried to get through the water that a torrential rain storm had dumped. Water was pouring up over the curbs and on the road it was, on most cars, to the bottom of the doors. At times we could not see out our front window because the rain was coming down so fast and hard. But we were warm, dry and happy in the van and sat through the whole half hour of it with no problems. After ice cream we took Neve back home and dropped her off with her parents.

Off to our own home went Hubby John and I still smiling at our wonderful evening.

HAVE A GOOD NIGHT.

Today was one of those days where, if I was that kind of person, I could have easily bagged off work. I did not feel like going into work this A.M.. I woke up with a headache and was tired and cranky. But I did my duty and off to work I went. BIG MISTAKE!! The air conditioning was not working. GRRRRR....... Sheila, my office cohort, and I worked in a very hot, hot office all day. We would go out to the hallway or to the plant to get relief from the heat. It was around 89 degrees fahrenheit for most of the day. They finally got the A.C. working a half hour before I left for the evening. Now I am really tired and still have a headache. The only good thing about today is that I get to see my cutie patootie tonight. I am smiling now...... :)
I hopefully, will get a hug and a kiss when I get there and if not that's OK because I still get to watch her. Anyway, hubby John is almost ready to leave so I'll sign off and say have a good night.

Happy Father's Day.

With today being Father's Day I wanted to make this blog a male theme. I have three favourite men in my life. Today, I am going to put one of these three in the limelight.
Hubby John, you are and always have been a great father and a wonderful papa.
Son by marriage, Michael, you will someday be a good father. Seeing you interact with Neve, Gabriel and Michael leaves no doubt of that whatsoever.
Son, by birth, John Vincent, this blog is for you!
You are an amazing man. Yes, I am biased. You are my son.

But you are also a great daddy to Neve. You spend time with her, not because you have to, but because you want to. You are patient with her when you need to be. Strict with her when you need to be. You love her unconditionally. It shows when you are with her.

I wish you could see your face when you are watching her. The love you have for that little girl shines through, like a glow, for all to see. I am always bowled over at your devotion to Neve. I know I shouldn't be but for some reason it always takes me by surprise every time. I think it is because to me, you are still my baby boy, not a father with a child of your own.
That you would open your heart and life to a child who is not of your own blood shows, not only to me but to anyone who already knows or just meets you, what a wonderful, caring and loving man you are.
I want to say thank you for all that you do for me and dad.
I want to say thank you (and Sarah too, of course) for bringing Neve into all of our lives.

I want to say that I am so proud of the man you grew up to be and of all the accomplishments you have achieved.

Last, but never least, I want to say that I love you very much.
Happy Father's Day!

Sweet Dreams

Neve, my three year old cutie-patootie, had to have three cavities repaired. The decay happened because of her birth beginnings in a land far away. That is where she was nurtured for us by others, until we could bring her home to her forever family. It is the norm in that country to feed orphanage babies very bland rice formula and a type of rice cereal/gruel called congee. Sugar and sweet syrups are added to the formula and cereal to make it more palatable for the babies. They eat more and fuss less. Unfortunately, this practice causes early tooth decay in the some of children and one of them happen to be Neve.
On advise from their family dentist, Mommy and daddy took her to a child dental specialist to care for the baby teeth in question. They tested nitros oxide on Neve but it did not work correctly on her. It was then decided then that the best course for her would be to administer a general anesthetic. Both mommy and daddy would have to be there. One to drive home and the other to sit in the back seat with the patient. These were the dentists instructions. Not an issue to worry about. Both mommy and daddy booked the future day off work with their employers. The big event was to be done in a few months time. No Problem!
Insert Murphy's Law here.
Saturday, Daddy left for the USA on a work trip that had been planned and booked for the last few months.
Monday the dental office called and announced that they had moved Neve's appointment up.....to Tuesday.
Mommy Sarah, quickly rearranged her schedule and then she called Papa John who rearranged his work schedule to be a substitute driver for Daddy.
Neve did what she does best and danced around in her fairy princess dress. She was not worried in the least.
Meanwhile, mommy, daddy (by phone and email), papa, grammie, Aunt Jaime, Uncle Mike and others who knew about the change in plans, were, of course, concerned with the upcoming dental surgery. We need not have worried.
Neve sailed through the procedure, got home, slept, ate jello, threw up the jello and slept more. Apparently she woke up this morning barking like the puppy she likes to pretend she is. Mommy knew as soon as she heard the first bark that Neve, my cutie-patootie, was OK! Hopefully, there will be no more cavities and we won't have to go through this again.
If we do, I think I will ask the dentist to give us the anaesthesia too so that instead of worries we can all have sweet dreams.

There's No Place Like Home

For the last nine days I have been away on vacation frolicking at the ocean side in Hatteras, North Carolina in the USA.

http://www.lighthouseview.com/attractions.htm

It was a wonderful holiday. There were six and a half of us on the trip.
The half was my cutie-patootie Neve. Papa and I got to spoil her everyday for a whole week and we enjoyed her company very much!
Neve's mom and dad, Sarah and John V., holidayed with us as did her Nittie (grandmother) Carolyn and her Aunt Sue. It was a wonderful holiday. We rented a beautiful house on the ocean shore and for five days we sun-bathed, read, ate yummy home made meals, napped on the deck, the couches and the comfy beds, played games, collected shells, fed the sea-gulls, ate snacks, lots of snacks, and went for walks.
The beaches along the coast were absolutely beautiful. White sand, clear water and lots of sand dunes. The native year-rounders were very friendly, helpful and kind.
The real reason for the trip was a three day course that John V. had signed up for. He spent the part of the week learning how to Kite Board. This sport involves a kite that looks like a parachute, a body belt/harness and a board that was like a small surf board or a large boogie board, depending on your point of view. One morning we went out to watch John and his course mates as they were or were trying to sail over the ocean. Some of them were being lifted up into the air (it was extremely windy) and others were falling off their boards. All of them were wearing wet suits against the cold wind and freezing water and all of them, or at least those with any brains, wore their sun glasses and sunblock. John V. hadn't taken his diving gloves along on the trip thinking they wouldn't be needed. He ended up buying some to protect his hands against the cold water. Even with the cold temperatures both in and out of the water, John was happy with the three day course.
We ran the gambit of weather: clear, cold, overcast, sunny, hot, rainy and windy.
It was warm only part of the week but it didn't matter to us because it sure beat having to deal with snow. The only shovel we needed was one to help make sand castles on the beach with Neve.
There were a few days that the wind was unbelievable. You couldn't go out on the beach or you were blinded by flying sand. It was also really freaky having the house, furniture, showers, toilets and lights swaying. The house was built on stilts and for a moment or two I think we all thought we were having dizzy spells or the beginnings of a hurricane. That was a very strange experience. The wind was strong enough that it caused most of us to get wind burnt the first few days. I looked like a tomato by Wednesday and it sure wasn't from the sun.
We did get to bask for a day or two in warm sunny weather and that will hold us over until our spring, here up north, gets settled in completely.
There was enough sun later in the week that I got burnt and am now starting to peel. No, I didn't have block on. It was a cool day when not directly in the sun and reading on the deck didn't seem like a cause for sun-screen. In hindsight it was a stupid thing to do. Neve, I am glad to say, did have sunscreen on as did her mommy.
My hubby John, forgot his hat and had to buy one as he got sunburned on his head. He was concerned when he found out that I hadn't brought a hat with me either and surprised me with a new one in a pretty shade of blue. He is so thoughtful and I love him for that.
We spent a day shopping for souvenirs and driving out past sand dunes and seashore until there was no road left.
On the last day of vacation some of us ate lunch at a restaurant known as Dirty Dick's Crab House.
http://www.dirtydickscrabs.com/
This restaurant caught our attention by their advertisement: "I got crabs from Dirty Dick".
Hmmm.....makes you just want to stop for a bite don't it? No pun intended.
I had a fresh fish sandwich and I tried some of hubby John's fresh crab. I liked both, which for me, a non-fish eater, is saying a lot. I also tried some fried potato salad and Sarah and I shared a fried banana split. That was different tasting for sure.
I spent part of the week on the seashore looking for smooth, thin, round shell pieces. I picked up a lot of them. I am hoping to make them, eventually, into buttons for craft and sewing projects for myself and daughter Jaime.
Sarah and her mom, Carolyn, are both avid seashell hunters. Early on the morning we left, they went out for one last shell hunt. I was so happy for Sarah when she came back with a starfish in perfect condition. It was a great ending to the week.
All in all, we all had a wonderful holiday. I'm glad I went.
I am, however, glad I'm back.
I agree with Dorthy, who wears the ruby slippers, when she says,
"There's no place like home."

All That Matters

As long as I can remember I have wanted to be a grandmother. I waited, and waited and waited for almost 10 years after my son John Vincent , who is a great kid, got married to a wonderful girl by the name of Sarah. It was a long wait and I kept my fingers crossed and hoped it would happen...sooner than later.
I must admit that I made it clear to the kids and anyone else who would listen that I wanted to be a grandmother....NOW.....! In hindsight I was probably a real PITA (pain in the ass)and I think John V. and Sarah could have cheerfully strangled me on more than one occasion. It would have justifiable homicide to be sure.
So when the kids gave us a pink card that had a picture of baby feet on the front and "Congratulations"" on the inside I was sooooo excited.
After what seemed to be a long time later, we went to China with the kids and we were lucky to be there when their new daughter, Neve, was presented to them.
It was more than just exciing. It was a dream come true.
I was so happy when I held our Neve for the first time. She didn't say anything and I didn't say anything. I was content just to hold her and smile and she was content just to be held.
We understood each other then and we still do now.
I have gone through two names during this whole process. I started out as gramma. I am now and think I will remain as ...grammie. This last title was Neve's choice. I don't know why or how she came up with it but it fits me and Neve likes it.
I am, I think, a good grammie. I hope that my "cutie-patootie" Neve, thinks of me and will remember me, in the same fond way that I think of and remember my own "Grams".
I tend to be the strict one with our little three year old granddaughter.
I say "NO" more often than her beloved papa,and my husband John, does.
John doesn't work on Fridays, oh the joys of owning your own business, and he babysits Neve on the last day of every week. He has done this since she has been a baby. He simply adores her and boy, does she know it. Talk about being wrapped around her little finger.
John is more likly to turn a blind eye to the little things. She is his "sunshine pal". It is a very exclusive position.
I, on the other-hand, tend to see everything and am quicker to say NO, STOP or DON'T. In Neve's words, "Grammie is mean."
Oh well, somebody has to be the bad guy and I have big shoulders.
Neve doesn't always like me, and that's ok because I know that she always loves me. We have an agreement, Neve and I, she can be mad at me and not like me as much as she wants, but her and I will always love each other, forever and for always, no matter what.
She is my "cutie-patootie" and I am her grammie.
And that's all that matters.

Days when you just want to say. "It was a good one!"

Sunday is one of my favourite days.
Lazy, lazy, lazy,
do nothing
or something
or nothing,
munch, munch, munch,
and then munch some more,
don't answer the phone,
until you hear who's calling,
and then answer or not,
read a good book, or not,
watch a good movie, or not
snooze, snooze snooze,
wake up and punch the cushion
into a more comfortable shape,
and then snooze some more,
think of doing something,
then don't,
think of doing some more,
and still don't,
eating chocolate.....in any form,
or not.....
drinking hot tea....in any form,
or not.....
just thoroughly doing whatever you want to....
or not.
This is how I usually spend my Sundays......
Today, however, was extra special because I got to spend
some of it with my wonderful hubby and 2 very special girls in our lives.
One birth daughter, Jaime and one choice daughter, Jen.
Look at the picture of them both at Jaime's wedding in Mexico, 2007.
You'll understand why we are so proud of them both and love
to spend time with them whenever we can.
We brunched together and talked, and talked and talked.
Jaime lives 10 minutes away, Jen lives an ocean away.
We don't see Jen often enough and when she is here her
birth family has the nerve to want to spend time with her,
as do her other friends.
Alas, we don't get to hog her to ourselves.
So she is always rushing here and there and everywhere.
We take whatever time we can get and enjoy it.
Maybe if we are lucky we will see her before she goes back
to the ocean and her ship sails on.
Jen, we love you....stay safe.
Your other mom and dad.