Funny Fridays

Having three grand-babies keeps Hubby John and I young. It's like HJ always says, "if we'd known grandchildren were so much fun we would have had them first!". LOL! Our newest addition to the grand-babie pool is Ronan David.  Ronan was born on 12-12-12.  Lucky little boy.  He is now almost five months old an is starting to become aware of his surroundings and his family.  He is starting to smile more now that his mommy seems to have found what she can and can't eat while breast feeding.   Ronan is a much happier little man than he has been these last few months.  We enjoy him so much and can hardly wait until he starts to play with us.  We don't get him without mommy being there yet, but that will happen eventually.   The wee fiend, Kian, will turn 3 in June.   He is so much fun to be with. He has learned to run, how to say NO, how to flirt and how to make his Grams and Papa laugh...all the time. Papa is his daycare on Fridays and now that I have every other Friday off I get to join in the fun. The WF loves to walk and we do a lot of walking when he's around. He also loves puddles and HJ and I can hardly wait for the spring thaw. Lookout puddles...here we come. My Cutie-Patootie, Neve, is now, according to her, a big girl, not a baby anymore. At eight years of age, she is right in that she is big, but she will always be our grand baby. CP is still a source of humor for us. Whenever we have her, even if only for a few minutes between school and dance classes, she is sure to come out with words of wisdom, that from a eight year olds point of view, make perfect sense. Most of what she says's makes us struggle to keep our laughter from exploding outwards and making her indignant or mad or both. CP is growing up too fast and we don't get enough of her during the school year. Hopefully, come schools end, we will have have her a for a few Fridays.   Won't that be GREAT? All the grand babies on the same day. Come summer, I think HJ and I are in for some funny Fridays.

A Walk Down Memory Lane

After cleaning out the front attic I phoned my baby boy, John Vincent, to come in and go through the boxes of his stuff that had been stored there. JV is 38 and has been married and out of the house for over 15 years, so his stuff had been there for some time. I think he was quite pleased to see some of the "oldies but goodies" that had been waiting rediscovery. HIs daughter and my Cutie -Patootie, Neve, had a great time asking her daddy what this was and what did that do. JV had a Vic 20, which you may remember was a early version of the home gaming systems. It was in the original box and had all the tapes, connections and cables. I think JV may put it on EBay, Craigs List or wherever, to see if he can make a profit on it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained I say. There were a bunch of old dinky cars with dates on them, teen magazines and books. A chemistry set which had all the test tubes and burners in it. Nothing poisonous in the chemicals; they were dispersed of and the glass tubes were recycled. There were little bits and pieces, the things that little boys keep and collect....you know what I mean, snakes and snails and puppy dog tails. A Dukes of Hazard car....the metal one that Hubby John and I took months to find and give JV as a Christmas present, many years ago. Hot wheels and his beloved skate board which JV used to go all over town on, without a helmet, I might add. An old lunch pail full of buttons, not the ones you sew on clothing but the kind that have advertising and logos and saying on them. A stuffed toy or two, and a whole box of McDonald's treats of the weeks surprises. Of course these are the older ones that were made quite well really with heavy plastic not the thin stuff they use today that breaks if you move it wrong. There was what I thought to be a Transformer but was informed that it was a "Go Bot". My mistake! A wrist Racer that still worked and a dinosaur robot that worked but had pieces missing. In one of JV's boxes of memories, he found Spider Man action toy (it no longer worked) and the arch villain Green Goblin, that still works after all these years. There was one of his baby toys, a Fischer Price Merry-Go-Round with one of the original people still on a horse. It works, sort of. I plan on taking it apart to see if I can fix it. Another find was a plastic "ray" gun that makes lots of noise and looks like it is sparking, when you pull the trigger. My Cutie-Patootie, Neve, was quite taken with that particular item. Unfortunately for her, daddy and mommy refused to let her take it home. Parents today have no sense of humor. Hubby John and I thought it would be a great thing for CP to play with at HER house. LOL! Apparently we are wrong. Go figure! So the noisy ray gun will stay at our place for CP to use when she comes to visit. There was so much more in the boxes. Some John Vincent kept, some he tossed and some got donated to a fund-raising garage sale. It was a great evening and we really enjoyed it. It's always fun to take a walk down memory lane.

We would have had them first.

Hubby John and I were lucky enough to have my Cutie-Patootie Neve, sleep over last night. Her mom and dad were going on an overnight trip to celebrate their anniversary which is coming up this week. After mommy dropped Neve off, the three of us went out to do a bit of shopping at Walmart and the dollar store and then went over to one of our favourite restaurants for supper. Except for the chicken dumpling soup, which is always good, the rest of the meal was quite disappointing. We haven't been there for a few months and I was so looking forward to a good meal. I was not happy with it, but the three of us did enjoy the soup anyway. We went straight home after the restaurant. Neve had gotten a new Hannah Montanna CD so that was put in for her to watch before bedtime. We were all falling asleep early and shortly after nine PM I declared it to be bedtime. Neve didn't even argue. We were all that tired. Saturday morning everyone was up and out of bed shortly after 9AM. Hubby John made a good breakfast for all of us and then off we went to buy Neve's mommy and daddy an anniversary present from her. Neve wanted to buy them each a picture frame, but not the same one. I have no idea where she came up with this choice. She picked out two very nice frames and then she got a sparkly rose that unzipped to become a shopping bag for mom and some mixed nuts for her dad. When we got home she printed a note to go in the card. Hubby John and Neve went into the hot tub for a few hours while I washed and blow dried her dog, Charlie (we were dog sitting too). He had jumped into the hot tub when they were not looking and he smelt like wet dog......which I hate. So I gave him a bath and then read for a bit while watching my Hubby and Cutie-Patootie get all wrinkly from the water. When they were all done and HJ declared the hot tub closed, I whisked CP into the house for a shower and hair washing. Then the three of us snuggled down with the newest Barbie movie, which was an excuse for Hubby John and myself to take turns dozing and for Neve to have some quiet time. Neve's mommy and daddy were home around 6:30 to pick up the dogs and the Cutie Patootie. She presented them with the gifts she had bought them, and after all the oohs and ahhhs and kisses and hugs, we all went out to W town for supper. It was our anniversary gift to them and we all enjoyed the meal very much. We all said goodbye and after more hugs and kisses, off went Hubby John and I back to KW town. Sigh....so far it has been a great weekend! We just love having Neve stay over, which isn't often enough for us. Grandchildren are the best! It's like Hubby John always says, if we had known grandchildren were this much fun, we would of had them first!

The best part of our summer.

There I go again! Weeks and weeks since my last post! I have not been motivated to turn on the computer to even read my "Blogs that make me go Ohhh!". Well, that’s not quite true....I did sneak on to read a few of them....I'm not saying which ones because it might be taken as showing favoritism and it shouldn't be taken that way. I didn't even leave a comment on the few I quickly read and I hate doing that but I was just too tired to do more than get a quick blog fix. Both Hubby John and myself have been busy....at work and home. But we are still trying to spend time with Cutie-Patootie and Mr. B. as often as possible. Hubby John and I took Cutie Patootie Neve to the beach twice this summer. We had a great time (both times) and played and ate and jumped in the waves. Good memories for us all. Papa (Hubby John) and Grams (that's me) go over to spoil Kian (aka Mr. B.) at least once a week and I know we would both be there every day if we could. He's just so cute and cuddlable (is that a word?). He's only six weeks old but he changes a wee bit every time we see him. So we see him as often as possible without intruding on his mommy and daddy too much. I can hardly wait for sleepovers…..although I know that is a looong way away yet! The summer has flown by so quickly and I did not even go to one garage sale OR to Michael’s. THAT is saying a LOT! I love to do both so it just goes to show how busy I/we have been. Mind you, last Thursday I booked a day off work. HJ was having some dental work done up in E town and I went along for the ride. While there, I managed to get some great deals. E town just happened to have a sidewalk sale and the annual book sale at the local library that day. It was great! I got to spend a hour or so browsing and buying some used books. Then I went into a thrift store that I didn't even know existed, picked up a few things and when I went to pay for them, was told they were all half price. HOW GREAT WAS THAT?!?!?! Needless to say, I was a very happy camper for sure!
HJ and I haven't taken full holidays this summer. I get every other Friday and Monday off so it hasn’t been too bad. Hubby John books his appointments around my time off whenever possible so it’s all good.
I am hoping to maybe get away camping up north this year....in the fall.... Maybe......we'll have to wait and see how the money and work (for HJ) goes. He needs to take work when he can get it. We've had a lot of expenses this year with one thing after another. Now my car is in the shop to replace the door latch assembly on the driver’s door. $700.00 plus dollars for a door handle? I don't think so! That cost was so ridiculous that I told them to find a generic or a used one instead. The generic one does not exist apparently, so I am now waiting for them to procure the used part. Had it been one of the back doors I would have just left it, but crawling through the passenger side and over the gear stick thingy is just too much of a pain.....literally.....Do you know how high you need to lift your legs to do that? Trust me....it's higher than it looks! You need to be double jointed or a Zen yoga master to do that without hurting yourself. I can definitely say that I am not either one of those. LOL!!
Anyway, time just flies too fast at our household. I am hoping that HJ and I will have some down time in these last few weeks before September descends on us. There are thrift stores, garage sales and Michael's stores just waiting for me/us to spend time at. And we both definitely need lots more Cutie-Patootie and Mr. B time too! After all, spending time with those two grand babies is by far the best part of our summer.

What a busy Friday.

Today was Neve day. It was my Friday off of work so I got to spend with with two of my favourite people....Hubby John and Neve. We had our Cutie-Patootie overnight, which is always a treat for us. After a very late and lazy start to our morning we went off to visit with the newest addition to our family. We has a really nice long visit there and then off we all went to the mall looking for a few items. We got the most important items on my list, chocolate from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and cheese popcorn for CP and a bag of salted buttered for Papa from Kernels. I wandered through a new shop in the mall that sold all kinds of really neat odds and ends while CP and papa grabbed a fresh squeezed OJ and a banana yogurt smoothie. A very short time later we went back out into the warm, muggy, overcast day. This was the type of weather that made you want to stay inside in the bright lights and air conditioning. We stopped and ate lunch at a brand new restaurant that had just opened on Thursday. Papa had wired this particular establishment and since we always try to patronize businesses that he does work for, it seemed like the perfect day to eat there. My goodness.....that was a very good lunch.! The coleslaw and french fries alone are worth going back for. Cutie-patootie had a child's portion of Fettuccine Alfredo and she has enough left over for another meal. Papa tried it and pronounced it to be very tasty. I took a sip of her apple juice, which turned out to be apple cider, and it was very good too! Papa and I shared a roast beef sandwich, fries, coleslaw and a Caesar salad. We had way too much food and next time we will know that this restaurant serves large portions and will adjust our orders for sure! While Papa drove the car, Neve and I walked across the street to the outlet mall. We all met in the parking lot and then went inside to the Lego store. Neve had never been there and was amazed at all the things that had been built out of lego's. Papa and Cutie-Patootie built a Lego car and ran it on a race track. The car fell apart a few times but eventually, after a few adjustments by both Neve and papa, the car did make it to the bottom of the track in one piece. It was a great way to spend a half hour or so. After the Lego store we had to make a stop at the dollar store. That is where I buy my zip lock bags and I needed to pick some up. I also picked up a Canadian flag bumper magnet that I will ship off to Switzerland next week. It is for a transplanted Canadian teacher, who orders one of the teachers plan books every year, from the company I work for. I spoke to him last week and he had asked if it would be possible for me to send him a Canadian flag decal for his new car. He has offered to pay for it but I will just send it to him as a small gift from Canada. Anyway, we left for home after Cutie-Patootie decided on a treat for herself. A pink hair extension wig with built-in hair band. You can see her a mile away when she has it on. She also got a package of stick-on earrings because Papa promised the earrings to her last time and forgot to pick them up for her and a promise is a promise right? After we got home it was time for one of the Barbie movies to be put on. Neve and Papa cuddled up in the big chair with her blanket while they watched the movie....again....for the 100Th time at least. Lucky Papa! He got to snuggle her for a good long time. They both also got a much needed nap. It was a really good day and we are all tuckered out. Cutie-Patootie will sleep good tonight for her mom and day. Gram's and Papa will sleep good tonight too!

Take me out to the ball game.

I am not a real big sports fan. I do like to watch the occasional golf game even though I don't play it myself. I also enjoy a good boxing or Judo match. And once in a while I like to watch a tennis match even though, again, I don't "do" tennis. Sometimes when your a Grams or a Papa you do and watch things that you normally would not do or watch.
For the last month or so Hubby John and I have been going out to "W" Town to watch our Cutie Patootie Neve play soccer. The teams consist of Jr and Senior kindergarten children. It is a non competitive sport in that it's meant to be an hour of activity for the kids and an opportunity for them to learn a new sport and how to be part of a team. No scoring is kept. It is the funniest thing to watch. Last week in the middle of a run to the opponents end of the field, CP who is on the burgundy team and her her best friend, who happens to be on the yellow team, both stopped to compare their shoes. Then another girl stopped to find out what the conversation was about and all three were showing off their fancy footwear. Needless to say, parents of all three were shouting at the girls to "go get the ball!". HJ and I did not yell with the other adults. We were too busy trying to hold each other up so we didn't fall down laughing. Would I miss one of my Cutie Patootie's games? Not for a million dollars! Where else can I go and laugh all evening and not have to pay for it? We get the best seats on the field. We get to laugh all evening. We get to cheer for the other team when they make a goal OR block one. We get to see coaches trying to keep some kind of order. (Note I said trying.) We get to see soccer players stopping to watch ants doing whatever ants do, while they, the players, are in the middle of a game, and we get to watch everyone stop to go and help someone who has fallen down, even if he or she is not on their team. Last week we spent half the night watching a little guy take 2 steps, stop to pull up his pants, take 2 more steps and stop again to pull up his pants and then run all the way down the field while holding up his pants. Finally we got the coaches attention and the pant problem (ties not tied) was fixed. The little guy ran the rest of the game with his pants staying put.
Silly me......I always thought that soccer was a very boring game. Boy, or should I say Girl, was I wrong! I am starting to think that "W" Town Monday-night soccer, is a game I could watch every night of the week.

It Was Good While It Lasted.

Tuesday night is Neve Night. We take or pickup supper and go out to her house. The five of us, Neve, Mommy Sarah, Daddy John Vincent, Papa and Grams eat together and after supper is done Hubby John (aka Papa) and I (aka Grams) spend time with Neve (aka Sunshine Pal or Cutie-Patootie). We play a game, read or just cuddle together on the couch watching Tree House on TV or just talking about her day. Mommy and daddy take advantage of the free time to do housework or watch a favourite program on TV or whatever.
Mostly it is Papa and my Cutie-Patootie who cuddle on the couch. They are best buds and do everything together. CP completely adores her Papa. If the Cutie Patootie is even the least bit tired, Grams is a second class citizen that can only lurk around the edges waiting for the odd smile, hug or if I am really lucky, a kiss. SIGH! Sometimes it's hard being a Grams.
Well, last night I hit the buried treasure. For some reason that only a five year old can justify, Papa was on the outs with my Cutie Patootie. She decided that something he did or didn't do, while pushing her on the swing, wasn't right and that he was not to be blessed with her company for the evening.
Awww.....poor Hubby John.... hee...hee...hee....
Lucky Grams!!!!!!
Papa tromped off into the house, disappointed that his adorable granddaughter was not spending time with HIM. Poor Papa!
Now mind you, I had to work really hard to get to a level where my Cutie Patootie would actually smile for me. I still had to be the meanie Grams that she knows and loves.
The conversation went like this.
" I don't like Papa.
"Yes you do Neve, your just upset with him. You really don't "not like him. Your just upset with him at the moment."
"Papa really aggravated me Grams".
"I know he did, but he really loves you."
Yes, she really does use the word "aggrivate". Now while this conversation was taking place Neve is trying to shrug out of jacket.
"Neve, put your jacket up on your shoulders. It's chilly out here."
She turns her body so she is completly turned away from me.
" Neve, please do it now."
" NO, ...I don't want to!"
" Neve, you have two choices. You can put your jacket on, properly now.... or you go into the house."
"I am hot, I don't want it on!" (With this she proceeds to take it off completely.)
"Neve, you can be upset with me if you want to but put your coat on properly....NOW!"
The coat reluctantly got put on.
Then came the "if I don't look at you, you aren't here" stage. While that was happening I continued on chattering to her, asking her what kind of mud pie she was making, if Papa was going to get some, how Charlie, the dog, was so funny looking, and Oh!...look there is a robin on the fence. My Cutie-Patootie pointedly ignored me and continued making mud pies. After I saw the robin I asked her if she remembered the nest that the robins had started and abandoned last year. I went over underneath the deck and made a show of looking for it.
Curiosity is a great pacifier in a five year old and within minutes she was over beside me and pointing it out. I complimented her on her good eyesight and asked if she would like to see the nest. With a smile and a "Oh yes, please" my Cutie-Patootie watched while I eased the nest down. The next half hour was spent answering questions:
Why did the mommy robin leave the nest?
Because there were too many little girls, dogs and grownups coming and going all the time and getting too close to the nest.
How did the mommy take the egg with her?
There were no eggs.
How did she get it to go like this?
Well, see where she started at the bottom with mud? She how she built it up and then took twigs and grass and string and more mud and wove them all together? Then she just kept adding more and more until she had it just right. Dooesnt't it look just like she braided everything together? But see how smooth the bottom is and how round the sides are? Then the robin took really soft grass and put it inside the nest so when the eggs were ready to come out of her they wouldn't break.
Won't she use this nest again this year?
No, she'll make a new one somewhere else.
Grams' I wish she would make another one here.
Well maybe some year when your bigger and the dogs are more quiet she might.
I would like that Grams.
So would I Cutie-Patootie.
Grams, can I go see Papa now?
Of course you can.
Sigh......it was good while it lasted.

Easter Adventures of Lois, Hubby John and the Cutie-Patootie.

I have been so busy lately that I just remembered that I forgot to post about my wonderful Easter weekend. Duh! I will post about what's keeping me so busy at a later date. It seems the days are just flying by and I forget to let everyone know what's been happening in my life. Anyway, I had a wonderful, busy, looooong Easter weekend. It started on Thursday. This was my long weekend off at work and I got Thursday off in lieu of Friday, which of course, was a statutory holiday. So like I was saying, I didn't have to work on Thursday but Hubby John did. I had a list of to-do things that needed to be done. There was banking, house cleaning, grocery shopping and errands to run for HJ but I also wanted to to take advantage of a free day and get some thrift shopping done as well. I dropped by a few of my favourite thrift stores between doing the other errands. I bought the prettiest little cut glass bowl for $0.35 and some pretty paper dollies for a $0.10. I also got a pretty little basket that had butterflies on it for $0.25 and another small pale pink basket that had a pink-white-washed one inch metal rim around the top of it. It will make a lovely gift basket with maybe some flower seed packets and a pair of garden gloves or garden tools in it or maybe some nice soap with a pretty hand towel and hand cream. The best part was the price at only $0.25. I bought a little ceramic dish that will eventually be used as a soap dish. That cost me another whopping $0.25. I also bought a certain something that will be part of a certain Mr. Bump's gift at one of the three Bump Showers that are coming up in May. I fell in love with it and thought that it was perfect for the occasion. That cost me a whole $2.00. Only the best for our soon to be baby boy bump! The last item I bought was a lovely stationary box full of Christmas cards and note paper. It was brand new and I paid $3.00 for it. That item is destined for a hostess gift come November/December of this year. Pretty and inexpensive. I love finding really good deals. Thrifting was one of the most relaxing parts of my day. I got to slowly take my time poking around some of my favourite thrift stores and I got some really good deals to boot! All those pretty items for $5.20 with tax included. How great is that???? Very great I'd say!!! I was a very happy camper! I was also a very tired camper after my thrifting, grocery shopping, banking, and stopping at the pharmacy, Bulk Barn and Dollar stores to pick up Easter candy for all my kids, both big and small. I had one more errand to run for Hubby John and then it was time to head home. I didn't get the cleaning done completely because I only had a half hour or so before HJ got home from the job he had been doing. Geese...the day had just flown by. There was enough time for each of us to take a quick shower and then we were off to pick up the Cutie-Patootie from day care. We were very excited because she was staying overnight. We went out for supper at one of our favourite restaurants had a long quiet dinner while CP told us all about her day. Afterwards we stopped in for a few grocery items that had been left off the list and then made another quick stop at Zellers and the Bulk Barn and then we went home. While Cutie-Patootie and Hubby John cuddled in the easy chair to watch a movie (Mermaid Barbie) I got all the housework but the vacuuming done. It had been a good day...long, but good...and we were all in bed early because we were going to have an even busier day on Good Friday. That story will be coming up in my next post, so stay tuned for the further Easter Adventures of Lois, Hubby John and the Cutie Patootie.

Hop-Scotch and the older generation.

Being a Grams of almost 55 years young, I have come to a stage in my life where there are some things I can't do like I used to. At least not without certain safety guards in place. This evening was Neve night and Hubby John and I went out to Neve's house and had supper with her and John V. and Sarah like we always do. After supper Neve decided that she wanted to play with her new indoor hop-scotch game. It's a cute little thing with foam tiles cut out in the design of a hop-scotch game and it has two foam discs that you throw instead of rocks. HJ decide that Grams should play it with Neve as he was too tired. I was more than happy to play. The good thing was that the squares were very close together and the couch was right beside the squares. That way I had support to get back up without killing my knee caps completely. That was safety guard number one. I did OK with the game until square number seven. Seven hops forward and seven hops back.....think about it ladies.....do the words "occasional incontinence" mean anything to any of you? You get my drift right??? Neve announced that another game was in the plans and Papa agreed that yes, Grams would play again. I stated quietly to HJ that I didn't think I could play another game without wetting myself. At that comment, Neve piped up with, "Well Grams, if you have to go to the bathroom just go"! At that HJ started to laugh as I tried to explain to Neve about old people and bathrooms as I headed in the direction of the nearest one. HJ was good enough to explain to Neve that Grams was too old and tired to play more hop-scotch and by the time I got back they were putting away the game and getting ready to read some books together. If in the future Neve asks me what I need to do to play hop-scotch again I'll just say, "Depends".

The bright spot in my day.

The bright spot of my day today was when I got home.
My Cutie-Patootie Neve and I sat with our feet dangling in the pool and discussed bumblebees, birds, ants and flies and a few other things. All very interesting subjects. The questions and statements that she comes out with make me laugh. But of course I must remain serious because she is very serious. After all it is some very heavy stuff that we discuss. Here are some of our conversation topics that we touched on today.
1: Why do flies drink water?
2: Why do bumblebees sit in the flowers?
3: What's pollen?
4: Why are they more scared of us than we are of them?
5: Is that a dead ant?
6: Why is it dead?
7: How did it get in the water?
8: Will the bee eat the ant?
9: We can't eat ants....can we?
10: Why is that bird red?
11: Why does it come into our yard?
12: Doesn't it like the neighbours yard?
13: Why can't we see the nest?
14: Gram's did you know we have a nest at my house where I live?
15: Did you know there is a mommy bird and it sits on the eggs?
16: Did you know that Wilson went pee on the nest but then it rained and that cleaned the pee out of the nest? (don't ask!)
17: I don't think the mommy robin likes Wilson.
18: When is Papa coming back from the store?
19: Do you think he got lost?
20: Do you like my pigtails? Papa does a good job doesn't he?
21: How come my nail polish is almost all gone from my toes but yours isn't?
22: I don't want olives on my pizza.....or tomatoes.......I don't like tomatoes......
23: How come you like tomatoes Grams?
24: How come the water is warm here?
25: Are my magic paper flowers going to get bigger? (Subject for another post one of these days)
26: I don't want green pepper on my pizza.....I don't like it.....neither onions...
27: Remember we grew onions in the garden last year Gram's?
28: I am getting to be a big girl aren't I? And look how long my hair is.
29: My feet are all wrinkly dinkly... are yours?
30: Why is Papa taking so long? Are you sure he's not lost?
These are just a few of the things we voiced opinions on.
My head is still swirling from the swiftness of jumping from one subject to another.
Wasn't it just the GREATEST afternoon ever??!!??
Yes it was.

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.

Here I come!

So far this has been a most excellent long weekend for me. On Friday Hubby John and I had our Cutie-Patootie Neve for the day. We spent most of the day outside watching her ride her bike. Neve wanted hot dogs for lunch so Hubby John barbecued them, stuffed them with cheese and relish and served his two ladies outside in the sunshine. Mmmmmm Good! After lunch we all made a quick trip to Canadian Tire to buy a much needed basket, horn and handle streamers for Neve's bike. We had promised Neve a trip to Dairy Queen for a treat but first we drove around for a bit hoping that she would fall asleep for a nap. After 45 minutes so she piped up from the back and asked her Papa how long was it going to take to get there. So we got to the DQ stopped and enjoyed our treats and on the way home Neve did sleep. So we did get her nap in which was a good thing. Neve was in such a great mood the whole day and a great time was had by all of us. After her daddy picked her up to take her to her swimming lessons, Hubby John and I just sat outside enjoying the sunshine and reading. Later we did steaks and potatoes on the BBQ and I fried up a whole mess of fresh mushrooms. Very tasty! By midnight I was up in bed and sound asleep. Saturday morning I tidied up the house and got ready for our pot luck dinner that evening. Part of our "gang" joined us for dinner and as usual we all ate way too much really good food. The rest of the group came by later on for cards and munchies.....like any of us needed them!...and a good time was had by all. Today and tomorrow Hubby John and I plan on spending some time together....maybe working on the bathroom.....maybe not....we'll see what happens. Right now I am going to make myself a cup of tea and a piece of toast and I'm going to find my book to read. Look out sunshine ...here I come!

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE

Happy Birthday to my Hubby John.

I hope you have a great day. I have no doubt that you will.
Last night while we were asleep, the Easter bunny made her rounds. When the family gets here they will find all kinds of sweet treats to munch on. My cutie-patootie Neve will find a basket filled with some bunnie cookies, children's music CD's, stickers, a princess writing pad and pen, some new Pooh magnets, a packet of dried mango, gummie bears, a candy necklace and a few kinder surprise eggs.
The sun is shinning and the weather is suppose to stay nice for the day. Hubby John and I will move the cars to the end of the lane so cutie-patootie can ride her bike. The chalk is ready for making pictures on the sidewalk. The bucket of bubbles are all ready to go. I am sure that Aunt Jamie and Uncle Mike will take full advantage of their spoiling privileges. Well, grams and papa too! Great grandma will be here and might even blow a few bubbles. Ya never know...especially with my mom...lol!
I think that John Vincent and maybe Hubby John too, at least some of the time, might just keep an eye or two on the TV today. Who will win the Masters? I think maybe there might be a few surprises on that course today. I also think that the Easter bunny will be very far away from all those golf balls flying overhead. Too bad they don't dye the golf balls in different colours for today. That would be a fun thing to see wouldn't it?
Back at our house the eggs are boiled and are waiting for Neve and Papa to colour them. That is one of their jobs today!
Papa's birthday cake is ready and waiting to be decorated. Neve and Aunt Jaime and Sarah will will need to do that job. Chocolate birthday cake will take care of dessert along with Long John's, chocolate brownies, lemon meringue tarts and some chocolate mousse. Something for everyone.
Hubby John will barbecue chicken, pork and steak. There will be a lettuce salad, asparagus, carrots and corn, pyrohys (perogies)with sour cream, Easter bread, schveetly (sp?)(beet & horseradish relish), and roasted potatoes. Jaime is bringing a broccoli salad and Sarah her sweet potatoes. Doesn't it sound so yummy? Oh my goodness, I feel stuffed already!
I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter and that it keeps you hopping at the exact speed you like to move in. So HAPPY EASTER everyone and by the way, the curtains are up and they look great!

I'm worn out.

My four year old cutie-patootie Neve is all girl. She loves "doing" her hair and wants to wear skirts and dresses whenever possible. She is very concerned about the possibility of being mistaken for a boy (Heaven forbid that should ever happen!) so she wants to have her hair left long and not cut short. She likes to play princess dress-up, have her nails and toenails painted and wants to wear lip gloss (she is only allowed to wear Burt's Bees lip moisturizer as it is all natural). She loves going to ballet class, wearing her body suit....her new one is pink with rhinestones...pink hose and a little pink swirly skirt that moves "just so" when she twirls around. Neve plays with her dollies and her little kitchen and has a jewellery box that plays music and has a ballerina that dances when the lid opens. She likes to wear her beads and bangles and hair clips.....lots and lots of hair clips. She has Polly Pockets to play with and watches Hanna Montana because HM dresses appropriately, has manners and the show always has a good story line that teaches children positive behaviour. Neve's mom and dad say that HM is a good role model for young girls. Neve likes to have tea parties with her stuffed bunnies, kitties, bears and dogs and likes to play in her pink princess castle. She does have some toy cars, a garage and a carpet that looks like a village with streets on it that she plays with as well. But for the most part Neve is ALL girl who loves playing with her "Girl Stuff".
Today Hubby John and I spent the afternoon with old friends. We hadn't seen them for awhile and they had invited us over for the afternoon and to stay for dinner. While at Ginny and Carl's we caught up on all the family news and bits and pieces that happened since we last spoke to each other. They have two grandsons, aged three and a half and one and a half , that joined us along with their mommy and daddy for our visit. C & G's grandsons are definitely "ALL Boy"! We gave each of the boys an age appropriate toy. Xavier is the older and we gave him a police car that makes noise with its siren, has a flashing light and falls apart when it hits anything. Devon, the younger one got a little track that has two little soft cars, just the right size for his little hands, that drive away when you push a big button at the starting area. Both boys were thrilled with their new possessions. Both played with their cars the whole afternoon and each wanted the cars on the table or on their chair during dinner. Zoom, zoom, zoom, crash, crash, crash! Down the hallway, under the table and through the kitchen. I got tired just watching them. They were so cute to watch and they were so busy with those cars. They were loud and rambunctious and their energy level never wavered. It was high gear from the time they got there to the time they left for home. They were defiantly all "Boy" and loved their "Boy" toys.
I think there is a difference between boys and girls. I think Neve is quieter......sometimes. I think her energy level is not as high....sometimes. Hmmmm....could it be that I am wrong on this? Without having a boy and a girl to study on a regular basis I don't think I can make a true assessment.
Girl or boy. Boy or Girl. Blue or Pink. Pink or blue. At this age it really doesn't matter. What it really boils down to is that I am getting to old for this....and I'm only fifty something. Whew!!! They really did a number on this old lady. I need to go to bed now. All that energy has worn me out.

You just might like it.

Tuesday nights are Neve nights. Her Papa and Gram's (that's me and Hubby John) take supper out to her house and we all, (Neve, Sarah & John Vincent aka Mommy and daddy) eat together and talk about our day. Supper over and then it's play time for my Cutie-Patootie Neve. Mostly Papa gets to play with her as Gram's usually falls asleep on the couch. Mommy and daddy go off in the house and do their own thing. Sometimes we sit watching TV while Papa and Neve play a game or pretty ponies. There is always time for conversation among all of us before Papa and Grams's have to pack up and go. Lots of hugs and kisses are given and received before we leave. It's always a fun evening and we always look forward to it. Sometimes we pick up "take-out" - subs, pizza or whatever. This past week, in keeping with Hubby John's and my attempt to keep our budget on budget, I took a crock-pot of PULLED PORK. The recipe was courtesy of daughter Jaime. It was the first time I made it. Oh my! It was Mmmmmmm, Mmmmmm good! We took all the fixings; crusty rolls, shredded lettuce, thin sliced onions and pickles and we also took some par-boiled potatoes that we used to make home fries. Cutie-Patootie Neve had Why Not Soup as she decided she didn't like/want/refused to even try the pork but the rest of us pigged out on pork. (pun intended) Yes, our arteries certainly worked overtime that night. So if you like BBQ pork on a bun you can find this easy smeasy recipe here. Try it. You just might like it.

My Cutie -Patootie, Thrifting & Buttons

I took my Cutie-Patootie Neve for her first thrifting experience last Friday. We both had a very enjoyable morning poking around looking for a good buy. Note I used the word "buy". On Friday I used the word "steal" as in "that's a real steal" and was subjected to a lecture from my CP on how stealing is a bad thing to do. I tried to explain it to her but it was just easier in the end to agree with her and change my use of words. Cutie-Patootie Neve got 2 books at $0.35 each and also what Gram's thought was an addition to her Polly Pockets collection. It turns out that it was actually a Ballet Shop for the Fisher Price village of which she has a few pieces already. In mint condition and at only $1.75 it really was a really good steal, er, I mean, buy. I bought a pretty glass dish at $0.75 and will re-gift it as a hostess gift with candies or cookies or pickles in it. I also bought a bag of buttons at $0.95. It's not too often around KW town that you luck out and find bags of used buttons. So whenever I come across them I snap them up. I like buttons and I like to sort them. I find it very calming. Hubby John made a comment to Jaime (who came over for birthday cupcakes and a game of Scrabble later that afternoon) that that was how he kept me quiet. I quote, "Give her a bag of buttons and she's good for the afternoon". Humph! I would have him know that there is a lot of work that goes into sorting buttons. Do you know how many shades of blues, browns and greens there are? Not to mention different designs. You don't want to rush button sorting as you never know what special treasure you'll find. I found a solid brass button with mother of pearl insert and another button that sparkles when moved a certain way. Also, some really cool green buttons with a neat square design on them. It was definitely time and money well spent.
I have posted a picture but as usual my lack of photography talent shows up better that the great buttons do.
Anyway, both Cutie-Patootie and myself were very pleased with our thrifty finds.
I can't wait for our next thrifting date.

Maybe we'll both get a bag of buttons.

She is such a cuti-patootie!

Way back in October at Halloween my cutie-patootie Neve and I had a two or three minute discussion on candy preferences. I told her that Rockets are my absolute favourite candy! Fast forward to January 2009. The Bamboo Group is a group of Forever Families. A Forever Family is a family that has an adopted child. In the Bamboo Bunch the majority of children are adopted from China. The BB get together during the year for Chinese festivals and other various celebrations, picnics, parties, holidays and outings. They are a wonderful group of families and we are lucky to be invited along to most of their outings. Last weekend, Hubby John and I along with my cutie-patootie Neve, her daddy John Vincent and her other grandmother Carolyn aka Nitty attended a dinner celebrating the Chinese New Year. Sarah, Neve's mommy was down sick with the flu and could not join us. This year (2009) is the Year Of The Ox. At the celebration there were all sorts of things to do. There was a silent auction, a raffle and a craft table. There was a yummy Chinese food buffet for dinner. I think that most, if not all of the children attending received lucky red envelopes from their family and friends. The envelopes contained money, small trinkets or gold wrapped chocolate coins which, in most cases, were quickly eaten. Entertainment was provided by some of the Bamboo Bunch's' lovely little girls who performed Chinese fan and scarf dances. Too cute! A local Kung-Fu club came in and did a wonderful display of what it is that they do so well. Nunchuck's , hands, feet, swords, poles and all sorts of weapons were used in the demonstrations. They also had displays of breaking cement blocks with their hands and feet. Ouch! It was all very entertaining, but to me the highlight of the evening was the dragon dance. There were 2 dragons who moved around the hall to the very loud noise of drums and sticks, gongs and cymbals. During the dance the dragons threw candy out to the children, most of whom were sitting on the floor in front row. The candy symbolizes good luck for the new year and the kids all scrambled to get a piece. Neve was one of the lucky ones and was able to score a single piece of candy. When it comes to sweets and candy we monitor Neve with what and how much she is allowed to have. She had already eaten gold chocolate coins from her lucky red envelopes that she had been given earlier. She was clutching her prize tightly and absolutely refused to give it up when her dad went over to her at the end of the demonstrations. Neve told daddy that she had to keep the candy and then quickly ran to the back of the hall where I was sitting. Standing in front of me she held out her single piece of candy and said, "Grams, this is for you because I know it's your favourite!" It was a roll of Rockets.

If I didn't already love that little girl I would have fallen in love with her at that very minute. It blows my mind that a little girl who is turning four in February would remember a two minute conversation from October . What a generous and considerate thing for her to do. No wonder I think she is such a cutie-patootie!