Decisions, Decisions....

Abs' brother, Junior, is learning from his big sister. I asked him what he wanted for a snack, cantaloupe or ice cream. It was a hard decision for him, but he finally asked for cantaloupe. I cut a slice into small pieces and served it up in a sundae dish. He devoured the fruit and returned a few minutes later requesting ice cream.
"You were given a choice of ice cream or cantaloupe and you chose cantaloupe," I told him.
He looked at me with thise big baby blue eyes, holding his empty sundae dish out to me expectantly, and said "I changed my mind."

Monday, Monday.....

Time to leave the cool, crisp to balmy weather of Colorado Springs and return to Texas. Not looking forward to the long drive home, but there is plenty waiting to be done when I arrive.

I have cleaned the room Em shared with me so it is "cleaner than I found it," baked the lemon pie Gunner requested ( I hope there is some left when he gets home), and cleaned up all the scraps from the curtains I embellished. Just family stuff....the stuff memories are made from.

I wonder if I will find any snow on the way home?

Sunday Morning

The weatherman promised, well, almost promised, snow by 4 AM. I woke up and checked out the window but, although it was very cold, there was no snowfall in progress. I waited all morning, checking at intervals, but it has begun to warm up from the (about) 32 degrees we saw this morning.

After a gourmet breakfast of sausage and egg crepes provided by Gunner, ABW and I headed to the AF Academy Chapel for Sunday morning service. I have wanted to go for years and was not disappointed today. The cadets are not back from holiday yet, so there were not many people in attendance, mostly visitors. Nevertheless, we got the full treatment. The music with the pipe organ was superb. Sadly, Since there were so few in attendance, I felt that I was the only one singing because the sound was swallowed by the building. I do want to return and hear the music when the chapel is full and the choir is in residence. Oh, how I would love to be here to hear the cadets sing Handel's "Messiah" on Decenber 4th,

The sermon was very good, concise, and to the point; the first advent candle was lighted during the service; and the added bonus was a video as well as slides to make the salient points. I have to admit, I have been dragged kicking and screaming into adding this type technology to my hometown church. I guess it is the wave of the future in a culture where everyone has something with wires hanging on his/her ear, and every conversation is interrupted by a text message. Just call me old-fashioned.

The day is cool and crisp and Gunner is readying the outside of the house for Christmas with Abs' expert help, ABW is still working on her paper, Junior is taking it upon himself to keep all the doors and windows in the house closed, and I am attempting to help Em learn to sew using a pattern. Everyone seems to be headed for success but Andrew and me.

I don't think it is going to snow today.

Car Talk

Life is good this morning.....

My car "talks" to me. Not like "OW!" when the deer ran into me. Little messages rise from the innards of this diesel-powered vehicle and I just follow the instructions or show up at the dealer's shop and they take care of everything. Can't beat that for someone who can hear or feel a change in the car, but doesn't have much idea what it means.

When the "tire pressure" message came on, DS filled the tire with air and the message disappeared. When it reappeared some days later, I filled the tires again. The third time was a charm. I headed to the dealer's shop and they filled the tires and said "no problem." The 4th time, said shop actually checked the offending tire more thoroughly, found a very small hole and plugged it. Did you know they have "guns" now that can shoot filler into the hole in a tire and plug it? Unfortunately, that didn't work more than a few days. Finally, I took the car, with its reappearing message, in to Discount Tire (no I am not getting paid for this) and they took the tire off the wheel and put a proper patch on it. No more problems. Guess where I am buying my new tires when it is time.

I don't get too many messages from the car that require that kind of follow-up. Mostly, they tell me that the door is ajar or I need to fill the fuel tank and it reminds me what kind of fuel I need. A few days ago, a new message appeared - "Check Engine." It seemed to be running O.K. so I checked it out in my trusty car manual. It could have been something really bad, in which case it would go into "limp home" mode. I had not experienced anything like that, but since I am driving to Houston for a few days, I figured I would check it out.

I was off to the shop this chilly, rainy morning, along with a dozen other people who must have been headed to work.
"We can check that out for you and have an answer in about 20 minutes," they told me.
Great, I could watch the news while I waited. The smell of the ever-present popcorn they produce in their waiting room, was enticing. I fought the idea of helping myself to the hot,crisp, buttered delicacy even though it was 8 AM and I had not had breakfast. I finally gave in, somewhat. There was a cute little coffee machine that produces, almost, fresh-brewed coffee on demand. I didn't know how to use it, but the nice gentleman stocking the fridge with water and cokes, showed me. First you choose a container (about 2-3 ounces) from a variety of flavors, put the whole thing in the machine (without opening the container), and close the machine by pressing the handle down. After pushing a couple of buttons, you wait 15 seconds and retrieve a delicious cuppa' . I took a cherry danish from the selection on the counter and had a great, if not healthy, breakfast while I watched the news and waited on my car.

The problem was minor - a temperature gauge in the tailpipe (?). They have ordered the part and I have to go back tomorrow morning to have it put in. I wonder what is on the menu.

Tell Me Thursday - "Sharing"

The story behind the Wordless Wednesday picture.....
ABW is queen of "free." She has to be, with her husband, Gunner, on a military paycheck and her attending school. While Gunner was off in Iraq, ABW took advantage of free tickets to the Baseball game. There were also free tickets.... one for a bag of popcorn, one for a beer, and one for a snow cone. After sharing a bag of popcorn, the three children shared a snow cone. Abs found the most expedient way to do this, was to give Junior a straw while she attacked it from the other side. They both had to give it up to Em occasionally. The whole effort required a certain amount of cooperation. Abs also found she could control the flow in the straw by moving it up, just out of the liquid or pinching the straw. Junior could really get loud when he felt he wasn't getting his share.

An Evening Out

DD-Kr told her son, D.A., she would take him to dinner since his brother would be gone for the evening. D.A. hurried off to get dressed and reappeared as a dapper young man.

"I appreciate your dressing up for our evening out," she told him.
Standing up to his full seven year-old height, he replied casually, "I know. I think of everything."
During dinner, DD steered the conversation to the celebration of "Texas Day" at D.A.'s school.
"What part of the day did you like best?" she asked.
"Having dinner with you," was his gallant reply.
'Well, what part of Texas Day Celebration was the best," she persisted.
She received a short reply, "Peach Cobbler!"

I think the way to a man's heart is through his stomach.....and it starts early!

The Delayed Birthday Celebration

Have you noticed I am playing catch-up on my posts?

Ky's Birthday Celebration was rather anticlimactic after the drama of fracturing her arm, but she had a small celebration and was happy. A couple of candles in some ice cream and her big brother to help blow out the flame after a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday," was enough celebration for a two year old. The most important part of it all was being surrounded by family and love. Ky loved her new tea set and served all of us bottomless plates of chocolate cake and drinks. She managed the utensils quite well with her left, non-dominant, hand. Children are amazingly resilient. DD-Ki helped open the small trunk I had transported from Texas. (I can never fly because I must act as official courier for exchanges among the children.)
DDs-Kr & Ko had helped fill the trunk with dress-up clothes. The concept is a legacy from my sister who sewed for my daughters before she had children of her own.Some things are hard to do alone, especially with one hand out of commission, but Ky quickly learned to ask for help. Happy Birthday to our Princess-in-Training.....

Welcome Home, Gunner

After rushing home from a busy day at "UT Explore," the children donned their special outfits and we rushed off to Ft Hood to await their dad's arrival from his 3rd tour in Iraq.

We all waited in a large tent that boasted a myriad of things to keep everyone entertained until the big moment. The music was loud and exuberant. While the children ate and played, we watched a blow-up movie screen which showed the arrival of the big bird bringing the troops home.

Flags were flapping merrily in the brisk breeze as we waited impatiently for the buses to discharge their occupants. The troops stood in formation for a brief prayer of thanksgiving , then broke out after being dismissed.

It was almost impossible to find one person in the sea of camoflauge, but ABW saw Gunner first and hailed him from across the field. There were lots of hugs exchanged before Gunner hoisted his 200 pound duffle and hustled to the car.Now it is time for the yellow ribbon in my yard to come down.

Wordy Wednesday - "Explore UT" 2009

I accidentally discovered the University of Texas' (UT) "Explore UT Day" about 4 years ago. It was a great discovery, but I was not alone. There were thousands of kids attending! School districts bus students in from all the small surrounding towns. I even saw buses from Grand Prairie, near Dallas, some 3 hours away. It is an event that is well worth all the effort.
There are several entry points on campus where "passports" are handed out, and maps and information are freely available from students who volunteer for this day. I don't know why; maybe they are given extra credit. Whatever the motivation, the students are great ambassadors for the school and for attending college. Participants, and workers, have a wonderful time. We found a neat turtle photo-op on the way to picking up our "Passports". I would guess it was contributed by some artistic student(s).
The activities do not start until 11:00 AM, so by the time we arrived the children were hollering "Hungry." We headed to one of the dorm cafeterias where, for about $5.00 per person (except 2 year-old Junior who was free) we could eat until everyone was full. The noise level was incredible because all those children, who were cooped up on the bus for several hours, were hungry too.
Fortified with "dorm food," and only a little soiled with mustard, ketchup, grease, and the remnants of two glasses of spilled liquid, we headed out to explore UT.
The UT campus is HUGE, so it was a challenge to keep watch over the 3 hearts without a stroller for Junior. Thank goodness Em is becoming a responsible young lady. We only lost Junior one time...in a crowd.... I never did find out where he was. I just looked down at one point and he was standing close to my leg, looking at me with a big grin on his face. Whew! I did not know how I would have explained the loss to his doting parents.
Different disciplines provide activities related to their field of study at "UT Explore." One year the children had an opportunity to hold a giant Madagascar cockroach, examine the inner workings of a pig's lung by blowing air into it with a hand pump, and grind corn the Native American way. Their favorite activity was getting a "wound." We followed the "wounded" children back towards the source the first year, but it was closed when we arrived. The next year, they wanted to go there first. They proudly wore their "wounds" all day. This year, there was no wound area. Big disappointment, but we found plenty of other things.
A delightful young man from the Chemistry(?) Department was supervising the making of a substance that resembled "Silly Putty." A small amount of Borax, dissolved in water, was stirred into Elmer's glue, which had been colored with food coloring. The resultant mixture was like Silly Putty or, depending on the amount of liquid, like "Slime."

The craft area was not my favorite place for the children to hang out, but it was inevitable. Em seems to be outgrowing this area. Junior and Abs made crowns....
.....and brains......

...eruptions......and seed-starting pots.
We could have stayed longer and seen more, but we had to get home and get ready for their Dad's Homecoming.....

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday.....An early photo from a fun trip. I revisited some of the places we have gone.

An Unwanted Birthday Surprise

I left for St Louis after church on Sunday, but not as early as I had planned. I had been awake since 3 AM and seriously considered waiting another day to start my trip. I finally decided I could make it quite a way before I had to stop for the night, so I took off. The whole day had been a series of small misadventures and I figured arriving the next day would work just as well.

I watched my speed judiciously but I could travel 75 mph on the Indian Nation Turnpike so I made pretty good time. Finally gave into extreme drowsiness in Ardmore, OK, and stopped for the night. The sign read Comfort Inn, not my favorite place, but I only needed a clean bed and bath, In reality, it was a Comfort Inn undergoing rehab to become a Roadway Inn. It was pretty grim, but I reasoned that the looks were a result of the work in progress and I was too tired to look any further. The advertised price was "only for cash" they told me. Anyway, it filled the bill for a clean and comfortable room, and I slept well.

I slept so well that I did not leave as early as I had hoped. Really wanted to get to STL for the 5 PM dinner hour for Ky's BD.
I don't know what they did with the caffeine in the coffee at the motel, but it wasn't working. I stopped at a Missouri information center, got some REAL caffienated coffee, then hit the road to makee up time. I called DD-Ki to let her know my progress and she said to change my plans. She was sitting with Ky in the STL Children's Hospital. Ky had fallen on the playground Sunday and seemed to be O.K. until her observant mom got more and more worried.

You see, God has his own way of doing things. I sincerely believe that is why everything "seemed" to be working against my keeping the schedule I had set for myself. As it was, the extra time it had taken me to accomplish my trip, ensured that I arrived at the hospital just in time to talk to the doctor and see the X-ray of Ky's arm before he applied a cast. He was so sweet. He explained everything and answered all my questions. All the nurses were extremely competent and interacted with Ky very well, even as she kept telling them "No thank, you. I don't want that."
Ky had to be sedated for the fracture reduction and placement of the cast. After the IV was removed, she held up her little arm,now bearing a neon pink, cast and pled with them "Please take this one off."
Ky is home and doing well. Children just take all these things in stride and she is just calmly moving into doing everything with her left hand.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Ky! We'll finally open your presents today.

From the Memory Box - "Dancing with Dad"

I remember "Girl Scout sock hops with Dad in the school gym. We got to dance on his feet. The same thing Ki did later at DS' wedding."

Girl Scouts were a very big part of our lives! DH was traveling quite a bit during some of these formative years, so he made every effort to be available when opportunities for one-on-one activities surfaced. DH was not, by his own admission, a very good dancer. He felt his greatest expertise was in doing the "Freddie." "Do the Freddie," a hit song by Freddie and the Dreamers, spurred a momentary dance craze. In case you don't remember, The "Freddie" consisted of jumping in the air, stretching arms out at shoulder level while alternately lifting right and left legs to the side as high as possible.

Freddie and the Dreamers toured until 1968 and broke up not too long after that. In that period, when "rock" emerged and became something "serious," Freddie and the Dreamers were retroactively dismissed as innocuous popsters, never taking into account that the happy-go-lucky group never took itself so seriously. The band's accomplishments can't be denied - they couldn't resist taking offbeat material and making into hit music.

They did not play the "Freddie" at the GS sock hop; it was long gone before then. The girls stood on DH's feet and they "danced" much more sedately. I guess they should have played "Memories are Made of This."

PhotoHunt - "Thankful"

Gunner will be home from his third tour in Iraq soon. For that, we are all thankful!

From the Memory Box - "Picky Eater"

I have been catching flak from my girls because I have not been writing about the memories they have collected. They threaten not to give me any more until I write these up. I understand, but sometimes the memories are too intense and need a lot of reflection.
This one , however, is not one of those intense ones. I certainly don't remember it, or maybe it is just so gross that I have blocked it out.

"I remember Ki eating cat food at Thanksgiving Dinner. It was gross, so she came back and managed to find something on the table to eat."

I am happy that I do not remember this incident.
DD-Ki was always a picky eater. I tried everything, but she ate an extremely limited range of foods. When I did not allow her to eat anything other than what I served, she would just not eat. There were no tantrums, no nonsense, she just went to bed hungry. I suffered, so I allowed her to fix herself a peanut butter or ham sandwich, but no junk food. I also began explaining nutritional needs to her. I had been through similar experiences with her siblings, but by not focusing on diet, they were soon eating everything.
When DD-Ki went off to college, she expanded her diet a little. She also ended up with undergraduate and graduate degrees in ....TA DA....Nutrition / Dietetics.
DD-Ki is still not an adventurous eater, but she does eat well. I guess we both learned something from the cat food.

The Q-Towel

DD-Kr introduced me to this post, "An Open Letter to My Adult Children", by Northwest Ladybug. It obviously rang some bells with DD who must remember the years of the towels as well as I.
Having three girl children would have been enough to elicit a towel frenzy in itself. Couple that with having four avid, competetive swimmers, and the washing machine went from overload to on-strike. The chlorine-impregnated towels never had time to dry out, especially when they spent so much time on the floor...behind closed doors...under other wet towels, thus the daily wash.
The towels that made it to the washing machine were not necessarily the ones that had left the house. Nice, thick, brightly colored towels were carried out in the morning and thin, faded, worn towels were returned every evening. Faced with this rapid disintegration of my linen supply, I tried to insist that thin, faded towels were carried out in the mornings. This was met with rebellion.
"How embarrassing! No one wants to be seen with something like that!"
That was obvious since passive trading was taking its toll at our expense.
Nothing worked. Some of the towels my children received as gifts were made specifically for them from distinctive terry fabric. But even those disappeared at an alarming rate. One day I saw a nice square towel with a dinstinctive brown floral design on a cream background. One of the swimmers was casually draping it around her shoulders as she prepared to leave the pool.
"Look!" I pointed the girl out to my daughter. "That's the towel Aunt B made for you for your birthday last year."
"Are you sure?" my daughter asked, glancing in the general direction I indicated.
"As far as I know, there are no commercial towels that look like that!" I insisted. "Go get your towel."
DD put a restraining hand on my arm. "Oh, Mom, I couldn't embarrass her like that."
There is nothing more embarassing to a teenager than a parent, even under the best of circumstances.
I gave up and changed my focus to having proper towels for DH and myself. The reward for my persistence was discovering the Q-towel in a rock-bottom sale bin. The Q-towel was thick, fluffy, not a bad shade of gray, and it had a great big "Q" monogrammed on one end. It appealed to no one. It was concientiously avoided by everyone in the family....except me. "Q" stands for Queen, I told them. Although the rest of the family was derisive, I was happy. No one used "my" towel.......until.......one day...someone had no choice......
"Hey, the Q-towel is really nice!" The announcement was made in passing one morning, but was noted by everyone. Thereafter, the Q-towel became popular. The children still laughed every time they used it, but use it they did. It went to swimming, but it came home. I looked for more, but that was the only one I ever found.At some time over the years, the Q-towel disappeared. Kids were moving in and out from home to dorm to apartment and back again, but no one ever admitted to snagging the Q-towel.
The Q-towel has become legend in our family. One of those family jokes that only needs to be mentioned to send the whole group into gales of laughter. One of those moments when family bonds are tightened and we remember what is really important. One of these days I will find a stack of fluffy, gray towels, and I will embroider each one of them with a "Q" so my grandchildren will laugh at their parents....until they hear the story.

A Good Day for Abs

It was just Abs and me Saturday night. We went to church Sunday morning and had a very nice day.....mostly.
Abs' behavior was a little contumacious in the morning, but she had calmed considerably before we arrived at church. I always put her hair in hot-rollers because she wants curls "like mommy." There is no way, short of a perm, that she can ever have curls like her mom's, but having some bouncy ones when she looks in the mirror seems to make a little difference in her outlook for the day. The weight of her hair and the humidity of our weather ensures a short half-life.

The curls were particularly short-lived Sunday because Abs got mad. I cannot even recall the reason right now. She stamped her feet,"growled" (because she was too mad to even think of words), and began pulling the hot-rollers out. I tried to reason with her as rollers flew around the room, but Abs would have none of it. So I waited until the rollers were all out and her temper was spent. Then I explained she had pulled so hard that the curls were not as tight and she would lose some of her free time because she would have to pick up all the rollers and transport them back to their case.
"That's not hard," she murmured and proceeded to put the clips on the rollers and gather them up.
There was an extra clip. One roller was missing.
I expected rebellion, but Abs gamely sought the missing roller. Under the sofa we found "Fisher Price little people", a comic book, play dishes from being served restaurant style meals we had to order (interminably), an action figure, and a lost Christmas ball, but no roller. We spent precious time searching for the missing roller until I gave up and let her continue alone. As I walked back to the kitchen, I saw the lost roller in another area.
"So sad we will be late," I pointed out.
It was not a worry for Abs. She was back on a roll.

Since Abs' mom was sick, I kept Abs for the afternoon and made chicken soup for her mom. Abs played contentedly and listened to some old 45's I have. I banned the L-P of "SwissFamily Robinson" after the 2nd time through and we moved on to an American Heritage series L-P that covered the war with Britain in 1814. That one was also banned after the 2nd time. She memorizes these things and we hear them repeated for days. She should be in good shape by the time she gets to a school history class and can already recite all the lessons. Right now she is learning the Gettysburg address because she read it from a decorative tin I had sitting out.

I took Abs home in the late afternoon. I gave her a big hug and told her I had really enjoyed the day and really enjoyed having her with me. She hugged me and said "I really enjoyed spending the day with you, too, Grandma!"
Yes, Abs has some really good days, enough to keep us going.
Hot rollers - $$; lunch at Steak 'n Shake - $10.00, time with Abs - priceless.

Project Runway

I have been giving the girls bags of scrap fabric which they enjoy tying, sewing, piecing, and draping. This Christmas, I gave Em a sewing basket full of implements, fabrics, and a book. She has been creating some interesting things from all of it. This was an attempt at designing for a runway model, using materials at hand. Even if she never makes it as a fashion designer, Em will probably have fun sewing for herself and others.

They played together quite happily all afternoon while creating this ensemble. Em even put the seams on the inside of the garments.

"Suffer the Little Children...."

Em and Abs spent Saturday night with me and we went to Church Sunday morning. The girls had missed a couple of Sundays and a lot of people were asking about them. Our congregation has a tradition of taking a minute early in the service to greet everyone and "pass the Peace of Christ." Abs uses the few minutes prior to that exercise to write notes and draw pictures which she then passes out to various people. I don't know how she chooses the recipients but they always seem to be delighted to be on the receiving end. Sunday, the girls were given a small bookmark by a frequent recipient of Abs generosity.
There was an almost imperceptible ripple of excitement as Abs seated herself in front of the church with the other children for the Children's Lesson. Abs is totally unaware of the effect she has on others. She seats herself as close as possible to the presenter and eagerly awaits the lesson. Her excitement is such that she can hardly contain herself even though I am sitting near the back of the church desperately signaling with three fingers that she should remember the three rules, which she can recite perfectly.
The presenter wrote a message on a sheet of paper and began asking questions about how messages might have been delivered while maintaining confidentiality. As she pulled out sealing wax, Abs proceeded to give a detailed account of the method, hardly allowing the presenter time to interject comments. I don't know if Abs' knowledge was gleaned from her "Egyptian phase" or the book she is constantly reading on how everything works.
I breathed a sigh of relief as the lesson ended, but it was premature. The presenter had all the children hold hands for a brief prayer. Unfortunately, Abs and Em ended up next to one another. Abs grabbed for Em's hand and Em presented one finger. Em attempted to pull away so Abs held on and "bent the little finger way back and it was on the hand that was broken." Yes, Em had sustained a fractured bone in her hand at summer camp, but we had not heard about it in six months. There was a small tussle and some sharp words right there in front of God and everyone.
I think we must add another rule: Don't sit by your sister.

Where, in Heaven's Name, Are We?

DD-Ki left today with her two in tow. Now it is very, very quiet in mi casa.
On the way to the airport, we stopped by the cemetery to visit DH's grave. Four year-old Lem remembers some things about his Grandfather, even though he was just two when they were last together.
"Where is he now?" Lem asked.
"Grandpa died and went to Heaven," we told him. I read somewhere that it is best not to use euphemisms , so we try to give the children information we think they can process. It is another learning curve for us.
When we arrived at the cemetery, we found the proper headstone and pointed out the name to the children. Lem looked all around and then asked a perfectly reasonable question based on the information we had given him.
"Is this Heaven?"
Our muffled sounds of laughter added a bit of humor to our solemn visit and we did some fast "back-pedaling."

The Scoop on Poop

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I can remember when I did not think I would ever live to see the year 2000. I thought I could never possibly be that old. Now, I am a decade into another century and going strong. WooHoo!

DD-Ki and her 2 little ones have been here almost a week and are getting ready to return home.

Twenty-month old, Ky, was sitting at the table, waiting patiently for her breakfast, and carrying on one of her never-ending conversations. The paper placemats, which had served us well the night before when 7 of the cousins (between ages 11 years & 20 months) had eagerly shared ice cream for dessert, still graced the table.

Suddenly, I was summoned to the table.

"Grandma! Come see!"

I rushed over and looked at the placemat Ky was holding up.

"What is the problem, Ky?" I asked.

She pointed to the brown, chocolate stains.

"What is it? I asked.

"Reindeer poop!" she announced with conviction.

We threw that placemat out.