Grandparenting III

Nice to have you join us, Nan.

My grands are almost grown too. I have one that is fourteen, one that is sixteen, a twenty year old and a twenty one year old....and they are all girls.

They are all very busy so I don't hear much exciting news from them. The sixteen year old and I correspond more than the other three. She has a cell phone now and so we text each other often.

I get "text's from the other ones too. Teens and young adults don't talk on the phone anymore, they text.

What an adorable little greatgrand you have. I love the incident with the kitten.

Keep the stories coming.

Sha is just getting in to being a grandmother. She has another new one on the way in a few months.

Enjoy this Autumn day. It's raining here. Not that I am complaining, we sure need they rain. Texas has been in a drought for some time now.

Hey, Oiseau, what was it about your grandson who is one. The post kind of got lost, as TA tends to do. < G >

Hi Everyone!
I decided to check out this page and I was so happy to see familar people here. This is my first time here.
I loved talking about my grandkids, but they are all grown up now with children of their own.
My great grandkids are really special and so much fun. My little great grandaughter that is three, lives in Oregon. My daughter [her grandmother] told me that recently while talkingf to her daughter, a story about her daughter wanting a stray kitten, that happened to wander into their yard. It was raining real hard and the cat was at the sliding glass door crying. As the story goes, she finally brought it in and took it to a vet and had all of its shots and etc.
One day when the great grandaughter was mad at her dad, because he refused her something, she said, "No more cats and no more daddys. LOL
She is such a doll and so smart. :)
I have a lot of grandma stories, so I'll visit this site again. :)

Hugs,
Nan

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Good to hear from you DG.

You just need to make an account at Facebook. There are a lot of us on there.

We do have a TA Members Group there. Once you get registered, look under Groups and you may have to do a search, since there are so many Groups.

Also, if you can find at least one of us on there, you'll probably be able to connect with the rest of us through friends invites.

I have mine set to friends only, so you won't be able to find me by typing in my name. But, if you go to one of the other members pages, like I said, you'll probably see me listed in their friends and you can click on me there and ask to be my friend. Promise I will say yes.

We use our own pages more than we use the TA Member's Group one.

If you need help, just let one of us know.

Can't wait for you to join. We do keep up with each other better there than we have in quite awhile anywhere else.

Sha has a page too.....I'll email you a list of those who are on there that I know from TA. Maybe that will help you find us.

was sure very saddened to hear about Jan. Hadnt been into my email till today. I sure remember the good times with us all in TA. Sure do miss the wonderful times...will keep Jan in my heart forever.

Hope all is well with everyone...where does everyone post in facebook and how do i get there?

my grandbaby is turning 12 this month...remember when she was just a baby and discussing her with u all.

love to u all!

Ah Ha! A first from my Grands.

I sent Marisa a camera a couple of weeks ago. She texted me (it was a surprise) when she got it and yesterday, in the mail, I received a thank you card from her.

I dont recall ever receiving a thank you card from any of the grands, heck, not even from my own sons.

I tried to teach them to say thank you for gifts and such, but somewhere the art of sending a thank you card went by the wayside.

She is suppose to have a fun filled weekend. Her boyfriends parents are planning on taking them to a Rangers baseball game and to Six Flags.

It's been raining here, finally. Btw, thanks for scooting that rain our way, Sha. I'm not sure though, that Marisa will be able to do any of the things planned. However, she is a couple of hundred miles north of us, so maybe the weather will hold out for them.

Us, we just want the rain....LOL!

The main thing on the shopping agenda is getting stuff for the nursery. They have been holding off on decorating until they knew whether the baby was a boy or a girl. Now we can "think pink" all we want. :-)

It sounds as though Meagan is going to do just fine in college. I'm glad she has a roommate that she can relate to. Having a good friend to share things with makes such a big difference. I still stay in touch with my college roommate although we have only seen each other a few times since college.

How fun that you got to see Catie as she drove by on the way to school. I guess you will have to be careful not to be out there in your ratty old bathrobe in the morning, huh? Do you think she told everyone that that was her grandmother filling the birdbath?

It sounds as though you and Marisa are staying in touch. I'm so thrilled for you that you have found each other again. It's hard to believe that she is old enough for a boyfriend or that she only has one more year of high school after this one. How time does fly!

I'm not working at a job this weekend but my hubby is. He's been on a project for the last few weeks that has him working day and night. Even though he is home I don't get to see much of him because he is in his office from 8 to midnight every day. The weather here is really nice right now and I would love to be out traipsing around in the mountains and enjoying it while it lasts but I don't want to do it by myself and he doesn't have the time to go with me. It sucks when making a living gets in the way of living!

I hope you have a good weekend and that all of your customers are good to you. I bet you will have a lot of pictures to develop by the end of the weekend. Enjoy the day!

Wonderful news, Sha. And January isn't that far away. Have you started thinking pink. < G >.

Meagan has gone through her first two weeks of school. She has a three day weekend to rest.

She's made friends with one of her roommates. They are both more "mature" than the other two, who like to party. LOL!

I wonder what she is going to do with this long weeked other than sleep.

She made the University chior. She's thrilled about that. And, I think this weekend is the school's first football game. She's looking forward to her first college game. They have to wear the red Texas Tech shirts bought at registration.

Did see Catie a couple of days ago. She waved as her school bus passed by while I was out filling the bird bath.

Marisa is loving her Junior year in High School, even though she doesn't have any classes with her boyfriend. She only gets to see him at lunch.

Nothing on Brandi, so don't know what she is up to these days, though she is just down the road. But she has always been our free spirit.

Have a safe Labor Day weekend. I'll be working, so be nice to the cashiers you encounter this weekend, one could be me. LOL!

I just found out that I am going to have a granddaughter next January. It has only taken 40 years but I am finally going to get that little girl that I always wanted. Yay!!!!

Yes, it does seem unbelievable, but in actuality she should have gone to college two years ago. The High School she went to lost her transcripts and it set her back a year. Then the knee surgeries. Now, she can finally go. She's having another knee surgery in December, on her Christmas break.

Catie will be here sometime today. She'll be with us until her Mom and Dad return from taking Meagan to College. That'll be sometime late Tuesday.

I don't look forward to getting up and getting a teen off to school. She starts school on Monday. But, since I have to be at work on the the first day in the morning, it won't be much of a problem that day. It's just the second day, my day off, it'll be hard getting out of bed and making sure she's off to school. LOL!

We told them to bring food for her this time. Usually we go out and buy all kinds of snack food for her and take her out to eat, but we've both been busy at work and haven't had time to shop.

Hey, BabyBoy has new livingroom and kitchen furniture for his house. He came over on Wednesday and we went shopping with him. They delivered it yesterday. He was surprised at the ease of them getting it through his front door. And he said it only took them one try to get his old sofa out the door. LOL! They took it away for him.

Can't wait to get over to see it all. I didn't think to take pictures of what he selected in the store, but then I do want to see it in his house.

Have a good Friday all.

I can't believe that you have college age grandkids now! What an exciting new phase in life for Meagan. I hope she has a great time.

Good morning all.

Today is a combination party for Meagan. She leaves this weekend for college and her birthday is also this weekend.

So, they are having a birthday/going away party for her.

I made up a gift bag of all kinds of little things that I thought she might need at school, but didn't think to buy at this point. Things like post it notes, bandaids, an umbrella, etc.

She and I went to the movies last week. It's the first time in a very long time just she and I did anything together. We went to see "GI Joe", her choice. I was surprised, but it was a good movie.

Then I took her to her favorite drive-in food place and let her get a chocolate shake. They don't have this drive-in where she is going to school

So, gotta get ready for the party. Have a good day all.

Still thinking about the early school hours. Catie rides the bus to school. Can you imagine what time she would have to get up in the mornings to catch the school bus if she had to be at school at 6:45?

That's just unreasonable, not only for the kids, but for the parents. I'm sure the teachers aren't thrilled either. Just think of the kids who play sports and are in band or clubs that have to go to competitions. I still remember waiting at 3:00 a.m. for BabyBoy to come home from an out of town football game. Now, if he had to be at school that early, that would mean he would be up almost 24 hours.

Nope, nope, nope. I think if they try that here we'll just have to protest it. So there. LOL!

Congrats on the upcoming new Grandbaby. You will have your hands full at holidays and birthdays now....welcome to the club. LOL!

Gosh, 6:45 does seem early. Heck, that's too early for anyone. How do they expect the teens to be fully alert and even thinking that early.

I know Catie didn't join any sports last year because all practices are now before school and it was a ridiculous hour too. What happened to after school practices?

Poor girl is going to be a mushroom, she hardly ever gets to see any sun...< G >

Our high school starts next Monday. That just seems too early for me. They have changed the hours to 6:45 to 4 this year. I can imagine how wide awake teenagers will be at that hour!
Glad I'm not in school anymore.

Not a lot going on in my world other than taking care of my sister in the nursing home in Nebraska and watching my grandsons on Monday and Fridays. In January we will have a new grandchild to watch. Our son and daughter-in-law who got married in March are expecting their first child. I can remember when I thought I would never have any grandchildren and now I'm going to have three. Yea!!!!

Have a good weekend and enjoy your time with Catie.

Good morning. Where has the summer gone?

I know, it's still August, but school starts here in a couple of weeks. Meagan will be leaving for college soon.

Catie will be staying with us while her mom and dad take Meagan to get settled in her dorm room.

I think everyone has their pics from our vacation. I gave the photo album I made for Catie to her mom and dad last night when they dropped by.

Brandi's birthday has come and gone. Meagan's is next, but she will already be at her dorm by that time.

As I said, summer is flying by at light speed around here.

The Nitro Boat races are this weekend. It's a big thing yearly here. The town will be packed with Boat race enthisists. The hotels will be packed and lots of noise on the lake. The Nitro boats are really loud. LOL!

I'll be working, so all I'll get to see of them is as I drive across the bridge on my way to work.

Have a good day and hug someone today.

Still trying to sort out the vacation pictures. I printed up some for family and us and made CDs of the pictures. Sent the CDs out only to discover yesterday that the CDs I have are all of the same photos. So, made more CDs yesterday of the complete set. I'm going to send them out today and hopefully the relatives on the other end can sort out which CDs go together.

I haven't spoken to Catie since we've been back. I wonder what she is thinking about her vacation now. It was also her first time to ride on an airplane.

She left some clothes in our laundry and I do have some pictures for her too. Hopefully on my days off next week I can get a chance to go and see her and her parents.

Tomorrow is Brandi's birthday. I'm trying to figure out how to connect with her too, as I work and so does she. Wouldn't be bad, but I work until late night tonight and an odd shift tomorrow. I may just have to find her mom and give her our gift to give to her from her. Ah, these crazy work hours my whole family has.....

We're back. Boy, I had a great time, but I need another vacation to rest from this one.

Catie got to meet a lot of relatives. She didn't want to leave (niether did I).

Lots of new experiences for her, lots of firsts. We took her to Altantic City, which was a first for me. I had fun. Won over three hundred dollars at the Trump Casino. Catie and her Grandpop walked on the Boardwalk while I was in the Casino. I was only there about thirty minutes. I just wanted to try it and say I did it. The Casino, that is.

Anyway, as I said, I'm exhausted. I'll check in as soon as I can think straight again < G >.

You will be missed in Third Age and on Facebook.

We are getting ready to go to the ballgame this evening and then watch the fireworks afterwards. They are always spectacular.

Not sure if this code will work, so here it goes:

Comments from pYzam.com

I was basically an only child, my brothers eight and ten years older than me. So, I played alone most of the time. I don't remember being bored until I got in to my teens and all teens are bored. LOL!

Catie's one thing she wants to see while we are on vacation is the Liberty Bell. Only because her Dad told her that he touched the Liberty Bell when he was young.

He actually did touch it. Went were in Philadelphia for the bi-centennial. So, we went to see Queen Elizabeth when she came to help America celebrate. (I have a photo I took of her passing by in her limo).

Then we went down to see all the sights. Back then the Liberty Bell was more out in view, just behind ropes. And they weren't too strict. So, Catie's Dad was there, I think in the Photo my hubby was holding him, and he leaned over and touched the Bell. I snapped the picture for posterity.

We are going to try and take her to see the things her Dad saw (and her Uncle Joe aka, BabyBoy).

She thinks it will be "boring", but I know it's something she won't forget. The one thing she did say she wanted to do and I may have mentioned it, is run up the steps of the Art Museum. The same steps Rocky ran up in the movie. LOL!

We'll probably take her to Geno's for cheesesteaks, which is located on the street that he ran down in the movie too.

And, of course, the really "boring" stuff, Betty Ross' house, William Penn, The Ben Franklin Institute and all the stuff that tourist do.

It's been a long time since I saw these places downtown, so it'll be interesting to see how things have changed.

Spoke to BabyBoy just a couple of hours ago. Yesterday was his birthday and I had to work. He was going to come over here this afternoon, but begged off. He had to work late the night before and hasn't caught up on his sleep. He did say that it would be great if I came over to see him. < G > So, I'm going over this afternoon.

I do have the day before vacation to pack, so that's a relief for me. Still don't know when I am to come back to work, as the day I ask to return is still on the "pending" list.

Hope Elsa still thinks her Day-Care teacher is nice. Keep us posted.

Your travel with Catie is going to be so meaningful! It is good that she can meet her distant relatives at this age. It will help her in later years to sort them all out. The fact that she is going to be alone with you is so great. She will take a lot away from this experience. Enjoy every minute of it!

Miss Elsa, age 5, had her first experience with day-care on Monday. Since their Mom now has a part time job and school is out, Coel and Elsa were put into day-care for the first time. Elsa told the teacher, in her blunt manner, "I didn't know you were going to be so nice!" The woman is just enthralled with our Miss Priss.

When you mentioned imagination, I am reminded of when the 4 of us came to our Mom and said we were bored. My Mom drew herself to her full 5 ft 1 in. and admonished us that bright children were never bored. I don't think any of us knew what bright children were, but we slunk away and invent another play. Later, we realized that there were two of them and four of us. As long as we kept our manners, we did a lot more than most kids did at that time. I had a very happy childhood.

What a wonderful story Bobbie. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Your parents must have instilled a great imagination in all of you. I can see you and your sisters "entertaining" each other in that Roadmaster (which btw, my hubby would give his eye-teeth for).

I am not a camper. Only went camping three times in my life and slept in RV's or our van each time.

I was raised in the country but had a childhood fear of the dark. I outgrew it to some extent, i.e., sleeping out-of-doors is still a no-no with me.

Hey,we did survive our week with Catie. LOL!

She was actually pretty good. It would have been better if we had a larger house and an extra bathroom, but we all made it without hurting each other < G >

Now, for the next test, vacation. She will be going with us. She has not met most of the relatives with which she is going to be spending a lot of time. She is going to have some very new experiences among them.

It seems like I haven't had any time to plan for this vacation. Work, work and more work. I did go talk to the neighbors today and ask them if they would tend my plants, which they agreed, thank goodness. We have been having temps in the triple digits for weeks now and I know it will be hotter while we are gone.

I just hope I am off work the day before so I can pack for the trip. It's my usual day off, but we are so short-handed at work they have been asking us to work wierd hours.

But, I keep reminding myself of the new adventures our Catie will have and I hope they are just half as much fun as yours were, Bobbie.

I was born in Chicago, the second of four girls. In 1949, my father bought his first car, a two-door, 1947 Buick Roadmaster. Once school was out, we loaded up the car and took off on a month-long camping tour of the western United States. Mom had been planning this trip for months and had each day packed with things to see and do. At night, we’d find a camping site in state or national park and we girls, ages 9, 11, 13, and 17, would blow up 4 air mattresses, put up two two-man canvas mountain tents, and make up blanket rolls by folding blankets into thirds while Mom made dinner. The little girls slept in the car. The next morning, we packed everything away, with all the blankets on the back seat. We carried nothing on top and pulled nothing behind. We set up camp like this everyday except for 3 days when we had a motel treat.

What Mom hadn’t figured in was that there was a lot of driving time between those wonderful sights. It was during one of those lulls that the cheetahs were born. I’m not sure where it started whether in New Mexico or Texas, but the gist was that my older sister and I were two helpless male cheetahs that the third sister had found abandoned in the jungle. She became the Mistress, while I was Purrus and my older sis was Merow. Mistress fed us calves’ liver and nourished us back to health. At times, our youngest sister, who sat in the front seat, was either a third cheetah or the sub-mistress. She loved being pounced upon from the back seat.

Unlike real cheetahs, we had retractable claws and would regularly rip Mistress to ribbons when she would not give us what we wanted. Even though she was only 11, she became very inventive in how to control her cheetahs. By the time the vacation was over, we had a very complicated play and at least 20-25 new words we used regularly. It was definitely ‘scorbibulating’!

We kept some of the words as adults and still call each other Kitty. Our kids loved it when Mistress would come to visit and entice one or both of the big cats out to play. They loved to be ‘ripped to ribbons’ or tickled. It really hasn’t trickled down to the grands yet.

Good evening everyone. Catie is here spending the week with us. Her mom and dad are taking Meagan to Texas Tech for orientation week.

So far, so good. She's been busy catching up with her computer friends. I told her that her job while she was here was to water the flowers. Hmmm, guess we will start that tomorrow. I'm too tired to show her which and what to water.

Bobbie, we want to know about the Cheeta.

You out there Jenny? What's going on in your part of the world?

Sha, hope you are well rested in between visits with Cash and Wyatt.

I'll let you know how the week with Catie goes. Tomorrow is off to buy groceries and fill the house with stuff for her to eat while I'm at work next week. That and to check out something for BabyBoy's birthday coming up soon.

So, have a great night all, and I'll check in later.

All you Dad's and Grand-Dads, hope your families spoiled you terribly today.

I'm curious about the Cheetah story. It sounds interesting!

Sonoma put a tiny, inch long lizard with a broken tail on my hand as her present. Was she surprised when the lizard started talking to her. We had many nice plays with it during the afternoon.

Elsa read her entire short vowel story book. She is in a Montessori preschool and is going great guns with reading. Coel shared his journal. My daughter's present was a plush toy baby cheetah. So soft and petable. My son's family gave me two bottles of "Cheetah" Cabernet Pinotage wine from South Africa. (sebekawines.com We get it at Safeway) Even the cork has cheetah spots on it. This went quite well with two pizzas from Gianni's Pizza, the primo pizza parlor in the area. The cheetah story will have to wait for another time.

Not really a present, but it arrived that day, was a sound amplifier. I've been slowly losing my hearing due to the effects of the tobramycin antibiotic. The amplifier did the trick and I could hear everyone clearly! That put the icing on a very special day.

At the end, Sonoma clearly was disturbed that lizard was no longer hers so I arranged for her to take him home for a sleep-over. Problem solved easily at this sweet age.

And Happy Anniversary too! I hope you had a great time celebrating with your family.

Well, at least your hubby can't forget your birthday Bobbie. That is unless he forgets your anniversary too.....LOL!

Please tell us about the rest of your birthday. The roses are a great start.

I just completed my 73 trip around the sun today along with celebrating my 47th year of marriage. Getting married on my birthday was not my finest move in the present department. However, I was awakened with a surprise of a dozen hot-house roses.

My kids and the grands are due here any minute to help us celebrate this big day.

I hope this is the start of a wonderful new year for you.

Today is our dear Picc aka Cindy's birthday.

Here's hoping you have a wonderful day full of surprises.

Woah! A toy "rental" shop? I've never heard of one of those, but sure wish they had been around when my two were little.

And when the grand-girls were all younger. Could have saved me a lot of trips to buy something to entertain them when they visited. LOL!

We didn't do dance recitals, but piano recitals. BabyBoy took piano until he started high school. His older brother took it for two years until his piano teacher and I agreed we were just wasting our money on his lessons..... < G >

Meagan and Brandi did do Clogging when they were younger. If you don't know what that is, it's kind of like tap dancing, except you stomp more than tap.....

Jenny, it's good to see you again online. And wonderful to hear about Sam's progress. To still be in mainstream school is a great accomplishment and his mom should get lots of credit for all her hard work..

Gosh, it's hard to believe that Zoe and Rebecca are so grown up. Rebecca will love the year of traveling. BabyBoy did that, well, sort of. He did nine months at the University of Wurzburg on an exchange program when he was in college.

He traveled all over Europe, well, the parts he wanted to see anyway. LOL!

Marisa is back from her vacation to Key West, Florida. I've seen a few of the vacation pictures. She had lots of fun and I'm still waiting to hear about the rest of it.

I did speak to Catie a couple of days ago and have recieved sevaral text messages from Meagan this week. Those girls...won't "talk" on their phones, but they text up a storm...

Hope all are enjoying the last few days of Spring. It's been really hot here in Texas, already triple digits. Thank goodness for air conditioning.

Catch you all later. I'm off work the next couple of days, so I will drop in and see what's going on with everyone.

My grands are grown up now !

Well, Zoe finished her degree at Uni last year, and last autumn got engaged to Tom, an Irish lad. Not getting married until next year...they don't rush it these days!

Rebecca has just finished her final College exams (she's 19) and has decided to have a year out travelling before she finally makes up her mind what to do. Mind you with all the recession problems, perhaps that is wise. Things might have settled down on the employment front by then.

Sam is 10 now....to think when I first posted on this page he was only three ! His problems have been diagnosed more fully now, he has 'learning difficulties' (a euphemism for mental handicap over this side of the pond) and is also autisitic. Fortunately he has a sunny disposition, so given the appropriate handling is quite socially integrated. He is still attending a regular school,with one to one tuition within the class. The other kids are so good with him and include him as much as they can...the girls tend to 'mother' him, which being a boy he doesn't always appreciate!

In Sept 2010 he will have to go to a Special School as he will be 11 then, and the regular Secondary School will not be able to educate
him in the important life skills which he will need.

My daughter finds it demanding to bring him up,especially since his Dad opted out, and she is alone...the girls have been a great help, but of course, they have their own lives to lead now.

The family have a new dog...a West Highland Terrier, and he has made a lively addition to the family. Sam loves him and taking him for long walks ( with Mum, of course) seems to be very therepautic all round. Can't beat fresh air and mother nature.

Just thought, I was english38, but had to change name when the website changed...wouldn't work under the old name'

Love to all, good to catch up

jenny

Sonoma had her first yesterday. She has been doing ballet lessons for about 6 months. The recital went from her age to teens and was a very big outing in the community.

Her particular dance was to the music from Jungle Book called "I Want to be Like You", so she was dressed with a monkey's head on the top of her tu-tu costume. What nobody knew is that she had also stuffed a small plush dog down her front and held a "lucky" quarter in each hand all during the dance. When asked why?, she just gave an enigmatic smile.

Getting to daycare has just gotten harder since Mom rented two new toys from the Toy Rental Shop. She has been doing this every two or three months in order to vary toys without the expense of ownership. One new one is a huge firetruck with all the bells and whistles and noises one would expect. The other is an equally huge castle. The hens do moat control.

They bought this house in January not knowing that the former owner would leave the five hens behind, complete with instructions. Four are still laying. Sonoma collects the eggs and thinks this is the way the hens thank them for feeding them. They are free range birds during the day and are enticed with food to get into their coop at night.

Sorry I've been so long in posting, but Catie has been here and we were quite busy. LOL!

I guess it gives me a little idea what I have to look forward to on our vacation in July with her.

I have heard of coughing into your elbow, but I forget when I do have to cough. Actually, I don't (knock on wood) get coughs or colds for that matter, very often. I'm more prone to seasonal allergies.

That trip of Coels was great. Thanks for sharing all the details of the outting. I bet when they got the "prowler" (I hope it wasn't a real one) it was one of the highlights of the night for all the ones there.

Did anyone videotape it? I know you would really enjoy seeing it all again.

I had my second injection in my knee this past Monday. One more to go. It is feeling a bit better, so I am hoping after the third injection and then going on vacation, it will be much better when it's all said and done.

A knee replacement does not cause the problems that I have had with my knee. I was trying to avoid having a replacement down the road by having the surgery to repair the damage in my knee. In hindsight, I would just leave it alone if I had to do it all over again.

Meagan is the one with all the problems, Sha.

She went to the doctor yesterday for some other problems going on other than her knee. She has the same condition, they found out, as her mom. Sorry, I don't remember exactly what it's called (too early in the morning for me to think).

She's also Hypoglycemic. Poor girl. She's going off to college in a couple of months. Hope they can get some of this straightened out before she goes.

Anyway, Catie is back at home and I'll try and post more often now....she did keep me running.

If you cough or sneeze into your hand, the germs are left on your hand for you to spread everywhere. If you cough into the crook of your elbow, the germs stay there. Elsa does it automatically now with no prompting.

That's a new one on me, Boberr. I suppose it does cover the mouth better. I'll have to ask Wyatt if his teachers have told him to do that.

The trip was a huge success! It is a four hour drive from Carmel Valley to Sacramento so the kids welcomed the chance to run around a bit and tour the Railroad Museum. I had seen it before when I was still able to accompany my husband on his business trips. I'd go sightseeing while he worked but he never had enough time to see this museum until just a couple of months ago. There on display was an old 50's era fruit and vegetable car just like those my husband filled with crates of cantaloupes and then blew in ice shaved from 300 # blocks to cover it all. This is how he earned enough money to put himself through college. He really gave the docent there a history lesson. So Coel had something to watch for as well as share information.

The kid were bedded down in a motel and the next day, put on their costumes and went to the Fort. They went from station to station, making something at one such as a corn husk doll, a medicine bag, a box stool they nailed together and branded, etc. They prepared vegetables for their evening supper in the kitchen, and made a batch of gingersnaps at the bakery for desert. All the while, tourists were coming by and watching them do the reenactment.

After the fort was closed, they were fed a hearty stew with their cookies and hot chocolate for desert. The boys were given rifles (broomstick mock-ups) and told to be on the lookout for prowlers during the night. They spread out their sleeping bags on the ground but before they could get in bed, wouldn't you know, a prowler was discovered and marched off to jail! Such fun!

The next morning they went by horse-drawn wagon to the Capitol Building and the Governor's mansion. Coel was quite impressed with both. His small world was greatly opened up with this trip. His school district is big on journals so he has this all written down for him to reread when he is older.

What fun ages, Sha. Sonoma is also 3 and a half with 4 coming in August. When I coughed the other day she reminded me to cough in my elbow as they are being taught these days. I love being able to have conversations now, don't you? Cash sounds like a love. Get your track shoes ready!

Hope your knee is better, Jeanette. Looking forward to hearing about Marissa's vacation,

Bobbie

It's been awhile since I have posted anything here but I have been checking up on what you all have posted. How did Coel's field trip go, Bobberr? Isn't it great that we have dedicated teachers who make such an impact on our kids? I bet he will remember that for the rest of his life.

How is your knee doing, Jeanette? You sure have had to put up with that for a long time. I'm assuming that the swelling after you got the injection wasn't a normal response. Did it get better as time went by? How is Brandi's knee doing now? If I remember right she was having problems after her surgery. After hearing your stories about your knees I'm not sure if I ever want to go through that. The older I get the harder it is for me to get up and down, especially when I'm on the floor with the grandkids. However I think I would rather put up with the inconvenience instead of having surgery.

My grandbabies are getting bigger everyday and they are such a delight to me. Wyatt is 3 1/2 now and is starting to tell grandma when she gets something wrong. The other day I was showing him a display of cactuses at the local nursery and he informed me that when there is more than one they are called "cacti"
not "cactus". I'm not sure where he gets that but I hope it serves him well someday. I love taking him to the garden store with me. It is such fun to view it through the eyes of a child. He told me on our last trip there that the garden store was just like the Botanical Gardens but we didn't have to pay to see it. :-)

Young Cash is now 9 months old and really getting to be fun. He still doesn't crawl but he is trying to pull himself up on the furniture. If he wants to go somewhere he just rolls around the floor till he gets to where he wants to go.

I think Cash is going to be our athlete. Wyatt never expressed a lot of interest in sports (maybe because of his foot) but Cash already likes to throw a ball and play catch. We've noticed that he tends to use his left hand more than the right one when he throws things but he can really use either hand if he wants to. My son was always very athletic when he was growing up so it would be nice if at least one of the boys enjoyed it too.

I need to go do some work in my garden so I had better get off this computer and do it. It's so easy to get lost in time when I am on here. I hope everyone is having a good day and that more people will come back and post here again. I miss everyone! Betty, Picc, and the rest of you...let us know how things are going okay? I want to know if Picc reached her goal and got to buy that smaller size of jeans. I'm hoping that she did.

What fun Coel is going to have on his field trip. Sounds like the teacher really put a lot of thought in to making this something they will remember.

Can't wait to hear what the stations are either.

Now, for the Spidey p.j.'s. There out there for adults too, just have to shop around especially around Christmas. But, you can probably go online and find them by "googling".

I'll try and see if I can find any online today while I'm off work. We can't have him going to bed without his "Spidey".

I had the first of the injections to my knee on Monday right after work. The injection part wasn't as bad as I was dreading. I've had injections in other parts of my body that hurt more. LOL!

The doctor's assistant told me that if I wanted to on my next two visits, if I could slip away for a little bit from work, they would take me right in and give them to me. I'm their last patient of the day. I told her I would check into it.

But, that was right after the injection. By the time I walked out of the doctors office into the waiting area I realized I wouldn't be able to just "pop" in. In just minutes I couldn't bend my knee.

It continued to swell and I kept it propped up that evening here at home.

There isn't a lot of pain. I did try and go grocery shopping with hubby yesterday, but mid-way it started burning, so I had to go sit while he finished up the shopping.

The instructions do tell you no long standing for 48 hours and I guess they mean it.

I can't wait to finish the injections. We go on vacation in July and I want to pain free by then.

Today is the last day of school here. It's late getting out this year. Texas school usually always close at the end of May. I was told it had something to do with longer vacations during the school year.

Catie is well now, but her mom is still not back to normal. She has a low immune system, so it will take her a bit longer to get over the virus.

Marisa is on her vacation now. They left last Saturday. She was so excited. Can't wait to hear all about it when she returns.

We've been busy here putting up bird feeders in the yard. The first one did attract a lot of birds, but most of them were too big to hang on the side of the feeder. It didn't have any perches. So, we got another one yesterday and it seems to be a winner with the birds. So far I've seen White Wing Doves, one Black Ring Dove, Cardinals, Blue Jays and an assortment of Sparrows. I think some of them may not be Sparrows, but I can't get a good look from inside the house. I'll have to get out my binoculars for a better look.

Now for trying to catch them on camera. They are very shy, so I have to figure a way to sneek up where they won't see me. I could buy one of those timer cameras that hunters around here set up at deer feeders. They take pictures for hours. Hmmmm, that's a thought.

Summer is just around the corner....have a good day today.

I hope your appointment went well yesterday. What a bother! Poor Catie, to get sick on her birthday. I know you're glad you escaped it .

Tomorrow, Coel, along with all the members of the three fourth grades in Tularcitos School, will be traveling to Sacramento for the big enactment at Sutters' Fort on Thursday. Each child has been assigned the name of a real person in history to represent and learn about. Coel's is Nathan Coombs, the architect who laid out the city of Napa. The kids, as well as the adults, dress in period costumes.

He has talked about "stations" that they will go to during the day, but the translation will have to await his return. They would have to have something organized to keep that many kids on key. They will also sleep at the Fort that night. It will be a great adventure!

While going through the thrift stores in search of Coel's costume, my daughter discovered that Coel no longer can wear big boy's sizes but has graduated to men's. The pants she got him were 30/30's. That is the size I used to wear! The sad part is that there are no Spider man pajamas in that size, which just 10 year old Coel really wants.

Good morning.

Was awakened by a call from my Orthopedics doctors office. I have been working on getting appointments set up for about three months for my knee. The doctor is only in my area on Mondays.

It took me over a month to get the prescription he wanted me to get for injections to my knee. Finally got the prescription, but couldn't set up the appointment, as he was going on vacation for a week. So rescheduled the appointment starting next week.

The receptionist that woke me this morning wanted to know if I would come in three hours earlier than my scheduled appointment. I told her I was working during that time. She kept trying to get me to change my work hours, told her I couldn't. She got angry and hung up on me. Hey, I deal with the public all the time and I have never hung up on a customer.

I called right back and spoke to her again and she told me to keep my scheduled appointment.

Boy, if I get there and find out the doctor isn't there.........let's just say I better not miss this appointment. She isn't the usual contact with this office. I usually speak to my doctor's personal assistant, but I imagine she is on vacation too.

Not to mention that after she called I couldn't go back to sleep. Grrrr.....

So, it's Friday and Marisa is probably gettiing ready or has already left for a vacation in Florida.

I am so excited for her. She has never had a real vacation before. She lives with her bio Grandmother now and things have really changed for the better for her. We are still emailing almost daily, but I'll have to wait until she gets back now to find out how the vacation went.

Catie's birthday came and went. She got almost everything she wanted, I think. Poor girl was sick though. They finally had to take her to the doctor, because what she had she passed on to her mom and sisters. Luckily hubby and I didn't catch it since she stayed the night with us once during that time.

Oh, I need to correct something in the last posting I wrote. Meagan is 20, Brandi 19. Don't know why I tried to make them a year older. Goodness they grow up quick enough. LOL!

Well, here's hoping the rest of the day goes better and the photo machines are finally working the way they are suppose to when I get to work. They've been up and down for about a week now.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.