Wordless Wednesday #38 ~ "Dogged Determination"

CJ's first T-Ball game. He's on a team called the Blue Dogs.

Check out the closed eyes, and the tongue sticking out!

Happy 5th Birthday, CJ! (updated)

My grandson turned 5 today! Finally. At least in his eyes...he's been waiting for this birthday for a long, long time and counting down the days. I woke him up this morning, by singing Happy Birthday to him. He opened his eyes and said, "Is it REALLY my birthday?" Like it was too good to be true. And then he said to his dog, "Finn, can you believe it's my birthday?"

Unfortunately, his mother can't be with him today, because she's in Texas, doing some training for the Air Force Reserves. But she sent him a couple of presents. CJ really likes the "PS man" because he brings him stuff all the time! Anyway, we let him open one of them the day they came...he just couldn't STAND to wait to open both of them. It was a video game for his V-motion. He's waiting for Mama to call him right now, so she can watch him open the other one via webcam. Ahhh...the wonders of modern technology!

This afternoon, we have a party planned with his cousins at "Space Aliens." That should be fun...I'll have to post more pics later.

(update 10 days later)

Well, I'm finally getting around to adding the pictures from his actual birthday party. Unfortunately, in my rush to get to the party, I forgot to grab my SD card, so I was only able to take as many pictures as my camera's internal memory could hold.

It was the first time I'd been to Space Aliens, and it was not a bad deal. For $75, you get a party package for up to 6 kids. They have a party room, aptly called "Area 51" where they set up the party. Each child gets their own indivdual pizza, a small drink, a prize bag including 25 tokens for the game room, and ice cream. It's $10 extra for each additional child. I just wish I'd included Molly and her friend Liz as extra kids...I spent a lot more than $10 on each of them.

Tiegen, Elizabeth, Katie, Christian, Molly and Liz

Katie, Christian and Molly

Time to open presents!

First, was a GI Joe ninja sword and mask from Shelby and Tanner

Christian was thrilled with it--that's Shelby watching him open it.

Here's what he got from Tiegen & Grayson...Shelby looks like she's thinking, "Oh brother!"

Coincidentally, he got another K'nex semi truck from Katie and Liz! GMTA!

I think Katie decided to bump a balloon up in the air, just as I snapped this one.

Ray and I got him this walkie-talkie set with a base station.

Thanks to everyone who attended, and made Christian's 5th birthday a very special one!

Global Warming?!?!

Yeah....riiiiiiiiight. I, for one refuse to believe it. We have had one of the coldest Summer's on record, and after a rather nice (but short) Fall...we got SNOW on October 9th this year. I suppose that's not unheard of here in MinneSNOWta, but the first snow of the year generally melts as it hits the bare ground, and even the white stuff sitting atop the grass, normally melts by days end.

We had our monthly "Ladies' Night Out" at church last night, and as someone was leaving around 1 am, they came back in to warn the rest of us that our vehicles were covered with snow. I think partially because the rest of us didn't want to go out and face the cold facts, we settled in and chit-chatted for another two hours. Finally, at about 3am, we wandered out into the parking lot...and found this:

Luckily, I did have a scraper in my vehicle...most of the others ended up using credit cards to scrape their windows...but none of us had gloves...and it was c-c-c-cold! A couple of the girls even had a little 3 am snowball fight...but i didn't participate. I took this picture of my van, thinking that the snow would be melted by the time we got up this morning, and no one would believe it was even there. I was wrong.

Of course, when CJ woke up this morning, he was pretty excited about going out to play, and wanted to put his new winter coat, hat and mittens on to try them out. Fortunately, last year's model of boots and snow pants still fit him. He was having a blast just running around in the white stuff, despite the bitterly cold wind...so I guess he stayed warm enough.

I think he was trying to do the hand signs that the big kids always do in the picture above...but it kinda loses something with his fingers inside the mittens!

Despite my dislike of the cold and the early snow, I was struck by the awesome beauty of the brightly colored leaves intermingled with the sparkling whiteness, and the still-green blades of grass peeking out between them.

CJ was running around being silly, and "posing" for me. I wanted to get his attention for a close-up, so I asked him how many days there were until his fifth birthday...

I'm guessing he's holding eight fingers up underneath those mittens!

Oh well, I just hope this snow has not quite moved in for the season...we've got things to do before then. Ray put in a new door on the side of the house about a month ago, but he's either been busy working elsewhere, or it's been raining out ever since that time. We NEED to get the new back door installed. I was reminded just how much cold air comes in around the old one today, while the frigid winds of winter were inviting themselves in.

Look (Grand)MA, No Training Wheels!

About a week and a half ago, my grandson Christian, who will be five years old in October, learned to ride his bike without training wheels. Here he is on his tiny 12" bicycle.

After a few days, with the seat up as high as it goes, he and his mom decided he was ready for a bigger bike.

Jessica is in the Air Force Reserves, and will likely be going to TX for training for 10 weeks, starting October 1st. If she does, she will miss Christian's birthday again. While she was in the AF, her 5 month tour of duty in Iraq just happened to be over his FIRST birthday...and though she did get to spend his 2nd with him, she was once again sent to do some training (I don't remember where) over his 3rd birthday. We celebrated early at a water park, before we took him home with us for 6 weeks that year. Okay, so she was able to spend his 4th birthday with him last year, but now, since it appears they will again be apart for his birthday, Jess decided to get him an early birthday present. Besides, he will get a lot more use out of it for the next couple of months than he will the months following...here during our Minnesota winter anyway.

She ordered a brand new bike online, and it arrived yesterday evening...

with "some assembly required"

Jess was able to get it all put together, before Grandpa Ray got home. She had him check it over, just in case she hadn't tightened things up enough. After inspection by Grandpa...and a bit of initial hesitation on CJ's part, he got brave enough to try out his new big bike (all 16" of it). Yay, CJ!

Wordless Wednesday #33 ~ Where Does My Grandson Fall Asleep??

On the stairs...

On the chairs...

Aw..who cares???

How to Make a Big Splash with your Great-Grandson

The Sunday before last, my mom and dad met us at Silver Nickel Farm (which is just a little over 8 miles from our house), for an "antique tractor and old car show." We weren't exactly sure what to expect, but it sounded interesting. As it turned out, my dad actually owns a lot more "antique tractors" himself than they had on display, and the 1963 Ford convertible that my parents drove to the event was one of the oldest cars there too. It wasn't exactly impressive, but it was okay. We had Molly and CJ with us, and they enjoyed petting the animals in the petting zoo, and riding the train around...well, at least CJ enjoyed the train ride. He wouldn't get on it the first time, without Auntie Molly. She pretty much had to be a contortionist to get in the train car...and I wasn't exactly sure we were going to get her and her long legs back OUT of it once they were done.

And after CJ's first ride, we couldn't get him out either...just because he was having such a great time. They had a little "store" there, which was pretty much a garage sale, other than the fact that they also sell organic food products and some Amish-made crafts. They had a few larger used items outside. My mother found this Little Tykes slide for $5 and asked if I thought CJ would like it. I told her yes, and she bought it for him. There was only one problem. We still had all of our karaoke equipment in the van from Friday night, and had no way to get it home...or so I though. Ray came up with this brilliant idea:

It worked! We got some twine from one of the gals that worked there, and tied it to the top of the van. We drove the 8 miles home rather slowly, and after a couple of miles it collapsed and we heard a big boom! It stayed up there though, and had we known it was collapsible, we would have done that in the first place...but we made it home eventually.

Later on that week, the weather got pretty hot. We thought it might be fun to try the slide out in the pool. CJ LOVES his new "water slide." And that's how you make a big splash with your great-grandson:

CJ says, "THANKS, GREAT GRANDPA & GRANDMA!!!"

Memorial Weekend Happenings

Our Holiday weekend started out nice. Sarah called on Saturday morning, to ask if it was alright for them to come down for a visit for the weekend. They had planned on camping in Northern Minnesota, but the weather up there was not cooperating. We told her that would be just fine, we had planned on grilling and having our first campfire of the season that night anyway, so it would be great to have company for it. We invited my son Joel and Ray's other daughter, Ruth and her husband too, but unfortunately, Joel had to work and we never heard back from Ruth.

Meanwhile, while Sarah and Brad were on their way, I got Ray working on my "Honey-do" list. They were just minor little things that I wanted done, like hanging the American flag out on the front porch, putting a lock on the bathroom door, fixing my chair and attaching our bed to the headboard, so it wasn't always trying to fall on us in our sleep. He did end up getting most of that accomplished. I have one more project for him to do, but he said that one was a little more "involved" than he thought it would be. Of course, this is the same project that was left over from th last time I gave him a list of things I wanted done.

After Sarah and Brad arrived, we took them with us to the first grad party of the season. It was a beautiful day for an outdoor party, and CJ had lots of fun playing with his friends, Caleb, DJ and Charlie, who all happened to be there at the same time we were. When we got home, we made brats and hot dogs on the grill and got ready for our campfire.

Here are Jake, Molly (with Bart in her lap), Sarah, Brad, Buster, and Jess with CJ in her lap.

Here we are, enjoying the fire and roasting marshmallows for S'mores. You gotta have S'mores to make it an official holiday weekend, don't ya think?

Here is Molly, posing with Jake, Bart and Buster. We had ourselves a real "Three Dog Night"

On Sunday afternoon, we all headed out to my mom and dad's house for another "work day". Most of my siblings were there, and some of the grandkids. They were all doing odd jobs around the place that needed doing. Some of us were painting Mom and Dad's bedroom, while others were doing some painting outside. They even painted the basketball/flag pole! That's my brother Bob in the orange shirt, and the other one is my BIL, Steve. I believe my brother Mike is operating the equipment here:

While they were doing that, my sister Kathy was busy painting the old basketball backboard, too. She did a very nice job on it, but we were thinking it needed the script, "Don't even think about parking here", along with a painting of Felix the Cat playing basketball...or something like that. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if actually did that. She's one talented lady.

Monday morning, we all got up and Ray made his famous omelets for everyone. Sarah and Brad packed up and headed North around noon or so. Ray, CJ and I took a ride out to the campground that our church is going to for a weekend in July. It looks like a nice place, and is only about 20 miles from town, so even if some people didn't want to stay, they could still come out to visit for a day. The lady from the campground told Ray that he had to show me the "outhouses". I thought that was interesting. I'll post more about the campground later.

Wordless Wednesday #26 ~ Our Little "Armed Guard", Asleep on the Job!

(CJ asleep with his dart gun while listening to KidzBop)

Come on, Grandma...Come on, God!

Last night was our monthly karaoke night at church. After everyone else had left, (at about 11:30pm), Ray and I and my 4 year old grandson, CJ were left alone in a mostly dark church, finishing the clean-up and loading all of our karaoke stuff back in the truck. I picked up a toy that belonged in the nursery, and asked CJ if he'd bring it in there.

CJ (in his tough guy voice): "I'm not afraid of the dark, Grandma." But then a moment later he was back in the Youth room, still holding onto the toy. "I'm afraid of THIS dark!" he said. So, I told him that this was God's house, and there was nothing scary there...besides, God is bigger than the Boogie man and he wouldn't let anything happen to him. He agreed, and I went with him to put the toy away, as he said, "God and Grandma will protect me." Then he decided he needed a drink of water. We're walking through the dark hallway to the drinking fountain, (with CJ very bravely leading the way), and this is what he says, "Come on, Grandma...Come on, God!" He followed that up with, "God is walking with us", to which I wholeheartedly agreed...through my laughter.

On the ride home, as he is sitting in the little jump-seat behind me in our pick-up truck, he says, "God is sitting right there looking at me." I thought that was pretty cool...but the thought of God sitting there in the other little jump-seat across from him, somehow cracked me up. All the way home, CJ talked about God and Jesus and how Jesus is God, but he'd just call Him God...and I told him that God could be everywhere all at the same time...that that was one of His "shooper powers" (he had asked me a couple of months ago if God had "shooper powers.") And then we prayed that God would keep Grandpa Ray (who was extremely tired), safe as he drove home in front of us in my daughter's car, and that He would also keep his mama and her friend safe when they drove home from where they were, later on. He talked non-stop on the way home...while he got ready for bed, after he laid down...until he finally stopped talking for five seconds...and sleep overtook him. From the mouths of babes...

Grandpa's Little Helper is a Bit "Under the Weather"

My husband, Ray seems to be enjoying having our 4yo grandson here with us almost as much as I am. For one thing, Ray's not the only male in the house. They can do "guy things" like shoveling snow together, for example. Saturday morning, we woke up to 2 or 3 inches of beautiful white snow on the ground, so CJ went out to help Grandpa and try out his new snow shovel. I'm not sure he really "gets" the concept though. While Ray was shoveling the snow OFF of the driveway, CJ was throwing more snow on it! Oh well, he was having fun:

By the time I decided to take this first pic, they were already way down at the end of the driveway. These were taken through the window, and I had to zoom in quite a bit, which may explain the picture quality.

Here's CJ dumping his shovelful back on the driveway.

Making their way back toward the house.

Helping Grandpa shovel out Mama's car.

Posing for Grandma, after a job well done.

I don't think it had anything to do with being outside with Grandpa, but later that night CJ started coughing a little bit. Sunday night, he was coughing a little more...and last night was running a low-grade fever. Thankfully, our household had escaped all the sick bugs that have been floating around this Winter, for quite some time. In fact, no one has been sick so far in 2009. Please pray that this doesn't develop into anything serious. Jessica and CJ are without any health insurance at the moment, ever since she got out of the USAF. She is currently in the process of joining the AF Reserves, so they will have insurance again soon...but right now they don't...so hopefully he will not need to see a doctor.

Friday Funnies ~ (Grand)Kids Say the Cutest Things!

1. "Hey, Bart's not dead anymore! (upon finding out that his dog had actually survived being run over by a car)




2. While lying in bed with me one night, "Grandma, does God have Super Powers?" My answer to him? "Absolutely!"




3. To Jessica, "Mommy, go give Grandma a hug and a kiss goodbye", (when they were off to the grocery store or something like that)




4. His mom asked him why the handful of "conversation hearts" he'd brought for her, were all wet and sticky. His reply? "Cuz I licked 'em!"




5. Out of the blue one night, "Grandma, do you know who loves us?" "Who loves us, Christian?" "Jesus!" I guess he's learning something in AWANA Cubbies.




6. First thing the other morning, after coming downstairs to check on his new fish, "Thank you fishy, for not jumping out of the tank!" (read my post A Fishy Tale to fully understand)




7. After taking inventory while we were visiting my parents; "Grandma...Great Grandma, Grandpa...Great Grandpa, Molly...where's the great Molly?"




8. He asked me to crack open a peanut for him one day, I said, "You're a peanut." He replied, "I am SO not a peanut!"




9. The other night, he wanted to put his stuffed giraffe in our bed to sleep while we went to Awana. He told me, "I'll put a Pull-up on him, so he doesn't pee in your bed." Wasn't that thoughtful of him?




10. And last, but not least..."Grandpa, if you eat too many peanuts, you'll get fat... like Grandma!" Et tu, CJ??

Wordless Wednesday #19 ~ Do You Like My Hat?

Thursday Thirteen ~ 13 Random Shots Taken by CJ

I let CJ use my camera last night to take a picture of Grandpa. And then he got a little carried away. He's quite the budding shutterbug at age 4.

1. Here's the first one he took of Grandpa Ray


2. I guess he couldn't get all of Gramps in one shot...even after he lost about 50 lbs. Here's the second shot...

3. ...and the third

4. Practicing to take self portraits for mySpace or facebook etc., with a little help from Mama

5. An "artsy" sort of photo of the bottom of G & G's closet...looks like Grandma has some straightening to do.

6. A close-up of the woodwork

7. Oh, and look...here's Grandma! This one's not bad, considering the subject. (I've GOT to put my C-mas decorations away TODAY)

8. A rather scary scared looking picture of Mama Jessica

9. Apparently the dogs need food and water

10. Auntie Molly looking a bit blurry


11. The back of my kitchen chair that he decorated with SpongeBob stickers. (CJ says this is HIS chair now)

12. This looks like one of those close-ups that you're supposed to guess what it is. Anyone care to take a stab at it?

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Give up?
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13. UPDATE: This is what I THOUGHT it was. I WAS WRONG! I had looked at both of those last two similar looking pics and ASSUMED they were of the same object. I just looked a little closer at them, and realized they are not!

I DID figure out what it is, but I'm not going to tell you. I think I'll save it for another post, and do some sort of a give-away to whom ever can guess what it REALLY is! I guess he had his grandma stumped too. LOL!