Still Here

Alive that is.

Jen's Grandmother passed away Wednesday evening. She was 96 years old. Of course Dan and Jen were making plans. Funeral, wake and how they were going to get the time off. Then there were the boys to deal with.

They didn't know their Great Grandmother. They couldn't understand the concept that their Grandpa's mommy had died . Explaining death in terms a 5 and 3 year old can understand can be very hard.

To them, the word Great didn't mean anything. Grandma is the only word they understood.

They refer to Jen's mother as the "other" Grandma. She is a refined, well dressed woman and involved in the arts. Classy lady. Loves those little guys as much as I do.

I am the total opposite. Blue jeans, sweatshirts, McDonald's and apt to be found on the floor crawling around with the kids. I have baskets of toys and you will often find the boys using all our pillows and a couple of blankets making a tunnel in our living room.

By process of elimination, they thought I had died. There is a school carnival tonight and we are going to watch Peyton while Dan takes the older ones. I will see them, so maybe I can help clear up the confusion.

On the other hand, there is Peyton. He has gotten so much better with people since Mom went back to work. But. Two hours. Alone. No brothers. No Mom or Dad. Only Grandpa and Grandma. I might feel like I had died by the time he goes home.

Wondering

By now, I suppose you are wondering why I waited so long to post pictures of Raidyn and Leigh's family.

Very simple. I had 1,495 pictures on my memory card. I can't believe it could hold that many. It was too many to load on the computer and find the ones I wanted.

Shannon took me to WalMart 2 afternoons this past week. I burned CD's while she shopped. The first day, I chose by event and burned three of them. Easy part. Then I had to come home, look at the CD's and delete the pictures from my camera as I found them. Tedious! Day 2, I burned three more. Then I had to look at these CD's and delete them as I found them. I had to be careful because I wasn't sure I had copied every picture.

I will NEVER go that long again before I dump my memory card.

Our "Other" Daughter

Leigh. She was in town to see her family and took time to bring her boys over. We had never seen either one of them. She usually sends a Christmas card with a family picture on it. Joaquin was born this last November, and we didn't get a card. I think Leigh had her hands full.

Mateo is almost two. Joaquin was born November 20, 2008. ( I think.) Leigh, you will have to comment and tell us their birthdays.

We had a great visit and enjoyed the boys. They are adorable ! Come back soon.

My Playdate

Dan called one morning not long ago to tell me Raidyn was wanting to see Grandma. I called him to set up a "date". Before we knew it, Grandpa was on the road to pick him up. He wanted to come NOW. Just him and us. No competition. He loved it.

He walked into the house and told me he was starving. (As if he hadn't been fed at home.) He knows we always treat them to happy meals when they come over and I think he wanted to be sure he got one. ( He did finally get one, but later at lunch time.)

He only stayed 3 hours, but I did get my "grandma" fix. He talks not stop. Whatever he is doing, he is talking. Every sentence started like this. Grandma, Grandma - Grandma. I can't even guess how many times he said it.

Before he went home, he made sure to get a promise that he could come back soon. He even picked up all of his toys without being asked. I was so impressed. Bob and I had a great time!

GUILTY

As charged. Grand Theft. Blatant. No excuses.

I confess. I am guilty of stealing Colleen's "thunder". Taking steps to rectify the situation as soon as possible.

"Thunder" is on the way. Should arrive sometime this weekend.

Hugs and kisses.