Come Out Come Out, Wherever You Are

Well we know where you are but we don't know when you will come out. Your room is ready. Your dad painted your walls a lovely, icey blue, & put your changing table & crib together. Your cloth diapers are in the drawer and sleepers hung in the closet. Great grandma Twila made you a green and brown quilt. Your mom is busy just lugging you around. We'll see you sometime in the next couple weeks! Can't wait to meet you.

Love Grandma Jane
P.S. Are you a boy or a girl?

Patching Holes and Other Fun Things

Friday I had the day off and spent a couple hours filling nail holes in newly attached woodwork with wood filler and painting over them after the filler had dried. If you're ever thinking about taking woodwork off, sanding, painting, re-attaching, filling nail holes and painting over the holes, just move. It would be a lot easier. I love my new hardwood floors but crawling around on my hands and knees on them for a few hours wasn't fun. It's even less fun on our ceramic tile down stairs. The tile is hard and COLD.

Sunday we spent a good part of the day taking down old curtains which involved filling all the holes that the old hardware left, painting over the filled holes, (sound familiar?) waiting for the paint to dry then finally putting up the new hardward and curtains.

Why is our house always in turmoil? Will it ever end? Will I ever live in a new house that doesn't need any work done to it? If I did what would I do with all my 'spare' time?

Camping in February

Laina and Hudson and I made a tent out of an old blanket and chairs on Saturday. We read books, ate lunch and even had a camp fire thanks to Laina.


Laina came up with the camp fire idea and made this "fire" out of construction paper. She also made S'mores with graham crackers and chocolate cut out of brown construction paper, marshmellows from white paper all glued together in a stack.

Laina made peanut butter sandwiches for us and I added the fruit and veggies for our picnic lunch. Hudson did not really like it in the tent and decided he'd rather take a nap in the Pack N Play.

Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wah)

My daughter Sarah introduced me to Quinoa as an alternative to rice and perhaps a little more nutritious than white rice. I finally picked some up in the 'Health Market' section at Hyvee. Tuesday night I decided to give it a try using it instead of rice in a Shrimp Fried Rice recipe. I was pleasantly surprised by the taste and it only takes 10-15 minutes to cook. Here are some other facts about quinoa: it is high in protein, calcium and iron and is a good source of vitamin E and several of the B vitamins. It contains an almost perfact balance of all 8 essential amino acids needed for tissue development in humans. A half a cup will provide a childs protein needs for one day. It is low in sodium and high in fiber. Beets, spinach and swiss chard are all relatives of quinoa. The ancient Incas called it the "mother grain" and revered it as sacred. Probably more than you really wanted to know about quinoa!

I Heart these Munchkins!

Won't You Be My Pillow Pet

Laina and I took a trip to the mall Saturday morning. We were on a mission. I told Laina she could choose a pillow pet from the kiosk at Coral Ridge for Valentines Day and she said right away she wanted a unicorn and she never changed her mind for even one second. I told her to look at all of them so we walked around the kiosk but she wanted the purple unicorn. She didn't know it at the time but later told us she would have chosen a different unicorn because hers bites.

Laina talked Erik into dressing up and putting on a short dance show for us Sunday night.

Hudson likes to scream, eat his toes and roll over.

Kid Party

Saturday I took Laina and Hudson to Par-Tee Zone while Terri ran errands for a dinner party she was hosting that night. Laina would climb to the highest point and yell "come on grandma". She didn't think it would be that hard for me to climb through all those tight spots while holding Hudson. Hudson and I stayed on the lowest level but did walk and crawl around through the mazes and net. Hudson was a little in awe and kicked his feet and babbled loudly.
Laina really liked playing golf and made it through two rounds! She is very good at finding the next hole by following the numbers and even knows to stay out of the water and sand.

After Terri came back we were all starving including Hudson who was a little mad that he couldn't have some of Terri's huge sandwich--just had to make due with his pacifier!

Superbowl Sunday

Laina came over early to help decorate for our superbowl party. She wanted everyone to make a picture to hang on the wall. It was a great idea and really got everyone in the mood for football!

Hudson doesn't know what to think about the party.

Laina and Charlie played and played all night. They evidently had a "lab" that they didn't want anyone to come into. They wrote and illustrated books for everyone. As you can see Laina was allowed to dress herself for the party. She also wore her superbowl outfit to church and Sunday School. She likes to dress with lot of colors and patterns!

Hopefully we'll be seeing more of our great niece Parker now that she has moved back to Iowa. She will be starting a new school this week. Good Luck Parker!

Kari and Griffin hanging out.

Hudson is starting to laugh out loud and once he gets started he laughs himself silly!

Pioneer Days

You feel a little like a pioneer when you live in Iowa during the winter. Today was one of those days. Howling wind, sidewalks, roads and driveways packed with snow, the eerie sound of silence--no cars or trucks--until the plows, snowblowers and four wheelers get fired up. Below you can see the head of our bird girl statue peeking out over the snow.
Snow piled high on the fence by our garage. I hope the fence holds because on the other side is our neighbors pool!

I shoveled a little path for Elsa to get out into the yard. Nothing about this weather agrees with Elsa. Rhodesian Ridgebacks were bred in AFRICA. She likes to bask in the sun and does not like the cold, snow, or even to get her feet wet!

Somestimes it's nice to have a 50 foot long drive way---somestimes it's not!

Drifts climbing the side of our pool deck. Would we trade all this lovely snow and cold for green grass or a Caribbean Sea? Heck NO! Hey, unless you're really headed for the Caribbean, like my co-worker Leslie, you might as well feign heartiness!