Funny things kids say

While the grandkids were with us for their little vacation at the lake, it was smoking hot!!! Around 33 or 34 every day. Luckily our lot faces away from the setting sun so we have a few feet of shade from the RV itself. We are lucky enough to have 3 big trees so we get additional shade there. Still, it was 30 minimum in the shade every day.

That is prime swimming weather so we went swimming at the family pool at least twice a day. Grandma made sure she pulled at least one popsicle stick a day that said pool!!! teehee

One very hot day, Grandpa got a little overheated and overtired. He headed up to the adult pool to  relax and cool off. He jokingly refered to joining the other  beached walruss up on the pool deck.

Little Miss C and Mr P were finally sprayed with suntan lotion, in their swimsuits, towels and sunglasses packed and off we headed to pick up Grandpa on our way to the family pool.

Little Mr P said "Why we goin this way? I neva been this way befoa"
I answered "We are going to pick up Grandpa at the adult pool and then we will all head over to the family pool.
We walked up the equivalant of a city block and he looks around at the quiet pool and the adults lying about suntanning on the deck lounge chairs. He announces to me..
.
"When I gwow up, I neva goin to be an adult...I'm goin to be a Daddy so I can go to the family pool where it is lots of fun. I don't want to go to the adult pool and have to go in a time out on those chairs! It's too quiet theya"
I nearly died laughing silently...Of course I had it be silently...we were still right beside the adult pool!  It is very quiet there...often there is no one in the pool and DH and I can go for over an hour and not see another soul in the pool. Other times there may be 2 or 4 others...that is about it. The occasional time that we go and there are several people, DH goes in and right back out and home...remarking there is too many people for his liking!!!

Here is a photo from yesterdays post demonstrating the adult pool as it usually looks...empty!

I can't show you the family pool as it is so full of people that I can't post of shot without displaying everyone in their swimsuits and I don't even know most of them in order to get permission. LOL

There are 274 units at the resort...where do all those people swim? We do have a shared access beach between all of us but it is never full either!  Sure, some go out in their boats...but that lake is cold when you are way out from shore and we have only had someone want to swim off the boat once...ever...

The family pool on the other hand always has a shortage of lounge chairs and has a full pool and hot tub all the time! It has lots of splashing and screams of joy...all...day...long!!!!!

Their first, very own vacation

Little Miss C and Little Mr P came with us to the lake for their very first vacation without Mum or Dad along. They were very excited to drive up to the lake with us, sans Mummy or Daddy. It is a good 4 or 4 1/2 hour drive so we had the portable DVD players set up to help them pass the time.  Thank goodness they are used to travelling, so that part went smoothly.

We had a couple of discussions beforehand to help dispel any concerns about activities, sleeping arrangements, etc. They had a really good grasp of exactly how many days and nights till Aunty and Mummy came up to join us for the weekend and eventually drive them back home.

DH was worried that they would be homesick...especially Mr P as he just turned 4 this spring. He need not have worried...they were happy, excited, and eager to start the adventures. Just in case they had a teary moment, I got my daughter to write them 4 little letters. Each morning we read them aloud. Those little notes were treasured and were fondly read and reread.

To take the pressure off deciding what to do each day, we took a huge handful of popsicle sticks and everyone chose an activity to write on them. Every morning we each got to choose one activity and that gave us 4 adventures for the day. Some were outings...to the bumper poats or the arcade games

Arcade games are fun cuz you can win some little wee tickets that buy you some prizes...like whoppee cushions! 

Others were outings to play  family bingo at the clubhouse or attend the ice cream social.

Others were simple like a walk to the pool or the playground.

What fun they had anticipating which one they would choose! We left the chosen sticks out on the bar counter to remind us all day. Some days we had to choose more after lunch...oh, the excitement!

Little Miss C wrote make cards on a couple of the sticks so we had 2 intense card making sessions and she churned out 20 more little quickie thank you cards for her stash. Here is a little sneak peek...she will show the rest of her stash on her own blog later this week. (when poor Grandma is rested enough to catch up 2 blogs)!

Miss C's favourite activity:

and the flip side for Little Mr P.

Mr P spent his beloved gravel time outside, carving and digging roads (for his trucks) out of the gravel driveway. He even managed to dig a little lake and float a wee boat in it. Thank goodness Grandpa had the hose out!

It was easy on vacation cto make everything an adventure. Even taking out the garbage became exciting...Little Miss C  would run to tag along...well, bike along actually. Soon as she saw that garbage bag being tied up, she would ran and get her helmet on and tag along to the garbage bin. If you took the "long" route there and back, it was 4 blocks. Mind you, 4 RV resort blocks, which are not all that long. After the first trip, she came bursting into the RV and announced, Grandma, Grandma, I rode 4 whole blocks and didn't have to stop once to steady myself!!! Her face was beaming!  She still has training wheels but doesn't get a lot of chance to practice riding her bike at home as they live in a hilly area.

Finally, like all vacations, it started to come to an end.  Mum and Auntie came to stay a couple of days and then headed home with the kids quite content that their vacation was done and dusted. I could not resist this picture of their shoes at the RV steps...Glamour Girl doesn't make it up to the RV very often and so I wanted to immortalize this wonderful family visit!

.  teehee...I just noticed all the girls shoes are on the left and guys on the right!!!
..

Finally...a little peek of the beach, the lake and Copper Island.

It was a wonderful week but no time for writing any new posts. I will just have to catch up now that we have all returned home.

A card and a funny Mr. P story

I finally have a card to share! It isn't even a cheater card (see my last post)!

I haven't quite re-established my routines and got back to my "normal" crafting times yet.

I have missed posting my Wednesday's Words of Wisdom...have almost given up on the Ten on the 10th; and most of all, I have missed sharing my funny grandchildren stories with you all.

So first the card, and then do I have a story for you!

The card is for my Mum to give my older sister for her birthday. She is quite the gardener and nature lover so I think she will like this card. My photography skills have not improved...sorry about the card looking crooked. I promise it is straight in real life.

Even though it looks crooked, I am celebrating the fact that I have solved the glare problem! I bought some foam core board at Michaels when they had it on for 99 cents. I actually bought 5 pieces to make the box idea...but this is taken sitting on only 2 pieces (as I haven't made the box yet) and I am quite pleased with it. 

My overhead lights seemed to bounce glare no matter what I tried before...so I am pretty happy that this seems to work! In all my excitement about solving the glare, I forgot to take close ups of the glittered elements...the bird and the edges of the flowers are glittered with an iredescent shimmer.

I added the die to the inside to hold the verse and leave room for my Mum to sign it. I had a little problem getting the verse straight (forgot to use my brand new Fiskars stamp straightening thingy) so I just stamped it on another piece, roughed up the edges and tried my darndest to make it look like I planned it that way!!!



Now, on to my story.
Little Mr P loves trains..He loves building elaborate tracks and  loves playing with his beloved Thomas the Train and all the assorted other engines. He knows where the batteries are stored at our house (as well as at his own) and runs to the cupboard to retrieve a battery when an engine runs out of steam. He brings the  battery and the screwdriver and asks for help changing them.
DH had been busy changing several batteries when little Mr P ran up with yet one more. DH made a remark about being so tired from all this work that he needed his own batteries changed! Little Mr P looked confused and DH asked "Do you need your batteries changed too?"  Little Mr P  shakes his head vehemently and stated firmly "I don't have batteries Gwampa".  DH asks "You don't?"

"No Gwampa...I don't have batteries...I'm just skin and guts!!!"

Ahhh...I love my grandkids!

Introducing The Pony Girl

My husband is getting stronger by the day. Thanks for all the kind comments.

Our daughter and son in law were in a curling bonspiel this weekend. The grandchildren were at MIL's for Friday night till Saturday afternoon. She kindly dropped them off at ours at 2:00 and little Miss C. wanted to go straight to the craft room to finish her cards. Little Mr. P and Grandpa kept busy upstairs, with their own art project, decorating their "shoe box tunnel" for the railroad, with rockwork and a railroad name sign.

Miss C did really well. I keep a baggie of pre-cut Spellbinder die cut shapes. She chose shapes but did find it hard to cut the glue tape and place it. I learned that it will be easier for her if I "pre-tape" the backs with the dollar store double sided tape and store them in the baggie that way!

Apart from that, she had a really good idea of how she wanted them to look. She had 2 favourites and wants to make more cards, similar to those. I encouraged her to try brad flowers on one...just so she could learn to use the pokey pin and push them through...She seemed to like it!

We used cards from a boxed card pack so she didn't have to make the card from scratch. It is very cheap to do them as they are 5 bucks for 50 and include the envelopes. They are thick and sturdy for little hands which are often not holding the card very delicately!!!

Here is the link to her brand new blog...I hope you will pay her a little visit. She has posted her very first card!
http://theponygirl06.blogspot.ca/

Thomas And Friends...Oh My!

DD brought the Grand kids by for a sleepover.  We used to have them every couple of weeks for an overnight. Now that Miss C has started school, has activities, play dates and sleepovers with her friends, there are just not enough days in the week. Mr P has all his activities and play dates too... Much as we love to know that they are happy and settled with friends and school...we miss those sleepovers. Oh my!

SIL was away for the whole weekend, ice fishing with his buddies. DD was invited to a ladies evening at one of the other school moms houses. Suddenly, the schedule had an opening! YAY! It was a narrow opening but we made it work. They arrived at 6:30pm after their swimming lessons and we had to run them home by 11:30 today for ballet class.  We played, read stories, visited, and generally had fun.

Mr P built this train track and played with Thomas for a couple of hours. He has the wooden track Thomas at his house and builds complex tracks that run all around his room and out into the hallway, all the down to the master bedroom. He has towers and tunnels and hills etc. at his house.

We just have this paltry little track with hardly any extras...but he loves it.  I think it is just because it is different.  He will be 4 years old in three more months and is still crazy about trains.
DH got him busy making a tunnel out of an old shoe box! They had fun with that.

 We delivered the kids home for 11:30 and volunteered to have Peter till ballet was over. We set off walking up to Starbucks where he introduced Grandpa to his favourite thing there...banana bread! It was so nice to show Grandpa all our little rituals. Mr P and I go to Starbucks every Tuesday after we walk Miss C to school.

DD got back around 2pm so DH and I set off to Fort Langley for a leisurely afternoon perusing the shops and checking out the new housing development along the river.  The houses right on the river were fabulous, but there were not any for sale signs in that area...good thing, as they are very pricey.

We did pick up some realty brochures but the houses were a couple blocks in from the water,  priced similar to ours, and  there were no "master on Main" floor plans.  All in all, it was a nice, relaxed afternoon.
Fort Langley is a lovely, arty little town with plenty of historical attractions, fabulous little shops and lots of people walking about with their dogs, popping in and out of the shops. At one shop, the saleslady asked me if I would like to sample some lavender tea. I thought she would offer me a wee paper thimble of tea...she brought me a half cup of tea in a china cup and saucer! All the customers were walking about sipping their tea...Heavenly!

I found some specialty candy for the Grand kids Valentine prezzies and these lovely place cards.

They are even prettier in real life. The black damask edge is embossed with a sheen. Sorry about the grainy, horrid photo!  I am thinking I will use some for place cards but most will be used for embellishments or word tags on cards. They don't have to be acid free for cards...right?

We even managed to pop into Wendells bookshop and coffeebar.  DH wandered about looking at the books while I grabbed a latte. Sugar free and skinny, mind you!

Santa Maybe...coming down the Xmas tree tonight

Dec 10th was little Miss C's ballet recital. We bought the tickets,  drove one hour away to the recital , bought a rose, bought legwarmers ( to help the fundraising)  spent about an hour and a half watching all the dance skits, and  drove a hour back home. All in all, we watched  little Miss C on stage for all of two minutes!!!  Oh my!!!

It was so cute.  The kids were all great...the little 2 year olds were precious. Miss C danced to Santa Baby...only she thought the words were Santa Maybe...coming down the christmas tree tonight! 

DD gently told her that she thought the words were Santa Baby...coming down the chimney tonight.  A couple of days later, Miss C told DD..." I listened really carefully at class today and it is Santa maybe...comin down the Christmas tree tonight".

DD reminded her that Santa comes down the chimney...Little Miss C camly stated she knows the words are  Santa Maybe cuz depending on whether you have been naughty or nice, Santa may or may not come to your house.   

She had her little brother convinced that Santa was coming down the Christmas tree and he had great fun demonstrating for me how Santa had to jump from the fireplace hearth over to the top of the tree!!!

Oh to be young again...teehee

Santa gonna bwing you cove

Ohhhh, little Mr P is such a cutie!

He will be 4 years old  in April and  is sure developing a sense of humor. He loves to tease and to tell jokes. When he mixes up the punchline, it is still so funny. No one can resist laughing along with his giggles.

Grandpa asked little Miss C if she was on Santa's "good list".  She glanced at him and quickly replied "of course".  She then got a little twinkle in her eye and mentioned that little Mr P was on the good list too. She  added that Grandma was also on the good list but Grandpa WASN'T!!!

Poor Grandpa, he was a bit shocked...As Miss C turned her head to the side to hide a teensy smile, little Mr P noticed...he jumped right into the joke and confirmed that Grandpa was actually on the "naughty list". He too struggled to hide his smile, and had to turn his head away a little bit. Grandpa and the two of them bantered back and forth with this joke and little Mr P shouted out with glee...

SANTA GONNA BWING YOU COVE. 

This statement was delivered with a full on gigantic grin, with the giggles just barely stifled.  When Grandpa seemed confused, it was shouted out again...full giggles this time. Poor Grandpa did not understand. ..he smiled and eventually wondered away into the living room.

Little Mr P was not letting this funny joke go. He burst into the living room shouting it one more time. When Grandpa still looked a bit confused, Mr P decided his punch line needed a little clarifying...

You know...SANTA GONNA BWING YOU A LUMP OF COVE!!!!!

Ohhhhh, everyone laughed along with our little Mr P.

Art

Little Miss C and little Mr. P. LOVE art time.  Here are a couple of delightful projects they made for me this week. This first project is Miss C.'s creation. What is it, you say?

Well...............

Look up, look way up, as the Friendly Giant would say.

 Look way up, to the top of the creation...By George, it's an Elephant!

Can you see the head and trunk?  

Not too bad for a 4 year old and a pair of scissors!!! She cut this freehand. I wondered what she was creating as she was working so dilligently.  She knew all along what she was doing  and had great fun creating it. 

Sadly, Mommy and Daddy didn't look closely enough and this lovely treasure was found by Miss C and I when we went to  put some trash in the recycle bin!!! Oh my!!! After a few tears and a bit of glue, this mighty blue elephant was soon right as rain.

Even little Mr. P came running and threw his arms around Miss C. when he realized that she was sad. He listened to her sobbing story of how her elephant was in the bin and suddenly he gasped and said...Oh no! Did they thwow your winosaurous away too?".  A quick recheck of the bin revealed no rinosaurous...Sadly enough, it appears he had joined Great Grandpa in heaven! 

This delightful project may fool you upon first glance. While it may appear to be random brush strokes of colour it turns out to contain a hidden treasure. Little Mr. P came running to tell me he had a present and proudly announced "I love you a little bit now and this fishy for you, Gwamma."

I stammered you love me...and he nodded and whispered "I love you sometimes Gwamma" and threw in a shy little smile!

This was a major breakthrough for me as I posted previously how he had announced that he didn't love me anymore!

So here is his "fishy" in all its glory. This second view below, shows the tail of the fish just right of the center of the picture. It is oviously a salmon just starting to turn colour.  He advised that it was not "wed" yet...not "wed" like the ones he saw last year in the huge spawning run. 

 

The salmon run was superb last year. The river was teaming with fish and they were really splashing in the water to hold their spot.  This "fishy" has been splashing the water too...you can see the big splash and the droplets in the first picture!!!

It always amazes me that their memories are so strong. He is not quite 3 so remembers seeing this fish run last Sept/Oct when he was only 2 1/2.

Little mini Miss C's braids

Little Miss C got her hair french braided...for the very first time! She was a trooper about staying really still and really liked the "new Miss C". She has very fine hair and it is still growing both in length and fullness. This "new do" made her feel quite confident about herself! She had the braids down and also keeping in family traditions,  pinned up, and across, in the mennonite style.

 

She had a little go at her own episode of Canadian pickers!!! While visiting me, she noticed that the garden was coming to life...spring is finally here!!! She asked if we could pick a bunch of Lenten Roses for her Mommy.  As we arranged them in the vase for her to take home she proudly told me that she was giving them to her Mom for...Mothers Day!   Didn't have the heart to tell her they may not still be alive in a month! My daughter and I had a little "awwwwe moment" when I shared the story.

But you don't love me, Gwamma

Just wanting to record a sweet story that has been unfolding over the past few months.
Liitle grandson P. was startled into tears when he saw me fall just after having my cast applied  last year.
I was totally non-weight bearing and finding the crutches awkward and down I went.
I used to be the person he ran to and hugged when we visited and he immediately switched to DH and avoided me like the plague.

After a few months the cast came off and he was still cautious with me, even avoiding hugging goodbye. He started telling everyone, including me, that he didn't love me anymore!  I felt terrible and worried that the fall and the cast had scared him. No amount of cajoling could get him to reveal why he didn't love me anymore...

Finally, a short while ago, he told me that he didn't love me cuz "you don't love ME anymore, Gwamma".  I tried to assure him that indeed I did love him. I reminded him of all the fun things we do together, building lego's, playing trains, doing art, baking etc.

He shook his head and repeated several times in a sad little voice "no, you don't love me Gwamma".

Finally he revealed that since I did indeed do all those fun things with him at his house, he did know that I loved him at his house!  He just knew that I "didn't love at my house"!!!

When I tried to reassure him that I loved him at his house, my house and everywhere, he shook his head very determined and strongly stated " No Gwamma...you don't love me at your house...you never build twains with me...only Gwampa... You always COOKIN!!!!

I nearly died laughing...Yes indeedy, I am usually cooking if I have his family for supper!

I'll neva bite you again

Little P. is  3 in a month !  I thought he had left the biting stage behind but there was a little "nibble" yesterday. C. came crying, P readily confessed and went for a timeout.  C. seemed surprisingly forgiving and tried to talk me out of his timeout.

She advised perhaps he hadn't meant to actually bite her and most of the bite was on her pant leg.  The whole story then comes out that they were playing doggies and he was the doggy biting her pant leg!

P. finishes his timeout and agrees that little boys and puppies shouldn't ever bite...he then joins C. at the art table to colour some reindeer chipboard cutouts...

He is just starting to master the basics of drawing and proudly draws a mountain for his reindeer to live on.  He then buckles down to colouring his reindeer.  After a few minutes of heavy breathing and a lot of sighs, he turns to C. and says...

"C....would you dwa eeeballs on my waindea"?

C is much too busy finishing her raindeer to want to help but ever the diplomat she tells him that if she does all the hard work for him, he won't ever learn how to do it himself!!!

His response...

"C...if you dwaw eeeballs on my waindea, I won't eva bite you again"

He eventually did draw his own eyeballs...one was an oval and one was a dot...soooooo cute!!!

I love most that I can track these precious moments on my blog.

Oh my...Life with a dog!

Spent Tuesday morning with C. and P. and the new puppy.  C. is usually up around 8:45 am and so I was quite surprised to see her and the new puppy downstairs at 7:20...YIKES

Poor old grandma likes a little more sleep!!!

P. tagged along downstairs and generally seemed a little off.  He was a very good boy all morning but seemd a little more overtired than anything else.  Daddy came home around 10am and P. ran over to tell him how he missed him sooo much.  Daddy had a cuddle and realized poor little P. was running a temperature.  Within minutes he was barking the familar croup cough and struggling to breathe.

Thanks God for nebulizers!  Daddy reluctantly set out for his last call of the day and had plans to get his knee Xrayed before returning...He must have been really worried about P. as he returned home for the day just after lunch, forgoing his knee Xrays untill Friday.

On the other front, C. was a very trying little girl today.  Grandma thought it was a combination of overtired plus a bit of attitude and little C. spent some time alone in her room today. 

Between walking the puppy, taking the puppy out to pee,  helping P. to go pee, and fending off what seemed endless complaints from little Miss C., Grandma made a lucky escape home!

I no sooner got into my own door than Mommy called to say that little P. had barfed all over Mommy and Daddy's quilt!  Daddy was snuggled up beside P., tight as a bug in a rug, and poor little P. had valiently tried to get up and run into the ensuite. He did not suceed...

Poor Daddy had to clean it all up!!! 
Lucky, lucky, Grandma!!!

Now C. is running a temperature and not feeling well.  Methinks the constant complaining all day could have had something to do with her not feeling very well.  Grandma is feeling guilty about being a bit of a crabapple with her today...

I think Mommy and Daddy have their work cut out for them tonight!  Oh my!

The power of positive thinking...

My little grandaughter C., has wanted a new pet for several months.  They started out with a fish about a year ago.  Sadly, the little fish was floating upside down in the aquarium one morning.  Then there was a gift of a seahorse farm that generated a lot of interest from the kids, but did not seem to fulfill the "pet" request.

Grandson P. is allergic to cats, so there was quite a decision to be made on just what kind of animal this new pet would be.

Now C. really wanted a puppy, but she was keeping all her options open. She said she would take anything that she could hold in her lap and pet!  A puppy was high on her wish list but she happily said that she would take a bunny, or even a hampster or guinea pig. Her mantra was, if I can pet it, I will take it!

A short stint of babysitting a friends guinea pigs conviced my daughter that guinea pigs were not going to be the pet of choice.  Way too stinky!!!

So time dragged on and C., ever the optomist was sure she would get the pet very soon.  In the meantime she kept busy digging up worms in the garden and letting them "play" in her hands.  She would name them and introduced them as her pets!

Her birthday yielded a FurReal dog that she could indeed hold in her lap and pet. It even had a leash to take it for a walk...but it did not fulfill the yearning for a real pet.

She was sure that Santa would bring her a puppy for Christmas so she started drawing elaborate pictures of the puppy.  They all were basically a drawing of a little girl walking a puppy on a leash.  Mommy had to explain that Santa does not bring pets.  There is no room in the sleigh, they might jump out and get injured...etc

Undaunted, C. kept churning out these pictures and willingly shared the story of how she really wanted a pet with any friends or family members that would listen.

She kept her puppy requests in her prayers and never stopped believing that she would eventually get a puppy.

Yesterday her dreams came true.......A family member remembered her yearning for a puppy and recomended C's family to receive this little cutie!  She is a sweet, quiet, good natured 5 month old Miniature Schnauzer.

She finally got her puppy!!!  C. is over the moon!!!

After a visit to the groomers, the little puppy now looks like this...

I think I liked the shaggy, waif like version best!!! What do you think?

                                                                                                                                                                    

I waited and I waited and I been good.......Birthday chuckles

The Domestic Diva threw a wonderful 57th birthday party for me on Sunday.  The smell of the garlic encrusted roast beef was fabulous when we walked in the door. mmm...mmmm...mmmm...heavenly!

C. and P. came running clutching the birthday cards they made for me.  C's card was  a lovely drawing of C. walking her puppy.  The puppy, collar and leash are all drawn with great detail. A few butterflies and clouds finihsed it off.  I think she thinks if she draws that puppy often enough it might just come to life! Oh, to have the confidence of a 4 year old once again!

P. had great fun drawing lines and shapes. There was the faint glimpse of  the letter P and he was quite proud of that.  A really good job for 2 years old!

After a superb birthday dinner of roast beef, yorkshire puddings and all the trimmings, I was completely spoiled with Scrapbook store gift cards and some cash...it is burning a hole in my pocket as we speak.

My favourite birthday memory is hearing little P. say to his Mommy "I waited and I waited and I been good and you haven't lit this fire yet"!  His mommy was having some difficulty getting the roast to the correct internal temperate and  there had been a lot of opening the oven to check on it.  We all thought he was hungry and referring to the flame under the veggies...He was sternly sent out to join his Dad and ran to us repeating "I waited and I waited and I waited" and threw his head in Daddy's lap.  Daddy was quite sympathetic and stroked his head saying "I know, I know, you are hungry for dinner". P. looked up with confusion and corrected silly Daddy. He said "No, I hungy for cupcakes"!

There was a bar-b-que lighter beside the cake and he was patiently waiting for it to be cake time!!! 
Dinner must have seemed like an eternity to him cuz when mommy finally lit that fire, he was the first to start singing...

Happy BIRFDAY to you, Happy BIRFDAY to you, Happy BIRFDAY  dear GWAMMA...