Don't Drink the Bubble Bath & We're Goin' Fishin' Thunder Thighs and All!

I had always heard that Grandchildren were terrific ‘cause you can send them home when they wear YOU out. 

At our house that can sometimes come sooner than later if you have a Zoe to keep in your sites! I told Andrew and Dawnalyn that they could possibly have problems in the future. If Zoe ever has a sassy or potty mouth...which I would hope that she NEVER will...it will never work to wash her mouth out with soap...SHE LIKES IT! Yep, this child makes a bee line to my shampoo, lotion and bubble bath to DRINK IT! They even found her mouth full of Desitin recently and the rest of it was spread all over her giant teddy bear. 

Recently the girls came to the house and I realized I had to unload the dishwasher and watch Zoe and Kylee at the same time. Kylee was strapped in her stroller with a piece of bread, she would be fine until the bread was gone. Now the trick was to keep track of Zoe a.k.a "Dennis" as in Dennis the Menace. 

I had made adjustable aprons for the girls for Christmas. I put the apron on Zoe, adjusted the ties, sat her in a chair just her size and then tied the apron strings to the chair. I gave her a book and told her to tell Nana a story. This worked until I walked out of the room for a split second...I came back in and she had done a "Houdini", twisted herself facing the back of the chair but the apron still facing forwards. How does this child contort her body? Through it all she is adorable and has side glances just like a Cupee Doll.

As we were riding in the car yesterday Linda was whispering something. Lainee asked her what she was saying she piped up, “Fishin’, fishin’ fishin’ ~ Nana will you take me fishin’? How can a Nana say no to that? We had planned on going today but it started to rain. We will go when I locate my fishing license and poll. When will I ever have a home that could be the Center Fold of Better Homes and Gardens?

That leads us to Kylee. If you have seen this child you would know that her parents are starving her to death….NOT! She is my “Chunk-a-wunka!” What a cuddly ‘butter ball’ as Grandpa Mitch would have labeled her. Hey ~ he used to call me “Thunder Thighs” when I was learning how to walk and I still have them! Kylee’s thighs are soft, chubby and squishy and everyone wants to squeeze them and emote over how cute they are…mine look the same as hers and no one says they are cute! What’s up with that?

 

 

 

Grandpa Mitch's 88th Birthday Anniversary

Well our favorite Aquarius would be 88 on Monday, January 26! What are you doing for Grandpa Mitch's birthday? In the past we have let balloons go with Happy Birthday Grandpa written on them. We have cooked his favorite meal and had pie for dessert!

What are your plans? Do you have any stories you would like to share...feel free to add them to the comments on my blog.

On numerous occasions I have silently watched as Zoe comes into Grandma Bette's room and walks over to the "large as life" picture of Grandpa and puts her chubby little hands on both sides of the frame and puts her cheek up against Grandpa's face and just smiles, then tips her head back and looks at him then kisses his mouth. This little girl knows her Grandpa Mitch! We have always said that he has been up there choosing all of his grandchildren "off the top shelf of spirits".

Happy Birthday Celebration on Grandpa's 88th Birthday!

Christmas Poisoning and A Happy New Year!

It was great to have all the family this year for Christmas. Grandma Bette Loo wanted to have Clam Chowder for our Christmas Day lunch meal so I went all out and got all the fixin's for the big kettle I usually make. You don't realize until you are in the throws of the shopping spree just how expensive clam chowder is to make. Suffice it to say, the chowder turned out yummy as usual...or did it?

I made the kettle full on Christmas Adam (that is the day before Christmas Eve). We all tired a large bowl of it and it was great...especially with bacon bits and butter on top to stir in. I had to put a halt to the "testers" otherwise there wouldn't be enough for Christmas lunch.

I put the kettle in the fridge and there it waited patiently for our Christmas meal.

Lunch time arrived...late and I told everyone that they could help themselves to the chowder in the kitchen. Grandma Bette was served a big heaping bowl of it and ate every last spoonful. Matthew then sat in the big cushy chair with Jessica on his lap and proceeded to eat his bowl full. He asked me with a bit of a strange look on his face, "Mom, why did you add carbonation to the chowder?" I laughed and said he had weird taste buds and why would I ever add any carbonation to chowder. Jessica took a small taste and said, "Yeah it does taste carbonated".

YIKES! I went to the kitchen to find that the kettle of chowder had "risen" like a possessed kettle of witches brew! It smelled like someone had added yeast to it ... needless to say I dumped the ENTIRE kettle of chowder down the drain.

The next morning I began receiving phone calls from the kids asking if anyone had been sick in the night, being especially worried about Grandma Bette. Everyone had had stomach cramps and other not so polite ailments after having consumed the chowder. Even Kylee (not yet 1 year old) had eaten some of the soup part of the chowder (not the clams). Gratefully, neither Kylee nor Grandma Bette experienced the effects of the POISONING via Clam Chowder.

One of Lainee's friends told me the same thing had happened one time to a batch of her mom's chowder and they determined it was bad clams. I did recall that one large can of clams that I used was dented! Beware of the dented cans of fish products! LESSON LEARNED! And a very Happy New Year to you...Manny, Moe and Jack! (What movie?)

P.S. I redeemed my self on New Year's by making a not so "killer" yet extremely delicious batch of White Chili! No trail of bodies on the way to the bathroom with this batch!