Tooth brush story part 2

If you've had enough of the toothbrush-bribe with cell phone-buy another cell phone for twin brother....then you might not want to watch this video.

But if you are interested, here's how it all turned out. A glitch along the way, but Alls Well That Ends Well, as my Mom use to say to me.

This was taken Monday and Tuesday evening.

Peanut Butter Choc Chip Cookie Dough Balls

 
 Picture from the original post by Mama Pea

I've read about these cookies for a long time now, and finally yesterday I made them! Dennis even likes them. 

I like cookies that have substance to them
...not just sugar fluff. 
These are oh so good, and filling, too.

I really think you will like these, 
unless you don't like peanut butter...or chocolate.  
Check out the recipe here.

Téa's obsession

It all started 5 days ago.

Our 2 year old granddaughter was visiting and spotted a "Belle" toothbrush 

in our bathroom that she just HAD to have.

I gave it to her not knowing it would become her constant buddy going everywhere with her.

To say Téa was attached to that toothbrush just doesn't describe.

She would sob and sob if she momentarily lost it...

like when she accidentally left it at Panda Express and Amy had to drive back to retrieve it.

I wonder how it went when she took toothbrush to church yesterday.

Keep in mind these are not posed pictures. This is her every day life.

I worried that she would fall and choke on it, not to mention the germs she was continually ingesting. 

(Yes, her brother is still wearing his Halloween costume.)

 Finally I thought of a plan. 

We would buy her a "Belle" replacement, wrap it as a gift,  and present it as a trade.

Dennis said no to the first gift idea...

 "You'd be saving Téa from her toothbrush only to have her choke on Belle's top!"

Then I saw this and thought, PERFECT.

Den disagreed, "It'll never work. She'll never give up that toothbrush."

I told him,  "Have confidence in me, I know how to work 2 year olds."

So I wrapped up the Belle phone and brought it over last night.

I presented my plan. She thought for a few seconds and then she AGREED. 

She tore into her gift.

It was love at first sight.

Could she really live without her Belle toothbrush?? 

(that was never really hers, by the way....I don't know who it originally belonged to!)

Den and I are both wondering how it went last night after we left.

btw, If you are missing a Belle toothbrush let me know and I will buy you a new one.

Today I am off to solve a new problem (another one that I created). 

What was I thinking?....doesn't every Grandma know you can't bring a present to one child

and not bring something for her twin brother?

So today I will be on the hunt for a Woody cell phone.

I hope one exists.

Sunday

A few Thanksgiving Memories of 2011

Look what Grandma Lynn made for our granddaughters Elora, Cami, and Violet, 

and their friends, Hailey, Anna, and Ian ! 

(Cami was sick on Thanksgiving and camped out in the other room. We missed her!)

She got the pattern off Den's daughter's website YOUCANMAKETHIS

What a forever memory this makes!

I was lucky to get a picture before Ian took his hat off. 

But the girls kept them on all afternoon and probably beyond.

One of my favorite parts of Thanksgiving was over hearing Elora talk to her friend Hailey. 

None of us got the whole conversation but a few heard Elora say at one point, 

"Don't worry. The store employees kill the turkeys."

(Apparently she was trying to explain Thanksgiving to Hailey)

This reminds me of the time I was trying on clothes with Elora in a Target dressing room. 

We suddenly heard a loud noise and by reflex I asked,  

"What was that?" 

Without skipping a beat Elora responded, 

"Oh that's just Target making more clothes."   !! :)

And a few states over, here are some of our Utah grandchildren 

getting ready for the next day of Black Friday at their Moms' quilt shoppe.   

Did they spend the night there, is what Grandpa wants to know?

On another note,

Go here and watch what one mother is very thankful for!

Sweet, doesn't even begin to describe this.

I can't get her off my mind...

Last Sunday I taught the 14-15 year old girls. The lesson was on "Preparing for Change." All about how the one thing we can count on in life is change. It's going to happen whether we like it or not. Even the hard changes can have blessings, and we can grow sometimes tremendously from them.


The lesson included this true story about a woman who suddenly loses her husband to death after 20 years of marriage. Since my own story was so similar I decided just to tell my story instead.


Afterwards, I asked the girls if they had anything they would like to share about difficult change. One beautiful girl with a very cute name (that I won't say here), who was just visiting and I had never met before... raised her hand. She was so serene and quiet, and had listened intently to my lesson, only talking when I had earlier asked her name. She was sitting so straight and tall, with her dark long hair pulled back into a pony.


She had a very soft spoken voice, and began her story like this:
"My parents got a divorce before I was even born." Then she calmly put her arm out in a stopping motion and said, "That isn't the hard part." Then she continued, "I was the baby of the family. My Daddy's little girl. Then he remarried, and he and his new wife had twin baby girls. It was very hard because I didn't feel as important to my father any longer. He was busy with the babies and his new wife and I felt left out..."


I could tell by her sweet little quivering voice that she was trying her best not to cry. She continued, "Then I thought of the movie Pollyanna and how it was about a girl who tried to see the good in everything. I wanted to be like her. So I realized that I love my 2 little sisters so much and I'm so thankful for them. Even though my life has been hard, I'm glad my Dad remarried or otherwise I would never have my 2 baby sisters." 

My heart hurt for her and I felt like taking her home with me. She explained to me later that her sisters are 5 now, so the journey has taken her awhile.  But I also keep thinking how this girl is going to be okay, because she "gets it." She understands one of the greatest secrets of life: gratitude. Being thankful for what she DOES have, rather being stuck in the thinking of what she wants but can't have.

 Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 
And I hope your turkey is already thawing in your fridge. 


If you bought flour for your pies be sure to keep it locked up from your toddlers.
Look what happened to one Mom who found out the hard way. 

I've done this before!

I really thought I was the only parent who had tried this!
And I was even pregnant at the time. 

I have to also say that the crying part in this video is hard for me to watch. 
I know babies cry, but I still don't like it.

Did your Grandpa ever show up at school?

For some reason, whenever Dennis is out of town I sleep on his side of the bed. 
Really, I don't understand why, but that's what I do. 
Maybe it helps me to miss him a little less since I am taking his place?
Whatever.
I'm glad he is home after spending 5 days in Houston visiting his 2 sons and their families.

I love how excited he was to surprise 

his grand daughter Kaylee at school. 

He showed up just as she was going into the cafeteria for lunch. 

When she saw him, her face lit up 

and she threw her arms around him.

He got emotional just telling me about it.

She loved it so much, that he surprised her again today!

We are going to frame these pictures and send them to Kaylee.

He still had the school required name tag on his shirt 
when he stepped off the plane tonight!

And knowing Den, he will probably keep the tag forever.
Yes, his real name is George, which I prefer, but he doesn't.

Kaylee has changed much since this picture... 
one of my all time favorites.

Thank goodness for younger people

It seems about 50% of friends my age have problematic shoulders...including Dennis and I. 
No one ever told me this would/could happen as we got older. 
But I have heard from my Dad, "Aging is not for sissies."  

So sometimes we need help from our grandchildren. 
Not only has Austin been helping us on most Saturdays.....

But yesterday Elora helped me shop.

She lifted every single one of these items 

and pushed that cart all over Costco

Did I mention she is only 9?

She organized it all herself.

How do you like where she put the paper towels?

Once Elora makes a decision, that's just the way it is.

But don't feel sorry for her, she is one happy girl!

 I whispered to her as she was loading everything onto the counter,

"Let's just see if that man can get these things back in the cart as well as you did!"
(answer:  NO, he couldn't)

 Red Robin seemed like an appropriate reward.

I never mentioned a word about her homework, but she brought it from her backpack into the restaurant.

 Math was complete, then she brought out the vocab.

She was suppose to find a word that has 'phono' in it. 

The example given: phonograph. 

Huh?? Phonograph is the only word I know with phono in it, 

so how dare they use that one as the example!

Elora did not hesitate to consult not one, but 2 waitresses.....

 The 2nd waitress came up with "phonogram". 

Elora was very pleased but I was not sure if that was even a word...but we had nothing else.

So she wrote it down and gave the waitress credit.

Well what do you know! It is a word:

"pho·no·gram

a unit symbol of a phonetic writing system, standing for a speech sound, syllable, or other sequence of speech sounds without reference to meaning."

 Seriously, if anyone can think of a word with 'phono' in it, 
besides phonograph and phonogram, please do tell. 

My hard working granddaughter needed to go home 
and get ready for bed before I had time to show her this: 

A stick figure who comes to life.

Grab a child and go check it out yourself.

My own personal survey

Is it just me or do you feel this way also?
There are 2 things lately that bother me when I go shopping, and they both mainly happen in grocery stores.

1. I do not like it when the clerk looks down at my receipt and then looks up and says, "Thank you Ms Shelley." This happens in one grocery store in particular (VONS). I rarely go there but when I do they always call me by name right at the end, just as I am leaving. Do they really think this is going to make a customer feel good? I do shop at stores where they really do know my name, and then I love it when they use it...but not in the fake way I just described. I don't know why it bothers me so much but it does.

2. I do not like it when I am asked, at the very end of my purchase, if I would like to donate a dollar to charity. If I want to donate to a charity I will do it on my own, not because they have just asked me in front of everyone else who is in line with me. I always say no. Especially when I heard the store gets a kick back of some kind by doing this. That's just not right. Or, the other popular thing many stores have begun doing is asking, "Would you like to round that purchase off to the next dollar to donate to breast cancer research (or whatever charity they are sponsoring) ?"

I know there are worth while charities to donate to. I just don't like the way they are going about it.

Am I the only one this bothers?

Or is this just a California thing?

The day we met baby Grant!

I should begin this with an apology to the McKs, but I will save that for the end.

What a moment watching them walk towards us!

(We had already taken Grant from them.)

They flew into San Francisco from Provo.
Then took the BART to Pleasanton where we all shared a hotel room.

 Grant's in love with his Mommy

I think Grant realized right away that I love him too. 

He would look at me at any angle that worked.

This is the first and last I will see of him with his casts on.

Next week he gets his special shoes and braces.

There is just something so satisfying 

about watching your kids become parents.

In love as much as ever

Hard decision what to order. 

Cheesecake Factory had way too many choices

But look what we all ended up with

McKay ~ herb crusted salmon

I guess this design was for Turkey month?

McKenna~ Pork chop

Dennis~ Swiss steak

Grandma Honey~ Grilled salmon

Okay, I'm getting a little carried away here...back to the story....

And see that little mound below....that's Grant!

McKenna and I were both a bit nervous about the baby

being so close to the aisle and sort of out in the open.

McKay said that if anyone even got close to him he would "take them down" 

I've never heard McKay talk like this...but then he's never been a father before. 

I think he's looking for his Grandma Honey again

Great Grandma Susan gave him this cute little blanket.

How's this for a family picture?

Guess he just can't get enough of me. (I like to think  :)

McKay still studies with that pen in his mouth.

If McKenna isn't talking to Grant, McKay is.
I love it!

It felt like old times watching McKay and Dennis together!

 The next morning after the McKs were up,  
I peeked into their bedroom 

and look what I saw! 
 

Grant already knows where he likes to sleep. 

I sure have fond memories of McKay sleeping 
between me and his Dad. 

And I won't even say how long that went on.

 Our time ended way too soon. 

We had to get them to the BART at 8am, for take off.

I was determined not to cry. 

I did really good...

until this elevator shut.

I thought I would feel better once I met Grant and saw the McKs again.

And I guess in some ways I do, but it also makes me miss them all the more.

And it also makes me ache all the more to meet baby Rich!!

So happy they will all be with us next month for Christmas. 

If you will ignore my hair, you can watch this video.



Dear McKenna and McKay,
We are so so sorry for the very long long travel day you went through to get here, but especially going home.
I don't even know the details of yesterday yet but you were in transit for over 12 hours! ....and mostly in 2 different airports doing lots of waiting due to delayed flights, and the fact that you didn't even get to go on the same flight together!, except at the very end from Denver to Provo. McKenna, we should have gotten you a stroller for Grant...it must have been so hard carrying him in strange airports for hours and hours without McKay, especially with his little legs being in casts. I was hoping all day that a kind soul helped you in some way. It also makes me want to be aware next time I am in an airport to look around and notice who I can help. 


Plus we kept you up way too late talking with you, and got you up too early. Not to mention that sweet little Grant woke up to eat at 4am.


And we are so sorry the heater did not work in our hotel room!


I also regret we didn't take you directly to the SF airport. We really thought it would be QUICKER for you to take the BART rather than take you by car....since the BART takes you UNDER the water. It wasn't until McKay forgot his laptop and Dennis drove to SF airport to get it to him, that we realized it was half the distance by car!

But you did this all for us,
and we appreciate it more than words can say.