Elizabeth and Grandma Day

Look who's back at Grandma's with her cute, new glasses. Elizabeth and I had another fun day together on Wednesday. She just got her glasses and she really reminds me of her mom with her glasses. Laura got her glasses at age 7, and here is little E at just age 4. She was doing some serious cutting and taping. She really likes tape!!
We made a snack for the pool party that will be here on Friday. I'm not sure how good it will be - it's a new recipe. But it is full of gumdrops and other sugary things so I'm sure the kids will like it. Elizabeth always likes to sample the ingredients!
And of course she has to lick the spoon.
Our finished treats. Tomorrow we will see how the crowd likes them. They are not tempting me a bit, which is nice.

It was another special day with Elizabeth. We had lunch at Subway - her favorite - and just read some books and did a little coloring. We met her mom and little brother for ice cream at the end of our time together. (so neither Laura nor I had to drive so far to get her home)

Today is Thursday and I have been home all day with the air conditioning people. It is really hot in Texas and our bedroom air isn't working correctly. So... we are getting a new unit. Our house is fairly large and it has 3 a/c units. We replaced one last year and as the bedroom one needed replacing we just decided to replace the remaining one too. Fine and dandy except they are $$$. There are so many fun things I could do with that money, but on a day like today I do really appreciate good air conditioning!! It makes me very thankful that I didn't live here way back when! We are also hopeful that the 3 new units will be as energy efficient as they claim to be and so we will see some savings on our monthly bill. Time will tell.

The workmen will be back tomorrow, but I will be outside enjoying my 2 daughters, 3 grandchildren and some of their friends for a pool party. I hear the diving board is greatly anticipated by a few of the 4-5 year olds that will be here. I will try to get some pictures.

Cooper and Grandma and Grandpa Night

I had a little trouble loading pictures so they are a little out of order today. We had Cooper on Friday night because his mom was at a girls night and his dad was out of town. We began the night out with pizza at a local kids pizza place. (not good for grandma, the food is not so good, but it is good for kids) We then came home and swam and had a little ice cream. This pic is at the end of the evening with the cone. He ate every last bite!

This is a picture of the new Nemo fish we got for our pool. It is kind of tippy, but he did ok with it. He liked squirting it with the squirt gun better than riding it though.
Here he is coloring at the pizza place.
And this is the beginning - the cute Cooper ready for his fun dinner with G and G. Someday I'll get this right.

We had fun with Cooper, although we were glad to see Jessica come and spend the night. He got up around 1 and was up alot throughout the night. Lucky me - I slept through it all. And he was up early too!! Poor Jessica.

More Elizabeth and Grandma Day

After Elizabeth and I finished our tea we walked across to the gazebo that had been so nicely decorated. Elizabeth had picked out her brand new dress to wear and it coordinated beautifully with the patriotic decorations.
Beautiful girl.
They had this flag painted on the grass. You can see more of the gazebo in the background. We had a gazebo in our last house and this one makes me miss it very much. Our new house doesn't really fit the gazebo look.

We stopped at our favorite lunch spot on the way home (Subway) and got our sandwiches to go. We ate a quick lunch and then got to our favorite activity - playing games. Today in keeping with our theme, we played The Princess and the Pea. It is a cute game where you stack the bedding and try to get the princess on top before the bedding collapses. We tried, but we weren't successful.

After that was supposed to be nap, but since time was short we opted for a show in the movie room. I had a few more things planned but I will save them for next time.

Elizabeth and Grandma Day

I have wanted to start a tradition with my granddaughter of just the 2 of us spending the day together. I confess that we don't do it nearly often enough, but when we do, we have a wonderful time. Today was my lucky day and I planned for us to have a tea party at a little tea shop for children near our house. Elizabeth was very excited and a little shy when we first got there. A little class for "princesses" was just finishing and she enjoyed watching the little girls play musical chairs and freeze tag in their matching Cinderella dresses. When the class was over we were the only guests in the tea room for most of the time. She got to pick out a dress to wear, and this was the first one on. She wasn't too sure about keeping this on for the tea so off it came. Then the hostess suggested she try one of their brand new dresses - I think it is a Sleeping Beauty dress.
This was the keeper!
We were served GIANT cupcakes with a ton of icing. I confess that we both ate ours all up and they were very sweet. We were also served raspberry tea and it was good too. I am not usually a tea drinker, but I really liked this tea. Elizabeth had fun adding one lump or two to our drinks. (She took 2 or more - I took 1)
While we were waiting for our tea, the pretty princess got some lovely pink eyeshadow. (with glitter of course)
Pink lipstick...
and sparkly pink nail polish.
It was kind of hard to eat with wet nails so we waited and blew and blew and blew.
The pretty princess ready for her tea.
After (or during- it took a looong time to eat those big cupcakes!) we had a little tiara break. There were several to choose from - this seemed to be the favorite.
A little boa action completed the look. We had a wonderful time and this was only the beginning. I told her that the best way to start your day was with dessert first and so that's what we did!! I took a few pictures of the rest of our day and I will post those tomorrow.

Thank you Elizabeth for a priceless memory for your grandma. I love you!

Movie Day

My daughter Laura was watching all 3 kids last week and remembered she had a doctor appointment. She wondered if I would mind watching all 3 by myself - and I said I would, but what would I do with them as they are all very busy and like to have Grandma's attention at the same time? As you can see from the cute picture of Ben, I took the easy way out and we watched some thrilling shows, like Thomas the Tank Engine and everyone's favorite, Clifford, The Big Red Dog.
Cooper and Elizabeth enjoying the show and the snack.
Here is Cooper very engrossed in the show. I did not fill that container with food, they just had some bunny crackers and maybe a few m & m's tucked in there. One of the big attractions of our "movie room" is the candy cupboard. The grandchildren all know exactly where it is and they are very good about just taking a few pieces.
You can see all 3 sitting nicely watching the show. (Ben didn't last long - before long he was flipping his chair upside down, and diving off the back of it. He's very scary, and very sweet. I got him to sit in my lap for a few minutes which was nice. Elizabeth and Cooper don't look away from the TV for long!)
And this last picture is one I think is so cute - there are a few dress up things in the grandchildren's room. These are some bug costumes. Elizabeth is a bee, Ben is a ladybug, and Cooper is a beautiful butterfly.

That was just one day last week. I have been a bad blogger about not updating this blog. If I want this to be a recap of our lives I had better be a little more diligent in posting!! We had some big rain last week, but we are in some hot weather now, which means lots of pool time.

Bob's Birthday

We had the family over for a cookout and swimming for Bob's birthday. Bob and his 2 sons-in-law went golfing and then came here to eat and swim. I did not get any pics of the birthday boy, but I did get some of the grandchildren opening their gifts from my sister. Elizabeth got some fun paper dolls.
I think Cooper was excited to get his police car. He and Ben had so much fun racing those cars around.
This is the best I got of Ben. He is usually in motion so it is hard to get a good shot of him. I do need to work on my photography though. They did love their presents from Aunt Amy!!

Bob did love his day out golfing, that is always the best present for him. Laura and Jessica each made him his favorite treats too, a banana cake, chocolate chip cookies, and a chocolate dessert. It was a very nice day.

Happy Birthday Bob!

Sister Weekend

My sister Amy came for the weekend for a little sun, shopping, and sleep. She has 2 small children and needs a little break - at least once a year. We did get a little shopping in every day, and then came home for a little time in the pool. The weather was fairly cooperative, it was in the low 90's which compared to the low 60's at home in Minnesota felt great in the pool.
I had fun with my new obsession, hunting for dishes in Marshalls, Ross, etc. I found these red dishes that look great in my kitchen at Marshalls. I went to 3 Marshalls and was able to get 8 salad plates and bowls, but only 2 chargers. So the hunt will continue.
I still need to work on making cute centerpieces, but I do love the dishes. The table was set for the 3 of us when Amy arrived on Friday.

We had a great time.

And the fun continued

Elizabeth not only takes dance, but a tumbling and gymnastics class follows. The boys were able to participate in the first activity and they loved to get up and move with the rest of the kids.
I just love this picture of Cooper.
Look at the talented girl!
The day concluded with the medal ceremony and
really cute cookies made by Laura.

Elizabeth's Dance

Another post where I have the pictures out of order - oh well...

This is cutie Cooper with his nifty new binoculars. I think they were free with a kids meal somewhere. He enjoyed watching his cousin Elizabeth performing her tap and ballet numbers for her proud family. I think there were 8 adults and several cousins in attendance!!
This is after the performance with her beautiful bouquet from Cooper and hugs from brother Benjamin and Cooper.
Beautiful Ballerina
Ben got his turn with the ever popular binoculars.

And of course this is the beginning as she waits for the music to begin. Some day I'll get the pictures in the right order. It is such a joy to be able to attend her activities. I am a very proud grandma!!

A Little Project

We placed this little table out by the "pond" in our back yard - it's a small light weight table that can be easily picked up and moved to the shade under this...
Can you see the chandelier hanging from the tree? (Bob says the lawnmower people will hit their head on it - I hope they can see it hanging there!!)
A little closer look...
And even closer.

I sprayed this green and added the purple candles. I think that little table will look great under here and will be perfect for tea parties with some special little grandchildren.

Cooper's Fun Backyard

Cooper got a fun sprinkler from his Grandma and Grandpa S. and we thought we'd try it out. He wasn't too sure at first, but quickly got right up to it and really had fun with it. The arms go every direction and you never know if you'll be next to get squirted. He enjoyed "helping" the sprinkler get grandma!!
The pictures in this post loaded exactly opposite from the way I selected them. So that is something I will need to remember when I load pictures. I am so new to all this stuff, I guess it is good that I even can post the pictures at all.

This is a picture of Cooper's backyard - you can see some of his fun things and a few are out of the picture. The swing set is the newest addition and I think he will really enjoy playing on it, especially this fall when the new baby gets here.