Tag: #lovemygrandkids

GRANDMA CAMP

Oh my goodness! My hubby and I kept our three grandkids for a week of Grandma Camp. It really should have been Grandma and Boppa Camp….I couldn’t have done it without him. We had a lot of fun, and did a lot of activities. Last year, my youngest grandson, Isaac, who goes to a different camp every week of the summer, told his mom that I wasn’t very organized. I didn’t have a certain time for each activity. By golly, this year I was organized! Isaac will be seven in August, and lives locally. Libby will be eight in September, and she and her brother, Liam…who had just turned 11….live in Waco.

Boppa fixed breakfast for them. They ate a ton of pancakes and had a morning or so with donuts. I kind of like to sleep in. I let them play on their electronics until about 9:00 am. Libby and Isaac like art, creative games and come up with all kinds of things. Liam is a computer genius and prefers to be on the computer 24/7. My goal was to come up with activities to get them away from electronics. Our first activity, on Monday, was to make a Time Capsule. They each drew a picture and wrote about their activities that they enjoyed. We included a section of the newspaper, and a list of statistics. Liam decorated the box. We then found a hiding place for it, to be opened next year at the same time.

We also went to Isaac’s HOA park, and tie-dyed shirts. That was fun. When we got back, Libby and Isaac made a restaurant and we all had to come get a meal….even the house cleaner!

On Tuesday, it was the 4th of July. We went to the Movies. Then we came home and made a three layer cake….red, white and blue…with Isaac and Libby helping make it. Later, Liam frosted it. I may have baked it too long. It was kind of weird looking, and dry, but we added lots of whipped cream. Funnily enough, this was one of the kids’ favorite activities. Isaac’s parents came over for dinner, and they brought snakes and sparklers. (I’m sorry….this photo went wonky on me.)

On Wednesday, we had Game Day. We played darts, Uno, Crazy eights, Sorry and Jenga. We then went to McDonald’s and the robot served us lunch. Liam and I came home, and Boppa took the two younger ones swimming. Isaac got to stay for a sleepover. Yeah!

Thursday, Isaac and Libby did paint by number paintings. While I gave piano lessons in the afternoon, Libby and Isaac went with Boppa to the Trampoline Park. Liam worked on a game, her was making on the computer.

Friday, we went to the Modern Art Museum of Ft. Worth. What a great place! I bought two postcards for each of them, and we had to find that art piece and have a photo taken. They drew a picture of their favorite art, when they came home. Then we went to Andy’s Frozen Custard for a special treat.

Have you had Grandma Camp at your house? What all did you do? Were you exhausted when it was done? We were! Ha. But, ah, love those grandkids.

Hugs,

Grandma Ruddell

Grandkids Are Fun and Silly!

No matter their age, my grandkids have their silly sides. Gotta love ’em!

My Silly Grandkids!

The last few months, we’ve had some good times with our grandkids. They are growing up, and they are all in school, so we don’t see them as much as we used to. Add to that, someone in each of their families has had bad cases of Covid. So our time has been restricted. They are all at that age where they would prefer to be on their electronics. It’s just a great thing when we get them interested in something else.

Isaac and Nana the Spy
Winter concert

Libby and Liam live in Hutto, TX. That’s about three hours away for us. They stayed with us, awhile back. We decided it would be fun to go to the Fossil Rim Animal Park, in Glenrose, TX. The animals come right up to your car, wanting some food. At one point, Liam stood up through the roof of the car, and a Giraffe came right up to him. I looked up through the roof, and it looked right back at me, licking my hand. It was a fun time and the kids really had lots of giggles and stories to tell their parents.

Buddies….through the top of the car!

A new friend

Another day, we took a hike at the Airfield Falls Trailhead and Conservation Park. There was a great waterfall feature. The kids climbed on the big rocks and had a good hike.

Sitting on the big rocks at the park.

Two cutie pies sitting on big rocks.

Liam came to stay for a couple of days, with his mom. It was great to spend time with him, without others around. He did get to spend time with his cousin, Isaac. Isaac usually plays with Liam’s sister, Libby, while Liam is on his electronics. It was nice to see them bonding. They played electronic games too.

After Isaac left, Liam decided to fix my hair. This is the first time he’s ever done this. He kept taking my brush into the bathroom, and getting it wet, dripping water all over the bathroom, and rushing back to try to fix a big spike in my hair. It was just LOVELY! LOL Oh…it was lovely the next morning too!

My hairdresser, creating a Spike for me.

The next morning…try not to judge!

WARNING!!! DO NOT GO ANY FURTHER, IF YOU ARE HORRIFIED OR OFFENDED BY A PICTURE OF MY UNDERWEAR!!!

Liam is 9, and has a very advanced computer brain. He is amazing. BUT…he’s also a typical 9 year old boy. Sometime while he was here, he was playing around in my closet, and I thought he hid a pair of my underwear. It seemed to me, after he left, that half of my undies were missing! I called them and he said that he had hid one under the couch, and some in the closet. After a week or two, I have finally, I HOPE, found about 8 pair of my undies thrown around my closet. Good grief!

The Case of the Underwear Thief!

Isaac is 5, and lives in Benbrook, about 15 minutes from us. What a difference a year makes! Last year, at this time, he stayed with us for 3 days a week. I had “Nana School” and tried to get him ready for kindergarten. This year, he’s in kindergarten, and we don’t get to see him much. As usual, being in kindergarten has introduced him to many germs. He’s had Covid twice, in the last 6 months, plus other colds and viruses.

Isaac is super into Harry Potter. They read the book, and then watched the movie. He went as Harry Potter for Halloween. Just a couple of weeks ago, he found something on Amazon that he wanted to buy. He bought the cutest Harry Potter robe, and he has the glasses. We made Valentine cookies one night, while he was here. They were cute, and very popular.

Harry Potter Robe

Harry Potter does his homework.

Frosting Valentine Cookies.

Isaac and I made Valentine Cookies.

I adore my sweet Grandkids. Do you have Grandkids? What fun things do you do with yours? I just went through the playroom, and decluttered a bunch of toys for younger kids. Kind of made my heart sad. Sigh.

Have a great Spring!

Grandma Sherry

Ten Things I Love Right Now

March and April are great months of the year. So many things happening. Here are some of the things I love right now.

  • Signs of Spring…green grass, flowers, warm air….yes!
  • My piano students are wonderful kids. I so enjoy them.
  • Visiting the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden.
  • Playing Bunco and Poker with my friends.
  • Having my BIL and SIL here for several days to play Euchre.
  • My Oklahoma grandkids came for 3 1/2 days and all three grandkids got to play together.
  • Having my house cleaned, once a month.
  • Planting flowers and gardening.
  • Preparing to host Bunco here, next Monday, and planning some April Fool’s foolery for them. (SHHHH…..don’t tell them!)
  • Looking forward to my brother and friend coming to spend the night.

Hope your month has been wonderful. What do you have going for April? Press LIKE if you liked this post. Leave a comment so I know someone’s out there. Sorry this didn’t go through the first time!

Grandma Ruddell

Things Are Happening Around Here!!!

Wow! We’ve had quite the busy time around here, and it’s been very cold. Yesterday, it finally warmed up, and today it’s supposed to be above 70*. My whole outlook has changed. I’m going to buy some pansies and fill planters today, for the patio and front porch. I’m not fixing chili today, as I have the last few weeks, but thinking something more spring like. Actually…I’m thinking my hubby will take me out to eat! LOL

This past month, I’ve done some more organizing. There are SO many things that need to be done. So I’m doing a little here, and a little there. One of my major projects was cleaning out my pantry. That was no small thing! I did a lot of purging and bought new containers for things. My grandson, who’s 2 1/2, looked at the finished result, and said, “No more big mess!”

OK…my photos aren’t rotating or lining up, as much as I change them and save them. Weird day for my blog. Sorry. You’ll have to turn sideways to see the after picture…..Oops, it did it!

A small project was taking down the shower curtain and putting up a new one. I had washed and dried the old one, last fall, and it had shrunk. Looked crazy. I bought a new one last week, and my hubby put it up. It looks so much better! (of course, if you look closely, he put it up backwards.)

before
after

I am a piano teacher. The mess of music that was in the corner of my music room was driving me crazy. We bought a four drawer chest at Walmart, and my hubby put it together. I spent some time sorting through music,and now it’s all put away in the chest. I love the new look!

The messy piles
Looking better!

Obviously, my pictures are not lining up with things. I’m so sorry.

We’ve had our black lab, Bill, for a year. He’s three years old. We adore him. He’s such a good dog. But he’s had such allergies, that he scratches and bites at his body so much that the hair on his haunches has almost disappeared. He’s been on steroids for several weeks, and the itching has completely disappeared. But he can’t be on steroids the rest of his life. The vet talked us into getting an allergy test for him. That was $500!!! Well, it came back with several pages of what he’s allergic to. My word. He’s allergic to our grass, to oak trees, to maple trees, to corn, beans, peas and beets, etc., etc., etc.. I’ve had to put him on a different diet…did you know most dog foods have corn in them? We will soon need to start giving him injections. This is becoming an expensive dog!!!

The weather was so nice, yesterday, that I was able to take my grandson to the park. It was so nice that he played and played. I enjoyed just feeling the fresh air, and having time with my little guy. AND…he took a two hour nap! Yeah!

A little windy for the hair, but oh, so much fun!

Life is good. The only blight, at the moment, and it’s a big one, is my church. I’m a member of a United Methodist Church. There’s been a big controversy in the church (the whole church, not just mine), about whether or not to allow LGBTQ ministers, or whether or not our ministers can perform wedding ceremonies for LGBTQ people. It’s still a big mess. It saddens me.

Enjoy your warm spell. If you liked this post, please press LIKE, and leave me a comment. Please add your name to the subscriptions!

Grandma Ruddell