Adventures at Grandma's House

It all started Saturday evening when the dads, Ryan and Andy, were getting ready to go home and the kids wanted to stay at grandma's. Both dad's had brought extra clothes and pajamas just in case and I was just as excited as the kids at the possibility of them spending the night.

Hannah and Madeline wanted to hold the dolls that had just come home from the hospital before brushing their teeth and saying their prayers. The boys know how to get ready for bed without my help, but I still tucked them in bed and gave them a kiss on their forehead. All went well until 11:00 p.m. That's when Gracie woke up crying and nothing I did would settle her down. I rocked her, I held her, I changed her diaper, I got her a drink of water, and nothing seemed to help. All in all it was a very long night with a short amount of sleep.

Gracie had real tears.

We all enjoyed our breakfast of waffles with peach topping and maple syrup and then Bob and little Ryan were off to the Roosevelt Church for a work bee. Matthew wanted to stay home with me and learn how to make "Monkey Bread".

Gracie liked playing in the kitchen trash cans.

Madeline and Hannah watch Matt make the "Monkey Bread".

Matt put the two pans of "Monkey Bread" in the warming drawer to raise.

This is the Monkey Bread I made. We ate it for dessert after our lunch.


This is the Monkey Bread Matt made. It turned out perfect and he saved it to take home for his family to enjoy.

The girls didn't want to be left out, so we made pumpkin cookies. We made half the dough plain for Madeline because she doesn't like raisins, and we put raisins in the other half.

Gracie liked watching the girls make cookies from her highchair.

I bought more nuts for the nut bowl and the kids enjoyed cracking and eating them. Hannah is showing you her favorite of the nuts. (walnuts)

When little Ryan got back from the church work-bee, he mowed the lawn for us.

Madeline and Hannah played house outside under the grape arbor. They came into the house and asked for bowls and spoons. Then they wanted water. So I poured a little water in each of their bowls. Soon they were back for more water. This time I just filled a plastic pitcher with water and sent them on their way. They were pretty excited about the amount of water I gave them. It took a joint effort of both girls to carry the pitcher and get two doors opened and closed without spilling the water. But, they did it!!

They are such good friends. They remind me of my cousin Carla and I when we were little girls. We spent summers and weekends together all our childhood life. We were always having fun together. I remember two years before she died, she and I were helping my mother move stuff out of her house, and we were driving over to rent a U-Haul truck. As we were driving together, Carla commented, "It seems like old times, Cece. You and me in trouble with your mom for doing nothing." And, we laughed and talked about all the fun times we had growing up together. One or our favorite things to do was imitate grandma playing the "Storm" on the piano. Our grandmother was a concert pianist and we always requested her to play the Storm for us. Then we would take turns, one playing the high note keys imitating the gentle rain, and the other playing the low note keys imitating a thunderstorm. Grandma would always holler at us from the kitchen and tell us not to be banging on the piano, at which we would respond, "We're not banging on the piano Grandma, we're playing the Storm". I'm so thankful for the time we spent together and the memories we made. Carla died of brain cancer two years later.

Grandpa and Matt went over by the side of the barn to work on some of the trees that grandpa had taken down. Lola and Punkin went too, in hopes of finding a critter under the logs when they were moved.

Grandpa used the chainsaw to cut the trees into logs.

Punkin waited patiently for critters.

Matt loaded the wheel barrel.

And stacked the wood behind the barn. This wood won't be ready to use until next year. It has to season first.

Punkin and Lola waiting while everyone goes into the house for lunch.

We had homemade potato soup with cornbread for lunch and "Monkey Bread" for dessert!

After lunch grandpa and the boys moved Genie over behind the barn, so it will be in place when grandpa has time to repair the barn roof.

Gracie loves Punkin and Lola and gets so excited when she sees them. The dogs get excited too!!

While I was watching Gracie play with the dogs, and grandpa had gone to do some visiting, the other four kids decided to explore the basement of the big barn. Now, I want you to know that I will not go into that basement, because it is way to scary for me. When I realized that the kids were in the barn basement, I called them out and told them it was too dangerous and scary for them to play down there. They told me that it wasn't scary, it was fun. I agreed to let them continue their exploring of the barn basement if they took the dogs with them. This is the entrace to the basement.

With Gracie now taking a nap, I thought I would relax and work on my crochet project (I'm trying to make a blanket for my new little grandson that is expected to make his arrival in early December) while I sat on the porch and kept an eye on the kids. The girls were having fun playing with their new water balloon balls and the boys were having fun filling the balloons with water for them. Then Matt got a bright idea and decided to fill the balloons from the water hose which was next to the house and close to the chair on the porch that I was sitting in. It went well for a few minutes and then the balloon slipped off the hose and the water from the hose went spraying everywhere and guess who got it?


Then the boys decided to go and fly their kites.


I had gone into the house after the water hose experience, but it wasn't long before I heard voices calling. I went outside to see what they needed, and didn't see anyone. The girls had gone into the house to play, and it was just the two boys outside. I called, and they would answer, "Up here grandma". And I would call out, "Up where?" "Up here grandma" was their reply. I kept looking and looking, and finally I saw the top of the tree branches moving back and forth while the rest of the tree branches remained still. As I looked I saw Matthew. He was 25 feet up in the tree. Then I asked him where his brother was, and I heard little Ryan's voice, "over here grandma". "Where", was my reply. After receiving instructions from a voice in a very tall tree I saw little Ryan in another tree that was even taller than the one Matt was in.

If you look really close you can see little Ryan.

My weekend was filled with memories that I will always cherish.