A Gift of Snow

Today the snowflakes FINALLY fell for real in Missouri. It's been such a long, gray winter and we were about to lose hope of seeing ANY of the white stuff. However, today it arrived. It made one little 4 year old person VERY happy!

Syd is staying with us for a 3 day visit and she and I headed out into the white stuff just as soon as the grass was covered. We slid down the neighbor's hill, rolled in the snow, threw it at each other, and made the mandatory snow angels. She giggled the entire time and I have to admit, so did I! What is it about the magical combination of cold air and water that can make us drop our stress levels and just act like a kid? I don't know... but I am not about to question this wonder of meteorology! For a February snowfall- this was just right! Thank-you God - and any of your assisting snow angels as well!

When the Fairies Dance you have to Smile!

I had a delightful Saturday this past weekend. Got to spend it with 8 little gals all 4 and under who were at my daughter's house to help Sydney celebrate her birthday. Being four... wow, can't remember being four. That was, after all, in 1959, I think I got a puppy but I am not completely sure.

Syd, however, had a marvelous time. A highlight was when "the birthday fairy" arrived. One of the youth from our church is a high school junior who dances at the studio where Syd takes class. She graciously consented to come and fill the role! She was absolutely convincing as a fairy and the little gals fell in love with her! Kudos to Taylor Plodzien for being one very classy gal who made all those little people smile. The photos will tell the rest of the story.

Grandma Camp Days 1, 2, & 3

We are currently enjoying the gift of a whole week with our grandkids... starting on July 15th with Sydney's arrival and soon to be expanded when her cousins arrive tomorrow for another 5 days of fun. Some of my gal pals on Facebook call this set-up "Grandma Camp" and I LOVE the name! It's really just a week of summertime fun and we do pretty much whatever we want to do! Even if Papa and Grandma need a week to recuperate afterwards it's well worth it. Here's a look at Days 1, 2, and  3.

Syd arrived on Thursday afternoon... and we started by doing some painting... first time with watercolors is always a fun time!

Next,  we moved on to swimming...Syd loves our pool and swims in it at least an hour or two each day she's here. So on day two we did a lot of that since the temps are in the 90+ range here right now.

Today is Day 3 and we headed for the McNair Park Aquatic Center... a great kid's pool just around the corner from our house. Since it was a Saturday, I knew there'd be oodles of kids splashing in the place and Syd would have a blast! We packed our PBJ and some other snacks, grabbed towels and sunscreen and off we went!
  Syd LOVED it all! The water slide was the big hit of the day; I think she went down it at LEAST 3 dozen times! It also provided a good start on learning to stand in line and wait for your turn to go... a tricky thing for a two yr old tyke to figure out. Syd is VERY brave and independent and insisted on doing it "all by myself" after only 2 times down with me.

All in all, you can see that we're having a really great time....
 here is one tired kid ready to go home for a nap...

Maybe we'll come back for another hour at McNair afterward! This time, if he's really good, we may even bring Papa along!

A Girl Has Gotta Have Wheels

Syd got her first set of wheels yesterday. We noticed her really loving the pedal cars and tricycles at her sitter's house and figured the time was just right for wheels. Scored the cutest little Radio Flyer brand trike at Walmart of all places. Two trips down the sidewalk and the tyke and trike were doing great. She has to work on her steering a bit, but she's motoring for real now!

 

The 2010 Pink and Purple Radio Flyer Special!

 

Papa lends a hand with the steering.

   

Here she goes!

 

Time to check out what will fit in the "trunk" space. 

Lots of treasures, like stones, clover flowers, and Sweetgum tree balls.

 

Back at it... whee!

 

On her own and doing fine!

Feeling pretty grown up and proud!

Warm Day + Little Gardener + Hose = Fun!

I've written already about how much Sydney loves to be out in my garden. She would play outside for hours, digging and puttering about. Today's discovery? The garden hose! The pictures tell the story... but I've added a few captions for fun too!

Ready to start working.... Syd's got the hose in hand!

 

First. you actually water plants!

 

Are you sure this is work? This is fun!

Whoa! You can stick your hands in too!

 

The next thing you know, you're washing your face!

In for dime... in for a dollar! Besides, I won't need a bath tonight if I do this right!

Syd: "Look Gramma, I'm all wet!"

This is what happiness looks like on a 2 yr. old!

Banilla Makes the Day Alright!

Today was good day that got made even better by some super after school time spent with Sydney. I picked her up at her sitter's house and we went off on an adventure. (Papa was at the farm spraying our grapes.)

First stop... Lyon's Custard for a cone; more specifically a "Banilla cone" because that's what Syd told me was her favorite. Syd polished off her first full-fledged kid cone. She managed not to let a single drip hit the ground (or her shirt)! Throughout the adventure, she kept saying, "Oh Grandma! This is so tasty!" Then she would giggle and keep right on slurping away at it. It took her almost a half an hour to eat a cone, but she did it! (and had the occasional slurp of my strawberry one as well). The other discovery was that Syd thought going to "Lyons" Custard meant we were going to be with some LIONS... as in growls and eats people! So I had to show her that it was a name of a place that just sounded like big cats! Funny!

We followed our cones with a stop at the library next door, where we stocked up on Dora books. Then we came home and played in the garden for almost an hour before her daddy arrived to pick her up. We now have a ritual... we come in, put on our "garden clothes" and our garden shoes, put on our sunscreen, put on our sunglasses, and then out we go. Syd spent an hour watering her flowers and moving "soy-il" from one bucket into another.

I am really liking all our new "habits!"

If you can dig, you can garden!

Syd learned to enjoy soil (yes, she calls it soil (as in "soy'-ill") not dirt) this evening. We were together after school and had stopped to get a few more herbs for the garden. We let her pick out a geranium to plant. Thus began her new love affair with "soy-ill". For almost 2 hours she sat on a stone happily moving dirt from one spot to another. It was fascinating to sit there and listen to her singing happily to herself while moving dirt. We should ALL be so contented! Our little garden buddy is well on her way to a lifelong love of digging!

Eggs, Bunnies, and a Cute Little Huntress

Had a beautiful Easter Sunday here in Missouri... after church the hunt for eggs began. As in the past, the grown-ups had as much fun as the little-uns!

 "Merry Easter"(as Syd said to folks on her way into church this a.m.) He is Risen, Indeed!

Love is in the Air

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
We're sitting here in the family room, watching the snow fly and the Olympics on television. Very cozy and very relaxing.

Had a special treat for Valentine's Day this year... Sydney came to spend the night last night and the morning with us today. Her parents were supposed to go for a night on the town... but it didn't work out that way. Gretchen caught a bug and it made thoughts of going out something for another time. However, our Syd date remained a go and we had a blast. She's so much fun these days. Our big entertainment of last night was going grocery shopping. She LOVES to push the mini-carts that they have at our local IGA... we go "hunting" for things and then we track down Papa with the big cart and dump our treasures into it. She gets all excited at the idea of hunting for cheese and counting out oranges! You'd think we were at an amusement park!

The neatest thing happened last night... an elderly gentleman walked up to Syd and said, "You are such a good helper! I am getting my own granddaughter from China this week... This is for you!" and he handed her a Dollar! Syd, having no idea what money is, just looked at it and handed it to me and we did our "thank-you's" and he moved on into the store.  It struck me as he walked away, how much we take for granted... and made me savor the moment even more.

So here's to a day set aside to love the ones who are precious to us, both near and far. It's commercial, perhaps, and perhaps a tad silly... but it's also and excuse to celebrate love.... hugs to all of you!

You get an Inch... You Slide a MILE!

Syd came over to play on the sled this morning. Our next door neighbor has a modest hill in his yard that has become the "orientation to sledding" hill for the newest generation of intrepid snowbunnies! (It seems like yesterday this was Gret and Katrina! In fact, we think our sled might be close to 30 years old!) Here's a collection of shots of all the fun a little snow can bring!

A Good Use of Leaves

I am not a fan of leaf raking... that said, there is ONE sort of leaf raking I AM a HUGE fan of... it's the sort of raking that leads to photos such as these. Enjoy these, and then go find a toddler tyke or several of them and RAKE up some fun!

Syd shows real potential as a leaf raker!

She buried herself this deep without ANY help from her grandma!
Like I said, she has GREAT potential as a leaf lover and raker!