A cure for winter blues

A visit to the grandkids is always a cure for the winter blues! I am always amazed at their ability to imagine. I love to imagine with them. Below Alden is pretending he is Michael from Mary Poppins. He really does well at pretending. His sister is BERT and she is cleaning the chimney below (this is what she used for the chimney and the cleaning instrument).

Don't let the guy above scare you --he is a lot of fun.

Below: The kids love having a tea party. They simply turn the basket over to use as a table. Their stuffed animals are guests. Alden loves feeding everyone.

We went to the library and one of our favorite books was The Paper Princess. It was such a fun story that we had to create a paper princess like the one in the book. We also created a gingerbread paperdoll for Alden and we had so much fun doing all kinds of things with the paperdolls. I had forgotten how much fun paper could be!

We had some Russian visitors too (below)

These guys have many hats to fill.

Dancing is so much fun, but songs like B I N G O and the Good Ship Lolipop can really get stuck in my head!! I am still humming them!!

Well, a winter storm was coming on Friday night so I had to get home before it arrived. This happened last time I visited too!! I hate the fact that I miss the snow......but I surely don't want to drive in it--NC and SC do not have much equipment in the area of route 95 for bad weather.

But for grams, grandkids are a wonderful vacation .....now for those of you that take care of your grands every week, it might be another story ;-)

Thinking about thankful things

I am glad for Sundays and a slower day of the week. I am thankful for

a day of rest
fresh flowers from my hubby that cheer the whole room
a very loving bootso cat
cheery red cardinals outside and inside (on pillows etc)
warm fires
warm snuggly blankets
the antics of the squirrels interacting with my neighbor's cat
candles (real and battery run)
homemade Earl Grey Latte
romantic comic books (these always make me appreciate my hubby more!)
the higher type church service--I love what the symbols and sacraments represent

I love the gifts God has given us .....not just those that are "spiritual gifts" , but the gift and beauty of His creation. I love the warmth of the sunshine and the uplifting psychology of light.
I love the colors in creation---pretty amazing stuff. I love the gift of His Word--both Christ and the Bible. I love the power and depth of the written word.....the more I read it the more I see how little I understand of His great love and of his doings in this world. I love thinking about the grandeur of the universe and its complexity in the big and in the small. I love the variety of foods and textures. I love the creativity of mankind and its reflection of God. I love the variety of music and how it touches our inmost parts.

I love the quietness of a small town.
I love the quietness of a Sunday in a small town ;-)
I love the softness of the winter sunlight.
I like the beginning of a new year....being able to think about goals. I tend to be sloppy and not work towards anything specific. I need to be a bit more goal oriented or life will be more of a drifting of time---I have been seeking the presence of God in daily living and have not been thinking about the specifics. I need to get down to some specifics in certain areas. --ie Bible memory, better organization of time and things....etc. Sundays are good to reflect more on the week ahead and goals to be pursuing.

Holiday fun and messes

This is just an assortment of pics from the holidays that make me smile.

Curing hiccups (above) a technique that worked!

The cat rubbing and biting the head as a welcome.

Fun gifts from Aunt Sue

Lots of goodies from Uncle David and Elisabetta

On the way to visit grandma

A welcome massage

Walks on the beach

Cuddly time

div>Just plain fun and goofing around




messes

Smoke rings

HUGE messes!!

Messes--huge--into the closet

Hanging out and playing games

Gram and Gramp on Christmas day

Today Grandpa visited Grandma at the nursing home. She has continued to decline, but she seems content. This is mainly for memory sake and family.

A child again

I had such a great time visiting my grand kids this week. I played and felt like a child at times--it is so much fun to imagine and play!!

ABove--Rhianwen has a little Cinderella dress she puts on over her clothes. Here she is dancing to Christmas music. Her little brother joined in as well, but I didn't post a pic of him in the dancing.

Above--I love the flamboyant () glove

The kids had two manger scenes that were hands on. These were a lot of fun to talk about and play with. We ended up bringing the figures all over the house. We pretended lots of things with them.

Above--Rhianwen had to do a makeup gymnastic class . Here she is getting ready. The beads didn't go to the gym with her. It was fun watching the little tikes in the gym. It made me want to do it--the trampolines, rope swing, triangular swing and jumps looked like so much fun. They also had a diving type platform to jump down into a pit of play foam type blocks. They had to run after hoola hoops too. Lots of balance beam stuff too!

It was chilly but we enjoyed the backyard. I wish I had boots because it is muddy in places!!

Above--they have a big yard with a partial tree on the ground. It makes fun rides (ie pretend horsie)

The kids made snowmen from socks. Here they are filling the socks with beans.

The great painter at work. The hat is really her Mary Poppin's Burt hat, but it does make a great painter's hat as well, doesn't it?

The finished products. Alden had some help with his, but Rhianwen did most of hers on her own; Can you tell?

Then it was cookie making time.....

And.....making a tree (below) for the doll house.

Alden mainly likes anything that will make a big mess. He is an expert mess maker. EXPERT!!

Below is a clip of Rhi making up a song about Jesus and then she ends up combining it with a real song. Playing with kids is therapeutic!! You have so much fun in pretend land!! I surely did!

Skipper commissioned

Skipper was commissioned on Dec 14 and he also graduated from USC--a very big day.

Princes don't wear pacifiers

The prince?

This is my granddaughter standing in the rain, about to pick out a tree. I love the quote of the week from her. After seeing the Disney movie on Cinderella she said, at some point,

"Princes don't wear pacifiers". She was especially referring to her one year old bro who has been using one to help with some teething issues. I love this quote and please remember to tell all your princes this fashion of the week statement.