What It Is All About

The book Carie got me for last Christmas had a line in it that said that Parents are always trying to teach kids all about life but kids are actually trying to teach parents, what life is all about. There is a lot of truth in that statement. As parents, we get all caught up in work, in schedules, and all sorts of things, and then when spending some time with your grandchild, you pick up on little things you once knew, but somehow forgot.....like how amazing it is to see an ant crawling. Only a two year old could figure out how to pick up an ant, show it to her grandpa, and let it go again without killing it! It was amazing to see how Madison could be just fascinated with tree bark. It seemed she could look at it for hours. I think she could probably see little creatures I can't even see anymore! Tucker is absolutely amazed with just about anything you put in front of him....especially your own face......the little guy will return a smile at the speed of light.

Panoramic Maddy

As days went by, Madison became more and more independent. She would just leave the yard and go over to visit the neighbors house as they were weeding the garden, etc. I stitched 5 photos together here to show Madison off on her own!

A Flower Girl

I have never seen anyone quite so intrigued with flowers as Madison. Everywhere we went, she wanted to pick a flower and take it with her. The flowers just somehow catch her attention and at that moment, she must have one. At one point, the flowers on the side of the house were too tough to pick.....so she grabbed my hand, pulled me over to the flowers, and made it very clear that she had to have one!

Fun in the Sun on a Sunday

The 4th of July cookout with the Conroy family had Grandma and I hopping all day. Cousins Valerie, Joey, and Tommy all had a ball playing with the kids. My only regret is that I didn't get a chance to take any pictures. Maybe Aunt Martha will send us some because she took lots of photos of all of us!

Sunday we discovered that Tucker likes SesameStreet.Org just as much as Maddy. I never saw him bounce so high in his bouncy bounce as when Cookie appears on the screen and eats the apples as fast as Count can count them. I thought he was going to jump out of that bouncer!

Sunday was a gorgeous sunny day so we all went outside for some photos and exploration.

Saturday's Lesson...Bubbles 101

On Saturday the 4th of July, Madison taught me that one can easily be fascinated by both the blowing of bubbles and being on the computer. Clearly one should not confine themselves to the computer alone. Imagine my surprise when she started popping bubbles one by one with her fingers while singing the A, B, C's. Who would have thought that each bubble can represent a letter of the alphabet? I was worried whether I still had enough juice to get to Z....and what her reaction would be if I didn't!

Welcome to Grandpa and Grandma's House

We were paid a visit Friday after lunch by our grandchildren! Unlike previous visits though, this time they would be staying with us for a whole 3 nights so mom and dad could get away for the 4th of July weekend festivities in Land O Lakes, WI. We quickly re-discovered life with very little children. They are mesmorized by the smallest things one can imagine. After not having them for so long......and then having them once again for days, I wondered to myself exactly when in our lives as people do we lose the ability to be mesmorized by simple little things? And who would have thought that tiny little children can teach grandparents a thing or two....like it is entirely possible to eat yogurt with either end of a normal spoon? And when it seems one cannot possibly get any more yogurt out of a cup, all one has to do is reach in with your fingers and you will find even more? Little ones remind you too that there are other ways to communicate besides email and iPhones. Maddy taught me that if she gets her blanket and comes over to stick her finger in my mouth, that means she wants to go to sleep....works every time.

Mom told us that our 7th month old grandson was a p-machine but we actually found him to be more of a smiling drool machine. Tucker's lower lip looks just a little like my leaky faucet except he doesn't have a built in drain! Mom's instructions warned us that sometimes and for no reason at all, little Tucker would stop smiling and start expressing some wild unhappiness via his vocal chords. We had this exhilerating experience about 7 hours into the weekend.....thank God we knew what it was! Funny thing is, it never once happened again!