Winding down . . .

Yesterday my Mom turned 90! She enjoyed all the cards she received. She went over them again and again. Mom has Alzheimers. It seems the cards are all new to her every time she looks at them. That's about the only good thing of that terrible disease. Besides a little heart issue, she is in relatively good health. 

She enjoyed 3 of her 7 great grands at her small party. I'm not sure who ate more 2nds on the cake, her or the kids. Another side effect of Alzheimer is she forgot she had already eaten a piece or two of cake! After all, not every day do you turn 90, so you go Mom, the cake is all yours!

 Next year my sister and I are buying mom a scarf!

Later in the afternoon, Alex felt the need to be busy. First he was in the blacksmith shop. He forged a poker to use on the camp fires he so loves to play in.

Then he decided to help me in the kitchen. We made his Grandpa's favorite walnut cookies. 

The kids are back today, not sure what we will do to keep busy to close out the last day of 2013. 

Christmas 2013

Christmas is over. It's always bittersweet, kids at home, kids far away, we always make the best of it. 

Lori captured a pretty picture of our table. 

 She also took this of us Skyping with our daughter, son in law, and grandson in Florida. 

When it was time to open the presents, it started out so calm. However, soon the room was trashed!  Oh, the fun of opening presents! 

 Both the cooks seemed to like the pressure cooker they were given. 

The boys found a quiet place to check out their new toys. Now that I look at this picture, I think Alex is checking out a toy his brother Brady received. 

Look at Miss Lizzie.  She is wearing her new pajamas over her clothes while playing old maids with her great-grandma Cardwell. There is 86 years separating them, yet they still find something in common. 

I found it rewarding to make some gifts this year. 

I used pictures of Connor from his birth  and ended the book with his one year old picture. Books were all made using Shutterfly.com. 

 Brady's was labeled a "A Year with Grandma and Grandpa 2013".

 Here are Lizzie's and Alex's.

 It was so much fun making a yearbook for the kids. Here is an inside sample.

 The little guy in Florida, also got a personalized minkie blanket. 

This corduroy jumper and matching doll clothes were for Lizzie and Holly. For those that sew, you might recognize the jumper has yo-yo's on the front, my least favorite thing to make!

 The girls matching pajamas, with their names embroidered on them. 

Alex asked specifically for an iPod holder with some special requests. He wanted it to go on his belt loop, he wanted the shop name, his name, and an anvil on it.  

I incorporated all those and then some. I included a lighted carabiner, and a Velcro flap.

Jeremy teaches concealed carry gun classes in his spare time. I embroidered a shirt with his business name on it.

And so it is now Christmas past. It was a wonderful time with family, friends, and food.

Life is Good!

Three school programs, all were great, one was outstanding!

It's that time of year. The grand-kids Christmas programs at their schools. 

Last week we went to Lizzie's Advent program at St. Thomas Catholic School. It was a wonderful production. She is in the black and white "rectangle" dress.  I said "plaid" and she corrected me, "it's rectangle Grandma".  These 11 little kids sang their hearts out. 

When Lizzie's time was over she came to sit with us and watch all the big kids. Her mother took this photo of us. 

On Sunday Brady, the oldest grandson, had his winter band performance. He is in the white shirt and tie, playing his flute. It was the shortest of the three programs we attended. He did an awesome job. This is his second year of band. 

Last night, we went to Blair Oaks for the 4th graders performance. This is their biggest grade. Alex is on the second row, in a blue and black shirt.

During the performance, the blacksmith leaned over and pointed out the woman in the pink and black shirt, on the front row. We could see she was Face-timing with someone dressed in military clothes. As the show came to a close Mrs. Martin, the music director, told us we had a special guest in attendance. It was Tyler Sandbothe's Dad, who is serving in Afghanistan. His wife was Face-timing the entire show. 

It brought tears to my eyes and probably to just about everyone else in the auditorium. 

So Mr. Sandbothe, if by some chance you see this, THANK YOU for serving our country. Godspeed to you. May you have a Merry Christmas, because I'm pretty sure there will be more Face-timing in your future.

As for the three Grands, they all did an awesome job.

Merry Christmas to all.

To Florida and back!!

We were to fly out last Monday to Orlando to celebrate our daughter's 30th birthday and our grandson's first birthday. It didn't happen.

All flights for the airline were cancelled, all across the country. The following day they flew us on another airline. No explanation was ever given. They just cut our visit one day short. 

Just a few hours after we arrived, while eating dinner Sarah called from work to tell us to go outside. There was a rocket launch at Cape Canaveral. She had taken off for the day we were to arrive, but not the day we actually arrived. Working for a TV station, she knew just when the rocket was launching. The picture doesn't really do it justice.

Her backyard has an orange and a grapefruit tree. Unfortunately for us, they weren't quite ripe yet. Neither was the banana tree.

The live oak tree in her back yard is covered in Spanish moss and an azalea was still in bloom.

 Across the fence in the neighbor's yard was a hibiscus in bloom.

It was great to see so much greenery even if some was too much. The blacksmith helped Rusty trim their split leaf philodendron at the pool.

While we were there this little guy learned how to pull himself up to a standing position. He will be walking real soon.

I've never seen a little guy so interested in Micky Mouse. It's a good thing they live close to Disney-world.

Yes Connor is a TV nut. Play this video and watch how he dances to the theme song of Big Bang Theory. He will dance for it over and over as we rewind. If he's playing in the room and the show comes on, he comes crawling to the TV.  Amazing that a one year old can recognize a song. 

One day we went antiquing. I saw this awesome display of vintage ornaments. Sadly, I probably have that many, if I just had the table space to display them. We also saw this chicken strolling outside the shop. It seems chickens run loose in the town of Oviedo.

We went downtown for dinner at  Schumann’s Jäger Haus.  

The food was awesome, as were the desserts. 

Connor enjoyed our spatzel so much that next time his mother might order his own plate full.

Saturday, the day of Connors first birthday, came quickly!  Here he is modeling the shirt that I made for him.  Well actually it was the second shirt. The first one was a 12 month size. After washing it was too small. This Grandma got smart and washed the 24 month size first and THEN appliqued and embroidered it. 

Here are the many gifts he received, including a hand made rocking horse from his other grandfather. 

Just note how clean the shirt is. It will never again look like that! 

Let's just blame it on the bakery. With the big cake purchase they offered him his own "smash" cake. 

That was all it took! The shirt is now permanently stained green!

Here Grandpa enjoys some one on one time with the big one year old!

I too, got to do my share of the spoiling, but I also enjoyed the record breaking highs of 86 and 87 degrees every day! It was quite the shock to get off the plane in Missouri to 17 degrees and a snowy, icy runway.

 We paused for a grandparent photo before our week was up. 

This my friends, is how you shop for a Christmas tree in Florida. Seriously, do they know what they are missing in Missouri?  Snow, sleet, ice, and freezing temperatures.  Think they care?

It was a great week in Florida minus one day, thank you very much Allegiant Air. We can't wait to go back for the great company and warm weather!  Also, to spoil that grandson some more.

It's a BIG day!

Our beautiful daughter, Sarah turns the big 3-0!

We are so proud of you and love you to pieces!  We can't wait to give you a birthday kiss!