80 Years Young

February 2nd was my Mom's 80th birthday. I think there is something taboo about telling a "ladies" age, but I also think when you get to be 80, you should be proud you made it! My Mom and Dad have more than "made" it, they are VERY young at heart and spirit. I asked my Mom what she wanted to do to celebrate her 80 years, and of course, as is typical of my Mom, she said nothing........except, she did say, the only thing she really wanted was to have chocolate cupcakes, so Mia could have one. I fixed grilled cheese sandwiches, one of the few things my Mom will eat, and chicken and dumplings, for those who wanted a little more substance (although I think the grilled cheese sandwiches were enjoyed by everyone more than the chicken and dumplings), and then we finished off the meal with cupcakes for Mia!



Happy Birthday Mom (Memaw)




Neat and Tidy is how it all begins





A Little Chocolate is good for the soul



Is it good for the face, neck, forehead and shoulders as well?




Good call on the cupcakes Memaw!

What do you suppose she is "hinting" at?

So today I get this email from Catherine, and all it has are these links:

http://parentingteens.about.com/od/carepackage/a/care_packages2.htm

http://www.epinions.com/content_4062683268

http://www.parent.umn.edu/carepackages.html

http://www.gardenandhearth.com/Gift-Baskets/College-Care-Package.htm


Of course I sent a package off today! You don't have to hit me with a 2 X 4 !!

Dream Come True

When I graduated from college, I received a "scholarship" from an organization that I was president of on Campus, AITP (Association of Information Technology Professionals) to be exact. They are a professional organization, and sponsor student chapters at various campuses. Anyway, I think my professor put my name in for one of the scholarships, and I got it. The interesting thing is, I was graduating, and so I tried to give the money to the student chapter, but my professor would not take it, he said the students needed to learn to earn their own money and not have it given to them. So next, I thought about applying the money to my student loans..........that would have been way to practical, right? So, obliviously what came next was, take a cruise! My dear friend Becky Adams and I have talked for many years now about going on a cruise "someday"(she reminded me on the cruise that we have been friends now for 31 years! eek gad!!). Anyway, in August, Becky got to retire from being a prison warden. She put in 27 years working for the state.

End result, Becky and I went on our cruise.

We went for 7 days out of Galveston. Sailed on Carnival Conquest to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. We had a great time. I will not go into many details, except the water is unbelievably blue and clear. I would spend a full week in Grand Cayman if ever given the opportunity.

The one thing I REALLY wanted to do, that was an extra fee was to swim with the dolphins. We got to kiss them, be kissed by them, hold them, ride on them, and be "foot pushed" by them (they push you on the balls of your feet and you get up in the air)...........this experience was so way cool, I have to call it a dream come true.

I have a video, but I do not know how to get it on the computer so I can add it to my blog. When I figure that out, I will add that at some point.

Canada Oh Canada

Jessica went with her boyfriend, Tommy McCay and his family to Canada the day after Christmas. They did not come back until January 2. Tommy's mom, Joanne, is Canadian, and they have a family cabin there. Jessica said they had a great time, and as you can see from these photos, it was beautiful. Oh, and I would also like to add that I have never seen Jessica happier than when she is with Tommy, this will be evident to the reader when you look at some of these pictures.



Isn't it lovely?



Isn't she lovely?



She thinks he is lovely




Aren't they lovely?




Pretty as a picture in White (she said this was her "serious" face!)

I have had a Break Through!

Today was a big milestone for me. I like to think that I can learn, and that I am open to new ideas and such (my kids would tell you I am hopeless in this area,but, again, I hope they are wrong). I blogged about being sad and concerned that Mia would get confused as to where her "home" is. I have talked of my sadness that this will no longer be her home.

Today, a breakthrough!

Christina came to pick up Mia. Christina is Mia's daddy's fiancée, and soon to be Mia's step-mother. She has been in Mia's life very early on. She is sweet and dear and she loves Mia and Mia loves her. You can tell from the way they interact.........sorry, once again, I digress.

Anyway, Christina (CC) came to get Mia and Mia was very excited to see her. Mia even said she was "going home" with CC. Specifically she said "I go home with CC". At first, I was taken aback with her calling CC and daddy's place "home". Then, I realized, well, why is her dad's home not as much "home" as her mom's place. And then, I realized there is nothing wrong with having more than one home. I even went to Wikipedia to see what that definition was, and here is what I found:

"the concept of home is broader than a physical dwelling. Home is often a place of refuge and safety, where worldly cares fade and the things and people that one loves becomes the focus"

WOW............isn't that awesome I realized. Mia has several places that she feels safe, and where her worldly cares fade, and where people that she loves and who love her are the focus...........

I could not ask for more, and now, with this breakthrough, I could not be happier!

The Wedding

I think Hillary Clinton said "it takes a village to raise a child"..boy, I hate that I even have her name in my blog, maybe I will edit this later, but anyway, it takes some very special friends to have a wedding.

For starters, let me mention Becky. Rebecca Jane Adams. Becky has recently retired from being a warden at the women's prison in Gatesville, Texas. (she was the first woman to ever get "warden of the year" in the state of Texas). I mention that here, because she hates me making a big deal about it, but golly, it was a big deal, right?!.........I digress..... anyway, Becky drove over 2 hours on Friday morning to help decorate Fischer Hall for the reception. She went to the church to help decorate there, and then in the evening, she drove over 2 hours home, only to turn around Saturday, and drive back, attend the wedding and then haul a$$ to the reception hall to help get things ready, and then once again, drive over 2 hours home. WOW!!!!

I have some very huge thank yous to a very special couple, but, I am saving that for later, an entire blog entry dedicated strictly to them. Just know, without Cindy and Rob, the reception would not have been the same, and without their friendship, I would not be SANE!

I still have very few pictures of the wedding. I have been waiting to get a bunch to chose from before posting on the blog. I am 48 years old and my patience is, well, lacking..........so, here is what I have for now.

Jennifer's dear friend Jackie, from Colorado was unable to make the wedding, so, she is not pictured here with the bridesmaids, but I am sure she was with Jennifer is spirit. Those women dear to Jennifer that stood beside her are:

Jessica, Catherine, Leah, Christina, and Jenny





Without access to other pictures I can not post photos of Rex and his "best men".

My dad gave Jennifer "away". He looked dashing if I say so myself, but again, I do not yet have those pictures, but here is a picture of my mom and dad dancing at the reception.


They have been married 60 years and they still can "cut a rug" !

Jennifer and Rex were very fortunate to have their dear friends be in attendance. Jenny and Joel here from Salt Lake City (their twins were with grandparents) and Kristi (use to be Kinard) (Kristi and Jennifer home schooled together and shared a really cool "dress up" birthday party years ago).




My dear friend Joyce Schoepf (Jenny's mom) kept the twins during the wedding, and then tag teamed the other grandparents, so she could come to the reception. The team work by these families was really appreciated! Thanks Schoepf/Hunt families!



I won't keep on much longer (who wants another "War and Peace"?), so this last photo you might have to look at closely, but this was the "bride and groom's first dance". It is so symbolic of their marriage, because, right in the middle, hugging the necks of them both, is Mia.........Perfectly Mia.

Conflict of Interests

What do you do when you have two huge things you want to talk about, because they are all you are or have been thinking about, and they are going on at the same time. My two issues are :

1) Jennifer got married yesterday, this is great big huge wonderful news, not to be dismissed as small or insignificant.

2) Mia is moving out and into a new home.

So, for this blog entry, I have made the decision to talk about Mia (shocked, right?) I do not currently have pictures of the wedding to post, I will soon, and the wedding happened yesterday, and the Mia issue is happening now, and besides, the name of the blog is "Perfectly Mia".

So, my Mia issue.

Tonight, Mia was suppose to stay with her dad and CC. They were suppose to keep her while her mom is getting married and having a short temporary honeymoon (the big one comes January 3). Anyway, tomorrow night Mia will be with her dad for Christmas Eve and morning celebrations, and then Jennifer and Rex will pick her up and come here for Christmas celebrations, and then she will go "home" with Jennifer and Rex to there new "home" in Tomball.

Hang with me, I am getting to my point.

I have been away from her really since Wednesday night. She stayed with her dad from Thursday through today (again, wedding issues). I am home tonight, and so tired I can hardly think, but, I realized how much I missed her these past few days, and how, tonight, well, tonight would be the last night I could call this place, my small house, her home. Tonight it is home, but hereafter, she will be coming to GG's, and not "coming home". I called her dad and asked if I could come and pick her up and have her tonight. It worked perfectly, because they had things they wanted/needed to do in the morning, and I got to have Mia home, one last time. Home, with me, and not just here visiting me.

I will enjoy the visits and I will enjoy the time together becoming maybe "more special" and not just daily routines, but, and this is a huge BUT...........I will miss her beyond words, and so, tonight, for just a while, I will be sad and maybe, just maybe, cry over losing this firecracker of a kid to her new home. I think I am entitled.

I am tired, and so this will be my excuse for being so emotional. I am going now to have a good cry.

I love you Mia. I miss you already, even though you are sleeping in the next room.

Oh so Wonderful

Those who read this, who have older children/young adult(s) will understand what I am about to say (well, you would if I had a knack for writing eloquently, which I do not, so you might have to wing it).

From the moment of birth, we love our children beyond words. Until you become a parent, you have no clue.....sorry, but you don't.

Our children begin life pooping in their pants, then they learn to poop on the potty, and then, when they become teenagers, they might just poop on you. Not literally, but figuratively. The odds are at least, at some point, they will talk to you like you are poop, and treat you like you are poop. You handle it as best you can, because like when they are babies, and they poop in their diaper, you do not love the poop, or cleaning a dirty bottom, but you love the person who did the pooping. Same thing with teenagers. We do not love the poop, but we still love the person talking, or treating us like poop.

This all leads me to my point ( I warned you I was not eloquent)..........

All of the poop, if you are lucky, becomes fertilizer. Wonderful, life enhancing, enriched poop. And if you are lucky, you will see the fruits of your labor, and the oh so wonderful product that is produced as a result of this fertilizer.

I have been really lucky. The poop from my kids has been minimal. Going in cycles, but on a scale of 1 to 10 on stinkyness, the average rating would be a 3 or 4. I mean, there have been spikes here and there, but on average, low on the poop scale. So, how lucky am I that the product(s), the end results, have turned out to be Oh so Wonderful.

What makes me write this entry specifically today, and now, is that in the past two days, Catherine has said two of the most kind things to me that I may have heard in my entire life. Two of the kindest, yet, simple statements, actually "texted", to me, that make me say, my life is "Oh so Wonderful", because I have experienced poop, and I have lived to see the wonder of it.

Back by Popular Demand

I still have a whole lot to learn about blogging. I originally wanted to post the videos of Mia's birthday, and then have a separate slide show. I some how ended up with them connected together. In addition to this error, apparently my music selection for the slide show was not so popular. It is my taste in music that limits my choices. I just could not find a Whitney Houston, Wynonna Judd, or Vince Gill song that worked. I did however change the John Denver selection. The song playing is called "For Baby (for Bobbie)". I hope that makes the music critics happier. Oh, and at the request of Catherine, here are the birthday videos again.

Blogging and Blabbering

Catherine informed me that she writes more on her blog than I do mine. Maybe, but, I tend to blabber (is this word still used in society today?), and since I blabber, I try only to post a blog when I have something to say.

Today here is what I have to say............

It is cold and windy today. My house is cold enough that I am actually a little cool myself, and for those of you who know me, well, this is VERY unusual. I do not want to turn on the heater, because I sleep better when it is cold, BUT, I have Mia tonight, and I do not want a Popsicle for a grand baby, so I think I will put a little heater in her room while she sleeps. I am cool enough that I got out my house shoes, but I am not cold enough to want to keep my socks on AND my house shoes.

I am making chicken salad to take to a Christmas party tomorrow. The chicken is cooking. I am boiling enough chicken that I will also make chicken and dumplings for later. I bought croissants today while out shopping and I am going to make the chicken salad with grapes and pecans..........yummmm.

Speaking of shopping.......today I pulled a marathon. I got my car inspected, I went to Payless Shoes (wedding shoes for Mia),Hobby Lobby (wedding decorations), Big Lots(more wedding), Garden Ridge Pottery (more wedding), Costco (more wedding and some gift items), then Toys R Us (wow, was this a crazy place to be, but I got Mia some gifts here), and then I went to Sam's Wholesale (more wedding), then Office Depot (more wedding, yes, even here, and I also got a gift item) and then Bed Bath and Beyond (gifts here), and then Home Depot (looking for Rosemary Christmas tree and they were sold out). I should have visited a bank to get a loan to pay for the day.

I came home, worked very hard at unloading the car, and then Mia's dad brought her home, so we played and ate a banana and took a bath and then played some more, brushed our teeth and then off to bed.

Now, back to the chicken salad. It is cooking.

I have work to do for my business, and presents to wrap, but I also have a movie I want to watch, so, I am torn, be responsible, or be a slacker. After battling the crowds in the stores and the crowds in traffic, I think I will be a slacker! I could say I am making chicken salad, wrap the gifts AND watch my movie all at the same time........like fishing, I think fishing is something you can SAY you are doing, but really be doing nothing at all. You know, sit in a chair, throw your line in the pond and contemplate the meaning of life. But when someone says, "what did you do yesterday?", it sounds so much busier to say, "I went fishing", than to say, "I sat in a chair outside all day and contemplated life". I like to fish.

The wedding takes place one week from today. In fact, this time next week, Jennifer will be Mrs. Rex Klentzman, and I will have a son-in-law. Pretty cool I think.

I wonder how Mia will make the transition. I have talked before about how much I will miss her, but the other side of that coin is her missing "home". I know, I know, "home" is where your family is, and her "home" will be with Rex and Jennifer in Tomball. I just remember when I had to move Catherine from the only "home" she had ever known, how hard it was on her....(see her blog for more insights to this). Jennifer said she and Mia will come out often at first. Of course babies are so flexible. I guess when she gets a bed there and her toys and clothes there, she will see that is now her "home". I jokingly told Rex that I talked to Mia about "mean old Rex" taking her away from here. I didn't. Rex will be an awesome father. I have already seen glimpses of his patience and love for Mia. She really will be blessed to have him in her life, so there is no such thing as "mean old Rex".

Rex is at his bachelor party tonight and Jennifer at her bachelorette party. They are both in Austin, and yet not at the same place. I do not think I had a bachelorette party. its been too long to say for sure.

Oh, one more random thought..........I know it is often said that Christmas has become too commercialized. But I actually like buying gifts for friends and family. Sure, sometimes coming up with something to get them can be really hard (my brother for one), but, I like the expectation of seeing their face when they get their gift and hoping that they A)like it, or B) don't mind taking it back to get what they want. I do not mind if someone returns my gift. I would rather they had something they wanted than not. So, if I ever give you something and you do not want it, for WHAT EVER reason, please, feel free to ask me for the receipt!

Happy Birthday, Mia turns 2

Well, as any Grandmother would tell you, our grand kids are the most wonderful people in the world.......and cutest!

I have some great pictures of Mia at her birthday party at Chick-Filet. Lots of special people came to help celebrate. Her grandmother Juda Hegar took some great pictures of Mia at her house earlier that day. mY intention here was to just post the short videos. Somehow I have messed up and now there is a slide show along with the video.

I think she can now be known as the "fastest candle blower outer in the west"! She got a little side tracked in talking, but for now, this is for Catherine.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I played around with OneTrue Media and apparently have some work to do,and those of you who know me, understand the choice of music along with the slides. Only make positive comments. Remember girls, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all! (Jennifer, Jessica and Catherine)

Update on the Hair Obsession

GG GOES AT IT AGAIN!


CUTE CUTE CUTE




EVERY ONE LOVES IT !

Galveston 2007

For the past several years we have gone to Galveston the day after Thanksgiving to see some family friends. Mrs. Norman and her family to be exact. My mom and Mrs. Norman have known each other since they were in grade school......I will not tell anyone's age, but it would be safe to say it is well over 60 years of friendship. Funny note here, I call her Mrs. Norman. I always have and always will, even though she has given me permission to do otherwise. Jennifer calls her Beverly.............is this a sign of the times? I digress....

Anyway, Mrs. Beverly Norman has three sons. Bill, Bob and Brent. They are there along with Bob's lovely daughter, Molly, and Brent's three charming young sons, Brandon, Lucas and Nicholas and his wife Denise. The Norman's all come together for a week at the beach, where they rent a really large house and spend family time. The we go and crash the party for a day! It is always a nice visit, even though it is short.

So here are some pictures of the beach. I believe I do not need to comment on the weather that day for the pictures speak louder than any words I might have.




JUMPING FOR JOY AT THE BEACH





REX AMD MIA, HAND IN HAND



MIA LOVES SEASHELLS, DOWN AT THE SEASHORE



LITTLE BABY, BIG WATER



NEW FAMILY "LOOKING TOWARDS THE FUTURE" (corny I know, but hey..I get to write here)



MIA LOVES SAND AS WELL AS DIRT AND MUD PUDDLES



HE LOVES HER, EVEN WHEN SHE IS FUSSY.........COULD SHE/WE HAVE GOTTEN BETTER?

Hair Obsession

Some folks might think I am obsessed with Mia's hair, or lack there of. I would not use the word "obsessed", but I have been waiting with baited breath for it to grow. So today, she actually let me put it up. We went down to her great grandparents house to show them how cute it was. As you can see from this picture, even Mia thought it was cute!







Granted, we have a ways to go before we can really have an "updo", but for now, this just makes me smile from ear to ear. Oh, and have I mentioned before that her mom's hair was the same way..........got thicker and thicker, but not longer and longer, and now, Jennifer has a wonderful full head of hair! Jennifer's Grannie Barton use to ask us "why do you cut that baby's hair?" every time we saw her, and every time, we had to tell her that we didn't cut it, it just doesn't grow! Of course Grannie always asked me if I wanted a cup of coffee, and I always said, "no thank you, I do not drink coffee" and every time she said, "You don't drink coffee?"..........It just made me laugh. It is ashame that Grannie passed away before she met Mia, and really so long ago that my kids have small memories. She and Grandpa Barton were a hoot! I loved visiting with them!

Jennifer is 28 years old

So when your children get older, does that automatically make you get older? Chronologically, yes, it does, but not mentally, because we can control our mental state. Jennifer wanted to stay home for her 28th instead of going out to eat, so I cooked down at Mom and Dad's house. We had Oven fried chicken, mashed potatoes, creamed gravy, ranch style beans, yeast rolls and brownies with ice cream. My brothers birthday was just a few days ago. I think everyone believes that his birthday and Jennifer's are just practice shots for Mia's upcoming 2nd birthday. Notice in the video she gets to blow out the candles and notice how many candles there are!


Don't pay attention to her diaper, she decided she needed to "sag" them. I tried to keep the camera positioned where she would not be embarrassed some day when she gets older!

Where's the beef?

I should take more pictures. When Catherine lived at home, she was the one who took lots of pictures of Mia, and I just used hers for the blog. She fusses at me all of the time now, because I do not have pictures of Mia here. I am not a good picture taker.

JoelandJenny.blogspot.com


CatherineatBrown.blogspot.com:


and my friend Dorothy Schmidt has an amazing daughter-in-law. I have never really met Brigitte, but reading her blog, gives me a glimpse into her life. She has two very little boys and she writes with such a gift of getting to the point. Her blog is called Spit Up, if that gives you any idea:
Barrettsmom.blogspot.com

I save it on my tool bar as "Dorthy Schmidts babies", but that is because of the bond we grandmothers share..........they are our babies babies after all.

Anyway, the point to this is, Jenny and Bridgett always seem to have a camera ready for great shots. I can not find mine half the time. I need to take more pictures.

Bad mom ! Bad, bad mom!!!!

Truth be told, I did tell Catherine I would send her some "care packages" when she went off to college. You know, home baked cookies, boxes of popcorn, bags of coffee, sweet notes, telling her I love and miss her................

Truth be told, I have yet to send anything..........bad, bad mom.........

I am appealing to anyone who reads my blog.......if you could, please write to Catherine, please be the mom that I obviously am not! I mean well, but, I have so many of those "roundtoit's" that my pockets are full!

Catherine's mailing address is:

Catherine Waldrop
Box 2247
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912

Oh, and this is a secret so please don't tell Catherine I did this.

Thanks a bunch!

The Circus

The circus came to town today. According to the newspaper, if you went a little before 9am you could watch the elephants help set up the tent. We left the house at 8:30am (Mia was knocking at my bedroom door before that, saying, "GG, I ready to go see elephants"). Due to a combination of mis-information and Houston traffic, the elephants did not arrive until 11am. Needless to say, it was a long morning waiting. Mia had a blast running around, playing outside and all, (the photo is of her "mixing it up" with the kindergarten kiddos that came to watch) but it would have been nice to see the pachyderms and get home before 11am.




As it was, we saw the elephants, but left before they helped set up the tent.

This is Mia telling the elephants bye.



We went home and Mia took a much needed nap. A little short for my liking, but she awoke in a fine mood, grinning ear to ear.

We left the house again, a little before 4 pm to attend the actual circus. Mia and her GG, off to see the magic of the circus.

Mia rode the elephant with absolutely no fear. In fact, I had to keep her from cutting in line and explain the whole "wait your turn" concept again.



After the VERY short ride (I apologize for the video. I have some others that are cute, and if anyone can tell me how to rotate a video clip I would certainly appreciate it), we went inside the big top to see the circus. At first, Mia was, as I had hoped, awestruck! (again apologies for the photo, I do not have the same knack that Catherine has for "self portrait" line ups with the camera!)



And then we watched the circus, with interest for about 7 minutes!



And then she said "I ready to go home", took off out of the stands, flew out the circus tent well before GG could catch her! I have no photos of this, for I was grabbing my purse and in hot pursuit of the fastest little legs this side of the Pecos!


I wonder how many times I drug (is this how you spell taking them kicking and screaming kind of taking, it doesn't seem right, oh well, once again I digress) my girls to things they had no interest in, yet took them because I was interested, or I thought they SHOULD be interested. It is possible that the outing to the Circus could be one of those times, but this time I drug Mia. This is not to say she didn't have fun seeing the elephants and riding one. But, she will not remember it. Besides, the clowns scared her. Not afraid of a 2000 lb elephant, but a man with a red nose and big feet sent her skittering behind my back or between my legs. She did not cry, but she did not want them seeing her either!

Oh well, another memory for me to forget (alas, it happens with age). I just hope Mia remembers it fondly some day.......

More babbling thoughts about being a Grandmother

I am having the wonderful experience of watching Mia during the day while her mom goes to school. I, like all new moms, just become overwhelmed with love and sweetness that exudes from my little Mia's pores. So I am going to babble a bit about those little things that make my day with her.

This morning, snuggled together in my bed, her drinking her morning "hot tea" and we were watching Clifford, or Seasame Street,(I can't remember and it does not matter), I was caressing her little arms and hands and looking at the pure sweetness of it all. The delicate hands, so perfect, and the soft skin covering the sweetest arm. I just wanted to eat it up and remember it forever.

Yesterday, while out shopping with her mom and myself, Mia was sitting in her car seat in the back, and out of the clear blue said, "Mia happy". She was smiling such a big smile at us both. Thought my heart would burst with love.

Today, Mia had to go to time out. She did not mind me. I sat her on the couch, told her why she had to sit there for a minute. She cried and my heart about broke for being the one to make her cry (but, believe it or not, I know it is necessary to make her mind). Anyway, after about 30 seconds of crying (which seemed like HOURS!), she stopped crying, smiled really big and said "Mia happy". Well, how could I refuse that! Of course she was allowed to get up off the couch, of course she was allowed to hug me, and of course, I told her I was happy too! I am after all, her Grandmother.

Tonight, she tried on six pairs of socks (all pulled from her drawer) and 5 pairs of shoes (pulled from a different drawer). The child loves shoes and socks. She also left 5 pairs of shoes in the floor and 6 pairs of socks ended up piled on the couch.....but the pay off was, her sitting in my lap that many times (times two actually, because for every pair we put on, we had to take them off!), me getting to put my arms around her to steady her while we put those socks and shoes on, and me getting to hold those little feet or legs or sweet body.

Soon, Mia will be moving with her mom and Rex to Tomball. They will no longer live here, and I will no longer be her day care taker. I will miss her terribly. My time with her will be so little compared to now. She will be with her mom and Rex, or with her daddy and Christina (CC), or at her much beloved PaPa's (he adores her grandfather, Larry Hegar). I wonder if she will even remember that she lived here. She is so young. It will be up to me to remind her that this was/is/ and always will be her home. I am, after all, her Grandmother.

Purple Bobbies

I was trying to get a video clip specifically for Catherine. Unfortunately it was almost 9 Pm when I did this, so Mia is not overly chatty..........but here is something anyway, Catherine!

Literally

Literally, this is how toddlers think. This may be one of those stories that you had to be there, or at least be a better writer/story teller than I am, but I am going to give it a shot anyway. Last night, having supper at mom's, Jennifer went and got Mia out of "her room", and brought her to the supper table. Jennifer told Mia "you need to eat and we need to put some food in your tummy". Mia did not seem to want to eat. Again, Jennifer stressed the importance of putting food in Mia's tummy to make her grow big and strong. Mia looked very concerned, and really wanted nothing to do with coming to the table. Jennifer said" Mia, we need to put some food in your tummy", and Mia, still looking worried, said "No food in tummy, food in mouth"!......No wonder she didn't want to come to the table!

Pony Tails

It must be noted that Jennifer did not have much hair until she was three, almost four. Now she has a head full. Mia is a chip off the old block, except Jennifer had dark hair and Mia's is light. Mia's hair is getting thicker, and a little longer, but still, not much. Being the impatient GG that I am, I put what she does have (mostly in the back) into a pony tail, and I took these photos.

Update on Potty Training and other unnessary thoughts

We currently have no interest in wearing panties any longer. We have no interest in going on the potty. It seems we like to tee tee in our diaper and wear our poop. I often wonder what makes toddlers tick. Likes and dislikes change daily.

For the first 18 + months of her life, if Mia had an interest in any animated movie, it was "HAPPY FEET". Over and over again she would request that...........up until this past week or so. She is expanding her viewing requests to include "101 Dalmatians", referred by her as "doggie movie", and then last night she really enjoyed "The Fox and the Hound". I know, I know...........TV is just a glorified babysitter. But honestly, my kids would watch Disney's animated "Robin Hood" up to six times in one day......over and over and over again. They seem to have turned out pretty smart and as emotionally stable as one could expect from my kids. It is not like she is watching Jerry Springer!

Which brings me to my last thought of the night. How cool is it that your name becomes a thing.........I mean "Disney"....he was Walt Disney, and now his last name is all you have to know.......it is more of a "thing". A "Disney" movie....what if it were a "Dauphin" movie, or "McCay", or "Klentzman", or "Schmid" or "Schoepf"....see, it just lacks something.......but a "Disney" movie, now that does have a certain ring to it...........anyway, I think it is way cool.

Toddler Language

So those of you with little ones in your life know that sometimes when we are always around those little ones, only we know what they are saying. I mean, it is as clear as crystal to us, especially when spoken in context of the situation. Mia's dad came by tonight to see her, and she was talking to him and kept saying something that I had no clue as to what it was. And I think I am pretty good with Mia talk. Well, her dad was talking to her like he understood, and so, we asked him, what is she saying........she was saying "round bale"! For heavens sake........round bale! It is important here to know that her father is a hay farmer. It is all about the context clues! He teaches her about round and square bales of hay..........for heavens sake, who knew!

Kissing Cousins

Mia and her cousin Kendall were innocently taking a moonlight ride in the John Deer gator, when, someone ( I have yet to hear a name), called out, "Kendall, give Mia a kiss". As the pictures show, we have a loss of innocence.



Looking at the Moon



And he GRABS her................


And lays one on her


WAIT !! I think she LIKES it!



Sharing memories of that special moment


Riding off into the Sunset (wait, I mean moonlight)

We Miss Aunt Catherine

Quiet Country Living

So for those of you who know, earlier this year, our quiet peaceful country living was lost forever. A bar, a "biker" and "redneck" bar opened right next door. They seem to have no respect for those of us who were living quietly before they opened next to us, the infamous "Harley's and Horses" bar. I wanted to include this video I took from my front porch, just in case you ever wondered " how is it living next to a bar ?".


ENOUGH SAID

Mia's Mommie is Engaged

So Mia was instructed by Rex to "run give that to your mommie". Mia is the first official "ring bearer" ! I think it was special to include Mia, because she is a part of the new family. That is a ring box she hands to Jennifer, just in case it is not clear.

Potty training and panties

So the really big news is potty training. We were not in a hurry, and really neither is Mia, it just so happens that she got the hang of it really quick. We can not decide for sure if she is blaming my dog for her poop, or just stating that she poops like the dog.....but she sees it in her potty and says "meg". She actually wore panties out the other day and went all morning without one single accident! She still sleeps in a diaper and still wears them around the house some(typical female, she is fickle about the whole thing right now), and we do not fight her daily decision. She prefers to be naked, and her mom keeps telling her that she can not just run around naked. Needless to say, when she and I are home alone, I let her. Jennifer told me I had to quit letting her do that, because she is getting mixed messages. I will say, being naked makes going to the potty easier! I think we expected the potty training to happen after she turned 2, which will not be until December. How nice to have it done before that!

Cindy made me clean my room. !!...(whine)

Here is my attempt at explaining one of my very special friendships. Cindy is a friend who offered to spend her day helping me complete a task that is, well, awful. (like cleaning my room). She spent her day seeing my dust, and grime and junk and never once said "oh my gosh, what were you thinking!". I actually feel comfortable enough to let her see the worst of my worst. ( I am still not sure what some of the things we found started out being!) She listened to me whine about having to clean my room.(numerous times) Not only did she moderate my overwhelming task, but gave me some great suggestions for making my limited space more functional. I kept wanting to leave to go either buy something(supposedly to make organization easier) or eat something. Cindy made me stay on task. You would think as a functioning adult I could do this on my own. My bedroom/office is(was) evidence that this is not the case. I had been putting off cleaning my room since I moved in my home in 1998. "Thank you Cindy" seems a little insufficient.

I do not have before and after pictures. you just have to use your imagination.....

Empathy

Mia has always had an issue with other babies crying, or sad noises in general. Do not mistake her sadness in this video as being sad for going to bed. It is the music that makes her sad, not the topic.

Mia and You Tube

Catherine has a really cool laptop. She can take videos right on the computer. This is a link to a posting on You Tube where Catherine was talking to Mia and Mia was watching herself on the computer.............

Add on to previous post

A while back I talked about Catherine's college choice, Brown University, and how they have this really cool building, that is "Harry Potter like." Brown has virtual tours available on some of its facilities. I am including a link to their virtual tour thingy. What you have to do is go to the website, and begin the tour..........but you do not have to see the whole Brown Campus............the really cool building is called "Sayles Hall". It is on "view 4"............if you open that and click on it, you can move your mouse around and see then entire building, walls with portraits and the high beautiful ceiling and even the really cool organ. A great tour if you have time.

http://www.brown.edu/Students/Bruin_Club/vtour/

Warm Fuzzy's

So my last blog was kind of a downer, and I promised new pictures of Mia. Those of you who are parents, or grandparents, all understand the difficulty in selecting a picture to post. Heck, we all know our kids/grandkids are the cutest, and each picture is the best ever!

This should explain why I have added quite a few.


Catherine put Mia's "hair ?" in piggytails.



Mia loves shoes. Usually one at a time, but when she agrees to wear two, they very seldom are a matching pair!


Playing outside at Memaw's house, it was hot, and a cool drink was called for.


When you are 19 months, and have a mouthfull of water, what better way to make use of it than to spit it out and water the grass!



Remember the movie "Cool Hand Luke".......this is "Cool Head Mia"




Mia has beautiful green eyes, like her mother. I think you could call this her "mischievous" look. That is much more politically correct than saying she was being a "toot" !


Catherine took several really cute pictures on this day with Mia in the play area. It is all about the eyes in this one.

And last but not least, Tata and MiMi. Tata is what Mia calls Catherine and MiMi is what she calls herself. They were playing in the car. Mia loves to drive up the driveway from Memaw and Grand Dads house.

Not so Much Fun

After 48 years, I finally got called to jury duty when I didn't have a nursing baby, or wasn't a full time college student. So, with willing heart I went downtown Houston. That is not true. I willingly went to jury duty, I was not willing to go downtown Houston, but I had no choice. Which lead me to riding the Metro bus for the first time ever in my life. After a full day of questions and such by the judge and both sides of the attorneys, I got picked. Let me say, I was the one and only one who wanted to be there and wanted to be selected for jury duty. We were told the trial could take a full week, it was a criminal case. I saw it as an adventure and a privilege, and I know that if I were accused of doing something wrong, or I was taking someone to court for something they did wrong, I would want someone like me on the jury.......someone who did not mind being there! Enough of my soap box........


Listening to the testimony, hearing the evidence, listening to real live CSI type of policemen, riding metro, visiting with fellow jurors..............all of that was exactly what I thought it would be like.

The case was Aggravated robbery. Which is robbery with a deadly weapon. Punishable 5 to 99 years in prison. It took us less than 30 minutes to deliberate on guilt or innocence. They had finger prints along with the eye witness(the victim in this case).

It took us over 4 hours to deliberate on the punishment, and honestly we could have gone on for days, for we were VERY divided at first. After much discussion and cussin' and debate, we settled on 10 years in prison.

As jury foreman, I was the one who told the judge we had come to a verdict and what it was. I made sure as the sentence was being read, I looked the young man and his family in the eyes. The judge read our verdict out loud, he and his family cried some more, and they lead him off in handcuffs.

We walked back to the jury room and I felt as emotionally drained and as emotionally confused as the day I stood in front of the judge to get my divorce. (It actually took me a while to place where I had felt like that before............I kept thinking "childbirth" and going "nope" in my head, and then "car wreck" and going "nope" again, and then like a punch in the gut............divorce.

The finality of both decisions. The life changes brought on by both decisions. The sadness of the whole affair. These are the common threads. I was on my way to really breaking down and sobbing, like I did after the judge basically said" I now pronounce you NOT man and wife any longer"...............but what saved me was both the defense attorney and the prosecuting attorney coming into the jury room and speaking with us all. We had done a good thing. We had made the right decision. Everything was as it should be. Once again, similar to "THE END" of my marriage.

I learned a whole lot. I once again appreciate my country and my rights as a citizen of this great country. Next time, I just hope its traffic court!



As soon as I catch up on work, I have some new great pictures of Mia.......