HAPPA BIRD DAY TO MOI !

At least that's kind of how it sounds when Smith says "Happy Birthday".  Actually all I got was "Grandma . . .  Birthday!"  That was pretty awesome when accompanied by a HUGE hug.
Then there was the SQUEALING birthday wishes of my little love, Kaelin. A phone call with a LOUD "Happy Birthday!" accompanied with giggles and squeals. That and some garbled NOISE in the background from Finn.
But the birthday greeting just keep coming. Huge SHOUTS of "HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!" as soon as I answered the Skype call from England on the computer. Roman is ready to celebrate HIS birthday next weekend along with mine. Sounds like plans are in place for a double cake birthday for the 2 of us after his go cart party with his friends. Abby is just excited that we're coming for another visit and that she can make faces on the computer and see herself in the little box at the bottom of the screen.

It was quite the birthday with celebrating going on from dawn to dusk. One of the very best yet if I do say so myself. H and I agreed that our trip to England would serve as birthday & anniversary gift to each other for the year so there were no gift exchanges.

I DID receive lots of great cards and one VERY AWESOME painting from Smith and his parents.

This is a water color of the 5 grand kids ranging from Roman on the left to Finn on the right. Abby has her pig tails, Kaelin her long blond curls and Superman would be Smith in his Halloween costume. Is this just not the BEST!  (The painting was ordered on line. The artist was sent pictures of all 5 kids and came up with this.)

CONGRATULATIONS !

Congratulations to Kristen Lotito and Michael on their wedding today!  May you both enjoy a life time together filled with joy, health and love.

IT'S BEEN A WHILE

Wow! Lots has changed since I was last on this blog site.  The whole format of the site is changed and I don't know my way around any more. I'll have to see what trouble I can get into in the next 20 minutes.
Once again I am coloring my hair, those nasty dark roots show up so vividly against the grey in spite of the fact that I really am a blonde. My moms hair is on my head in all its salt and pepper glory and her hips and thighs are just bursting at the seams of my jeans. Thanks mom!

Let's see, where have I been lately? Lazy mostly and trying not to annoy H by being on the computer too much. We did spend a FABULOUS weekend in Orlando with our little guy Smith last week. Kristen's sister got us into the park and in spite of Kent feeling so awfully sick we spent almost 7 hours in the Magic Kingdom.  Smith was in awe of EVERYTHING but the visit with Micka Mouse was the highlight of the day. The little man told everyone he was going to see Micka Mouse House and that we did  just before leaving for the day. It was an amazing day with the little guy.

Now we're packing for our trip across the pond to see Abby and Roman again. Everyone is getting really excited about that and the suitcase is being packed with warm clothes. That way we are guaranteed the temperatures will rise above 80. Bridget and Kyle say it has been COLD and rainy. We have also been told that this is supposed to be the wettest May in history. That doesn't sound good. But we have packed raincoats and boots so maybe that will scare the damp away. We are packing a bathing suit in case we go to the fantastic leisure center in town for a swim so I think we have covered all the bases.

Saturday we will head to Ft. Lauderdale for a birthday brunch for Grandma at a restaurant around the corner from Kent's place. Big doings !

I just have to tell you that in the past half hour I have washed out the color from my hair and now my hair is a uniform blonde that is SO light it looks white. What was the point of coloring my hair?  Oh Yea, the  dark roots ARE gone.

HIDING IN GRANDMA'S CLOSET

Off to see Mickey

Who is this guy?

Waiting to drive the race cars

Going home

Big enough to SIT in the kiddie pool

Riding Prince Charming's horse

LUNCH !

MICKA MOUSE !

   

























  



I have just gotten to watch a helicopter land in my back yard.  Well, not exactly my yard but right out on the street outside our community. This is the third time this has happened since we have lived here. Either some poor soul from our community got terribly ill and had to be medivaced out or there was a bad car accident near by. Either way it had H running back and forth, in and out of the house like a 2 year old on crack. He was "SO ESCITED!"  Could we see anything? No . . . but there was a lot of noise of the helicopter as it circled for its landing and then took off right across our property. H will be up all night with this and I had hoped to get him to sleep early so I could read in peace and quiet. There goes that plan!

THE SUITCASES ARE OUT AGAIN

We are in travel mode and the suitcases are out and getting packed as we speak.  The "small" suitcase is packed and ready to go for tomorrow morning's trip to Orland with Smith and his parents. Because Kristen's sister is working at Disney until some time in May we all decided to make another excursion to Orlando but this time we have THE MAGIC KINGDOM in our sights. If Mickey and Minnie were great at Animal Kingdom just think how awesome they will be on their home turf.
Supposedly the Magic Kingdom is undergoing major revamps. We have heard a very nasty rumor that Mickey's Village no longer exists! (Please insert a huge GASP! here.)  No Mickey House to visit? No Minnie couch to sit on? No Donald ship to climb through and get wet in? OH THE HORROR!

 But I won't believe it until I see it for myself.  Smith probably could care less about Minnie and Mickey's abodes, (please note that the 2 mice live in separate houses.), but they really were quite cute.
Tomorrow we will head that way and find out for ourselves. Probably will stay at the hotel pool if there are no thunder storms in the area. The forecast does not look good but that is one of the things we LOVE about Florida . . .  If you don't like the weather just wait 5 minutes.

I'll be sure to take lots of pictures but we will see how much spare time I have to down load them next week because we will be packing for our 3 week trip back to England a week from Tuesday. Those suitcases are on the bed in the guest room and are also being packed.

Good think I love to shop and have plenty of clothes or I'd be wearing my PJ's for a week.

WHEN DO WIVES GET TO RETIRE?

So, I'm thinking that this is it . . .   Life is great as far as being a full time resident of South Florida and living the good life in a beautiful house in Paradise. I've got my health, got enough dollars to pay the bills and live comfortably but something is still missing.

I look at H and wonder what is must be like to be a man. H has been retired for 12 years now and he looks GREAT!  Tan, well rested and healthy.  To which I should be delighted and so happy for him where I am actually SCREAMING, "IT'S NOT FAIR!".  H spends his days doing Suduko puzzles in front of the TV and wandering around the yard picking up palm fronds that have fallen from the trees.  THAT IS ALL HE DOES !

For years I have been "The wife". People would meet us as a couple and spend the first 5 minutes telling H how great he looks.    HELLO! . . .   "Chopped Liver" is standing here. (That is what I am in this relationship, the chopped liver that no one wants to mention.)  I AM what keeps H going and keeps him looking so well. I cook his food,  take care of his finances and basically dress the man since he has never shopped for a thing for himself.

WHEN DO I GET TO RETIRE AND LOOK AND FEEL GOOD?

Wives don't retire, we die.  It's a fact.  We were stupid enough to buy into the teachings of our mothers that a wife's job is to take care of her husband and family. Well the family is out of the house and the problem of the persons who married them. So now it is just H left to "care for" and I am tired of it. I thought when I married this man that he was going to take care of me . . .  HA  HA   HA  HA  HA  HA
How young and stupid was I ? Within a year the rolls reversed and I found myself chief cook and bottle washer.  Dinner on the table, laundry in the washer. And even then I thought this was the way it was supposed to be. But being the complainer that I am I am not going down without a fight. Who am I kidding . . .   I don't have the energy to fight.

I AM constantly tired.  Even with eating out as often as we do and having cleaning ladies come twice a month to clean those Gawd awful bathrooms that H insists on peeing all over I am still "TAKING CARE" of the husband.  Today I made a nice breakfast of bacon, eggs, bagels and coffee. Nothing extravagant but a nice Sunday breakfast.  The dishes are still sitting on the table.  The man can't even clear off the table no less put a dish in the dish washer.

I guess I'll retire when I'm dead.  It's sounding a lot better each day.

EXCUSES EXCUSES

You have undoubtedly noticed a scarcity of Blogs these past several weeks. I've been very busy with my children and just haven't had the time to write.  Believe me when I tell you I have had at least 20 great ideas go through my head but just no time to commit them to print.

First we had the preparations for the Maryland kids arrival along with Easter and Birthday party preparations. Because we missed our trips to Maryland for Kaelin's and Finn's birthdays we planned an extravaganza of a MICKEY MINNIE birthday down here.

The Cake was a huge hit !

There was a bit of planning for the party and plenty of gift wrapping for the birthdays and to help out the Easter bunny wrap gifts and fill baskets.  By the time the kids arrived grandma had one foot in the bed of exhaustion. The week that followed was FABULOUS but I must admit I am not the woman I was 30 years ago and these little folk tired me out. They are all such a joy but then we have to factor in the biggest kid of all.
The infamous "H" was in rare form as usual.  This poor child gets his cranky pants on when ever "mommy" isn't paying full attention to him. Put any sort of company into our home and H goes into "PISSY" mode.  

  Lots of gifts for everyone

Each night I was falling into bed and asleep in seconds so I could be up at dawn when I heard my little ones wake up. (I did stay in bed till 9 one or two mornings just because I couldn't make my body move.) The days were filled with lots and lots of fun and laughs as long as I didn't focus on H. Grandpa got involved as far as walking from in front of the TV to where ever the rest of the family was but there wasn't too much help coming from him.

Once the families all went home it was like the world was all new and my focus should be 100% back on YOU KNOW WHO.  It's been a tough week for me letting go of the fact that the kids are returned home and it will be a while before we see them again. H has just focused on the fact that he has returned to "THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE" (or so he seems to think) and I have nothing to do now except to attend to his every need and be at his beck and call every minute. I, on the other hand have been closing myself off in the bedroom and watching last seasons episodes of "GAME OF THRONES" that I am now obsessed with. This is not a good thing and things are tense at the moment.
But like always, we will find our rhythm again and return to "Normal". But until Normal returns there may not be too many blogs. H HATES me sitting at the computer, (although how this differs from his sitting in front of the TV ALL day I just don't know), but his "subtle" moans, groans, sighs and grunts all tell me I MUST get to bed and leave my tales for another time.

In the mean time enjoy the photos of our Easter Week with the Grand kids . . .

That is cake, not drool or worse.

Finn takes a ride in the pool

Easter Egg hunt on the front lawn

After the Easter Egg hunt at the Baseball stadium

Face Painting

Kaelin gets to "hunt" for eggs at the baseball field

No, this was not hidden instead of an Easter Egg. Kaelin decided to hide her dinner in her shoe but grandpa caught her on film !

BROUGOHT TO MY KNEES

All  can say is, "I am too old to have little children" (or a husband who behaves like a child).

It is Easter vacation and I have been DYING to see my grand kids from Maryland. It has been 6 months since I have had Kaelin and Finn time and a visit was long over due.  But as a wise old philosopher once said, "Be careful what you wish for."

Kaelin never was a terrible two but she is making up for it now.  At 4 she is wanting to be independent and do what SHE wants to do rather than what mom wants her to do.  Dad pretty much doesn't have an opinion and just tunes the chaos out. Add a one year old to the mix and you have bedlam. Finn thankfully is still crawling and not walking but he is fast and into everything.  He likes to stand and the fact that our entire house is tile floor Keri is having heart attacks every five minutes watching Finn climb up only to tip over and fall down.  So far there has not been any blood but I am thinking that may change any minute now because grand pa is really bugging the HELL out of me.  Like his son-in-law grandpa can tune out the world and just exist in his own little world.  Screaming kids and a totally frazzles wife do not register to these men. Only when you call their name and give them a direct command, (we are well beyond the REQUEST stage), do they even acknowledge that you exist. I am fighting for control and the Holy Spirit is really having a time of it keeping me calm.

The house looks like a category 5 hurricane has hit with a 9.0 earth quake in its wake. But that is OK. There is plenty of time to clean after the kids are gone but just collecting the dishes and 40 cups to get them in the dish washer each night is a Herculean task. And you know H is not helping do any of that.
H has remained in his chair in front of the TV "STAYING OUT OF THE WAY". (His words exactly!)
Do you think that if the house was on fire this man would remain in his chair and "stay out of the way" of the firemen?  If I thought that I would set the fire myself! I swear he can find more ways to irritate me.  Tonight after dinner he left all the dinner dishes on the table and went to sit down in front of the TV while telling me to let him know when I needed some help. Finn was crying, Kaelin was throwing a fit and Keri was in tears. (Steve had left for the day to go visit some friends in Miami.)  (Men are all alike.)

In the midst of all this chaos Steve's father finally died. Yes, Fred. He has been hanging in a coma for 4 months and he finally passed away on Thursday.  As a result Keri and family will cut short their vacation and return home at dawn on Easter Sunday. I have very mixed feelings about this but I think the relief feeling is winning out. If only H would go with them.
Keri is exhausted and has been for quite some time now. I remember those years when I didn't think I would survive another day. Her job is wearing her down and Kaelin is testing her every second of every day. I want to say or do something to make it better for her but there is nothing that will change this stage of her life.  I guess I better start praying over time for her and forget about my pissy little complaints.

WHAT?

I don't know up from down these days so don't expect too many blogs this week.  Keri and her family arrived in Florida on Saturday night and we have been on the fast track since.

Taking care of 2 kids (ages 4 & 1) was a lot easier when I was 33 than it is not at 66.  And I am not even the one in charge !  These two little darlings are the BEST in the world, (along with Smith, Abby & Roman), but this is constant NON STOP on the go.
Kaelin does not nap any more, even when we all know she REALLY NEEDS a nap. She just fights it like her mom used to do but always remains a princess. Finn takes 2 naps a day and is non stop every second he is not sleeping. Like his cousin Smith, Finn is another CAPTAIN DESTRUCTO.  This little guy has found things that grandma and grandpa didn't know we had. Even though he is crawling he manages to get into just about every thing. Our fire place was someplace Abby and Kaelin never considered climbing into. Smith used it as a club house and must have told Finn about it because Finn is now climbing up on the hearth every chance he gets. Today he fell off backwards on to the tile floor and just whimpered for a few seconds until he was off on his next adventure.

This past Sunday we had Kent, Kristen and Smith up for a birthday party for Finn & Kaelin. The day was awesome and the cake was fantastic. As Kaelin put it, "That's exactly the cake I wanted!"  Kaelin had turned 4 in February and had a Tinkerbell Party. For Finn's birthday at the end of March Kaelin orchestrated a "Thomas The Tank". She also informed me that we should have a "Mickey" party for Finn when they came to Florida.  So a Mickey party it was. Because Grandpa and I were not in Maryland for either of these kids birthday we did BIG celebrating when they got here.  I think we sent Smith and family home exhausted and I know we are all still recovering.

We have 6 days to get our energy back before we do it all again next Sunday for Easter.  Smith's granny Lori and Aunt Brie will be in town so the Easter festivities will be even bigger and better than the birthdays.  I am torn between sleep and spending time with my little guys.  Because we haven't seen Kaelin and Finn in so long I am willing to give up sleep to spend time with them but God help the person who wakes me a week from tomorrow.