BABIES

Here are some pictures from this past weekend of those cute little guys I was writing about yesterday.  They're on their way up to spend the night here.  In the words of Miss Kaelin, "I SO ESCITED!"

Grey in her Lady bug outfit

Kent and Wynn

Kristen and Grey

Big brother Smith checks out his Ninja Turtle pancake

TWINS ARE THE BOMB

Literally . . . THE BOMB . . .  As in nuclear blast ! These two little angels of nine weeks old are blowing apart their parents world. Kent and Kristen are hanging on by their toe nails and Smith just keeps wondering "What the . . ." !  (I do believe Smith may have picked that up from his parents who are saying "What the . . ."  every time Wynn or Grey start to cry. ) And these are GOOD BABIES !
Just the logistics of trying to sooth two screaming babies at the same time is impossible.  It cannot be done no matter how you try.  Kristen is doing an amazing job feeding the two of them at the same time. She gets one set up propped up on pillows and one in her arms and then gets the bottle in one mouth being held by her foot while the other is held by her remaining free hand.  Oh if only we were an octopus.  We have seen a lot of the family and are getting some first hand experience at the shear madness that is twins.
The little guys are starting to develop their own personalities. Grey is a diva already and just demands the attention. Wynn is taking after men in the family remaining quiet and thoughtful. They are both smiling, is it gas or a true smile?  I know Grey is smiling because she is making her parents nuts and that's what us women do. Big brother Smith thinks these two noisy additions to the family are pretty cute and he is getting braver by the day. At first he wanted no part of these two squirmy, noisy things who disrupted his world but now he is hugging them and helping mom and dad by getting blankets and pacifiers when the twins need them. Smith is even able to blot out the night time hysteria that signals feeding time at the zoo.
Hopefully things are settling down into a bit of a routine and mom and dad will soon return to the land of the living but right now they are prime candidates for the cast of THE WALKING DEAD.
Funny how before the twins were born Kent and Kristen got watching back episodes of that show and were totally hooked on it.  Who knew they them selves would soon be zombies?

WHAT THE FEATHERS

We had Smith here with us for the weekend. We were trying to give mom and dad a little extra time to sleep since Wynn and Grey are really busting everyone's chops. We picked Smith up on Friday afternoon and he stayed till this afternoon. A FANTASTIC time was had by all.  There were some poop issues that even the apple juice didn't fix but that's a whole other story.

Every time we see Smith we never know what to expect. For some time there SCOOBY DOO was all we focused on. Then dinosaurs entered Smiths world and that was the main topic of videos books and  play. But all that has taken a back seat to . . . .  TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES !
What my son was thinking when he introduced his almost four year old to the world of kicking, fighting, rambunctious turtles is beyond me but Smith now lives and breathes the four stupid turtles. Leonardo, (the blue masked turtle) is his favorite and fondly referred to as Leo . Then there is Donny, short for Donatello, Raffie, short for Raphael, and last but not least Mikey, short for Michelangelo.
We played turtles all weekend. We even made a sewer, (yes, you read that right) to house the turtles. (I had a new bed delivered this past week which came in 6 very large cardboard boxes. When taped end to end it was the perfect sewer for Smith to play in. He was quite upset when mom and dad told him it would not fit in the car so he could not bring it home. Now I get to store this monstrosity till smith's next visit.)

But getting back to the influence of turtles on an almost four year old . . . The first time I heard my grand son exclaim "WHAT THE . . . ." I wasn't sure I heard him right but then five minutes later he once again said, "WHAT THE . . . " and I knew I had indeed heard him correctly.  He never put the "F" bomb at the end of his exclamation but I expected it every time. Smith seemed quite comfortable in using this expression, even to the point of occasionally saying, "WHAT THE FEATHERS". I thought at first that he had picked this up from some bigger kids at school, or maybe mom or dad. I even went back through my memory to think if I had said this on occasion but really had no idea where this adorable kid came up with this.  Think no further grandma, it seems the Ninja Turtles use this expression so if it's good enough for Leo and "The Guys" it's good enough for Smith!

And as we all know from reading Grand ma's blog, it is apparently good enough for Grand ma.

What next?

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY

I'm not writing this to make you jealous but I have GOT to tell you about this day today.
The past week has been HOT down here. Summer time hot !  Temperatures near 90, sun and clouds and humidity that is usually only around in the dead of summer.  That was O.K. with us because most of the snow birds have left town, the roads, stores and restaurants are so much less crowded so hot and humid doesn't bother me at all.
Then yesterday the summer type monsoon rain came late in the day and nearly drowned us on our way to mass. During mass the rain was pounding on the roof of the church it sounded like elephants stampeding across the heavens. But with the heavy rain came a drop in temperature so that by this morning it was in the very low 70's and cooler outside than in the house. That prompted me to open am the windows and doors to air out the smoke from last nights dinner. (Suffice to say I wasn't paying attention to the toaster oven and the potatoes that were in it. )
Ger and I had breakfast on the lanai and because it was such a beautiful day we didn't move far from there for the whole day.  Mid afternoon found us sitting under the awning in the back yard. The pool has reached 89 degrees so I took a swim and life just doesn't get any better than this!

I hear all of you telling yourselves Spring is finally coming up North. It really has stopped snowing, finally. The weather is changing for the better and where you live is just as good as Florida.

Sorry folks,  after a day like today there is no place else on this Earth that I would want to be.  I DO live in Paradise and I just don't know why you are all still living where you are.

Have a great week !

BEST BIRTHDAY IN A LONG TIME

Nine years ago I turned 60 and was pissing and moaning (ME? Piss and moan? I know you can't believe that . HA!) that I was having this big birthday and no one would even notice or do anything special for "poor" me.  My therapist of the time told me to stop wining and plan something for myself if I wanted to celebrate. And so I found myself with husband sailing across the carribean drinking rum punch for breakfast and having a fantastic birthday.

Today was almost as good !

I slept late and got up all excited about working in my Japanese garden on the lanai.  Long story but when Jeanne and Frank were here this winter Jeanne had the brainstorm that I could transform my garden half of the lanai into a serene Japanese garden. The thought has stayed with me these past 4 months and thanks to husband the project got started a couple of days ago. My brain has been on full alert thinking about what I could do with the space and I have been on my hands and knees swearing up a storm working on moving rocks and rearranging plants.  I have decided this would have been a lot easier to do ten years ago when we first bought the house but I am really enjoying the physical labor. As of today I have gone through half a bottle of Aleve and its worth every one.
But back to the birthday . . .    I was up and working, took a couple of time outs for a few swims in the pool and then had to stop to get ready for dinner out. We met Ger's cousin Andy and his wife Rita at Guanabanas and had a fantastic dinner in the jungle. (It's a unique restaurant where all the seating is outside amidst the tropical trees and plants, situated right on the river o there is no "bad" table. I had a house specialty drink called a "Cat 5" for the hurricanes down here and it did blow me away! Dinner of blackened cobia and corn pudding was to die for and the no collate crunch cake for dessert wast bad either.
I talked to all the kids and grand kids ths evening, got gifts from Aunt Ann Marie, (chocolate covered strawberries, oh my!), Kyle, Kaelin,(a hand made ceramic something that I will cherish even if I don't know exactly what it is), beautiful flowers from Kristen and Kent, and gifts from Friends Jeanne, Sharon and Carol.  I even had a phone call from niece Jeanne Marie.  Into to mention all the birthday wishes on Facebook !

Fantastic day !         Thanks everyone !

EASTER LAUNDRY

For as many Easter baskets and Easter eggs we have here the pile of towels and sheets over shadows all. How I can be doing 5 loads of laundry a day since Monday and still have a pile the size of Mt. Everest ? Given the fact that my dryer is taking 2 cycles to actually produce DRY clothes this is a Herculean task. But I wouldn't trade it for the world !

Easter week was, in the words of miss Kaelin, age 6, "THE BEST WEEK EVER !"  Kaelin was heard to say this several times during the week she and her family were here and I have to agree with her.
We started the party the Sunday before Easter when Kaelin, Finn and parents arrived at the air port with Grandma so excited I could nearly contain myself. We proceeded to have a great week of pampering, beach, pool, eating, a tea party for the girls, a visit to the Easter bunny at the mall and fun fun fun ! On Good Friday Kent drove up with the twins and Smith so that Smith could spend the weekend at Grand ma's with his cousins. Finn was more excited than a puppy with a squeaky toy. Finn and Smith ran and played with Kaelin joining in.  We went to an Easter Egg Hunt at a neighborhood church on Saturday and all the kids and grown-ups had a wonderful time. Well done CHURCH OF THE LIVING OAKS! Best Easter Egg Hunt EVER ! (Once again, quoting Kaelin!)  WE colored eggs with shaving cream and food coloring and that was more fun than any egg dying I have ever done. We also all wet our pants when Grand pa took the colored shaving cream and smeared it all over his face. Not that he looked THAT funny but the panic of realizing it would stain his face green cracked us all up! Well done grand pa. That green ear was hardly noticeable at Easter Sunday mass !

Sad to say everyone left Sunday afternoon and left grand ma and grand pa in a state of exhaustion and shear joy. It was a FANTASTIC week.    Lets do it again . . . . NEXT YEAR !

"this is  fun"

Finn racing Smith

Which way did he go?

Shaving cream egg coloring

Pssst Wynn,  these people are nuts !

Pink and yellow nails !

Tea Parties require hats.

Ready for the hunt

Silly Smith

Grand pa and Grey

SLEEPING WITH A TOASTER OVEN

It has officially been one full year since H took his last chemo treatment.  And that's how long the doctor said it would take for the poisons to leave H's body so he would finally start feeling GOOD again. And that is exactly what is happening. H is feeling better than he has in two years! And I am so happy for him.
BUT . . .
with recovery has come some changes in H. The whole chemo brain thing is what it is.  I have days when I have so many brain farts I don't know if I'm coming or going. So we will give H some latitude with the brain. But this whole FREEZING thing is another story.  H is always cold.  Thank GOD we live in south Florida, especially after this past winter of snow and ice all over the country, except for us. But the man is still cold. I will have the AC in the car cranking because we are sitting in a toaster oven on wheels and H is putting on sweaters. Forget the AC in the house, if I put it at 75 the poor guy is huddled under blankets while wearing a snow hat and gloves.  I'm dying here.  My body temp is about that of a baked potato just out of the oven. I used to wear a sweater all winter in NY instead of a coat. The sweater was my winter coat because I was always so hot. I always swore I could NEVER live in Florida. Yet here I am.
Our bedroom is at the end of the AC duct line and so it is usually the warmest room in the house. I take three cold showers a night to remain cool enough to sleep while H is huddled under sheets, blanket and comforter,  IN JULY !  If I try to turn on the ceiling fan to get some air to cool off with H begins to shiver.  I have found that if I wait till he falls asleep at 9:30 by the time I go to bed at midnight I can very quietly click the fan chain three quick pulls and get the fan on low before H catches me. He can't understand why he is so cold when he wakes up in the morning even though he has ALL the covers pulled on top of him.  Maybe tha bald head makes him cold. I'll have to knit him a stocking cap.
The man sits in the 80 degree sun drinking hot tea while I am in the pool pouring ice tea over my head.  It's jus crazy here.  Hot and cold don't mix but there is ONE up side to all this.  Because H is always so cold he doesn't eat all the ice cream.  All the more for me!
Thanks chemo !