DILLY is FIVE...

...which is why she had five pony tails on Sunday!  The party theme was picked by the birthday girl--she wanted everybody to decorate CUPCAKES.  

Did you know frosting comes in spray cans these days? And tubes, so you can write on cakes...not to mention the TUBS of frosting, and the myriad kinds of sprinkles and small candy for on top. Whew.  

Wanna guess how many of these kids have never been allowed their own can of frosting or a spatula to trowel it on with before?

A few were licking it right outta the can.  (And NO, I didn't show Josie how;  she figured it out herself...lol)

 After everybody was good and sugared-up, we all went to the play room.  This was a still as any of em got.  What a FUN afternoon!

Something cool for your house

This just seems like a cool idea for any house, especially if you've changed walls or built an addition, or if you know something about the house that's unusual or note-worthy.
Course, you can just write it all on the wall of the garage like I did, but this'd be way more fun to find someday!

SWITCHPLATE TIME CAPSULE

Yer welcome!

A cool pub

Only at Gramma's house

The grands think ONLY gramma's computer has Thomas the Tank Engine movies in it.  This was last Sunday, while their parents were chatting in the kitchen...lol  GAWD, I adore these three kids!

Follow the Money

I remember asking mom what 'insurance' meant--I was reading a short-story, and the character was worried about the Insurance Man coming around when she had no money.  What was that all about?

Mom said well, if you have some disaster happen, something that costs a lot, most people don't have extra money around to pay for it.  (We sure didn't).  So, the idea behind insurance was to have everybody pay a smaller affordable amount every month when things were good...then, if there's a problem,  the money to pay for a roof, or fix a car, or go to the hospital would be there....because everybody was paying into this fund.  You had to make a claim and prove you needed the help, but that was the way it worked.  If you were lucky, you'd never need it.

In the story, the woman needed fifty cents for the Insurance Man.  I knew that that wasn't much--but she lived in a tennament in New York in 1900.  I asked mom what we paid for insurance....and mom being mom, she wouldn't say...but I could tell it worried her, too.

I asked what happened to your money if you never needed it?  Well, that was just the cost of having it, she said...you were buying 'peace of mind'.  I thought that was a bad bargain,and pretty unjust, and I still do.

  For instance, if I paid, say, $100 every month from the time I was 20, that would be $48,000 by now.  And, if everybody paid that  $100 every month......over years....then there's a huge pool of money somewhere, no matter how many claims have been made.

The current "health care" debate in Washington seems to me to be so much smoke-blowing.  Like the syndicate in 1900s New York who extorted money from the woman in the book, the "insurance" companies are making massive amounts of money, and telling us they can't afford to pay for claims.

What's wrong with this picture?

What amazing agility!

I LOVE this vid--they're having so much fun!

Thanksgiving 2009

(I told the kids to say, "POOP!")

Three- two- and one-year-olds

Whoa! This weekend, Becky was out of town so Scott, Emily and I watched the Grands while Josh did something else that was fun...but oh MY, these three kept us hopping. Dilly's an expert at talking her gramma into stuff (like, we really don't NEED a nap, how 'bout more Thomas the Tank Engine videos?) and Mace joyfully benefits, while Josie is so good-natured that she's fine as long as she gets her way sometimes...lol Of course, I see me in all three of them!

We went for a wagon ride Saturday morning with Auntemalee pulling. The kids were actually IN the wagon for about a block...but then, there were more storm-drains to check and holler "Hey!" into. When Unca Scott said HE needed a ride, Mace was incredulous, Dilly wanted to help and Josie thought SHE should pull by herself...lol This was about as far as the team made it.
They got by with a little help from Uncascott.

"What I Know About Little Girls"

From Wikipedia: Coronet Magazine was a general interest digest published from October 13, 1936 to March 1971 and ran for 299 issues. The magazine was owned by Esquire and published by David A. Smart from 1936 to 1961. It was similar in format to Readers Digest but was considered to have a higher tone.

I found this in a box of Grandpa's stuff that mom kept. Its from January 1952, so mom had two little girls and was pregnant with the third. Probably had it memorized by the fourth...lol I'm adding it here cuz its so sweet, like my own two grandaughters.
(Apologies to my brother Allan and grandson Mason...if grandpa had known about you, he'd have sent something about boys, I'm sure...lol)

Awwwww!

The willow in Gramma's backyard

When I planted the weeping willow in my backyard, it was a 12 foot reedy thing, but I had visions of a big droopy cave for the grands...someday. That was maybe 10 years ago, before my own kids were even married.

But LOOK what today brought!

KQ was fascinated by the tree. She said, "Gramma, theres a DOOR!" when the branches parted a little. She wanted to crawl under the cherry bushes, too, cuz they were other rooms...lol There's a string of small mirrors under there, and KQ looked up with those big brown eyes and told me she was 'being gentle with em'...

Running around under there was GREAT fun. When we went in the house for water, we had to go back right away. Oh, and we HAD to show dad--he probably never saw something so cool before...and something so FAR from the house!

Little girl, you delight me. Thanks for today!

A weekend with BOTH Grandmas

This weekend was the most fun I've had in ages...lol These two lil punkins made their grandmas laugh and feel proud over and over!

lol...this is where we spent the most time: throwing stuff in the water, taking stuff OUT of the water, adding hot water, filling buckets with (stones and) water, splashing water and holding wet kids in blankets till they wanted BACK in the water...

Sunday, we'd been munching on cashews Gramma Colleen brought, and 3 or 4 spilled on the deck. While we were eating lunch inside, we noticed a CHIPMUNK!! Talk about EXCITING!!

We went for a walk that started with both kids in the wagon, but then, Dilly noticed "Mud!" so we hadta stop and feel it. It was caught above the storm drain on the hill part of their road, and WOW, nearby was a manhole cover with a HOLE in it. We all looked down there, and somebody had a pebble that needed dropping through the hole. Oh WOW--

"Gamma--I HEAR it! I HEAR IT!"

So we spent about 20 minutes picking stones and dropping them in the hole. This picture was the last second Mace was actually IN the wagon. Life just doesn't get better than this.

For the Grands...

A truly GREAT craft project

You too can make one of THESE!! Just follow the instructions.

Spanish Flu vs. Swine Flu

So MANY thoughts go through my head while listening to the "Swine Flu" news lately, mostly because I've been studying history so intently in the past couple years.

THIS ARTICLE speaks of how and why the Spanish Flu swept around the world, and certainly, sanitation, communication, and medical knowledge are different now. WWI and troops going abroad or coming home helped spread the virus. Here in America, there were new immigrants crowded in tenements who were deeply affected. But, they'd lived through epidemics in Europe (cholera, for one, which was raging when GGrandfather Paul was born), so perhaps it was just life to them, until they looked back on it.

I think, too about living in Minnesota, where the state epidemiologist for years was a man named Mike Olsterholm. He was frequently given air-time on MPR. The man was ridiculous about the Bird Flu--"WHEN, not IF!" His major mantra was "pandemic", while little was mentioned about how much different our world is since 1917. He always sounded like he couldn't wait for it to happen. I wonder if "Bird Flu" just didn't sound as scary as "Swine Flu" does. Are we jumping on the next bandwagon, here?

On the third hand, our society has become nuts with "germ free, anti-bacterial" products--HERE'S a typical scare commercial--and it makes me afraid that we haven't allowed our kids to build immunity to normal stuff.

A week ago today, we were endlessly hearing about the Somali pirates, and there was no mention of epidemic, pandemic or flu in the news, but suddenly, it's huge? C'mon! There are 306 million people in the USA--40 have been ill, 1 was hospitalized, and all have recovered. How does that make a 'possible pandemic'?

There's a quote about writing a novel, the gist of which is that, if you introduce a gun in the first chapters, you have to use it by the end of the book. Maybe the 'gun' here is the massive vaccine stockpile at the CDC, and the story needs a pandemic to use it.

Whew--I dunno. Maybe we really ARE sheep.

(Next day)
Isn't it possible that, BECAUSE we're looking for this disease, we're finding it? I mean, flu spreads. We all know that. And most people wouldn't go to a clinic or doctor with the flu--you just stay home.
It stands to reason that now, if you don't feel good, you WILL go in? So, Oooo, it'll show up!

What if we tracked--I dunno--a cold? Couldn't we pretty much follow how it spread, if the investigation was intense enough?
(I need a rolling-eyes icon here, or a family nurse to comment...)

The Minnesota Zoo, with grandkids!

An Easter outing--some things are just so much fun!!

Moments before this picture, that big fish came right up to the glass, and Dilly kissed it...lol THEN I got my camera out.

I'm not positive Josie's all that interested in otters, but they were worth a look, especially from the safety of dad's arms...lol
Dilly was a little unclear on the concept--"Wha...stick my face...where? Why??" But the kid is game, and tried it anyway...lol (Yes, I think her lip WAS over the edge there--ewww!)

This little "cave" looked pretty scary to Mason. It's in the Tropical house, and you have to be the right size to go inside, see? It's actually an L shaped little hall that brings a kid back out just to the left of where Mase is. He wasn't at ALL sure it was ok, but big Sis did it, so....

Thanks to my kids, their spouses, and the grands for being so wonderful. We had a great time today!

You'll LOVE this!

Minutas cantorum, minutas balorum, minutas carboratum desendus pantorum....

OR......"A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants"...LOL!

Todays' Quiz

OK....first question: who was this man? NO SCROLLING till you answer.

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RIGHT! It's Axel.

Now, 2nd question: If a feller wears his hat this way, what was he?

RIGHT, boys and girls! A DOOFUS! (But, what would dad have said??)

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Ok, so here, we see Axel and _______. How did Axel pronounce her name? And, for extra credit, what's he holding in his right hand?

Now, eat yer breakfast 'n' drink yer milk! Oh, and go play his theme song HERE!

Josie at Grammas house

Em, Scott and Josie stopped in Saturday night, and the little Punkin found stuff to play with in my livingroom beyond dustbunnies...lol

That blue statue has little birdhouses dangling from a curled wire between its' hands, and Josie really wanted them OFF!

Someday, someone'll take a pleasant picture of me with my mouth SHUT...but this time, it was the spirit of the ocassion, ok?

Gratuitous joke

What's the difference between us and a pigeon?
A pigeon can still make a deposit on a car.

LOL

Futzing withit

WOW! There are so many great FREE photo editors online lately! I re-did the masthead on FOTOFLEXER cuz they offer re-sizable 'decals' you can stick on a photo or, like here, on words. The font is also something I found there.

Another free program I like is PICNIK --it's done with humor, and has a LOT of really cool possibilities like making a color photo into a B&W line drawing, and then, leave one area of the pic in color, not to mention the hundred other things you can do!

Larry sent me one the other day called SUMO which seems to do almost all the stuff Photoshop does, only in a simpler way. You can smudge an edge with any one of LOTS of 'brushes' (the fancy term for the shape the cursor takes), and just re-size 'em for different effects.

Gawd, I think I have 8-10 different photo editors in my "favorites" file. Each one does something better than the others, so mostly, I start on one program and take it to another for tweaking, and then another to add an edge or re-size it. I definitely use PAINT (my quick workhorse) and PAINT.NET , too since I'm most familiar with them.

They all take a few seconds to load (except PAINT)...but they offer so much FUN, it's worth it!