Harbinger

 We should not be surprised, but we seem to be.... once again, snow in April here in Minnesota.  Because last year spring was early, beautiful and long, we forgot that most springs are not that way... and adding to that fact is the fact that so many of our winter storms disrupted weekend plans, so it "felt" like winter was out to get us....

 

This morning as I looked out at the snow from the storm I identified a bird that I had never seen in our backyard (which backs up to a river) before.  After investigation, I determined it was an American Woodcock.  It has been here all day and seems a bit disoriented.  However, as I read up about them I read the following encouraging news: The American Woodcock is often considered a harbinger of spring in the northern climates. 

That works for me. 



Art in the mail

Look what came in the mail for grandpa and grandma.

Fine art.  Made with love. 

Melts my heart. 



Escaping the winter!

 Winter is long in Minnesota and some years it really lingers... like this year!  So it is sometimes necessary to escape to warmer venues!  We did just that this past weekend - only traveling an hour away to a wonderful resort/waterpark.  Along with us was our middle son, his wife, and their five sweet grandchildren.  We had FUN!

 

 The waterslides were a big hit, naturally!  It was quite a climb to get to the top where the 3 different slides began their descent...

 

and part of that ride included a brief trip outside... (but still in the tube, phew!)...  notice the climate from which we were briefly escaping..

 

 And slash they came!!

 

Another splash at a smaller slide..

 

 This little person was quite happy in the shallow area for children just her size!

 

 This pretty granddaughter should go into modeling as she lights up each time the camera is close.  I like that!

 

 This energetic grandson is either offering a smile or a silly face.. here is the smile!

 

 And HERE is the BIRTHDAY BOY!  He turned 8 years old today and we think he had a grand birthday!!

 

Here is our eldest grandson - growing up so fine and handsome!  He is becoming so independent and this morning he made the choice to not swim because the lure of the arcade machines was more his style today!  How do they grow up so fast?

 

 Our little sweet pea was happy once she got bundled up!  It was cold getting out of the water!

 

 A big wave as they travel the lazy river!

 

 Lots of things to do at this waterpark including this challenge of walked across the water without falling in... the platforms would move a bit and the rope above was helpful for maintaining one's balance..  though sometimes falls into the water were inevitable!

 

One evening after dinner the children came back to their room to discover that Easter eggs werer hidden everywhere!  They were running around finding them and putting them in a pile. 

 

 Some candy was also hidden - and here "bumpa" had to help out so that this little gal could reach one high up.

 

 Lots of happy faces... and ..

 

Sometimes a not so happy face....  proving that the lack of sleep is a big deal in a child. 

She slept for hours after the weekend was over. 

We sure all had fun!



A study in contrasts

I'm not sure words are even necessary here.  Suffice it to say those of us living in the world of white are getting mighty discouraged.

This too will pass. 

Wishful thinking

 I love winter.  That being said, even I am wishing for the end of the color white....

My poor little garden.  It is hard to even remember what she is to really look like!

 

 But the day will come when she returns to some color, some greens and some blossoms!

Is it even possible?

At the present, it doesn't appear so....

Doing the grandparent thing

 Last week we watched our soon-to-be 10 year old grandson play basketball.  It feels like the beginning of the next phase of being a grandparent- going to games/activities to cheer for them! Nothing can replace the feeling of knowing that someone is sitting in the bleachers/audience to see THEM.   Of course, we had his siblings to love on while we watched!

 

 This is a great picture, taken by our daughter-in-law, of our grandson shooting a free throw.  I won't say if it went through the hoop or not...

 

 The girls wanted to be silly for the camera. And as soon as a picture is taken, the kids say "let me see it" - oh,the digital age...

 

I love this picture (thank you Andrea!) of these 5 grands.   We will soon be celebrating the birthdays of three of these sweeties soon.  :)

Vacation highlights

We recently took our "winter vacation."  The first stop on our trip was to a new destination... St. Louis, Missouri!   There were lots of attractions in that city, but the ones we most wanted to see were these five sweet faces. 

 

If you visit St. Louis, a MUST is a stop at the City Museum - it defies description!  The museum is more then just "hands on" for children... it is "climb all over everything and into every little space" museum.  In a world full of rules and regulations ... this was an amazing contrast!  And this grandma tried very very hard to not utter the phrase "be careful!"   It was a blast, actually.

 

Our son and his family live close to the wonderful zoo, so that was another treat.

 

The seminary campus where our son is studying has fabulous architecture.  I went out one morning just to take some pictures of the fine buildings.

 

This is one of the many buildings that house apartments for the seminarians and their families. 

 

Our intent was to continue our vacation heading west, but a major winter storm was brewing so we thought perhaps we would skirt it by heading south a bit to Branson.  The storm covered such a vast area that we wound up in a hotel for 3 nights in Branson waiting out the storm.  We then abandoned our "westward" plans because ANOTHER winter storm was going to follow after the weekend... so we just decided to head on towards home, with a stop in Minneapolis to see these two grandkiddos for a short bit.  Now we look forward to our March weekend with another 5 grandchildren and their parents at a waterpark.  It better not be a snowstorm then!!

Breakfast is ready

I loved waking up to breakfast and coffee; both set on the timer. Here is what I have been doing in the crockpot and hubby and I both love it. I place a 4 cup pyrex bowl in the crock pot and put water in the crock pot around the bowl a few inches , cover it and put it on low overnight. In the pyrex bowl is 1 cup of steel-cut oatmeal, 1 cup of milk, 1 cup of water, 1 T butter, a dash of salt and then whatever I choose to add: usually some brown sugar, some cinnamon, some raisins and some chopped pecans. I have also added a chopped apple or craisins. You can vary it. Since it is just the two of us, we don't eat it all in one morning and it microwaves nicely the next morning.

Fun with cookies

 This week had a little time to bake and decorate some cute Valentine heart cookies. 

I was bringing dessert to a friends home and I knew sugar cookies would be a welcome treat.

They were!

My therapy is decorating cookies.  Not eating them though.  :)

Rocks in a jar

I saw this cute visual for folks wishing to lose weight.  I fall into that category; it would be so nice to wear more of the clothes in my closet if I could shed a few pounds.  Since I am petite in height, every pound really shows - and if I could drop a few of those pounds, I would be very happy, indeed.  So I am using this idea someone posted on facebook - you put marbles or any object of your choosing into one jar - each marble/item represents one pound.  And as you lose the pound, you transfer the object (in my case, a chunky river rock) into the empty jar.  I look forward to filling up the empty jar by making good food choices, portion control and exercise.  

Brain training

I am proud to say that I have completed the above lego sets.  I won't actually mention the length of time it took to do so, but I can freely admit that it was a challenge.  The sets are circa 1988 and I am circa 1947....    and it was good brain training for my aging gray matter.  Just like sudoku.  Or learning a new language.  Or other brain challenges. 

I also take some pride in the fact that I had the boxes, the directions and most of the pieces to achieve this accomplishment.  Not sure what that says about me, but there you go.  Either an organized mother or one that suffered from OCD.  I'm going with the former. 

Snow fall

 Last evening it snowed.  It was a wonderful snowfall; no wind and the temperatures were not bitterly cold as they had been last week.  It was a beautiful snowfall.

 

 This kind of snowfall, when the snow falls straight down, is so amazing as it outlines every single branch... it is amazing because one doesn't quite realize how many small, medium and large branches are outside our window..

 

 A myriad of snow laden branches!! A network of branchy roads for the squirrels..

 

And a beautiful, clean and peaceful view.

I sure am glad I'm not in Hawaii today.

Right. 

Opening the box..

 It started with opening this box - after many years... and wishing to find all the pieces to this and 3 other "castle" style lego sets from... oh say, 20-25 years ago.  Our eldest son remembered that this castle was his and I am happy to see if his son would like the challenge of putting this set together at some point.  But I don't want to give him a set that has lots of missing pieces so...

 

 My compulsive need to assemble and account for all the sweet little pieces kicked into high gear.  I started with the easy things - the knights and their horses...

 

and moved on to the soldiers.  Armed and ready. 

 

But then I thought it might be a good idea to sort the large "everything else" lego supply housed in a large rubbermaid container..  (and used by our grandchildren these days.)  I dumped it all out on a large white sheet and got to work.

 

I had this crazy idea that I would sort them! I got a host of plastic containers from here and there in the house and sorted all the bricks into sizes. Nothing fancy, just by size.  Then the "other then regular brick" pieces got sorted by color. 

 

Then I wondered if perhaps I could, at least, assemble the smallest of all the castle/outpost forest sets.  I mean, how hard could it be?  The box says it is for ages 7-12.

 

After all, my young grandchildren, 10 years old and UNDER, follow lego directions and amaze me at their patience and understanding of how to build sets.   But YIKES,  I am more amazed then before!  Here I am struggling away... only at step 13 of 25....  !!!

 



I guess I'd better get back to work.  I have a looong way to go...