Grandparents

A Great Big Kentucky Post. Y’all.

Posted on by Amy
Last week we went to Kentucky to spend the week with my parents.  I have virtually no internet access there, so I couldn’t post while we were gone.  Somehow we have been home for three days, and I am just now getting around to posting about our fabulous trip.  I would say with all the holiday craziness I haven’t had the time to post.  However, I am a firm believer that you have time for what you make time for.  So.  Sorry, I haven’t made time for this.  But if it makes up for it, I’m posting right now during naptime instead of taking a shower…
Anyway.  Our trip was really wonderful, though it was unfortunately delayed for a day.  Remember how I posted that we had all managed to escape the stomach bug except for Lass’s very brief encounter with it?  I typed too soon.  Friday night, the night before we were supposed to leave, I was up all night sick and ended up going to the emergency department for fluids around 4am, right about the time Miss woke up crying and asking for “new jammies,” meaning of course that she had thrown up all over the ones she was wearing.  So, needless to say, she and I were under the weather for the day that was supposed to be our travel day, and we didn’t make it to Kentucky until Sunday.  But the visit was so worth the trip. My parents rock.  They are so awesome with my girls and give them so much love and attention it just makes my heart melt to watch them together.  I love that my girls are the center of attention with my parents for a whole week.  And they eat it up.  Miss just glows with happiness when playing with my Mom, and Lass got there too, though it took her a bit longer to warm up.  Little girls can just never have too much love and attention from their grandparents.  I only wish my parents lived close, so my girls could have the experience of spending time with them more often.
Here’s a big, huge photo tour of our week in the south:
We went to story time at the library where my Mom is the children’s librarian.  I was so proud of my girls.  Both of them sat nicely and listened to the story, even though there was a good bit of chaos going on around them.

Then Santa showed up…

Miss got all shy and scrambled for my lap

where she clung to me for dear life

until Santa called her name to come up for her present.

She was so shy!

But my shy girl braved giving the big guy a hug.

Lass was surprisingly calm about the process of seeing Santa too.

Probably because I didn’t even attempt to get her any closer than this.

The story time was great.  We colored and had a snack and crafted a paper chain.

All the kids got in a circle with my mom at the end to sing a song, which was very cute.

Then it was time to go.

We did stop upstairs to check out some books, which Miss had fun reading to her baby doll when we got back to my parents’ house.

The day of the story time was also my husband’s birthday.  This year I let Miss pick out a few presents for him in addition to what I got for him.  A couple of weeks ago I took her to the dollar store (the real one where everything costs $1), gave her a $5 bill and told her she could pick five things that she thought her Daddy would like for his birthday.  She walked around the store clutching the $5 bill in her hand, selecting things at her eye level.  It was so fun to watch her make her choices and then to pack them up when we got them home.  In addition to the five presents, she was also allowed to pick a card and a gift bag for him.

And all on her own, she also picked this hat as a must-have for her Daddy.

So what were the gifts?  A Winnie the Pooh chalkboard set,

a pink jumprope, blue safety scissors, and a pen with a bobbling dog on top, set into a suction cup base (not pictured here, but shown above).

My personal favorite?  Floral foam.

Miss had no idea what it was when she saw it at the store, but she thought it was awesome and knew her Daddy would just love it.  It was great to watch her getting so excited about her Daddy’s presents.

We also got to visit with my brother and his family for an afternoon.  We went to their house to do our Christmas with them.

A good time was had by all, I think.

And a great holiday tradition was passed to the next generation during this visit.  Every year my mom and I watch the movie “Heidi” with Shirley Temple.  Some people watch, “Miracle on 34th Street,” maybe even “A Christmas Story” or some other traditional holiday movie.  Our movie is “Heidi.”  We know the dialog by heart.  This year, my girls watched it for the first time.

Okay, so the above photos are a little misleading.  They really only paid attention to the movie for about the first 10 minutes.  But I didn’t expect much more for the first viewing.  This movie takes time to appreciate.  My husband and brother, even my Dad, still don’t quite appreciate it yet.  The girls will get there.  Of that I am sure.

One other movie experience we had while in Kentucky, that Miss did greatly appreciate (to the point that we watched the movie 3 times in 24 hours), was her first viewing of “Snow White.”  I hadn’t seen the movie in many, many years, so I probably enjoyed watching it with her almost as much as she did.

The still photos don’t quite do justice to our enjoyment of the movie.

I’m glad to be home, though I miss my family.  I can’t believe Christmas is already almost here.  Tomorrow is Miss’s school party.  I have way too much gift-wrapping left to do.  This weekend we’ll go to the Farm to “do Christmas” with my husband’s family.   It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

A Week to Remember

Posted on by Amy
We got back late last night from a long, tiring, yet fun-filled ten days at the Farm. The girls grew so much during the week it seems, with so much to do and so many loving people around to do it with. Both sets of their grandparents, aunts, uncles, a gazillion cousins. They saw cool and interesting things and had new experiences. This bird’s nest is just one example of the treasure trove of nature that is the Farm.

The photo doesn’t do it justice. It’s made mostly of pieces of baling twine, twisted intricately around the branches and woven with grass, and probably other stuff. The general consensus was that it was probably an oriole’s nest. We didn’t bring it back with us, though that would have been a hell of a find for Miss to take to preschool. Miss’s Baba also gave her a robin’s egg, but we forgot that too. Miss saw deer, a coyote, a huge praying mantis, the biggest spider I’ve ever seen outside a glass case, a stick bug, and on and on. She really loved checking out the milkweed pods and walnuts that she found on the ground.
A different kind of new experience came for her in the form of corn. She has had sweet corn many times that I cut off the cob for her, but this week she had her first try at eating it right off the cob. She thought that was pretty cool.


But much more thrilling was her first ride on the “Great Big Mable” float pulled behind my in-law’s boat.



She didn’t seem scared in the slightest.
Just waving and smiling. My little daredevil.
Right after coming in from the boat and Mable ride, she went fishing with her Daddy. They caught several fish, and she had lots of fun with the worms.



One fish broke off their hook, so Miss sat and watched for fish with my mom while her Daddy went to get a new hook.
Then they were back in business.




Poor Lass is too little to get in on lots of the action her sister is getting into now, but she had great fun playing with her cousins. She really started moving with her walking this week too. Though she took her first steps shortly after turning 11 months, she never really got going with walking, and in fact until a few days ago, had almost stopped trying entirely. Now she’s really getting into it, choosing to walk instead of crawling more and more often, and stringing together more and more steps.

After her fishing time with her Dad, Miss got ready to go for a treasure hunt. She got all ready in her boots and headed out to the Ranger. The treasure hunt is one of my favorite things about the farm.
Tons of kids and adults pile on the Rangers and go off to explore and look for treasures of all kinds. I used to love going on treasure hunts when I first started coming to the Farm almost a decade ago. I was always the “City Mouse” to my husband’s “Country Mouse” family, and thoroughly enjoyed going out and being awed by all the finds. It’s a hundred times more fun to do it now with my kids.
We stopped to pick lots of wild flowers, which Lass loved.

Then we got down to the beach, where the kids splashed around and looked for shells and critters.

There were tons of tiny frogs hopping all around and the kids had a blast trying to catch them. Miss got to hold one that her older cousin caught for her. She also found a snake that her uncle grabbed up for her. That girl and her snakes…
Lass enjoyed the beach too.
It was really a week to remember. Every new experience for my girls seems like something new and amazing for me too. I love every minute of it.
Today we savored the trip and each other, happy to be home and back in our routine. Summer is winding down quickly here in the North Country. Today was crisp and felt very much like fall already. Football has started (Go Blue!). And preschool starts this week! Loving every minute.

A Photo Tour

Posted on by Amy
We’re home. The trip was tiring, but fun. Here’s a photo tour of the week.
Baby girl – sweaty, but still oh-so-cute.

After attending a few wedding-related events, we went to my in-laws’ to spend most of the rest of our trip with them. My girls loved this little table there. Lass sure thought she was a big deal.

We need to get a little girl sized table, I think.

We traveled all over the state of Florida during the week, from the Gulf coast to the Atlantic and back again.

The girls did a great job.

The crazy traveling was for the purpose of seeing my Grandma and Grandpa.

The girls had a fun visit with their Great-Grandma. She pulled out all sorts of fun stuff for them, from a bin of Easter decorations

to hats and colorful golf balls,

and of course the musical instruments. There’s always music at Grandma’s house.

Somehow I didn’t get any photos when we visited my Grandpa this time, about which I’m quite disappointed. I think it must have been because it was pouring when we got to his place, and we just ran in with the girls, forgetting the camera. I hate forgetting my camera.
Miss really worked on her swimming this week,

and her, eh, use of multiple floatation devices.

She thought this raft was the coolest thing ever, and spent a good bit of time “sleeping” on it,

and sleeping,

and then…

“Tickle me, Daddy!”

Looking for lizards.

No trip to Florida would be complete without a day on the beach

with shelling and playing in the sand.

She loved the sand but longed to try out the water.

It was fun to watch my little one showing her fearlessness in the water,

and my big girl overcoming her initial fear of the crashing waves.

I used a new sunscreen that didn’t absorb into my skin very well and left me looking more pasty white than usual. I had to chuckle when a man and woman walked by Lass and me playing in the sand, and the man said, “From how far North do you come?” That obvious, huh?

The plane rides to and from the sunny state were pretty uneventful. Snacks, coloring books, an Ergo carrier, an iPad, and the magazines and other handouts in the back seat pockets of the plane made for happy little ones.

Tonight I’m snuggled up on the couch with my hubby. He’s watching a really bad movie and I’m writing. It’s chilly here, relative to the sticky heat of Florida. It almost feels like fall is upon us. We’ve got windows open and are wearing jackets in the evenings to play outside. As always, it’s so good to be home.

Visit with Great-Grandma

Posted on by Amy
Somehow I forgot to post the photos from our brief visit to my husband’s grandmother last Friday. We drove out Thursday night, stayed in a hotel, and then were able to visit for a few hours Friday morning before driving home that evening. It was a short but very fulfilling trip. Miss was a bit shy to start, but got warmed up by greeting her Great-Grandma’s leprechaun statue-doll thing.


Lass met her Great-Grandma for the first time, and was such a lover.


Miss got comfortable and had some fun chatting and showing off the books she brought along.



It was such a nice visit with my husband’s lovely grandmother. I know I’ve written about this many times before, but it’s just so important to us for our girls to get to spend time with their family. Even if our girls won’t remember this short visit, my husband will. His grandmother will. I will. And we will have these photos and others always to show our girls before future trips and also whenever we tell the girls about who they came from. Before this trip and our recent trip to Florida, during which we visited my grandparents, I showed Miss photos from her previous visits with her great grandparents and told her about who we were going to see. She probably doesn’t remember her last visit with her Great-Grandma S, but when we woke up in the hotel on Friday morning and I asked her who we were going to see that day, she knew. Our girls’ roots are spread far and wide, but they are strong and deep and thoroughly nurturing, and I want them to always be secure in this fact. Ten hours in the car and few hours of sleep for one night is a small price to pay for strengthening my girls’ connections to their family tree.

Big Fat Vacation Post

Posted on by Amy

We came home to heavily falling snow yesterday. After a week of sunshine and warmth, we are now back to over a foot of snow and temps below 20 degrees. But we had a splendid time. Now there’s a word I don’t use often enough. Splendid. Our vacation was truly splendid. It was full of everything a vacation should be. Lots of time with family. Cherished moments for my girls to spend with my grandparents, their grandparents (both my parents and my husband’s), and my aunt and uncle.




Four generations here.



And in addition to the fantastic family time, we had all the elements of the perfect vacation.
Bubbles.

Sweaty, sunscreened skin and hair curled by humidity.
Dancing and funny faces in a could-have-been-made-for-my-toddler mirror.





The beach of course, complete with shelling, relaxing, sand play, checking out the surf (Miss would not get too near the water, and kind of freaked out the one time a wave did come up over her toes), bird watching, a picnic lunch, and a nap for our littlest, experiencing her first trip to the beach.













A fun visit with close friends. Two of my good friends from graduate school live about an hour south of my in-law’s house, so I was able to visit with them and let them see the girls.

Morning walks, during which we got to walk by the harbor and see the manatees. Miss got so excited to see them poking their noses up out of the water. Okay, I got really excited to see them too, as I had never seen a manatee in person before.
Here we’re getting ready to go.
And of course, pool time.

This was our second dip in the pool for the week. Somehow we did not get any photos the first time. And unfortunately the pool heater got turned off by accident, so the water was a bit too cold for our second swimming attempt. But Miss really wanted to go in the pool, so her daddy got into the cold water and took her swimming. Reluctantly. . .
Sort of.


This dip in the pool only lasted a few minutes before we coaxed a blue-lipped, teeth-chattering Miss to get dry and blow bubbles instead of swimming.
In the evenings we had some grown up time playing cards with my in-laws. My husband and I taught them to play Euchre. I haven’t played Euchre since graduate school, and I forgot how much I enjoy it.
It was a great vacation. I almost didn’t want to come home. But now we’re here and I’m glad. We’re snuggled in and refreshed to get through the last of the cold weather. We’re looking forward to spring here. I can’t wait to see the crocuses pop up and feel the warm sun bringing everything back to life. I can’t wait to get my girls out and playing in the yard, going to the park and for walks in our new double stroller. Big things to come. Potty training. And this:
That’s avocado.
She seemed to like it at first.
And then maybe not so much.
Not sure if it was the taste or texture she was shuddering about.
We’ll try again tomorrow!

Family Fun in Florida

Posted on by Amy

We’ve had a wonderful weekend. Yesterday was full of traveling, beginning at 5am, but we were able to pack in a visit to my Grandpa C and then get to my Grandma B’s house for dinner. Lass got to meet her Great-Grandpa.


Miss got to show off for her Great-Grandpa, counting and dancing and playing. I could not get her to say “Arrivederci” though. My Grandpa always ends a phone call with, “As they say in the homeland, arrivederci!” and we have been working on it for weeks. She says, “Ayovechi.” But of course she got shy when we tried to get her to say it for him and she wouldn’t do it. It was so great to see him and spend some time visiting though.
We got to my Grandma B’s house last night. My parents are also here visiting my Grandma (and my mom was at my Grandpa’s when we got there yesterday). Today Miss had a big day playing with family. My mom, ever the children’s librarian, has held storytime several times today.

Great-Grammy has made paper doll chains for Miss over and over.
Miss loved them, but kept pulling them apart and then dismembering the dolls. I managed to save the last set my Grandma made for her. I put them away so I can put them in Miss’s baby book for her.
My Grandma is a wonderful musician, and at her house there is always music. Miss loved playing the piano.

She also had a lot of fun with this very old ukulele, which I remember from when I was little.
Then we checked out some quilts my Grandma is making. Miss kept asking to “wrap up” in the quilt tops my Grandma is working on, but was very happy with this old quilt instead. This quilt was pieced by my great grandmother, and then finished by my Grandma. Miss loved playing in it.
It was perfect for playing some hide and seek.
Peek!!
She enjoyed playing with the many golf balls my Grandma has around, which made for an interesting experiment with her shirt.
31 golf balls was the breaking point where her shirt came untucked and they spilled all over the floor. She thought that was pretty funny.
Here’s a shout out to one of my most faithful readers!!
Snuggles with Grandma.

Lass loves sucking on her bottom lip. Her first tooth broke through today, the left-middle bottom tooth.
Miss spent some time hanging out with my dad, surfing the web. Here they were looking at this blog.
She was really enjoying wearing her sunglasses at night, but as she was looking at photos from her birthday post, she realized she needed some more accessories.

She finished up the evening singing a fun new song she learned from my aunt.
She kept begging my aunt to sing this funny little song with her. It’s about chewing gum. She doesn’t even know what chewing gum is, but this is definitely her new favorite song. So. Fun.
P.S. Happy Birthday to my brother and my brother-in-law!!

Grandmas and Grandpas

Posted on by Amy
Grandparents are great. I spent some time today looking at family photos and showing them to my girls. I like to tell them about my grandparents. I love seeing the photos of Miss with them. I feel sad because I will not be able to have photos of Lass with all of my grandparents. In the past year two of my grandparents passed away, and she will never meet them. Last December, my Papa B passed away and in February my Grandma C. I don’t want to make this a sad post or to sound like I’m saying, “Poor me.” The fact is, I don’t feel like “Poor me” at all. I am the only person I know who was lucky enough to have all four of my grandparents living and in relatively good health up until this past year. I’m in my mid thirties and have had a long time to enjoy great relationships with my all of my grandparents.
So, I know that Miss won’t remember my Grandma C and Papa B, and Lass will never meet them. But I talk about them. I want my girls to know how good they were and how much I loved them. How much they meant in my life and how often I still think of them. Right now I mostly just show pictures and tell the girls who they were. I do the same with pictures of my Grandma B and Grandpa C, who happily are still with us. When the girls are older I will tell them more. What kinds of things will I tell them?
Well, I’ll tell them how my Grandma C used to make pancakes in animal shapes. It seems like she could do any animal we requested. I’ll make her delicious potato salad with them and make sure they know it’s her recipe. And I’ll tell them that she used to give me free reign in her jewelry box, which was heaven for me as a little girl. I used to spend hours draping myself in her necklaces and clipping her earrings on. I’ll tell them that she always seemed absolutely thrilled to see me, and how good that made me feel. I’ll tell them that she never failed to tell me how much she loved me and how much she missed me, as I have lived far away from her and my Grandpa for many years. I’ll tell them how much she loved Miss and how much she would have loved Lass had she been alive to know of her.

There are some things I find it hard to describe about her. Sometimes when I am rocking Lass, I notice that I am rocking and patting her in a rhythm that reminds me of my Grandma. I’m not sure why, as I’m sure I don’t remember her rocking me that way. Maybe I saw her rocking and patting my younger cousins or older cousins’ children that way. She loved holding babies! She was so loving and always wanted to hold my hand or pat my knee when we visited. Things like the sound of her voice or the feel of her hugs, which I remember well, will be hard to explain to my girls, but I will tell them as much as I can about her, so they can feel a little bit like they know her too.
I’ll tell my girls about my Papa B too. I’ll tell them that he was kind and funny. He was a great photographer, and I wish I would have become interested in photography when he was still living so I could have learned about it from him. I’ll tell my girls that he was hard working and a WWII veteran. We have his old coffee thermos that he used to take to work in our kitchen, and they’ll know that it belonged to their Great Papa. I’ll tell them about his wonderful warm voice and surprisingly soft hands. I’ll tell them about his great laugh. He had an ornery giggle when he was teasing, and a great happy laugh that made me smile. I’ll tell them that he was funny. I’ll tell them that he had a big laugh, and big ideas, and a big heart.
I’ll tell them how he was legally blind in the latter years of his life, but he still golfed. He just had my Grandma orient him to the ball and away he went. I’ll tell them how he obviously adored my Grandma, which was a wonderful thing to see. They were married nearly 70 years. I’ll tell my girls how he’d say “Hey Kid!” and pinch my side. At his memorial service this summer I showed Miss a photo of him and said “This is your Great Papa. Can you say Papa?” and she did, for the first time.
I love to tell my girls about my Grandma B and am excited for Miss to see her again and Lass to meet her in a few months when we go visit her. They have tangible items all around that are constant reminders to me and to them of her. Miss plays with a Raggedy Ann doll that my Grandma made for me when I was little. And my Grandma recently sent Miss a beautiful quilt (to be featured in a future post). There is an afghan crocheted by my Grandma and a pillow embroidered by her in Miss’s room. And Lass has a doll that my Grandma gave me. My Grandma puts love into her stitches, and we can wrap ourselves in it all the time. When we see or hold these things, I tell my girls where they came from.
I have many memories of singing with her as a little girl. She has a beautiful voice. She can play the piano and the dulcimer. She made the best grilled cheese sandwiches and we made s’mores on her gas stove. I can remember standing on a chair and her helping me to toast my marshmallow. Who needs a campfire?? And she makes a cherry cheesecake that is the best I’ve had. I just feel happy when I think of her. She is very special to me. She has always been patient and kind and loving. When I was in graduate school I went through a very painful break up. My Grandma sent me the most beautiful card to tell me that she was thinking of me. She is thoughtful that way and I’ll never forget how that card made me feel better at the time. I still have that card. My Grandma has always been the best at making everything better.
I loved seeing Miss with her this summer when we were together for my Papa’s memorial service.
My Grandma never wastes anything. She doesn’t throw things away if she can reuse them, and she often does. I think she said she was going to make flowers out of the tissue paper in the photo below. It seems like she can make anything. She makes most of her own clothes and made those of my Papa. She is the keeper of our family memory, putting together photo albums for everyone in the family packed with history.
My Grandpa C has a very special place in my heart. He is strong and proud and good and loving. He and my Grandma had six children and he always wore a tie clip with the birthstones of all of his children on it. I remember sitting on his lap when I was little and saying the names of all of my aunts and uncles as I pointed to each of their birthstones. I had a funny rhythm in which I would repeat the names, over and over, and he was always patient and attentive as I did it. I loved that tie clip!!

He calls me “Amesville” and has a similar nickname for nearly everyone in our family. I can hear his big voice in my head calling out this nickname when I would walk into their house in years past. Now his voice is softer but the nickname is the same, every time. He is Italian, and Miss was given an Italian name because of him. She goes by a shorter version of her legal name, but he always calls her by her given Italian name. He is the only one who does.


I also enjoy telling my girls about their Great Grandma S, my husband’s grandma. I don’t have the memories to tell them about her like I do with my grandparents, but I can tell them what a delightful woman she is and how loving and devoted to her family she is.

I think grandparents are the greatest thing. I think of mine often and hold my memories close. Even though I didn’t always live near them, they seem to be a big part of who I have become. I like to hear their stories, whether directly from them or from my parents. I could look for hours at the photo albums my Grandma B has put together with her captions. My favorite is the one of her and my Papa in their “courting” years and early years of their marriage.
In addition to having all four of my grandparents living until recently, I was fortunate enough to know two of my great grandmothers. I have great memories of them as well, particularly G-Grandma J, who lived near me when I was growing up. I remember writing a paper about her when I was in 5th grade and being so intrigued by her life. Family history is so important and special. I hope my girls will love it as much as I do.
And even though we don’t live near their grandparents either, I hope they will have wonderful relationships with them as well and make the same kind of memories that bring warmth as only grandparents can. That is why my husband and I travel with them as much as we do. To give our girls the gift of family and grandparents and great grandparents. There’s nothing like Grandmas and Grandpas.
They give lots of love.





They make everything amazing and interesting and fun.






Grandmas and Grandpas are the best.