the grandaughter had a birthday party last weekend. she's FOUR!!! kinda hard to realize. and she's just adorable and going to be a real knock-out when she's older. i mean she's beautiful now, and has lovely smiles and is a delight to be around. and she's smart, as in extremely. she will be a brilliant scientist or doctor or something if she just doesn't get way-laid by the ordinary. and wouldn't that be a shame.

kids!

i spent the day yesterday with MOS and the two grandchildren. it was great, as usual. we drove down to mt rainier and visited the visitor center at sunrise. such pretty pretty country!! it's an active volcano, even though it isn't spewing anything, but certainly looks like it is asleep.

you know how kids will misunderstand something? like, a guy the husband used to work with said he heard his daughter singing one day and the lyrics were, "everytime you go away, take a piece of meat with you". cracked us all up.

MOS told me about some things his 3 1/2 yr-old has said.   rather than 'my heart is beating', she says 'my heart is beeping'. rather than 'sunscreen', she says 'sunscream'. and rather than 'hair salon', she says 'hair so long'. entirely appropriate and innocent. and funny!

grandkids

i drove down and visited the grandkids yesterday. THEY ARE SO CUTE!  and smart!! it was a very enjoyable day. i wish i could post pix, but the mama doesn't want any on a blog. ah, well.

it was fun

a month ago i took 2 weeks off from work. i don't remember taking 2 weeks together before, but i really needed to do it. the first week i spent recovering from the stress at work and when the second week rolled around i was ready for my 2 weeks. ha!

at any rate, the daugher-in-law, the grandkids, and i headed over to orcas island for a 2-day get-away. we took the ferry over, stayed in a 2-bedroom cabin on the water (which afforded gorgeous views), and visited little shops where we made excellent purchases.

it was sooooooo much fun to spend time with her and the grandkids, and i'd love to make it a regular practice. i'm not sure how often we could get away, but i really want to do it!

my grandkids are so cute, smart, adorable, clever, adept and all those other adjectives that make people want to puke. they just happen to be true with MY grandkids!

partay!

we went to visit the grandkids last saturday to celebrate the grandaughter's birthday. she's three as of today. she's a beautiful, brilliant, smiling little sweetheart and it's hard to wait and see what she does with her life.

grandson is growing like crazy and it looks like he's going to give her a run for the money. it sort of seems like he's going to be the walk-softly-and-carry-a-big-stick type. and you ought to see his smile -- a sweet little piece of heaven.

young home weekend

the husband and i went down to MOS's house yesterday. they were celebrating MOS's and his wife's birthdays -- they're one day apart. her parents joined in, along with her sister, and we all had a party!

the grandchildren are growing and growing -- grandaughter is a 2 1/2 yr old pretty little sweetie and grandson is a 3-month old handsome lad. the grandaughter is somewhat stubborn and *ahem* i don't know where she gets that. i'm sure she'll grow up to be beautiful and smart-as-a-whip. and the grandson seems to be laid-back, yet he can hold his own. i'm going to love watching them grow up!

the in-laws and sister are warm and enjoyable people, and i feel so lucky about that. considering all the people i've ever known and/or worked with, there are some real wackos out there.

we are truly blessed.

things to do

the grandson is just about a month old now. we need to run down and visit. i'm sure he's keeping his eyes open more, especially with big sister around to make noise and laugh. i don't think we're going to make it down there this weekend, and next weekend i'm heading north to a bagpipe fund raiser. i went to it last year and very much enjoyed myself. lots of people, haggis, music, traditional dancing -- it's an evening of total immersion. and very fun!

a new baby!!

on tuesday, december 15, adam jeffrey was born. he was 8 lb. 15 oz., with dark hair and eyebrows, and a very quiet demeanor. he's been a very good baby with his only demands being to be fed and to be held.

big sister is happy around, and interested in, little brother and all is well. paternal grandparents stayed with the family for five days and maternal grandparents are visiting today.

it will be interesting to see who adam ends up looking like -- ava's looks seemed to change so much from day one, just like babies tend to do. she is a pretty and absolutely darling little kid and with such good-looking parents, i expect adam will be a little heartbreaker.

however it turns out, everyone is healthy and happy. a good start to any type of endeavor!

onju, ayoon, apo, an, 'ello, emo, umbo --*

we got to babysit yesterday. it was soooooo much fun! i have the cutest, sweetest, smartest grandaughter in the whole wide world!

we headed down to the seattle area just after lunch and got to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening with her. the parents headed out to the space needle for an evening of adult-speak before grandbaby number two shows up in another 6 weeks or so.

it was enough to make me wish we lived closer so we could do that more often. i may start keeping an eye on any job openings in the seattle office. but don't tell the husband -- i don't think he wants to live anywhere near that traffic schema.

*orange juice, balloon, apple, hand, yellow, nemo, dumbo