Great Moments with grandchildren....too many to recall...but ...

Starting with our last morning, and looking back through the week!

Beautiful teenage Lilia sleeping, I had to wake her so she could join us for breakfast!

Young Bindley in his Batman robe! Waiting for gluten free pancakes which his dad was making!

Steve playing with the three youngest! (Girls in nightgowns by me, pj bottoms are batman...also by this grandma!)

A lovely relaxed dinner on Christmas Day!

Opening gifts on Christmas morning with Nanny Donna too!

Santa brought a tent for the youngsters!

Children making Tasha Tudor's sugar cookies!

And decorating them with the neighbor children!

My sweet Nina...

And darling Sophie!

 

Laura, super-mom, gets a gingerbread house built!

And lest we forget the dramatic introduction, on this visit,to life with little ones, here is Sophie......and a tale of misadventure.....

A little while after our arrival, she was left unattended for a bit ( duh! I should have known!) ...she went into her teenage sister's room, got a jar of Mod Podge , applied some to the mouse and mouse pad...then carried it into the bathroom, settled herself onto the floor, poured out the rest of the jar and played in it with her hands....then she was tired, so she just lay down in it! Fortunately I found her just then and the tub and shower were right there for "easy"? clean-up!

***************************

So now we head home, and carry these memories with us! Sweet children at breakfast this morning....

Nina and her brother's phone, on which she plays games...

And Sophie, sorting her bacon from the pancake pieces!

One last group shot before we depart!

 

Ho ho ho! Off to Georgia!

Taking sweet nightgowns and robes, these are for the 3 year old twin granddaughters! Fleece with flannel lined hoods and trim! Wrapped several days ago for Christmas giving!

This morning, I made one more, brown fleece, lined with dinosaur cotton flannel which matches his pajamas! [ I have successfully stayed in my pj's today! LOL!]

This is for the other three year-old in Idaho. Wish I could see him too!

Here is The grandson (wearing the sweater I knitted for him) in the Santa Express in Idaho. He should get his robe soon, thanks to the post office!

****************************************

Now we are loading the sleigh for the drive to Georgia! Gifts for a big family, love them all!

Another nice thing this week! I was feeling down and overwhelmed .....not liking my hairstyle and having no hope....then my friend Tracie gave me the number of her stylist and she took me right in the next morning!

Here is my no longer fun, frizzy permanent ......and Ta-da.....below after hairstylist Dawn Putnam's magic fingers!

 

I told Dawn to just do whatever haircut she wanted! Wow! A real "Make Over!

So, I am thrilled to head off to celebrate Christmas with a new hairdo!

 

My new friend ....a mouse.

I am still working steadily in my kitchen cabinets.
Chalk paint, which requires no sanding, was not adhering to these doors....so I started doing some sanding by hand....that seemed to help.
But, my hands were really hurting at night!

 

 

So, I took the obvious next step...visited the tool department at Sears....and found this! The MOUSE sander, small enough for my little hands and speeds the work along!
The inside of the cabinets (which were site built when the house was built in the 1970's) are being painted with white gloss enamel...first coat going in here...

 

 

 

***************************************************************************************************
Yesterday I visited with 3 friends, we exchanged Christmas cards and more! Here is a little handmade doll ornament from Liz!

 

Tracy made handmade cards of a winter landscape for each of us, and my card from Gayle had a retro typewriter ....a joke between all of us!

 

 

Gayle, the great baker, was our hostess and she made an eggnog pie for us. The recipe was from her aunt Cora, old family recipe....here is a similar pie recipe from Taste of Home.

 

So cool and creamy, it feels like you are eating a cloud....AND Gayle makes a great crust!

**************************************************

I finalized my painting of granddaughter, Nina Kate. She is a serious, take charge, child! Here is a painting based on a photo of her stirring up a birthday cake for her mother, ....oh yes, she is wearing her little apron made by me!
First, I show her painting is not quite finished and sitting with the painting of her siblings, Sophie Jane and Bindley!

Here she is painted with joy and love by Grandma Lila! ( a collage as well as a painting, yes, she has glitter in her hair...she sparkles!)

 

Now back to painting those cupboards...and maybe adding an ornament or some more tinsel to the tree...(bird from friend Tracie).