silence....

....the saying goes something like, it's golden. as i sit here this morning hearing the birds, the squirrels, the far off sound of a dog barking, and the washer i couldn't imagine complete silence. i know that's not exactly what they mean, i did enjoy the silence when the kids were put to bed at the end of a day, but the noise, for the most part, made during the day are memories. we were looking at the picture books the other day, in some of the pictures, i could put myself back there and hear the goings on. take time to hear life, even chaos can be a great sound.

grandbabbies....

...and being a grandma. i love this title! being a grandma is such a special thing. three days a week i get to hang out with Abbi. she is growing so fast and is such a treat. her personality is coming out more and more everyday. i can't wait to see what the next day brings and what she may become. she loves to have books read to her, and i love to read them to her. i can say a line or two of the book and she will go get it, i think that is very smart of her. she is beautiful with her blond hair and petite little self. i am wondering when she, if ever, will start to look like Jennifer . right now, she is the image of her dad, which ain't bad. Patrick has two sons, Caleb and Andrew. i love hanging out with them too. it doesn't happen to often, but when it does, all is good. Caleb is very much into sports, all sports. the knowledge he has of sports for his age is amazing. he can tell you just about any thing you need to know about football, which i like. he plays all the sports in youth sports and is very good at it, again, much more at football, which again i like. Andrew likes to read. I'm not much of a reader, but i like to ask him about what he is reading and wait for him to tell me about the whole book, so i don't really need to read if i have Andrew around to tell about it. it's like book on tape by way of Andrew...to cute. he is very much into harry potter and can tell you whatever you may need to know about that series...amazing . then there's Greyson, he was here this past December and i got to spend a lot of one on one time with him. i would just sit back and watch and listen to him, he never stops. he loves to play with trucks and cars, and can tell you what make many of them are. he to loves to read and be read to, (Leslie read to him before he was even born.) he is very smart, he can tell you his letters and numbers, and what words start with by listening to the letter sound. i talk to him often on the web cam and keep saying that within a short time i see him calling me. i miss him very much when he is gone and wish that he and Abbi could grow up together. then there is Ava. i refer to her as my someday granddaughter. she to is beautiful and is getting so big so fast. hard to believe she is 4+ already. don't get to spend to much one on one time with her, but wish i could...maybe some day. she was here for an afternoon this past holiday, and she too likes to read. it's nice to see the little ones reading the books that the girls once read. i hope that there are more grandbabbies to come and hope to spend as much time with each and every one of them as possible.

Christmas Traditions...

...some change, some stay the same but still change. i know it is all a part of life and growing up, because they have changed from my childhood to adulthood. some of the traditions we did/do are get together for turkey noodle soup before the Christmas parade(made from the left over turkey from the thanksgiving dinner). we would then make our way down to the parade, wait anxiously for the end, to see Santa! we would come back home with pockets full of candy thrown during the parade. we wouldn't put the Christmas tree up until after Jennifer's birthday,12/17, i wanted to keep her day separate from Christmas. the girls would all help with the ornaments, one putting one up after the other. ken would put the last one on, an ornament with a picture of him and i at our wedding reception. we would go to my moms for a quick visit Christmas eve, then come home and the girls would open a gift before bed, then be up at the crack of dawn ready to open the rest. after gifts, i would start making breakfast, biscuits and gravy. (something brought from my family upbringing). the rest of the day would just be hanging out,taking naps, and getting out to see what all the friends had gotten. it will be much quieter this Christmas morning. we did gifts this past weekend when Leslie was home. Leslie is now in n.c. with her family and Jennifer will be doing Christmas, Christmas morning with her family. Jessie and Scott, Whitney and Matt and his daughter Ava will be here for breakfast. a new tradition is starting, we will go out to Jennifer's Christmas night for games and time to just hang out with family and friends...a new tradition i look forward too, i love being with my family and friends!

what's the right weigh?...

...i have been on again off again with the weight watchers program..it's a good program, i just loose my way when i think i don't have to go any more and can do it by myself. this last time, time #3, i have been on it just over 3 years. i also work out over at my girlfriends house, cardio, bowflex and free weights. i didn't fell i was getting as "fit" as i wanted so i wanted to change things up a bit. a few years back jennifer and patrick gave me a book, "eating for life", which i wanted, but when i read it through i thought i can't loose weight and eat 5 meals a day, (that is what the program is). well, after rereading it, it isn't 5 " meal meals", they are 5 smaller meals. i did some sample meals and figured them out with the weight watchers program and if you plan your meals right it can work with weight watchers. it's been just over a month that i've been on the program and things are going pretty well. i feel great, not as buff as i want to be yet, and the extra fat is coming off. stay tuned, i'll keep you up to date .....

My first blog post...

...but not my last. Jennifer has been pushing me to start blogging, so here we go. Patrick is out of town hunting, so Jen and Abbi have spent the afternoon hanging out with me, which i enjoy doing with all the girls. She brought the blogging thing up again and was willing to show me what's what, not that i will remember it all, but she and the other girls are only a phone call away when i forget what she showed me. I got a new laptop and we were checking it out too. Found the game of scrabble and kicked the computer guys butt!, talked to Leslie and the family on the web cam, and just played around checking things out. It's late now and I'm ready for bedtime, so until next time......