Caden's Tiny Toy Box

I keep Caden's little toys in a small plastic box with a lid. When he comes over I usually choose three or four toys at a time and give them to him to play with. The other day I decided to give him the whole box at one time, just to see what he would do....

Of course being a little boy, or just a little child in general, the first thing he did was empty the box--one toy at a time...Then he decided to look through the bottom of the empty box...

After looking through the bottom of the box for a bit, he discovered that he could push it over and use it for a drum....Cade is all about banging on things!

After a lengthly play session, Caden decided that his back was tired and he just fell over to rest for a bit...I think he thoroughly enjoyed himself! The tiny toy box is a hit!

Caden Gets a New Set of Wheels

Recently, my husband and I, along with our married children and families, went on a long weekend trip to the beach. We stopped at a Target along the way to do some shopping. I was keeping Caden busy while his mom did her shopping.

I was looking for something to put in the buggy to let Caden rest on after his back got tired from sitting up. I spotted these really cute bean bags. The first one that I looked at was a baseball, and then the red car caught my eye...I put it down in the buggy and put Caden on top of it. He rode around the store like that for a while.

At the end of the shopping trip I put the bean bag chair back on the shelf and we left. As I so often do, I began thinking about that little chair and how cute it was. I reminded myself that Madison had a Dora chair and a Princess chair at my house, but Caden didn't have one.

So....on the way home from our trip we had to make a couple of stops to Target. The first Target was sold out of the car bean bags. The last stop, which was the store where I'd originally seen the car, still had two left--and they were now on sale! Yea...mission accomplished! Caden now has a chair at MiMi's house and his first set of wheels! Vrrooom, vrroom, go Cade, go!!

How Do You Eat Your Doughnut?

My grandaughter, Madison loves doughnuts. She usually eats the small powdery kind that come in a bag, but this past weekend while we were on a family trip, I bought a dozen of the large assorted kind.

She saw the doughnuts on the table at lunch and immediately wanted one. We gave her one for dessert. We started watching her eat it and noticed that she was eating all around the hole! How strange! Her mother eats a hamburger that way--all around the edges, leaving the center of the burger. More of those family traits???

So how do you eat your doughnuts? What is your favorite kind of doughnut? As for me, I eat my doughnut sort of like I'd eat a biscuit. My favorite doughnuts are chocolate covered glazed and lemon filled glazed. If I had to pick one, I'd choose chocolate covered...I sure hope Krispie Kreme doesn't go out of business!

Tuesday Blog Hop = Encouragement

Today I am participating in the Tuesday Blog Hop. The theme is "encouragement". In keeping with this theme, and the theme of this blog I will be writing about a time when I spent much time giving "encouragement" to my daughter.

Once my daughter and her husband decided to start a family, they had a difficult time conceiving. It took over a year of trying, plus 3 months of fertility drugs before she became pregnant. I consoled her each month when she was disappointed and encouraged her to keep trying. The conception was merely the beginning of a very complicated and stressful 9 months, for all of us.

I don't think that Brandy and I have ever been closer than we were during those nine months. She ended up having to give up her job, be on bedrest for almost the entire pregnancy, be hospitalized at 23 weeks for possible miscarriage, and she and her husband had to move in with me and my husband for 2 months after the hospitalization when she was put on strict bedrest. I tried my best to help in any way that I could-- from helping Brandy juggle the bills to rolling her around in Wal-mart in a wheelchair so she could go shopping occasionally. We talked, laughed, cried and spent a lot of time together.

After all of that, 2 weeks before the due date, Brandy was sent from the doctor's office to the hospital for an emergency c-section, which was canceled at the last minute because the baby's heartrate improved. When the doctor (who was in charge at the time) canceled the c-section and planned to send Brandy home, it was I who told him I would "personally hold him responsible if anything should happen to that baby or my daughter". My remark got Brandy admitted to the hospital for an "extended observation" of 5 days until her regular doctor returned from out of town and did the c-section.{the cord was wrapped around the neck causing the rise and drop of heartrate} I spent those 5 days and nights along with Brandy and her husband giving whatever comfort and encouragement I could offer to them. The nurses would only let us have one recliner chair so I made my bed on the floor each night.

I'll never forget those nine long months, but they were so worth everything that we all endured...God blessed us with a seven pound, very healthy baby girl, Madison Elizabeth. Madison is so wonderful that this "MiMi" would gladly go through the whole experience again if I had to! ***The photo was taken of Brandy and Madison on Halloween, Madison is 1 week old.

Click here to enter your link in the blog hop and view the entire list of entered links...

Not My Child, Monday...

I am writing posts on my blogs concerning school this week in honor of the beginning of a new school year in our town. These are just a few things that my children didn't do during their school years...
My oldest child did not complain frequently, and call me to come get her from school quite often. She didn't hurt her arm at school one day, call me to come, and then seem fine whenever I picked her up from school. I didn't head toward the emergency room, only to turn around and go home since said child seemed to be feeling so good. Said child's arm was swollen and blue the next day, sending us to the hospital after all, only to find her arm was indeed broken! No, I didn't feel just terrible...
Middle child didn't fail the standard "gifted" test in grade one, only to make perfect scores on CRT and ITBS tests--which qualified him for the gifted program in grade 2. Middle child did not ask to be removed from the gifted class in later years because it "cut in on his recess time" and he didn't like the extra work...
Youngest child and honor graduate, did not refuse to do a required project for Black History month during his junior year, which resulted in him having to repeat the whole class the following year--and ultimately doing the project anyway...
Those are just a few of the "not my child" moments that I've experienced. How about you?