Memories of Sprinklers, Tootsie Rolls...and Me

I wish I had a picture of what I saw on Wednesday.  I was riding by Cade's house when I spotted two little boys outside in the yard, in their underwear, playing under the water sprinkler!  The sight was precious!

Christina, Caden's mother, sometimes keeps another little boy named Jayden, who is just a few months younger than Caden.  The two boys are nearly the same size, and could pass for twins.  The two boys have played together off and on for ages, so they've grown up together.

The boys were oblivious to everything as they were running around in the yard, and ducking in and out of the sprinkler.  I noticed a toy tractor parked up next to the sprinkler, so I'm assuming they were riding in and out of the water at some point.

By the time I stopped my car, and walked up to them, the little boys had moved on to climbing the sliding board.  I had a brief conversation with them, gave each one a "tootsie roll", then  headed back to my car to continue my journey home.

As I was leaving the two boys, I couldn't help but remember similar good times during my own childhood.  I still remember how exciting it was to get my parents' permission to play under the garden hose!  It's nice to know that a few things haven't changed. 

As I watched the boys happily chewing their "tootsie rolls", I smiled.  I recalled another happy memory from my own childhood. .  I loved nothing better than eating candy, but these days something's changed!  It's the size of those "tootsie rolls"...They keep getting smaller and smaller!

The Timer...

Just when I think I'd seen it all, I saw something new last night!  Granddaughter, Madison, surprised me again, with another "first".

It was around eight o'clock in the evening, and my husband and I were about to settle in to watch a little television before calling it a day.  We heard the familiar footsteps of Madison on our front porch. 

Madison opened the front door to come inside, but this time she had something in her hands--a ticking kitchen timer!  Madison explained to us that she had come over to play, but that her mama said she had to go home when the timer rang.  I looked at the timer, Madison had 29 minutes to play!

Madison and "E" settled into their usual routine of playing in the living room floor.  They played with an assortment of small toys that I keep in a plastic box.  After 29 minutes, the timer rang.  Madison stood up and announced, "It's time for me to clean up and go home!"  That's just what she did, too!

Tonight Madison returned, timer in hand.  She and "E" played with Barbies this time.  In the middle of the visit, I finished getting supper ready.  Madison asked if she could eat supper with us, so Ed called her parents and got permission for Madison to eat with us.

In the middle of supper the timer rang again.  Madison said "Uh Oh!", and started to get upset because she thought she had to get up in the middle of her meal and go home.  We assured her that she could finish eating first, and she did.  After supper, Madison took her kitchen timer and went home, without even being told to!  Wow, the power of a kitchen timer! 

Presenting...The First Video of Caden

Now that I have discovered that digital movies really do upload and play on my computers, I'm using the video mode of my camera a little more.

You know from previous posts what a tough time I have photographing grandson, Caden.  He's never still these days--and getting him to look at the camera?  Forget that!

On Friday afternoon, Cade came over to play with Madison for a little while.  I grabbed my camera and began filming.  I think Cade thinks I'm crazy sometimes, because I'm always following him with a camera. Ha! Ha!  He usually just ignores me.  Have I ever mentioned that Cade's a lot like his daddy?! 

Anyway, here's a peak at one of the pieces of footage that I captured.  It may not seem like much right now, but in a few years it will be priceless, especially to Cade!