Helping Daddy With The Dishes...

Each evening after supper, Cade and his daddy clean up the kitchen. Cade has been helping his daddy unload the dishwasher for several months now. It makes perfect sense because the kitchen is one of Cade's favorite places! Dish duty has become "their special time."

One evening I was visiting at my son's house when Cade wasn't much over a year old. My son, Brett, said to me, "Watch this!" Then he said "Cade, let's do the dishes!" I watched in amazement as Cade toddled over to the dishwasher and began removing the dishes. He would hand them to his daddy, one at a time, and Brett would reply "Thank you." I was impressed! Of course, it took forever to unload the dishwasher like that, but Brett let Cade hand him every dish that he was able to lift out of the dishwasher!

Last evening Brett, stopped by for a chat. He said "Let me tell you what Cade did!" He then proceeded to tell me that Cade has learned to put some of the dishes away by himself! He can correctly put away dishes in the cabinets that he is able to reach. He even knows to stack the smaller measuring cups inside of the larger ones! Not bad for a toddler who is not even 20 months old yet...Once again, I'm impressed!

Making Up For Lost Time...

I just haven't been up to the task of spending much quality time with the grand kids lately. The trip to Helen wore me out, then my mother-in-law's health has become a prime concern the past few days, and has caused some family drama.

Children are smart, and Madison has "picked up" on this. On Sunday evening, after an emotionally draining weekend for my husband and me, Madison begged and begged to spend the night with us.

It was already 9:30 pm, Madison hadn't had a bath, and honestly, I was exhausted. I promised her if she would go home to sleep, she could come over the following day. She wasn't sold on the idea, but after two hugs, she finally agreed to go home.

The following morning, I had to go to the bank in town. When I arrived home from town, Madison and her mama were waiting for me in my living room. Madison was ready to "collect" on her promise!

Madison and I began our day with a little water color painting. Madison is definitely improving with her paining skills. For some reason, she always wants to begin painting with the color black! I always have to explain to her that it's better to use black last so it doesn't mess up the other colors...

We soon got out the play dough which is always fun for Madison. She loves to play with these crazy dolls that grow play dough hair. Don't you just love those scissor skills in the picture above?

Soon we moved on to the play dough molds. Madison is getting pretty good at working with play dough. I suspect that she's been practicing at home without MiMi!

She seemed quite pleased with how her play dough fish turned out! After cleaning up the play dough, MiMi was tired and ready for a nap, so I cheated and put in a movie--Beauty and the Beast. I didn't think I really ever went to sleep, but apparently I did. When I sleep, I usually snore. Madison quickly let me know that I was disturbing her movie! Gotta' love her!

We ended our day by playing "Grocery Store". We got out the cash register, the shopping cart, and all of the groceries. When my husband arrived home from work, I was teaching Madison how to put away our groceries in the pretend kitchen! Now that's what I call smart--playing and cleaning up at the same time!

He's Ready To Go...

My little grandson, Cade, came strolling into my house the other evening "sporting" a brand new back pack.

Cade wearing that back pack, was the cutest thing that I've seen coming through my door lately!

The little back pack was just his size, and was packed with his "key" (monkey blanket that he sleeps with), his sippy cup, and a clean diaper!

It was obvious that this boy was ready to go--to MiMi's house!

Cade's new back pack was a gift from his Aunt Lisa(Cade's mama's sister), who is a preschool teacher.

That was so sweet of Aunt Lisa to buy Cade a back pack so he could be a "big boy", too!

I just love it!

Weak In The Knees...

It's no secret that our granddaughter Madison loves to come over to our house--and she hates it when the time comes to go back home.

I can't think of very many times that she's left our house without putting up a fuss. One of her parents will usually lead her out while she's wailing...

The other day, when the time came to go back to her house, Madison proclaimed that "my knees hurt, and I can't walk." As she proclaimed this, she let her knees go limp, and pretended that she was unable to get around. It was quite a dramatic performance.

It never ceases to amaze me what children can dream up at such an early age. I never thought our three and one half year old granddaughter would become crippled at the thought of going home!

It's a nice feeling to be loved...

Where Are You Going My Little Ones?

The other day, Cade walked across our front porch and up to the door--for the first time! Usually one of his parents carries him in their arms. Seeing him walk over to the door made me realize how grown up he is getting, and it also makes me a little sad...

Cade is also talking more each day, by putting two words together. One of my favorite things to hear him say is "Ewwwww"! He sounds exactly like his mama! LOL

Cade really seems to like Handy Manny these days. I found him the cutest Handy Manny book while we were on vacation. Three little tools came with it, and the book had a nail to pound, plus two screws that could be turned with the screw drivers--just right for a busy little boy. Cade knows the names of all of Manny's tools.

You know, it seems like just yesterday when Madison was walking up to the door by herself for the first time, and soon she will be getting ready to go off to pre-school already! The other day when she came over for a visit, she was telling me all about how she was going to school with her "pack back"(that's what she called her backpack). I had to smile at her excitement.

Just a few short minutes later she was squirming her way onto her mother's lap, and sucking those two fingers that she loves so much..She's stuck somewhere between wanting to be a baby and wanting to be a grown up--I remember when her mama used to be the same way.

Yes, times are a changing...and it makes me a bit sad, but happy at the same time. I'll miss having babies in the house, but it's fun having "little people" to talk to and do things with. There is never a dull moment when those two little ones come around, that's for sure!

Way Down Yonder On The Chattahoochee...

Cade and Madison, along with E-pa, decided to play at the edge of the Chattahoochee River on our recent family vacation. At first Cade was more interested in picking up that stick in the mud...

Before long, the cousins accompanied Cade's mom, Christina, out into the mirky river water. It was a little bit scarey to Madison, she wasn't so sure about that river water...she couldn't see her feet.

But Cade took to the river like a duck takes to water! He had the best time bobbing up and down in the water, while his mother held onto his shirt collar! If his head bobbed under the water, he always came up with a smile on his face! I'd venture to say that it was the "highlight" of his vacation!

Out of Sight, Out of Town...

It's been nearly a week since I've written a post. Part of the time, I was on vacation in the north Georgia mountains--along with my husband, Madison, Cade, and both of their families. The rest of the time I've been trying to rest up from the trip! I needed a vacation from the vacation...

What should've been around a five and one-half hour trip to Helen, GA, ended up taking ten hours to get there...I am still trying to figure that one out! Of course we did make several stops along the way, but it didn't seem like it was four and a half hours worth! By the way, we made the trip back home in less than five and a half hours...

Cousins, Madison and Cade spent a lot of the journey on the road riding together--and I am told that they really enjoyed themselves. I know they had a really good time playing together while we were staying at the cabin! MiMi and E-pa even took a couple of turns babysitting to give their parents some alone time.

One thing I learned on this trip--getting older does have a few "perks"--other than the senior citizen discounts. While my husband and I watched people all around us--all vacationers, not just our own children--struggling with fussy, tired children, we were suddenly very glad that all of those days were behind us. We wouldn't trade our children for anything in this world, but we sure are glad that they are all grown up!