David Wayne's Coffee and Mowing

David Wayne and Annie 

       At Easter

David Wayne, my little 8 y.o. nephew, actually I'm his great-aunt, was interested in the coffee we were passing around at Spencer's house.  Some folks liked it with a little sugar, some wanted cream AND sugar, and some wanted it to stand on it's own!

Surprisingly, he had never made coffee for any one before, a novelty for him.

After a bit of instruction, I told him he could have some for himself.

He made a cup, put a little sugar in it, stirred, took a sip.

"Arrh, that's nasty!"

"I don't know how you all drink this!"

"I'm gonna wash this cup out like thirty times!"

 

* * * 

A few weeks later, David Wayne comes with his father to help him mow our property.  I had gassed up the zero turn, and put a charger on it 'cause it had sat all winter.  But his dad thought our yard was a big undertaking for the first mowing and brought his own zero turn along.  The plan was for each of them to mow to get the job done faster.

Now, there's 4 acres here.  The April showers had done their trick.  The dandelions were proliferous and the grass was tall.

I noticed there was two or three times dad had to get down on the ground and pull wads of grass out from around the spindles and belts.  It made the clutch click and whine, and put out smoke one time.  This upset David Wayne, made him nervous, he shut it off and got off!

Towards the end, watching him mow in a circle, I went out to check on him.  He saw me and made a beeline in my direction and idled down the mower to have a talk.  He was so adult-like, so matter of fact.

"GrammyPam, you need a new zero turn, or ... you need to not let the grass get so high."

I had to laugh behind my hand, this little pipsqueak was laying it on the line!  ROFL.

Noelle Sweepover "Snake"

 

                                       

September 2024

Noelle who's only 4 y.o. and hadn't been here for a few weeks, went into the back bedroom and picked up her dollie, as I was walking by I heard, "There you are, Sweetheart.  Did you have a good sweepover?"

March 2023

Took a walk in Lapel park but picked up Alayna and Noelle first to go with us.  I taught them "step on a crack break your mother's back", "step on a line break your father's spine" and they thought that was just the best thing, what a hoot!  So Alayna she'd step on them on purpose and listen to John moan "Oh, my back!"  And Noelle said, "I nice, I no step on", and with her white shoes she'd take a giant step with a little jump right over.  

15 minutes in the park's playground to let them get good and dirty and home we all went.  It was good all around, I slept in!  

June 2022

When little 2 y.o. Noelle, who's the same age as Jacob, sees a slab of meat, instead of steak, she calls it snake.  The pic above is her at the display counter of steaks at Texas Roadhouse.  

She showed lots of personality that day.   In the second pic she's trying on my reading glasses.

Noelle, Ainsley, 3 Marker Challenge

 

Ainsley and Noelle

One granddaughter, Noelle, asked if she could ride home with me from church.

The other granddaughter, Ainsley, asked HER DAD if she could ride home with me from church.

HE did not ask me!

Next thing I knew their dad had plopped two booster seats, and an Ainsley in my backseat, LOL.

He was just a'laughing at his own audactiy of decision making.

So after chicken nuggets from McDonalds we came home to play -- color and cut, papers with mermaids.

and then 

I was introduced to the 3 Marker Challenge, evidently a game learned from a youtube video.

"No!", says Noelle, "you don't cover your own eyes, you cover mine.  Then I pick 3 markers without looking."  

"Now I cover your eyes and you pick 3 markers without looking."  And so, the 3 of us did.  And we colored our mermaids with only those 3 randomaly chosen markers.

At one point 3 y.o. Ainsley was tired of leaning on her chair and table, so she ambled down.  I told Noelle, "she's on the floor."  But from the floor Ainsley corrected me.

"I'm under the table."  

Well, then, okay......

and she further instructs us, "Don't look at mine.  Don't look at mine."

Noelle talks a bit differently, saying things like "My goodness!"

With more clarification, Noelle, in her raspy voice, explains the game.

"It's called a game that parents like, too.  The Three Marker Challenge.  Because they want their kids to "shut up" sometimes and "don't talk like that".

I'm busting a gut laughing, chuckling, 

and thorougly enjoying the coloring, these adorable  kids!

The Night I Sat In The Closet

Keep the phone.

Snatch a banana.

Grab shoes, and some socks.

Throw pillows in the closet.

Pull the door shut!

Huddle and text.  

That's what I did. 

They said there was a tornado near me.

Strange. 

Strange that I never thought of I.D.

After awhile, with my friend's texting, and another one checking on me, it was weirdly amazing how comfy I felt!

There I slayed - Ian's word, my youngest son.  He says it means reclining with legs straight out in front of you; not sitting, not laying, but slaying.  There I was slaying against two comfy orange bed pillows, closeted in a 

3 x 4 space, in the dark, and listening.

Mostly to the wind.

There was the jingle-jangle of the applicances going off and on.

Near the refrigerator some thing did a happy sing-song.  

Then all power went out.

As if it was in my front yard, I could hear the blaring of the warning alarm from the county seat 6 miles away.  LOUD.  INTRUSIVE.  DISTURBING.

And that wind!  Oh, it thrust by the house with slamming rain and the sounds of a roaring train!  I'd heard that sound before in the early 60's when I was 8 years old.  There were no railroad tracks near us.  There were tracks at grandma's house in Kentucky, but not near us.  I knew that sound.  But that 60's train was coming towards us across a corn field!  That didn't make sense.

Dad said it was a tornado! 

And, that we 3 kids had to sit in the V of the T shaped red brick house until it passed!  The neighbors' lost their house, but we were spared. 

 

Until my friend called I had no clue a tornado was near!  Turns out there were two!!!   Oblivion has it's own silver lining - there's no anxiety, wariness, or fear beforehand.

Her text coincided with the city's outdoor warning siren.  The county practices it every Friday at 11:00 to ensure all is working well, so I knew what it was.  

And there I slayed, warm and cozy, in the dark of night, oblivious to danger, and feeling loved from friends, texting!

"Don't open that door!"

  

 

"Let's Go See Augie!"

Sunday was fun, with a rare treat.

 

Though the kids got reprimanded, it was funny.  They asked if they could go next door to my sister's to see her dog Augie, a labradoodle.

So, Jayden and Noelle were here, nice.  And Clint's kids Lilly and Jacob were here.  Boy!  Do they play hard!  They tore up jack in the back bedroom, made notes as Red Riding Hood in the other bedroom.  Went upstairs to make letters and address envelopes of "I love you" at hubbys desk.  

Later, they were sent outside and they get out the croquet set and the golf clubs and the riding toys, then insisted on the diggers and shovels and started digging where the pile of dirt USED to be!!!!  

Came in for jello and cereal and breakfast sticks while cutting paper and making glitter glue art and declaring one was an Easter egg and the other one made of toilet paper roll was Bumble Butt!  ROFL

 

Bumble Butt!  What the heck is a bumble butt???

 

So, referring to their wishes of seeing Augie the doggie, we asked them "Is the dog outside, have you seen it?"  "No," was the answer.

"Well, let me call sis, make sure she's home."

Next thing I know, there's a rainbow of kids in the valley climbing the hill to sister's!  Jayden in sky blue jacket, Noelle in pink polka dotted coat, Lilly in puffy fuschia coat, and Jacob in orange jacket...undulating rainbow. 

 

So, Clint calls sis, "Send them home!  They didn't wait for permission!"

Sadly, rightly, they had to stand in a corner for 5 minutes then they could go back.  It  was entertainging to see who chose which corner.  And ... how Noelle didn't stand in hers too long -- she had to use the restroom, of course!

5 minutes over, and they went to sisters to see Augie doggie.  Like the witch in Hansel and Gretal the house ate 'em, never to be seen again, well, for at least a couple hours, anyway!  ROFL

 

I'm sure they went home tired.  

Lilly and Jacob

"I'm a hunter," says Jacob.

He had playfully nabbed my dustbuster after we vacuumed crumbs from the brownies we'd made earlier in the afternoon.  These two kids had been sitting and feasting on the stairs.

He points and teases Lilly, "Careful, we sucked a stink bug in here!"

Lilly lets out a girly squeal.  Jacob chases. 

"That is it with you!" she runs, "Lilly!  Attack!"  Hunted became the hunted and she became the huntress.  And off they go, full of thrills and giggles. 

March 2025

Lilly & Jacob, she's 8 and Jacob's 5, have spent the night.   I've had them throwing dirty clothess down the laundry chute.  The chute is fascinating to them especially since their father Clint, my 4th son, told them he once went down the chute as a toddler.  

Lilly loves to draw, loves to write letters, and loves grandpa John's stash of envelopes.  

"One more letter for me-e-ee?" squeaks Jacob, as he opens the laundry chute.

Lilly's using it for a mail drop box.  She's excited upstairs, he's beyond thrilled downstairs.  I'm teaching him how to safely open the chute.  

She's claimed to have sent him a beautiful colored picture of a kitty in a box.  He opens the envelope.  He's so happy, "Is this a masterpiece?"

Jacob unfolds the paper, "I have to say thank you to the mail person."

Play transfer to the kitchen where she's busy coloring a kitten with a birthdy cake and pretend cursive scribbling 6 personal letters.  I don't know why 6, but it's 6.

Jacob comes in still happy to be part of this play, but she's got other plans.

With 6 letters, she has 6 envelopes, and she's very studiously folding papers and filling them.

"Jacob!  I have a very busy morning today.  So please get out.  This IS the post office."

Well, okay, I guess it's time to go.

Jacob and Lilly - Hiding, Buggy, and Ears (2022)

Jacob - 2 1/2 years old 

(December  2022) 

Jacob, who's noticed his mom has pierced ears,  climbed up in the seat next to me, fingered my ears and said, "Yours not broken."

Lilly and Jacob

 (May 2022)

After Ainsley's first birthday party, Clint's family came over.  They "planted" my yard ornaments, stick flowers, all in one spot, added some resin animals and said "Come see my flower garden, GrammyPam!"  

When time to go home from here, "Pajamas everyone!"  They ran to hide.  One of the photos above is Lilly in 2019.  The other is Jacob.  Who's who?  They all think if they get behind my couch cushions, they are hid.  So, hilarious!

Now, at the party, here's little Jacob.  He caught me trying to take his picture and he took off running.  Around the staircase and closet we went, him just a'laughing until I turned back to face him and caught this photo.  "Oh!  GrammyPam!"

 Lilly 5 1/2

(January 2022)

The kids played hard!  Lilly found post-it notes, lavender colored, and stuck happy faces and hearts all over the house!  The table and chairs got hearts, the lamp and piano got smiley faces, the front door and stairs got stick people.  Even the Cozy Coup got tagged!  

Then they played stink bug.  Do you get them?  Last year we were inundated.  This year not so much.  Lilly has an aversion to all things buggy, not so with Jacob.

Jacob blows on it, Lilly says, "Get the bug, Jacob!" Jacob starts to touch it, and it moves, Lilly says, "Jacob!  Buggy!  Get it!"