THE MOTELY CREW part 2

The Motley Crew in the vestibule of Habanero Grill

Part 2

FRONT LEFT: Alayna, Holleigh

DIRECTLY BEHIND:  Ainsley, Noelle

FRONT RIGHT:  Lilly, the face of Jacob, and Jayden

LILLY

9 YEARS OLD - TEA PARTY

I had Clint's kids because they were on spring break. I spoke for them; it was planned.  For fun Miss Lilly wanted a tea party.  She loves to play scullery maid and she loves to have a tea party.   She set out placemats of paper towels, her little tea cups, and then every bodies else had to come out and play -- the 2 sheep and Toothless and the little brother and the grandma. Of course, we had Jacobs very favorite, 'baghettees! 

Just before she sat down to her plate of noodles, Miss Lilly exchanged her apron and cap for a Queen's crown!   

 

JACOB 

6 YEARS OLD - ARMY MEN

Speaking of green toy army men, Jacob brought his from home to battle me and my own green men which were left here by my son Ian.  The battle field we always lay out in the living room, he on one side of the board and I on the other.  The board is the part of a battle field where all dead men are piled.  

The board was mine when I first got married.  It laid across my lap to do Christmas cards, which at the time with John's family and mine, and no computer emails for greetings, it amounted to around 200 cards.

Then the boys needed a board on which to race their Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars.  One side has an amateurish toddler-like black oval circle with a stickman waving a flag that says "Go".  As the years went by the opposite side has been improved upon, especially by the youngest son who added color, a basic green with yellow passing lines, parking spaces, etc.

Now the grandson, he knows where it resides and can lift it out on his own when his bag of green tanks, boats, barricades and plethora of green army men arrives.

He's naive, young, and shameless.

Jacob tells his sister, "It's okay to beat her her up."  

Ah!  The little bugger is talking about me!

He explains his full backpack he brought from home, "I just pack 'em all up."

Then he adds and I'm looking at a smiling face of confidence.

 "I don't know how, I always beat her."

THE MOTLEY CREW part 1

 

The Motley Crew in the vestibule of Habanero Grill

Part 1

FRONT LEFT: Alayna, Holleigh

DIRECTLY BEHIND:  Ainsley, Noelle

FRONT RIGHT:  Lilly, the face of Jacob, and Jayden

JAYDEN

10 YEARS OLD - CHESS

Spending the day at my house, after missig the bus, for supper Jayden fried himself some eggs, gobbled them all down with toast and sausages, and STILL went home to supper!

Since it was Friday, he asked, "Game night?"  It's my usual open house time slot for board games, so we finished up the evening with chess.   I haven't played in years and years, more like 40 years!  And, I was NEVER very good at it, anyway.  Mostly just knew the moves and rules.

The very first game we played, boy, I hate to admit this ... he won in 4 moves!

Second game I was awarded a compliment.

I only had King, Queen, Rook, and 4 pawns when he said, "Checkmate.  You have no where to go." 

And then the little bugger said, "You're doing much better GrammyPam I can tell you're using your brain." 

ALAYNA 

9 YEARS OLD - GAMES

Alayna decided to stay overnight.   Mom returned with clean clothes and, would you believe, she sat and played a game of Candy Land with us.  Earlier Alayna said, "I want to play games.  Jenga."  

So Mom left, and we did.  We played Jenga and then SORRY! and then it was more Candy Land, several times!

 

Before bedtime, it was bath time.  The grandkids love the whirlpool bath.  They can turn onf the gurgling water jets and create waves and sudsy bubbles.    I was thinking "Nothing like a bubble bath with ....  baby dolls? ...... toy dishes?"  Right?  NOPE.....DINOSAURS!  

Sheesh, I didn't expect that!  I think she's a little tomboy.

NOELLE 

6 YEARS OLD - NOELLE'S ANIMAL GUESS

See following blog:  Noelle's Animal Guess

 

AINSLEY

4 YEARS OLD - AT BAT

See previous blog:  Ainsley Up At Bat

HOLLEIGH

2 YEARS OLD - HIDING

This evening we had fun playing Bad Mood Bingo, and Mean Grandma.  Mean Grandma is hide and seek.  But to get Jayden, the oldest, I would have to get clever such as standing on the tub's edge then reaching to touch the top of his head before he spied me behind the door.  Scared him so badly that he called me Mean Grandma.  

But that little Holleigh, his youngest sister, only 2 years old, hid behind dad who was laying on a twin bed calmly enjoying all the goings ons of hunting behind the closet door, under the beds, behind the curtain, and behind the tall doll house.  I never saw a little child be so still nor did I ever hear one that didn't give itself away by some sound.  She was as quiet as a mouse and as still as a rock.  That toddler, not yet 2 y.o., never did give herself away.

She was buried under the covers that were bunched up behind her dad's back!

Dad was as delighted as she was to fool GrammyPam.

HOLLEIGH

2 YEARS OLD - LOLLIPOP

We've all eaten them.  We all know the commercial "How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?"

With the grandkids here, I passed out the small bag of them I'd tucked away.  The older 2 went outside, the middle 2 went to the playroom to play dolls, and the baby, under 2 y.o. Holleigh, just hung around me and mom, in and out of the family room and in and out of the kitchen.  

All of a sudden we hear crying from the kitchen, and it's a scared cry.  

Holleigh came hurrying in to mom crying with her purple Tootsie Roll pop partially in her mouth.  My first thought was "Oh, no, she's hurt herself!"

Maybe she bumped into the kitchen table's corner edge or fell, or bumped the stick not realizing how much it stick out.

So surprised was I when Mom started laughing.  Really?  Your child's scared and crying and you're laughing?   Here is this tiny child with tears in her eyes reaching towards Mom and Mom's laughing.  Well, get this.

The Tootsie Roll Pop wasn't being held half in and half out of her mouth because she was just holding it there.  Oh boy, no, she'd gotten the Tootsie Roll Pop stuck in her upper AND lower teeth.

Her mouth was too small!

Now, grandma's laughing.

 

 

Gurgle Gone! Midget? NOOOOO!!!!

At Home Depot I got caught off guard.

This is early in May, the pond feature John had made for me years ago wasn't gurgling water.  I pulled up the pump and it was whirring but not drawing up water to spill through the overturned barrel to re-enter the pond.

Studying the boxes up high in the garden section, Home Depot's fake bird sounds tweeting loudly overhead, I was really concentrating, squinting, looking for a pond water pump.

This was the section where John had spied the black plastic liner for our pond and made the decision of which size pump to purchase.  Well, they weren't there.  I scoured the seasonal section up front and the neighboring aisles in the back, nothing.

When I rounded the corner at the end of the aisle where I thought such things shoud be, there was an African-American man, eyes level with the tray on a grill he was putting together.  My first thought was "MIDGET!"  I'd never met one in person before.  Seen plenty on television but never in person. 

I laughed my head off and without thinking just blurted, "I thought you were a midget!"

He laughed, too, got up off his knees, and stood up and you'd have thought I was meeting Wilt Chamberlain, that's how tall he was!!!!

He towered over me, asked me what I needed, and though we walked the aisles, and he couldn't find them either, he went inside the store and found help, then came back to tell me that they were in "Aisle #32, bin number 9."  What a guy!  What a laugh!

There in the outdoor garden section I had been looking up to find a pump

instead I found myself looking up to find a broad smile!

 

Ainsley Up To Bat!

AINSLEY UP AT BAT

It was a blue lump in the green grass - - what a unusual sight!

Little Ainsley was due to play baseball at 10 a.m. on this sunny Saturday morning in May, a four year old little girl, small boned and sweet faced, looks like a little sprite. She'd already had a game or two and had been to her practices, but this morning she wasn't on the field with her team. That was curious. I wasn't expecting that.

As I turned the corner around the dugout of the opposing team of busy little people in orange, I spied her father. Where was blonde-haired blue jersey-ied Ainsley?

Dad saw me, pressed his lips together, and indicted with his head that I should look to the ground on his other side. I did.

There face down curled into a blue ball was his 4th child! Ainsley. I came to see Ainsley play on the Under 5 tee ball team.

"Why isn't she out there with her team? They're up to bat."

"She won't go, she went out once, and came back to me and won't go back out."

I picked her up, that blue lump, and cradled her, and she just collapsed - dead weight. We stayed that way while I whispered in her ear myriad things to see if I could discern her attitude. She said she wasn't hungry, she wasn't tired, she didn't care if her mates were playing without her, she hadn't had any fussings with siblings or parents, she just shook her head, and buried deeper into my arms. Maybe she was experiencing a shy moment? I asked Dad. He didn't know, he shook his head again.

My own legs got tired of her weight and I shifted, and she shifted. She let her head loll and fluttered her eyes. I don't know if she was pretending, or if she was really that tired, but I smiled, amused.

After a bit, in a burst of interest, she got down and searched for her crackers. Then she went to dad's lawn chair and retrieved her power drink from his cup holder and took 2 good swallows then backed up to my knees to get back in my lap.

I turned her away from the sun, and began telling her what I was seeing. A little chubby boy in blue came up to bat and had a hard time connecting with the ball, eventually, he got to run to first base. Then a little girl smaller than Ainsley came up to bat and they had to lower the batting T for her. I asked Ainsley if she knew her. Another little boy came up, hit the ball right quick, and thre-ew his bat. I pretended enthusiastic excitement and shock.

Whispering in her ears, I pointed to a tall woman with a purple bun, and asked if that was her coach. Did she have two or three coaches? And she finger-pressed 3 fingers up.

Then in a brief moment of conversing she said, "See my jersey?" And she pulled the sides of her shirt so I could see that her number was 87, I also got to see her cleated gold shoes. Then she leaned back into my arms. This time facing forward. Maybe a little interest in the game? But no, she got up again and took another good swallow of the power drink and right back into my lap she came.

One tall slim coach was good at adjusting the stance of their small feet.

Another coach asked Ainsley if she was ready to play. Looking at the grass, she shook her head no.

Parents where cheering their own, "Go, Andrew, go!"

Clapping and hollering for Kylie. "Run to the next base, run!"

"Don't pick up the ball! Run! Son, run!"

Mr. Coach jumped back with both his feet as Ryan's bat came swinging within an inch of making bodily contact.

One little teamster hit the ball and due to malfunctioning toddlers of the opposite team was able to run all 3 bases. What a roar of the crowd! "Whoo hoo," "Yes," "Good job!" "That's my kid!"

The hour was passing, coming to an end, and kids were happy, and bouncy, and parents were rooting for their teams. "Way to go!"

Ainsley's other female coach announced to one and all, "This is our last batter," and she put her hand on the shoulders of the little blue-shirted boy coming up to home plate. Coach adjusted his grip on the bat.

Well, Ainsley didn't see what coach was doing, but she did hear the words, "Last batter."

In a miracle of coordinated movements, she slid off my lap, put her pink helmet back on her pony-tailed head, reached for her aluminum bat, and walked behind the dugout, and onto the playing field. I dropped my jaw!

Coach yelled to everyone, "We have another one!"

Ainsley went up to bat!

And I laughed my head off!

This little bugger spent the hour rejuvenating. She must've!

She ate, she drank, she napped, she got hug-loves, and when most of her teams work was done, she was ready to go.

Last batter up, Ainsley hit the ball. Ainsley ran all three bases!

"Atta, girl!"

Now, that's the way to play the game!

Trouble Making Cat Cur-tailed

That's it!

I've had it with that cat!

Looking out the kitchen window to view the condition of the backyard birdfeeder - - is it needing replenished?  Is it leaning or standing up straight?  are there birds feasting?  and ... where's that cat?

 

Sure enough, I saw her face!  Her little round white face!  

 

Her body is wound up behind her face in pouncing position, skulking under the nearby stoop to the back deck waiting to abscound with an oblivious feeding bird!  Grrrrr.  This has got to stop!

 

So, I donned jacket and garden gloves and marched to the shed to look for lattice, those crossed wooden strips, to block cat's advances.  Well, that wasn't easy.  First, move over the bicycles.  Amanda found a free on on Marketplace after I asked her to keep a lookout; nice. And it was added to the rest.  Then bring out the bistro set...yes, one more thing off my Happy Tails list of May's to-dos...pull out the saved interior door covered in cobwebs, trapped bugs and lint and stuff, and navigate my body over a long rusty pipe, and yank and pull and struggle to get the one long piece of lattice I'd saved for a few years.  There's still another one in there for future emergencies, but this one will do.

 

Drug the orange bistro set (table and two chairs) out into the yard and Miss Lilly's Dora the Explorer Kitchen Play Set out into the Roger Run, replaced the bicycles and old trike and locked up the shed.  Shew, stand up straight, take a deep breath, and take the lattice to the back deck for nailing to the stoop.   White Face was rolling over in the grass for a good ol' scratching which I wasn't havin' instead I gave her a scowl.

 

There.

Take that, cat!

 

Who took what?  Ironically, I'm the one out of breath and wiping my brow, LOL.

 

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly - Spud Salad

Hubby John used to like the movie with Clint Eastwood, titled

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly.

Well, some GOOD things got done around here.  And then…

the UGLY - I pulled another stunt on myself.

 

Yes, sir, the ugly.  

I was making supper of potato salad.  A small bowl just for me.  

I cubed a baked potato, sliced up 2 boiled eggs, added some 

relish, and grabbed the....well...uh... I was supposed to grab the 

mayonnaise, right? 

 

On Facebook, laptop parked nearby and lid standing open, I was watching Steve Harvey saying that he thinks 

watching his kids parent their kids is funny to him, and how he 

likes to give his grandkids the things his kids won't give them like sugar, candy, and beef jerky, and that’s when I grabbed something else, NOT MAYONNAISE!

Without paying attention, I grabbed something else.  Do you know what those three things - potato, eggs, and relish - taste like all mixed up with ... French dressing?!

 

Sub-b-b-b Stand-DARD!  

 

“WHOO - HOO!” shake your head in shivers, 

“Whoah, momma!”

Paraphrasing that commercial jingle, “Try it!  You won’t like it!”

Lilly & Sibling

Miss Lilly, Master Jacob

Miss Lilly, 9 y.o.

Condado's was lunch, the groups choice after church.  Sitting there at the wooden table on metal chairs, Miss Lilly thought the establishments name was funny.  She spied it in the murals on the walls and laughed telling her father, "Condado's.  Dad!"  and she giggled, "Your name is in Con- DAD-o!"  And she giggled some more, "Dad."

Speaking of a snow bank, we were, weren't we?  Well, I am, LOL.  Parking.  I couldn't pull-in-park into that big snow bank.  Not like Clinton did.  He backed into that snow bank, very nicely.  I didn't do a very good job, though.  So I thought I'll just back up and re-align myself to pull forward more properly.  Note that I am still getting used to the back-up line indicators on my truck's rear view mirror.  It's different than the centerscreen in my Honda.  When I turned to look, durned if I didn't bump into a lady's car!  Oh, my lands!  Well, Pamela, you're just going to have to accept your fate.  You did it.  I'll have to admit to the car owner.  So, I went ahead and finished parking.  Before I could finish taking my truck out of gear, Lilly had unbuckled, got down out of her seat, and ran to her Daddy's driver's door, "Dad!  GrammyPam hit that ladies car; she did!" 

 I thought, "You little booger.  You tattler.  You tattled to him before I could get my keys out of the ignition!" and I laughed to myself.

I did hit that car.  There were no backup beeps since I was in an older truck. But I felt it.  I knew.

The other driver was on her cellphone and didn't know.  She didn't know a thing.  Actually, I saw her jump when I tapped on her driver's window.  She was oblivious.  Then, we all checked....all!...me, lady driver, daddy, Jacob and "the stinker" Lilly!

There was no damage and the other driver wasn't concerned so we left it at that, but I can still hear that little girl squealer with her skirt tails flying as she ran from me to him, "Daddy, daddy, GrammyPam hit that car!"

Master Jacob, 6 y.o.

Jacob declared he was full, we left Condado's with him and Miss Lilly saying they were full.  Yet, they wanted dessert, chuckle.  But before I could get behind the wheel of my vehicle he'd already gotten in the back seat and ... spied something in the front.  He quizzed me, "You know, that blue bag with the stuff in it.  I want some." Little Eagle Eye wanted some but didn't even know what the "some" was he wanted!  Actually, they were under my purse and I had to cogitate for a second what he was talking about.  How'd he see them that fast? What an eagle eye!  And room for food?  I just shake my head cuz inside the restaurant it was, "I'm full."

I guess the grandkids did have room cuz in the words of my baby brother who wanted some jello "it can float on top."

What was in that little blue plastic bag?  

Candied orange slices.  

Now, how did he know?!