Lilly's Cries, Jacob's Dream?

     🎶 Summer "day, in the park, I think it was the ..." 🎶   middle of June!

So, we (adults) were all relaxing after a pitch-in at the park.  Spencer and Calvin showed up, Clint and family, too, but sadly no Rusty & family.  At the picnic table, "What's this?" Lilly asked as she crawled upon her dad's lap while he unfolded a Tybee Island tiny souvenir map.  Jacob had found the bag of 3 tractors with track making tires that we'd bought on vacation!

Soon, I followed the grandkids around the playground while their Mom took a break.  Jacob explored every piece of equipment that was new to him.

Having raised only sons, I found it a bit difficult to get used to Lilly with her girlie out-cries.  "GrammyPam, help!"  

First it was a rope ladder that scared her because of its unsteadiness, "GrammyPam, help!"

Then, it was a spinning log roll with handholds, "GrammyPam, help!"  

And, finally, the rider raft.  It looked like a inner tube propped up on a pedestal.  She  was able to get up and in it, but couldn't figure out how to get out, "Grammy Pam!  Help!"  

LOL, GrammyPam helped.  

               🎶 "Then Along Came ... Slow-walkin' Slow-talkin' " 🎶 Jacob!

Jacob told us this big long story about how he destroyed a monster that lives under his bed.  His face was so animated, and his eyes so big, and his hands were both up in the air and expressive.  He was vigorously waving them about.

He said he had a large knife, and a sword and he used his hands to figuratively destroy this monster by chopping off its hands and legs, and he used his hands to make the head pop off and explode.  Then, the airplane dropped the monster on their house which wasn't hurt because it was made of brick.

We quizzed him...is this on t.v.?  Did someone read you a book?  Where did this all come from?

He said.  

Yep, he said.

He said it was a dream!  Lilly's!!!!

Beautiful Morning, Princesses!

 "Beautiful Morning, Princesses!"

 I'm sharing pics of granddaughters regaled in some princess dresses I found at Portland.

y 

This is Alayna. After she'd walked through the grass, and her skirt trailed, I encouraged her to stop and twist at the waist.

This is Noelle.  Her mother pinned up her skirt.  She nicely cooperated.

This is Ainsley, who also cooperated, despite chocolate lips.  LOL, there's nothing we could do, she kept eating.

Ainsley and Alayna in their "carriage" ?

Noelle, Alayna, and Ainsley buckled themselves and each other into the truck 

ensuring they got their "carriage" ride to the Grandma's house!

Jacob and Lilly - Nabbing, & Good Eats!

When 4 y.o. Jacob gets hungry, 

he parks himself at the table. 

He's been doing this 

for a long time, it's so cute.

July 2024

Lilly 7 y.o. Jacob 4 y.o. 

Clint came for skid steer, brought kids, Lilly came running up all excited, then Jacob comes running up all a'dither, too, and he inserts himself between me and Lilly.  Of course he gets nabbed and hugged first, the little corker!  Lilly's all inquisitive, "GrammyPam, we're here!  Where's the kitties? 

Where's Grandpa John?"

It was chase kitty time, "Can you help me catch Ruger?"
"No, I'm sorry Ruger is wily."
"What's wiley?"

While she's asking, Jacob says, "Watch this.  I can jump."  And he runs the full length of the deck, you'd think he's gonna do the high jump, but no, he pauses at the edge, and then studiously, over the single step, he jumps!  Then he runs and looks back to see if I'm impressed, LOL.  

"What's wiley mean?"
"He's very good and sneaky at keeping away from you."
And then she tells her father, "I'm Ruger", she giggles and teases, "You can't get me!"  But...she got too close, he reached out and grabbed her!!!

Lilly Chewing Grass, 2020

Don't know when or where Miss Lilly got her weed, but there it is!  She loved to chew that foxtail!  I've chewed grasses myself, haven't you?  It's kinda fun to taste whatever comes out of the stem, then to flatten it with your teeth and feel the fibers as they separate and become individualized, and the final mashing into mush you can either spit out or swallow, LOL, and not fun when you find some that are bitter.

We Went, 3 Women

We went to the graves.

She agreed to it.  

I agreed to deliver her daughter.  

NO!  No, no, no, she wasn't pregnant.  And, NO!  Not to the cemetery!  We delivered her daughter to her part-time job, then we went to the graves.  

My passenger was kind enough to go along with me to check the condition of the floral arrangement on dear hubby's grave.  Me recently widowed, her recently divorced - -  a tenuous thread for our acquaintance.

Then she got animated.

She recognized the intersecting road ahead, "Oh, oh, can we turn here?  I have a  special friend in the next city, you'll like her, she's a good friend and I check on her on Mondays.  You really will like her, she's something special.  You want to eat at Michaelangelo's, it's 10 dollar night?"  

Wow, okay, quick subject change and such exuberance.

Then she gets on her cellphone, calls the friend, who now only has 5 minutes to get ready before we arrive, and she says, "We're on the road, we're near you, and can be there, in 5 minutes," her eyes dart to me for confirmation, "I have a friend with me, well actually she's driving, and we'll all go to Michaelangelo's.  It's 10 dollar Monday.  That'll be alright, won't it?  You'll go with us, all right?"  

A few more excited sentences and she hangs up the phone.

"I thought we were just going to check on your friend ..."  and I let the sentence hang.

"You were hesitating about going out to eat.  But with her going along I thought you might, too."

"Sneaky!"

Her new friend was short, skinny, spry as a 50 year old, and for the cold weather donned top after top, one was floral mauve, then a sweater, a vest, a black thick furry sleeveless jacket, and finally a round, brimmed, black felt hat.  I wondered why she didn't just put on a coat.  White and pink floral canvas shoes completed her ensemble.

She had a front room stuffed full of yard sale items, organized, and tagged.  She scuttled around looking for me some donating mission brochures, scuttled some more explaining what I was seeing all the while  telling of her efforts to donate to this and that organization, and how she helped some homeless man along the river downtown.

At Michaelanglo's Italian pasta restarurant the discussion touched on my passenger's recent divorce.  The new friend thought it expedient; sanctioning the finalized date.

She sympathized with my own new widowhood.

I asked her about her marital status. This woman, white haired with old woman thin-skinned fingers, having taken a scoop of her soup, put up 4 fingers, as she bent forward and low over her bowl, and swallowed.  "I've been married 4 times.  One we didn't consummate so we just got it annulled!" 

Stunned.  I was stunned!  I'd never heard of such a thing except in books!

Just as she had scuttling movements, she changes subjects quickly, partly because her hearing is bad.  Conversing is a bit disjointed cuz she doesn't get pauses in conversations.   

"My son called me 2 times this week, he ran out of booze.  He's a nice guy." 

She chewed a bite of bread stick, "When he's not drinking."

Mentally I'm doing the math - - this "son" has to be in his 70's!

What's the rest of the story?

In 10 days she's having a birthday.  She'll be 93!

Lilly's Mermaid (age 8) Cat Joke (age 4)

 

At age 8, Lilly's drawings are getting more detailed.  She draws on a dry erase sitting beside me at church.

Silly me I drew a sail boat (top left).  

SHE DREW A FISHING BOAT COMPLETE WITH FISH ON THE HOOK!

 

I drew scales on the mermaid's lower body, silly me.  She writes "What is this?"  Then colors in the hair AND the rock!

 

I thought I'd be clever and stir up her brain juices and drew 3 seashells and a squid  just under my sailboat.  Silly me!

She drew a row of them at the bottom, complete with an anchor, balanced with large and small, and then drew a jelly fish and a mercat!

 

Silly me should just sit back and take pictures.  Still don't know what the arching thing is in the upper right hand corner, a sun?

 

 

Now, for a blast from the past.

Miss Lilly and I made Halloween cards.  This is in October of 2020, she's 4.

Lilly can, albeit sloppily, write her name.  So, I had her copy MOM and DAD onto the face of envelopes, then we traced and glued to paper some pumpkins and ghosts.  The jokes she understood are these:  

What's a cat's favorite color?  Purr-ple.

What's orange and fast?  Super Pumpkin!

What's a ghost's favorite game?  Peek-a-boo

She learned the cat color joke on her own a couple weeks ago and just laughs and laughs at her own joke, it's sweet.

Clint & Toddlers Boxed In!

In a Christmas box, 2 y.o. Clinton.            All in a box for Christmas? 

                                        

Little 1 y.o. Jacob has discovered if he throws 2 arms up some one will pick him up.  He loves to share drinks, too, LOL.  Almost climbed my shelves to get to mine!  

So does little Noelle who's also 1 y.o..  If you give her droplets from a straw, she bites down and won't release the straw.  LOL.

There's a cardboard box in the living room waiting for me to get inspired to cut it into doors for a Christmas play prop.  It's about 5 ft. tall and 3 ft. wide and 3 ft. deep (about) of which we hooked into the flaps a very small bungee cord to keep the flaps closed.

They didn't stay closed 'cause Miss Lilly who's 4 y.o. crawled in with her basket of many stuffed sheep and Master Jacob crawled in, too, and daddy Clint said, "Will it?" with a grin, and crawled in.

His cheeky grin said, "I want see if it will hold us all."  It did!  LOL.

Of course, in concert with their shufflings and giggles the flaps breathed in and out and in and out and ... !