The Mom Song

I know I'm way past the time in my life when this video really applies to me, but I've run into it a couple of times, and it really makes me laugh. It's comedienne Anita Renfroe's song about what a mom says in a 24-hour day. You'll have to click on the link because I'm not computer-savvy enough to know how to embed it properly. Sorry!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXgoJ0f5EsQ

Now, wasn't that funny?

"It's a Marshmallow World"

This is what we woke up to this morning. This, plus the sounds of the sirens as the emergency vehicles rushed frantically from the scene of one minor accident to the next....to the next....to the next...Well, you get the picture. Idiot drivers who think that just because they have an SUV or 4-wheel drive, that they don't have to slow down for the EXTREMELY ICY roads. I even saw people zipping by talking on their cell phones -- at least until they slide into the curb, or the car ahead of them.



I know this amount of snow is basically nothing to many of our friends and family who deal with this all winter in the area they live, but Western Oregon doesn't "do snow" very well. (All the schools were closed -- except the U. of O.) Those of us who know better take the bus to work, or stay home. Not because we don't think we could handle it out there, but because we know the roads are full of those who can't.

Anyway, isn't it beautiful? But cold -- very cold!



Everything looks fresher and cleaner covered in a blanket of white.



And for those of you who really aren't interested in our pitiful amount of snow, I give you the following random picture to ponder.

"Me and My Shadow"

As I watched Danica follow Clay around for several hours yesterday, "helping" him hang the Christmas lights, it brought to mind the many, many other similar occasions I have been a witness to in the last 4+ years. Clay and Danica have been best buddies from the very beginning. I don't mind not being the favorite grandparent because I had a similar relationship with my grandpa and those memories are very precious to me.

This little munchkin got ahold of our hearts the moment we saw her.

Clay got used to doing whatever he needed to while having a baby hanging onto him.

Whatever Grandpa was eating, Danica had to have some of it.

He taught her the value of work.

Any time he was holding still, he was fair game to become a lounge chair, or a jungle gym, or a trampoline, or whatever piece of furniture or playground equipment Danica could use him for.

He taught her to dance at the Hillbilly Hoedown.

She insists on helping Grandpa on any project he is doing.

They enjoyed making gingerbread men.

She is always willing to help him with the gardening and yard work.

Her first driving lesson.

She can talk him into anything -- even playing dress up.

"Let's race, Grandpa!" They have great fun at the playground.


Which brings us back to yesterday. Danica had a blast helping Clay look for Christmas decorations. Exploring the attic with Grandpa was a big adventure to her!

I'll finish up with a few quotes I found on being a grandparent:

I don't intentionally spoil my grandkids. It's just that correcting them often takes more energy than I have left. ~Gene Perret

Grandparents are similar to a piece of string - handy to have around and easily wrapped around the fingers of their grandchildren. ~Author Unknown

If I had known how wonderful it would be to have grandchildren, I'd have had them first. ~Lois Wyse

Our grandchildren accept us for ourselves, without rebuke or effort to change us, as no one in our entire lives has ever done, not our parents, siblings, spouses, friends - and hardly ever our own grown children. ~Ruth Goode

Yes, I Have No Willpower

Neil made chocolate chip cookies at our house last night. In return for using our ingredients (and leaving me the mess to clean up), he left a whole cookie sheet full of them -- a heaping plateful -- for me and Clay. Here is what's left of them....less than 24 hours later. Hmm, they look lonely, don't they? I'd better go put them out of their misery....

(It wasn't just me -- Clay ate some too, even though his favorite cookie is oatmeal-raisin).