In the past week, I have spent a lot of time at Granny and Papaw's.  I took care of Granny last Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  Then had her again Sunday, Tuesday, and cleaned their house Wednesday.  I am supposed to go back tomorrow.  I usually like to work several days together so I can have several days off in a row.  Here lately it hasn't worked out that way.  When I have one or two days on and then I have a day off, it takes a day to rest.  Then, if I have to go back the next day, I get nothing accomplished at home.  Ahhh well, tis life.  I have been asking myself here lately is this really how I am supposed to be spending this time in my life.  I have no clear answers, but there doesn't seem to be any other way.  I don't regret taking care of Mom.  She deserves the best!  She has sacrificed a lot in her life for her family.  It is just hard to be away from my family so much, and I find myself questioning that.  

When I was there Wednesday cleaning the house, Martha was taking care of Mom.  I noticed so many things we do alike.  I snapped a couple of pictures on my phone of Martha walking Mom around the table for exercise.

We have to hold her left hand behind her back.  otherwise, she will start holding on to the chairs, or start picking up stuff off the table.  It is impossible to walk her when she gets so distracted.  Martha and I will open the back door and let her stand there awhile.  She really enjoys it.

If you look in the picture beyond the table, you can see them standing at the open back door.  We use the box fan as a noisemaker to help Mom when she naps.  Last week I used it to stay cool.  Dad is so stubborn.  He will not turn the air conditioning unit (heat pump) on even though it is roasting in there.  This was their thermometer on one of the days I had to help her with her bath and cleaned the bathroom.

81.4 Degrees.  Part of the time Mom's face was shiny from sweat.  The reason it makes me so mad is because he can easily afford to keep it comfortable for us to care for Mom.  When I cooked or washed dishes in hot water, I started turning on the fan.  I could make it fine with the fan on.  I thought, he can either have the fan running constantly or turn on the heat pump that comes on every once in a while.  So much I could rant about, but I won't.  Anyway, Mary came to take him to the store Wednesday while I was cleaning.  She and Martha told him he needed to turn it on and he did.  He will keep it warmer than comfortable, but it will be bearable.  Martha just adjusts the control to what she is comfortable with.  I wish I had the guts to do that.  I think someday he may be sorry he didn't try to make it easier for us girls, and sorry he didn't appreciate how good he had it.

When we are walking Mom around the table, sometimes we stop for a break to look out the window.  This is what we saw out the back kitchen window.

Mom loves to watch the traffic on the two roads we see out this window.

If you look thru the trees, you can see the roads.  Now that the leaves are on the trees, we can't see much.  I have to find other things to talk about.  I have been talking about how green everything is and how good it looks.  I talk to her alot during the day about everything.  Some of it she may not understand, but I talk about what we are doing, going to do, and just random stuff I can think of. lol Some days I am so tired I don't talk as much.

On March 31, Mom turned 83.  I am thankful and amazed she is still with us.  Mary's kids made her the neatest card.

            

Granny used to always tell her grandchildren they were more precious than gold.  You can tell it has stuck with them.

            

 

In other news, today I let Ryan lay out of school.  He promised me the moon if I would let him stay home.  He said he would clean the whole house, etc....  Ok, I am not that naive, but he did help me a lot!!  He helped me get groceries, helped me carry them upstairs, put oil in the car, mowed the yard, and trimmed the edges.  

He worked really hard.  There are only four weeks of school left and I can't wait till summer break.  He can't wait either.

Last week Andrew was on vacation and they took Haley and Mason to the Aquarium.  They had the best time.  Nikki called me to let Haley tell me about it.  She got so excited telling me that Nikki would have to tell her to quieten down.  She didn't want her to wake Mason.  So, Haley would start whispering to me over the phone.  It was so cute.  

She told me she touched one turtle.  She said she saw a white turtle.  Nikki said she wasn't afraid and touched everything in they had in the tanks for people to touch/hold.  Haley told me she saw butterflies and one of them landed on her head, Daddy's head, and Mommy's head.  She held out her hand for it to land on her finger.

 

Nikki said she did that when they saw a parrot.  She doesn't know how Haley knew to do that.  Doesn't she look happy?

          

Even Mason had a good time looking at everything.  Nikki said they couldn't get him to nap because he was looking around instead of closing his eyes.  (I have a pic of him that didn't come thru.  I will have to post it tomorrow.)

Here are some of the latest pictures Nikki has sent me via text.  I love getting pictures of them!!!

                                                                                    

                                   

One day she gave Haley some pipe cleaner to play with.  Haley said she made a bunny family. 

               

Ok, I have got to close and get to bed.  Another early day with Mom tomorrow.  Hope you all are blessed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been so busy here lately that I have not even felt like posting.  I am looking forward to some relaxing days, but it looks like it won't be until next week.  Yesterday morning after I took Ryan to school I picked up Haley and Mason at Nikki's mom's.  Andrew and Nikki were spending a few nights in Pigeon Forge so I was taking the babies home and staying the night with them.  I had so much fun.  I tell ya.  I never dreamed being a gramma would be so enjoyable.  Haley can now carry on a conversation with me.  And she says the cutest, funniest things.  

When I went in at Nikki's mom's, Haley screamed and ran around she was so excited to see me.  Haley and I have a bond because I took care of her when she was a baby and Nikki worked.  Mason, on the other hand, has a close bond with Sue, Nikki's mom.  Even though I may be a little jealous, I am thrilled that he is close to her.  She was holding him and he had a handful of her shirt--those big blue eyes staring solemnly at me.  I am sure he would have been happy to stay there, because after we were on the road a bit, he started fussing.  Now, Mason is not a baby to cry or fuss unless he is hungry.  He had to be hungry because his fussing turned into crying.  I have rarely heard him cry since his birth.  I stopped at a exit and put a passy in his mouth.  I probably had not gone a mile after that and he took it out and started crying again.  We stopped at a rest area and I got him out.  Oh, I should say, I couldn't give him a bottle because Nikki's mom only had one bottle and she wanted to keep it.  I wasn't just trying to make him wait to have a bottle.  As soon as we got back on the road, he was crying again.  He finally cried himself to sleep.  I had to stop at Walgreens when I got there to get more diapers and formula.  He slept thru the whole thing.  When I got to their apt. and got him out, he woke.  He looked around and realized where he was.  He started smiling because he was so happy to be home.  After I lugged everything up two flights of steps, I quickly got him a bottle.  He was a little darling the rest of the time.  Nikki says when he gets hungry for a bottle, he wants it right now!!!  

Haley was such a big help to me.  When I was getting the diapers, I started to get the wrong ones.  She showed me which diapers I was supposed to get.  I said, "are you sure?"  She was sure!  Then, when I was trying to open the gate at the apartment, I was using the wrong key thing.  She said, "that's not it!"  And she got the right one and showed me.  When we got to their door, I realized the thing I was trying to use to open the gate was supposed to open the door.  It was not a key.  It had a metal circle on it and you had to place it over another circle, and then you could unlock the door.  I said, "Haley, you are going to have to show me how to unlock the door." She showed me exactly how to do it.  It really amazes me that she pays enough attention to know about these things!

Even though I was there a day and a half, I still didn't get to do everything I would have liked.  Between naps, bottles, baths, meals, and cleaning up, it takes a lot of time. I made some homemade playdough the night before I left.  Haley loved playing with it.  I bet she played over an hour and still didn't want to quit for supper.  She told me she made a duck.

Can you believe it??  It looks just like a duck doesn't it?  I knew you all would think so too.  I made "quack, quack" sounds for it and we made round eggs for it to eat.  Then, she decided to mash all the eggs with her little fork.  It looked really cool.

I let Mason squish it in his hands too.  He seemed to love it.  I would have to get it all off his hands, roll it back into a ball, and then he would squish it again.  

After supper we fixed cookies (from a tube) and iced them.  Well, actually I iced them and Haley put strawberries on them.  She helped mix the icing though.  She had to sample everything.  

Look at Mason's face. He looks like he is asking, "where is my bite???"  So, I told her to give him a bite.  She loves to share food with Mason.

I love that picture.  See Mason kicking his foot?  He was so excited to be eating something so tasty!  She wanted to give him a bite of cookie and strawberry, but I had to tell her he was too little.

Finally, we topped them with strawberries.  They are so, so delicious.

Nikki has fixed these cookies for years and they are wonderful.  

Mason kept me company while I cleaned the kitchen.

If we give him a bag that the wipes come in, he is a happy guy.  He loves the crackle sound the plastic makes.

After I gave him his night bottle, I rocked him a little and put him in his bed.  He goes to sleep on his own.  He loves his bed.  I went to check on him this morning at 7:30, and he was laying there playing.  I didn't even know he was awake.  He is such a good baby.

Haley was missing her mom and dad last night, so I had trouble getting her to sleep.  She said, "I want my Mom and Dad."  Haley loves them all being together at home all the time.  If you ask her if she would rather be at my house, Nana's house (Nikki's mom), or at home, she will say at home.  I absolutely love their apartment.  It has so many windows and there is so much light.  I love the open floor plan and that the light comes in so well.  Even Haley's room has two windows.  Anyway, Haley kept wanting to talk and play last night.  I loved talking to her.  I let her sleep with me and we talked and laughed.  So much fun making memories.  

Martha called last night and Haley wanted to talk to her.  She told Haley it was Nathan's birthday and asked if she would sing to him.  Haley agreed and Martha took him the phone and put it on intercom.  Instead of singing "Happy Birthday", she sang "Rock A By Baby."  They loved it!

When Haley is playing with her toys, often she will say, "I love you Gramma."  It is the sweetest thing.  She does it to Nikki too.  She would tease me often and say, "I love you Soosin."  I would purse my mouth and tickle her and say, "My name is Gramma or GiGi."  She would say it over and over.  When I was working in the kitchen and Mason was sitting in his seat on the counter, I couldn't leave him to tickle her.  So, she would come to the kitchen so I could tickle her. Hahaha  

This morning as I was getting breakfast, she came to the kitchen naked.  I said, "Haley!!"  She said,  "I so dirty.  I need a bath."  I had just given her a bath the night before.  She loves taking her clothes off and now she says she needs a bath so she can have an excuse.  

She ate wonderful for breakfast.  She ate a bowl of oatmeal and then I asked if she wanted an egg with cheese melted on it.  She did.  Before she finished eating the egg and cheese, she wanted to started pulling off the cheese.  She loves cheese.  I said, "you can't take the cheese off.  It is a blanket for the egg."  She said, "Is it going to sleep (the egg)?  I said, "yes.  It is going to sleep in your tummy."  She took another bite and put her hand on her tummy and said, "a home."  I said, "yes, your tummy is a home for the egg."  So, she didn't try to take the cheese off anymore, and she ate it.  When she was almost done, I thought she didn't want anymore.  I said, "do you want Gramma to eat the rest?"  She is always trying to give me a bite when she gets full.  She said, "not yet Gramma." and she ate all of it. 

Today Andrew and Nikki got home and they were exhausted.  They layed down for a nap, and Mason layed down for a nap, and I was rocking Haley to get her to nap.  Forever, it seems, I have a certain order that I sing the same songs to her every time I get her to sleep.  She sings with me.  One of the songs is "Good Night ________, and you insert everybody's name."  Well, she kept raising her head to tell me who's name to sing and how to sing it that I thought she will never go to sleep like this.  So, I went to the next song.  One of the songs I sing to her is the Barney song.  When I started singing..."Barney is a dinosaur... she raised her head and said, "no, not that song."  (sigh) I said, "I am going to sing what I want to sing."  She looked at me seriously and said, "you don't want to sing Barney." HAHAHAHA

My heart ached when I left them.  I was so anxious to get back to Ryan too.  I am happy to be back home, but I miss them.  I have to take care of Mom the next three days and I really dread it.  It means being away till around 9PM every night.  Very hard. 

I am going to close with a video I took of Haley singing to Ryan one night when she spent the night with us.  Ryan was so tired and could hardly keep his eyes open.  He was watching kid songs with her on the tablet.  She was singing to him.  Her singing gives you a clue that we live in the south.   So precious!!!