"The Texas Tornado"

Colleen had to go to Florida for a few days on a business trip, so I went to Houston to help John. He told me the afternoon I got there, that Ainsley had become a "little tornado." Soon, I found out why, and totally agreed with him! At ten months old, she is all over the house and moves faster than a tornado, in to everything! She crawls, pulls up, and walks holding on to things. I soon learned that if I went into the kitchen, in about 10 seconds, she would be directly under me! When she found an unplugged cord in the living room, under the sofa, I barricaded her from getting to it again, but that made it more intriguing, and she managed to crawl over or under all my barricading attempts. When I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth, I took her with me and closed the door. She found the little cap that covers the screw that holds the toilet to the floor. Immediately, that was going into her mouth. I had to stand on that while I was leaning over the sink to brush my teeth. Then she was into the trash can, tipping it over looking for any tidbit to put into her mouth! Diaper time? This is when she became a REAL tornado. After putting on the safety strap to secure her to the changing table, she starts crying and then digs her heels in and pushes to try to escape off the table, head first. Then she does her "tornado twirl" and flips over to her stomach. All of this must be anticipated with diaper wipes and a clean diaper ready to go! It could easily take two people to change her diaper, but I managed. Oh, did I say, she had a case of diarrhea the first day, so this routine was repeated many times, to include a change of outfit for both of us, afterward!

She loves pushing the little red wagon, which Macy walked with at the same age. She pushes it across the room, then waits for someone to turn it around, and she pushes it back.

One of her favorite things to do is playing "Peek-A-Boo" over and under the coffee table. She belly-laughed everytime she went under....
...or popped up!

Ainsley's favorite two toys of the week were a plastic bowl and a plastic coffee scoop, which she'd put in her mouth and crawl with!

She learned that when she did this, I'd laugh, so she did it over and over and over and...over!


The second night I was there, Ainsley woke up several times during the night. The next evening, John fed her a huge bowl of cereal and applesauce, until she was about ready to pop!! I gave her a bath, then a bottle, put her in bed about 8:30, and we both thought it would be a peaceful night...WRONG! She was awake at 11 and then again at 11:30, when he finally gave in and fixed her another bottle

God indeed had a "master plan" when he gave babies to young people and not senior citizens! While she kept me busy every waking minute of her day, she is such a delightful, happy little girl. John even asked the day care people if he could get a discount, "because she is so cute." They thought about it, but wouldn't give in! I just wish I lived closer so I could get my "Ainsley Fix" more often. See you next month, Texas Tornado!!

Mimi and Marshall Have a "Special Day"

Marshall's school doesn't start until after Labor Day, so the two of us headed to New Braunfels for what Marshall called, "Our Special Day." We were planning to go to Landa Park and ride the train, but got there only to find out the train is only operating on weekends and holidays now that school has started. Landa Park sure looked different than it did a few weeks ago when tubers filled the river. He wanted to take a water jug, then saw his visor, so he put that on, then as we were walking out the door, he said, "Wait, I need my sunglasses," and he ran to the kitchen drawer where he keeps them and put them on! We were off!

When we got in the car, he buckled up and began chanting, "OK, let's move it, move it, move it, Babeeee!" I laughed, and he repeated it many times until we got to New Braunfels, both of us laughing each time.Bear goes on all outings, but lately, Marshall has decided that he MUST be buckled in for safety. I takes him a while to do this process in the backseat between the two carseats, so I've started just taking Bear and putting him in the seat next to me. I am always instructed specifically to put his back feet BELOW the belt, and his front feet ABOVE the belt. Oh, and nothing else can be on the seat with him. My purse must be on the console between us! He always checks to make sure I do it correctly. This buckling passed inspection.

Since the train was not running, we went to the Children's Museum, which he loves. We had eaten an early lunch, so by 12:00, the place cleared out of all the other children and we had it virtually to ourselves! We will remember this on trips in the future. One of his favorite places there is the tool area, where he tinkered with lots of things. This is a working door bell that he is trying to fix.

He always loves the grocery store, but couldn't quite reach all the items he wanted! Here is looking for---what else---macaroni and cheese!He had the water area all to himself! He played here for about thirty minutes!

He even enjoyed the hospital nursery, because there wasn't a herd of girls playing there. Here, he is weighing a newborn baby. He had me dress one of the babies who was "naked."Here he is pretending to be sick. He got in the ambulance and told me to get in the driver's seat, turn on the lights, and drive him to the hospital, which I did. He actually looked and talked like he was pretty sick. Beware, Mom and Dad, he knows how to FAKE it, pretty well!!! After about two hours of museum time, running to the different areas, nonstop, we decided to head for home. He got very quiet when we got on IH 35, and I looked in the backseat and he was OUT! After we got home, he asked if he could take a bath. Little did I know the funniest part of the day was yet to come!! See below!

This is a little hard to see in this photo. He said, "Look Mimi, I can make DOUBLE BUBBLES!" He took his arm and rubbed it up and down his side and then slowly put his hands on his hips and the open area in between his body and his arms formed a huge bubble!! I said, "Marshall how did you learn how to do that?" He said, "Mommy taught me." When I asked her about this, she said, no, that he and Macy figured out how to do it accidentally one day! He was very proud of himself! This was the perfect ending to our "special day!" Thank you, Marshall, for another great memory! You make me laugh every time we're together!

Two Funny Little Boys

Today was Sam's last day of summer vacation before his school starts tomorrow, and Marshall's school doesn't start until next week. It was a fun day for the two boys to play together without an older sibling interfering. I've never seen two more perfectly-matched little boys. They laughed and played all day long. Both of them remembered to say, "please," "thank-you," and "you're welcome" over and over again, without ever being prompted. Yes, Mom and Dad, your hard work is beginning to pay off!! There were no arguments or tears. When Sam wanted to play with Marshall's transformer, he said, "Sure," and Sam replied, "Thank you, Marshall." Here, they are reading the book, "Eight Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed," which they both know well, and "read" together in unison, laughing the whole time, especially when they made their voices really deep to say the doctor's words, "AND NO MORE MONKEYS JUMPING ON THE BED!!"

Papa decided to take the boys for a walk to see the swimming pool, while Mimi was fixing mac and cheese for lunch. Marshall, a year older than Sam, is showing Sam his "curbing skills." They came back tired and hot with pink cheeks and smelling like teenagers! After gulping lots of cold water....

...we had macaroni and cheese, pineapple, and cookies. Sam wasn't too sure about the shell macaroni, "Mommy gets the other kind," but he ate it anyway. We played on the deck, raced cars, played with the doll house (even though Macy wasn't here to make them!), and read lots more books. They loved the "pigeon" books. Then, they watched "Lady and the Tramp," or as Sam put it, "The Tramp and Lady"...They had to have the pillows on the floor, their favorite white blanket, and the shade down to make the room as dark as possible, while watching the movie. And for some reason, they wanted to be extremely close to the screen!

After "napping," and snacking on popcorn, they topped off the day with a walk to the park to feed crackers to the fish. Both boys---and Mimi and Papa---should sleep well tonight!

Macy and Marshall have their own Olympics!

It was an "active day" on Monday. Mom has gone back to work, so I was keeping M&M. They had been watching the Olympics and decided to perform for an audience (me). Marshall said they were "gymnasticers." The coffee table became their "stage." Activities included dancing and jumping.

Mimi-Macy Trip to Houston

This picture was taken Sunday morning before we left Houston. Macy and Ainsley had fun playing together this weekend. Macy can't wait for her to get a little bigger so she can teach her how to make tiaras with "foamy stickers."

To see what Ainsely is looking at in the backyard, scroll down! "Oh, I wish I were a little bigger."

Macy and her friend, Samantha, who lives across the street from John and Colleen came over to swim. They swam with Uncle John for about two hours, laughing and diving for rings on the bottom of the pool. Hurry up, Ainsley, and grow up so you can join us!

Happiness is being in the pool in Daddy's arms and Mommy taking our picture...

...and being spoiled by Uncle John with a red-iced donut for breakfast!!! It matched her cute outfit! She also had a pink donut! What happens at Uncle John's house stays at Uncle John's house!

Ainsley loved playing "Peek-A-Boo" with Macy!

Ainsley has learned so many tricks since a few weeks ago when I last saw her. She crawls everywhere, pulls up on furniture, has begun to really "talk," claps her hands, and loves to stick her tongue up and out of her mouth to the side like this!

Ainsley, I will see you again in three weeks. I love you and wish you lived closer! Macy, thanks for going with me to Houston. You were a great companion. I especially loved our bedtime stories and talks! I'm a lucky Mimi!

Macy, the Interior Decorator

Macy and Marshall wanted to play with the doll house. Marshall grabbed the "dad" and began planning a birthday party for him with a "fudge cake." Macy began arranging the furniture in the baby's room. She took the cradle and said, "Look, Mimi, I put the cradle at a DIAGONAL!"

Marshall lost interest, and decided to check out his feet!

Fun with Grandkids

This picture says it all!! Hayden, age 6, Macy, 5, Marshall, 4, and Sam, 3.