Quiet...

They are all gone now...that house full of family over the weekend. And the house is quiet with just two old people moving at a slower pace and trying to get in step with whatever their 'normal' is for life.

Friday evening we met the Marx family at Rupp Arena in Lexington to take all the kids to the circus together. I've gotta say, I love the circus. There is just too much going on at once to take it all in. And having kids there only adds to the enjoyment of the evening. The wonder in their eyes at all the activity and lights is priceless. The grins on Claude's face as he catches one of his grandmonsters react in a cute way. All of these things are true joys. Here is a tender picture that I totally enjoy of Aubrey holding Bailey's little hand.

Claude purchased a treat for each child during the intermission. Paul, Aubrey and Hayden all wanted hats filled with cotton candy. Bailey wanted the big glass of lemonade. Pa learned that a bite of cotton candy shared by one grandmonsters does not work well with a swig of lemonade from another grandmonster!! Go figure.

Also during intermission Bailey favored us with a dance on the steps while holding onto the guard rail. She is just not inhibited at all some times. The rest of the audience were grinning at her cheerful play.

After the circus we stopped and bought Hayden and Bailey each a toy. Then we hurried out to find our cars and began the struggle to get out of a very full parking lot on the first night of the Circus. As we were leaving I called Nissa's cell phone. She and Todd had just arrived at the house.

We got home and enjoyed hugs all around, some snack foods for those in need of more nourishment and determination of sleeping arrangements for grandmonsters. It was late when we finally made it to bed and we were all quite ready for a good nights rest.

Saturday was a great family day. Papa joined us in the morning and left early afternoon.

Breakfast was served and the kids started to play. Claude and I set to work to prepare our big meal of the day which was to be lunch. Michael and Andie had planned to return home about 6pm but ended up staying the night again.

Claude filled the wading pool. Kites were flown. Movies were watched. Todd taught Michael how to replace the side mirror on Papa's car. Smoked brisket was consumed with 3 loaves of homebaked bread. Homebaked rolls were started to finish off that brisket for dinner. It was just a full house with lots of fun going on.  We ended our day with haircuts for Aubrey, Paul, Bailey and Nissa.

Bailey determined she needed to be part of the cousins sleepover. Aubrey graciously snuggled on her queen sized air mattress with Bailey and they slept for the entire night. Amazing. Hayden totally enjoyed the twin size air mattress Papa contributed to the event with his sleeping bag on top. How fun they are all now old enough to sleep in the same room and really sleep. Paul graciously took the sofa for his bed with Hayden on his air mattress to his side.

Sunday morning the Michigan van left at 9am. I left for Church at that same time. Claude stayed with the Marx family who would leave about 10am.

Sunday I accompanied a little girl who sang the special musical number in Sacrament Meeting. She was so cute and it brought back many memories of playing for my kids to sing special numbers in Church.

I taught my Sunday School lesson. Then I headed to the nursing home. Papa came down with a lollapaloosa of a cold on Saturday and missed Church on Sunday. I wanted to feed mom lunch so he would stay home and not worry about her.

I found my mother not doing very great. I told Claude that this time her eyes looked like they were glazing over. She perked up a little after I started to feed her but she was just not very perky or talkative. She did eat everything and this was a comfort to Papa when I called him to report how it went. He was now ready to stay home for the rest of Sunday and rest up to get well.

I headed back to Sadieville to find my hubby and some stretchy clothes to relax in. I asked Claude, "Is it quieter now?"  He responded that it was definitely quiet now.  It never ceases to amaze me at the difference between having kids in this home and having just Claude and me.

We now have a couple of weeks until the next round of company in September. We'll try to enjoy the quiet and life at our pace for a bit.

The Sands of Time Are Slowly Trickling Down...

Thursday, Thursday...(In my head I'm hearing the Mama's and Papa's singing Monday, Monday)

This was to be a day at home with Paul and Aubrey. The plan was to watch TV and eat junk food and rest up for the day after our two day road trip.

In the morning Claude laid out two of my old birdhouses that needed to be repainted. He put out paints and his brushes. I pulled out my acrylic craft paints and brushes. Old t-shirts we donned. And the process began.

 

 And the finished products were...

In the afternoon Aubrey and I headed out to do some items on my 'to do' list.

First we went to the Swygart's. They have just recently moved into our ward (Church congregation). The family will be speaking on Sunday and their little daughter will sing the special musical number. They needed someone to play the piano for her and I agreed to do that. We were going to practice with Savannah. While I practiced, Aubrey ready stories to her little sister. It was a wonderful visit.

Then Aubs and I headed to Sonic. One of the items on her 'to do' list while visiting was to go to Sonic for ice cream. We drove through and Aubrey got her ice cream dream fulfilled while I got a soda to quench my thirst.

We pointed the red Buick toward the nursing home next. We visited with Mimi in her room. I read her some things from the Ensign (Church magazine). Then the CNA's came to put her in her wheelchair for dinner. After they got her in her wheelchair and combed her hair, we kept her in her room to visit for a bit more. Mimi actually made eye contact with Aubrey twice and me once. She grinned each time she actually looked into our faces. This is such a high for me. As Mimi drifts further into Alzheimer's these times are fewer and farther between. I love it when it happens and was especially grateful it happened for Aubrey.

Our next stop was Papa's apartment. He had a twin size air mattress he purchased for road trips. We were looking at getting one for Hayden to have under his sleeping bag when he visits. Papa suggested we take his and use it and he will borrow it back when he takes a road trip. Aubrey deflated the air mattress and we packed it in the car and headed for our next errand.

Walmart, lovely, lovely Walmart...the mall of Georgetown. We were very focused. We had our little list and stuck to it and managed to get in and out in pretty short order.

The evening was spent watching movies and just unwinding. I always find it interesting what the kids find to entertain themselves. I have several shelves of toys and things for kids and some plastic drawers full of stuff. This time I found Paul making a castle like structure for Hayden and Bailey's visit out of the cardboard brick blocks. Aubrey found the plastic tub of PlayDoh and was enjoying it. I thought before they came that I needed to be sure I have stuff that the kids might like as they get older. They seem to enjoy what was already there. Fun.

Today is preparation day for their return home and the arrival of more family tonight. Sleeping arrangements had to be made for everyone coming which meant moving where Aubrey and Paul have been sleeping.

To facilitate this in an orderly manner (I'm nothing if not orderly), I had them each bring the bag I gave them to pack for their road trip on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then I told them to repack those bags with everything they would need today, Saturday and Sunday. They were each given a container for dirty clothes and instructed to go through their clothes and pick out anything that needed washing at all. They were to place that in the dirty clothes container. Then they were to pack everything they didn't need between now and departure on Sunday in their luggage and close it not to be opened until they got home. They were to strip their beds of sheets so the linens could be washed for the coming family. They set to work accomplishing these tasks while I hit my treadmill.

Paul finished and started his laundry. He vacuumed the basement while Aubrey got her laundry upstairs. I took them to the things I knew they missed in their packing so that, hopefully, everything is packed and nothing will need to be mailed after they leave. Yep, we had all things in order and were ready to let Pa (Claude) blow up the additional air mattresses needed for sleeping arrangements tonight. Snacks were served and it was time to relax an watch another movie while we kept the washing going and I did my picture editing and Blogging.

This afternoon there was a beautiful breeze and a great empty hill...time for flying kites. Paul grabbed the Pterydactyl and Aubrey grabbed the butterfly and out the headed. I missed Paul's kite but here is Aubrey's butterfly kite.

After kites, Claude taught Paul how to cook up hot dogs in the skillet. Aubrey learned how to make fresh salsa from the tomatos in the garden. Yummy treat for everyone tomorrow.

Tonight we will head into Lexington and meet the Marx family at Rupp Arena to go to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.

We'll have a great family day tomorrow. Claude is starting to smoke a brisket tonight for a big family lunch tomorrow. Papa will join us for the day.  

It has been a good visit. Hopefully the kids have enjoyed it.

Are We There Yet???

Ever tried to take teenagers on a car ride? Then you know the meaning of the title of this Blog entry.

Tuesday and Wednesday were planned as a 'road trip' with Aubrey and Paul. We picked places they might enjoy and that younger grandmonsters are not quite ready to enjoy.

Tuesday was Bowling Green, Kentucky. Every Corvette made comes out of the Corvette plant in Bowling Green, KY. They have a tour of the plant. Then across the highway is the Corvette Museum. Bowling Green is about three hours from our home.

Bowling Green is in the Central Time Zone. We live in the Eastern Time Zone. It would have been worth the price of admission to watch Claude and me try to be sure we had the right time for our departure. Our Corvette Factory tour was scheduled for 12:45pm. We didn't want to be late or miss our opportunity. It seems like that would be an easy time to figure out but we worked with it a bit before we were sure we were right.

We departed Sadieville Tuesday morning at 9:30am. We made it to Bowling Green in time to relax and have a nice lunch at Wendy's before our tour. After lunch we headed to the plant, put on sneakers and emptied our pockets and left cameras and purses in the car. I did get one picture of Paul and Aubrey outside the plant before we walked to the entry for the tour.

The tour lasts a little over an hour. You watch a video first. Then your tour guide walks you through the plant. Claude and I have done this tour before and I had forgotten how I felt the first time I went through. I felt just like a ball in the pinball machines. So many lights, objects moving, and noise that you just feel like that ball in the pinball machine.

The kids were fascinated with the process and seemed to enjoy themselves.

Then we headed to the car. I was grateful to get my sandals back on. My feet do NOT like sneakers. Ever since I bruised my big toes so bad walking around Massachusetts, they just don't do long walks in sneakers very well.

Claude drove us across the street for a tour of the Corvette Museum.

Paul was very impressed with the 'Corvette Only' parking everywhere from the fast food places to the museum. We were able to secure kids price tickets for the kids and senior citizen priced tickets for Claude and me. Amazing!!

The first thing was a waiting area for the next movie. They had computers with trivia games about Corvettes.

We watched the movie and then began walking through the museum. I'll share just a few pictures of Corvettes.

The highlight for Paul and Aubrey was the Corvette simulator. They each took a turn and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

We had reservations at a Sleep Inn in Bowling Green. We checked in at our hotel. Then made our way to Toots for dinner. This is a fun place to eat in Bowling Green and not the normal chain restaurant. After dinner we went back to the hotel for the kids to swim for the rest of the evening. Lots of dunking and splashing. The hot tub did not have hot water at first but the guy came and fixed that and the kids even enjoyed the hot tub a bit. I read in my novel.

We would enjoy a good nights rest.

Breakfast was at the hotel buffet. Then we hit the road for the 30 minute drive to Mammoth Caves, our Wednesday destination.

We picked the 'Historic Tour'. Claude and I did this our only other visit to Mammoth Cave. It lasts about 2 hours and is considered a Mild-Moderate tour. We had a little wait until time for our tour, about 15 minutes.

Then our tour guide walked us down the hill to the entrance. This entrance is the only 'natural' entrance to the cave for any of their tours. It is the original entrance. All other entrances to cave tours at Mammoth are from man-made entrances.

Aubrey and Paul stayed close to the front at all times with the tour guide. Claude was pretty close to them all the time. I lagged behind to take a few pictures.

Mammoth Cave has almost 400 miles of cave. This particular tour is where they first did public tours in the late 1700's and early 1800's.  There are no stalagmites or stalactites.  There are tiny little furry bats about the size of a mans thumb. Our tour took us 300 feet below the surface. There is a very low section called 'Tall Man's Misery' and a very tight section called 'Fat Man's Misery'. Another rock formation I liked was the 'Giant's Coffin'. The steps to get out of your 300 foot deep journey is amazing. It resembles the stairs in the old fire towers you used to see in forests. They did mine for the things you make gun powder out of many years ago and they also mined for gypsum.

I'll include just a few pictures from inside the cave even though they don't have any family members in them.

We made our way back up the stairs pictured above and out into the National Park where we entered.

Aubrey and Paul totally enjoyed the caves. They had never done that kind of thing before and found it a total delight.

We found a Subway for a nice lunch. We all earned it with our hiking and were quite ready to sit and feast on our sandwiches together.

Then Claude pointed the Buick toward Sadieville and away we went. We only stopped once in Lawrenceburg for some of that $3.32 gasoline. Good thing we did. Gas was $3.69 at our Pilot station near our home.

A movie with Pa tonight while I downloaded pictures from my camera and the kids camera, edited my pictures and did this Blog entry. Whew. Are we there yet???  Yep, folks, we're there!!!

Flunkies Are The Best...

Today is 'flunky' day.

We are taking Aubrey and Paul on a two day road trip Tuesday and Wednesday. We thought they might want some money for souvenirs. We also thought they should earn the money for this instead of just doling out cash to them. Claude pondered the possibilities and determined they could help him stain the decks. This is easy enough to learn to do, so they could be successful, and it is also something that will be a great help to Claude.

This morning after a muffin and juice breakfast, Claude assembled his two 'flunkies' and they headed out to do their chores. I filled my washer with my first load of laundry and headed to the treadmill. Best if I stayed out of the way.

After my walk, I grabbed my camera to get some pictures.  As I rounded the corner of the house I could hear Aubrey say, "See, I told ya. Ma would be out her with her camera!!" Here are the 'flunkies' doing their chore.

Claude did a great job of having them work and then take breaks to rehydrate. It was a perfect day to do this, low humidity and lower temperatures. But it was still in the sun and work. They took separate breaks so that someone was working all the time. It kept them going and filled the morning.

After they were inside and out of stained old clothing, I chopped up the left over fried chicken from dinner last night, Paul sliced the last loaf of home-baked bread, Claude sliced some tomatoes and Paul picked out a bag of chips to compliment our meal. Then we each made our own sandwich and sat down to rest while eating a little lunch. Hostess cupcakes and Moon Pies made an easy dessert.

Bodies rested and refreshed, Aubrey informed Grampa it was time to make jewelry. Off they trudged to Claude's office to make some jewelry.

Aubrey was particulary happy with this pair of ear rings she made.

Claude had Mayoral responsibilities and left us for a bit. Paul and Aubrey raided the toy shelves and came up with their own brand of fun. Michael Jackson singing in the background while they played Twister on the family room floor. Aubrey turned the dial first. When it was Paul's turn to spin the dial he used his nose.

Claude had Paul & Aubrey join him in the back yard to finish up their staining project. They had a few spots that the kids missed so they touched up the places they could and put one more coat on the lower deck.

Papa came over to join us for the evening. We sat on the deck enjoying a nearly perfect day. No humidity and a very  pleasant temperature. Paul just kept say, "I love it here." Papa kept agreeing.  I can't blame them and totally understand their feelings. This is just a very pleasant and homey place to live.

Aubrey helped me fix a quick dinner for everyone but Papa. He ate before he came.

Then Aubrey conned Papa into a walk on the hill. Paul was invited to join them. Of course, Tiny went also.

This gave time for Claude to tell me he had a splinter in his foot that needed extracting. I went for alcohol, cotton pads and a needle. As I worked to make a hole to get the splinter out, Claude shared his amusement at the difference in how he would have done this job. He said he would have looked for his knife, not sterilized it, and not worried about where that knife had been used last. He found it very interesting that I headed for alcohol and sterile pads, cleaned the needle, cleaned his foot and then proceeded to dig for the splinter. Venus and Mars at their best.

When the hikers returned, they came bearing flowers. Papa and Aubrey enjoy this part of a hike. There were lots of beautiful flowers in the woods. They are all really weeds but they are gorgeous.

I helped Aubrey find a vase she liked and she set to arranging them. 

Dessert time for the mighty hikers was root beer floats. Then a bit more visit and it was time for Papa to head back to Georgetown. He doesn't like to drive at night.

Aubrey chose the "Phantom of the Opera" for tonight's movie. She and Claude are about at the end of the movie. Paul has headed to bed. We may have worn him out today.

A bit of history...Claude's Gramma Chris lived near him as a kid. There were six children in his family. His Aunt had three more kids living on the other side of her. Gramma Chris was quite lame. She walked with a cane and later with two canes. But she loved her flowers in her gardens. She would get outside and, while holding on to her cane with one hand, she would dig at weeds with the other hand. Then work with a rake to get them in piles. Then she would call Claude's home or Aunt Lou's home and say, "I need a 'flunky'." One of the grandkids would come running to help with picking up those weeds and disposing of them.

As we finished up the staining this morning and the kids were finding their own things to do, Claude and I commented how nice it was to have 'flunkies' to help. Sure would be nice if they were around all the time. We are so grateful for their work this time. Claude will give them their pocket money tomorrow and we'll be off on our grand two day adventure.

A & P...

When I was growing up in Louisiana, my mother always did her grocery shopping at the A&P. Now the letters take on an entirely different meaning. It means an 'A'ubrey and 'P'aul encounter. Saturday Aubrey and Paul arrived and we get them all to ourselves until Friday evening.

David dropped them off around 5:30pm. Papa was already here to enjoy dinner with all of us. They shuttled their belongings (I hope Nissa's van is fairly empty when she comes to pick them up) into their respective bedrooms. Then Claude cranked up the grill and we enjoyed a quiet relaxing burger dinner on the deck. The kids were happy to be out of a car after their long drive and we were very happy to have them here to enjoy.

In the evening they chose to watch two movies with Claude and me. Root beer floats abounded and it was nice to settle into our week together.

Sunday morning Aubrey and I got ready to head to Church. Claude stayed home with Paul. Aubrey went to her Sunday School class while I taught the adults. Then we scurried back home to check on our guys.

After lunch Paul and Aubrey were each given their own tub of cookie dough and the island was cleared and the rolling and cutting began.

Aubrey wanted to make candy. She cleaned the candy molds I have and we set to work making candy treats. I did the melting duties and Aubrey carefully thought through how to paint the inside details of the molds and then fill the rest with chocolate. She did a great job.

Claude had a meeting to attend in Lexington so he headed off while the kids were watching Walt Disney's Robin Hood (cartoon version). I started to fry chicken for dinner.

At one point I looked out the window and said, "Paul, I see a breeze. You could fly a kite." Both kids sprang to life. Our lot on the hill next to us is just great for kite flying...when there is a breeze. Paul tried when he got here on Saturday but there was NO breeze. Somehow he did get the kite up in the air. Now there was a great breeze, the flag on the front porch was blowing sideways. I told Aubrey to pause her movie if she wanted to play also. Movie was paused and both kids headed to the basement to each get a kite.

I stopped my cooking, found my camera and headed outside. Then I saw them...storm clouds. Big, ugly storm clouds. I yelled to Aubrey from the upper back deck, "If you hear ANY thunder or see ANY flash of lightening, you are to come inside immediately."  I headed to the front yard to find Paul. The clouds then opened and the rain poured in buckets. The kids weren't seeing lightening or hearing thunder so they thought they could stay and play. I yelled and they came in. We have had some very sudden and quiet severe winds and rain lately. Sure enough, as soon as they were in the first of the thunder rumbles started.

Teens are good at finding something to do. Aubrey found Claude's chess set he bought in Israel. No one has ever played the games inside, it just sits as a decoration in his office. Aubrey and Paul opened it up and pulled the chess pieces out and had a nice round of chess.

After this, Paul rummaged in the toy closet and brought the croquet set upstairs. He hurried out to set up a croquet game while Aubrey signed off the computer. I went out to take pictures and my battery died. I came in, got the charger and put the dead battery in it and put the new battery in my camera. By the time I got outside their game was OVER!!! I couldn't believe they made it through a game of croquet that quick.

Then Aubrey set up a course and they started their new game. I quickly understood the speed with which they finished. Aubrey's course was quite windy. They do not adhere to the standard croquet game format for their set up. I was pleased to see them think outside the box. Their play began as they yelled 'GO'. Now I understood the speed with which they played. It was not a take-turns type of play. Noooooo, this was a speed free-for-all. Each one whacking their croquet mallet on their croquet ball trying to finished the course before the other one. Oh My!!! It was hysterical, I laughed, they laughed and I was able to get a few quick pictures. The second picture is Aubrey balancing the croquet mallet in her hand.

We had some amazing clouds as the sun started to set and the rain clouds moved out. Paul took some pictures with his phone camera. I used my new camera to practice a bit.

It was time to head inside for the rest of the evening.

I've noted that each of the kids says, "I can't wait to see my mom." I find this a very tender experience. Mom's are important and Nissa is very important to these two teenagers. Hope through all the 'joy' that is raising teenagers she knows they do love and miss her very much.

Monday is 'flunky' day with Pa (Claude).