Inherited or Taught?

Is it learned or is it genetic?  I noticed this recently when I was watching my grandson.

Hands in pockets, strolling along, my son and his shadow.

Dancing Machine!

I just want to say that this girl has nothing on our youngest granddaughter when it comes to dancing along to the music.  I know that we all really have been like this girl and danced along to music playing on the radio.  I think we also have all done just what Luci did as well.  Corey started playing a song using a phone app and...

All of a sudden, this little bit stopped what she was doing and began bouncing...

...twisting her hips from side-to-side...

...waving her arms around...

...and generally just dancing her heart out...

She was really serious about dancing to this tune.  Luci may not have her own YouTube following...yet.  But, just give her a little time!  Trust me, she is worth it!

Don't Go Breaking My Heart

I love it when the grandchildren come for a visit.  Mike and I enjoy their smiles.

We enjoy their conversations.

We enjoy their company.

We enjoy their insight to the world.

As the days go by, however, it is hard on our hearts to see them move from being sweet little toddlers...

...to gussied up girls...

...to almost teens...

...oh my heart!

Too Grown Up!

Sometimes it's the simple things...

Almost every time the grandchildren come for a visit, we notice things about them that we didn't really pay attention to when we were raising our own children, their parents.

On our most recent grandchildren visit, Mike commented at how the older girls seemed to entertain themselves and have a good time.  He was amazed at how Lillie just intuitively notices things about animals.  It is almost like she is in-tune with them.  She quickly bonded with many of the calves at the barn and even those outside in the pasture behind the barn.  She knows to move slowly and carefully so as not to startle them.  She noticed that one of the calves had pooped in his trough and needed a clean-up job.  She noticed which calves were drinking water and which were just sucking and butting at the bucket.  She noticed the markings on them and which ones looked most like the older calves as a result.  She even recalled a calf we sold back in the early spring and pointed out that one of the bottle-babies looked a lot like him.  Sometimes animal people are just natural born, aren't they?

We also chuckled at how Lydia could take toy cookware and dishes and play for over an hour with the popcorn seeds I had decorating the table.  She scooped out a couple or three handfulls and stirred and poured and measured and served.  She was just as happy as a pig in mud the entire time.

One of the ways the older girls entertained themselves was by gathering acorns.  They filled their pockets and asked if they could take them home.  So, we put them on a foil-lined cookie sheet and baked them a few minutes to kill any worms that might have been living in them.  Each girl took home about a quart-zip-bag full of acorns.  I'm sure their mom was thrilled!

Looking for acorns.

They also gathered acorns for me.  I gave them a couple of little bowls and they brought in enough to cover a cookie sheet for me.

I quickly learned that each girl needed her own little container.  Lots of arguments can be avoided by a simple plastic container.  Again, we baked them and only one popped and exploded in the oven.

I emptied the popcorn out of one of the vases on my kitchen table and filled it with the acorns.  That added a whole new deminsion of color and another element of fall to my centerpiece.

At this point, my fall decorations include ceramic, glass and porcelain pumpkins.  I didn't even buy a real pumpkin this year.  I think that is a first for my entire adult life.  Sometimes it is just easier to go with what I already have, though.

The girls also spent a bit of time playing in the mud puddles left from the week's rainy days.  They both came in at one point with pants wet from the knee down.  One of them even had to change socks.  Their mother asked why I didn't insist that they wear their rubber boots.

They did!

Grateful

I think we are all especially mindful of our blessings and have a more grateful heart in November.  While I feel it every day, today, I'm certainly expressing my gratitude for those who have served to preserve the freedoms I enjoy.

A Good Cookie

Lydia and I baked cookies the other day.  This grandmother quickly learned just how many words the youngest granddaughter has mastered.  I was told, "I-ont cookie!"

So, we parked her in a chair to protect her from a cookie thief.

Toby - aka Cookie Thief

She enjoyed each and every morsel and didn't waste a crumb!  She might dribble a crumb in the seat of the chair, but she used those little fingers to pick it up and scarf it down.

Not that she was really still while she was nibbling her treat, but this was the most still that this little girl was for the entire visit!

She nibbled a bit and then had to store her cookie in a toy plastic bowl.  Then, she would nibble a bit more.

She sat in that chair and nibbled her cookie until that last morsel was gone!

There was plenty of chatter while she sat and ate but she sat in her chair from start till finish.

It looks like that cookie was delicious doesn't it?  I think she really enjoyed it!

Baking Up Some Goodness

When our three granddaughters spent the day with us last weekend, we tried to do some run-of-the-mill things to entertain them.  They usually seem to like to spend time in the kitchen cooking with me.  So, Lydia and I made Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies.

Basically, the Kitchenaid did the mixing as I dumped in ingredients and Lydia scooped out the dough.

Scoop after scoop she dipped and plopped onto the cookie sheet.

We baked them up and everybody chowed down.