The Wonder of the Season

It's CHRISTmas time. Grant is 3 1/2 now and so much fun. This year, he seems to appreciate the sparkle and wonder of the season so much. All the decorations, lights and music have brought about hundreds of oooooohh's and oh my's. He is fascinated with all of it. The first time he saw the house after we decorated the outside was so sweet! As we were coming down the driveway he was ooohing and aaaaahing the entire way. He got out of the car and had to inspect the 4 deer and tree out in the yard. Then he ran to the lights going across the bottom of the house to check them out. Once inside he ran straight to the front window, peeled back the blinds and pressed his nose to the glass. Then he ran to the front door and pressed his nose to the glass, oooohin and ahhhing more. He was fogging up the glass! He took his little hand and wiped the fog off to see clearly and pressed his nose to the glass again. Then he started knocking on the door. Knocking at the deer. To sit and watch him. To see the wonder in his eyes. There's not a gift in the world that can top that!

and Time Stood Still

Today, Danny discovered how to make time stand still. The three of us went to Penney's to do some shopping during their door buster sale. I was checking out and Danny told me he was going to go to the jewelry counter to look for something for his mom. I bought his story... I finished checking out and headed over to where he is while asking "Hey, babe, did you find something?" He looks up and says to me across the jewelry department "Mind your own business, woman!" That's when time stood still. Anyone within ear shot of us turned our direction. I knew he was kidding and never gave it a second thought. I responded with "Oh, Okay. We will just wait over here then." In the truck later we had a good laugh at what those customers in there probably thought of us.

A Lock In of a Different Kind

Years ago when Danny and I bought our house, we noticed that the only door knob in the house that has a lock on it (other than the outside doors) is the one on our master bathroom, and it is installed backwards. We never gave thought to it... Never had reason to.... that is until today. Danny and I were in the bathroom this morning. He was brushing his teeth, and I was fixing my hair. Grant was running around the house, playing. He ran through our bedroom and slammed the bathroom door. I mentioned to Danny that I was thankful Grant didn't catch his fingers in it because he slammed it so hard. Danny finished his business and went to get dressed. YEP, you guessed it. The door was locked! Hmmmm.... what to do now. We poked the end of my comb in the hole in the knob... no luck. Jiggled the door knob and banged on the door... no luck. I layed down on the floor and hollered at Grant, "Graaaaannnt, come here." I hear the small, sweet voice from two rooms away, "no." Again I call, "Grant, please come here buddy." Again, "no." At this point, I am starting to panic a little. Time is ticking away, and I have a ton of court cases set. We have no way of calling anyone and the window in the bathroom doesn't open. I began to wonder if our only hope was the judge (my boss) sending law enforcement out to either 1) complete a welfare check or 2) execute a bench warrant for my arrest when I fail to show up for work. Thank heavens I have a strong "brute" for a husband and a cheaply made mobile home. Danny was able to pull really hard on the knob and push the door open. Yet again, ahhhhh, the joys of parenthood!

Grrr....

I have been, for obvious reasons, been trying to clean up my language. I don't curse like a sailor but I shouldn't be cursing at all. Lately, when frustrated, instead of cursing I grunt or growl... grrrr. I haven't paid much attention to how often I do this until I was getting onto Grant the other day and he growled at me!

WORDS... finally!

Grant has been slow to talk. Of course, me being the overbearing protective mom that I am, have taken him to specialists and had tests run. He is fine. Just not ready to talk yet... for the most part. However, he has started talking quite a bit more in the last few months and it is so stinking cute! His FAVORITE words are uh-oh and oh no! I hear them more than anything. His newest one is yoo-hoo (the drink). It comes out hoo hoo. Wait a minute is "min a minute" and Trigger is "tri tri". He surprised me last week by saying noodle. Plain and clear. I asked him if he wanted noodles for supper and he replied with "noodles?" He sounded like Mr. Ping from Kung Fu Panda. I thought it was so cute, I asked him to say it over and over again. Now I can't get him to say it at all... Oh well!

My Dad aka Putty...

When I was a kid, I could not have paid my father to watch a cartoon. Don't get me wrong. He would watch them on occasion, but most times we were required to watch what he wanted to watch (usually sports) or go to the other room to watch tv. Grant walks through the front door, and like machine work, dad changes the chanel to sprout or cartoon network. Last night, mom and I went to a ladies' church function. Dad and Grant stayed home. We were gone for about 2 hours. When we got back, Mom asked if Grant was good while we were gone... of course Pap-paw's little angel was perfect. When mom asked what they did... get this... dad said they sat in the recliner together and watched cartoons!!! Yep.... PUTTY!

Uncle Ronny

We laid uncle Ronny to rest Monday, August 1, 2011. He was Danny's uncle, but my uncle too. He was a special man. Special in more ways than one. You see, Uncle Ronny had special needs, but anyone that knew him, won't remember him that way. They will remember him for his huge smile, his silly big ears, and for the love he had for his family. One Thanksgiving I had the pleasure of taking Danny's Granny and Uncle Ronny to Aunt Jan's house. Uncle Ronny could not wait for the turkey to be done and for Pat, Michelle and Danny to get there. He was proud of his family... even Grant. Anytime I saw him, the first question out of his mouth was always 'where's the baby?" He thought Grant was "soo purdy" and he loved to play with him. Ronny was a simple man, too. He took great pleasure in watching the weather and keeping us all advised of the forecast. He found pleasure in the smallest things. One Christmas, I drew his name for the gift exchange. When I asked him what he wanted, his reply was colored underwear. Colored underwear?!? "Yes," he explained, "all the other men in the home (nursing home) wear white." He wanted to be different. Of course I bought them for him and he was oh so proud! You would have thought I had given him a fortune. Uncle Ronny kept us grounded. Reminded us to be thankful for the simple things in life, and helped us to laugh. No one will ever be able to tell the nanny goat joke like him. Christmas won't be the same, either. He absolutely could not wait to open his presents. "Momma, is it time to open presents, yet? Momma, tell them to hurry. Momma, can I open mine?" Rest in peace, Ronnie Dean. We love and miss you.

Sleepless Nights

It is almost 3:00 a.m. I am currently at war with my almost 3 year old son. He thinks he needs to sleep - IN MY ARMS - and only there. I have to disagree. So here we are working on hour 2 of being awake in the middle of the night. He is in his room waging a great protest. Here I sit in the dark listening to the sounds coming from his room. So far, I think he has hit almost every octave on the scale. At times, I can't help but giggle quietly to myself and the sounds he makes. He is putting forth his every effort, but he forgets that his momma is hard headed too. I may pay for it tomorrow, but I am determined to win. Wish me luck!

Choo! Choo!

Grant LOVES trains. He is fascinated by them. Thomas the train and Chuggington are some of his favorite cartoons. He watches them very intently and mocks the train sounds. When we go into McAlester, we drive underneath a train track therefore he has associated all underpasses with train tracks. Everytime we drive under one, he hollars woo woo! Whenever he sees a train (or semi truck) he says woo woo until it is out of sight. So funny. Yesterday, I was trying to record an outgoing message on my work phone from home and he came down at sat beside me. He had a book with trains in it and you guessed it. In the middle of my message you hear CHOO CHOO!

More precious memories

This morning I could hear Grant in his room playing in his bed. I tip toed in there. I love to watch him play. He was so sweet. He had his glow worm all snuggled up to him. Then he set it down on the bed and wrapped it up in his blanket. Then he leaned down and kissed it ever so lightly on the cheek. He was about to give the worm another kiss when he spotted me. So sweet!

Spring Fever

Sitting here in blizzard like conditions, it is kind of odd to think of spring fever, but... This past weekend the weather was AWESOME! My little family and I went to visit Julie and Greg. We had an awesome time. Danny and Greg went on a trail ride. Danny loved it. Said he saw some really beautiful country. Grant, Julie and I went on a "trail ride" of our own in her rhino. We spent the entire day outside. We finished the day roasting hot dogs and marsmallows on a camp fire. It was AWESOME! The sky was clear and the stars were bright. The wind was whispering through the pines. Ah gives me a warm fuzzy feeling just thinking about it. Danny and Greg told stories and Julie and I giggled like little girls. It was truly a memorable evening. And then there's Grant...

That child had spring fever! He went nonstop ALL DAY long! We decided to go fishing. BAD idea. I don't know what we were thinking taking the child who loves water to a body of water, expecting him to stay out of it. He ran straight for the pond with me hot on his trail. Danny had to knock him down to keep him from going in. Needless to say Grant was M A D. It was then that he spotted his weapon. A piece of horse poop. He picked it up and threw it at ME! Oh that boy. All I could do was laugh. Needless to say, we didn't fish long.