Adventure in Babysitting!

Well as of 5:00 last Friday for 2 days I was the babysitter of four rambunctious children, my cute little grandkids.  I have the oldest three often at my house, but the youngest, Grayson, has not wanted to stay with us.  He has preferred mom at all costs.  So I was nervous how this would all work.  He was just fine.  He wasn't his unhappy self when I cared for him, he was totally fine.  It was a nice surprise.  He was the one that gave grandma a run for her money.  There was never a dull moment!

Here is Grayson checking out Jamie's popcorn popper.  This was of great interest to him.  I took my camera with me so that I could take tons of pictures for the 2 days I was at their home, but between chasing kids and running up and down the steps, I was exhausted and I ended up only taking 2 pictures the whole time.  This is so not like me!  Here is the other picture!

Logan and Brecklyn are getting their Christmas Advent Calendars up-to-date.  They opened a few extra windows for the purpose of obtaining a little more chocolate. 

My favorite moments with Grayson were in Logan's room and here I so wanted to have my camera to take a picture but it was not with me.  Logan has a horse that stands at the foot of his bed.  Grayson wanted to ride the horse.  So he got on.  He hugged the horse, he kissed the horse, he jumped up and down like a horseback rider, and then he rested his head on the head of the horse and hugged the horse around his neck and smiled and laughed.  He loves that horse...!  It was sooo cute to watch.  I just was sad my camera was so far away.


So, being the old gramma that I am - I am not used to getting up throughout the night with a baby.  Boy was that hard as I heard him start to cry I would think:  I bet he will stop crying soon, I will wait a couple of minutes.   But did he stop, no, he didn't.  I had to get up everytime.  My first night back home, last night, I slept so soundly I could barely get up with the alarm clock.  This is clearly why we have our babies when we are young...I can't even imagine doing it everyday.  Thanks Jamie for taking so good care of the grandkids everyday so that I can have so much fun with them when they come over.  I don't know how you do it!

Random!

Ok, I admit it...I have been a slacker...I haven't posted in quite a while, although I have these things happen and I want to write about them and have little to no time to do so.  So these are some "random" pics from the last little while in no particular order.  Just to say...I posted finally....

So, I start with the above picture.  This year I had the Friday shift after Thanksgiving.  I usually have had it off, and on that day, I don't do the "Black Friday" thing, but I get to work on Christmas decorations at home.  It takes me half a life-time to do it all and so that is generally what occurs on this day.  HOWEVER, because I had to work, I knew it wouldn't happen.  But as I got home on Friday and walked into the house, I see this! 

And this.  Yes, Spencer had taken away all the Thanksgiving decorations and set up the tree and the nativity and a few other items.  What  a nice surprise, and just in Spencer "style" it was all neat and tidy.  (I bring out a million boxes at once and go bizerk)

So Saturday I finished the decorations, with the exception of the tree, (Jamie's assignment)  and it is done, although it still took me most of the day.  Then the kids came over and went crazy "rearranging" the pieces of my Christmas village.  They loved it, specially with all the lights and things on.  Like the lighthouses, the windmills, etc. etc.  (I have quite a huge collection of pieces) and I never seem to use them all.  Each year I bring up whatever fits and that is what I use.  This year I omitted the train set.  No one seemed to notice, at least no one said anything...

So prior to the pics above, was Brian's Bday.  So we went to Porter's Place and ate.  Here Breckie shows that she can drink through the space in her front teeth and not even need to open her mouth.  What a cool trick.   But I am glad I can't brag about the same feat. 

Grayson enjoyed the evening until the very end, where he had a bad boo-boo happen.  We are glad it turned out OK. 

Brian waits for the grub.

Here we are gaining some much-needed weight....But having a good time.  Notice there are never pictures of Mwah?  That's right, I guess I am the official Photog.

And we return home and do the "cake thing".  Brian, Spencer, and Jake's favorite, the Black Forest cake.  ALA Siegfried's delicatessen.

Yes, that is a BIG chunk of Marzipan on top.  Guess who ate it?  You are wrong...

Brian's day was on Turkey day, but we celebrated early so that he would have a fun day.  Here is the Turkey Day feast at Jay's home.  She did the turkey.  And she did a good job of the turkey and all the sides.  We had turkey, dressing, HomeMade Cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, cheesy potatoes, olive rice, red cabbage, candied yams, mixed vegies, pumpkin and apple pies and homemade rolls.  Jamie made smokies, little hordearves.   (SPELL CHECKER IS NOT HELPING HERE!)  Artichoke dip and chips and drinks and if there was something else, I don't recall.  It was all GOOD.  Notice there aren't too many pictures.  Too busy stuffing myself.
And now for December!

All I Want For Christmas!

This morning I thought that I could get presents wrapped before any grandkids came over.  I got a start and at 8:11 am, the door opened and in came Brecklyn.  And the first thing we saw?  Right, another tooth came out.  And so the title:  All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth!

11.11.11. Veterans' Day in the USA

Yesterday was Veteran's Day.  A day to remember.  I think sometimes we don't realize enough the sacrifices of life that were given for us, our freedoms...

Tyson's school has a Veteran's Day Program that they put on yearly for the rest of the school and for parents and grandparents.  Tyson's essay was chosen to be presented out of many.  I believe he said that one was chosen from each class.   His teacher picked his.  He and Spence worked on this together and made a phone interview with Spencer's father who was a WWII veteran in the 442nd infantry.  He fought in Italy and France. 

As we got to the school, the 5th grade hall was filled with these essays and the first names were all arranged alphabetically.  Above is Tyson's paper.  I had a close up, but everytime I uploaded it, it was "sideways".  So his is the first red star on the right.  The gold stars represent their family veteran.  He did a good job presenting his paper.  He had at first been asked to be a narrater until his essay was chosen to read.  I think he was quite happy about it, although probably nervous to speak in front of a big crowd of people.

This program kind of reminded me of a similar program Jamie did in school at about the same age.  I know that I have a video of that somewhere, too.

When we walked into the auditorium, from somewhere in the back in the cafeteria area we heard, "Grandma, Grandpa!"  Now this could have been anyones "name", right, but the voices were so familiar!  And we got to see 1/2 our grandkids as soon as we arrived.  Brecklyn wanted to make sure I saw her "space" in front where she had just recently lost her first tooth.  To me, as a child, losing a tooth was always "trauma".  But she seems quite happy about the whole thing.  Notice she is sitting next to her brother and surrounded by lots of boys.  Interesting.

Here is Jamie talking to Ty just before the program begins.  The kids on the side were those that had parts.  The others were the chorus.

A happy smile for the camera.  (My grandson is that really cute one in the picture, in case you were wondering!)

Such a happy boy.  I love it!

Below is the paper that he wrote:

Go for Broke!

My great-grandfather, Arthur Nishimoto, was a WWII veteran.  He is from Honolulu, Hawaii and he went and joined the United States Army in Hawaii as a young man of 18 years of age.

He was in the 442^nd combat infantry.  Their motto was “Go for broke”.  He was an infantryman or also known as a foot soldier.  This regiment of soldiers was all of Japanese descent and they were not only from Hawaii but other parts of our country including Utah.  Some soldiers were also from the detainment camps here in Utah where Japanese-American citizens were living during the War.

My great-grandfather’s unit trained on the East coast and then they were shipped out to Europe.  The first battle that my great-grandfather fought in was on June 26, 1944 at the city of Belvedere.  They won this very hard battle.  The next battle was on July 4, 1944.  He fought on the shores of Italy and France.

When he went to France, he and his outfit battled the German soldiers. Some of the American soldiers in another infantry unit were losing a battle and many soldiers were wounded and killed.  This group of soldiers was known as “The lost battalion”.   My great-grandfather and his men went to rescue them and were successful.  However, there were many casualties and many of the Japanese-American soldiers were killed from the 442^nd infantry.  My great-grandfather’s unit was also credited for saving many citizens of a town in France called Bruyers which the German soldiers were occupying.    As the Japanese soldiers came into this town to liberate it, the French people were grateful and relieved.  Some said, “Who are these soldiers?”  We thought they would be “Tall Texans”.  And they were surprised to see all the Japanese soldiers.  A while ago they had a 50 Year Reunion and celebration and memorial service for all the soldiers.  This celebration in Bruyers also had a War monument built in their town in honor of the soldiers that saved them.  This event lasted a week in France.  My great-grandfather was able to go here with my great-uncle.  It was a very emotional experience for him.

During a military Regimental Review, all of the soldiers in my great-grandfather’s company were given medals by a general.  The general was a little upset because there weren’t a lot of soldiers who were there.  The officer who served under the general , who was over the company, told the high ranking officers that this is all there was because most of the men had died in combat.

My great-grandfather is mentioned and has his story told in the book Saints At War written by Robert C. Freeman and Dennis A. Wright.

He now lives in Las Vegas.  In his office at his home are many medals and commendations from the War, including the Purple Heart and Bronze Star, and also of post War duty.  The Purple Heart is given for battle wounds during combat.  He remained in the US Army and retired as a Colonel.  He spent most of his career in the military intelligence branch of the Army.

When I talked to my great-grandfather the other day, he also told me that he and his war buddies were being presented with the Congressional Gold Medal in Washington, DC.  The article was in the Salt Lake Tribune on Nov. 1^st of this year.  The first person to receive this medal was George Washington.



Halloween 2011

Our little Gnomio!.

Gnomio and his favorite person on the planet!

Here is Pink and precious and her scary bro checkin' out the loot.  They each got a cauldron full of little goodies.

Wagon full of loot and away they go!

My very last trickster of the night, my grandson, Ty.  He was hoping I wouldn't recognize him, but Brian gave it away!  Ty didn't go with fam this year, friends were the companions of choice!
Growing up...hmmmm.

The Reward!

Being a grandma, has it's definite rewards.  Here is one:

Love notes, picture "book" and artwork.  Yesterday was my birthday.  OK, I will admit my age is getting up there!  Logan asked me  "How big are you today, grandma?"  He didn't of course mean my size, rather my age.  And so, I said,  "Well, grandma is getting old, and then gave him the number". 

"Oh," he said, "You don't look much older than the last time I saw you."  (How many days ago would that have been?)

Being a grandma is great.  The kids came over throughout the day yesterday and climbed on my lap, hugged and kissed me.  Yes, there are some great rewards in being given the title of "Grandma".

The Cake!  My favorite type:  Marzipan.

Logan has determined that his special chore at grandma's is turning on the Halloween battery-operated candles.  He does his job well!

Logan was the first one to greet me on my birthday.  He came over in his jammies and with a big smile and his nintendo ds.  Here he is shortly after arrival.  His first words to me:  Happy birthday grandma!

Some more birthday family.

The birthday flowers had an eerie twist to them, a kitty in a witch hat in a pumpkin shell.  I like it!

Here is Brecklyn reading her birthday greetings.  She has such nice handwriting, and reads so well.

Here's the b-day girl.  I had planned on taking some pics at the Pie Pizza Cafe where we were eating, but I left my camera at home :( .   It's a lot of fun there and the kids are comfortable being kids, running around and doing what kids do best:  having lots of fun.  So till the next post!

Today is Sunday...

Today is Sunday and it's a very different one...The house is quiet.  The legos are still in their containers.  The TV is not on, the other computer is not in use, the pick-up sticks and all the other toys are in their places.  The Halloween cemetery is still intact and the inside decorations are in their places.  What does this mean?  The kids are on vacation.

Me 'n "D"

I have been wanting to write about "this" for a long time, but don't like to write about complaints and illnesses and such on my blog.  For one reason, it's private to me and secondly, I like "happy" blogs with fun and nice posts.  I don't like it when people blog and are mad at the world.  Write that in a journal or tell your spouse, mom or child or the person who you have an issue with.  Don't air your dirty laundry in public is my view.  But, I do have a "complaint" of sorts that now I want to make public and that because it's a problem I live with on a daily basis.  I don't know the answer to it and neither does any doctor that I have been to, which incidentally is a lot, and a lot of different types of them, as well.  So OK, here goes:

I am vitamin D intolerant.  This sounds like an easy problem.  Don't take vitamin D, period.  Doesn't work for me.  I have a great need for it and I also have a very low vitamin d level in my blood tests.  So what does it mean?  Well, here are the problems I have from taking the supplement:

Muscle spasms, joint pain, pretty intense at times.  hair loss, vibrations in my body, mainly legs and feet.  Pulsations where there shouldn't be any, aches ALL OVER, like I have arthritis, but I don't.  Shaking in my whole body, sensitivity to cold and when I take it, about 2-3 hours later, I get REALLY hot and nervous.  Swelling of the blood veins in my forearms causing pain there.  There are lots more symptoms, but these are the ones that are really hard to deal with.

So as I said, I had been to doctors, not a few... and here are some of my diagnoses.  Incidentally, not one doctor gave the same one...sheesh...  I have carpal tunnel, causing the veins, nope, not...I have restless leg syndrome, nope, not even, I have bad nerves, sometimes, when things get to painful, yes, who wouldn't get a little nervous about that?  I have fibromyalgia, don't think so.  I have auto immune disease, the next doctor said, no I don't...who is right?  It goes on and on and on.

I read some forums, there is actually a forum with others just like me.  It is a small group, but hey!  They have the same exact symptoms as me!  Exactly, and most are also sensitive to the sun, which as you know, also provides us with a natural source of stuff to cause our body to produce vit d on its own.  Well, guess what!  When I go in the sun, it can be the worst case of pain ever.  One night I woke up, couldn't move.  I freaked and thought I was paralyzed.  This was for real.  So what do I do when I am outdoors?  Hat, sun screen, yes it helps! And shade and clothes that cover.  No immodesty going on here, believe me on that one.  So, some of the people on the forum wrote that they had gotten sick by a certain antibiotic because it was given them for a bladder infection.  Well, here I can relate, as well.  Had been treated with numerous infections, and given one antibiotic, which made me really ill and then replaced with the one they wrote about on a couple of occasions.  So is this causing this strange reaction to vitamin D?  In fact, it also occurs with food with vitamin D, such as dairy and fishy stuff.  I also have a sensitivity to flax seed, which I need for dry eye and other similar issues.  But it is almost as bad as the "d", with extreme vibration in the legs and feet and shaking beyond belief.  For a long time, I didn't know the cause, and had gotten to the point where I really thought I would need to get disability from work.  Luckily I figured it out and now it is alot better. 

So what happens when I don't take vit d?  Anxiety, panic attacks, some depression, beyond belief.  So what do I do?  I buy a capsule form of vitamin d and at the health food store buy empty capsules.  I break down a pill into several capsules.  I take them daily and the pain is tolerable.  When it gets a bit too much pain, I take some ibuprofen.  It actually helps the pain in the muscles and joints and I can walk.  I don't like to take it too much, but sometimes I have to.  I have been dealing with this now about 4-5 years.  I don't remember exactly when it began as to the year, but I can remember the first beginnings of pain that I experienced, because I had never had such strange pains before.  So, I have tried all kinds of health foods and supplements and de-tox, etc.  In fact, on Monday I will have the last of my silver fillings replaced.  Whether that helps or not, it's still a good thing to do.  Well, that's my life.  It feels good to finally open up about it.  It is hard for me to talk about except to my mom and Spencer.  I am trying to find a happy balance, because I know vitamin d prevents many types of cancers, one of which I got this year, skin cancer...I don't want to add to that, so I will keep taking what I can without going into overload. 

If anyone reading this knows an answer, please share.  This is a really hard trial and a daily issue that won't go away...

Not as of Oct. 1st...

Yesterday Brecklyn came over on Sunday afternoon and practiced her piano lesson.  She did an amazingly good job on a piece she had not played before.  She got it right away.  I said to her "Good job, princess!" and she got a totally pained look on her face and said, "No, I am no longer a princess!".  I said, "Really, since when?"  She replied as of October 1st... because now she was all grown up...:(.

Logan's Last Soccer Game!

Yesterday was Logan's last soccer game.  Logan's team won AGAIN!  This means they won every game they played.  Wow.  This game was pretty close and therefore quite exciting to watch.  The final score 3-2.  Of the 3 goals, Logan made 2 of them.  So he is definitely the MVP in my grandmotherly opinion!

It was a fun game and even the spectators had a good time!

Brecklyn keeps Grayson occupied and is a good little babysitter!  This is the little wagon I bought him to go to the zoo.  I think he likes it alot!  And maybe Breckie does too. 
Well, soccer is done for a while and we will see what is next on the agenda!

An Orange Day Today!

Cone-heads unite. As I went to run my errands today, I saw ORANGE stuff everywhere! And I don't mean this: Orange trees and leaves...






Well, I tried to load another picture, and blogger is having it's problems again...so I tried for about 30 minutes and will try again tomorrow.  I had hoped to share today, but such is life...

Brecklyn and I have a little thing...I bought some little plastic multi-colored cups at IKEA and she likes them and asks "What color day is it grandma?" and I pick a colored cup and that's the color of the day. And today was truly ORANGE for me, all cups aside.  But I can't show you till blogger is working again.  And then I will also post about Logan's last soccer game.

Well there is a new interface for Blogger, now you can go to your online photos and the pictures go on fast as lightning.  So that is that and here is the rest of my blog then!  Here is my trip to town using the "back roads" in an attempt to avoid traffic.

It was definitely an "Orange Day" today....and on the way home, I didn't take the "back roads" and the same thing was there.  I don't think I like orange so much...