Category Archives: Grandchildren

If Only I Knew Hodgepodge

Happy New Year from Seattle! The Space Needle is getting a face lift/renovation. They are saying there will be a glass see through observation floor. too. Here are this weeks questions for Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1. It’s that time of year again…time for Lake Superior University to present a list of words (or phrases) they’d like to see banished (for over-use, mis-use, or genera uselessness) in 2018. You can read more about the decision making process and word meaning here, but this year’s top vote getters are-

unpack, dish (as in dish out the latest rumor), pre-owned, onboarding/offboarding, nothingburger, let that sink in, let me ask you this, impactful, Cofefe, drill down, fake news, hot water heater (hot water doesn’t need to be heated), and gig economy

Which of these words/phrases would you most like to see banished from everyday speech and why? Is there a word not on the list you’d like to add?

I’ve not heard some of these words or phrases. I’m not tired of any of these…yet. I’ve not been following a lot of news these days. I had to look up some of them to see what they mean.

2. What’s something you need to get rid of in the new year?

Stuff…lots of stuff. But what stuff? What stuff will I miss when I move if I get rid of it? What stuff will just be a bother to move? What stuff is junk and what stuff is keepsake worthy?

3. Where do you feel stuck?

See question #2.

4. January is National Soup Month. When did you last have a bowl of soup? Was it made from scratch or from a can? Your favorite canned soup? Your favorite soup to make from scratch on a cold winter’s day?

I had a delicious bowl of Dear’s Tomato Rice Soup on Christmas Eve, made from scratch. Dear makes that soup. The soup I like to make from scratch is Borsch (Borscht) or Spinach Borsch or Lopsha (all soups from my Russian Heritage). The photo above is of my Borsch. My favorite canned soup is Cream of Mushroom to use it as an addition in other recipes.

When someone has a sore throat or a cold at this old house we like to get Hot and Sour Soup from a local Chinese take-out. It a nice spicy burn going down and clears the sinuses!

5. Tell us one thing you’re looking forward to in 2018.

Knowing what property we will be moving into would be very helpful to my dilemma in question #2.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

My favorite word for 2017 is Grandmother/Baba. This little one awarded me that title by being formed by God and born to our son and daughter-in-law. Thank you God and Father for this sweet gift.

I’ll be linking up to Wednesday Hodgepodge with Joyce From This Side of the Pond. She asks the questions and we provide the answers.

Hope 2018 is starting off well for you!

Goodbye and Hello…

We had a wonderful finale to 2017 this morning with brunch at Palisade in Seattle. Josh and Laura treated us to a belated anniversary celebration.

Such a cold beautiful day with the sun shining…hello.

The Space Needle is being remodeled right now and it will be fun to see the results from that. We saw Mt. Rainier to the south and the Olympics to the west.

The only thing that would have made the very last day of 2017 better is if we could have had cuddles with Addy and a hug from her mommy and daddy. They were busy snowplowing their driveway so they could get out for New Year’s Eve festivities!

We welcome 2018 with hope and are excited to see all that it holds for us.

Happy New Year to all my blogging friends and those of you who visit my blog throughout the year. I appreciate you all and the comments and encouragement you leave for me.

Our White Christmas 2017

On Christmas Eve the table was set for four of us to enjoy Dear’s Tomato Rice Soup and Pesto Tortellini after our services at church. Katie and Andrew texted us and reported that it was snowing and they were on their way. We enjoyed one “Christmas” movie together and Dear and I went up to bed while Katie and Andrew watched White Christmas together. It was Andrew’s first time to see it and judging from the laughter we heard, it was a hit. Later in the night Josh and Laura arrived on the snow covered streets like Santa, loaded with gifts for under the tree. The kids found their guestrooms and fell fast asleep. While visions of sugar plums danced in our heads the snow continued to fall.

We woke up to a very white Christmas! The prompt that tells everyone it’s time to get out of bed and open stockings is “It’s the Thought” cd by Twila Paris.  After we opened our Santa stocking stash, had Dear’s Swedish pancakes (a must on Christmas morning), then opened gifts (the order is important), we braved a walk in the snow after we all found the right footwear, coats and scarves.

Katie and Andrew even found some Pokemon Go whatevers in our neighborhood.

The younger set tried sliding along the icy streets and got some nice distance. I walked like a penguin to keep from falling.

A winter wonderland selfie. Dear loaded the dishwasher and washed the non-dishwasher breakfast dishes while the rest of us walked. He’s a keeper.

After the walk the table got a little tweak to it for Christmas dinner. The roast was in the oven wafting it’s great aromas to whet our appetites for dinner.

Josh thought to take this photo of Dear and me while we waited for the roast to rest.

Prime Rib and Yorkshire Pudding has become our Christmas dinner tradition. We’ve gone from mashed potatoes to roasted vegetables over the years. We were all quite satisfied after our meal.

Laura managed a selfie of all of us in front of the tree.

Our twentieth and last Christmas in this Old House was blessed from above and we thank God for His love.

We also were very thankful to get the two texts telling us each car filled with our best gifts had made it home safely on the snow and ice covered streets. The hardest part of their trip was getting out of our neighborhood.

In her Santa photos, Addy seems to be tolerating Santa but has her elbow positioned ready to jab him if need be and make an escape. She’s just not going to fully tuck in with this stranger.

Throughout the day we enjoyed videos, photos and texts from Dan, Jamie and Addy showing us what was going on for Addy’s First Christmas.

This was their Christmas Card this year. This was taken back in November. They had a white Christmas, too, only they got 14 inches to our 4 inches! All our snow is melted because of rain today but Addy’s house is still getting snow!

Josh and Laura sent her that onesie and the activity center.  The videos were of her opening the gifts she received from her Baba, Gramps, Aunties and Uncles. She’s quite a pro at tearing off wrapping and discarding it for what’s inside. We were all smiles and chuckles as we watched the videos over and over again.

Someone is all smiles for her first white Christmas! Baba bought her that snow suit before she was born. So so thankful for technology that allows us to experience something from across the state or the world.

We also received many photos and a video of my extended family in Southern California celebrating with my dear old Pop. Here’s one of the photos with the back of my Pop’s head and many of his kids, grandkids, and great grandkids.  Wish I knew how to share the text video of them singing Joy to the World at the dinner table. Did you know Joy to the World really wasn’t written as a Christmas song? That’s another story…(hint, think 2nd Coming). One more photo with the front of my Pop (almost 95) and three great grands that were at the Christmas Eve gathering. Ellie was born on Christmas Eve two years ago! Jackson is now a teenager and Avery is not far behind. We’re exited for our little Addy to meet these cousins once removed for the first time.

One more Christmas for the record books or record blog. I’m working on a 20 year recap of Christmases at this old house for history sake.

Thank you for stopping by during these last days of 2017.

The Day Before the Day Before…

The stockings are all hung even though some won’t be here. Santa got the memo so he won’t be confused.

The new star is on the top of the tree.

Matthew 2:10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.

Are we in trouble or what? Look at this face. Love this look her mommy captured while Addy enjoyed her pears. Looking forward to photos from her first Christmas Eve and Christmas!

Hope all is close to being ready for your Christmas celebrations!

An Adoring Hodgepodge

1. Where have you found unexpected magic or delight this holiday season?

See collage above. We decided last Friday night to take a quick trip to northeastern Washington state to see our kids who can’t make the trip to be with us on Christmas day. It was worth the drive to enjoy the day and a half and to see all Addy’s new skills and expressions and to enjoy time and meals with her fabulous parents.

The other delight for me is sitting in view of the Christmas tree with it’s lights on and enjoying Christmas music.

2. What’s your favorite type of holiday gathering? Will you/have you gathered in your favorite way this month?

Gatherings that include good food and Christian fellowship are my favorite. Besides my immediate family gatherings on Christmas Eve and Christmas day my favorite is our annual Christmas gathering with the Mennonite Girls and our husbands. The only thing that would make it even better is if our Manitoba girls could fly in for the party.

3. Time has named ‘The Silence Breakers’ (women who came forward with stories of harassment)  ‘person of the year’ for 2017. Would you agree? If not, who do you think deserves the title?

I’ll consider the source for this yearly announcement and honor in giving my opinion. I don’t expect high standards from “Time” anymore. It really is the season of discontent and finding fault in our nation. I don’t discredit women who have suffered harassment. I hope women in the future will be able to speak up boldly as it happens and not hold onto the grief for years.

Who I think deserve the title this year are Firefighters and other First Responders who have come to the aid of so many during hurricanes and wild fires, sacrificing their own lives!

Then from a Christian perspective I’d have R.C. Sproul on the cover, the founder of Renewing Your Mind, who went to be with His Lord this past week. He was a faithful servant and teacher of God’s Truth.

Renewing Your Mind is an outreach of Ligonier Ministries, an international Christian discipleship organization founded in 1971 by Dr. R.C. Sproul. We know that God uses his Word to change lives. In Romans 12:2, Paul tells Christians to “be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” That is our aim. We’re committed to faithfully presenting the unvarnished truth of Scripture, helping you to know what you believe, why you believe, how to live it and how to share it.

4. How did you spend your time this year? Are you happy about that? Elaborate

Accepting and embracing changes that have come to us. Accepting the retirement stage and the reality of what comes with that. Accepting the fact that we will be making a major move across our state next year and preparing for that. Accepting the new aches and pains that come with our stage of life. Embracing our freedom of doing what we want each day without many time restrictions. Totally embracing our new family dynamic with the addition of sweet little Addy into our family. This has been fun from a grandparenting perspective but also amazing to watch our children in a parenting role and our other children in an auntie/uncle nurturing role.

Yes, I am content and happy about it.

5. Bid farewell to 2017 in ten words or less.

Thank you for introducing us to the world of grandparenting.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

As I’m typing this my tree is getting it’s last string of lights so I can start putting the ornaments on it. I’m okay with the delay since our 3 day travel diversion yielded some sweet memories of Addy’s new skills.

We finally figured out her little tongue was feeling a new upper tooth that was trying to pop out.

Yum, unsweetened canned pears from Baba’s and Gramps’ pear tree.

She’s standing a lot more without holding on and still only takes a couple of steps at a time. Walking isn’t far off.

I just want to clap my hands! She really is enjoying clapping.

Thank you to Joyce From This Side of the Pond for asking the questions for Wednesday Hodgepodge! Thank you to everyone who took the time to read my answers.

Yahoo! The tree is finally decorated so soon I’ll have my Mystery Tree post ready to go.

Last Minute Trip…

…over the mountains and through the woods to see this little one and her parents!

We decided Friday evening to hit the road on Saturday morning to see our kids in northeastern Washington. We wanted to see them since they won’t be traveling to be with us at Christmas this year. I’ve been absent from visiting blogs because all my time has been spent chasing and enjoying our little Addy.

Addy recognized us and was willing to come to us with no hesitation. That is always a relief since there are weeks that pass between our visits.

Addy is cutting a new tooth and she continues to take a few steps at a time. Snow fell for most of the day on Sunday. We are heading home on Monday because of weather forecasts and the conditions on the roads and…I still need to decorate our tree.

It was a short and sweet trip getting caught up on all the new things Addy is enjoying from food to chatter to movement.

Fun times with gramps!

The Christmas tree was found and cut down on our kids’ property.

You have to catch a photo of her fast as she’s always on the go! She’s enjoying “pat a cake” and she can really move about in her walker!

It was fun to visit and have some sweet cuddles until next time.

The adults were able to complete a couple of projects, too, with extra hands keeping an eye on Addy.

We are hoping for clear sailing on the roads between Colville and Seattle today. Christmas is just one week away. Are you ready? We are more ready now that we’ve spent time with our kids in Colville.

Update: Thank you all for your good wishes and prayers. We made it home in great time and with very nice conditions most of the way home. We are very thankful we decided to come home on Monday as Tuesday welcomed snow and bad conditions on most of the roads we traveled yesterday. Today I will finally put the ornaments on the tree and since it is so rainy and blustery outside maybe I’ll even start wrapping some gifts.

Saturday’s Critters

Our little Addy loves Rayna. Addy’s mom says that Rayna tolerates Addy. I’m sure when Addy is older Rayna will appreciate her more.

It’s been almost a month since we’ve seen little Addy face to face. Hope a trip across the mountains can be accomplished before too long.

Here’s some other critters Dear and I saw on our overnight trip to La Conner. These lovelies were very curious when we stopped on the road to take photos of them at South Fork Farms in Mount Vernon, Washington. Love their faces!

The alpaca is a member of the camelid family, which also includes the llama, guanaco, vicuna and the camel.

Alpaca produce a specialty fiber in 16 different natural colors – white, beige, lt. fawn, med. fawn, dk. fawn, lt. brown, med. brown, dk. brown, bay black, true black, lt. silver grey, med. silver grey, dk. silver grey, lt. rose grey, med. rose grey, dk. rose grey.

Alpaca fiber is five times warmer than sheep wool and more durable than cotton.

Linking up to Saturday’s Critters at Viewing Nature with Eileen. Thank you Eileen!

Happy to say our mystery tree is up with most of the lights on it. As soon as another string of lights go up I’ll be able to put the ornaments on and show you what it looks like this year. Are you ready for next weekend? We’re enjoying our Christmas music and worshiping the one who came for us to live among us and to die on the cross to save us, Emmanuel.

Angels From the Realm of Glory

Angels from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o’er all the earth;
Ye who sang creation’s story
Now proclaim Messiah’s birth.

Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King.

 

This little one continues to delight us. We were texted a video of her taking steps already. The video showed her taking three steps. Yikes! She’s not even 9 months yet. Mommy and Daddy are going to have to be on their toes to keep track of her.

All our Christmas decor is up now and all that is left is the purchase of our mystery tree and decorating that mystery tree. In the meantime Dear and I are escaping  for a night away to celebrate our anniversary. Hope you all have a good week and that you are enjoying holy nights with the bright lights of Christmas.

This and That…

It’s still a little messy around here but we are enjoying running water and a cook top again.  The backsplash should all be on the wall sometime later today and then tomorrow or Monday the grouting can be done. It’s nice to know that for sure it will all be done well before Christmas.

Our little Addy is enjoying new foods introduced into her diet. Our DIL sent us this latest photo. It makes me smile. She’s eating pumpkin, chicken, and pear. Jamie makes Addy’s food instead of using overly processed baby food from the store.

Last night we had a little birthday party dinner for our Daughter in law/love, Laura. We enjoyed Lovella’s Cocktail Sausage Wreath as an appetizer and it was a big hit! I’m going to make it again on Wednesday for our Small Group Christmas gathering. Click on Lovella’s name to head over to Mennonite Girls Can Cook to see the method.

I’m learning so many new things from my SIL Kelly’s Advent in Art series. Today is Day 2 Mosaic in Chora Church, Turkey. I’m getting an art history lesson that I’ve never had before.

Happy first Advent weekend everyone!

Eight Months

And so it begins. Two teeth and more to come.

Addy’s mom was happy to capture these photos of Addy before she crawled away as fast as she could go, out of the room and down the hall. We say it over and over again…these little ones grow so fast and change so much in the first year of life!

Our counter tops will be installed late Tuesday or first thing Wednesday. Then Dear has to hook up the sink, disposal, dishwasher, attach the fixtures and install the cook top. Good thing he’s retired! After all that is said and done, he’ll be working on the backsplash. I’m happy it will be done and beautiful by Christmas! I will not start decorating for Christmas for at least another week or so…

Since things are already chaotic here, I cleaned out and set aside many glasses, goblets, vases, and other tchotchke to donate to Salvation Army. It’s amazing what you find in that cupboard above the refrigerator that you need a step ladder to get into!

tchotchke: (/ˈtʃɒtʃkə/ CHOCH-ka) is a small bauble or miscellaneous item. The word has long been used by Jewish-Americans and in the regional speech of New York City and elsewhere. The word may also refer to free promotional items dispensed at trade shows, conventions, and similar commercial events.

I would like you to all be thankful for your counter tops and sinks with running water to wash up or rinse and cook tops with power to boil or saute! Blessings!