Monday, December 19, 2011

grandma's broken heart

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.

They also say a picture is worth a thousand words.

Hailie, Eloise and Claudia












Tara






Aaron and Tara


Riding the merry go round with Papa



Meeting Snow White
Ellie the Birthday Girl

Claudia, Melissa, William, Kennedy and Hailie
Kennedy

Chaos
Bob, Tasha, Claudia, Tara and William

The picture that says it all. Tara and Melissa
An early Christmas
Papa dancing with his princess

"Grandma .... what does N-O-E-L spell?"
"Noel."
"Yes there is."
"Yes there is what, sweetheart?"
"N-O-E-L. What does it spell?"
"Noel."
"Grandma!!!!!! It's right there!"
"What's right where honey?"
"The L! You keep saying there's no L!!!"

I miss them already.



Wednesday, December 7, 2011

they're baaaack!

Shortly before Tara and her happy little family moved to Germany, Aaron Who Will Never Be Forgiven had checked the list of conferences Das German University was offering in the upcoming year. Lo and behold, one was being held in December in Toronto Ontario Canada. Needless to say, he booked the conference and they arrived this past Tuesday for a three week stay - the majority of it being with us.

Musings from week one -

- A six hour time changes hurts *a lot* when 3 a.m. rolls around and 2 little girls think it's 9 a.m. because that's what their bodies are telling them it is.

"Grammaaaaaa ...... we're AWAKE!!!!"

So there's grandma in the middle of the night building forts out of blankets, making breakfast, playing banker with change from the old peanut butter jar - and of course, feeding them chocolate chip cookies and pointing them in the direction of their sleeping parents when I couldn't take anymore because I might be a grandma but I'm sure as shit not a stupid grandma.

- Watching the four of them see "English television" for the first time in three months hit me full force as to what life must be like in a country where everyone and everything is in another language - a language you don't know. I said they were akin to crackheads being released from prison after 3 months and finding a pail full of crack.

- Bob and Tasha and their kids come over on Wednesday night. After dinner the kids made Christmas crafts. Stepping on teeny tiny beads for the next year will probably not be fun.

- You need a bare minimum of 14 sippy and or plastic cups ready and available at all times to accomodate two kids under 4 years of age.

- You learn the hard way what the look on your daughter's face was all about when you said let's take the girls to Limeridge Mall, which happens to be the largest mall within a 75 mile radius. In the evening. In December. Two weeks before Christmas.

- You forget what a clean house looks like.

- You forget about your house when two small hands grab your face and say "I love you Grandma."



Dora!! On TV!!! In English!!!!

Christmas Crafts












Eloise and Papa



Enjoying a hot chocolate at Gore Park