Rough Day With a Smoothie

 

Nolan came over with Daddy to watch the Olympic Hockey Game.

He's not as happy with the Olympics,

 as he is to be with Daddy and Grampa.

 

 

I don't ever want to play hockey.

I just got my teeth.

 

Gramma makes a great smoothie.

 

 

It's good to the last drop.

 

 

Gramma was so interested in getting a picture of Nolan enjoying his first smoothie,

she wasn't watching close enough to prevent it from landing on his lap.

 

We had to put him in a pair of pajamas,

since no one expected him to need a spare pair of pants watching the Olympics.

 

 

 

I have a new camera I'm still learning how to use.

I had a ten minute video, because I didn't know it was still going.

Come to think of it,

I had the same problem with my last to cameras, too.

 

When I asked Matt to pour Nolan some more smoothie,

he asked if I wanted it in the cup of on his pants again.

 

Gramma has been trying to teach Nolan to say, "delicious."

He's getting the idea.

When Grampa suggests that Nolan tip his cup a bit,

Matt says, "That's how he got in trouble in the first place."

 

Smoothie Recipe

 

1 carrot

1 celery stalk

some red cabbage

a handful of blackberries

a handful of grapes

1/4 of a mango

1/2 cup coconut milk

 

Blend in the vitamix. 

Serve with a straw. 

Change clothes. 

Wipe up smoothie. 

Repeat as necessary.

 

 

 

Gramma's newest gentleman.

 

 

"I'd wave, but I can't move my arms."

 

 

 

Auntie Becca puts the sleeper hold on Seth.

 

 

Nolan is reading the letter O.

His favorite letter is E.

 

 

Nolan loves the Friday dinners.

 

 

Seth likes his Friday dinners, too.

 

 

Daddy deserves a hug and a pat on the back.

 

 

Nolan can put his puzzle together in record time.

He usually does five different puzzles in a row.

 

 

Gramma styled Seth's hair.

He couldn't get his hands out to stop her.

 

 

 

Nolan never liked the vibrator on his seat.

He likes it now, though.

 

 

Nolan is thankful to Mrs. Bartlett for the recorders.

It took a day to figure it out, but he has the technique down now.

Matt asked if we were glad he didn't figure it out in the morning,

when I gave it to him.

 

 

And here we have the Pied Piper leading Grampa.

Good thing there were two recorders.

 

 

The California Gentlemen

 

 

 

 

Andrew is enjoying reading Gramma and Grampa's Mousie and Piggie stories.

I think he's impressed by Grampa's pictures of Mousie and Piggie.

 

 

 

 

You never outgrow the carrousel.

 

Nathan always seeks out the highest summit.




 

It's a wonderful life!

 

 



 

Gramma's guitar hero.

 

 

 

Mousie and Piggie Play the Piano

by Gramma

 

 

Mousie wanted to play the piano.  He asked Gramma to help him.  She said he must play on the days he eats, so he will play well.  It is good for Mousie to play the piano.  It will help him use his ears.  His ears will tell him to go up or down.  He must use his hand to play the keys.  The keys are white and black.  The black keys are in twos and threes. 

 

Piggie wants to play the piano, too.  He told Gramma he will play the piano and sing.  Gramma told Piggie, "What you sing, you can play."  Gramma let Piggie hear her play "Run Mommy, Run Daddy."  She told Piggie, "Now you can try it."  Piggy lifted his hand to try.  If his ears told him, "Yes," he kept going.  If his ears told him, "Oops," he played a new key, until his ear said, "Yes."

 

 

 



 

Gramma, Mousie and Piggie sang "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."  Gramma said, "Try to play "Twinkle, Twinkle" on the piano.  It uses all five fingers.  Play it in little bits, so you can play it well. 

 

Piggie and Mousie are happy to play the piano.  And they will play on the days they eat.

 



Hide-n-Seek/in a Hammock

Nolan wants to play hide'n'seek with Gramma. 
He's hiding behind the couch in the office.

He is very quiet when he hides.

When Andrew would hide, he couldn't keep quiet for anything.

 

 

Nolan can hide in some very small spaces.

 

 

 

 He likes Grampa and Gramma to find things for him to vacuum up.
The leaves from Gramma's plants barely hit the floor before Nolan sucks them up.

 

Grampa and Nolan must have the same stylist.

Their shirts are reverse images.

They even wear their sleeves the same.

 

 



 

When Nolan arrived, Gramma commented on his "Cubs" cap.

Matt shook his head in disgust and informed me, "It's a Bears cap."

Matt had a White Sox cap when he was little.

 

 

If it's very cold, Nolan wears a hat over his baseball cap.

 

 

Gramma has a comforting touch with Seth.

Or she bores him.

 

Nolan is happy to have Seth, Mommy and Daddy join us for dinner.

 

 

From the California Gentlemen

 

 

 

A wild time makes for a lot of fun.

 

 

The only clue to who's who is the presence of Mousie.

Mousie is pretending to be a mouse.

 

 

This looks like a skinny hammock to me.

 

 

But I guess there's room for two.

 

 

It Takes a Team to Make a Dream

by Gramma

 

 

Piggie got on a jet and went to the Olympics.  His pal, Mousie, was there.  The U.S.A. picked them to play hockey on the team.  Mousie was the goalie, because he can do all things so well.  Piggie had a gift for winning in a shoot out.  He was the U.S.A.'s top shooter.

 

 



 

The day of the game was here.  Mousie and Piggie had their sticks and pads.  The Olympics made the puck cold, so it slides well on the ice.  The game ended in a tie, so both teams had to shoot three more times.  PIggie shot the puck into the goal three times.  But the other team got three shots in, too.  It was still a tie, so both teams had to shoot the puck until there was no more tie. 

 

The U.S.A. asked Mousie to be the goalie.  Mousie stopped the puck with his butterfly block.  No pucks got past him. 

 

 

Then it was Piggie's turn to take a shot.  He likes to play hockey in Minnesota, where it's cold.  He looked at the goalie's eyes.  When he saw him blink, he shot the puck fast.  Piggie was so fast the goalie did not see the puck.  The puck went into the net.  And the U.S.A. won.

 

Piggie and Mousie won a gold medal for playing so well.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look What Fingers Can Do

 

Nolan and Gramma found a mouse in the basement window well.

He's looking for the vent that leads to the dryer.

Nolan made himself comfortable and watched as the mouse dug tunnels in the snow.

 

 

"Could you open the window, so I could come in?"

 

 

Nolan likes to move Grampa's buckets around.

They come with convenient handles.

 

 

Nolan likes to play chess.

His game is a bit unconventional.

He has a preference for the rook.

When I realized one was missing,

I went on the hunt for it.

I tried to think like Nolan and found it quickly in the pocket of the pool table.

I don't know if it was a solid or a stripe.

At least I found it quicker than the baby monitor,

which took me a week to find.

 

He does like the bishop, too.

 

 

Nolan wasn't certain about finger painting.

He looked for a cloth to wipe his fingers.

 

 

He got more comfortable when mixing the colors. 

He became more interested in what was happening on the paper,

than what his fingers looked like.

 

 

The best part of finger painting is washing up!

This one of a kind smock was found on Grampa's t-shirt shelf.

 

 

Seth decided to forego the finger painting.

 

 

After having his snack, he was ready to look things over.

 

 

Notice his "piano" fingers.

 

 

Seth attends his first Gentlemen's Friday.

He's very glad Mommy is invited, too.

 

 

This week Grampa went over to Mary and Ray's to check on their furnaces.

It was leaking before

They have a room in their attic for the upstairs furnace.

When he went to leave the room, the door would not open.

His mind was racing to the fact that Mary and Ray were not expected back for a month.

And I wouldn't look for him for hours. 

I would have assumed he went somewhere to get parts.

It seems the latch handle on the door wouldn't work when you pushed down on it.

Fortunately, pushing up on the latch allowed the door to open.

He was glad not to have to share a room with the mice for the rest of winter.

 

 

 

Mousie At the Olympics

 by Gramma

 

Mousie is one of the Olympic coaches.  Most Olympic coaches have one event to train for, but Mousie trains mice for all of them.  He can skate, sled, ski and snowboard.  He is the best at all the events.  He's the oldest coach in the Olympics.  He's in his 60s, which is older than Grampa.

 

When there are no Olympics, he trains mice to run from cats, to jump into vents and ice skate in the winter for fun.

 

 

 



Mousie has won ten gold medals.  Mousie can skate and not fall down.  He can sled fast.  He can jump and flip with his snowboard.  The U.S.A is glad to have him as a coach.  Nathan is glad to have him as his pal.