Over Keyed!

 Last Tuesday, we got the call from the VW dealer...

My car keys were done and I could come and get my car!

If my arthritis wasn't so bad, I would have done a happy dance.

Sad part was I didn't have anywhere to go...

Mr K didn't have a key to his car, but he could always find places to go...

I considered renting him my key to his car... 

On Thursday, I took Locklan and Teagan to visit Henry and Luca!

Oh my goodness, Henry was so happy to see them he kept hugging them and giggling.

Luca got plenty of attention...

I didn't think Locklan was ever going to let him go!

I finally got them all to sit pretty still...

Every time I look at this, my heart sings!

Oh my, grandma life!

Lots more going on but I have things I have to get done before Mr.K and the dogs get up!

Here's the Key

 Actually, there is no key.

Let me start at the beginning, or even before that.

Last Friday Mr.K went to Tractor Supply for dog food.

Later that day, Mr. K could not find his car keys.

In this house, we have two complete sets.  We each have keys to both cars.

On Saturday I took my keys apart and handed him a key for his car.

We were fine...well, almost fine.

That's when he noticed that his inspection sticker expired in JANUARY!

We made it through the weekend and then Monday morning I was headed to Tony and Mindy's to babysit Henry while Mindy took Luca for his one month check up.

I grab my purse (where I always keep the keys) and hit the ignition.

It says the key is not in the car.

A quick dump of the contents of my purse on the front seat.

Nope, no key.

I asked begged Mr. K to help me find the key.

No key to be found.

The only car we have with a key is his out of inspection Kia

(that incidentally is parked in the drive because Kia recalled it and said not to park it in or near structures because of fire danger)

I jumped in his car and drove (very carefully) to baby sit.

This morning, the first available time for inspection the car was legal!

Still no key for my car.

Mr. K started making phone calls.

Finally, he spoke with Nationwide.  They agreed to help find a towing company that could get my car out of the garage and tow it to the VW dealer where they would program the new keys...when they come in on Monday or Tuesday.

We were just getting ready to eat dinner with a guy comes to our door.  He came to tow my car to the dealer.

Now, I usually park in the garage with my window open.  Don't ask why.

The guy knew how to put the car in neutral, but he could not get the window up!

Mr. K helped him put plastic over the window!

So there I was...

Watching my darling VW on the back of a tow truck...

Headed for the VW dealer to be parked in their lot with the window down?

Until Monday or Tuesday.

Somehow I could not make sense of it all, but in guy-talk, I was wrong...

The service manager (and I have plenty of bad experiences with them)

said he would send someone out to throw plastic over it.

The key is...there is no key!

But to brighten my day...

Henry and Luca took their first bath together!

~sigh~

Grandma life!

Corgi Day?

 This morning my newsfeed announced that it was National Welch Corgi Day.

I begrudgingly thought it was only appropriate to honor Miss Shirley...

But then I saw that International Corgi Day was scheduled for June 4, 2021...

What the heck, another day to honor her?

I did find yet another day, 

International Corgi Day is April 20!

Shirley said it's going to be a big celebration so she's cleaning house...

And getting supplies...

It's going to be a big one!

Which is making Winnie rather disgruntled...

How about that?!?

One whole post without photos of grandkids!

Think again!

~sigh~

Grandma life!

Scraps of Life...

 Just some bits of this and that from the past week...

Photos the kids shared, things I did...

Places my brain went...

First off, I'm in up to my wazoo with my mom's estate.

So many things to do, questions to ask, STUFF to deal with.

I remember that for the past ten years, each time I visited my mother  she tried to give me things out of her house.  I usually refused, saying I had more than enough STUFF at my house already.

Now I see that it would have been easier to take the contents of her house piece by piece than to deal with the whole mess at once!

I'm learning...look out kids!

It's been difficult working on the legal stuff.  I've known my attorney for for than 55 years.

He was a fuss budget in junior high and has only gotten worse.  We're both old and cranky.

I think he should have retired years ago...just kidding, Stephen!

Of course, there was my Tuesday dinner with Locklan.  Wouldn't miss it for anything.

I try to find something to play while we're waiting for our dinners.

This week it was dominoes!

He loved it and took the tiles home to play with his mom.  

He claimed he usually won but occasionally Teagan won.

Yesterday afternoon, the kids stopped by for an afternoon visit.

Within minutes, they gathered furniture from every room to set up their theater.

They took turns as master of ceremony and performing.

Teagan danced, Locklan sang.  The big problem was that when Teagan was Master of Ceremony, she would introduce herself, introduce the performers and thank everyone for coming.

That included going out and hugging everyone in the audience which included 3 bears, 2 cabbage patch dolls and a few stuffed animals.

She's amazing...

We had fun but I was beat after all that excitement!

I was happy to see Andy helping put my house back in order!

Tony sent me this...

Brothers having lunch?

Last night, he shared this...

I think they like him!

Wow!  That was a week!

Next week I get my second covoid injection, Mr. K has had both of his...

And (grandma) life goes on!

~SIGH~

Grandma and the Cricut

 I've had a vinyl cutting machine of one brand or another for 6 or 7 years.

I really didn't use them much until grandkids came along.

I did monthly baby shirts...

birthday shirts...

And even holiday shirts...

(the shirts were good, the kids were not)

Henry's dad (Tony) is a Nationwide agent.

Henry is obsessed with Nationwide.

He even tells the knock-knock joke:

Knock-Knock

Who's there?

Nationwide

Nationwide who?

Nationwide is on your side.

Mindy and I were talking,

she thought Henry would enjoy a Nationwide shirt.

Like this?

He was delighted.

So was Luca...

On Sunday Tony and I were talking about Blue's Clues.

Henry loves it and while he was napping, Mindy made him 'clues' out of construction paper...

That gave me an idea...

A Blue's Clues shirt.

Oh, yes, he's playing golf with MeMaw's walking stick!

Don't stand still, MeMaw will probably decorate you.

~sigh~

Grandma Life!

Home Sweet Home

 Yesterday afternoon, I made the 25 mile drive to Tony and Mindy's house...

( I really do miss having them 2 miles from me)

My job was to play with Henry while Tony went to pick up Mindy and Luca.

We didn't tell Henry where he was going.

When they came in, Henry and I were in his play room and Mindy came in to greet him while Tony got Luca out of his car seat.

Then we took Henry out to the living room.

He seemed stunned when he saw Luca.

At first, he just stared...

But before long...

My heart just melts...

~sigh~

Grandma life!

We Got Them Going!

Back in July I got a kick ass deal on digital photo frames...

So I got everyone one, even me!

During the holiday season, they were the farthest from our minds...

But Mindy being Mindy, she's always busy, as soon as her tree came down 

(Mine is still up), she started loading photos into hers.

Henry LOVES photos, especially of him, but he loves Teagan and Locklan too.

So it was a huge hit with him...

He even talks to it!!

I got a text from Ashley...

Her kids were fascinated as well!

Of course, I had to set mine up too...

Now last year I bought my mom one but since she didn't have internet access, you had to load the photos into hers...

Ours has wifi...we can send pictures to each other's frame.

Oh what fun!  Mindy got to see Tony's second grade picture!

Simple pleasures...

 

We Got Some!

 We got snow!  I love snow!

First Andy and Ashley came over to use my front yard...

And then decided to be more adventurous and headed for the state park...

First Mr. K thought he'd shovel out the drive...

But he quickly realized he'd have to get out the snow blower...

Yes, he's wearing shorts and tennis shoes without socks...

Henry loved it...

In fact, last night Mindy sent me a video of Tony,

wearing pajamas and a winter coat, pulling Henry up and down the sidewalk

on his sled...

Catherine sent me this picture of Michael...

I kept looking out at it...

All I could say is it's about time!

I love snow!

Today we're heading to Tony and Mindy's for brunch.  It's 22° out there.

Compared to what we've been having, it's a heat wave!

Stay warm.

Not Sure What to Call This...

As usual, Christmas at Redsock Mama's house was unpredictable to say the least.

Michael and Catherine came first, bearing gifts.

Henry got a drum!

That wasn't bad, it had a pleasant sound but since my tree was on the clapper...

Yes, it was off and on all evening!

Teagan and Henry, who are best friends, shared!

It was a musical evening...

The little kids got slide whistles...

Locklan got a harmonica...

He loved it!

Then he became a one man band!

He also got a watch and announced the time every two minutes!

I got Teagan a 'dancing dress' and ballet shoes...

Every time someone asked her to twirl she did...

complete with a 2.5 year old's version of an arabesque.

But the best part was Grandma Jan's special gift...

I decorated 5 gallon buckets...

I made one for Henry and one for Locklan and Teagan...

And put 50 indoor snowballs in each...

How long do you think those snowballs stayed in the bucket?

It wasn't the kids, it was the adults!

I didn't get many pictures because once those snowballs started flying,

I was laughing too hard!

Seriously, I was not looking forward to Christmas for the first time in my life...

But I prayed that I would be okay,

and I was...

Everyone was out of here by 8, they predicted freezing rain and snow,

and we got it.

On Friday, Ashley sent this text:

In case anyone is wondering, we still have ballet shoes on

and we are still using the harmonica and 

announcing the time every minute!

Mr. K and I planned to sleep in and stay home on Christmas...

I didn't sleep in but we did stay home.

But it's all good.  Back to reality soon.

 

Read Me a Story

Last week Mr. K and I were invited to have dinner with Tony and Mindy

and of course, Henry!

After a delicious dinner, Henry got out the books...

First I had to read a book about hockey...

Then Pappy had to read The Hungry Caterpillar which I think Henry had memorized.

He is so smart and so funny...

Grandma Life, I love it!

I did find out how to keep Teagan and Locklan busy...

I gave them each little lighted magnifying glasses.

Locklan dragged a stool into the middle of the living room

and kept finding things to 'investigate' 

It kept them busy for at least 20 minutes.

Considering they are 2 and 5, that's amazing!

And of course, there is always Teagan's hair...

~sigh~

Did I mention that I love being a grandma?