Grandkids: They Grow So Quickly

This is Jesse at two years old, already a computer wiz. Notice the headphones, he loved his music. This is when this sweet little boy and my daughter still lived with us. I babysat him everyday while his mommy worked.

This picture is shortly after they moved to Alabama, just before he turned three. This was our first visit (only 3 weeks after they moved) and he stayed overnight in the hotel with us. After having them living with us since he was born, it was very hard to let him go so far from us. Our hearts were broken over my daughter and Jesse moving nine hours away.

Skip ahead two years, and this is Jesse in a karate outfit I had bought him for his 5th birthday. His birthday is 6 days before Christmas. Every year my daughter and her husband would come for the Christmas holidays and we would have Jesse to spoil again.



Skip ahead two years again, and now Sophia is added to the mix and almost a year old. This picture was taken in our Florida living room when they visited in August. In the picture is Jesse, age 7, my husband Chriss, and little Sophia. Three days after Sophia was born we bought a small house in Alabama that we have been hoping to move into permanently. Anyone want to buy a house in Florida???

Jesse and Sophia in the living room of our house in Alabama. Sophia is about a year and a half and Jesse is eight.

My daughter and one of her friends started a photography business in town and this is one of the pictures from a photo shoot of the kids. It is one of my favorites.

Sophia is almost four years old already and Jesse is almost eleven. Time sure flies, they are growing so fast. Even though my husband and I go to Alabama as often as we could, we still feel like we are missing so much of them growing up. I am so grateful for computers and video chats and cell phones with picture messaging. I miss these kids so much when I am in Florida. The next two pictures are from my last visit there. The first picture is the two of them on my laptop(Jesse is still a computer wiz) while I was folding laundry. The second picture is my two angels asleep on the blow-up mattress that they always sleep on when we are in Alabama. My daughter and son-in-law only get to visit their children when we are there, because the kids stay with us (though I am sure they enjoy their alone time).

I can't wait to sell my house in Florida and move there for good.

Just Some Photos

My daughter, Cindy, ready for her first dance recital at age 4. Way back in 1983.

Twenty seven years later, the costume now fits her daughter, Sophia, who is almost 4.


Cindy and her daughter, Sophia, just having fun. Sophia is a mixture of both Cindy and her husband, Brad.


But her son, Jesse, looks just like her.

My Summer Vacations

My grandchildren and my son-in-law during our 'after the 4th of july' picnic at the park.


My husband and my granddaughter, Sophia, the day before we left to come home.


Sophia, playing model in the window of a store in the mall.

I haven't been home much since the end of May. The last few years, my husband and I have spent my birthday in Alabama so I can be with the grandchildren. And even though we returned home to Florida during the first week in June, I was on my way back to Alabama two and a half weeks later with my sister and niece. We enjoyed a short visit and returned home six days later, joined by my daughter and my two grandchildren. My son-in-law couldn't get off from work so they came to visit family and friends without him. Because of the 4th of July weekend, their visit was a short one. After only 3 days they returned home just in time for the celebrations going on in their hometown and my husband and I decided to join them again. I had barely unpacked and I was packing again. Because somewhere along the way I had hurt the heal of my left foot and found it difficult to walk a lot, I stayed behind when everyone attended the 'First Friday' celebration and again the next night when everyone went to the fireworks display over the Coosa River. But I did manage to make it to the BBQ at my daughter's house on the 4th.
This stay was only six days, and we returned home to Florida this past Wednesday. Before we left my daughter told us that if we wanted, we could take our ten year old grandson with us if we promised to get him back in a week or so. Needless to say, we agreed and Jesse returned to Florida with us. He and my husband have been enjoying swimming in the pool for the past few days and Jesse will be going to Busch Gardens tomorrow with his other grandparents. The following day we will be taking him to Fort Myers to Thomas Edison's summer home and museum, which he is excited about. He loves museums and anything educational. Though my husband can't take off from work again so soon, I will be leaving again this Thursday to bring my grandson back to Alabama, with my mom (his great grandma) along for the ride. This will be another 5 or 6 day trip. I will be returning in time to celebrate my sister's 50th birthday with her. I am thrilled that I am getting to spend so much time with my grandchildren this summer, but I know that it is only going to make me miss them all the more when the trips come to an end. I just can't wait until we can finally sell our home in Florida and make the permanent move to be near them.

Botanical Gardens

For the past few years I have chosen to celebrate my birthday in Alabama with my grandchildren, so we headed north this past weekend. I got to spend my birthday with my daughter, son-in-law, grandkids and close friends. The day after my birthday we took a small road trip to Birmingham to the Botanical Gardens. The following pictures are from the gardens, though they don't do it justice at all. It was truly beautiful there. While we were in the Japanese Gardens there was a wedding taking place on a bridge. We were able to hear the ceremony as we walked the path around the bridge. It was a magical setting for a wedding and it made me wish I was young and getting married all over again. I didn't take any pictures of the wedding, sorry, but I didn't want to intrude.


My grandson, Jesse, inside the tropical greenhouse.



My husband and Jesse at the botanical gardens




My daughter bought me a beautiful hydrangea plant from the gardens as my present, which I had my husband plant in our front yard at our Alabama residence. It is much bigger than my plants here in Florida, and it seems they are more common and grow beautifully up there.

Missing The Grandkids

After visiting Alabama for Christmas and spending a little over two weeks, it was hard to leave and come back to Florida. My grandson gets upset when we leave so my husband promised him we would be back in March sometime. We kept our promise and returned for a short visit at the very end of March and stayed thru Easter. We enjoyed spending the holiday there, but again it was hard to leave, especially because my grandson was scheduled to have surgery only a week later. The surgery was minor surgery but still I wished that I could have been there. Jesse's surgery was successful and he is doing well. His little sister was playing nursemaid to him for the first few days after the surgery. Now when we talk to her on the phone the first thing she tells us is that Jesse is all better. In this wonderful age of technology we often make video calls so we can see and talk to Jesse and Sophia, but that only makes me miss them more.
During our visit we also enjoyed spending some time with our close friends who moved to Alabama two years ago from Florida. Our daughters are close friends also and we all gathered at our friends house for a wonderful Easter holiday meal and fellowship. There is nothing better than spending the holidays with with family and close friends. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we were able to enjoy our meal outside on their huge front porch. The only thing that would have made it better is if their oldest daughter and her family, and my youngest daughter could have been there also.

Owl Cookies

Decided to make some cute owl cookies that I found in a magazine for my grandkids. I will be going to visit them next week for my granddaughter's 3rd birthday. These are supposed to be halloween cookies but I think owls are cute for any time of the year.

Time With The Grandkids

Last month my husband and I went to visit our grandkids in Alabama for a week. We have a small house in downtown Gadsden just 3 blocks from my daughter, Cindy's house. Because both Cindy and her husband work, little Sophia is in daycare...but not when mama and papa visit. Sophia is a beautiful, smart, sweet little fireball. She is two, need I say more. Her brother, Jesse, is 9 and he is a wonderful, understanding, loving brother. (He doesn't really have a choice with Sophia). The first day of our visit, Sophia, excited to see us, came running up our walkway wearing flip-flops and flopped right at our porch step hitting her little face on the brick step. Poor Sophia had a nice little black eye and cut under her eye...but it only slowed her down for about 5 minutes. She was quickly back to normal. Because we don't see the kids as often as we would like, whenever we visit we try to bring them a present each. Sophia's present was a cheerleading kit with pom-poms, a floor mat and a instructional DVD. She loved it and by the time we left to come back to Florida she was cheering right along with the girls on the DVD. We like to try and do something special with each child whenever we visit. For example, on our last visit we went to Hobby Lobby and bought melt and pour soaps and cute candy molds and each made their own special soaps. This trip Sophia and I made blueberry muffins and Papa and Jesse made an exploding volcano.
On the weekend when Cindy and her husband were home, we all went on a picnic at Noccalula Falls and afterwards we went to this area on Rainbow Drive across from a park where the kids could play in the huge water fountain type fun area.I really can't wait to go back, the area is beautiful and so are my grandkids.