...More Family Memories

• "Remember Lilith Fair!" Sarah
• "Mom remember the binoculars fiasco? American Idol! Constantine, Bucky, etc...." Raina
• "Sledding in Des Plaines on the orange toboggan" Greg
• "Remember going to the hotels with people like the Kendricks and Glatzels .... and eating the big brunches with magicians." Sarah
• "Mom, remember when I missed $500 from BINGO in the Dells with Sarah?" Raina
• "Milkshake when I had my wisdom teeth pulled." Greg
• "Remember when I picked Grandma Schneider to be my confirmation sponsor and she taught me to make donuts." Sarah
• "Mom-remember when you took pictures for the Jackson yearbook? You never favored us but always made sure we were allll in a picture. That was awesome and hope you got to fulfill one of your dreams of being a photographer even if for a little while." Raina
• "Planting a pear tree in Des Plaines." Greg

And now for something completely different. In the summer of 2007, my friend Sharon G. and I promised each other that we would start keeping a list of special memories we have of our kids, just anything that comes to mind -- good and bad. So here I shall list a few of them and these are "Mom's Memories ~~~ Special things I remember about the kids, in no particular order…"

• When Sarah thanked me at bedtime for something we did that day.
• When Greg wore the Superman cape and thought he could jump/fly off the front porch in Des Plaines.
• When Raina trusted me so much that she knew I would NEVER lie to her about Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy.
• When Sarah sat in the lifeguard chair at Camp Y-Koda.
• When Greg went to State for high school swimming and tears came to my eyes as I sat in the bleachers.
• When Raina and Jenny played tennis against North High in the Sports Core, and they played their hearts out.
• .....more
  
• When I saw Sarah in front of her classroom of students in Tomah.
• When Greg earned and became an Eagle Scout.
• When Raina played varsity soccer for UW Stout.
• Whenever Sarah's personality seemed to change after a new hair cut.
• When Greg hid under the table in Grandma Dort's basement so he could read.
• When Raina peeked out the bathroom window in Sheboygan at the bonfire friends of her siblings.
  

Team Grandma, Chapter 2

Forgot to mention a few things and ALSO wanted to share my photos in a slide show. This blogging is a learning experience for me! Once when my parents babysat for our kids while Bob and I went on a trip, we came home to a new long handled brush hanging in our shower - my parents determined that we needed one to wash our backs and they missed it. Well....Grandma Charlie and I felt that we would have liked to have known the outside temperature when at Sarah & Ed's so together we bought them an outside thermometer. Another funny thing was when Greg talked my mom into letting him stay home from school one day and the reason was vague. That was ok, just interesting.

Team Grandma

It was a week to remember and I don't think there was a place either of us would rather have been - referring to Grandma Charlie and myself (Grandma Barb). We were so blessed and lucky to be offered the opportunity to babysit for almost a whole week while Sarah & Ed went down to [warmer & sunnier] Florida for Ed's job. For me it was sort of like a retreat - a comfortable safe place away from the ordinary. Instructions in hand, fully stocked kitchen, each our own private bedroom and bath, even TiVO, and then two irresistible boys, what more could we ask for? Oh, we were kept busy and we got tired, but we went along with the flow each day, smiling and often saying how lucky we were. Charley was such a big helper! He told us where things were, reminded me to read the instructions for the CD player in his room, pointed out where the garage door knob was in the car, and more. We played and played, kept our eyes on Henry's meanderings, had Elly over for a visit, took Charley to pre-school, took him over to Elly's one afternoon, laughed at my GPS Gertie, and then Team Grandma braved it all one cold day and went to lunch at Perkins with both boys! We read many books and some over and over again such as "What is a Wookie?" Coffee each morning, playing it by ear as to who would play and who would cook, who would bathe and who would read, all unplanned and spontaneous. The only thing set up ahead was that I (Grandma Barb) with my bedroom closest to the boys, would get up in the middle of the night for wakings and needs of that sort. Grandma Charlie agreed to get up around 6 am, Henry's usual rousing time. That worked like a charm and I think we both loved our duties. I should interject that this is from my viewpoint (Grandma Barb's) and if I didn't pull my weight, I apologize. I treasured my quiet times with Grandma Charlie as well and enjoyed chatting and she watched my goofy TV shows (Idol & Survivor) and I watched her house shows on HGTV. Fun to dream! OK, so we played soccer - this picture shows Grandma Charlie being a goalie on her end and Charley just kicked a goal in my net on the other end. Henry loved it all too - he must have been playing defense mostly but sometimes he'd do a throw-in from the sideline. We played restaurant, board games, puzzles, storm troopers with Darth Vader, (after Grandma Charlie designed the outfit and masks), "gentlemen start your engines" with the race track, school (Grandma Charlie was the teacher), mailbox, hide the item and try to find it with clues, some Olivia TV, castle building with blocks, bus and taxi driver with an airport where R2 D2 would appear suddenly and surprise everyone. Then Henry's toys too. He would squeal with such delight and we just had to chuckle and clap along with him. It was so great getting to know both boys even better. We both felt bad because we didn't enforce Charley playing independently too sternly while we were there like Mama wanted. It was very hard to turn down his enthusiastic pleas to play. Sorry about that parents -- but hey, we are grandmothers and we loved your boys, fed them well, kept them on their schedule, but just couldn't resist playing! We'll never forget it and I value the time like a treasure. Thank you. Love, Grandma Barb