Happy Halloween

Sunday noon birch trees bowed down by the weight of the snow and it was still coming down

Monday afternoon

Amazing the difference a day can make.  The sun is shining bright here today, the driveway is bare again and the green grass is sticking up through the few inches of snow we got from Saturday night through mid day Sunday.  Eaves are dripping and life is good.  Am I ready for the "Long Winter"?  No, I'm not and I'm still ready to move south as soon as Brad says the word.  Granted I will always have a love spot for Maine in my heart and who knows we may spend all our days here 'til our dying breaths, but one can still dream of warmer climates and sandy beaches, right?  If I could live next door to my sister and/or  (I'm getting greedy here) one or all of my kids I guess Maine winters wouldn't seem quite so long.  Alas that is not to be so I will have to chin up, grin and bear it, think of something that will "ease the pain" so to speak!  Hey all you Grandparents who live near your kids/grand kids and ladies who live down the road from your sisters ... you better be lovin' it.

Now this blog sounds like a whine fest and that is not my aim here at all.  You all know (if you know me at all) how I could go on and on about the best hubby in the world, kids who I love and adore and who (much to my continued and heartfelt gratitude) seem to reciprocate that love, grand kids who make me laugh and bring joy to my heart every day so really I have NO complaints.  I'm just not looking forward to another winter in Maine.  Time flies these days, so before I know it, buds will be sprouting and I'll be smelling mud and predicting the day the peepers will first sing in Mom's bog again.  I think I may be stuck on April 12th.  That was Mom's last prediction and she hit it right on the money, so I'm stickin' with it whether it wins again or not.  I have that memory stuck quite vividly in my mind .. Pam and I helping her out to the back deck so she could hear their loud clamor, their joyous racket singing once again just for her, one last time for her .. and it was for her, I'm sure of it.

Thanks to Pam and Skip for this memorial to Mom .. at the beginning of the path that leads to her bog

They were Grampy's peepers when I was a kid and he and Mom would compete and then the loser would take the winner out for what I was told was a "frog dinner".  I did find out they didn't really eat frogs when they went out although Bob Deniker would have loved the frogs legs if he'd been with them.  I hear they taste like chicken, and I remember dissecting frogs in 10th grade biology and they looked like chicken.  I think that's why it made it bearable .. I just kept telling myself it was chicken.  Why dissecting a chicken would be any more palatable to a frog I don't know.  Is this when I'm suppose to say "but I digress" ?

Instead of sitting here rambling I should be getting ready to head south.  Tally forth so to speak to Tavia's for the night and then to Briana's Tuesday morning to spend an enjoyable (and quite entertaining I'm sure) two days with my biggest munchkin, Isabelle.  Tavia has her today and I'm anxious for the details.  Conversations with this little being are quite delightful when you have the time to really take in what she is telling you.  Now if you are in the middle of something or in a rush to go somewhere you don't always appreciate her endless questions, observations and demands so it's a really grand thing when you can just sit back and take it all in.  Oh the perks of being a Gramma.

We got nearly a whole day of having a little Bumble Bee in our house last Thursday and what a delight that was!  She was making and sharing "honey balls" (marbles) with any and all.

   

 She really wanted to sleep in her costume and then wear it the next day to the Bangor Children's Discovery Museum.  Imagine her Mom saying "no"!!  Although she did pack it in the back pack just in case. 

Meanwhile Skyping and talking with Ashley today I'm finding out my littlest munchkin is in the middle of another change (and I'm not talking diapers here).  Teething for sure among other things .. trying SO hard to crawl and will soon be doing so getting into anything and everything available to those pudgy little fingers.  She said she would welcome some "Gramma time" today and I would be more than happy to take this little guy off her hands for a few hours.  What a HAM he is .. just like his Mama use to be.

Another little someone to just sit and take in .. his jabberings and discoveries of everything so new!  No toys needed.  Mixing bowls and measuring cups are all so much fun to a little guy who's not quite 7 months old.  Can't wait to see what he looks like in his Sweet Pea costume tonight.

Last but not least we got nearly an hour of Skype time with George last night.

His last "call" before he got himself a late supper and went to bed.  New facial hair experiments and ready to grow the "mo" for Movember.  Found out he had Sushi Thursday night and prefers raw octopus along with making his own in the design world of Salt Lake City.  Like an octopus getting his "feelers" out there. And taking quite seriously the commitment he's made to the Mandate Press.  Honestly, I can't get enough of my kids.  They live too far away but I wouldn't have it any other way for their sakes.  It does a Mom's heart good to see them growing into amazing adults all on their own.  Besides it's a lot of fun visiting them and looking forward to their trips home.  I get them ALL for Christmas this year!  (Ok, so that's one good thing about winter).

NOT looking like winter out there right now, so I better go enjoy the rest of this day.  Nellie could use a walk as much as I could.

Here's to all of you who are already dressed and out there making the most of another day that God has given us.