Dog Sign

Phoebe is getting old and when the weather becomes cold and rainy she doesn't like to go outside to do her potty business.  She loves to use the little woman's room.  So we have a rule that says they need to keep their doors closed so it doesn't happen. 
Sometimes though....kids being kids....the doors get left open.  So the littles are playing in her room and they call out that there is dog poop in there.  We clean it up.  And go on with life.
This morning she made a sign for the dog.  And she hung it on her door at the dog's height so Phoebe can read it.  I was amused when she made the sign.  I was more amused when I saw where she hung it.  I think she thinks Phoebe can read.  ;p

Limbo

I hate limbo with a passion.  I have lived many times in that area.  This is a small annoyance, but ongoing.  We had gifts shipped to Niklaus and a big box of diapers.  And according to Amazon those boxes were delivered.  On Wednesday.  Just like Amazon promised.
I know that Cassie and Niklaus were released from the hospital on Wednesday and were home late that afternoon, early evening.  Naturally I understand the craziness that ensues at that point.  So I really didn't expect acknowledgement on Wednesday, although it would have been nice.  A quick short text takes all of half a minute.
Yesterday came and went and this morning is almost all gone.  Still no acknowledgement.  But Tammy, the happiest woman on the planet received a text picture this morning of Niklaus.  So someone had time to text her.  We still don't have a picture either.....other than what the world sees on facebook.  Extrapolating means Tammy means more than the littles.  And I guess so since she has been gushing about being the new adopted Nana to the baby.

Here is the picture that was sent to Tammy that I stole off facebook.  ;p He is a cutie. 

So we sent gifts.  It is what we do.  And whether you like it, don't like it or apathetic to it....I still expect something that tells me it got there.  Thank goodness for Amazon and package tracking.  I hate having to ask all the time if a box arrived.  And I get to a  point that I quit asking.  And I'm there.
And then I get to the point that I quit sending.  Before tracking numbers I never knew if something arrived if no one said anything.  I remember distinctly going through this same kind of behavior from Doug, Dave's son.  And I had to stop sending packages to  him also.  Until he got a wife and she took over the responsibility of family relationships and acknowledging packages, etc.
I'm of the thought that if you don't care enough to acknowledge, why should I care enough to send? Feels like it is more of that what you do for me, I do for you.

Sleepover

After girl scouts on Wednesday the little woman told me she could have a sleepover at Brooklyn's house.  And Mia confirmed that it was true and anytime.  Well I'm not fond of sleepovers on school nights. 
So today I made arrangements with Mia for the girls to have a sleepover next weekend.  The little woman hasn't been to a sleepover since we moved from the apartments.  She gets to go over about dinnertime and then stay till dinnertime the next day.  How cool. 
And I get little man time.  We don't get much of that now that he is also in school. 
Next will be planning a sleepover here.  Now that is a different proposition.  But we shall see if we can make it work. 

A Play and a Brother

The girl scout troop had plans to put on this cute little Christmas play for the folks at the assisted living.  It is where they have their regular meetings. At least half of the girls came down with the flu so the play got postponed. 
Well last night was the new night.  The girls did a fantastic job.  The old folks really really liked it and complimented the girls on how well they did.  It was a good night.

After having gone back and forth a bit on Niklaus, I decided that if I didn't share his birth with the littles it just wasn't going to get done.  There still has been no contact with them about it.  I don't think Mommy has even thought about them and how this all affects them. Or not.
So I told the little woman and showed her the pictures on facebook.  She had the most oddest response ever.  First she was incredulous that he came out.  And then she looked at the pictures and said "Oh, he's not brown."  Wait....what? Don't ask me how but somehow she got it in her head that the name Niklaus is for brown babies.  What I find funny is if I just have a reaction based on the name...white supremist is what come to me.  So we are at polar opposites.  And either way we are both wrong.  He is just a little baby boy.

Niklaus

Cassie and David had their baby boy yesterday.  He weighed in at 7 pounds 9 ounces and was 20 inches long.  Apparently everything went smoothly although maybe not as quickly as Cassie would have liked. 
Our gifts of course will be late.  Her due date wasn't until Jan. 15th.  That is the way the cookie crumbles.  The box will be delivered tomorrow so that isn't too bad.  They will be plenty busy. 
I debated about what to tell the littles.  It is exciting.  They just got a new brother.  And yet I kind of feel like it should be Mommy's place to tell them that he has arrived.  They won't get to meet him for some time. There are pictures of Jazzlynn with him, naturally.  I don't know.  All I know is they did not get a phone call or even a personal picture sent via the phone.  They got what the world got which is facebook. 
Again I remind myself that the littles aren't sad.  I'm just sad when I see her posting about her family of four and when her friends comment about her two beautiful babies.  I guess that is right. 

Family Meeting

The littles are big enough now to have some opinions about what we do for our activities.  So we sat down and had our first family meeting.  We talked about all the things we would like to do this year and things we might not like to do.  Poor little woman was outvoted on camping at the island. 
We have all our usual things.  Camping, yurting at the beach (twice this year), the fair, the zoo, Dizzy Castle, JJ Jump and then the biggie......Disneyland.  We all agreed it would be a fantastic trip and that we should fly.  It's a long drive and we don't want to do it.
So I checked my work schedules as far as when my boss has vacation scheduled.  I checked their school calenders to see how some of those things would work during school time.  And then I set about making plans.
We have reservations for the yurts at two different camp grounds.  The little woman is fine with this kind of camping.  And I bet she doesn't wipe her fingers under any shelving at stores. 
Next came the big trip.  We didn't do anything big last year so that we could afford to do something super fun this year.  Naturally I had to figure out the best way to work it.  Sometimes it is better to book things separately.  Not this time.  So I booked a package for the air and hotel.  Then I bought us transfers from the airport to the hotel.  The hotel has shuttles to Disneyland.  I don't see the need for a rental car.  So this part is done.
Then I remembered that I can't fly with my drivers license.  We are one of the states that don't have proper ID or something.  So I need to upgrade my driver license to an enhanced one.  Good thing I could find my passport.  That makes things a lot easier.  So it is next on my agenda.  Too bad my passport is expired. 
Looking at all that tells me I can still easily renew my passport which will be for another day and trip.  I still want to go to  Canada. 
So I'm a little excited and I post about it on facebook.  Well Cassie decides this is the time to ask when are we going to talk about paying half for the littles to come visit her during the summers.  Ummm obviously not this year.  I have never agreed to pay half.  The littles are too young and don't behave well enough to travel by themselves even with the airline supervision.  She really has no clue and seems to think they are way older than they are.  And I do know that some kids their ages travel between parents.  I'm not a parent who is co-parenting.  I am the guardian and custodian which gives me all rights and decision making. 
This year we are going to Disneyland.  Some place I never thought I would ever go.  And it was suggested I get a seaband from the pharmacy for my motion sickness.  Because we never found someone to go with us.  Therefore I must ride a few rides. 
Family meeting was a success.  I'm working towards more of them with the littles giving me more input into what they want to happen in their lives.  Afterall it is their lives and family also. 

Blog 2017

Wow.  It appears my blog is growing.  Right around 19,000 page views in 2017.  Even if you take out the numbers for the post on Debbie, which had over 1,000 by itself, the numbers are still respectable.
Again I have at least one posting for every day of the year.  Still keeping track  of all our activities and growth.  We didn't do any major trips this year, but we did a lot of small things that add up.  I've touched on a lot of subjects that are part of my life or part of our life as a grandfamily.  It keeps me centered and on point.  It's our life and we are living it.
I'm amazed at the readers.  I don't find this blog to be all that interesting to people who don't know me.  I'm not sure it is interesting to people who do know me.  But there it is...the numbers don't lie.  And so I will keep doing it.  Mostly because I find it valuable.  And someday the littles will also.