We All Scream for Ice Cream

Grandparents are good for so many things, like teaching my kids how to politely ask for ice cream:



Thanks, Grandma Alice!

© Trippin' Mama 2010

Will Technological Wonders Never Cease

Yesterday morning as I was getting the boys ready for breakfast, I heard the very distinctive tone of a Skype call coming in. It was my mom.

And it was the first video call she's ever done. (Well, by herself anyway. Jeff hooked up the webcam and gave her and my dad a couple lessons when he traveled through there a week ago. Yet another reason why he's the WBH.)

We've been doing video calls with Jeff's parents for a while, but my folks just got broadband access, so it's finally an option with them. While it's not the same as seeing everyone in person, it's a nice option when you live far away and frequent visits just aren't possible.

What's even more impressive is that my mom is 78 and my dad is 83. Just proves that you are never too old to learn something new, doesn't it?

It wasn't that long ago that none of this technology existed. When Jeff and I were living in different towns when we were first dating, we wrote letters. Yes, letters. On paper. Sent through the mail with a stamp. We called occasionally, but long-distance was expensive, so we didn't talk frequently.

Now, I call my sisters on my cell phone and since we all have the same provider, we don't even use any minutes to chat. Or I send a quick text. Or I send email.

Jeff and I were email and computer chat pioneers back in the early 90s when we were going to college in two different states. I remember sitting in the university library at a VDT (video data terminal, for those of you too young to remember those days). It was a black screen with green text, and Jeff and I could "chat" back and forth.

By the time we were seniors, email had come along, sort of. I remember going deep into the basement of the education building where the computer science geeks were to sign up for an email address. It wasn't a standard thing back then. We had really advanced by then, and could "dial-up" to send email from our apartments, instead of going to the library.

The fact that letter writing is a dying art is a whole different post. (I do still write and send real letters from time to time.) As much as I cherish the letters I have from my husband, my parents, and my grandmother, I have to say that anything that can bring together grandparents and grandchildren who live hundreds of miles apart is something to be celebrated.

© Trippin' Mama 2010

Fun with Grandma Alice

Everyone's having fun with Grandma Alice in the house. Yesterday she and Amelia made cookies before Amelia even got out of her jammies.

Grandma Alice and Amelia make chocolate chip cookies. Yum!

I'm pretty sure Amelia was taste-testing the chocolate chips before she even had breakfast. She helped count and measure everything and got to push the cookie dough off the spoon onto the pan. The best part of that job was licking the cookie dough off her fingers between every cookie!

Later that day, Amelia was busily playing stickers while we were tending to Sam and Isaac. Turns out she was playing stickers with Alex.

Or perhaps I should say ON Alex...

Amelia and Alex play stickers.

Let's take a closer look...

I guess the lack of hair makes Alex's head a pretty good palette for stickers. Sorry little buddy!

Everyone's gotten plenty of holding time, but Grandma Alice says the boys are so heavy now that she's not coming back until they can walk. I'm not sure that will be easier!

Isaac hangs out with Grandma Alice during supper.

We are getting awfully close to an announcement about crawling. I'll keep you in suspense on who might be the first to make the big move!

Amelia's Big Day

Today Amelia went to the zoo with Mom & Dad while Grandpa D. watched the boys. It was a little chilly out, but we had a great time. I think the last time we went was last summer when I was about 30 weeks pregnant with the boys. It was much easier to get around this time!

Amelia & Daddy together at the zoo.

The dolphin show is always a favorite, as are the penguins. Today we also saw the lions pretty close, and a rooster that was crowing. Amelia did NOT like the rooster. She was scared and wanted to leave as fast as possible. As we went from one exhibit to the next, Amelia kept saying, "I want to see more animals." I think we saw almost all of them!

After her nap, Amelia got to color with her new markers. She colored the Christmas ornament that Grandma Alice and Grandpa Ernie gave her. I'm sure it isn't intentional that it looks like this little house is on fire.

Amelia's Christmas ornament, March 2009. Almost 3 years old.

Then we all got ready to go to church. Amelia looked so cute in her dress that Grandma D. and Aunt Allie picked out. She refused to wear the little sweater that came with it, but I did talk her into tights. When Jeff saw this picture all he could say was, "I'm in so much trouble." Yes, he is. And so am I!

Amelia strikes a pose in her new dress. Thanks, Grandma D. & Aunt Allie!

This was the first time we took the boys to church other than for their baptismal ceremony. They were so good! Isaac fussed a little on his way to sleep, and Sam fussed a little before church started, but all three slept almost the entire time. I think they were trying to lull us into a false sense of security. I still haven't figured out how we can take all four kids without a third set of hands, but it was nice to all go to church as a family.

Sam, Isaac, Alex and Amelia.

Grandpa D., Alex, Jeff, Isaac, Amelia and Sam.

When Grandpa D. was on the phone with Grandma D. tonight talking about his flight home tomorrow, I was in the background shouting, "You can't have him back!" It's always so nice to have family visit, and the boys are growing so fast that they are like whole new kids if you haven't seen them in a couple of months.

We'll have more family visiting soon. We're looking forward to seeing Allie at the end of the month and Susie in May. They'll be amazed at how things have changed around here!

Clare & Isabel

I wanted to title this: "Welcome to the Family, Babies," but that would be too mean! Clare and Isabel are twin baby girls that Jeff's sister and her husband are adopting. They adopted another beautiful little girl 5 years ago, so now they are a family of 5. Clare and Isabel were born Sept. 1 and I've been dying to post about them, but needed to wait until things were official with the adoption. Now that they are, welcome to the family, Clare and Isabel!

The girls were born about a month early, and Clare came home the other day, but Isabel needs a few more days in the NICU. They both weigh more than 4 1/2 pounds now and are doing very well.

The proud new parents, along with the rest of us, found out that they were chosen to adopt these little blessings the second week of August. So Jeff's parents are going from having 2 grandchildren to having 7 in a matter of about a month. And two sets of multiples! How wild is that? I can't wait to get all of the little ones together. We'll never have enough arms to hold them all!

Our prayers will forever be with the brave birth mom who chose to give up her babies. It is a gift beyond compare.