Summer days

Hot summer days! Ray put an easy set pool up for the kids and grandkids. I don't like water but I do like watching the grandchildren play and splash. Maddie and Isaac are little water dogs. Noah is finally learning to like the water. Until this past week he acted terrified. I think it was the cold water after being in the heat and the shock of it upset him. He's a sensitive little guy. But now he's really enjoying it and splashing around having a blast. The water has finally warmed up enough for him. Sophia loves the water and jumps and splashes right along with the others. But when she's tired, she wants out right now.

That's where mama comes in. I get baby duty. Change diapers, rock tired little ones to sleep, give them a snack or drink and just generally be there when they want me. Do I enjoy this when every one else is swimming and soaking up the rays? You had better believe it!

I'm terrified of being in the water myself so I stay away from it as much as I can. I don't even like to be splashed if I get close to the pool. As for soaking up the rays and tanning, I blister in a matter of minutes and I really don't like that. I'm really fair skinned and have sunburnt all my life. Not pleasant! I also don't like the really hot days, the heat makes me feel yucky and sometimes kind of sick. I do enjoy the small amounts of time I have in the house by myself before one of the grandchildren need me. Or even my kids, as grown up as they are, they still yell "Mom, I need you."

Ray loves the water, probably more than all the kids and grandkids. Sometimes I get a little lonely in the summer when everyone is in the pool but that doesn't last long. Like I said, they yell at me pretty often and I always have a good book at hand to entertain me or even get on the computer. And of course, everyone eventually gets hungry so theres lunch or dinner to fix or sometimes both. The girls and their guys are good to help provide and fix the food, even clean up afterwards! Not usually a lot of work for just one person there either. So yes, I do enjoy the lazy days of summer even though I don't like the water or heat.

With summer here, I get to spend a little more alone time with Sophia. Since Cindy isn't working, I don't get to babysit just her. I usually have Isaac and sometimes Maddie and Noah with them. So one morning a week, Cindy takes Isaac to see a movie and I have Sophia all to myself for a couple hours. Sometimes we play and then she takes a nap. Sometimes she likes to sit quitely while I rock her and talk to her or even sing. She isn't old enough yet to know that mama really can't sing.

Taling about singing, I sit in the back of the church and try to sing low so no one tells me I have a horrible voice. (I really do!). But I do like to try to sing sometimes and the babies enjoy it. Now Maddie is a different story. At eight years of age, she knows good singing when she hears it. We were in the car the other day and she was singing Old McDonoald has a Farm. Well I made a dreadful mistake. I started singing with her. She got real quiet and said "Mama I don't think I want to sing anymore." Guess she put me in my place right proper!! You know you're bad when a child tells you they don't want to sing with you. Oh well, no one's perfect, right?

Father's Day

Well since mother's day, we've all been extremly busy. Cindy and Chris took their house off the market so they could do some updating. I've been watching the kids every day to keep them out of the way and Ray, Micki and Johnny have been helping with the renovations. Crystal got to help last Sunday morning before she had to head back to Baltimore. The outside of the house is gorgeous. They put up vinyl siding and painted the shutters and other trip. It makes such a difference! They have several more things to do before they put it back on the market, if they do! They really like the siding.

This past weekend was father's day and again Crystal wasn't supposed to come in. I knew she was planning to but this time the surprise was on Ray. She rode in with Rose and Christina and got here at 8:30 AM Saturday morning. Cindy and Micki left at 5:30 to drive to Beckley to pick up Crystal.

Ray was planning to help our neighbor move some furniture so when he heard the car doors he thought it was Greg getting ready to leave so he rushes out the front door. No Greg but he seen Cindy and Micki getting our of Micki's van and lo and behold----here comes Crystal to. He was very pleasantly surprised!

We had a great day on Saturday. The girls planned a cookout and swim party. Guess who cooked for two days? LOL We have a small pool on the driveway so Ray and all the kids spent the day doing what they do best in the summer. Enjoying the sun and water. I pretty much stayed inside and enjoyed some peace and quite, read and even took a nap. I went outside several times but I don't swim and the heat and sun get to me really fast. I never could stand to be in the sun for long. I did enjoy having everyone here and I loved watching the kids swim.

Maddie has always been part fish and now Isaac is. No fear of the water in those two. Noah takes quite a while to warm up to the water but when he does, he won't get out. Sophia loves it and goes as wild as a year old can when she's swimming. I tried to get some pictures of them but my camera card is full and the computer wouldn't let me download them. Guess I'll have the girls help me figure out what happened. Maybe I can get pictures the next time.

I keep Maddie and Noah on a regular basis while Micki and Johnny work. Maddie is growing up so fast and is a wonderful eight year old, polite, good, cheerful and lots of fun and company. It's great fun to watch Noah growing up every day. His only problem is his temper but I think he's starting to handle that better. He's sure a sweet loving little guy. Now with Sophia and Isaac I see them often but don't keep them much since Cindy is a stay at home mom now. I do watch them a couple hours a week while she runs errands. So while they were working on the house, I got to keep them every day along with Maddie and Noah. Man, did I get tired but I did enjoy the kids. Isaac is such a big boy now. He usually plays good with Noah until one or both of them get tired and then they fight some. That hasn't been so bad lately either. Sophia is now walking and is adorable just toddling around and being sweet. She gets into a lot but usually if you tell her no no she will get out of it. Of course if you speak a little sharp, she has a total meltdown. Kinda like Noah there. Really tender hearted.

Yesterday Ray and I took Crystal to Fayetteville to meet her friends so they could go back to Md. We skipped church so Crystal could visit with her granny a little while and I had been wanting to see how mother is doing. She's getting so frail but I guess that happens at 84 years old. We enjoyed the visit and mother was excited seeing us. We met Crystal'a friends at 3:00 and then Ray and I headed back home. A busy weekend but a good weekend.

Until next time, this is mama Norma saying so long!!