Grandchildren

When a child is born, so is a grandmother. Jakob, Christopher, Sarah, Claire
In the same order from the top

Jakob, Christopher, Sarah, Claire

Trying to be profound is not easy for me. We have four grandchildren and as much as I would love to pass along some great words of wisdom, I can't think of any. The best I can do is be their Magra to the best of my ability. To me, Magras (or grandmothers) should be a safe haven. They give love unconditionally ~ no strings attached. You can be bad, sad, contrary, or good, happy, and easy going ~ a Magra will love you through all of that. Thier ages are 9, 6, 4, and 2. There are two boys and two girls. It is interesting to watch they grow, spend time with them (knowing I don't have to discipline) listen to their stories, and laugh when they are silly beyond belief. As a tribute to my grandchildren I wear a tattoo with their linked initials down the middle of my back. Creepy? Cool? I don't ask for approval I just want them to know that wherever they are ~ they are with me. . .not only in my heart but also inked into my skin for all the world to see.

Aunt Pernie

Pernie Estelle Brown Panter passed away last night.

Two weeks ago was her 88th birthday.

For the last several years she had lived with her son,

Terrell, his wife Veronica,

and their boys, Shaw and Coleman.

She put up a good fight to the very end.

She will be sorely missed by family and friends.

Playing at the park

Claire looks so small from this angle.

Sarah ~ Head First!

Jakob andTopher

Just hangin' around

The four monkeys?

One of the days we were in Colorado we went with Sarah to her gymnastics class ~ fun for most of us ~ Topher played with the GameBoy and Jakob created things with Legos. Afterward we stopped by a MickeyD's drive through for some lunch and headed to a park. . .would you believe everyone got what they ordered except ME??? Thank goodness for leftovers! I had a chicken nugget, three slices of apple, and seven french fries ~ YUM. Windsor has eight parks and the one we went to has three levels. It was awesome! All of the children climbed and slid and swung (is that a word?) and ran and laughed until the mothers were tired and ready for them to rest.

A lot of time on the floor

Watching "Veggie Tales"

The palace guard (Jakob) protecting

Princess Sarah from intruder (Topher)
Ring-a-round-the rosie
And they all fell down!
And through it all ~ Arie observed
from his place behind his desk
(off limits to children so he was safe)

What to do when you are boys ~ traveling to your cousins house who are girls? Well, as you can see Jakob and Topher adapted quite well. They played with Sarah and Claire without complaining that it was a "girls" game. Sarah loves to dress up in her princess clothes and when she asked them to play. . .they became the palace guards and sometimes an intruder ~ which gave them an excuse to wrestle each other to the floor. The girls were great damsels in distress and even learned to "fake" punch the guys until they fell to the floor in a pile of giggles!

It's good to be Queen!

Claire can take them apart

almost as fast as I can put them together :-)

Kim was named Queen of Wilson
Sarah and me giving the Royal wave.

Once upon a time in a far away land called childhood we had POP BEADS. Everyone had them, they came in a plethora of colors and you could mix and match them with your outfit of the day. When we got to Colorado, I found my granddaughters have POP BEADS! Of course the beads of today are much more intricate with attachments for dangling beads, and bases for rings and bracelets. They have flowers and centers which Claire calls "berries" because, that's what they look like ~ small raspberries or blackberries, but in a choice of colors. What did we do almost as soon as we arrived? We made jewelry and I was named Queen Mother. Sarah and Claire are princesses. Kim is Queen of Wilson. When they say they want to "ring you" or "bracelet you" it means their creation is ready for wearing and you should put it on. Photo of Jennifer, Queen of Willenbrecht is unavailable due to the fact that she was busy preparing the royal meal and snapping photos.

Snowboarding and the Library

Topher taking a little "rest"
Jakob,Topher, and Arie Even when you don't know what you're doing
ya' gotta look cool!

Swingin' and slidin'

while Magra watches.

(Not sure who enjoyed it more)
22 books stacked together is pretty impressive.

Sarah is four and Claire is two so they are a little young yet for snowboarding. Arie was gracious enough to take Kim and the boys to the mountain to snowboard on Monday of Spring Break. Jennifer, the girls, and I found other things to do. While they were learning to stand up (and fall down) properly ~ we went shopping, to a lovely little ice cream shop, played outside and to the library. Those girls LOVE to read. We checked out 22 books!

What does your pout look like?

Being with the grandchildren the last few days, I got to see all sorts of faces. There's just something about a pout that makes you want to hug them and make everything all better. I've learned you have to be careful and make sure they aren't in trouble with their parents before you comfort them because then YOU are in trouble with their parents, and a pouting Magra isn't as cute as any of these photos.

Claire gives good lip.

Sarah was unhappy and

wasn't afraid to show it.

Topher was almost believable

but Jakob "gave face" to the extreme!