Great Moments with grandchildren....too many to recall...but ...

Starting with our last morning, and looking back through the week!

Beautiful teenage Lilia sleeping, I had to wake her so she could join us for breakfast!

Young Bindley in his Batman robe! Waiting for gluten free pancakes which his dad was making!

Steve playing with the three youngest! (Girls in nightgowns by me, pj bottoms are batman...also by this grandma!)

A lovely relaxed dinner on Christmas Day!

Opening gifts on Christmas morning with Nanny Donna too!

Santa brought a tent for the youngsters!

Children making Tasha Tudor's sugar cookies!

And decorating them with the neighbor children!

My sweet Nina...

And darling Sophie!

 

Laura, super-mom, gets a gingerbread house built!

And lest we forget the dramatic introduction, on this visit,to life with little ones, here is Sophie......and a tale of misadventure.....

A little while after our arrival, she was left unattended for a bit ( duh! I should have known!) ...she went into her teenage sister's room, got a jar of Mod Podge , applied some to the mouse and mouse pad...then carried it into the bathroom, settled herself onto the floor, poured out the rest of the jar and played in it with her hands....then she was tired, so she just lay down in it! Fortunately I found her just then and the tub and shower were right there for "easy"? clean-up!

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So now we head home, and carry these memories with us! Sweet children at breakfast this morning....

Nina and her brother's phone, on which she plays games...

And Sophie, sorting her bacon from the pancake pieces!

One last group shot before we depart!

 

Ho ho ho! Off to Georgia!

Taking sweet nightgowns and robes, these are for the 3 year old twin granddaughters! Fleece with flannel lined hoods and trim! Wrapped several days ago for Christmas giving!

This morning, I made one more, brown fleece, lined with dinosaur cotton flannel which matches his pajamas! [ I have successfully stayed in my pj's today! LOL!]

This is for the other three year-old in Idaho. Wish I could see him too!

Here is The grandson (wearing the sweater I knitted for him) in the Santa Express in Idaho. He should get his robe soon, thanks to the post office!

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Now we are loading the sleigh for the drive to Georgia! Gifts for a big family, love them all!

Another nice thing this week! I was feeling down and overwhelmed .....not liking my hairstyle and having no hope....then my friend Tracie gave me the number of her stylist and she took me right in the next morning!

Here is my no longer fun, frizzy permanent ......and Ta-da.....below after hairstylist Dawn Putnam's magic fingers!

 

I told Dawn to just do whatever haircut she wanted! Wow! A real "Make Over!

So, I am thrilled to head off to celebrate Christmas with a new hairdo!

 

My new friend ....a mouse.

I am still working steadily in my kitchen cabinets.
Chalk paint, which requires no sanding, was not adhering to these doors....so I started doing some sanding by hand....that seemed to help.
But, my hands were really hurting at night!

 

 

So, I took the obvious next step...visited the tool department at Sears....and found this! The MOUSE sander, small enough for my little hands and speeds the work along!
The inside of the cabinets (which were site built when the house was built in the 1970's) are being painted with white gloss enamel...first coat going in here...

 

 

 

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Yesterday I visited with 3 friends, we exchanged Christmas cards and more! Here is a little handmade doll ornament from Liz!

 

Tracy made handmade cards of a winter landscape for each of us, and my card from Gayle had a retro typewriter ....a joke between all of us!

 

 

Gayle, the great baker, was our hostess and she made an eggnog pie for us. The recipe was from her aunt Cora, old family recipe....here is a similar pie recipe from Taste of Home.

 

So cool and creamy, it feels like you are eating a cloud....AND Gayle makes a great crust!

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I finalized my painting of granddaughter, Nina Kate. She is a serious, take charge, child! Here is a painting based on a photo of her stirring up a birthday cake for her mother, ....oh yes, she is wearing her little apron made by me!
First, I show her painting is not quite finished and sitting with the painting of her siblings, Sophie Jane and Bindley!

Here she is painted with joy and love by Grandma Lila! ( a collage as well as a painting, yes, she has glitter in her hair...she sparkles!)

 

Now back to painting those cupboards...and maybe adding an ornament or some more tinsel to the tree...(bird from friend Tracie).

 

Sending Love to Idaho

Our children are all together out West!
Three year old Nina looking out the plane window as they land, "Snow, snow! mommy there is snow everywhere!

Here, all grandchildren are together with a vista behind them...near Boise!

Oldest grandchild, "Lilia the Beauty", with her blonde momma, Laura and her uncle, resident of Idaho, Andrew! [Laura and Andrew being our dear children....!!!]

Meanwhile, Steve photographs me as I put elastic into pajamas for all the little grandchildren....I knitted hats too! This package should arrive for them today!

I had to put a heart full of dinosaurs on Sophie's pj's or she would have wanted those I made for her cousin! Doing extra embellishment for Sophie, led to putting a gray fleece kitty on Nina's! Sewing for twins requires trying to keep things balanced! No favoritism! I love them both so much!!!! And the other 3 too!
Looking forward to more photos on my daughter's FB page....sort of like being along with them!
I'm still here in Arkansas, working on my kitchen cabinets, sanding and painting and new hardware! The chalk paint idea didn't work too well...back to sanding!
And stripping out old contact paper. The blow dryer REALLY helps!

First week of November, 2 kinds of painting,and some sewing

My last painting class, for the time being, was Tuesday. I worked on this painting!

It captures 2 of my daughter's children! Sophie and Bindley. They were out on their front steps hugging affectionately!

I will be painting their sister Nina soon...using this photo....

.......along with this photo of Nina stirring up a birthday cake for her mom! By using both pictures, I am free to paint her without making an exact copy!

A few years ago, I had painted their older sister, Lilia in her ballet pose... ( now I find myself wanting to paint this again, too!)

 

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The last few weeks, I have also tried sewing garments from knit fabrics, new to me! Here are some dresses and leggings for the little girls! I need to get them mailed!

 

 

 

And this week, sewing tunic tops for myself to wear with leggings! Love the Butterick and Vogue patterns from designer/artist Katherine Tilton! Fun to sew because they are so different!

And leggings are fun and comfortable now that cold weather is coming!

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Picking up paint brushes again, for another kind of painting.....kitchen cabinets!

 

First, stripping contact paper from inside the cabinets....a blow dryer makes it easier! The contact glue is strong! Still, slow going! Then we paint the insides glossy white!

 

These green kitchen cabinets were painted years ago (by me).... And now need an update. Chalk paint is promising, no sanding! Then new hardware.....here is the old green kitchen.. the new color.....taupe...cotton grey from Behr....

Here it is! With antique iron hardware. The old and the new together here....lots more days of work to get everything changed from green to taupe!

Back in a few weeks with the finished kitchen ....may even get the parquet floor stained and countertops refinished!

 

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Meanwhile the autumn color is still showing out in the yard! Our young, struggling red maple is full of leaves, not too brilliant this year, but definitely red.

The back and side yards have yellow maples as we see in this photo taken when Steve was up on our roof yesterday.

Now out to pick the last peppers from the garden patch!

 

Apple fritters

These are delicious!

Use the recipe for " grandma's cottage cheese pancakes" ...to make the batter.
Add cinnamon and nutmeg to the batter!
Core and slice 4 apples ( one for each person) slices about 1/4-3/8 " thick. Dust with corn starch which makes the batter cling better. I love Honey Crisp or some other semi-tart apple variety.

Fry with coconut oil in a skillet.....several minutes on each side!

Drain on paper towels, serve with honey and more cinnamon!