I must confess, I just had to have it, the doll house I mean. Cali will love it, and so will all the other grandkids. It is a doll house in the round so to speak and has oodles of furniture and a family of dolls, SO CUTE! Just one little problem, where to put it. For now I put it in the window seat in my room. Not a good addition to my room, but it was there nonetheless. 

   Cole swiftly left the kitchen, I saw him go. What mischief could he be up to, the toilet again, no I closed all the doors. Hum.... CRASH. I ran to the sound, my bedroom! There stood Cole, had had pulled the doll house on top of him, at least his head was in a room! No time for pictures. I pulled the big house off of him and smothered him with kisses. He took it all in stride.

Cali on the other hand is ready for the doll house. She plays intently with it. Pictured here are the Betrix Potter figuresI cut off of of Kevin's baby mobile. Cali is fascinated with them and with Beatrix Potter books. In fact we have taken her to the library twice just to check out Beatrix Potter books. She knows each name and tale by heart. I bet you don't even remember some of the characters... Squirrel Nutkin, Mrs Tiggy Winkle, Jeremy Fisher, Jemima Puddle Duck, Tom Kitten, Benjamin Bunny, and of corse Peter Rabbit. I let her take all the books we have checked out home in a nice bag. Each time she has returned them to me with not one missing.

Cali and the dollhouse.

Cary helped Cali write her name with chalk!

Cole loves opening and shutting the play house door!

   I must confess that when Jen and Kevin asked us if we would watch the grandkids for 6 days while they went to Hawaii I was a bit hesitant. Seriously, how long has it been since I actually was in charge of children 24/7. It wasn't that they didn't give me plenty of notice, but how does one prepare for a week of little ones? I pushed the question into the back of my mind until the last possible moment and then YIKES! I really could not wrap my mind around it. Cole had never even slept over, and Cali was in the habit of wanting to go home at about midnight every-time she would try to spend the night.

   What I needed was serious grandma "stuff". I started with the crib problem. Cole did not like the port-a-crib that Cali was perfectly happy with so I needed an inexpensive crib. A simple white crib with bars all the way around would be just perfect. Hello, have any of you grammies looked into the price of cribs these days- they all make into beds and are made to withstand a major earthquake! I planned on spending about $95.00. I first found out that there are no inexpensive cribs in stock, and they started at $200.00. Well, I looked everywhere, KSL, Baby's R US, Target, then I broke down and went to Ikea, where I settled on some funky crib for $200.00 and by the time we got to the pickup section of the store they were out of them! 

  Finally Kelly navigated us to USA Baby in West Valley, and then... they had a crib on sale, in white, simple lines-SOLD. 

   Next I figured I would need a camera monitor, I bought the $90.00 version, never mind the fact the the back of the monitor is the size of an old RCA TV. It fit snugly in my kitchen window (I wasn't about to fall for the $200.00 model with a screen the size of a cell phone!) "What are the manufacturers thinking" I thought to myself as I made my selection, I defiantly need the BIG screen so that I can actually see the baby!"

   I already had a mattress, and girl baby bedding, (sorry Cole!) from on old model home so I was set, or was I.... No Cole is a light sleeper I needed a white noise machine, but where could I get one cheap? Wallmart of corse, so I bought a small office desk fan. Sippy cups, diapers, pull ups, wipes, baby snack food, fruit rollups, bibs, high chair all checked off the list- I think that I am ready with my Grammy arsenal.  

   I must confess that I was still having serious hesitations about babysitting. Do I have the energy???? 

   Well the kids came and we had a great time, yes it was exhausting, but the whole family pitched in to help and they seemed to know just when I needed help the most. Of corse Scott was there to help, or was he? Actually he had a really busy week. We made it through with great memories, lots of cuddles and kisses, fun and adventures. As I thought about it after the kids left Jen and Kevin were sure lucky to have a place to leave their kids where they get just as many (or more) hugs and kissed then they get at home! All I want to know is when can I have the kids back!!!! Here are some pictures of the fun time we had.

P.S. Cole was a great little sleeper!

"Grammy, do you have 'Tightrope Walker'?

I have been teaching my 3 year old granddaughter to play "Go Fish". She is a pro and beats me every-time! I shuffle out the cards into three piles- hers, mine, and the "go fish" pile. We then set up a large book for her cards to hide behind. She begins pairing up the cards and puts her matches off to the side. 

She has all the characters on the cards memorized. For example, "Grammy do you have Agile Acrobats?" or "Grammy do you have the Laughing Lion?"

We have been using a vintage card deck and I love the old pictures, they bring back such wonderful memories!

I dare say, she has beat my by a landslide on most of the occasions that we play! How is this possible? Maybe because she always goes first!