More Johansons!

Really they are Wells but Charlie called me weeks after the news came out I'm sure. Anyway he said I could put it up for all to read. Katie and John's baby will arrive in October and Charlie and Missy's in November. Actually who knows how this will play out but those are the prospective dates.

I'm just happy that we will be by a raging river this year and hopefully not next year when we'll need a place that is inviting for toddlers. I know we have plenty of babysitters but I'm not sure how reliable they remain during the three day weekend.

It is good news to hear that Willie is driving to school these days. That means he is studying hard to keep his grades up. Jessica is into dog biscuit sales so be prepared to get your supply during the reunion.

I'm wondering how the Texas travelers are doing in their Lazy Day Mobile Home Park?

I thought no one would ever ask

Finally someone mentioned the fact that this blog is not being added to on a regular basis. I like writing this trivia but I think it should have a more jazzy format, more photos, and witty words. But until I can come up with that I’ll just keep doing what I’ve done for over a year now and ramble on.

The twins are three months old and in the total care of their parents. They are growing fast, staying awake longer and most importantly, sleeping practically all night. Cyd and Dave brought the twins to Spokane for Cyd’s birthday and we had lots of visitors to hold the boys. Dave went back to Seattle and later in the week Cyd, Walker, Peyton and I arrived there.

Nancy joined us followed by Jill and Jessica and later by Linda. Nancy thought it would be a good idea to send the parents away for a weekend vacation. With all the help we did fine with the twins and took them to the mall almost every day. The constant hustle and bustle in there was perfect for babies sleeping and good for our shopping too. As it turned out new parents should never get a brief taste of their former life as the transition back to two babies at home was a big readjustment just when they were getting accustomed to their routine days with twins.

After we all left Cydney spent several dreary, teary days before she signed up to return to work in May. The boys will attend a daycare near her office three days each week. Cyd is also attending a Mothers of Preschoolers group every other week so she and the boys can meet new friends and twice a week she takes a yoga class in the evenings. They are busy.

I am glad to be home so I can return to my former life which means fussing with my computer, organizing and maintaining my junk and visiting with my friends. It also means spending time with Lucas and Miles. Lucas likes to hunt aliens and monsters in the house but I’m not good with that game. He and his dad are the happy guys who sneak up on the monsters and capture them. Miles loves to coo and smile when he gets some attention. He weighs 16 pounds and is trying to sit up.

My mom is very involved with her living group. When the van is loading for a shopping trip, museum visit, or scenic ride she gets aboard. She also gets a ride to Pinochle at the Senior Center on Fridays and to church on Sundays where she sits by her Libby friend, Stella Lutes. She enjoyed holding the twins where they were here and fed Peyton.

So there, this is a long update and now we can get to the matters at hand, like what’s up with Memorial Day? Judy informed me that she hates Chiwawa Lodge so I’m banking on her finding us another site for upcoming years.

Asking Essential Questions

Lucas is busy trying to find about about the world so he questions everything. We were walking down the street yesterday and he noticed the power lines above the street. “Hey, Look up there Grandma! What is that over my head?”

“Those are wires that bring electricity to your house so you have lights. See the wires are attached to telephone poles.”

“What do telephone poles do?” (I know they hold up the power lines but do they have anything to do with telephones?)

Cydney has been questioning the twins behavior and I mentioned earlier that she constantly reads child care books to guide her maternal instincts. Sunday we all sat down to eat here and I started saying that Cyd needed to throw those child care books away. Lucas was very disturbed by that comment. “Why do you want her to throw books away, Grandma?”

Cyd is bringing the boys to Spokane for her birthday. She is anxious to leave the house for a change of scenery after three months. I know she’ll have more people around here to help her hold babies.

We will have a small party with Ray and Claire, Anna Marie and Brett, Lucas and Miles, Alberta and Tracy, Cyd’s college roommate and her two daughters. The neighbors are coming over on Saturday for a peek at the twins.

We have had a snowstorm today but maybe it is just a quick little storm that will go away soon. I’m happy to report that Judy has purchased her airline ticket for Memorial Day. I hope many more of you are making preparations also.

Listening to Grandma's wise words

Listening to Grandma's wise words
Originally uploaded by arlal.

Technophobia

Judy weighed in on my computer snafu incident. “I have been saying for a long time that our society has become way too dependent on computers. See how you feel when yours died! Go into a store when the new computerized cash registers are down and notice how no one can add up the purchases, multiply the tax or make change. And God forbid one goes to a bank when their computers are down.. no back up. It is downright scary!” Needless to say she does not own a cell phone, does not use internet banking, and certainly doesn’t have a Tivo to program.

Anyway I want to agree with her some days. Brett rescued my old hardrive making it an external drive and still I can’t find my address book or most of my documents. He says a guy dropped his laptop in the Amazon while vacationing, divers returned it to the owner and the contents of the hardrive were retrievable. I also backed up data on a flash drive but where is my address book?

Enough of my complaining about computers. I am baby-sitting Miles for three days while his parents attend Anna Marie’s mom’s funeral in Santa Barbara. Lucas went with his parents and Miles elected to stay with grandma. He is a sweet baby and only sleeps, eats and coos.

It is almost Spring in Spokane. The crocuses are up and the sun is shining. Cydney is debating about returning to work. I think she needs to try it part-time so she’ll appreciate quitting in a few months. It is hard work to stay home with babies.

It is time to start Memorial Day planning. Does Judy have her plane reservations? Is she bringing Hank? I like Ronna planning the menu. We need to get some plans going Barb and Leslie, Katie and John, Mary Jane, the Kubins. (Those are all the movers and shakers in the family who can make things happen)

I looked up the value of Judy’s condo on zillow and a good idea would be for her to get a reverse mortgage and buy Chiwawa Lodge in perpetuity. She could, of course, rename it the Judy Johanson Memorial Day Retreat and there would be no need to dream up new locations for Memorial Day.