Elves are so Mischievous

Remember this post from last year?  When on a yearly excursion to Bronners, in Frankenmuth I purchased the Elf on a Shelf for each of my daughter's families.  They were all thrilled to adopt an elf, but one of my grandchildren was very skeptical at first.  Michael, the eldest of the bunch couldn't understand why someone would purchase something to spy on him.  It took him quite a while to warm up to the idea.

Kelpo Sammy Whitnum's family has posted on all his mischief on Face Book and I'm not sure if I can link up to that naughty little guy.   He has been up to some pretty questionable mischief with the Barbie dolls and he's also been into the syrup (and you wondered what kept those elves going night and day).

Relf has ended up in some predicaments of his own making, like the old Pheasant under glass trick.  You can read about him here.

Fiddle Faddle, who likes to be called Fiddle for short hasn't been published, but I here he's active and entertaining the three year old at his house as well.

And the fourth elf has the youngest kids to keep track of and I think his job is the easiest. He's laying low and taking advantage of the situation, but I do believe in years to come his job will be much more difficult keeping up with the girls in the Roberts family.

I've also been seeing what Mipsy has been up to this year on one of the blog I follow.  It's fun.  Some people like to go see Christmas lights, they love the crowded malls, traipsing out in the snow to sing carols, me I'll sit by my tree filled with only bird ornaments and white Christmas lights and go elf watching.  Where is the world is the most mischievous elf?

Toasty Pumpkin Waffles

This is a recipe that I tried this past weekend when my daughter, Ashley and her family came to celebrate an early Christmas with us.  I wanted breakfast to be special and it was, this recipe was amazing.

Toasty Pumpkin Waffles with Maple Cranberry Butter

1 cup flour
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg beaten
1 1/4 cups milk
2/3 cup pumpkin
4 1/2 tsp butter, melted
1/3 cup pecans

Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.  Whisk egg, milk, pumpkin and butter: stir in dry ingredients until blended.  Fold in nuts.  Bake in preheated waffle iron until golden brown.

Maple Cranberry Butter

1/2 cup cranberries
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup butter

Meanwhile in small saucepan, combine cranberries and syrup.  Cook over medium heat until berries pop, about 10 minutes.  Transfer to mixing bowl and cool slightly.  Beat in butter until blended.  Serve over waffles.
Yield 4 servings. 

I doubled the waffle recipe, but not the butter and still had plenty to go around.  If you do not make the special butter to go on the waffles I would increase the brown sugar and add some spices to the waffles.

Very yummy and may just become a traditional Christmas holiday recipe.

Ugh! Not Again

I attempted to post this morning and the results were not good.  I had trouble down loading Christmas pictures of Daniela, and then when I put the card back in the camera is said the card wasn't formatted and there were no pictures.  I had to put everything away before something worse happened.....like me losing my temper and smashing something.   Hoping to post something soon, anything just to post.  I can't believe my blog entries have crept further and further apart.  It's not that I don't have anything to say, it's that there's never enough computer time.  I dropped one family off my schedule and then the other two picked up extra hours, so I'm still super busy.       

Flying Grammie has been Tripping Again

In September, I took a trip to New Mexico.
In November, I went to North Carolina for a long weekend.

I'm thankful that I can afford to fly a few times a year to see
my adult children and my grand kids. 
I look forward to these trips and take tons of
pictures while I'm there.
I cherish the memories.

Sydney at the Natural Science Museum

Griffing Sawyer

Grammie & Griffin petting & brushing the goats.

One of the tigers

I also went Christmas shopping and of course had to let
the grand kids open one while I was still there to
enjoy watching them play with their new gifts.
 

He could barely see over the bars, but that didn't stop him.
 

Itty baby, Lil Rosie is in the stroller.

It was a very short trip, just Friday evening to Monday morning, but l-o-n-g overdue and when Grammie has to see them, she just has to bite the bullet and go see them.

Who Woulda Thunk?

Excuse my improper English.  But really, who woulda thunk 20 years ago that I would now be eating those little seeds that I once spread on a Chia Pet?   Not me.

Yes, I will admit it I bought this product, once or maybe it was twice.  Didn't you?  You soaked the crock figure to get it nice and wet and then spread the Chia seeds on it.  After a few days the sheep's coat began to grow.

Well now I'm eating them Chia seeds. Last week Dr. Oz aired a program on miracles and I've tried two of them this week. If you want to know more about what follows, go to www.doctoroz.com

Miracle Five:  Coconut Oil. It increases your metabolism.  Use 2 Tbsp a day.  I already had the coconut oil, I just didn't know exactly what I was suppose to do with it.  He gave suggestions and explained how only half the coconut is stored as fat, the other half is burned away. Folks, ALL of butter is stored as FAT.

Miracle Four:  Chia Seeds  They keep you full longer, thus helps you lose weight.  Just tried them this morning, I added it to my oatmeal.

Also I tried asking myself before I ate meals and snacks, how I could make any changes in what I was eating, so that it would show up as a weight loss on the scales. A few of the little changes I made were: Ordered 1/2 a salad at Wendy's, put back a third of my handful of walnuts I intended to put on my oatmeal, skipped the Parmesan cheese on my popcorn.

Whether it was the coconut oil or the talking to myself I'm not quite sure, (probably a little of both), but I lost 3.2 pounds this week and I haven't lost like that since I started weight watchers over a year ago at least. I was so happy tonight when I stepped on the scales. Hopefully, next week I have similar results.  I don't think the Chia seeds figured into the equation because I had only tried them once, but will try to get more in my diet this week and see if they are of any help.

Chia seeds are high in calcium, omega fatty acids and antioxidants.  I told my husband that they've been around forever, the Aztec's used to eat them.
His comment was "And you know what happened to the Aztecs don't you?"

Chia seeds are beneficial, because of the dietary fiber and protein they provide as well.  You can put them in salads, stir fries, smoothies and your oatmeal.  If you've tried them, please give me any ideas that you may have for adding them to my diet.  Ch - Ch- Ch - Chia.

Wishing I was back at the Dunes

It's turned cold back here in Michigan and it's getting
harder and harder to get out of bed to greet the day.
I can't help but wish......
I was still in New Mexico, enjoying the 80's.

Us girls heading to the top of the dunes

I said I wanted to try it once, just to say I did it.

I fell off the disc half way down.

Rowyn wanted to drag her own sled.

A strip down to get rid of the sand before you leave is a must.

 

The tackle to catch said runaway naked girl

The two person redress

Good Bye Sand Dunes...Good Bye 80's....

So Proud of My Numbers

I have been a little discouraged with trying to lose  the weight I gained this summer... I've been up 7 lbs. at one point from my original weight lose of 30 lbs.  I'm not giving up however, just signed up for another 12 weeks.

And I'm greatly encouraged after going to my yearly physical appointment and getting the results of my blood tests back.   I'm so proud of my numbers.

                                    Before Weight Watchers              Now
Total Cholesterol                      173                                   135
Triglycerides                            178                                   119
HDL (good)                               43                                     52
LDL (bad)                                  94                                    59
Chol/HDL Ratio                        4.0                                    2.6
A1C                                            7.2                                    6.2

It's not all about losing weight, it's also about eating healthy and improving my physical well being.  I'm happy to report that my blood tests show that I'm becoming a more healthy ME.

Photo Shoot for Audra's Friend

While in New Mexico I was asked to take

photos for a friend of Audra's.

I'm moving up in the world of photographers.

It was a great opportunity to practice poses

and photograph someone other than my grandkids.

 

Rowyn's friend LeLe

LeLe and brother A. age 2 months

LeLe invited Rowyn into the picture

A. and Emma

My favorite! He was a wonderful subject

Just love his dark eyes

Smiley boy

Cuter than cute.

Thanks Jen, for letting me take pics of your little ones.



The Way It Is....

This is the way it is...

after being in New Mexico for two weeks and

coming home to Michigan.

 

 

There -- 80's and 90's and sunny.

 

Here -- 50's and 60's and cloudy.

 

 

 

There -- I'm pelted in the shower by streams

of needle like water.

 

Here -- A warm gentle rain falls... that is after I figure

out that the hot water tank is not malfunctioning,

but I'm turning the dang faucet the wrong way.

 

 

 

There -- I let out two dogs in the morning and step

onto the warm concrete patio to retrieve dog dishes

to feed them.

 

Here -- I let out one dog and stand there trying to figure out

why the deck is gray instead of brown.  Did my husband

sand the finish off the deck while I was gone, so he

can apply a fresh coat of stain before winter?

It takes time to figure this one out, but it

finally hits me.... it's frost!

 

 

 

There -- I'm awakened in the morning by sweet

little Rowie's voice calling " Mama, where are you?"

 

Here -- I'm rudely awakened by the alarm at 5:30 a.m.

 

 

 

Yes, I'm home.  The leaves are changing colors and it's

beautiful, but there are no mountains.

I'm holding babies, but they aren't mine.

I'm home.

White Sands

Sliding down the dunes!

Rick, Audra & Rowyn - just turned two

Family time at White Sands Dunes

Yes, new baby Emma was there too, but didn't come out in the sun for photos



Dad & Rowyn hanging out in a big hole



Rowyn loved it, the sand was cool especially in the hole

Family

Rolling around in the sand

Look at those red cheeks - Time to Go!


No one got a sunburn while enjoying the dunes.
It was just tons of fun and time for a bath to remove
all the sand when we came home.

Although it would be more impressive to have these in order
it's just too difficult using a laptop I'm not familiar with.

Today - 91 and Sunny!

You know I'm not in Michigan when the title of the post is the weather in the 90's in October.

I'm in New Mexico visiting my grandbabies.  Here are a couple of my most recent favorites.

Emma 3 weeks old and already knows how to pose.
 

At times she looks like Rowyn, sometimes she's just herself.
 

Emmie Love in pink, what else??

I can't wait to get home on my own computer and play with all the pictures I've taken.  Right now though I've got one waiting for more apples and the other one wants to snuggle, so I'm keeping it short and sweet.

My Fortune Cookie Said....

A truly great person never puts away the simplicity of a child.

Grammie LaLa & the Girls

LaLa with Rowyn & Emmie

Grammie said I'm Cute, Just Checkin... Yep, I'm cute.

I always try to get a couple pictures of me with the kids, just to prove I was really there.
Audra didn't download the best one of me, but I'll have time to do that when I get home.

Surprisingly I haven't maxed out my photo cards yet.  I've been so busy cooking, cleaning, bathing and watching the girls, that I haven't taken many photos yet.  I'll have to make up for it this second week I'm here with them.

Today Rowyn & I walked to the park down the end of their street.  She fell and skinned her knees about four times, but never cried, she was just happy to be at the "Hark" as she calls it.  She runs everywhere and climbs everything, even the big slides she's not afraid to go down.

Later this week we are going to White Sands to the dunes.  Audra said it's a great place to take photos, so hope the weather cooperates.  Here's in New Mexico that doesn't mean I hope it doesn't rain (like it does at home), it means I hope it's not too hot or windy as the sand blows around so much you can see where you are going.

One thing I won't miss when I go back home, that's Barney!  A little of him goes a long way for me.  Rowyn however, can't get enough of him.

Nightime at the Playground

In New Mexico it happens to be normal to take your kids to

the playground after dark; that's when it's cool enough to run

and play.

 

Rowyn enjoyed swinging with her friend Lydia and

going down the slides. 

Daddy watched baby Emma while we were at the park.

 

Here in New Mexico

 

I'm spending two weeks in New Mexico with my

youngest daughter, her husband and their

two little girls.

 

Emma will be two weeks old tomorrow and has

gained almost a pound already.

Mama has good milk and plenty of it.

 

Rowyn is an awesome big sister, not acting

jealous or misbehaving at all.

Miss Emmie is going to follow in her sister's

footsteps and be an awesome baby.

You'd never know there was a baby in the house,

she rarely cries and eats, sleeps and poops

likes a model baby.

 

Emma will stay awake for long periods of time

and not fuss at all, just look around and make

cute baby faces. 

I told Audra not to count on this one being

as good as Rowyn was because that's

just not going to happen twice, but

I may have to eat my words.

 

I'll try to keep posting while I'm here, but you

know how that goes....

I'm very busy holding the baby, reading books

and putting puzzles together with Rowyn and

doing all that other fun Grammie stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

Grandparent's Day Continued

Daniela in the corn barn

What's more fun than playing in a sandbox?
You got it, a corn barn.
This was one of Daniela's favorite spots last year too.

Keeping her eye on the other kids

Love this one!!!!

Warming up on the small slide

 Daniela & I later went down the big slides, which I don't have a photo of but they were like two huge culvert pipes that were placed on a hill side by side.  First she went down on my lap, but then on her own and I'd slide down behind her with my legs open and scoop her up at the end.  She thought that was hilarious.  Of course, I was the only adult participating... I just don't understand that at all.  I tried to get my hubby to take a turn, but he declined.

The reason I don't have as many pictures of the rest of the trip as you would expect, is because my battery died in the camera.  Ugh!  When will I ever learn to carry an extra at ALL times.

Other areas of interest were a bounce house, a wooden fence maze, an ark, a kiddie zip line, animals to see, bikes to ride on a track and more.  We bought Honey Crisp apples instead of picking our own, which they didn't offer this year, due to the poor weather this year effecting the apple crop.  We bought cider and cranberry-nut oatmeal cookies to eat, which were much better nutritionally than the donuts.  Yummy!

Grandparent's Day

 

 

This year on Grandparent's Day, I spent the day with

this little cutie patootie.

 

Please return for the rest of the post ...

today is a 14 hour work day for me

and it's time to pack my lunch, dinner & snacks for the day.

Back in the Hospital

Please say some prayers for baby Emma, they admitted her back into the hospital because her Bilirubin levels keep going up.  Audra is staying with her so that she can continue to breast feed.  Thank goodness Rick is off to take care of Rowyn, she must find this last week very confusing with Mama keep disappearing and a new baby sister coming home and leaving again too.

** I must also print a retraction.  Emma's middle name Love come from Rick's dad's side of the family.  Joseph Love Roberts, and Joseph Love Roberts Jr. 

Announcing New Baby Girl

 

Emma Love Roberts

Born on 9/11/12 at 1:45 a.m.

 

6 lbs 9 oz and 19" long

 

 

Her middle name is a family name from

Rick's Mom's side of the family.

It was his grandfather's middle name and

it was then passed down to an Uncle of Rick's.

I don't know for sure, but I think Emmie is

the first girl to use the name Love for her middle name.

I will have to contact Rick's Mom (Lynn) to

confirm it, because I'm curious where it comes from.

 

They had several other girl's names picked out, but

they wanted to wait until she was born to see

what name fit her best.

 

Yesterday Emmie went home, but has to go back

to the hospital today to have her blood checked

again, as she was borderline jaundiced.

This is not new to her Mom as big sister Rowyn dealt with the same issue when she was born. Audra said she was going to go home and put her in the sun -- just like this picture of Rowyn.
 Did you notice that it wasn't the same baby?

Rowyn weighed a whole pound more, so Emmie is a bit more petite, where Rowyn already looks filled out in this picture.





 

Audra Jane.

 

I can't wait to go visit the new addition in just

9 more days!!!

I've come down with a cold, please pray that it gets over with quickly.

I'm doing all I can to ward it off.