Watching Grandpa

Eleanor has loved playing outside at Grandma Matthews' house this summer. She often asks to go play outside the first moment we get there. Grandma's yard holds plenty of entertainment. There's a sandbox, two different water fountains, a garden full of berries, plants to spray with a water bottle, and even the occasional snake in the bushes. So, we make sure the gate is closed and send her out to play as she pleases, checking in on her now and then.

But these last several times we've been at their house, it has taken some looking around when we go to check on her. Without fail, she turns up in the same place, watching Grandpa work in his studio. She could sit there for hours.

She just sits on this stool and watches him carefully while he works.

It's so cute how she looks up to her Grandpa Matthews.
People often ask if Grant learned to make pottery like his dad does, and Grant tells them he never picked it up. Maybe the passion for pottery has skipped a generation.

7-24-08 ~First Haircut

I'm doing a little backtracking (when I get a chance), so if you notice a post with a different date in the title, it's when it actually happened. It's just easier since I haven't been very good at blogging regularly lately. Forgive me.

I have been saying Eleanor was going to have her first haircut for ages, but I've never gotten around to it. I wasn't very encouraged to do it by the horrified looks I would get from people when I'd even mention the possibility. "What? No! You'll cut off all her pretty curls." But the ends of her hair were getting more and more snarly to the point where she would cringe as I tried to comb it and beg, "Do it soffry, Mommy."

It was time.

Before "Laughing Grandma" (as she has dubbed my mom --I'm not sure why except that she does like to laugh with her grandkids-- not to say that Eleanor's other grandmas don't laugh) went out of town to a family reunion, we had her give Eleanor a haircut. Eleanor had watched as Grandpa gave Grandma a haircut the other night, so she was pretty excited to join in the fun. Plus, I told her that Grandma was going to cut the owie parts out of her hair.

I got her hair wet in the tub, and she thought she looked pretty funny with a towel on her head like Mommy wears after showering.

So serious!

We mostly just had her watch herself in the mirror to hold still. She was pretty interested in the process, so she did well. Of course, she is two, so she did have some wiggles.

This is her hair before it was cut. Look how uneven it was!!

This is after. Look! the curls are still there! We even left it just slightly uneven so we wouldn't be parting with so much of her length all at once. I mostly did that for Grant's sake, 'cause I really had to ease him into the idea of her getting a haircut. It's not like I was going to use the electric shaver on her like I do him!
See! Not that much is gone, and now it's more healthy. Thanks, Grandma!

Since then, Eleanor has declared happily, "My grandma cut the owie parts off," when I have asked her to let me do her hair.

Correction: SO Spoiled

I guess I spoke too soon. Grant took Friday off for his family reunion last weekend. We stopped in Dallas for a few things before we headed out to join the family, and we went to the post office. Apparently, a package had attempted to come, but since my parents have a gate on their property with a warning about dogs, no mailman dares to go past it to drop off a package. I'm sure you can guess what was in the package. When we were moving out of our house, Grant ordered a few things online to spoil Eleanor and me, or so he said. Eleanor got a couple of packages containing her favorite movies and her favorite book, but nothing ever came for me. Nothing came because he had pre-ordered Breaking Dawn for me, along with Twilight and New Moon. Now I have the complete set! Apparently, Amazon pre-orders don't get there the day the book comes out. They actually ship a few days after the book comes out. Silly Amazon! So thanks to those who were going to loan it to me, but I won't be needing to borrow it.

But, for the record, I'm more excited about the washer and dryer!

Feeling Pretty Spoiled

So, maybe I don't have my own copy of this. . .

I'm just going to wait until I can get my hands on it from some obliging friend. Until then, I will be plugging my ears and humming (or shouting if need be) whenever I hear people talking about the subject. I hate spoilers!! So, do me a favor and don't tell me anything about it-- at all. Don't tell me if you liked it. Don't tell me if it made you happy or sad. Don't tell me what your sister thought. And, especially, don't tell me anything that happens. I don't even want to know if Edward kisses Bella (which will obviously happen at least once)! Just let me find out for myself.

You want to know why I'm not sad I don't have that book?
Because I am the proud new owner of these:

Granted, they are sitting in a warehouse until the deal on our house goes through, but I own them! Grant and I have been the hand-me-down couple when it comes to washers and dryers. For six years, we lived with the ticking-time-bomb feeling that any day, the washer could quit washing, and any day, the dryer could quit drying. We have been through a couple of sets of hand-me-downs when the previous ones have quit on us. We have been blessed to find people willing to donate to us in times of need. Now, we are thrilled to have our very own new set that we can count on not to quit for a good long time (knock on wood). Plus, Eleanor is fascinated with front loaders, so I look forward to lots of help with my laundry.

I should also mention that we are going to have a new fridge and dishwasher when we move in to our house. We realized the house didn't actually have a dishwasher, which would have been a deal-breaker for me after having lived in one house without a dishwasher already and the fact that I will have a newborn right when we move in. Call me a wimp if you want to! So, Grant has vowed to make some "adjustments" on the cabinets to fit a dishwasher before we even move in. We didn't negotiate to keep the fridge that was there, and we left our other fridge in the house we sold (sniff, sniff, she was a beaut), so we had to find a new fridge, too. So there's a warehouse full of appliances with our name on them right now! Woohoo!

Cherry Cheeks (with a splash of spaghetti sauce)