Grammie and Grandpa!

Grammie and Grandpa visited this weekend!  I can't tell you how excited Pip and Vivie were for them to come.  And Harry too!  Pip told everyone we saw Friday that his Grammie and Grandpa were coming.  Then that night it was ... why aren't they here yet?????  I am sure they were asking themselves the same question, slogging along the highways the whole 6.5 hours!

I wanted to enlist Grammie to help us make a bird feeder.  She came up with this awesome idea for how to do it, and Pip and Vivie slathered the peanut butter onto the pine cones and then rolled them in bird seed.  

Here we are, having hung it from the tree outside.  Note Vivie is getting extra use of her costume and is taking her babies for a ride in the sled.  (Playing "babies" is her most favorite past time these days.  I played with her for about a half hour the other day and it was the most amusing time as she directed me into the car -- the couch -- and to the grocery store -- the playroom -- over and over again, all the while taking care to buckle her babies in and change their diapers and read them a book of they were cranky).

Meanwhile big Phil provided some motivation and expertise and he and Phil FIXED MY ISLAND LIGHTS!  We can all now rejoice under the happy bright glow of my kitchen!

Relaxing after a job well done.

Grammie playing I Spy with Vivie.

Ok, this is really not a good picture, but it was quiet up in Pip and Vivie's room and I wanted to go see why ... usually they take a while to go to sleep.  Pip was out cold and Vivie was sitting up in the bed.  When she saw me, she thought she was in trouble .. "Don't take me Mom!!".  I assured her I wasn't taking her to the other room, just wanted to lay with her a bit.  We pried Polar Express out of sleeping Pip's unwilling hands and she "read" it to me twice.  It was warm.  And cozy.  Then she contemplated another book, but said, "Let's just go to sleep Mom."  When Vivie lays next to you and makes those cute thumb sucking noises and all is peaceful in the world, you can not help but give in and close your eyes.  I guess Phil wondered what happened to me because an hour later I was awoken rudely by Phil snapping this pic of me asleep in their bed!

Jeanne found a recipe for Pumpkin Pie that called for using a real pumpkin.  So I tried it.  First time I ever made pumpkin pie from scratch!  Even the crust.  May have added a bit too much nutmeg, but that was my fault.  Otherwise turned out great!

We didn't witness any birds on the feeder, but all signs indicate they enjoyed our treat!

Saying goodbye to Harry was very hard.