Living the good life in Grandmaville: January 2014

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Happy Birthday to me

Today I celebrated my 61st birthday.

It was a great day.

Someone suggested that I switch the numbers in my age and tell people that I am 16.

I got to thinking about that and there is just no way that I would want to return to being 16.

Been there, done that and there is no reason to revisit those days.

In all honesty, there is no age that I would want to go back to at least permanently, there are a few that I might like to visit for a short time, but nothing is as good as the present.

I don't know what 61 is supposed to look like or feel like, but most days I feel no different than I did when I was younger. Sometimes I can't even believe that I am 61.

Age is so much in them mind.

I am looking forward to this weekend when I will celebrate with my girls and their families.

For now, I will leave you with some pictures from my day today and yesterday in school.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

The Deep Freeze, Singing, Healthy Eating, and Flowers in the Attic

The Deep Freeze

We are in the midst of the coldest winter that I can remember.

There is no school again for tomorrow due to the extreme cold.

There is a good chance that school will be cancelled on Tuesday as well.

It is also snowing and blowing in the midst of this cold.

I know that there will be a spring followed by summer.

I hope I do not complain about the heat this summer because boy, could I use a little of it right now.

Singing

My Preschoolers sang in church today for Education Sunday.

We sang "Walking with Jesus" and "Jesus loves Me."

Even though about 12 of my students were missing due to the weather, the ones who were there did a great job and sang from their hearts.

Soli was going to come and sing today with us, but with the snowing, blowing, and cold, she stayed home.

Healthy Eating

I started walking with Leslie Sandstone again.

I have to do something about all the weight I gained over the holidays and there is no time like the present, so I started with walking to the tape.

I also started looking up recipes for healthy desserts and I found three of them that I tried today.

First, I had to go to Walmart and buy some of the products that I don't have around the house since I am not usually baking healthy things.

I found and bought wheat flour, flaxseed, natural peanut butter, pure maple syrup, honey, a variety of nuts, craisins, oatmeal, almond milk, and bananas.

I, then, proceeded to make three different recipes without a pinch of sugar in any of them.

One is just bananas, oatmeal, and chocolate chips. It is a very tasty cookie,

One has almond milk, applesauce, oatmeal, bananas, craisins, and pecans.

That one is a granola bar.

The last one has peanut butter, honey, oatmeal, chocolate chips, and a few other more normal ingredients, but no sugar.

I like that one the best because it is the sweetest with all that honey.

I have lost five pounds but I still have a ways to go by spring, if it ever gets here.

Flowers in the Attic

A few years ago, I read as many books by V.C. Andrews that I could get my hands on.

It all started with her first book, "Flowers in the Attic."

I was so excited to see that the movie was going to be on TV.

John, my mom, and I all watched it last night.

My mom and I had read the book and we both agreed that the movie was no where as good as the book. In fact, they left out big important parts of the book. So much so that John had a hard time following parts of the movie, not having read the book.

So, it was a bit of a disappointment after such excitement to watch it, but that is the way it is with books made into movies sometimes.

So, there you have it.

Just a few things that are on my mind tonight.

Stay warm everyone.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Celebrating Alissa and John's birthdays in Bloomington

On Saturday, John, Courtney, Tiz, Soli, and I took a road trip to Bloomington to celebrate John and Alissa's birthday.

Paul was busy in Madison so he could not join us.

It was fun to be able to all drive together in one car.

We met Alissa at Steak and Shake for lunch and then John and I took the girls to the museum while Alissa and Courtney did some shopping.

I think the museum in Bloomington is one of the best children's museums I have been to.

The water play area has so many cool ways for the kids to explore water.

This is the pizza delivery truck which Soli loves to drive. There are different buttons to push that make many sounds, like a siren, horn, engine starting, etc.

Both girls loved the pizza restaurant where they made and served us many pizzas.

The climbing structure is so awesome and unlike anything I have ever seen. It goes up at least two stories and the kids are able to look outside through the big glass windows and they are also able to look down to the bottom floor. Tiz even took Soli into the climbing area this year and while she did not make it to the top, she enjoyed it and did well.

Soli also enjoyed driving the big combine.

We finished our day with some painting. In this area, the kids are able to paint on big panes of glass and then clean them off when they are finished.

After the museum, we headed over to the Motel. We stayed at the Fairfield this year.

Nathan, Alissa, and Courtney met us there.

We then went out for dinner. The pizza restaurant that Alissa had originally chosen was booked for a private party, so we ate at a bar/restaurant which was very good.

We celebrated the birthdays after dinner at the motel.

We all enjoyed a lively game of pin the beer bottle on Alissa and guess the picture which happened to be Abraham Lincoln.

We opened gifts, the goody box, and had sweet treats for dessert.

It was a great birthday celebration for both the birthday people.

Courtney, Lissa and Nathan went out after the party while John and I stayed with the girls.

Courtney stayed overnight at Alissa's house, so we woke up early and had a great breakfast at the motel, then we enjoyed some time in the pool and hot tub.