We had the grandkids overnight Friday.
Saturday morning brought us pristine weather so Madi took every advantage of it by flying away.
No tickets or security lines were needed for this flight.
And then she ran through the flowers, just because she could.
As an older person, it’s amazing to see children whose bodies do whatever they tell them to do. No muscle complaints, no stiffness, no weakness, no pain. Just go, go, go!
Steve has a shirt about childhood that he wears when he’s fixing stuff. It says, “The first 60 years of childhood are the hardest.” Hmmm. Sounds like someone is still a kid at heart! (Although his bones may disagree.)
Meagan is another person who is still a kid at heart. This is her face while in Steve’s convertible. Pure joy! (Taken from Nathan’s FB post.)
Madi has plenty of kid energy because part of her visit consisted of doing grandparent-assigned jobs. She is trying to raise money for a camp she wants to attend and asked us if she could do some work for us. I think it is a great life lesson that her parents have her partially earn her own way.
Madi was very diligent in her tasks. She never complained about the jobs we gave her and was always asking, “What can I do next?” So proud of her!
It probably gets boring for them just hanging out with Ma and Pa Smith.
He spent at least three hours Saturday morning drawing dozens of pictures and then cutting them out.
He also spent a long time building with Legos. That child has a lot of focus for just five years old.
by corralling gum balls from our sweetgum tree. Sometimes he blew them in the right direction and sometimes not. He was just having fun using a loud machine. (To little boys, loud is the sound of happiness.)
When Steve wasn’t overseeing all the outside activities he was doing maintenance on the riding mower. He loves his machines!
We had popcorn using the bowl Nathan had custom-made for Steve a few years ago. The “No, I’m Serious!” line is something Steve is known to say, so Nathan immortalized the words on the bowl.
For his usual popcorn intake, he uses this bowl that he made when he was twelve years old. (It started with a piece of plastic, was put in a big oven, and then shaped on a vacuum table.) Please note the industrial-sized container of popcorn.
is usually pretty quiet and orderly. While the kids are here? Not so much.
But it’s okay. We saw children fly, play, create, run, work, laugh, and gather gumballs.
How much more joy can one weekend hold?
What about you?
Did you have a swing of some sort while you were growing up? Tire swing, tree swing, or regular swing? Did you love to go as high as possible or stay closer to the ground?
Were you a creative child, happier to be indoors, or did you prefer to be outside?
How do you make your popcorn? What kinds of seasonings/toppings do you put on it?
Do you have any kid-friendly recipes? Seems like I always struggle over what to feed the grands.
Like Steve, do you have a saying you’re famous for in your household or among your friends?
As a child, we didn’t have a swing in our yard. Consequently, I spent all of my recess time at school on the swings. I would go as high as I could and then jump out!! My friends and I would have contests to see who could jump the farthest. There may have been a skinned knee or two! Now, around here, they have removed the swings from the playgrounds at the schools because ‘someone might get hurt’. So very sad.
I was a pretty creative kid. I liked to make all sorts of things. Then my mom taught me to sew. That opened up a whole new world of possibilities! My brother and I were outside every chance we got. As soon as our chores were done in the summer, we were gone until the street lights came on. Off to ride bikes, play….whatever. I still love to be outside whenever I can be. I love to golf, walk, run, ride that bike, do yard work, or just sit on the deck and enjoy the sunshine.
We make our popcorn in the microwave. We used to have a corn popper but it died. (The heating element went out.) I like to sprinkle Worcestershire sauce on mine. Jeff likes parmesan cheese on his. Both quite yummy!
Two of my grands are good eaters and two are quite picky so when we have all four it can be a challenge. They all like pigs in a blanket, tater tots and steamed broccoli. They also love to make their own personal pizzas. You provide the dough, sauce and toppings. Then they pat them out on the greased baking sheet, top them however they like and bake. Voila! They have so much fun and they love it!
Whenever I hear one of my friends use the word ‘old’, I say “Get that dirty word out of your mouth!” Then we all laugh about it! That word is just not part of my vocabulary. Lol
Growing up we had a regular old fashioned swing set and that thing lasted a LONG time. When the plastic seats wore out and broke, my dad made wooden replacements. And of corse we loved swinging high. Madi’s swing looks really fun – and what a lovely back yard!!
I played outside a decent amount of time, but from at least 2nd grade, my favorite thing to do was read!
We just do microwave popcorn. My daughter likes the “butter” flavored ones. I don’t eat a lot of popcorn because the hulls irritate me.
My children all three like “Cowboy Rice” (small miracle having all 3 agree). Brown a pound of ground beef. While that’s cooking, cook some instant rice – I usually use 1.5 to 2 cups – and season the water with some chicken bullion or broth. When your ground beef is brown, drain then mix in your rice and add some chicken broth and let simmer together for a little while to let the flavors mix. Quick, easy & kid friendly!
I don’t really have a saying I’m famous for, but I have been known to misunderstand some song lyrics that I’m reminded of.
I’m glad you got to enjoy your grands – and wow, they are growing so much! Have a wonderful week.
Sue Ellen,
The Cowboy Rice sounds tasty and simple–just what a lot of kids like. Thank you for that idea!
Kudos to your dad for making new swing set seats instead of tossing the whole thing out because something broke. That’s exactly what Steve would do.
And I’m right there with you on loving to read as a child–I was much more of an indoor reader than an outdoor adventurer.
Love the freedom I see in the pics of Maddie swinging.
I had an old metal swingset growing up and loved to swing, still do on occasion. I could be happy to go slow or swing so high the chains kind of buckled and bounced. Always wanted someone to swing my higher.
I liked to create or play outside, I wasn’t set on one.
As a kid we had both a “popcorn pan” and a “popcorn bowl” both used for other things as well, but that is what we called them. Always used to make popcorn in a pan shaking over the stove. Now my husband has a popcorn machine. I have discovered Kettle Corn flavored popcorn salt and it is really good. When camping my husband had an old popcorn popper for shaking over the campfire. For that we melted butter and dumped it on!
I used to try and fix kid friendly food for my niece and nephew, but they would beg for things I didn’t think they would like so I gave up on what kids want. I do know they love to help make their food.
I can’t think of any phrase that I repeat often, but I know my husband doesn’t like it when I say “I see what you’re saying”
Patti,
Those old metal swing sets bring so many memories. Sounds like you were one of the brave ones if you wanted to go higher and higher.
I remember my mom shaking popcorn over the stove too, when I was growing up. It seems like so much work looking back on it–or if not a lot of work, at least constant tending. Steve has a bowl that goes in the microwave for popping; he loves it.
And yes, melted butter on it is the the best!