The Joke's on Granny

So I hid the Oreo's so the kids wouldn't find them and eat them without my knowing.

Around 2:30 Venice hands me a note:  It says "Where are the Oreo's.  I Repeat. Where are the Oreos.  So I laugh and say I hid them.  So Casey and Venice go to the kitchen and I watch them hunt and hunt.  I write back on the note one word - HIGHER.  I could tell they weren't really looking in the right place.  So now they look higher and still can't find them, although they are actually looking where I hid them.  So I go to the cupboard where they are and I CAN'T FIND THEM.  I then begin to doubt where I had put them and now I am looking in the kitchen.  Then they tell me...They found them much earlier and they have been eating them.  I go to the playroom and still can't find them, but they tell me that Teiya and Xander have hidden them. I find them....and we all laugh and laugh...especially me...but Casey and Venice really enjoyed their trick.

love,
the hunter

Measurements

Yesterday was the semi-annual semi-accurate measuring of height day.

Venice is 56" - she grew 1 1/4 inches since January

Casey is almost 56" (I call it 56)...he and Venice are almost equal, he is delighted, proud and happy.  He grew 1 3/4 inches

Xander is 50 inches - he grew 1 1/2 inches.  He is slightly taller than Casey was when Casey was 7 1/2.  So Xander is very proud.

Teiya tried several times to stand on her tippy toes....I caught her each time.  She was laughing as she did this.  She is 47 3/4 inches.  Almost 4 feet tall....She grew 1 inch.

Granny

Outing Part: Granny and Jiichan

Granny: The kids couldn't decide whether to go bowling or to putters. Venice slightly wanted to go bowling and Xander to putters. I said okay, how will we decide this?  Xander said, since we might fight, he wanted to not go anywhere...Venice was easily persuaded. Venice was reading, so I got some 'magic cards' and Xander and I practiced magic tricks.  He did some that he already knew and asked if I was impressed - before I answered he told me Casey was impressed.  I said I was impressed...I asked him if my being impressed or Casey's being impressed was better.  He chose Casey...sad Granny, can't compete. lol.

Jiichan: It's fun to watch the kids decide as a group and resolve so no one feels their input isn't considered - When all 4 are present Casey almost always says "he doesn't care..." and often Xander will follow suit - It matters a lot to Venice and Teiya where we go, and whose place is chosen to go to - After a number of weeks when this took a very long time to decide, it now doesn't take too long and mainly it's Venice and Teiya who make the decision - Then, it's who rides with whom that needs to be decided - Again it doesn't matter to Casey who he rides with, and mostly all 3 others want to ride with Casey so it's decision time again with who rides with him on the way and who on the way home....Like with the decision on destination, Venice and Teiya have come to be the deciders, and they've worked out between them so that one of them rides with Casey out and the other on the way in - Xander also wants to ride with Casey, and he does get his turn, tho I'm not exactly clear how he gets a turn - recently Venice and Teiya since Casey and Teiya were going to be gone over the next 2 weeks decided that Venice would ride one way with Teiya and one with Casey, and Xander would also ride one way with Casey and on the return with Teiya, this way they could each "say goodbye" to their cousins - Very sweet...!

Granny: Xander went out with Jiichan to throw the ball up against the garage. Venice and I worked on her blanket.  I gave Venice a piece of knitting to just learn on and practice knitting.  I cast on the stitches for the blanket and began to knit away.  Then Xander and Jiichan started playing with water so Venice was lured outside.  She watered plants and Xander shot the water into the sky...to see how far it would go.  

Jiichan: Xander had discovered throwing the ball against the garage door a couple of weeks ago when we chose to stay at home instead of going out - He loves doing this, and throws himself into it, and figures out whether the ball will come back to him depending on where he throws it - Literally throws himself into it, and the look on his face as he chases to ball down is priceless....This time, as he had done once before, threw the ball a little too high and it hit on the roof and settled into the drain - He looked at me and said we need to get the ladder - Yes, Xander, we do, and the look of anticipation on his face is again priceless - I get the ladder, hold it as he climbs up and plucks the ball out of the drain, and climbs down again - I say we'll leave the ladder against the outside of the garage in case this happens again - Xander loves this - I'd gotten a bit winded from throwing the ball and chasing it down, so sat down with a bag of chips in the shade and Xander came and sat down in the other Maurie Jacob's chair and foar a good 10 minutes we sat there and chatted - Mainly Xander chatted about being excited and can't wait to get home, and when I asked why he said he was waiting for package containing "Portal 2" which is supposed to come today - I asked how he knew and he said because he'd checked in the morning and it was "in Springfield this morning" so should be here this afternoon - He described to me about what the game was, and because I'd asked him since this was Portal 2 did he already have Portal 1, but he said no, as it was only for PCs, and Portal 2 was for both PCs and MACs - Oh....As for the water part, he wanted to wet the driveway down and proceeded to do so, working meticulously to cover it all - by this time Venice came out, so he gave her a turn with the hose, and even directed her to cover some of the driveway that was still somewhat dry - Venice completed this, and then with a twinkle in her eye started spraying the stream closer and closer to my feet, which I'd stuck out in front of me as I reclined in my Jiichan Maurie Jacob's chair - she was teasing me that she was going to wet my feet, and started spraying my socks - they got awfully wet, but I didn't move them - She continued til they were soaking wet, and then I got up slowly and started chasing her, grabbed the hose and started wetting her bare legs - of course she screamed, and said this wasn't fair as she only set my socks - I teased her that it was pay-back time, and she screamed and ran across the lawn....Later she got the hose back and said she wanted to fool Granny into thinking it was raining, and directed the stream onto the living room window where Granny was sitting inside knitting....Did I say my socks were soaking wet...?

Granny: Then inside for ice cream, rootbeer floats oreos...We played a few games of spoons.  Very funny as when one time it was my turn to deal, the others quietly stole the spoons.  I didn't notice and started to play and they all laughed and laughed.  


Jiichan: This was sooooo funny - When Granny finally got what was happening, her hysterical laffter was funnier than the trick we'd played on her - Took her a while go compose herself she was laffing so hard...! 




Granny: They tried the same trick on Jiichan almost got him. Then Xander and I started a card game of war.  Venice decided that she and Jiichan should play and that the two winners would then play each other.  Xander and I played and played, altho I was heroic, he beat me..

Venice and Jiichan played and she won.  

Jiichan: She beat me pretty handily...!

Granny: Then she and Xander began to play...they were in high hilarity.  Xander couldn't get over mixing two decks of cards, Venice devised a system of laying out her cards in a preplan method of playing them.  Xander copied her and then when Venice had a huge line of cards, she shouted out, "This is really fun"....Xander got all excited and they moved into an imaginary game of war using the cards.  Jiichan was sitting and nodding and nodding, 

Jiichan: Well, I was checking something on my not-so-smart phone and was nodding in agreement at what I saw - well, actually I didn't really see what was on my phone's face as my eyes kept closing - embarrassing...

Granny: so I pointed to him and Venice finally looked and then Xander...but as soon as they got quiet, Jiichan woke up...go figure.

Jiichan: It was the "sound of silence" that woke me up...

Granny: It was a few minutes before going, and Venice asked if she could play minecraft...then a few minutes later at 4:55 Xander asked to play also....so we said...it is very late and your mom will be here soon....they said okay....

Diana came, the day was over, they were great.

- Granny

Jiichan: It was a great day...

Jiichan... 

Conversation re: Getting a Dog

Teiya was talking with Venice and Xander about her desire for a dog.

She told them that her loving parents had said if she got adequate funds, she could buy a dog.  The amount she is aiming for is $3000.  She figures by the time she is a teenager she will have that money saved.

Venice and Xander helped her 'understand' that her goal was unattainable.  First of all they worried about her and Casey having allergies to the dog.  But Teiya informed them she would wash her hands.  Then they suggested that Casey and she could get shots to help them.  The arguments quickly turned to the monetary issues.

By the time she is in her teens and if....BIG IF....she has $3000.  She needs to put it into her college fund...not get  a dog.  Then when she is done with college, she needs to be saving for her wedding, her house (This is coming from Venice and Xander in a reciting of all the costs of living-hilarious)....After her house, then her kids and they go to college...ergo....QED....there are no funds for a dog.

Teiya was undaunted by this litany of future expenses....she is still set on saving $3000 for a dog!!!

Granny

Heights

I measured the kids on July 7. Remember these are rough measurements.
Last time I measured them in January

Venice = 54 1/2 inches (she grew about 1 1/2 inches)
Casey = 53 inches (he grew a little under 1 inch)
Xander = 47 1/2 inches (he grew 1 inch)
Teiya = 45 1/2 inches (she grew 1 1/2 inches)

-Granny

Venice's Questions

Venice is sensitive and aware. Sometimes I just don't know how to answer all her questions! So, as an example, here's what I dealt with today:

I come into the living room and see Venice visibly upset (she is going through something right now, more anxiety than usual, we're not sure why, phase or what...) I ask her what's wrong and she's very upset about her favorite stuffed animal (Daddy Bear). As background, I have also made a rule that if she wants to get any new stuffed animal, she has to donate 5 stuffed animals (of her choice) because she has so many as it is (they don't all fit on her bed or in her case).

As we talked, her "what if" questions were non-stop. I could not make her feel safe or satisfied with any of my answers. At the end of most of these strings of conversations, I had to end each one with, "that won't happen", which wasn't satisfying to her and would launch her into the next question. In the end, we did a search on Google to find another Daddy Bear to see if we could at least get another one, we found a similar one without a pocket, so hopefully that has made her a little calmer.

Here are just the big questions I had to deal with:

1. What if the Daddy went to the store and bought me a stuffed animal and I had to give away 5 animals. So I picked the 5, then you gave them away and then I realized they were my favorite ones?

(Answer: we won't give away any you want to keep and Daddy knows not to buy you any stuffed animals. We'll make sure he remembers.)

2. What if Daddy Bear got stolen and the police said they didn't care because it was just a stuffed animal?

(Answer: Daddy Bear is sentimental, priceless to you, but to a robber, not worth anything. They will take jewelry, TVs, computers, cameras, etc. things they can sell.)

Follow up question: What if the robber has a daughter who likes bears, so he takes it?

(Answer: We'll hunt them down and find him.)

3. What if when I'm in college I don't love Daddy Bear anymore?

(Answer: then it will be ok. Whatever you decide to do with Daddy Bear, you will be ok with it.)

Follow up question: But I love him so much right now.

(Answer: Remember Toy Story 3? Remember the boy outgrew his toys and gave them to someone else to love?)

Follow up question: But I can't stand it if I didn't love him anymore. How can I make sure I love him forever?

(Answer: Sometimes we fall in and out of love with people. But with family, we always love them, no matter what. Daddy Bear is family, you will love him forever.)

Follow up question: But what if I turn out like Henry and I betray my family? (He's a character in a book we're reading who betrayed his family)

(Answer: Henry made bad choices. You will not make any choices like that.)

Now, WHAT THE HELL... HOW DID WE GET HERE TO THIS NEXT QUESTION, I CAN'T QUITE REMEMBER!

4. What if you were in the middle of nowhere and the bad guys asked you to pick only one family member you could save, who would you save?

(Answer: I didn't say anything.)

Follow up question: Well, what would you do?

(Answer: I wouldn't be able to choose anyone. I would probably crawl into a ball and cry.)

5. What if Daddy Bear got lost or stolen. How would we ever replace him?

(Answer: We wouldn't replace him. He is irreplaceable. We would try to find another one like him, but he wouldn't be Daddy Bear.)

THIS IS WHEN I went online and found a link to a new Daddy Bear to show her. $18 for a new one, prime shipping with Amazon.

Dinner time!

Morro Bay Memories

Yesterday, on one of his rest periods sitting on the bench beside me at the park, Xander and I discussed Morro Bay. He felt it was a good place to go, but sometimes boring. Then he asked me if I thot it was boring and I said sometimes, people ran out of things to talk about and it was boring. Then he said he liked the beach. I said there are several beaches, one where the water is quiet and the other part where the water is rough and I reminded him that he likes to run in the waves...then he said he remembered fishing with Jiichan. He knew they hadn't caught any, but he liked it...then he said it was a good thing we have a firepit because you could cook the fish, if you caught any. Then, he leaned over me and spoke to Gordon. He said, do you remember fishing with me Jiichan? I remember fishing with you (he sounded like an old man remembering his past)....Jiichan said he remembered, and Xander relaxed back and smiled. He was so happy.
Granny

Xander Chats

Not only have the kids discovered email, but the chat option that goes with it. Here is a chat with Xander on July 4th:

Xander: hi

10:05 AM i love you

hhhhhhhhh

nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!