Annie, She made it!

Yesterday, Saturday, two days after Thanksgiving. Gramma was tired. I could see she was worn out a bit. Having her tooth chip the night before Thanksgiving bothers her and she wants it fixed. She does not like people seeing her with this front snagly tooth. We had tickets yesterday to see the play the girls are in and that I costumed. My cousins Ann and Ellie and Mary were also visiting. Turned out Ellie was sick, so she and Mary stayed home and only Ann came up. Gramma was sweet and social with us, she got up and enjoyed a snack together, but she also said she didn't want to go to the play. I told her she was going anyhow, because it was important to me and to the kids, so she got ready, even though she would have rather stayed home all cozy in bed. She's a bit nervous when we are around crowds and yesterday it was very nice to have Ann along with us as a calm for my mom. We had front row seats right near the middle and the play was great again. At intermission Gramma asked if she had to go back in and I said yup, so she headed back in for Act 2. She did love being at the show, she talked about it coming home and she was glad she went. Tessa and Ashley both were happy she shared the show with them, so really it all was good. Knowing when to push and when to back off is always tough. I was the one who wanted my mom to see the show, for the girls, for myself, and for her. She says she doesn't remember things, so maybe she won't remember today what we did yesterday, but I saw her singing to the final song of Tomorrow and for that I am glad she had the experience. Today will be a lazy day, at home, cleaning, relaxing, getting Gramma up and showered, hair washed, that kind of day, with no plans.

Thanksgiving was JOYFUL

Here are two dishes that we made. Gramma's fudge, made for nut lovers and those who don't care for nuts and Tessa's addition of raspberry fruit dip served with apples, pears, bananas and strawberries. Yummy. The camera that is coming to me needs to get here soon, because I am relying on Ashley's cell phone right now and she was at her friends house when our dinner was all ready. We ate Quiche, Butternut squash soup, and fruit with dip for lunch. Thank you Ashley for these shots. I have no pictures of us all together, eating and laughing. It was an alcohol free, totally joyful meal with my sister, her two kids and boyfriend, my brother, Tim's brother, and my mom. Everyone had a very nice day. I say alcohol free because my mom, my brother, and my sister all have freed themselves from the dis-ease of alcoholism. Tim and I never really cared one way or the other about alcohol and have not had any in the house for years. Since I served on the fine china paper plates, the dishes were very easy to do after. We have loads of leftovers and all around this Thanksgiving was everything it was meant to be for us. Tessa dressed up as a Native American too. Our own sweet Sacajawea.

Tessa's B-day part 2

This is the view of our table, where the girls were getting ready to share cake and ice cream. Gramma really enjoys that we make her get up for these late night moments. There were 6 girls at the table, plus Ashley, McKinley, Kim, Jordan and Riley. Everyone had a blast adding ice cream, syrup, whipped cream and gummy worms to make their own cake treats. They were messy chocolate strawberry, gooy bowls of heaven (if heaven had a flavor).

Gramma will stay in bed all day if you let her

Yesterday was a busy busy day and maybe now that I think about it I should have asked for some help from my sister and brother. I got Gramma up for a breakfast break and we chatted and listened to music for about 1 hour, but at 12:30 I had to go to theater with the girls for the opening of Annie and Tim had already taken Riley to a swim meet. Gramma was very sweet about being OK with staying home alone for such a long time and assured me she would not go anywhere other than the bathroom. We got home at 5pm. By 5:30 we headed out again to go to an awards night for Riley's swimming. We didn't get home again until 8:30. Ashley did stop in at 7 and checked in on Gramma, but really, she was home most of the day alone and she stays in bed. Is this OK? That's when I start going, well it is what she prefers actually, so in a way we are giving her a gift of being able to sleep all cuddly all day. But, staying in bed all day isn't a very healthy way to be, so in order to help her be her healthiest self, she needs more activity and interaction. We did have her hang out in the evening with us, I had her eat a light meal, have some tea, and conversation, but for the most part yesterday, Gramma was alone and in bed.

Tessa's Birthday Day, Gramma shines

Yesterday Tessa turned 10. I had a few last minute shopping items to get, so Riley and I headed out to the store for some surprisings. We got her some balloons, a cake for theater, and some flowers for Gramma to give her with a card. While Riley distracted Tessa with the balloon gift, I snuck into Gramma's room, had her sign the card and gave her the flowers and asked her to get ready for the day. About 10 minutes later I suggested to Tessa to go wake Gramma up. Oh boy was there love flowing between these two. Tessa was just shocked Gramma has a card for her and she loved the flowers. We had Gramma get up and enjoy some of Ashley's famous sprinkle pancakes. We then had a round of lessons to get Ashley too and I snuck in going to the pharmacy to get Gramma some pills. She's having her teeth cleaned today and she takes antibiotics prior to cleaning. Two dental appointments in one week. Wow.

At 12:30 Tessa and I got Gramma up to go out for our Thursday at Thomas'. By the time I had the car parked, Thomas was washing away her hair. We did a treatment to her scalp, just a little baking soda one time a month to control flakeys. Thomas says her scalp is so much healthier. She's just not flaking like she was. Tessa got a bun for theater. She was wearing her new suit coat and looks so professional, it's a crack up. She even drew herself a briefcase on the outside of her sketch pad. We went into Nugget for soup and cocoa and Thomas snuck in and paid for our lunch. We laughed about switching money, I paid him, he got our lunch. Funny. We got home about three. We did have a little cupcake each and Gramma and I sang Happy Birthday to Tessa. Theater by 4 pm. Tessa did not know I had cakes for her, so that was fun to surprise her at dinner break with cake for the whole cast.

We got home from theater at 9:30. Gramma had not gotten up or taken her evening meds and Riley and Tim had the entire table piled in gifts. It was a purple polka dot pile of joy. Tessa got Gramma up, I made her a little meal and we all enjoyed watching Tessa open her gifts. It was a baking themed birthday and Tessa was overflowing with love, excitement and body slamming hugs. She squealed and jumped up and down with each gift she opened. She got a mixing bowl, an electric hand mixer, a spatula that angles up so she won't burn her hand when she flips things, a sifter, a lemon juicer, a grater, measuring cups, an ice cream scope, a melon ball scoop, and a peeler that is shaped like a monkey. This kid is in heaven. I cleared out a drawer for her and she was able to put most of her new tools away. She went to bed dreaming of what to cook next, something we have to sift of course. Tessa and Gramma both were laughing and checking out each new tool and it was a great midnight birthday party, complete with tiny pieces of cake left over from theater. Seeing my mom so involved with the activity is such a joy. She was right there with Tessa, sharing her enthusiasm for cooking, saying she'll be right there to taste her creations. It was an awesome way to end a busy day full of celebrating. I am very glad we asked Gramma to come join us. She enjoyed it, Tessa loved it, and we have a new memory of Tessa celebrating her birthday with her Gramma on her birthday, something Tessa doesn't remember ever happening before.

The Dentist, and ANXIETY

Okay, now when my mom is going out for a hair do and a treat, she is all game and clear and not so confused. But when she is going to do something she does not want to do, well that is a whole nother story. I took her to the dentist today, for a basic check and to have the dentist get to know her. I found out she needs antibiotics before cleaning, so no cleaning today. She also has a small broken filling that will be repaired soon. Overall she did great, but I could not leave the room. Period. She said, Mary stay with me please, and when Tessa wanted some water, she said, please don't go anywhere. And I stayed. We played games and sang little songs while we waited. Tessa is such fun to have along and is real help for me, walking her in while I park, that kind of thing. Gramma did not like being at the dentist, but she likes Dr. Childress and is willing to have him work on her teeth. We will go in again on Friday and I'll learn all about cleaning her partials and her teeth. She does not do a very good job at all. Lots of questions.

Late Night Cooking

Last night we got in at 9 pm from Annie dress rehearsal and Tessa walked right into the kitchen and grabbed a cook book and announced, I am making something. She picked the Joy of Cooking. This is a child who is still working out the whole reading thing. After saying she was going to make date logs, then Russian Pot Roast, I handed her Pretend Soup, a child's cook book with a picture recipe as well as a written recipe. Gramma moved up here with 2 Popover pans. It was a random find in her things, but we have them. Tessa found a popover recipe and next thing I know we are cracking eggs, she's reading away the recipe, I am handing her ingredients and putting them away after. 40 minutes later we had beautiful popovers, just 6, one for each family member. Tessa ran off and got Gramma. We had a very nice late night popover date with Gramma, complete with lots of laughter, some tea, and yogurt. I was amazed I was able to jump in this late after 5 hours of costuming and boy the joy was overflowing. While cooking we decided she will have a cooking themed birthday party, complete with apron making and at least 4 different cooking sessions. Popovers are on the list.