Blog Friends and Grandpa

Seriously, the heat and my own bad attitude had me in a tizzy yesterday. I was a bonafide curmudgeon. All I posted on my blog was that I was having a cranky day and not blogging for everyone's protection. Five sweet bloggy friends of mine commented. Kim over at Homesteaders Heart has been writing for a while now that the blog community in real. People care about each other. I am totally seeing more of this over the past little while. This isn't just a case of I'm so much cooler online. I have real friends that I have never met in real life that truly care.

(I must also mention that one of my IRL friends called me to ask about my lack of posting :))

The other Finer Thing this Friday is my Grandpa. It's his birthday. I won't divulge his age since he claims to be turning 29 this year. My grandpa can be kind of rough around the edges. He has a big heart though. The man has been through various cancers, minor strokes and seizures over the past 6 years, but still longs for the hugs of his grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Me with Grandma and Grandpa at my wedding.

One of my (and his) favorite stories about the two of us happened when I was in highschool. I hate returning items to the store. Always have. Well I had a cordless phone that stopped working after 3 months. I decided to take it back and hopefully get a different one. There was a huge (picture the biggest wrestler you have ever seen x3) sales man helping me. He told me he would not take the phone back because it was past the 60 days return policy. I left the store and went to find my grandparents who were at the mall with me that day.

I told my Grandpa what had happened (not tattling but they were wondering why I was still carrying the broken phone). Well my Grandpa (all 5'6" of him) went marching into that store looked at the salesman and said "Well that's a stupid return policy." Long story short I was able to return the phone and get my money back. I always smile when I remember this.

These are my Finer Things today.

I'm having a cranky day...

So I am not blogging for all of your protection.

Wordless Wednesday- The Walk of 3 Generations

For more Wordless Wednesday head on over to 5M4M.

Oh The Wonderful Things I Learned This Week.

A couple of really cool gardening things I learned this week were:


1.If you pour boiling water over the weeds in your rock work, patio, or stone path...

they turn black shrivel up and die.

If you try this with the weeds in your lawn however you will end up with a large circle of dead grass in your yard :)

2. I learned how to plant strawberry runners. (Hopefully they will root successfully).

Notice my frugal planting containers :)

The random lessons of the week are:

3. My daughter can eat a banana faster than my son.
4. It was well worth the $5.44 to buy this kids golf set for Hudson.
5. There's nothing like a Popsicle after a hot round of golf.
To read what other people have learned head on over to Musings of a Housewife

Tot School Letter E F & G

We have been gone a while but I really did not want you all to miss out on the great alphabet activities we have been up to. Among other things.
Letter E we did very little with.

We made elastic E's by gluing elastic bands to our DLTK templates
Then we hit the road for vacation and the letter F.

First we went on 3 Ferries (which I have no pictures of).
Then we headed to the Fly In.


Where we saw a float plane

And watched the Fraser Blues flying team.

We ate fish and fries for supper one night.

When we arrived home we made fingerprint F's.

And some fancy fish.

We were also blessed to find a friendly frog hopping around our front yard.
Now on to G. For those of you who read my Thankful Thursday post I did find the green glitter however i could not find the white glue so we used globs of modge podge...

to make these green glitter Gs.
We put together this puzzle with lots of G animals in it like grizzly bears, mountain goats and golden eagles.
Lastly we did some mountain goat research. I read a small part of an internet printout and had Hudson answer the questions. Did you know mountain goats are actually antelope and not goats at all? Interesting eh?
There you go! 3 letters in one Tot School post! For more Tot School head on over to 1+1+1=1

My Family

Finer Things Friday- Back Yard Camping...

...with Grandpa Tom! Oh my what a special memory was made just by Grandpa Tom agreeing to sleep in a tent with Hudson. The adventure started with Hudson and Grandpa Tom pitching the tent. First they had to find the perfect spot. Grandpa Tom was more concerned with this than Hudson I am sure. Once they determined the best site the two began to assemble their shelter.
Hudson was quite the competent little helper!
Almost done!

Grandpa Tom and Hudson both in their jammies headed to bed for the night. Stories and snuggles.

Have I ever mentioned that my kids have the best grandparents?

Tent sleep overs with Grandpa is totally a FINER THING!

Thankful Thursday

I am struggling right now. I have a disaster of a house, I am feeling impatient with my family, I can not find the green glitter for tomorrow's "G" art for tot school and I have far too many projects on the go. Now is the perfect time to praise my Father in heaven.
Lord,
Thank You for my cute little house. Thank You that I have shelter to mess up. Thank you that I have been blessed abundantly with material things. Thank You that I have the means to clean up this untidy dwelling.
Thank You my Lord for my marriage. Thank You that we as a couple have chosen to read books, take classes and truly work at a wonderful marriage. Thank You for my husband who is a hard worker, a great dad and a caring mate.
Thank You for my children. Thank You for Hudson. What a fun and sweet son you have given me. He is thoughtful, funny and kind.
Thank You for Meadow. My daughter is beautiful. Her smile lights up her face and mine. She is cuddly and adorable.
Thank You Father that You created me in Your image. That I am a creative being who longs to make things with her hands. Thank You that I am imaginative and inventive.
Thanks You God that through You I have victory over my trials.
In Jesus Name
Amen

Wordless Wednesday - Baby Bambi

For more Wordless Wednesday head on over to 5M4M

I'm Back! Oh The Things I've Learned.

I know you all missed me while I was on my spontaneous 2 week vacation. Well come on in. Lounge around the palace and banquet on my morsels of wisdom for you.

Things I learned traveling with my family:

1. If you are going somewhere with my husband (like along a trail to play on some really cool sand dunes on a beach) and he loses the map he has been given to find the the place you are headed to, do not believe him when he says he knows where he is going. You will end up at the airport or worse on a trail that leads to no where interesting. Never trust Craig's sense of direction!!!

2. There are plenty of great things to do on a little island that do not include shopping. Snorkeling, beach combing, hiking and lazing about reading a book just to name a few.

3. If your baby's hat is too big. It will be lost on the beach and you will never find it because the tide will come and swallow it up.
4. Getting your 3 year old out of bed to go swimming at 9pm is a really great way to make a special memory.

5. Seize the day. I was give about 3 hours warning that we were leaving for a 2 week vacation. I did not remember everything we needed and we had to borrow and buy some necessary items. We had the best time just being a family and being together adventuring.

For more learning fun head on over to Musings Of a Housewife.