There is nothing better than a restful nap on a warm summer day, followed by a refreshing swim in a clean sparkling pool, topped off with homemade (from the box) strawberry cake covered with Cool Whip, maraschino cherries, and red sugar sprinkles...all shared with Josiah and Halee! Kacy asked me to blog a little something about our recent Saturday spent with these two little love bundles. A chance to talk about grandchildren?! OKAY! Get comfortable...We arrived at their home around noon and were met at the door by JoJo and Sweet Halee-Pie squealing, laughing, jumping up and down, and hugging our legs! It is the most wonderful feeling to be loved so completely! MaMa and PaPa were on their way out the door and so after all the good-bye hugs and kisses were exchanged by the Clarks, (and Josiah's usual inquiries as to whether they would be taking "PaPa's Sion XB or MaMa's car" were answered), it was time to get in a quick storybook read before the clock hit naptime. These kids love to have books read to them and we are thrilled to oblige, especially Granny, because she loves making up different voices for the characters and may even be heard pretending to be Mexican when she reads Dora books. After cuddling up to their beloved night-nights (comfort blankets), the kids went to dreamland, and so did Gramps and Granny! ZZZZzzzzz ZZZZZZZZzzzzzz. (The snoring comes from Gramps!)
When we all woke up, we chowed down on a Smith Family favorite, Mac and Cheese (also from the box...) and then drove to our home for a cake baking extravaganza! Josiah and Granny share a deep and abiding love for "cake", just about any kind of cake what-so-ever, and over the previous few weeks, Josiah had talked with me several times about how his favorite cake ever would be a strawberry cake with cherries on it. Sounded wonderful to me, so I had stocked up on everything needed. We gathered in the kitchen and Josiah and Halee each took turns emptying the cake mix into a big bowl and each poured in half of all the other ingredients. The best part for Granny was watching them cracking the eggs and plopping the goop into the bowl. They seemed quite enthralled with the process, and after cleaning all the egg whites off of Halee Pie's sandal and foot, we put the cake in the oven and watched a Dora video, of course!
When the cake was baked, we set it out to cool and then went swimming! Halee decided she wanted to hang out with Gramps at the jacuzzi. Every time I looked over at the two of them, they were sitting side by side, soaking their feet, and talking up a storm! They had an in depth conversation about about the whole wide world, and if I know Gramps, it included his views on politics. They are so sweet together. Josiah and I went to the big pool and had fun practicing blowing bubbles with our faces in the water, cupping our fingers as we paddled, and kicking really hard all the way across the pool. He was excited to swim (while I held him up with my hand under his tummy), to each of the numbers listed on the pool tile designating the water depth. Every time we reached one he'd say, "Granny, that's a 3! or "Siah knows that one's a 5!" (We love the way he talks in the third person!) After a good swim we retired to the condo to watch another episode of...Dora, of course!!!
Afterwards we frosted the cake and they shook on the sugar sprinkles. I emptied the maraschino cherries in a bowl for them so they could easily put them on the cake. Before they started, Josiah looked at the cherries in his hand and then looked at me a little bewildered and asked, "Granny, where do we put the cherries?" I answered, "Anywhere you want to." After a short pause, he put them in his mouth! We had a good laugh and then Halee and I ate a few cherries, too! They made a lovely cake and when MaMa and PaPa arrived with pizza, we had a "yum yum yum yum delicioso" feast and then unveiled the cake. WOW! We took pictures, ate the most delicious and beautifully decorated cake ever concocted, and then we all laughed while PaPa and Josiah made funny faces at each other.
We enjoyed every little thing all day long, and we thank the Lord each and every day for all of our grandchildren. They are all such prized and appreciated blessings. They warm our hearts and we are so thankful. Thanks for letting us share. (P.S. Please know that we don't always feed then so much junk food! Kacy feeds then very healthfully, and this was just a special do-any-thing-we-want kind of day!) Granny Smith with the gift of gab...signing out.
