Not blogging much...

Sorry about that. I have been busily soaking up as much attention as I can get from the grandchildren.

Dad's surgery was a week ago. All is well, the surgery was a success and Dad is slowly recovering. I spent two nights at their house -- one with Mom while Dad was overnight in the hospital and his first night home. I took Mom out grocery shopping the next day, then came back to Jen and Jay's to stay until The Annual Family Vacation with the in-laws (or, as we say in this family, the out-laws).

Hubby is in South Carolina, all on his own and loving the time he gets to devote to the Community Theater there. J & J are gearing up for a move, so I am hoping to be helpful in keeping up the daily stuff so Jen can get things done. I have taken Ryan to gymnastics, which I love to do. It is so much fun to watch him do so much more than I ever thought a two-year-old could do! I have also taken both Ryan and Zach with me to the grocery store twice. I have to say I despise those awful 'car' shopping carts. Good idea, bad deployment. Those things are so difficult to maneuver through the store that it is a wonder mothers haven't picketed the stores to get rid of them! They also really limit your space for the actual groceries! The stores are not doing themselves any favors with those things. I also took Ryan out to the libray with me. Zach had the opportunity to come along, but he chose computer games, instead. We read books and played with the 'beads-on-a-track' table. After we checked out, we stopped at the snack bar (in the library!) for a juice and a cake. Then Ryan took me to 'the bridge.' I think it is supposed to be a wildlife area, with wooden walkways to keep people from damaging the natural area. Unfortunately, it was 103 degrees and the pathway to the wooden bridges was blacktop. The heat reflected back so much it was a miserable walk. Ryan asked me to carry him. I didn't blame him, since all the heat seemed to hover right at his level. But we managed to enjoy the wildlife while we were there. I took him home after that so we could cool off. I was actually worried about Ryan - he was flushed and quiet and he seemed to fall asleep suddenly in the car. Actually he was just quiet and staring ahead. He was fine when we got home, though. He was all excited to tell Jen about our adventures. Whew!

I actually got Lily to fall asleep tonight. A first since my arrival over a week ago! Seems my rendition of Goin' to the Chapel is just the thing to put an exhausted five-month-old to sleep. Ryan read me a bedtime story. Actually he has memorized Snuggle Puppy and I enjoyed it very much. He even did the gravelly throat singing at the same place in the story that I do. Too cute!

So, I'm starting to catch up. More blogging soon, I hope!