Andrew and the Star

Hello from the world of Andrew!

Ah, to have the life of a baby....no worries other than a dry diaper and full tummy. Just a few sobs and Grandma and Grandpa are there to take care of any problem.

We are so enjoying our little grandson...he has a killer smile and twinkling eyes....

One of his favorite toys is a blinking star that we can attach to his bassinet or to his play gym. It blinks and plays music...Andrew is fascinated by it...

Since we have only one magic star, it travels back and forth from his home to ours....the first thing, well actually the second thing, we ask when Nancy brings him throught the door is "did you bring the star?"

Once she did forget to bring it, and I made a trip back to her house after it. We've got a good thing going with the blinking star, and it's better to have it than to wish we did.

Grandparents - the BEST babysitters!

We've turned into full time babysittin' grandparents and we LOVE it. When our children were babies, my husband worked full time, and didn't have the opportunity to really cuddle and spoil the new baby. Now things are different.

We love having Andrew with us. He is a good-natured little guy who needs only 3 things to make him happy....an "on demand" bottle of formula, a nice dry diaper, and two loving grandparents to cater to his every wish.

Grandparents make perfect babysitters. We don't have to be anywhere at a certain time...and if we do, one of us is always home to keep an eye on Andrew. Oh yes, it cuts down on the amount of time we spent wandering through the malls or grocery stores. Hmmmm, that will definitely save money.

We aren't concerned that the house has a whole new set of furniture....bassinet, jumper seat, recliner or whatever it's called, baby gym and the never to be forgotten car seat. Andrew doesn't seem to like the bassinet, preferring to take his naps on the family room couch. Could be that the bassinet has high sides and he can't see out.

The couch will work well until he starts moving around. Right now we can plunk him down and we sure that he'll stay put.....as soon as he starts rolling over from back to front, that will end.

Brings back old times!

There comes a time when mom and dad have to step up and help their child. For many parents its something that they've always had to do, but for us, its a new road.

Our new grandson, Andrew Michael was born on October 17, 2007. Daughter Nan and her husband make a fairly decent living, but both parents have to work to achieve this. So, where does that leave little Andrew? Someone has to babysit him.

Nan called, visited and investigated many, many daycare and private home babysitting sites. I couldn't believe how much it will cost to have someone care for "Drew". The least expensive was $200.00 per week and that was at a home day care.

Yes, I know that private day care,"Mary Moppets" and other business day cares want and have to make money. They would have Andrew for over 40 hours per week and that amounts to less than $5.00 per hour.....minimum wage is more than that. But, taking into consideration that both Nan and John have house payments, utilities, food, car payments, their health insurnce, diapers, baby formula and face the rising cost of gasoline...$200.00 per week will make a BIG dent in their spendable money.

To make a long story short, Ken and I willingly are taking on the job of caring for a nearly 3 month old baby. It will mean a big change in our usual lifestyle and I'm a little scared that the change will be hard for us.

No, watching and caring for "Drew" isn't the problem. But both my husband and myself are pretty active and have committments of our own....and changing to "stay at home" will be something that we haven't had to consider for a long time.

But, you do what you have to do......

A Mouse in My Closet

Scratch, scratch, scratch...as I lay in my bed, I keep hearing sounds....not loud bangs and thumps, more quiet and subdued. But in my heart I know....there is a mouse in my closet!

He is either in a box wanting to get out, or on the outside trying to get in. Either way, he is not welcome. If he would have just gone about his business without making a sound (quiet as a mouse?), I wouldn't have known he was there, and wouldn't be planning his demise.

Now, I don't generally have food in my bedroom closet, so will assume that he is planning to scamper into the kitchen later on tonight...or possibly my computer room! Both places are guaranteed to have pieces of popcorn scattered around the floor....except for the ones that Fred the Dog found before I went to bed. Fred the Dog is great at cleaning floors....he finds all sorts of goodies on my computer room floor...I like to nibble as I type...and I'm sloppy.

I poke my husband to wake him up..."there's a mouse in the closet"....

"Hmmmm" as he rolled over the other way.

"I SAID THERE IS A MOUSE IN THE CLOSET"

At 2 AM I suppose I shouldn't have expected him to immediately get up and look for a mousetrap. But it was worth a try.

Oh well, I know how to set a mousetrap. So I climbed out of bed, put on my slippers and padded my way downstairs. I was greeted by Fred the Dog and Kuper the Keezie, both of whom prefer to sleep downstairs in the family room......they have heard my husband snore and know that distance is the only way to sleep undisturbed.

"Hi guys, guess what, there's a mouse in the closet"....neither dog was impressed and didn't bother to get up, although they did wag their tails. The mousetraps were in a drawer in the laundry room......when we first moved here, we bought them by the dozen. This was a newly established development and the field mice had no place to go.....what could be better than relocating to a nice, warm, cozy house. I think we caught 27 of them that first year.

Getting back to my mouse in the closet....I piled a gob of peanut butter onto the little latch thingy and went back to the bedroom. Husband was still snoring happily.

I set the trap, thanks to the 27 opportunities I had last year, I was a pro at it. The trap was carefully positioned near the closet door but not where "someone" would step on it on his way to the bathroom. That would have been a definite mistake. Then I went to bed....knowing that tomorrow, I will probably have to attend a mouse funeral.

Wrong....when I woke up and peeked over the back of the bed, the mousetrap was sitting there but no mouse. Disappointment and relief...I really don't like attending mouse funerals.

This went on for a few more days...each night I would position the mousetrip with a FRESH gob of peanut butter. Each morning there it sat, undisturbed.

But finally, hunger or curiousity got the better of him.

The mouse in the closet is gone.....sent away in a little box to be picked up and delivered to his final resting place...the city landfill.

Tuesday's Soap Box

Today is the first day of our new year, 2008! Congratulations to all of you who have made it!

I’m going to climb on a soap box for a few minutes and rant about something that is not earth shattering, will not cause the 2008 elections to sway one way or another, nor will it make you as rich as Warren Buffett or Bill Gates. But it does cause problems in your personal life (I do not mean your LOVE life)

Split ends, brittle hair, little wads of hair in the drain after you wash your hair? Oh yea, admit it….I could probably throw in dandruff too, but I’m not sure about that.

The shampoo companies are getting R-I-C-H, thanks to the constant TV ads promoting hair products. Head and Shoulders, Dove, Pantene, and many others......how many people walking around your town have silky hair that flows and glistens like the ones on the ad….you buy the stuff and hope for the best.

And your skin.....dry? flaky? itchy?

Read the ingredients on your shampoo bottle, bar of soap or on the bottle of your child’s bubble bath.

Do you really NEED to be that clean?