We spent the Christmas holidays with our older son and his family, and it was fantastic, as always.
Have you ever baked cookies with four grandchildren and three dogs? Um, not that the dogs actually did any of the cookie-making or baking, but they were definitely a presence. To say it was a chaotic and joyful experience would be a gross understatement.
While we were there, the kids asked me which of them I loved the best, so I did what any grandma would do. I told each of them, "I love YOU best, because..." followed by a list of wonderful things that makes each of them special.
Reminded me a little of when a bunch of my cousins had a reunion a few years ago. An older cousin said she was the only one of all the grandchildren that Nana ever allowed to spend the night with her. Then the rest of us piped in about all the times WE'D spent the night. Nana had a LOT of grandchildren, but somehow, she managed to make each of us feel like her favorite. Was your grandmother the same way? What a wonderful talent to have.
During our visit, our eight-year old grandson Aaron asked me why I call Grandpop Smarticus. Turns out, he's been reading my blog. (!) (Which, of course, means he has impeccable taste. HA!) He lamented that when he Googled his siblings, he found links to my blog, but when he Googled his own name, he came up with a lot of pictures of some old guy with the same name. So this post is just for Aaron. By tagging it with his name, hopefully, he'll find himself when he does a Google search next time. Along with some fun pictures.
Check out all those curls! This is a pic of Aaron from Thanksgiving of 2012.
Also from Thanksgiving of 2012, here's a pic of our son with his whole crew. The children, from left to right, are Aaron, Jaiden, Devyn, and Kymber.
Aaron, in August of 2013. What a smile! He looks like a professional model, doesn't he?
The cutie crew, Christmas, 2012.
Also Christmas, 2012. Who can resist Devyn's smile? (I can't.)
First day of school, 2015.
July, 2015. We all went to the premiere viewing of Minions. (Loved it!) The cutie between cool cat Aaron in those snazzy sunglasses and his sister Kymber is their cousin McKenzie.
Christmas, 2015, and the Minions are still the best thing ever... both for Aaron and Grandpa Smarticus.
Christmas, 2015, and even Grandma has a pair of Minions softies. Smarticus and I are still big Minions fans, but alas, the kids have outgrown them. (Hmmm, not sure what that says about US...)
Now for some pictures from this Christmas...
Kymber & Devyn
When I asked Aaron to stand still so I could take his picture, he wanted to know if I was gonna put it on my blog. (Which gave me the idea to do this post for him...)
You've gotta love a gal who not only wears Elf pajamas, but happily poses in them so her goofy mother-in-law can take a picture.
Jaiden was thrilled to get a compound bow for Christmas.
Smarticus putting said bow together. (HA! And he thought his putting-stuff-together for Christmas days were over...)
Kymber was sooooo excited to get an adorable little hamster... and just a tiny bit apprehensive.
Leo and Troy were also very excited about the hamster. So was Stormy, but she was temporarily exiled for being a wee bit TOO excited. I'm sure it didn't mean a thing that Troy (the Huskie) kept licking his chops while observing the little critter...
Okay, y'all. Thanks for indulging me so I could make Aaron happy.
We saw the new year in with our friends in Tennessee. We stayed up waaaaay too late, but we had a terrific time. Lots of games, lots of laughter. The PERFECT way to end one year and begin another.
Before Christmas, I posted this cartoon on Facebook, which initiated some funny comments from our Tennessee pals, suggesting Smarticus and our buddy could maybe benefit from a similar air freshener...
I must say... the fresheners didn't work, but they did make for a great photo op...
So again, Happy New Year. Let's hope this year doesn't stink.
Until next time, take care of yourselves. And each other.
Grandparents are just antique kids.
