Grammy Playtime

Grammy was a HUGE help to us for the boys' 2nd birthday party. We were so thankful that she made the effort and took the time to visit us. The boys were already in bed by the time Grammy's flight arrived, but they left signs on the fireplace to welcome her.

The next morning, Cody and Jaden were so excited to play with Grammy that they didn't even allow her the chance to change out of her PJ's! Grammy is always such a good sport about jumping right into playtime first thing in the morning. :) Here, Grammy is reading the boys a special doggie book she brought along. (She knows just what her grandsons like!)

Jaden was particularly fond of Grammy's piggy-back rides!

During the day, between our party preparations, Grammy made plenty of time to giggle with the boys. They came up with some sort of silly game, here, which involved throwing balls at Grammy, I believe.

Everyone was giggling with this game!

The boys showed Grammy a few special tricks on their new playset. Cody enjoys hanging from this acrobatic bar, believe it or not, sometimes for 20 seconds or more. That's quite a long time for such a little guy! :)

Meanwhile, Jaden was figuring out ways to use this second swing.

After the birthday party, Grammy and the boys experimented with one of their new birthday toys... a bubble machine!

It was amazing seeing how many bubbles came out of this bubble-maker! The boys were running around like crazy trying to pop the bubbles.

Eventually, they learned how to turn off and on the machine by themselves. Of course, getting this close to the button meant that bubbles would pop incessantly in their face... neither boy seemed to mind!

As you can see, this bubble-maker was an instant favorite! The boys couldn't stop giggling. (Thanks so much for the perfect 2-year-old gift, Jenna & family!) 

During the day, Grammy helped out with our snacktime devotions. She was an enthusiastic reader...

and great with the actions. The boys were very attentive!

While Grammy was visiting, we had two special occasions. The first was a belated Mother's Day celebration. I was so excited to give my mom some holiday table runners that I had made for her. My mom was such a great sewing instructor for me last summer that I decided to attempt this gift-project on my own. My sewing skills don't hold a candle to my mom's abilities quite yet, but I'm making progress. :) I'm thankful for such a talented, creative, and loving mother! Love you, Mom!

Our second "special occasion" was not quite so happy-- we had a large, somewhat destructive hailstorm! According to the insurance adjuster, looks like we'll get a new roof, a new front window (the frame cracked in 4 different places), some new siding, and a new garage door (just some minor denting on both). Compared to lots of other homes in town, we actually came out very fortunate. What a crazy occasion for Grammy to experience with us!

Whenever Grammy visits, she is always so thoughtful about taking pictures of some of our everyday happenings-- the things I never think to take pictures of. Here are some of those Schleicher family "regulars."

Most mornings, the boys will climb on Daddy's lap to sample his breakfast.

Yes, this is even after these 2 hungry boys have already had their own meal!

Quite often, when one boy is sad (I think Jaden had just bumped his head in this picture), the other boy will gently rub his brother's back...

...or even give a big hug to the injured party. It's pretty precious to see their loving brotherly care!

Frequently, after diaper changes, Mommy likes to lift the boys up high so they can be "so tall." Both boys are so proud to show everyone in the house how tall they can be.

Here are some pre-naptime reading/giggling times. Some days our reading times can be a bit on the active side. :)

And finally, one of the boys latest favorite activities is watching the printer in action.

After the page comes out of the printer, they will happily grab it...

...and bring the paper over to Mommy or Daddy. Yes, we've had to get used to wrinkled pages, but it's well worth it to see the boys' excitement! :) Thanks, Grammy, for capturing some of these fun moments!

Grammy continued to be a huge help to us in another specific area, even after the birthday party was done. She did a variety of things to help us get ready for our upcoming LONG family vacation. What a gift her time was in this area, too! Grammy helped Mommy make tons of car-activities in preparation for our marathon 3-day car ride. I'll share more about these activities in a future blog post, but this picture shows you at least one example-- felt file folder boards! Grammy worked a long time on cutting out pieces to get the facial features just right. What a fun activity! The face turned out super cute, too!

Grammy also went on a variety of errands with us. First, to Walmart to buy some snacks for the car. While there, Grammy put money in this Sesame Street car for the boys to ride.

This was their first experience on a store riding machine (I'm not quite sure what they even call these things!). The boys instantly loved their ride and asked for "more, more, more!"

Another errand we made was to the library, to check out some audio books for the car. Jaden and Cody showed Grammy our newly designed children's section. Jaden, and then Cody, pull on some phonetic "eggs."

Both boys raise the bar to measure their height.

And then, of course, because this is a library, we had to take some time to pick out a few books and read. :)

Grammy kept the boys well-entertained while Mommy was checking out her books. Grammy made this journey to the library a piece of cake! 

We loved our time with you, Grammy! We appreciate all of your hard work, your willingness to play, your creative ideas, your helpful nature, and your gentle, loving way with your grandsons. You are a wonderful grammy and mother. We love you bunches!