CHILLAXIN' AT MIMI'S/GRAMMY'S

I have been torn about what the kids are supposed to call me. The older ones started with calling me Grammy. Then Olive came along and shortened it to Mimi and for me it has kind of stuck. When she was first talking, she would get exasperated and she would say, "Mimi" in a really exasperated, frustrated, cute little way and it was so funny that I found myself doing things to sort of irritate her....in the most grandmotherly way....just so I could hear her say it. Maybe that is why she likes Papa so much more!! But I love it when she calls me that and I love that William calls me that and I especially like the way that Daisy says it right now. Not in the exasperated, frustrated way of Olive, but in a friendly, excited voice that is equally as cute. So I am hoping that the younger kids all call me Mimi...and I like it that it is a little different. Anyway, fun times at our house. I have sensed a theme in the pictures of Walt....he is asleep in a lot of them. Shauna and Ben finally came home...well to the west coast. They stayed with us for several weeks and we had a great time re-connecting with their family. Walt had never even met Blake and I think that this picture was day two of their visit. Why do all of the grandkids like him so much???? I just don't get it. Blake crawled right into his lap and fell promptly to sleep, as did Papa.

Blake was not very cooperative in getting his picture taken. Every time I tried to snap one, he crawled or walked away so this was about as good as it gets. I have loved getting to know this cute little rascal. He reminds me a lot of Than or I can picture Walt looking just like this as a baby. Love this little guy.

And then there is this cute little darlin'. She is the cutest, friendliest, easiest going baby I think I have ever met. I love that she will come to me and let me hold her. I don't think I heard her cry once at Fort Bragg in the whole time we were there. And she just smiles....all the time. Love this girl.

Shauna does special time with her kids every night before they go to bed. She reads to each one of her kids individually from a book of their choice. Well it would have taken all night to read to each of these kids separately, so she read to them as a group and they loved it. Even the dogs wanted to get in on it.

After story time Shauna and Erica let the kids watch a movie and have a semi-slumber party. They loaded them up on junk food and they all laid down to watch the movie. Trying to get all of the kids to agree on a movie was no easy task.

I don't think that Than or Sammy or Joe ever come to our house without getting in a few games of crib with their dad. This has been a Hancock tradition that has been carried down the generations. If grandma Hancock is here, she is in on it too. Notice the various drinking paraphanelia on the table...bottles, sippy bottles, sippy cups, cups and of course Papa's soda bottle. The kids were eating dinner here right before the movie/junk food night.

Corn on the cob and chips and salsa....that's all I can see. What kind of a dinner is that????

If the kids have already hot tubbed and played outside and swam and are all tired out or if the adults are just sick of the kids, this is what we do with them. It's not quite Grandma's feather bed, but it is pretty darn close and I love it when they all pile into it. Look how intense they all are. There is very seldom any fighting when they are watching a movie.

And when the kids are in Mimi's bed, the adults can usually be found here....just relaxin' and being totally thankful that the kids are out of their hair for a few minutes.

I think Erica and Shauna were planning a menu or something....maybe for Memorial day, of which I just realized, I have no pictures. But we did have it this year. The weather wasn't very cooperative and it was sort of cold and attendance was down a bit, but it was still fun and relaxing and I am glad that we do that every year. I love it when my kids come to visit. It is loud and noisy and very messy and I complain about all of it. I still am thankful that they come. I am thankful that I was able to spend so much time with my family over the last six weeks. I have to say though that it has been nice to have a peaceful, clean home for the past few days. But I would do it all over again in a minute. I love all of you guys and appreciate all of the help you are to me.