In Loving Memory of My Grandfather

Clarence G. Martin, "Granddaddy"

November 9, 1914-July 27, 2009

My grandfather passed away on Monday surrounded by family. He was a wonderful man-kind, loving, funny, faithful, and cheerful. And we will miss him so very much. Rest in peace, Granddaddy. We love you.

Growing Imaginations

Getting in a little tickle time before bedtime.
Henry and Emma snuggling up together.
Henry making a crab man out of Play Dough.
Emma painting toys and the inside of a bowl.
Henry in the process of making a giant ant.

Emma's sunshine made out of Tinker Toys.

I have really enjoyed watching Henry and Emma these last few weeks and seeing how their little minds work. I should rephrase that last part or maybe all of it. I always enjoy watching the kids learn and discover things and their minds are far from small. Even before they turned the magical age of four their imaginations ran wild. Now it's more new things every day. They are like miniature vacuum cleaners-sucking it all in. This past week has been filled with lots of "art" type play. We've done lots of painting, playing with Play Dough, tent making, and playing with Tinker Toys. And they have both finally started doing more and more of the creating themselves instead of asking me to do it. It makes me kind of happy and sad at the same time because they grow more and more independent every day and I sometimes miss the, "momma, can you help me?"So here's a few of our two little artists.

Henry's Fly

Henry constructed this gigantic "fly"(dragon fly) this morning using Tinker Toys. Pretty good for a four year old, what an imagination our boy has!

Staycation Day 5

We took the kids to the Movie Tavern today for lunch and a movie. The tavern is kind of like the Granada in Dallas, you can go watch a film and eat and drink dinner or lunch while you watch. We've been seeing the previews for the new Ice Age flick and the kids have been really excited about it. They have seen the other two just not i the theater. So we decided that it would be a nice change from yesterday's hot adventure and that we'd do something inside. So off to the movies we went. We always remind the kids about manners and such before we go out and that they need to be considerate of others. And only occasionally do we have to discipline when we are out. Today they were great! And had a wonderful time. They got to sit in really big chairs that swiveled and moved and got to have soda(root beer) with lunch. Along with the giggles at the appropriate times during the movie-we heard Henry say "that was awesome" and other things. Emma didn't seem to have a problem with the volume this time. And they both kept their 3D glasses on for most of the movie. Towards the end of the movie, Emma leaned over to me ad asked if we could get a treat. So on the way home, we stopped at the BEST and I do mean the best, snow cone place in town, possibly in the state of Texas, Granny's Snow Cones. The way they shave the ice and then add in the syrup is just genius. The syrup doesn't all settle at the bottom and it's a great way to beat the Texas heat. And the really cool thing is, they have sugar free so that we can get the kids a treat without having to deal with the craziness of a sugar rush. Enough about the snow cones...sorry, they really are that good! It's been a good day. The kids have been really good and are happy. What more could we ask for?:)

Staycation Day 4

Today we went on an adventure to the Dallas Zoo. Usually we go to the Ft.Worth Zoo, but we've been there for a visit in recent months and thought we'd give the Dallas Zoo a shot. The kids were initially excited about going and then kind of changed their minds. We're thinking that it was most likely the heat that made them cranky. We got talked into getting a membership and went to ride the monorail first. Henry normally loves trains, but he was not really excited about riding the monorail. And poor Emma couldn't see very well even though she and I were on the front row in our car and Daddy and Henry were right behind us. After the monorail we headed towards a few animals that the kids were interested in. And then as usual, Emma start saying she's hungry(we have an ongoing joke that she has a tapeworm). Henry joined in the "I'm hungry" chant so we headed towards the children's play area and food court. We didn't have much of a selection so I'd consider what we had was more like a large snack. At least it gave us a chance to sit in some shade for a bit. Henry and Emma enjoyed the small wading river that the zoo has for the kids to literally take off their shoes and socks and wade through some cool refreshing water. Most of the kids did more than wade. By the end of our break there, our kids were half way soaked. The only good thing about that is that it kept them cooler for the rest of our zoo adventure. Our next stops were going to be the tigers,cheetahs, giraffes, and reptiles. Well, Henry had a meltdown and he and Daddy headed to the exit after we tried to get him to tough it out for just a little bit longer. So Mommy and Emma went exploring. We ended up finding the giraffes and the elephants and checked out the reptile house. I am shocked, I mean really shocked that we made it out of the zoo without seeing the tigers and cheetahs. Those are two of Henry's favorites. Maybe next time. The heat was getting pretty severe so I managed to talk Emma into heading for the exit which as a good thing because my head was starting to hurt and I knew if I didn't get cooled off it would only get worse. The kids were both starting to fade quickly so we decided that we will go back when the weather is much cooler. Still prefer the Ft. Worth Zoo, but the Dallas Zoo was a nice change and it brought back a lot of good childhood memories for me. And when we asked the kids if they had a good time they said "yes." Enjoy the pics...there are a lot of them!