My Grandma

Norma Pinkerton, my Grandma, passed away this past week. December 6th, actually.

You know when people say someone is enchanting? Like, you know, in "You've Got Mail" everyone says Kathleen Kelly's mother was "enchanting". Well, so was my Grandma. She was enchanting. Lively, loving, tender, sweet, playful, happy. I'm not 100% sure what a "sing-song" voice is but It's how I would describe hers. She sang when she talked. When my grandparents would visit she would sing-say "Yoo-hoo!!" to announce their arrival. When she laughed she sounded like she was singing. Beautiful. She sang a lot actually, humming little tunes she made up, just being silly and fun. She would dance and shuffle and saunter into rooms humming like she was in a sweet little chorus line only she could see. It's one of the things I remember most about her.

I remember her hands. Her beautiful, beautiful hands. Dainty, perfectly manicured and extremely soft. Always gentle and slow, never quick and harsh. Always serving someone. Always smelling of some flowery lotion.

She loved flowers. I remember going to The Botanical Gardens with her. She took pictures of every flower there. She always had potted plants and flowers around the house. Especially Aloe Vera. Any time me or one of my sisters would trip and fall, scraping a hand or knee, she would snap off a piece of Aloe Vera and ("Doot doot doot!") daub it on our wound. Of course it would never hurt, nothing Grandma ever did would hurt.

My Grandma was a child at heart. She was never too busy to play with us. I remember it like it was yesterday. My sisters and me and sometimes my cousin, Candice, huddled under the desk in their den, or, rarely, in their immaculate front sitting room. My Grandma would come in and sit on the floor with her legs straight out in front of her, place her hands on the controls of our imaginative plane, start up the engines (which were her very girly sounding motor sounds) and fly us to Disney Land. She would bounce her knees and point out all of the Disney characters below us, waving and "sing-songing" hellos to each one. We would land and she would either oblige us with another trip or return to the adults, leaving us elated.

At Christmas, she was always in our corner, interrupting conversations and hurrying everyone through their coffee and dessert because she wanted to open presents for which us kids were eternally grateful.

Later, when she would see my boys she focused all of her attention on them and never seemed to tire of playing "pee pie" (Peek-a-boo) or doing whatever else would grab their attention. It worked, every time and they would watch her intently as long as she would entertain.

She loved unconditionally. She was sweet and feminine. She was.....enchanting.

Love you, Grandma.

Coen's Fourth Birthday

We have a four year old. It's still hard to believe. I look him over and I can't see "baby" on him anywhere. It's all giggles and ribs and scrapes. Hair that's a little too long and pants that are a little too short. The baby boy traits are only visible when he's sleeping. I hope they stay there. 

 Anyway, party talk! We had to do a Toy Story party! Really, it was just a family party but I went ahead and bought Toy Story party supplies. Easy peasy. I apologize in advance for all of the underwear shots.

 Here's Coen looking at the decorated table right after he woke up. He stopped, sleepy eyed and said, "The CLAAAAWW!"

 Daniel's gift idea.

Coen had been wanting a train wash for a while and I found this one on Amazon. Paid the express shipping, yes I did.

Made cupcakes after the morning festivities. It was my first time to decorate cupcakes like this. 

My mom's dog, Murphy (or "Furfie" as Coen says) was invited to the party.

Birthday Buzz!

This was Coen's first year to be physically able to blow out his birthday candle. He is doing so well with his speech therapy and motor planning. Sweet guy.

FURFIE!!!

Wallace's First Birthday

Wallace turned one on March 15th! What a happy day it was! I can't believe my little baby is a year old. How time flies, especially with the second child.

 I wish I could blink and start all over again...

Well, he woke up and let Coen open all of his presents for him. :)

Daddy went into work a little later than usual so he could be a part of everything which made it so special.

He got this little click clack alligator.

 Some clothes and a really neat ball, too.

 Coen picked out this cool train puzzle as his gift to Wallace.

Then there was the sandbox. He explored it for forever and decided he liked it. :)

 Likes taking the sand out of the box....

 After we dressed in some new birthday duds Grammy, Aunt Julie, Aunt Becky and Wyatt came over for more presents and then lunch at Chick-fil-A!! We are so blessed!

 There's a smile, my little serious guy!

 His favorite thing to get was a birthday card. Ha! He got them in the mail all week and would carry them around and open them and point to the picture, jabber about it and then close it only to repeat the process. So funny!

 See?

 Got some pretty cool blocks!

 Here's baby Wyatt! They love standing like this! Wallace will tell Wyatt all about it and Wyatt will just squeal with delight. It's so cute!!

That Sunday we had a little family party. A Very Hungry Caterpillar party!

 I ordered these great invites from an Etsy seller. It was my second experience ordering invites through Etsy and I HIGHLY recommend it!

 

 Thank you to my sis Becky for taking all of the pics following. I was so busy running around that I didn't pick my camera up once. I did this with Coen's first birthday, too. Mommas can't do everything and I plan on taking pictures for other mommas from now on. We appreciate it so much, so if you get the chance to take pics at a party, do it!! :)

 Baby's first fire!

 Happy Birthday, Wallace! We love you!!!