Can you guess what Carissa’s latest response is to something she doesn’t want to do?
“Weellllll… When I turn four, then I can do that.”
It is driving me crazy so don’t be surprised to get a birthday invitation this summer for Carissa where she will ‘turn’ four.
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My dad’s mother, Joanne Wilkerson, my Granny passed away this past Sunday. She had been sick for awhile so it was not completely unexpected. We had a beautiful funeral service for her yesterday morning followed by a lunch reception put on by my grandparents’ church. There were so many people who made the time to come and pay their respects at the visitation the day before.
I will always personally remember Granny as the one I went to the movies with when I was younger. She would always get us extra butter on the popcorn because “Why would you want it any other way?” She also encouraged my love of reading and introduced me to one of my all-time favorites that I read over and over – Gone with the Wind. I also remember getting to play with all of her jewelry. Granny didn’t have pierced ears so she had a box full of clip-on costume jewelry. For a little girl that didn’t have pierced ears, this box was the best!
Granny’s birthday was on Christmas Eve, and we were not able to celebrate Christmas with her until we celebrated her birthday first. The past few years, the family would all meet up for a big breakfast, have birthday cake, give Granny her birthday presents, and then have a lengthy break before we could get into Christmas! Granny had this ridiculous Santa hat with jingle bells on it and some red Santa booties that she wore year after year for Christmas.
For her birthday, my dad has always gotten her a box of chocolate-covered cherries – the cheap ones in the red box were her favorite. After she was diagnosed with diabetes years ago, he still would give it to her but with the stipulation that she could only have one and then pass the box around.
Granny always had a story to tell. They generally involved the crazy antics that my dad got into when he was younger! I wish I paid better attention so I could remember more of them.
My Granny was also the kind of grandmother that sewed like crazy. She made most of her own clothes, and she loved to make me dresses with layers of petticoats so I could twirl them around. She also made me a Strawberry-Short-Cake doll that I still have, and a pink baby blanket and pillow. I also have a hand-made book that she did. (I think this might actually by Ryan’s – sshhhh – don’t tell him I have it!)
Granny also loved to cook. When I got married, at one of my bridal showers, the guests were requested to bring their favorite recipes on an index card. Granny (with the help of my Aunt Susie) brought over a huge stack of cards with delicious recipes! At our family pot-lucks, we all have our general assigned dishes – Granny’s was deviled eggs. Yum! At the luncheon yesterday, one of the ladies from church remarked how Granny always made the best soups for their church gatherings – especially potato soup.
When growing up, Granny and Pawpaw also made a point to always come to our school activities. Whether my dance recitals when I was six or choir pop shows when I was sixteen or Ryan’s T-ball or soccer games – they were always there, and really wanted to be there too. I know that Granny was very proud of us.
Granny – You will be missed greatly by many people, but I know that we all take comfort in knowing that you are in heaven singing and dancing with the angels!
(Here is a link to the obituary that my Aunt Susie wrote.)
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I had such a lovely Mother’s Day weekend. Friday was my day off so Carissa and I had a fun day at the house together. I had a conference call mid-day that I couldn’t skip out on, so dad came over and took her to the park for a little bit. There was apparently a big group of kids there that she made friends with. They even gave her a bottle of bubbles to play with! She kept talking about her “new friends” the rest of the afternoon.
Saturday, we went over to my mom’s house for boiled shrimp and crawfish for lunch – YUMMY! Carissa got to go swimming with Pa, Rachel, Uncle G, and Mark while the rest of us sat outside by the pool and enjoyed the beautiful day. Travis went to the store later that afternoon and picked up a Disney Trivia Game for the Wii. You didn’t really need to know much Disney trivia to play which was too bad because I would’ve kicked some booty!
Sunday, Travis let me sleep in while he got up with Carissa. They surprised me with breakfast in bed a little while later – fluffy pancakes, toast with butter, and coffee! Carissa came running in behind Travis bearing the gifts that she picked out all on her own. She was so excited about them, it was very cute. In fact, she almost spilled the beans earlier in the week after they had gone shopping. She was VERY upset that she couldn’t tell me the ‘secret’! She got me a new CD and candle, and Travis got me a beautiful card and two big bottles of wine.
That afternoon, we went over to Pat’s for Mother’s Day lunch with her and Pawpaw and Granny-the-Great. Pat cooked up a delicious lasagna, salad, and garlic bread for lunch (not to mention mini-pizzas, bananas, and corn for C). We then had blackberry cobbler and coffee for dessert. She even had cheesecake standing by but we were all too stuffed to enjoy it!
Later on that day, we stopped by Veronica’s to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day and give out some hugs. They had some dinner plans with Bobby and Vanessa so we didn’t get to stick around very long (much to Carissa’s dismay!). We did though get Vern set up with a Google-Reader account – hopefully she’s enjoying it!
Such a great weekend! I hope all the other Mommas out there had a great one too!
**UPDATE** I completely forgot to tell this little tidbit of my Mother’s Day… Carissa made several little things at school for me – a card with her hand-print, a plant that they had grown from seedlings, and a little craft project. The craft was a plastic spoon with some netting wrapped around it. Attached to the spoon was this cute little ditty – “Dear Mom: A spoonful of love and a couple of wishes; Hope you enjoy your Mother’s Day Kisses!” Yeah, there was SUPPOSED to be some Hershey’s kisses wrapped up with the netting… but mine were missing. Hmmm….
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I finally got Dee hooked into the Twilight series. Dee has never enjoyed reading and has always pushed back when I suggested books for her. She begrudgingly took Twilight, and I told her to go ahead and take the other books in the series too because she would be hooked. Rolling her eyes, she acquiesced.
And… She hasn’t been able to put the books down! Twilight’s teeth are sunk in so deep that she has actually WOKEN UP EARLY to read before going to work! Completely unheard of.
Once she was completely sucked in, I had to warn her about how much I hated the Twilight movie. She had another friend that suggested she watch the movie before reading the rest of the series. I guess so she wouldn’t be so vested in how the characters appeared in her mind, etc.
I told her that when she was ready, I wanted to watch it with her. Beth had told me that she had heard that people who hated the movie actually liked it the second time around. I didn’t buy it, but what the heck, it was an excuse to watch a movie.
And… the verdict is…. I agree! I really enjoyed the movie so much better last night than I did the first time I watched it. Who knows why? Maybe I’ve been disengaged from the series for a several months and can let go of the movie’s shortcomings.
(Well, I can’t totally let go because it really could have been OH SO MUCH BETTER and the movie does not do the book justice – but I can let go enough to actually enjoy the movie.)
Of course, it might also have been the company I had the second time around – everything is always so much better when you have a best friend that will sigh and swoon with you over a vampire.
Next up - Harry Potter.
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And now I can officially say that I will be going to Disney World NEXT MONTH!
Woo-hoo-oo, Woo-hoo-oo! (**Picture me doing my happy dance!**)
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