Sweet Stuff and Sunshine went to Sunday School and church with us yesterday.  During the last hymn,  I was aware that Sweet Stuff was looking up at me.   So I smiled at her.  When the song was over, she whispered in my ear, “You’re pretty, Grandma Carol.”

Now I had a boyfriend once whose nickname for me was “Pretty” and I’ve had my share of compliments.  However, there has never been a compliment that touched my heart and made me feel better about myself than those sincere and heartfelt words from Sweet Stuff.   It doesn’t matter what I look like to anyone else.  To my precious Sweet Stuff, I am pretty.

This past Saturday morning RT and I flew in his small Bonanza down to Destin, FL for a few days of R&R with our children.  Our son and his wife left Friday night - drove part way and finished the drive on Saturday.  Our daughter, her husband and the two grandgirls did the same.  We all arrived at the condo within ten minutes of each other.

It was beautiful.  That’s an understatement.  The condo was perfect for our little family.   The kids are staying through Saturday.  RT and I had to come home Monday because there was just too much going on with the new house and school starting next week for us to be gone all week.

So it is strange not having our children in town.   Today RT flew to Indiana on business.  And I’m here in TN without any other family around.  Usually when he’s out of town, our daughter and son are just a few minutes away at their respective homes.  This week, though, they’re still in Florida enjoying the beach.  Strange feeling to have them so far away.

One quick cute story.  No, make that three.  On Sunday morning, Sunshine woke up early and RT asked her if she wanted to go to church.  She looked at him as though he was crazy.  RT said something about God being everywhere, and she replied, “No he’s not.  He’s at church in Nashville, Tennessee!”  Four year olds are very literal.

Later, she was sitting next to RT on the sofa, and she felt his stomach and proceeded to ask him if he was expecting a baby.  When he replied that he wasn’t, she answered as she rubbed his stomach, “Yes, you are.  I can feel the head.”  I hasten to add that while RT might have a little bit of a stomach, he is not overweight at all. 

Third story.  Hmmm - all three stories are about Sunshine!  We visited a shopping area along the beach that had a “Bears on the Beach” store - which is a make-your-own-teddy-bear place (Like “Build A Bear Workshop”).  I let both girls select and dress a teddy bear to keep.  They each named their bears.  Sweet Stuff named hers Gabriella - from “High School Musical.”  Sunshine named her Sarah Grandma Carol.  To her “Grandma” is just part of my name, and she was honoring me.  Such sweetness!

Last night’s AMERICAN IDOL show was a good one.  We TiVo’ed it and then zipped through everything but the singing and evaluations.  Melinda and Jordin were fantastic. 

I just don’t get Blake, and I don’t get why he has such a manic following.   He sounds like thousands of other singers out there - absolutely nothing that sets his voice apart from anyone else’s.  Plus, as I’ve said repeatedly, he just looks weird when he sings - the whole fish-face thing - and what’s with always looking over to his right in between lines?   I would never purchase a CD of Blake’s.  

Melinda has the most unique voice of the three.  Her voice is distinct.  I could hear ten people sing and I could recognize which one was her.  And that’s an important quality for a singer.  She nails each song, and I would buy an album of hers.  I like the way she sounds great no matter what genre of music she sings.

My favorite, though, is Jordin.  Her voice is unique.  She’s young.  She’s incredibly talented, and she has a good personality for being in the public eye.  I feel almost guilty for not being 100% gung-ho for Melinda since she’s practically a neighbor of mine.  However, Jordin just has her beat when it comes to potential.  When Jordin sang “I Who Have Nothing” last night, it was almost magical.  For someone so young to be able to sing with such believable passion - it’s amazing.

So far I’ve had a pretty darn good score selecting which contestants will go home each week.  I’ve nailed it perfectly the past few weeks.

I think Jordin will be in the finals - and then I hope Melinda is there with her.  My only concern is that Blake fans seems a little overly enthusiastic.  One commenter said she voted for him for two hours straight - getting in at least 600 votes.  Is it even possible for one person to clock so many votes?  I thought there was a limit to the number of times a person could vote.  I have to admit that I haven’t cared enough about any of the contestants to vote even once this whole season.  If Blake makes it to the finals, though, I’ll make sure to vote next week.  I think he got some fans by doing the beat-boxing which was unusual - and then people are sticking with him - even with his obvious weaknesses.  Without a doubt, Blake is the least talented and least impressive of the three remaining contestants.  If people are voting on star-quality, then Blake has to go tonight.

As far as the final two:  If it’s between Melinda and Jordin, it will be a close vote, and I doubt I could predict which one would win.  I think Jordin has that indefinable star quality that Melinda doesn’t quite have.  So my bet would be on Jordin.

Today is Sweet Stuff’s sixth birthday!  My goodness, where has the time gone?  I remember so well the day she was born. Early this morning, RT and I tied balloons to her mailbox, along with a card for her to find when she woke up. Stinkeroo (her mommy) said that she was so excited. “Do you think they’re for me?” she asked. Then when she ran out to get them, she called out, “The card has my name on it!” This is the second year that we’ve tied balloons on the mailbox for each of the girl’s birthdays, and it looks like it’s a tradition we will continue. They both love it, and now it’s what they look for when they wake up on the morning of their birthday.

Yesterday, Sweet Stuff and her 4-year old sister, Sunshine, her mommy and daddy along with her Uncle Joey and Aunt Meleah came over to our house to celebrate her birthday and Easter.  It was such a nice day.  They also went to church with us yesterday morning.  Sunshine sat next to me and smiled at me a lot and held my hand and otherwise made me feel so lucky to be her Grandma Carol.

Here’s what I wrote about Sweet Stuff last year for her birthday.  She is a joy to me, and I love her more than I could ever express.

Happy Birthday, my precious, precious Sweet Stuff!

I’m jealous because yesterday Sweet Stuff and Sunshine were at RT’s office for a little while, and he got to play with them for about an hour while their mommy finished up her work - and I haven’t seen them in over a week!

Right before they left, RT asked them if they had a message for him to give Grandma Carol.  Very seriously, Sweet Stuff whispered, “Secret code!”   Then Sunshine chimed in with “Seven!”

I guess when he used the word “message” they thought it had to be something mysterious.  I have no idea what they meant, but I love their little cryptic messages to me!

Today is Sunshine’s 4th birthday!  Wow!  It doesn’t seem possible.  She is such a delightful little girl.  I love being her Grandma Carol. 

Sunshine, I hope your birthday is the best in the world.  You’ve brought four years of SUNSHINE and happiness to a lot of people.  I love you.

Last year’s birthday post for Sunshine

I  like  my   dog  

love

 sweet  stuff.

You may recall a couple weeks ago when I wrote about having strep.  I missed only one day of work, but I felt awful for several days.  I probably spread strep around at school before I knew I had it.

Well, this past Sunday morning, RT woke up and told me that he thought he might have strep because his throat was so sore.  Not wanting to spread it around at church if he did have it, we skipped church and went to a Minute Clinic to get a strep test.  Yep, he had it.  He said he thought he’d probably had it for at least a week because he had felt so tired and run down - but no sore throat until the weekend.

Stinkeroo (our daughter) called last night.  “Mom, did you or Dad have a fever when you had strep throat?”

“No, neither of us ran a fever.”

“I think Sweet Stuff might have strep.  She doesn’t have a fever, but she says her throat is hurting.”

So this morning, I checked email.  Stinkeroo was true to form.  Even though it was night, she wanted to know for sure.  At 10:30 last night Stinkeroo emailed me to tell me that she had taken Sweet Stuff to the Minute Clinic, and she did have strep.

So, in the last week, my precious Stinkeroo has been to the doctor with Sunshine who was diagnosed with croup.  I wrote about staying home with her last Thursday.  Then to the hospital with S when he had minor surgery.  Monday she had to take their dog, Bogey, to the veterinarian to get staples for a bad cut he got while jumping over some equipment for an irrigation system they’re putting in their yard, and now she had to take Sweet Stuff to the doctor for strep throat.

Here’s part of her email which I thought was funny:

I was telling S, I don’t think any of us had been to a doctor in a while and in the past week, I have been to the Dr with Sunshine for the Croup, S for a Hernia Surgery, Bogey to staple his leg, and now Sweet Stuff with Strep.   I guess I need to take vitamins to make sure I don’t catch anything, so I can take care of everyone.   I just really hope we don’t pass around Strep in the family.  The lady there thought it was funny Sweet Stuff caught strep from grandparents instead of the other way around.

Yep, PawPaw and Grandma Carol - the strep throat carriers.  Sadly, it’s true.

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This is Sweet Stuff.  I am visiting my Grandma Carol.  I love my Grandma Carol because she is so sweet. 

I love my PaPa because he is so fine.  I love his silly dance.  I love PaPa because he is silly.

 I love my mom because she is nice.  I love my mom because she is fine.  I love my mom.

I love my daddy because he is so good.  I love my daddy because he loves me.

I love Sunshine because she is so funny.  I love my Sunshine because she is so sweet.  I love my Sunshine because she loves me.