A GRANDMOTHER'S NIGHTMARE . . .

It was a very hot Texas day, 105 in the shade, and Lyly was in a hurry to get the grandchildren to swimming lessons about 35 minutes south of where she lived. First she had to drop off baby Wesley at her mother's house and then hurry back to Miss Shelly's for the start of the 5pm lessons. She pulled through the gate at Shelly's house, parked under a large shade tree, turned off the car, took the keys from the ignition, placed them in the cup holder beside her, and opened the driver's door. The door closed behind her and she turned to open the rear van door to let Kylie and Luke out of their car seats - the door was locked. She turned back to open the driver's side door so she could release the lock on the back door but much to her surprise and horror the door was locked also.

You have to understand that this was her daughter's car which she would keep anytime she had errands to do or needed to transport all three children to school, doctor appointments, etc. Lyly's car was different - any time you had all the doors locked, you removed the key from the ignition and opened the driver's side door that door would remain unlocked until you locked it again. Not this car.

Another family pulled up just as Lyly discovered all the doors were locked and her cell phone was locked inside too. The dad, Andrew, got out and asked if everything was okay and was told that the grandchilren were locked inside the hot car and she had no way of calling for help. He kindly let her use their cell phone to call 911. After what seemed like a hour (but was only about 15 -20 minutes), and a lot of prayers, the fire department showed up. They worked on trying to get the car unlocked but with two children, 4 years old and 2 years old, screaming and crying in the backseat, they decided it was time to break a window.

Thank the good Lord they were safe. Luke was the first one to be released and came immediately into my arms, hugging me tightly; however, one look at the huge fire truck that was there, he forgot about everything that had just happened. Kylie was brought out and held by one of the firemen and she too could only stare at the fire truck. You see their PaPa was a retired fireman and this was the first time they had seen a fire truck up close and personal.

After a drink of cold water they were ready to go into the pool for their lessons. It is amazing how fast children can bounce back from something so frightening; however, it took me much longer.

I have never experienced anything so scary in all my life and hope to never experience it again. Thank goodness for the help and support that the other parents gave to me and for the goodness of God who kept the children safe and unharmed during this mishap.

SCHOOL IS OUT . . .

Boy I didn't realize it had been almost a month since I had done any blogging. I sometimes wonder where the time goes but watching 3 little ones everyday makes me realize that I really don't have much time for anything else. MDO ended the last of May and each of the kids' teachers gave them pictures to remember the year by - I loved them.

This one is of Miss Kylie and her class. The last day they had what they called "Western Day" so some of the children dressed up in their western outfits. They had hay rides, petting zoo, pony rides and a picnic.

Miss Kylie's first pony ride and she loved it.

This is the little man, Luke, who the teacher say is always happy (with the exception of a meltdown once in a while) and loving. You can tell he really loves life and all that it has to offer him at this time.

Luke was totally fascinated with the goats and sheep. He delights in checking everything out for himself and doesn't seem to be afraid of anything.

This summer they are attending MDO for 6 weeks and could hardly wait for it to start again. The theme for this summer is children's books. The first week was "Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" and they were to bring their favorite bear with them to school. The second week is "Make Way for Ducklings" and they are to wear their swimsuits. The third week is "If You Give a Moose A Muffin". The fourth week is "Carl's Afternoon in the Park" and they will have bounce houses to play in along with a picnic. The fifth week is "Goodnight Moon" and they will be watching a movie at the drive-in and they are to bring a decorated laundry basket to use as their car. The sixth week is "The Carrot Seed" and it is silly day at MOD. They are to wear something silly.

I love the MDO program at this church. The teachers are wonderful and the children learn so much, especially about Jesus and His love for them.

T G I F . . .

This week has been a hard one. It has been so hot here that the little dude and dudette can't get outdoors to play, take walks or anything so all we do is either stay home or go swimming (twice this week).

So on Thursday I decided that we would do something different. The girls would make some chocolate chip cookies and my little helper was delighted. 

However, as you can tell she ate more chocolate than we put in the cookies.

While the little man decided he would lay on the living room floor and read a book until . . .

He couldn't stand that the girls were having more fun than he was so he decided to join in and, you guessed it, a little disagreement took place so off to take a nap for them both.

Almost every day that mom comes to pick them up the little man has a hard time. He hates getting into his car seat and isn't afraid to show you just how much.

Papa finally was able to get him buckled in and off they went until next week.

A typical day . . .

The grandchildren arrive early in the morning and are always hungry. The little dude will follow me around the kitchen while I prepare breakfast and can hardly wait until someone puts him in his chair so that he can snack on his Cherrios. While the little dudette likes to help and is ready to eat as soon as it is ready.

Yesterday we were in a hurry to eat, get changed, and over to Uncle Eric's house for a morning of swimming. Anyone reading this blog would think that all we do is swim, but when you have over 13 days in a row of over 100 degrees that is all a person wants to do.

Lucky for us that Uncle Eric will let us swim any time we want.

The grandchildren were really impressed to see Lyly dive off the diving board and swim . . . guess I am not too old after all.

The water was cool and refreshing and it was a wonderful way to spend the morning swimming, laughing, and having fun.

Hot, hot, hot . . .

Today was 103 degrees but with the heat index it felt like 105 degrees and the weather man says we are to have even hotter weather the rest of the week which made me think about our winter and all the wonderful snow we had in Texas. 

It is so hot that the grandchildren can't get out and play in my car like they like to do. They like to pretend that they are driving. What a funny little dude and dudette they are.

How I wish it was winter again.