And breakfast and lunch? Our two oldest grandkids, that's who! Our daughter and her husband attended a wonderful conference in London for 10 days and we were thrilled to share "kid watching" duties (they're too old to call it babysitting!) with their other grandparents. So after the kids spent a week in the mountains of North Carolina, we met them halfway and brought them here to the farm for the remaining week.
As soon as we had the kids in our car we whisked them off to Chattanooga to meet up with their Uncle Jeremy. He picked a Japanese restaurant as a fun place to have our lunch and then it was off to the Chattanooga Aquarium. We spent a few cool hours escaping the heat and humidity walking thru the fresh water side of the aquarium.....chatting all the way as we all caught up with each other's lives. Joel and Jeremy hadn't seen the kids since we moved here 2-1/2 years ago! That's just way too long to go without spending some quality time together.
We said our good byes to Jeremy and headed up the Plateau to the farm. And it wasn't long before Sydney and Jackson were playing with the puppies. Everyday. Several times everyday. I'm not sure who enjoyed playing the most.....the kids or the puppies!
It made my heart swell to peek out of the back screen door and watch the kids carrying the puppies back to their pen as their giggles floated to me thru the air. I love to see our grands taking advantage of the fresh air and freedom to roam our farm whenever they feel like it.
Then we got the brilliant idea to watch some movies.....except Joel and Jackson had to rearrange some wires in order to try and make that happen. They were trying to get things set up so we could use Netflix. Don't even ask how long they worked on that project! And we never were able to make it work. Oh, well, we went back to our little library of movies for movie night.
It was exhausting for Molly to watch the guys work so hard.....so exhausting, in fact, that she had to take a nap.
Meanwhile, Sydney continued drawing.....mostly faces this week. Instead of having her work at the kitchen table I cleared out one of my sewing machines and repurposed the cabinet for her to use as an art space. She spent hours drawing faces on fabric! Pretty cool, huh? She is so talented....and sweet....and......well, you get the picture.
We decided we might turn some of these into fabric dolls on their next trip up to see us.
And then the kids and I worked on this project together throughout the week. I had already made the blocks just before they arrived here. Because it was going to be Julie's birthday the day they were scheduled to be back home in Florida, we three wanted to have a present for Julie. So we did a joint project.....a quilt for Julie!
The kids helped me to arrange the blocks on my design wall before I sewed them together. Then, I loaded the quilt onto the longarm machine and showed them how to sew thru all 3 layers, creating a quilt. As a finishing touch, Sydney made a label that I sewed onto the back of the quilt. Now Julie has a permanent memory of her 45th birthday, complete with a present from her mom and her kids.
As a finishing touch, Sydney made a label that I sewed onto the back of the quilt. Now Julie has a permanent memory of her 45th birthday, complete with a present from her mom and her kids.
It was so sweet to sneak onto the sleeping porch each morning and watch Jackson sleeping soundly. He seemed to enjoy his own special place tucked into the corner of that room.
As I came around the corner one morning I cracked up when I saw this......
Yea, that's a lot of shoes, wouldn't you say? It was great to know the kids were relaxing here and fit right into our routines. And now we are hoping they can come back up real soon....and bring their mom and dad with them!
Grateful Grandparents,
Deb and Joel
As a finishing touch, Sydney made a label that I sewed onto the back of the quilt. Now Julie has a permanent memory of her 45th birthday, complete with a present from her mom and her kids. 
