Friday, January 12, 2007

Blogiversary Questions - Children

Time to answer a few more blogiversary questions. Today is family day.



Nancy asked . . .
I know that all your family is not in the state. How many children do you have and what states are they in?
I have two children, Heather and John, and each child has a daughter, Kimberly (Heather) and Sydney (John and Anne).

Daughter HeatherDaughter Heather, the eldest child, lives in Michigan about 45 miles to the East.

Ever since she was a child, Heather's face has done strange things when it has a camera pointed at it.

She's a beautiful woman and occasionally I try to get a picture of her when she doesn't know it's happening. This is one of them.


Granddaughter Kimberly LouiseKimmy (Kimberly Louise), Heather's daughter, is 11 years old and in the 6th grade.

Let this be a warning to all grandparents - those babies grow up fast!

Kimmy has the same problem being photographed as her mother. There is no moment in real life when her pretty smile looks like the smile in this picture.


Son John and SydneySon John, the youngest child, lives in Idaho about 2,000 miles to the West of my house.

He is married to Anne, and their daughter Sydney will be 2 years old in April.



Sheri in GA who blogs at Scrappy Knitter asked . . .
My question is about your 2 granddaughters, Kimmy and Sydney. Do you knit for them? Sydney is a doll! Is Kimmy going with you to see Sydney this trip?
When Kimmy was little, I did knit for her. She outgrew things as quick as I could produce them.

As it stands now, the girls have so many cute things to wear that I'm uninspired.

I'm not sure when Kimmy will be going to Idaho with me again. It can only happen when school is out, though, so she didn't go with me on the last November trip you're asking about.


Shanidy who blogs at Purls and Curls asked . . .
I think that Sydney is just adorable...her face and her name. Was she named after someone, or just a name that mom liked?

Anne and Sydney in Anne's hatSydney was named after Sydney, Australia, the city where her parents decided to have a baby.

Her middle name is Anne, after her mother, Anne.



Jill who blogs at Just Another Creative Thing To Do asked . . .
What is something you do to make the distance less of an obstacle grandparenting-wise other than frequent trips? It is clear you are the doting grandma. ;o)
No one in the family, including me, is very talkative on the phone, so this is a problem.

So far I've managed four* trips a year to Idaho and will try to continue that schedule. But, that doesn't answer your question.

The most appreciated way we have of communicating is John's blog which has turned into the story of Sydney's life complete with pictures.

*I only flew to Idaho three times in 2006. I cheated and counted the visit the Idaho family made to Michigan as one of my trips.


Linda asked . . .
Do you have any "rules" for being a grandmother - or do you just "love them to pieces?"
The A#1 rule is that the parents are the parents. Do not give unsolicited advice and not to scoff at any of the modern ways of doing things.

Occasionally I find myself mentioning how things were done almost 40 years ago when I had my babies. When I'm alert, I can see their eyes glaze over and we change the subject.

I'm so thankful both my granddaughters have good parents. I have no advice for situations where that isn't true.


Kathy who blogs at Runs With Needles asked . . .
When do you plan on teaching Sydney to knit?
There are women in my family who don't knit and don't want to knit. Now that I think about it, I'm the only one who doesn't fit that profile.

When and if Sydney shows some interest in knitting, I'll be happy to help her get started. If it's not something she loves doing, I will understand and won't be disappointed.