Run, Grandma, run. Roll, Grandma, roll.

Run, Grandma, run.

Roll, Grandma, roll.

Faster. Faster.

No, these are not words from a primer or a “Dick and Jane” book.

These are my grandsons thinking that I, their Grandma, am oh… young and agile enough to run and roll and run and roll some more.

And how can I shatter their innocent little perceptions?

I can’t. That’s why yesterday I ran as fast as I could pushing 80 pounds of boys in a double stroller along the streets of my town. And why I rolled (many times) down a hill with them at our town recreation area.

Oh, I am exhausted just writing the words.

But it got me thinking about the day when I realize that I cannot run, roll or play as I do now. I know I am a resilient person who kind-of easily transitions from one thing to another in life… but wow. I know this day will come.

So for now… yes, little ones. Just tell me what to do and I will do it faster than a speeding bullet. Each and every time.

If they think I am currently a “Super-Grandma”… can I ask for more?

– Sharon

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What does it take…

… to get all 3 boys and Mom and Dad together on the couch for a photo?

Somehow maneuvering a way to get Alexander away from my Nana’s 89th birthday cake.

Getting Benjamin to sit still for 2 seconds.

Matt and I sitting down… together.

Keeping the climbing boys away from my growing tummy… and Henry!

And deciding that William will not give up that laptop – and we’re okay with it being in the photo. 🙂

A photo of the 5 of us. All together.

Ahhh… priceless.

– Audrey

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BENJAMIN WALKED!!

My husband was away this past week on business.

When my husband is away… my mother, my father and my sister become my lifesavers.

Especially my mother.

She spends 24/7 with all of us.

And this past week… even though we all had the flu and Pink Eye… she didn’t bat an eye (even though she ended up coming down with both on Thursday!).

So… you can imagine the DELIGHT of ALL OF US (beyond the coughs, sneezes, sore throats and red/blurry eyes) when Benjamin stood up and walked 5 steps to me to grab his blankie!!

We were shocked.

5 STEPS!!

And then he did it again.

And then again.

And then for Daddy that night when he got home.

And has continued to get stronger and better (and more confident) each day!

It was a BIG DAY in our house!!

OK… HUGE DAY!!

My little man Benjamin is a walker!! And even though he’s almost 11 months… and still the baby of the family, he will have another brother joining us in 3 1/2 months… so, the fact that he’s now walking… makes me feel like he’s really getting to be in the BIG BROTHER mode.

– Audrey

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Throwback Thursday #38

Didn’t you just love those photo booths that used to be in, like, every mall and movie theater!? We sure did. Here are the outcomes of three of those photo booth trips. I think these were all taken in either 1991 or 1992.

The first one is me (Jane), Audrey and Dad; the second is me, Audrey and Mom and the third one is of me, Audrey and our brother Keith. (Note to Adam: it looks like the you, Audrey and I are going to have to find a photo booth!)

Pinks & Blues Girls Blog is your Throwback Thursday Headquarters!

Join in on the Throwback Thursday fun! Sign Mr. Linky so others know you’ve participated and can check out your Throwback Thursday photos on your site, and don’t forget to leave a comment to let us know you participated!

*Today (February 14th) is the last day to nominate yourself or another expectant mama for our Pinks & Blues Virtual Baby Shower!*

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Coffee Milk is in the DNA

My husband loves coffee milk.

Coffee milk… as in 2 or 3 tablespoons of Autocrat Coffee Syrup mixed into a nice, tall glass of cold milk.

This, in my experience, is kind of a Rhode Island thing. I had never heard of Coffee Syrup until I moved to Rhode Island. And the phenomenon doesn’t stop with coffee milk. It extends to coffee milk shakes. Coffee frappes. Or the all-Rhode-Island expression, coffee cabinet (don’t even ask me where the name comes from!).

So should I be surprised that my little 2-year-old grandson Alexander has coffee milk running through his veins? In his very DNA?

It all came to the surface yesterday.

My husband Barry, or Pop-up, as he is called by his grandchildren, and I had our little darling Ally for the afternoon. His older brother had his first school-kid-invited birthday party at the local YMCA and his littlest brother needed a nap.

We asked Ally what he wanted to do, and he immediately said, “Horses.” Which means the carousel at the mall.

That was easy. A couple of twirls on the merry-go-round. Then a trip to the Disney Store. A stop at the fountain “to trow in coins… lots of coins.” And how can you leave the mall without lunch.

Here in Rhode Island, lunch with kids means Newport Creamery. Ally is probably one of the easiest kids in the entire world to please, so we thought his usual grilled cheese and milk would do.

Not so easy.

Ally spotted Pop-up pouring some coffee-colored substance from a shiny stainless steel container into a glass.

“What’s that, Pop-up?” And not waiting for a response, “I want some.”

Now you must understand that a Newport Creamery Coffee Cabinet to my husband can be likened to Jimmy Choo shoes to me. Something to be savored. Delighted in. Loved.

But what trumps your favorite thing? A grandchild wanting it.

So Pop-up gave Ally a taste. That taste turned into his very own kid-cup. The kid-cup got traded in for Pop-up’s glass. The glass and its contents ended up as lickable remnants on Ally’s precious face.

Ah, Pop-up, it’s in the DNA!

– Sharon

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Yes, I’m ready for some football (and contest!)

OK, I’ll admit that I’ve always been kind of a girly-girl when it comes to understanding football.

This year I was kind of forced into "getting it" a little more because my husband coached football at his high school.

But that doesn’t mean I completely enjoyed sitting through the games.

It’s not that I don’t like sports. In fact, I would consider myself an athlete. I swam competitively from age 5 to age 17. I ran track and cross-country in high school, and was even recruited to run in college. I played Little League softball until I was in 8th grade.

I get sports.

I just never got football.

You see, back when I was in high school, going to my school’s football games was all about the social aspect. I don’t think I ever really even watched most of the action (or lack thereof) taking place.

My college’s football team was… a little pathetic. I remember one of my brothers coming to visit me one weekend, and I took him to a game. We were walking into the stadium and he asked me, "Where do we pay to get in?"

I laughed. Pay!? They were begging people to go.

As for watching the professional teams play, I have really only ever followed (and I use that term rather loosely) the Patriots (of course!).

And I’ve always watched the Super Bowl because, well… what else is there to do that night but eat and do what everyone else is doing? (Yeah, I follow the crowd like that.)

Sure, I’ve always understood the major point of the game – the touchdown, the field goal, the grown men touching other grown men on their backsides.

But, I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that up until this year, I never really knew that there were guys who just played offense and guys who just played defense.  (*Hiding in shame*)

I also didn’t get why the words "he’s going for it on fourth down" sent people into a panic mode. (*Running away*)

And I swear in the name of Tom Brady, I never knew that the quarterback was only on the field with the offense. (*Changing my name*)

But I’m proud to announce, ladies and gentlemen, that I now get football – for the most part.

I mean, I am still unsure of what the hell everyone on the field is in charge of, what with their fancy names and all – Safety, Linebacker, Tight end, Running back. But I think that’s OK, because at least I know what they’re trying to accomplish.

In other words, I get the big picture. And I’m cool with that.

So this weekend when I’m watching the Pats play (and hopefully they’ll be playing in two weeks, too), I can enjoy the game(s) with my newfound football knowledge. And that makes me happy.

I think it will make the serious-football-fanatic-don’t-ask-me-questions-during-these-big-plays men around me happy, too.

– Jane

If you’re a Pats fan, or know someone who is, we have a giveaway for 2 wicked awesome Pats T’s from Boston Accents going on over here.

Cross-posted on New England Mamas

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Our lucky dad pick today on Pinks & Blues is World Wide Fred’s Beer Bands!

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Throwback Thursday #33

This picture is from December 1994, and it’s (left to right) me (Jane), Mom, Dad and Audrey. It was taken before our high school Christmas dance, before our dates arrived to pick us up! Mom, could you have maybe suggested I put a little make-up on? Can you say “pasty white!?”

This next one is from June 1992, on the day of my brother Adam’s high school graduation party. The fam (left to right: Dad, Keith, Audrey, Me, Mom and Adam) is posing in front of our house, the house I lived in from birth to almost my 18th birthday. Lots of memories there!

Pinks & Blues Girls Blog is your Throwback Thursday Headquarters!

Join in on the Throwback Thursday fun! Sign Mr. Linky so others know you’ve participated and can check out your Throwback Thursday photos on your site, and don’t forget to leave a comment to let us know you participated!

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Enter our Pinks & Blues Virtual Baby Shower!

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8 Things Meme

We’ve been tagged!

Thank you Dawn at Coming to a Nursery Near You!

Here are 8 facts/things/habits about myself:

1. Since my father was married before my mother, and had my 2 brothers from that marriage, my birth order is a bit different… I’m the oldest on my mother’s side of the family. First daughter. First grandchild. First-born for my mother and father together. But I’m the third child for my father. Don’t worry, no complex here.

2. I am obsessed with Danielle Steel books.

3. I have 3 TV shows that are my all-time favorites – Murder, She Wrote; The Golden Girls; and People’s Court. I still Tivo them everyday and watch them at night.

4. I pinch my knuckle. That’s my nervous habit. Been doing it since I was a toddler.

5. The first time I met Matt (my husband) we both were dating other people. But the second I laid eyes on him, I had this “feeling” rush through my body about him. Six months later, both (finally) unattached… we started dating. That was it.

6. I made Junior Nationals in swimming when I was a junior and senior in high school. And I held the all-time Rhode Island record in the 100 yd breaststroke for 14 years.

7. I had major dental and orthodontic work and had to have 10 teeth pulled by the time I was 8.

8. I prefer hot over cold weather.

– Audrey

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Wordless Wednesday – Matchy Match

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Throwback Thursday #26

OK, this isn’t exactly throwing it back very far… in fact, we’re only throwing it back to last night. But we just had to show the Pinks & Blues kids (human and canine) being cute on Halloween!

Elmo/William:

The Lion/Alexander:

The Monkey/Benjamin:

The Pretty Flower/Ryder:

The Clown/Seth:

And now we’ll really throw it back… to last year, when my big boy Bismarck was Spiderdog:

(I’m starting to be able to look at his picture and feel more happiness than just sadness)

Pinks & Blues Girls Blog is your Throwback Thursday Headquarters!

Join in on the Throwback Thursday fun! Sign Mr. Linky so others know you’ve participated and can check out your Throwback Thursday photos on your site, and don’t forget to leave a comment!

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