To every thing there is a season...

A time to be born...meet Ethan Lawrence Potts and Owen Charles Potts. Thank you, Charlie and Angie, for doubling the joy today!

Milford comes to visit

Miles came to visit on Saturday while his daddy went golfing in LeSueur. Annie was here, too, so we got caught up on life in O-Town. After lunch and a nap, Miles took off to see his Grimmius grandparents and Putter the puppy. Here are a few highlights of the visit.

I got to read this annoying Eric Carle book to Miles. He loves it as much as Hannah does, and I don't like it any more than when Hannah and I read it last time she was here, but she was such a good animal sound maker I couldn't resist. Miles is especially talented at flamingo fluting.

Grandpappy and Miles enjoyed grilled cheese and turkey sandwiches. Miles didn't beg for any chips, so apparently he doesn't know what they are yet, and that they add a nice touch to a grilled sandwich. He settled for grapes instead.

While he rocked in Grandpappy's retirement chair, Miles led a thoughtful discussion about the price of milk (up) and his hopes for the stock market (up).

Miles is reading a few pages from a book on the history of the St. Barnabas Parish in St. Catharines, Ontario. I offered him a picture book about babies instead, but he said no thanks, he wants to be the Potts family historian of his generation so, will keep Hannah and the Ziggies up to date on the long line of great-great-great-great grandparents. He says some weren't so great, but don't tell Grandpappy.

This picture is just plain cute.

Happy Birthday Grandma Bene

Drinking sun tea, golfing at the Root River Country Club, playing bridge, reading every book in sight, sipping a glass of wine, teaching sixth graders about Laura Ingalls Wilder, teaching Title I Reading and Math to Hmong immigrant children, college homecoming queen at Winona State Teachers College, knowing the words to every '40s song written...

If Grandma Bene were living, she'd be celebrating her 84th birthday today. I know she'd be crazy about Miles and Hannah, and she'd be eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Ziggy twins. Grandma Bene liked babies, but she loved her grandchildren even more when they could talk. When Elisabeth, Charlie, and Annie were babies and toddlers, Grandpa Charlie would be the one to whisk them away to go look at the garden and listen to the birdies. Grandma Bene took over as they got older. Ten years ago today Grandma Bene found out she had colon cancer. Not a good birthday present. We miss her...and so does Grandpa Charlie. If you have a story about Grandma Bene you can send GG Charlie by email, he'd enjoy it.

Grandpappy has a twins dream

Another dream about twins, The Twins, as in Ziggy 1 and Ziggy 2--this time from Dad/Larry/ Paco/Grandpappy...

Dad/Larry has felt concern for Angie carrying around those two little babies, knowing that she's uncomfortable and her sleep is interrupted often by their gymnastics and their tendency to put pressure on her bladder.

So last night Grandpappy had a dream in which the twinsh were being carried around in a shoebox (like a pair of shoes!) rather than in Angie's belly. We were able to relieve her discomfort by taking turns carrying the babies for her, handing the box off to each other like a football. In order to keep the sex of the babies a secret, we weren't allowed to open the shoebox.

Then we had a baby naming contest. The rules were simple. Only Scandinavian names could be entered. The winners were Michael Harland and David Koivu. Angie and Charlie liked the name Koivu so much that they changed their last name from Potts to Koivu.

Not long after, a pair of size 5 Finlander Nikes vas bjorn. Boys, apparently!

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p.s. from Grandma
Mikko and Saku would be nice names for the twins. Could work for boys or girls, don't you think?

p.p.s. In case you don't know who Mikko and Saku Kvoivu are, here are their photos. They're a fine looking pair of Finnish boys, don'tcha know.

Nursery rhyme for Hannah and Miles

Dear Hannah and Miles,

I thought about you both early this morning because I saw a spider climb down the faucet in the kitchen. Here's a bad rhyme to commemorate the event:

The me-di-um brown spider
Crawled down the water faucet.
Out came the water
And washed the spider out.

"EEK!" shrieked your grand-ma,
Who jumped out of the way.
And that's how this scaredy-cat
Started her Thurs-day.

Piggies for Ziggies

Charlie and Angie--
Here is a bedtime story for the babies.
Once upon a time there was a little piggy bank that looked very much like a basketball with ears and a tail. A grandma purchased it some time ago because it seemed like the perfect little gift to give to her son and daughter-in-law, who were (and are) devoted basketball fans, someday in the future when they decided to have a baby.

The grandma kept the bank for over a year, waiting patiently for a baby announcement, and nearly forgetting about the little piggy bank in the shape of a basketball. At last the day arrived in November of 2008 when the son and daughter-in-law surprised the grandma, her husband (the grandpa), and one of the aunts (who happened to be the mother of a future cousin of the baby) with the announcement that a baby would spring forth at the end of May, adding to the supply of grandchildren so loved by the grandma and her husband, the grandpa.

So the grandma hurried to her closet, where the little piggy bank had been hibernating, and gave it to the son and his wife in celebration. This would not be a good time for pork jokes, if anyone had that in mind.

Not long after, the son began to refer to the little baby-to-be as Ziggy. As it turned out, there was another surprise on the horizon. A few weeks later, the son and the daughter-in-law announced a second Ziggy would be joining the first in a phenomenon known as "twins". Jaws dropped, tears flowed, and no one could quite believe the amazing news of the Double Ziggies. Right now you'd expect that another basketball bank would appear in the grandma's closet, but you'd be wrong. This isn't a story about magic.

For quite some time the grandma was in a fog because of the news of the babies (an entirely different reason for the grandma's fog than was usual) and forgot about the little piggy bank. In retrospect, this makes the grandma sad. But I digress. Eventually the grandma realized the need for a companion for the basketball piggy bank, so she looked high and low, on the internet and in stores, for a second piggy bank. But alas, although they existed, they were elusive.

Now you would think that the grandma, upon hearing the next surprise from the son and daughter-in-law--that the Baby Ziggies would be Identical Ziggies-- would find an identical piggy bank so Ziggy 1 and Ziggy 2 would match. But she didn't. She checked with the babies' parents, and they were okay with the idea of a soccer ball piggy for the second Ziggy. Diversity in the sporting world can be good.

And so it is that, after much searching high and low, on the internet and in stores, that the grandma found a Ziggy soccer piggy bank today, at the very same store--the Corner Drug in LeSueur--where the first Ziggy piggy bank came from. It was a miracle. Okay, not a miracle, but a nice coincidence, don't you think?

Here is the bank, on the kitchen counter, having dinner this evening. This little piggy will be delivered to the home of the two Ziggies very soon, where he or she and his bro or sis bank now resides. The grandma is not sure whether the Ziggy piggy banks are boys or girls; she couldn't schedule an ultrasound. But they lived happily ever after. ~~ THE END ~~

April Shower

I'm behind on news, but anyone who reads this knows what goes on around here anyway. Last weekend was Twins Shower Weekend, and a good time was had by all, until Sunday evening. More on that later.

I've got a dang cold and have no inspiration for writing anything witty or clever, so pictures can do the talking.

Hannah and Miles say "Hi-yoh"

Looking ready for a Stella-style 5-4-3-2-1-blastoff!Miles and Hannah ride el caballo, Charlie HorseGrandpa and Grandma get some time to talk with the Cousins.
Ready for the party, Angie is one cute mama-to-be!

Brit and Angie

Fortunately for the twins, Angie's relatives are talented knitters and crocheters.

So is Kris...can you find the hidden design?
The Cousins made an appearance as the shower drew to a close.
Hannah, Miles, and Abbey enjoy bubble time
with Auntie/Mommy Annie.

Soon we'll need two more highchairs!
Good-bye kisses between cousins

Shortly after Hannah and Miles said their good-byes and shared kisses with aunts, uncles, and grandparents, Miles decided to check out the garbage bag in the kitchen. His little finger found a can lid and the result was a trip to the emergency room. He's all healed up now, thanks to the finger transplant from his daddy. Not really, of course, but Tanner--that was a generous offer. Grandma will now be more careful to keep garbage out of reach of toddler grandchildren, and next time perhaps our good-byes won't be as dramatic or stressful.

While we waited to find out about Miles,
Charlie and Angie read to Hannah.
Stella is a favorite!

An occasional stray Cheerio hidden behind a table leg and some sticky spots on furniture are reminders of all the cuteness that we enjoyed last weekend. We can't wait for two more babies to join the family and add to the growing legion of cousins!

April

It's April now, but this is all I have time to write. Maybe I'll catch up this weekend. In the meantime, Happy Birthday Mary Jo, well wishes to Teresa, and love to Hannah and Miles and the Ziggies.