It's SNOWING?!?!?!

To fully appreciate this story, you need to know that my mom has this friend who told my mom - years ago - about how one time when her grandkids were little she filled a kiddie swimming pool with rice and let them "swim" in their diapers in the house. Mom decided right then and there that she wanted to be that kind of a "fun" grandma.

Mom actually decided she was ready for grandkids years ago - I think Karen and I were each only engaged to the guys at the time. Mom held a little baby in the nursery at church and then called us and told us that she wasn't pressuring, but that when we were ready, she was ready -- she wasn't one of those women who didn't want to be a grandma or feel old -- she was all about it. Of course, I don't think she thought that Karen and I would supply her with her first two grandchildren in the span of 11 days....we're just trying to keep her on her toes.

After all of the Christmas presents were opened I asked mom for a box to put our gifts in to transport home. She brought in a giant computer box and told me that she thought it was empty, but might be full of packing peanuts. Well, it was full of peanuts. I poured some of them into a smaller box because I thought the kids might have fun with them....and then when I realized how much fun they'd have, I poured them all out (well that, and the fact that it wasn't my house!). If this was the only gift the kids got all day, they would have been totally satisfied. I had a hard time choosing pictures, so there are a lot!

Liam discovers that you can "squish" the peanuts. Liam and Hannah dive right in!

Hannah tries to collect them to carry them around

Examining the peanuts

She loved tossing them up in the air!

Just to give you an idea of the volume of the peanuts on the floor....
Liam played football in the peanuts!

Setting up the ball for a kickoff! Ah, Liam's new present has a good use -- he LOVED scooping up the peanuts and dumping them!
Grandpap Folger got into the fun and helped Liam with steering and dumping
Hannah took her turn on the tractor - she LOVED driving it!
Liam in the trailer with Hannah driving -- she was in this position quite a bit -- she loved to steer and Liam was really good about sharing with her.

Doesn't everyone make snow angels in the house?

Mom was so thrilled that the kids had so much fun. The peanuts were all over the floor, everyone's clothes, even the TV screen from the static! I figure there are some people out there who would cringe at the mess, but mom just laughed and got down on the floor to play with them -- Dad too. We bagged up the peanuts that we could scoop up with a broom and dustpan and then got out the vacuum cleaner for the rest. Granted, she'll probably still be finding peanuts in her house for months, but I have a feeling that she'll be smiling when she finds them.