These two are my oldest grandchild and my youngest. The young man just took his SAT test, ranking in the top 1% of the 3% of 7th graders who were eligible to take the SAT.  Brag.  There was an award ceremony at Duke University and state award ceremony at Texas A&M.  He is a home-schooled child.  We are very proud of his progress and of his teacher.  He is enjoying the freedom to tackle the things he is ready to tackle.  He has been tackling geometry and algebra with a vengeance.  His main skill, however, is a talent for the written word.  We are hoping we have a budding author.  He keeps a fascinating daily journal.  He plays the piano a little; but he is studying the chanter so that he can play bagpipes.  He is warm, open-hearted, and friendly with a lively sense of humor and a quick wit.  His hobbies are reading (loves fantasy and science fiction), rpg's (written megabytes of story lines and character sheets); computers (created a nifty homepage) and computer games; and soccer twice weekly.

The beauty with him has just survived spinal meningitis this January, relearning to sit, stand and walk; all of which she has attacked with an abandon that terrifies the watchers.  We are truly blessed to have her with us.  Always precious, we are so aware of that preciousness now.  Age 2 years 3 months, she can count, do simple math, knows her alphabet, both big and little letters, has a sophisticated vocabulary and knows the lyrics to dozens of songs, always on pitch..  She has a wonderful sense of humor and a tenacious, never-give-up style. She has beautiful red hair, shining blue eyes, and a smile that melts hearts.  She adores her Dad, her big brother is a special friend, and she knows that her mommy hung the moon.  Although she loves her Granma, her primary interest and love is BARNEY, BARNEY, BARNEY.

The young man received a ribbon this year, "I slam-dunked the TAAS test."  He has also been student of the week three times this year, including the last week of school.  He received one of the two "Principal's Citizenship Award" given at the final assembly.  Sometimes shy, he is brave with great inner strength and endurance. He likes to play basketball; and, recently, he broke his ring finger dribbling a ball. He dreams of being a track star, "That's why I will never smoke or drink."  Whatever works!  He also likes bicycling, race cars, cards, board games, and badminton. He does a neat forward-somersault into the pool and loves computer games.  He nuked the Duke that first afternoon.

The middle child with the dazzling smile is our natural athlete.  She may be our future tennis player. She has a great follow-through and loosened my front teeth.  Her game will be handicapped, though, for a while, because I won't let her play on the left court, behind me.  I like to keep an eye on that swing.  She is fearless and will try anything; although she is not crazy about roller coasters. She learned to swim the first day she hit the pool last year.  One Saturday this year, she represented her class in an art contest.  She received "Certificate for Academic Excellence for the School Year" and "A-B Honor Roll Certificate for Academic Excellence".  She is friendly, likable, and talkative.  Her laughter and sense of fun are her greatest assets.  She is a good sport and that smile never leaves her face.

The smaller of the two girls is a true sweetheart.  She is very loving.  She seems to have done well in kindergarten, too.  She wore her "graduation gown" and received an award for having scored the highest in her class on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. A live wire, she has been trying to catch her older siblings since she learned to crawl; and she has never slowed down a moment.  She is a fierce competitor, with a fiery temper, all in an amazingly delicate package.  At the same time, she is sensitive and wants to please.  Her sometimes disconcerting dark stare says that she can be easily hurt but will stand her ground.  She likes computer games, but loves Barbie.

There is no exaggeration here, the author being totally unbiased about these apparent paragons of virtue.  They like their Grandmother, too.  Now you know me.  They are my life, as are my children.