Shannon Ingram's Place

My Photo
Name:
Location: Orange County/CA

Musings of a woman who left her corporate career to become a caregiver for elderly parents, wrote a book and found her way back to corporate - with love, instead of fear, leading the way. Now working at my Alma Mater, UC Irvine, as Marketing and Communications Director for the School of Biological Sciences.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Keegan's Week



This is Keegan's birthday week. He's turning five and making Papa and Granny feel alive! There is nothing that I can think of in my current life that compares to being Keegan's granny, except of course, being Kendall's granny too. It's a blessing to be trusted by our kids to care for the little ones when they need a day off. We are very grateful to be close and share all our love with them!!! Photos of Keegan at his visit to see Thomas the Tank Engine this past weekend. Big party next Saturday. Happy birthday, dear Keegan!!!

Friday, November 13, 2009

Sugar & Spice & Puppy Dog Tails Twice





We had a great weekend with the grandchildren last Saturday and Sunday. Hard to believe another weekend is already here. Kendall (1.5) and Keegan (5) had a blast playing in the backyard with Bindi Sue and Vanna. Nothing like little kids screaming with glee while being chased by waggy-tail doggies. And when not outside being chased by the dogs, Kendall was playing "ride 'em Pluto" in the living room!

We had one breakdown when Bindi Sue jumped up and grabbed Keegan's leg when he was swinging, leaving a scratch and meriting a scream heard round the world. Thank goodness for Lightning McQueen bandaids. And Kendall has become a climbing monkey. I turned my back for 20 seconds and she had climbed the ladder up to the top of the "fort" and had already seated herself to come down the long yellow slide. My heart went immediately to my throat for a minute or two after that little trick. She can hardly walk and she's climbing a ladder! Granny Shanny almost had heart failure on the spot. Papa, on the other hand, thought it was great.

On Sunday morning, they like to sit together on the couch and watch their shows. The photo above was taken during "Curious George" - obviously a favorite of our little monkey, Kendall. Keegan enjoys growling at the TV. Later Kendall, who likes the Man with the Yellow Hat in Curious George, brought Papa his own hat, then sat in his lap while he ate his cinnamon toast.

At the end of the day, I sat down and relaxed with the puppy dogs, who were as exhausted as I was. But all of us were smiling...and it's good to be Granny!

Saturday, November 07, 2009

Oh Happy Day

The big Silverado Senior Living Four-Day Oboarding Training for new sales and marketing associates is over. It was a great culmination of many months of work for me and my team. Thankfully, we have more work now to tweak it and add what we learned may work even better before the next Onboarding in February, 2010.

How am I relaxing this weekend? Why, with my grandchildren of course! We went to lunch at BJ's Pizza and Brewery, played in the backyard ("Granny & Papa's Park") and now Kendall is napping while Keegan watches cartoons. Bindi Sue is asleep at Keegan's feet and Oscar Cat is behind them in his kitty condo. Beautiful, happy day at the Ingram's, feeling grateful for family and simplicity. Got some short ribs in the crock pot for dinner and some new books to read before bedtime. Life is good!