Living with Bob and "Al"

Bob was never into jewelry, she could barely get him to wear his wedding ring. "Al" on the other hand is much more fashion oriented and is comfortable showing his softer side :)
Pipe cleaners, are a great tool, for this hardware guy :)

Living with Bob and "Al"

There was a time not very long ago when Bob and even "Al" would have recognized these as being a child's toy. Much like the pipe cleaners and beads, that time has passed and "Al" is excited to be working with hardware stuff again. Learning to meet "them" where they are,  is an important part of helping them feel confident about who they are and what they can accomplish. :)

Living with Bob and "Al"

In Sheri's never ending quest to find things to keep Bob active and engaged, Sheri discovered that pipe cleaners are "Al's' new best friend. The handyman that Bob was keeps "Al" busy for hours bending and twisting, and stringing beads on them creating beautiful works of "art". Then Sheri will take the "boys" out for a bit to run errands and then when they come home Bob, the problem solver that he is, will pick up the twisted mess and spend the next few hours untwisting and straightening and mumbling  under "Al's" breath  " somebody really made a mess out of this." :)

Living with Bob and "Al"

Sheri is not sure why the pony bead thing is working, and Sheri is not even sure what "Al" thinks Bob is doing with the beads, because all he is doing is sliding them around on the tray, but whatever it is, it works. :)

Simple Pleasures

Living with Bob and "Al"

Dear sweet Bob, "Al" has taken to stringing pony beads on anything Bob can find. Sheri always thought it would be fun to sell Bob's creations, and donate the money to Alzheimer research. We have "Bob's Birdhouses" and now we have "Bob's Beads" :)

Living with Bob and "Al"

Since sequencing is one of "Al's" biggest struggles, finding things that Bob can do that are one step process is difficult. It is why the pencil sharpener was such a success. All "Al" had to do was insert the pencil in the hole the machine did the rest, and yet Bob felt he was accomplishing something. Now Sheri needs to figure out what to do with the 100 or so pencils she will have by the end of the week, although she supposes she could break the lead and let "Al" start all over again :)

Living with Bob and "Al"

In Sheri's never ending quest to keep Bob engaged and feeling helpful, Sheri found an inexpensive electric pencil sharpener. "Al" was in his glory! Pencils are one of "Al's" favorite things and sharping your favorite things... well what could be better than that? ( What could be better, would be an electric pencil sharpener that comes with ear plugs, or at least a warning that you are gonna need them. But in all fairness they probably don't expect you to sharpen 40 pencils at a time :)

Living with Bob and "Al"

Sometimes if Sheri is not watching, "Al" "entertains" himself, well some what. Last week Sheri had also tried having "Al" string beads on pipe cleaners. Handyman Bob decided he would rather untwist the pipe cleaner and pull of all the fuzz ... one piece at a time. Sheri thinks "they" may have been watching to much of the show "How's it made"   :)

Living with Bob and "Al"

In Sheri's never ending attempt to keep Bob involved and busy, she found some thin wooden dowels at the craft store. She thought maybe Bob and"Al" would string beads on the dowels. Um... not the best idea, "Al" kept removing the rubber band that Sheri had on the end of the dowel, hence the beads were... all over the floor. On the bright side the cats were really enjoying batting around all the bouncing beads.
It is all about perspective  :)

Living with Bob and "Al"

It was another long weekend in the frozen tundra. Minus zero temps meant outside options were really, well... not an option. At the suggestion of Daughter Number 1 (the one who wears her heart on her sleeve), Sheri tried coloring with Bob and "Al". She tried this about 2 years ago and Bob was very upset and said "And why exactly, am I doing this?" Well lots of things have changed in the past couple of years, and Bob did not question this new task. Two things happened. "Al"decided he would  rather color the on the cover of coloring book, while Bob (the Mr. Fixit that he was)  was preoccupied trying to figure out why the color pencil would not work on the waxy cover of the coloring book. :)
Simple pleasures, Sheri, simple pleasures.

Living with Bob and "Al"

Each week Sheri buys a 5 pound bag of potatoes so on the weekend Bob can peel them (One of the few thing "Al" can still do). It was a VERY LONG 4 day week end and out of desperation to keep Bob involved, Sheri wound up with 10 POUNDS of peeled potatoes :)

Living with Bob and "Al"

In Sheri's never ending quest to find things to keep Bob and "Al" engaged, She was delighted to find her latest "man toy". She found an inexpensive magnet set at the hardware store Bob used to manage, which by the way is managed by "Daughter Number One now, the one who wears her heart on her sleeve." Anyway "Al" was delighted that he could use it to keep all Bob's nuts and bolts together and used it for several hours yesterday while Sheri cleaned the house. Of course, not with out "Al" showing it to Sheri over and over but he had a huge boyish smile on Bob's face, and that is all that mattered.
Simple pleasures, Sheri simple pleasures.

Living with Bob and "Al"

Bob can work for hours on his on his nuts and bolts. "Al" has been working intently on them and is apparently trying to do some type of math to, as Bob says "get them all figured out." But if you look closely you will see that it is just randomness.
Simple pleasures, Sheri . Simple pleasures :)

Living with Bob and "Al"

Sheri is very thankful for Daughter Number 1 (the one who wears her heart on her sleeve). She came over yesterday and helped Sheri start getting the garden and fountain ready for the summer.  Bob and "Al" even helped. Sheri managed to finally snap a shot of Bob helping clean off the fountain, it was hard to catch because "Al" (over achiever that he is) was busy washing the wheel barrel :)