Amelia attended her first wedding as flower girl for my nephew and his bride. Thomas was ring bearer and Timothy and Ezra dressed to the nines were just bonus cuteness. In the wake of Christmas fun and festivities, each of our grands wracked up a pretty significant sleep deficit. Combine that with overstimulation, overindulgence, and unexpected …
Serve Well
My daughter’s weekly grocery routine includes allowing four year old Thomas to scan items in the self checkout line. He has been practicing since he was two so he is now fairly efficient. They have adopted or rather have been adopted by one employee in true grandmother fashion at their local Aldi and are well …
Mothers Matter
“Why don’t I sit outside with the kids while you two make their plates?” I offered my girls before easing into the Adirondack chair in the side yard. For some unknown reason, nothing will grow in one mulch bed on the right side of the house. We preserved a dogwood tree and mulched around it …
Behold Him
Thomas saw through my bag containing five tubes of peanut butter mini M&Ms meant for the grandkids’ Christmas stockings the day I bought them. His mama called him out with a grin, saying to me, “He’s a Sneaky-Peeker!” Later that same day, after celebrating a birthday party for Jesus, after opening his stocking and after …
Wonderful Joy Ahead
“This traffic is terrible!” my husband stated flatly. “I think we can turn right and bypass Main Street.” “There’s a detour ahead,” I replied. “I’ve seen the signs the last few times I’ve driven up to visit.” The traffic wasn’t surprising really. It was half past five and we were headed into the mountains, a …
Baby Boy
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas means different things to different folks. We don’t have many white Christmases where I live. Stores have been stocking shelves for Christmas since the end of summer it seems and we still had temperatures in the nineties. Church nativities started popping up around Thanksgiving and yard scenes …
Too Spicy
Amelia and now Ezra are coffee foam connoisseurs. If I don’t offer a taste quickly enough for their liking, I can count on a tiny finger full being scooped from my cup. I enjoy lattes made at home and so does their mom. Lately, I discovered a new way to enjoy my morning dose of …
Spent
“Why am I so sleepy?” I wondered aloud to no one in particular. I feel like the toddlers look when they’re needing a nap but not wanting one. When it’s half past five and it’s pitch black outside and the overcast and cold have sapped my energy, no amount of caffeinating can kick my sluggishness. …
Afterglow
I hear airplane, sounding more like air pain, from my grandsons every time we’re outside together. It doesn’t matter if they’re excavating the mulch bed or playing baseball, even the little boys sound off, eyes heavenward, searching for the flash of silver or the trail of jet exhaust. Thomas, who is four, has learned to …
Signs of Life
Four hundred pounds of grass seed lay dormant beneath the cracked red clay. Rain was just what it needed to germinate. A haze of green now blankets the field and I inhale deeply, releasing a prayer of gratitude with every glimpse. I am beyond grateful for the rain that soaked into the ground as I …
A Fitting Reply 