The first time I saw someone agreeing in prayer, I was younger than ten. I know because my family moved with my dad’s job and I started fifth grade in a new school. Being almost ten and starting over at the end of elementary school was tough but not nearly as difficult as my sister’s …
Clingy
Sick babies want to be held even after they are on the mend. The comfort of their mother’s arms soothes much of what they cannot control, making the effects of the germ at least bearable. Ezra introduced the stomach bug to his family last week on Thursday. By Sunday night, his dad succumbed and Amelia …
Stop At Nothing
My girls say their toddlers wake up with engines revving from zero to sixty in one point two seconds. There is no gentle or gradual wakefulness. Once the children are awake, they are immediately all systems go. Like miniature pit crews, their moms and dads and sometimes Lolly or Poppy refuel with three square meals …
It’s All There
“Forty-three, forty four, forty-five, oh no! Two are missing! We need to go on a zoo animal hunt. Our turtle and our lion are missing.” Amelia was climbing all over the bed where her mom was trying to change Ezra. I was doing the daily zoo animal headcount as the kids prepared to head home. …
Butting Heads
I wedged Timothy and Ezra, dressed in warm layers and puffy jackets into blue car, the two seater push car we have used for zoo trips since the grands outgrew strollers. Trekking across the parking lot and moving quickly from place to place sometimes means the younger ones need a lift but hoisting these solid …
Standing on Tiptoe
Near the edge of the woods where my husband puts out deer corn in winter, he mounted a motion sensor light high up on a tree. When the deer show up to polish off their nightly feast, the sensor triggers the light and for about thirty seconds, silhouettes are visible along with the occasional flash …
Guard The Deposit
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 …
A Fitting Reply 