Nothing like a Grandma's love

One of the greatest gifts our children have is the love they receive from their granparents. It is a blessing many take for granted and some never experience. I marvel at the way a small child can bring out the child in an adult. I love they way they can delight one another. It is special with a parent and child too but there is something different about a Grandma's touch. When I am able to just sit back and watch them interact with one another it gives me a greater appreciation for my own parents, for my children and for the season of life that I am in right now. If only our children knew how treasured they were... if only our parents knew how important they are in the lives of us all.
I wish we lived closer to home so my children could have daily interactions with their grandparents. I guess being so far away makes those times together even more meaningful.
It is a busy week and we are all tired but it is so worth it. Today while the kids were in school Justina kept us all entertained. I love that little angel so much. Thank goodness she was on her best behavior today and when she felt herself getting ugly, she asked to go take a nap. Smart girl. Today Grandma made her famous applesauce that my kids absolutely love. She made banana bread. Then she made dinner. I wonder, can she just move in forever? Tomorrow we will play some more while the older kids are in school. Then we will have birthday fun on April 1st. I cannot believe my baby is going to be 14. I don't feel very rested that is for sure. I guess there will be time for that later. Right now, we are making memories and treasuring time spent with loved ones. Time is so short when you realize how much you want to do with the people you love. Live each day to its fullest and make sure your loved ones know they mean so much to you.

Pictures to come.. I promise :)

Windy Days and Dog Kisses

Saturday has come and as we say good-bye to the slumber party friend (s), we start a new day. The sun is shining and calling to one young teen, "please come out and play!" So, Jessica says, "Mom, today would be a great day to go to the park, can we?" Ok, against my wishes as I cannot get rid of this headache. So we go, right after a quick trip to Starbucks. Jessica finds her favorite spot, swinging with the wind. The wind picks up and Justina can hardly stand, much less find the slide through the hair in her eyes. As the wind blows through our hair, blinding us, Justina decides she would rather not be too far off the ground. So we walk a bit and watch Jessica carefree and happy. All of a sudden, it came from across the park, running full speed ahead, tail wagging, bouncing through the wind..... yep, you guessed it. The friendliest dog ever landed right on Justina's face, smothering her with wet, sloppy dog kisses. She shrieks and screams as if he gobbled her face off. She was not hurt but very scared and traumatized. All I could think was..."Yuk, I've been kissed by a dog! Get the hot water, get the iodine, get the disinfectant!!!!!" The poor pup had to go home. Justina demanded that we return to the car and sit there until Jessica was ready to go. Well, one of the three of us thought the time at the park was fun and well spent... the other two, we did not enjoy our time at the park. And this is how you learn that one persons complete delight and joy can be another persons trauma. I guess it is all perspective.

Here we are, home again. Not much more going to happen today. I am going to try to get rid of this headache, play on my computer and take a nap. The girls are going to do.. um..... well, whatever they want so long as the house does not get messed up in the process, and tomorrow, we will do laundry and more cleaning.

Thanks for enjoying the park with us on this blustery, windy day! Stay tuned...............

Weekends full of wonder

So, this is where it all begins, or at least where you can pick up and walk through this journey with us. Blogging, I am not entirely sure I even know the purpose for this but it sounded fun and may possibly be a way for me to think through things. A form of therapy, if you will.
Spring has sprung, despite a refreshing snowfall to remind us of just how fragile life is and how in the blink of an eye God has the ability to change even the ways of nature. With the springing ahead I find myself longing for the darkness that gave just a little more sleep to a weary mom. God has richly blessed me with morning people. My husband Dan and my oldest daughter Jessica have this amazing ability to POP out of bed wide awake and happy as can be that the day is starting. Morning people are incredible. They seem to feel the rest of the world should also wake up bright eyed and cheery. I on the other hand, and my son, Aaron, were not so blessed with this morning cheerfulness. It takes us some time to open our eyes and get reacquainted with life. Many view us as grumpy which we will deny completely. We are not grumpy we are just not fully present. All this said, I feel it may explain my ever increasing need for coffee. I do not know if I could even survive if I did not have this wonder drug. However, even on days like this, coffee is not enough. I have finally reached a point where the only thing that will help a weary, tired, worn out mom, is an extra dose of zzzzzz's. I have been looking forward to this weekend for some time now.
Dan and Aaron are going on a Father/Son retreat with our church. They are both very excited and I am thrilled that they have this opportunity. Even more thrilled that I will have a testosterone free weekend :) I would say it is going to be a relaxing girls weekend but Jessica is having her annual birthday/slumber party. The only thing is, she only has one friend that was able to come. What to do... what to do. I am not going to worry about it. I will let them decide how they want to spend the time to celebrate this beautful child. That then leaves me and my little princess. Thank goodness she goes to bed early. I am certain she has much to do with my lack of energy as I feel it draining from me and must be transferring into her as she is full of energy and on the go. I love this child. She makes me laugh and smile when nothing else can.

Ok so, this blogging, may be a bad thing. I could go on forever about nothing. Seriously.. forever. I will spare you the rest of the saga for tomorrow :) I am most excited that my friend is going to help me be more creative with this blog business and I am going to be taking more pictures to post. Hold on, grab some coffee and join me on this wild journey we call life.