It's a Bit of a Sweet Little Dream Come True

My grandboy is all boy.  He's a little bit shaky when it comes to bugs, however, anything else he's all boy.  If a sport's got a ball, he can name it and he can play it.  If a sport's got a helmet, he wants to wear it.  He is a puzzle master and a Lego king.  He's not afraid of the dark and doesn't need a night light.  He's not all lovey dovey.  Although this is a very frequent conversation between us.
Him..."Annie?"  Me..."yes sir".  Him..."I love you!"  Me..."I love you to!"

Seldom to never has he wanted to sit in my lap and watch a show.  Occasionally he will sit beside me to read a book.  However, he is NOT a lap sitter....until last Monday.

His parents had been gone for several days and he had been staying with his other grandmother and I.  Monday morning was a Pajama Christmas birthday party for Jesus at his school, so he wore his pjs to HH.  I picked him up and when he got home to my house that afternoon he just left them on.  Usually on the days I pick him up from school I do not have him take a nap.  This day was no different.  We were busy watching all his Christmas DVDs (you know the ones, Charlie Brown, Frosty the Snow Man, etc., Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer).  At some point he crawled up in my lap and laid in a reclining position to watch.  We initially did this.

Then he curled up sideways and watched...in my lap while I wrapped my arms around him.

He was still and quiet.  He stayed there a long time.  I was not sure that he was not falling asleep.  In fact, I think he would have had his parents not shone up when they did.

It was just so sweet.  I've always wanted to just sit and hold him and snuggle.  It was a special treat for me to cuddle up with my all boy grandboy!  It will be a Christmas memory I will not forget (especially since we did watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer three times).

Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.
Prov 22:6.

Love the Lord our god and serve him with all your heart and with all your soul...fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.   Deut 11:13-19

Encourage One Another, continuing the journey on fresh paths.
Blessings and love to you, xoxoxo and Merry Christmas.

Super Moon, Did You See It?

I love stuff like super moons and eclipse, meteor showers and starry nights.  Last night was exceptional.
I saw on FB yesterday morning that yesterday through this morning the moon would be the closest and the brightest of the year!  Called the Supermoon, the Rose Moon or the Strawberry Moon, based on it's elliptical path around the earth it was to be the closest, biggest and brightest.
Hays and I talked about it all day.  We looked at photos on the internet.  We watched for it to rise from the horizon as evening drew near.  When it finally did it was awesome.  He was inside and went in to get him.  Here's our conversation as entered on Facebook.

SUPER MOON SHINES BRIGHTLY THIS WEEKEND...!

My grandson's here and we've been talking about the super moon coming tonight all day. This evening I said "THERE's the SUPER moon, there it is!" Him "does it have a cape?" Me "sure"...him "wow, is it going to fly?" Gotta love that boy. On the way home from the backseat he says "I love you Annie". Be still my heart!

Is there any choice but to just love that child in an indescribable and unmeasurable amount?  Is there anything else to say? Except...

God you are so good!

Job 42:16-17
Job lived on another 140 years, living to see his children and grandchildren—four generations of them! Then he died—an old man, a full life.

Psalm 128:5-6
Enjoy the good life in Jerusalem every day of your life. And enjoy yourgrandchildren. Peace to Israel!

Encourage One Another, continuing the journey on fresh paths.

Love and Blessings to you, xoxo

He Came Running With His Arms Wide Open

Wow, talk about a heart (mine) overflowing with love.  Indescribable!

Last night I met my daughter for dinner, along w/ Baby Gray.  She was walking across the parking lot with BG's hand in hers.  When he saw me I heard him say "I want to run".  She let him go.  He came running to me with open arms and his face beaming with a big smile and let me sweep him up in my open arms and my smiling face and he gave me a big hug.



I've been waiting for that moment.  My wait is over.  It was well worth the wait.  Priceless!



My heart overfloweth....Psalm 45:1!

1 Corinthians 13:13
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these islove.

Happy Thanksgiving.  May your blessings abound!

Encourage One Another, continuing the journey on fresh paths.

Blessings and love from me to you!

Afternoon at the Ranch

Baby Gray has been asking since he met Mosey to go back and see him at the ranch.  Today was the day!  He donned the new cap he picked out and off we went.

Once we got to the ranch, he, T-Paw and I headed off for the barn.

He helped feed the horses and enjoyed watching them eat.  When we went inside the stall to give Mosey a pat, T-Paw caught these photos.  Mosey was a trooper and liked having his photo taken.

He met the other horses too, including "Marnie" (formally called Marty), Smokey and Solo.

He also took his balls along to the ranch for a bit of football.  As usual, he was very good at creating something that actually was created for something else, into something he likes...he made the gates into the barn into goalposts and spent a lot of time throwing his footballs over that.

Here just a few other photos of us having fun hanging out at one of my favorite places.

What a good day!  Fabulous weather, just cool enough for a light jacket!

More creativity, Koozie's into "mi'ins".

Steaks and baked potatoes were "what's for supper"?

The end of a perfect day.  My favorite photo!!

Psalm 36:7
How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

Encourage one another, continuing the journey on fresh paths!

Blessings and love to you.

Music to My Ears

Slowly but surely the words are coming.  Some of those words are only decipherable by a mom.  You know what I mean, moms and kids they just have that connection, they just communicate.  Anyway, the words are coming along.  They are parts of words, syllables, fragments...you know the kind.  Ok, so over the holidays we, family, heard parts of words, syllables, fragments.  But the best one was him trying to say my name.  It was music to my ears, strings to my heart, and a connection to my soul forever.

Encourage One Another

Babysitting Plus One

My daughter asked if I could babysit on Thursday.  She was going one direction and my son in law another.  My boy needed his Annie!  So off I went.  He and I rolled balls, went swinging, played with the train, he crawled, oooched, walked, sang and danced for an hour or so.  I got a text that "dad's" plans got canceled and he was on the way home??  "Oh my" I thought as it is always a bit different when caring for him when one of them is home too.  Dad arrived about the time I was feeding my boy.  For some reason he wasn't too hungry and didn't eat a whole lot.  Usually he eats you out of house and home...today he just wasn't into it.  I pulled off his high chair tray and picked him up to clean him up.  Dad (who I love DEARLY) took him from me and said "I'll give him a bath".  I said "you'll give him a bath"? and he said yes.  (Oh no I thought to myself).  He swooped him off to the bathroom.  Next thing I know he's reading to him, turning on his nightlight and white noise, putting him into bed, and closing the door.  "Good law" I'm thinking, I said "I didn't get to tell him good night".  I rushed in, picked him up, gave him a kiss and laid him back down.  He was out like a light.  I have to admit, while loving my snl, I was very disappointed I did not get to finish my love of bathing my boy and putting him in bed.  Sometimes when he is really tired he lets my rock him a few minutes before putting him down.  I love that, it's just the sweetest thing.  It all works best when I am there alone with him.  Oh well, I know there will be another opportunity...I am his Annie after all!

Encourage one another

Few and Far Between

Tonight I was suppose to babysit my grandson.  He is just starting to recognize I am someone of significance and he reaches his arms out for me to pick him up.  Oh how I love that!  Both my daughter and son in law were to be busy with activities this evening.  I happen to be in town and fortunately for me, I got the call.  My son in law's activity was to be outside and for heaven's sake guess what happened?  It rained!!!  His activity got canceled.  He came home early.  He ended up giving the baby his bath, getting him ready for bed, rocking and reading to him and putting him down.  I was sad and disappointed.  The days are few and far between that I get to take care of my baby.  It is nice when he and I are all alone so we can focus just on each other.  Anyway, guess I'll just wait for another opportunity!

Encourage one another

Who Was That Man Who Gets the Big High Five?

Ok, a second first was accomplished yesterday. T-Paw and I took the boy shopping. OK, T-Paw and I haven't even done all that much shopping together in our lives, however, I thought we did amazing. Getting the boy and our stuff in and out of the car each time was sort of like a Chinese fire drill. We would continued to round the car from side to side getting stuff in or out, then going to the other side to get something out or put something in. T-Paw commented, "we look sort of "rookieish" doing this. B makes it look so easy". I said, "she has had weeks of practice now and when I have been with her she won't even let me help. I think we are doing fabulous to not have ever done this". So we just kept on keeping on and shopped the day away. On one occasion there was a decision for me to go in and do the deal real quick and he would stay in the car with the boy. Next thing I know, I look out and he's in the back seat with the boy. Everything is quiet. "Paci" is in his mouth and there is not a hint of crying! I finish up and off we go to the next stop...clothes shopping for T-Paw. Out we go again, shop a while, the boy sleeps the whole time. He is such a good shopper. T-Paw got lots of cool stuff. We load up again and I'm thinking he's going to be getting hungry pretty soon. When we get to the restaurant, T-Paw says "I'll take him to the table and you just order for me." I'm ok with that. So I get our food and about that time the boy wakes up. I pick him up and hold him while I eat. He just looks around at the sights and sounds. I finish my lunch and feed him...perfect. There's no changing table in this restaurant...bummer. So we head to the car to attempt a diaper change. Other than him trying to push himself off the seat, we got that done without much trouble. He seems pretty happy so we decide to try one more stop...shopping for me! Well, the boy gets unhappy on the road. Here's another miracle. T-Paw leans totally across from the front seat to the back seat and talks, coos, puts the paci in and out, and quiets that boy down. T-Paw comes back to the front and settles in...but here we go again. Once again T-Paw goes without suggestion across from the front seat to the back (in case I haven't mentioned he's 61 and I have to be honest, a little slow). I was truly impressed. I said "think we should just head on home?" He said "I think I got it." And he did. The rest of the way all is quiet from the back seat until we get to the next stop. The boy was fine in the store. He and T-Paw went to the "man cave" area and just talked and hung out a few minutes while I searched for thing to try on. Just about the time I started to try on my items noises started to be heard from the "man cave" area. The boy started crying and although T-Paw tried to quiet him, he was just tired of being in the car seat. We got him out, quieted him down and decided to just put everything back and head out. Shopping for me will have to take place another day. Just a few blocks out of the store the boy gets REAL upset in the car seat. There goes T-Paw over the seats again. After a few minutes he has him soothed again. He's getting really good at this. Do I dare say he's a natural? I mean truly this was just miraculous. You have no idea. I don't think I know this man. Mostly because it's so far outside his box. For me, yeah, it's all new, or relatively new since I haven't done it in 26 years. However, I'll catch on pretty quick and I'm not gonna break anything I don't think. (OK, we did have one big faux pax, we strolled him backwards in the stroller! Sorry B!) But truthfully, I don't think T-Paw ever, no let me re-phrase that, I know T-Paw, who was once "daddy", never did anything like this. If he did, I've totally lost my memory about it. I'm sure he has too, if he ever did. He was amazing. I was pleased and impressed, and truly blessed by him yesterday. It was something I think we have both dreamed about, "grandparenting" our grandchild together. "T-Paw, we did it. I give you a big high five for the day."

P.S.

When I told this story to B, she said "I think this is his attempt at a "re-do" (which I call a do over). "What do you mean?" She said "since he didn't do anything with me (when she was little)". Sort of takes the air out of my bubble. But the truth is the truth...and the truth will set you free.

Encourage One Another

Me and He, finally alone

Today was a first, a fabulous first, me babysitting alone with my grandson, my first grandson my only grandson. My daughter and her husband went out for a date night, their first since the baby was born. And I got to keep my boy.

So far so good if I do say so myself. Albeit a bit funny however. I'm sure the neighbors could hear my offbeat, out of tune singing of words and lyrics I really don't remember. My play list consists of old church hymns, little 'Jesus Loves Me" type songs and Christmas carols. I'm sure my boy was wondering what in the world he had gotten himself into. I mean "where in the world are my parents" he must have been thinking. However, he remained calm, looked me in the eye and keep sucking that "paci" like it was going out of style. My mission was to keep him awake until it was time to eat dinner and then go "bedtime". Mission accomplished! We played on the floor, bounced in the bouncer, walked the room, rocked in PaPa's recliner, and watched the fan circle. It's all good. Once it was time to eat there was first a diaper change. Then he drank his whole bottle and burped twice. Next I successfully managed to get him in his little swaddler blanket and kiss his neck goodnight. I laid him in his bed, turned on the little sheep sounds and off to lullaby land he went...just like that. Nothing to it...like I have been doing it for years. Well I guess years ago I did do it....for years. Until she grew up and had my first grandchild! And the world goes round and round.

Encourage One Another