The Perfect Day

It is so easy to get caught up in the urgent daily struggles and stresses, obsessing and complaining and worrying about each one. It is less easy to remember to 'stop and smell the chrysanthemums.'(OK, the original is roses but that is so lame and common and it is Fall after all). I am as guilty as the next and am feeling the need to remedy that situation here and now. Today is sunny, in the low 70*'s and beautiful, especially after worshipping God at church this morning and remembering His grace in my life. But that is not the perfect day of which I speak.

Yesterday was the Perfect day.
I had a good night's sleep and that began the morning well, and when I poured my first freshly brewed cup of Brasilian coffee with International Creamer making it taste more like dessert than coffee, I was as content as my cat sleeping in the sun.

Grandson Ethan arrived for the day with a smile and a jump. He always gives a little jump when he arrives, then makes a beeline for the dog.


Then he and I played a bit and headed to Aunt Margie's house where 2 champion soccer players and games were scheduled at noon. Ethan was beside himself with anticipation so I just moved the time forward and off we went!

Soccer is in my blood and the thought of watching a game with my son-in-law coaching and grandsons playing is always cause for joy. When I arrived at their home there were 3 bikers in the driveway, a granddaughter moving her way next to my car door and another little girl bouncing out the door. The "Hi Grammy"'s were quickly followed by the 'watch me Grammy's' and I eagerly obliged. We had a couple of wipe-outs, a game playing request, a pair of arms yanking at my pant leg and a little boy in the car grinning from ear to ear. Six little wonders within 3 feet of me, do you feel the warmth and love??

Off to the Games!


Watching Eliot(the 7 year old) and Jesse(the 5 year old)play soccer, while babysitting Ethan (the 2 1/2 yr old) and still paying attention to Simon (the 6 yr old) and Nora(the 3 yr old) and Bianca (the cuddly 2 yr old) is a challenge for the best Grammy in town , but this Grammy is also passionate about photography, so my hands were quite full. Literally.









But I managed, happily and have about 50 pictures to prove it.

After the rousingly exciting games Ethan and I packed up and headed North to visit the cousins in Boyertown. We had a nice ride and other than the annoying road construction which has the potential to take away from the nice part, the trip went smoothly.

On the schedule for the Boyertown visit was Aidan's first haircut and at almost 2 years of age, this was a highly anticipated photo op for Grammy and emotional melt-down day for Mom. I had my haircut first and mom explained to Aidan that he needed to sit still and take off his glasses and be a quiet boy , see Grammy? We took a before picture(of course).



As Aidan climbed into his chair he reached up and removed his glasses...oh my, my heart melted.



Mommy let out a scream after the first cut, but other than that momentary distraction,Aidan and Grammy love our new haircuts !!







The day was almost over and still to come was a visit from two of our close friends , Muoy and Ron, who brought dinner! As Muoy and Becca made jasmine rice, pork chops and green beans with apple dumplings, I was outside watching the 2 year olds play. Such a normal activity, and yet I was focused on enjoying the moments individually and refusing to not savor every event. Aidan and Ethan decided to pick the green tomatoes, and after mom told them not to , I noticed a lingering in the garden area, so I investigated. There, on the ground under his boot, Aidan had 'hidden' the tiny tomato so as to make sure mommy didn't see it!






Dinner came after a long day of fun and I was so thankful to be sitting among these gifts of mine.



It is oftentimes easy to complain about my Isabel and Ava living so far away , it is easy to fuss about the hot or cold weather not being just right. It is often my voice heard among the gripers who moan and groan about aches and pains. I am too often found wondering what life would be like if my husband were still here, if the sons still living at home were on their own, if the cat disappeared or the dog ran away!! Why? Why am I unable to JUST BE? Just BE THANKFUL?! Just BE CONTENT?!

I memorized a portion of God's Word in the book of Psalms when I was younger and as I was writing this Blog it kind of jumped out of my normally jumbled mind. Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.

My Perfect Day. It was like any other Autumn Saturday in many ways, but in the most important way it was different. The difference was in how I appreciated it and how I mentally noted the Goodness of the Lord in every single moment.

I think I will have alot more Perfect Days..it isn't that hard.
Thanks for Lunch Carolyn! You gave me a head start on today!!

The Trip South

The road trip with the weary 10 year old van with no air-conditioning in 90* weather was a success! I did not need to call AAA, I did not need to stop a drive-by tourist and ask for help along the way, I did not call any of my 11 married children, 2 single sons, or even my daughter with a boyfriend who is promising her a ring!! NOPE! Not me and my van, we needed nobody at all, just that car radio,my windows rolled down and an occasional cup of McDonald's new and improved coffee!!



Motivation was strong-I had not seen my bobbing beauties since March at their 2 year birthday party where Elmo came to life before I had a chance to say Sesame Street! Happily, when I arrived after these 10 hours on the road, the little sweeties didn't care about Elmo at all and Dolls Baby Caroline and Baby Abigail have taken his place. I was a clearly called 'Grammy' and they took to me after only a few hours of grinning and bribing.

Grandchildren are my current favorite topic of conversation, but I have noticed that rarely does another grandmother ask about someone else's babies. I haven't completely figured the politics of this out yet, since Eliot is a mere 7 years old, but I think it may be becoming clear. Recently I heard Democratic Presidential candidate-to- be Barak Obama say he was raised by his single grandmother and she was the most important person in his young life. Clear as Saran Wrap I realized that all of these grandmothers are potential future Presidential Hopefuls Acceptance Speeches waiting to happen!! They must remain loyal to their grandchild until the time is ripe for his or her(now that Hillary has made it an unremarkable event) candidacy!
Asking about MY grandchildren may be cause for mixed messages!!


In the meantime, I also have noted that since I have 10 (ten) grandchildren, women in particular sigh with great relief once this statistic is mentioned. It seems, and I almost missed it during the course of my children giving birth , in particular in 2006 when 4 daughters had 6 children in the same year, the more grandchildren there are, the less stress you cause people!! They don't NEED to ask the names and ages of the kids because clearly you have more than your fair share and certainly you can't even recall the names of the latest ones, let alone their birth dates and ages. Heaven Forbid you should be audacious enough to remember Their grandchildren and inquire about them by name!

All this was to say that when I drove to North Carolina to visit Isabel and Ava, desperate to hold them in my achingly empty arms after a long 5 months since I had seen them, barely a clamor was made when I returned as to how the trip was, how much had my grand babies grown, did I have recent pictures? etc...! I felt the reality sharply this afternoon at work when I asked my co-working friend how her trip to see her only nephew had been last week. She gave intimate details and promised me pictures to see, and smiled radiantly and readied to depart, as if I had not mentioned more than once how I was similarly excited to see my twin granddaughters on the trip to North Carolina last week,sharing the idea that we could compare notes upon our return. Hmmm, it would seem she forgot I went.


The joy of Blogging is that I can tell someone somewhere that those two little sweethearts in North Carolina are as unique and delightful as any Grammy could
imagine.The hours on the highway, sitting alone in high volume hot traffic as I crawled around Washington DC , snapping random photos as I went by impressive monuments very far away,(see it?)
was worth every second to hear them say 'come here Grammy'. Listening to Isabel recite the alphabet to me saying 'Elmo Pee' when we got quickly to LMNOP, then grinning madly as if it were our best kept secret in the world! or Ava saying to me, 'let me see dat picture Grammy' when I posed her for yet one more picture to take home with me, these were the moments I drove for. After all, the pictures are my memories, the pictures are the tangible pieces of these babies that I can touch and hold when my arms feel so empty, alone watching the Democratic Convention and realizing that maybe it will be Isabel that will tell America her Grammy was special or Ava as somebody's choice for Vice President.
Now that I am thinking of it, Eliot has that somber yet intelligent way about thinking things through, he is a very smart 7 year old...and Simon, well anyone who knows anything can see he will go far with that sassy sense of humor and sly little grin , ...and Jesse, oh my is he ever the smart one with 2 sisters below him and 2 brothers older than him -he is already learning to be an independent thinker. Nora has the power at 3 to keep 3 brothers at bay so certainly she is a contender for the Presidency! and Bianca , well, Bianca is amazing at 22 months, let alone as she grows into a woman. I have never seen anyone so stubborn at such a young age, and that can be a good thing.


Ethan is charming and quiet, rarely getting riled up at age 2, the temperament of his dad, the Independence of his mommy.

Aidan is so well loved at 21 months and so gentle in spirit we need a President of his calibre,or perhaps Evelyn can be President and Aidie can be her Vice president because they really work well as a team.




Suddenly I realized another important fact and I almost missed it! I was dreaming of my 10 grandchildren in the future, seeing how easily their names flowed from my mind onto paper, ages, faces, dates of birth as if by magic, when before my eyes came the faces and ages and birthdates of my children! I was blessed with 7(seven) and now 4 are married so I consider 4 more to be mine as well, and none of them is even old enough , by typical standards to be President yet! There is still time for my children to proclaim to the world that their MOM was the wisest person they knew, the one who inspired them for better things, the one to whom they turn when life gets complicated...oh my, so many possibilities are ahead. I believe the odds are definitely in my favor , so no wonder nobody wants to ask how MY Children/grandchildren are. Jealousy. That's all it is.

My Age is showing....

There are moments when I actually think I am still a young woman with dreams and plans for the future, with years ahead of me to live life to its fullest, climb any mountain, cross any river or scale any tree on a hike over the Appalachian trail.As a matter for the record, I had planned a walk around my block this very evening.

Not this weekend.

I am babysitting my eldest grandson, Eliot, now 6 years old(or almost to his 7th birthday as he would tell you), and his two young sisters. They are Nora, age-2.5 years and Bianca who is 16 months. Their mom and dad gleefully boarded an airplane for the Grand Canyon to discover the joys of hiking down and back out over Easter weekend, along with SouthWestern sister and her husband, who planned this venture months ago. They did smile rather mysteriously as they left, I am remembering now.

I first decided I may have overstepped my abilities to survive, as mom and dad's car backed out of my driveway and Nora screamed,to no one in particular,"I'M NOT TAKING A BATH!!" I promise you, I had not mentioned my love of bathing small children.
This followed by non-stop chatter about what we were having for supper -"I don't like soup Grammy" she chirped,as I chopped up the last carrot, placing it lovingly in the chicken noodle soup-pot I'd slaved over all afternoon. No Campbell's soup for these babies, home-made, yessiree, only the healthiest for them! Eliot looked at the pot simmering on my stovetop and exclaimed, "gee grammy, Im not even hungry". Ok It was just one meal out of many, after all they were staying almost a week. I could handle this, I have raised 7 children, had various daycare experiences under my widening belt, and even now work with pre-schoolers in the private sector. What was so hard about babysitting 3 kids whom I adored,and then of course adding little man Ethan on Sunday and taking them all to church? Piece of cake, cinch, no problemo, Who are these people who retire and never care for their own grandchildren? My, my, tsk tsk.

Things went smoothly really: supper eaten,albeit reluctantly,toys cleaned up(Grammy likes a clean LR floor you know) pajamas on,teeth brushed, baths avoided for the first night I assured Nora smugly, prayers said, Jesus loves me sung, dirty clothes gathered, dishes cleaned up, bibs washed for the next meal(why is breakfast so close in time to supper I ask??), floor given over to the dog not the mop, and the need to put them to bed the exact time their mommy told me to- hardly a problem.

Except, of course, it was 7:00 pm and as I collapsed in the chair, heaved a huge sigh of WHAT? RELIEF?? me, the mother of so many who capably raised an entire brood of little chicks a mere dozen years previously?? threw my feet up, and realized I had only had them since 5:30 pm, it was now 7:30 pm and there were 5 days to go. I think I may miss church this week.


Oh my, like I said, My age is showing....

Tuesday, together with twins

Her eyes darted quickly from the light on the end table to the lights on the ceiling and back. She grinned ever so slightly and then as quickly averted her eyes from mine. At first I thought I must be mistaken. Surely this elf creature, so sweet and small, innocent and gentle in all ways, could not possibly be undermining her twin brother's level of understanding and acknowledging her own superiority!! at this young age of 15 months? MONTHS, I am saying, not years!

I had just arrived for an overnight mini-holiday for me, to enjoy not only the company of daughter Becca and her dear young babies, but also to help her take them on Wednesday to the doctor's for a check up and shots. Not her favorite thing to do, especially with daddy Steve out of town on business, and her own personally painful memory of daily injections from mommy as a child. Ironically, this week is the 30th year anniversary of those growth hormone shots beginning, back in the day when they were experimental and used only for neccessity rather than bolstering muscles and causing scandals by misuse.

So not having seen these baby grandchildren in well over a week, I needed to access and evaluate all of the new happenings in their young lives, as any loving Grammy is wont to do. My innocent question to Aidan, firstborn twin and a bit bigger,[ by nearly 2 pounds as we discovered the following day] was " Aidan do you know what a light is?". He looked a little hesitant and began walking away from the couch where we were seated,trying to SHOW me where the lamp was on the table.He was a bit sluggish, as he has just begun walking upright rather than his months of knee-walking movement.

Evie, to be sure, has been walking like a pro for some time. A split second more quickly however than he could walk, Miss "I will show you I am smarter and faster " Evelyn glanced around the room hitting every single light in the area with her darting eye movements- and her father put in recessed lighting so we are talking LOTS of Lights here! Thankfully, Aidan was oblivious of her subtleties and ambled calmly toward the end table, proudly pointing out for his Grammy the light there, all the while smiling sweetly, unaware of his sister's previous discoveries. But SHE knew, and she knew I knew, that his discovery was second to hers, the knowledge a bit more slowly acquired, and the sharing behind by just a wee bit. But a sister knows and a sister needs to know, a wee bit behind is after all, a wee bit-behind.

The scene that followed was a staged photo shoot by mommy and grammy of the Christmas outfits made lovingly by Nan[the other grandmother]. One must have photos of every occasion and every cute outfit on every occasion for one's Baby Books. I had eight children and there are to this day eight Baby Books, fully recorded and memorialized, so I did my part! We dressed them both quickly and placed them in the white rocking chair with the matching white background and the plan to "hug each other" as they were properly taught by Mother.

First, Aidan looked at the wall, then we turned him around and Evie tried to jump into our arms, then Evie faced the wall, sitting while we tried to get them to stand, then Aidan refused shoes, while Evie wanted to sit, and did not care for hugging Aidan, but Aidan decided he'd had enough of the entire procedure and began stripping off articles of clothing, while Evie decided she was going to prove that she did learn HOW to HUG her Brother, so she began hugging while he began leaving...get the picture?

We put them to bed. We went to bed.

The next time Terrific Tuesday comes along, I am going to vote, stay at work, and leave the mini vacation to the younger generation. They can handle the likes of Miss Evelyn and Mr Aidan, ready and willing to awaken the next day, and the next, and however many next days there are ordained by God and love these babies as the true and wonderful gifts they are.

Amen and amen .
I am going to bed,because this Grammy got tired writing about it.And I didn't even tell you about the doctor's visit!