Thanksgiving All Together

Our extended family has to split every other year and do the in-law thing at Thanksgiving.  This was our year for everyone to be together at G&G's and we were happy about it knowing we had a new baby to celebrate as well as being grateful that we are all still here, healthy, minds intact (ha), continuing to enjoy life.  Thank You, God.

 So in a nutshell...

Noisy (5 kids under 9 years old)

G&G's new house...perfect for these big family celebrations

Wonderful smells from the kitchen

Perfectly-browned turkey, Grandmother's dressing, Mom's sweet potato souffle, rolls, green beans, cole slaw, a three-layer Paula Deen cake (cranberry filling, orange icing, spice cake), Oreo bites, pumpkin pie.

Passing the baby around

Taking lots of pictures

Talking and talking
Singing "Lean on Me" and hearing piano solos and duets from the nieces and nephews

A wonderful five hours later...going home stuffed.

I love this one with Landon and "Great" Grandpapa

Trish and Chris...happy to have time off but were still practicing songs for a wedding for the weekend

Landon could be saying "please don't eat me"...Stephen threatens to do that with little "trolls".

Chubby babies are beautiful!

My husband does a mean turkey and prides himself in it.

With "Great" uncle Joe....Landon likes to pose for pics

This has got to be my favorite pic with "Great" Aunt Vicki

Maddie found some of her cousins' toys

Sitting around, taking a break...Erin's looking beautiful as always these days

I love this pic taken by my niece

Sweet Madison

My nephew, Matthew...so cute in his glasses

My niece and nephew, Belinda and Evan. They sang a duet together...amazing talent!

And last, but not least, the "life" of the party always....son-in-law Brad

A Funny Book for "Memies"

I was cleaning my shelves yesterday in an effort to get my mind off the"office withdrawal" that I was going through.  I'm not accustomed to being off work for a solid week and it's a little weird.  So I decided I'd do something constructive with my free time.

 I found a book someone had given me a few years ago before Maddie was born.  It's called Funny, You Don't Look Like a Grandmother by Lois Wyse.  I read it in a few hours and got some laughs from it since now I'm an experienced grandmother of two...(well, only 20 months of experience but it counts).
Here are a few bits of wisdom I picked up:

 1.  "A mother becomes a true grandmother the day she stops noticing the terrible things her children do because she is so enchanted with the wonderful things her grandchildren do."  (Not that MY children ever do anything terrible but it is nice to switch the focus!)

2.  When you find out the grandchild is on the way, you will not be asked what to name the baby....you will be asked what you will name yourself for the baby!  (I agonized over this a good deal and came up with "Grandmommy"...which has become "Memie".  Love it!)

 3.  What do you give a grandmother?  Not gift certificates but handmade pictures signed by the "artist", latest photo of the most precious grandchild, a weed or flower picked by the MPG, telephone call by the MPG, etc. ( I do look forward to those pictures, cards, cookies, etc, made for me by Maddie and Landon, the MPG ever).

 4.  The difference between parents and grandparents is that grandparents can afford to break the rules because we don't make them.  (Like Dr.Pepper and chips for lunch?)

 5.  "Grandmotherhood does not give us the right to speak without thinking, but only the right to think without speaking." (Hmm...I admit I'm still working on this one.)

 6.  Being a grandmother just means having a good time! (self-explanatory and worth the dose of ibuprofen later in the day)

Adventures in Babysitting

Our "adventures" aren't exactly wild and woolly but they did make today pass quickly!  Our gbabies' parents wanted to see the new Harry Potter movie today so we agreed to "sit".  I mean, really. That word makes no sense.  When you have a 20-month-old toddler who is as cute, active, energetic and smart as Madison, you do not sit. You chase, you grab, you haul the little redhead up on your hip, you trick her into eating, keep her from coloring the coffee table all while trying to give equal time to the two-month-old baby boy.

I have to admit that I enjoy being a grandmommy who spoils.  For lunch, I got her to eat a little White Castle burger (with onions!!) and she was just sooo thirsty that I had to give her some Coke.  She didn't want that ol' healthful apple juice or milk.  She also ate a doughnut for dessert.  I'm trying to teach her some of my own obsessions!  We spent time reading, coloring, playing outside in the leaves, watching squirrels, picking up sticks, and sitting outside on the steps watching the ah-panes go by way up in the sky.  Maddie's two new favorite words now are "ME" and "NO".  Everything and everybody belongs to her therefore the constant "me".  She is not using the "NO" in a disobedient way yet...she just very politely says it as the answer to almost every question.

Little Landon is a chunk to say the least and therefore all we worried about him today was whether he would take a bottle while mommy was away for 4 hours.  I did succeed.  But it was quite hilarious.  That child cried, coughed, spit, choked, gagged, and made terrible faces as I tortured him with that bottle.  He wanted the "real" thing, if you know what I mean! But we finally did have success...baby happy and smiling and cooing and me relaxed and not worried about a baby meltdown while waiting on the mama.

A few moments of actual baby-"sitting"!

This is what Landon looked like when I tried to force the bottle. (I got this pic from Erin)

Happy boy when he has a full tummy.

This girl has some serious entertainment and distractions!

   

So back home to the quiet house of the empty-nesters.  It's quiet, yes, a little boring, yes. I've taken the Motrin I need after hauling babies around.  But I am so privileged to have two healthy, sweet grandchildren that I can see whenever I like.  I am feeling "Thanksgiving" to my Lord tonight.

Like Apples of Gold

What power words have!  Power to make you want to get up the next morning and do the very best you can at your job for days and months on end.  Power to make you think of your own words and how they affect others and how they might encourage or discourage someone.

I dislike job evaluation reviews but I had mine today and I must say my boss knows how to encourage and lift spirits! Looking forward to work tomorrow.  I'm thankful to the Lord for the much-needed kindness of those words.

Now I need to watch my own.

November Saturday

The husband is on call all weekend so the day started at 4:30 a.m. with that loud obnoxious ringtone. Up at 8:00, leaving him asleep waiting on the next call.  I got industrious and started cleaning...bathrooms, kitchen floor, laundry, dusting....dusting?? I never do that.  Read the paper, read a book. Went to Kohl's and bought a shirt and a sweater along with a hundred other women escaping the constant football game noise on television.  Back home and actually cooked supper...I opened a jar of spaghetti sauce.  Poor husband. He is the real cook around here.  Ready for a busy day tomorrow...trying to figure out what to wear to my grandson's dedication at church.  Then for my job evaluation on Monday.  Will it be...."You're the best ever" or "Tell me your goals for next year"? Oh well, I'll be ready to tell my goals, one of which is to be such a good assistant that if he has to let me go he'd be really bummed about it.
Random pics:

With great-grandpapa

She's in the "no clothes please" stage.

Funny girl!

Such a happy cheerleader.

Making the best of a car ride.

Season of Gratitude

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.  ~Thornton Wilder

I love that quote.  We have to be conscious daily then of all we have.  Not the material things but our "treasure in heaven"...and treasures from heaven!

SUCH AS....

My Salvation in Christ

My Family's Love

Wonderful Music

Beautiful Grandbabies

A Warm House

Delicious and Healthful Food

....and Desserts :)

A Supportive Church

Friends Who Make Me Laugh

...Who Listen and Do Not Judge

...Who Pray for Me

"Give thanks
With a grateful heart
Give thanks
To the Holy One
Give thanks

For He's given 

Jesus Christ, His Son
And now let the weak say

I am strong
Let the poor say
I am rich
Because of what
The Lord has done for us

Give Thanks!"

Wednesday Business

Wednesdays...sometimes they do me in, sometimes revive me, make me happy, make me exhausted. Driving early...6:30 a.m. to work in the dark and rain. And next week I'll be driving home in the dark because of time change. Not looking forward to that.  But I have a job, a job that I love, so I'm thankful.  Maybe with the election going the way it did, there will be more optimism about things and the economy will improve. Let's pray so.

So into work, no one there. Just me and quiet halls. I like it that way...I can think and pray and get stuff done.  Then people come and off we go....getting ready for choir and orchestra which involves over 100 people. Getting ready for Sunday worship which affects 1000 or more people.  I pray for my boss as he sits and plans worship for 3 weeks from now.  It's amazing how the music fits the day even 3 weeks ahead. He prays...and plans accordingly.

Then to lunch. We are a close staff and celebrate birthdays regularly.  Today we celebrated four at the Cheesecake Factory.  Four very different and necessary people.  Our resident comedian, our very talented pianist, our amazing soloist, and our busy orchestra director/IT man who couldn't come because he had to fix the email server at church. We laughed a lot and ate too much.

Enjoying each other's company away from work!

Back to work, setting up for all the different choirs meeting in the afternoon and evening, answering phones, putting in prayer request cards, running errands, setting up appointments, returning emails, and putting words in screens for Christmas concerts.  Taking a break to eat some Godiva chocolate cheesecake! That was nice. Then on to choir rehearsal. Singing pretty much non-stop for an hour and a half....and loving it.  Out the door at 8 and home by 8:40.  Warm, cozy robe, sipping some ginger ale, ready for bed.  Up and at a more leisurely day tomorrow.