Doggie Sitting

The grandchildren are away at the beach with their parents and their other grandparents, Gerri and Charlie. Needless to say, things have been very quiet. While the kids are at the beach, their precious Sheltie, Pebbles, is staying with us. Pebbles loves us, but she doesn't necessarily have lovey dovey feelings for our goldendoodle, Clark. Clark is very....uh...enthusiastic. Pebbles finds this behavior extremely annoying. She tells him so at every opportunity. Poor Clark. He just wants to be friends.

Garden Time

Our home was originally my grandfather and grandmother's home. After they passed away, my husband and I purchased it. My grandfather maintained a garden spot atop a hill behind our home. Some of my earliest memories involve summer days spent in this garden. It brings me joy to spend time in this same garden, even though I will never be the gardener my grandfather was. He was active until his death. Regardless of the limitations arthritis tried to place upon him, he carried on the activities that brought him joy. He died unexpectedly in winter. When spring came, my daddy went to the garden to prepare for planting. There, sitting at the middle of the garden was an old chair Poppa Cecil would take short rests in or just sit and enjoy the solitude of his surroundings. We all took this as a sign that Poppa Cecil expected us to carry on and do our best to honor the things he taught us.

As I said, I will never be the calibre of gardener that Poppa Cecil was, but I will enjoy being in the garden because he taught me to enjoy it. Today hubbie and I gathered squash and cucumbers. Soon tomatoes will grow red and ripe. Potatoes are ready to be gathered and the corn has silks. I took the camera along to get a few shots.

Sewing a Purse

One of my hobbies is sewing. Lately, I've become fascinated with making purses. The pattern I used for this purse was free from DIY Network. Their website is a rich resource of information for just about any type project. Anyway, I had the materials gathered for a while before I finally attempted to sew it. I'm pretty satisfied with the results. It's not large, which is my preference. I put a magnetic closer on the inside and sewed a pocket to the inside lining. On my next purse, I'm thinking about modifying the inside pocket so it can hold a cell phone and keys in their own compartment.

Happy Endings

Last night was a "happy ending". We went to the airport to meet Jennifer and Charli Grace arriving from their twelve day trip to China. Today's technology made the trip easier for us. We talked with them (and saw them) with Skype almost every day. The thing was, both of my children and my granddaughter were six thousand miles away in a foreign country. They weren't a quick drive or flight away. Mothers get uneasy when they know they can't get to their children quickly. Technology helped again when we were able to monitor their flight status and knew immediately when their plane landed. We were so happy to be reunited. Chad and Conner were delirious with joy. They had been so lonesome while the feminine side of their family was away. Julie had to take a later flight out of Chicago to Houston. Her plane landed at 11:00 and I'm sure David was as anxious as we had been in Birmingham. Once I knew all my children were with their families and safe, I had a contented night's sleep. Thank you God for keeping watch over my children.

Conner

Conner is my first grandchild.(See Blessings post) It was so fitting that he was born on Valentine's Day. On the day he was born, all our hearts were filled with love and thanksgiving. He has me wrapped around his little finger, and he knows it! People told me that being a grandparent was the greatest joy in life. I never really understood the truth of that until I actually became one. Being a grandmother changes you. Your priorities change. Playing with Thomas the train and building an elaborate track is now much more important than reading a book or doing any type housework. A trip to a department store means first going to the children's section and then if there is any money left over, you might buy yourself a shirt or something.
No one bothered to tell me that along with the joys, the heart aches would also be intense. When Conner had to begin preschool and I realized someone other than a family member would be caring for him, I thought I was actually going to DIE. Since I'm writing this post that means I didn't, and yes, it was tough for a while. Now, I am thankful to the precious ladies who lovingly care for Conner and Charli Grace each day. They care for them as if they were their children and it shows in the way the children happily go to school and in the stories they share about their day.

Houston

Houston, Texas is almost a thousand miles from my home. That means a part of my heart is a thousand miles away. Our daughter Julie and her husband David live and work in Houston. They have a happy, busy life there and we enjoy hearing about their adventures. Two of my "grand-dogs" live with them. Sammy and Dexter are their dauchshund babies. Life is never dull when you have a dauchshund in your life, let alone, two. They are naughty and ingenious little dynamos that can turn your world upside down. That's why they are such perfect additions to our family.
Julie and David are athletic. They ride in the MS 150, which is a yearly event to raise money for Multiple Sclerosis. Thousands of intrepid bicyclists cover the one hundred fifty mile distance from Houston to Austin in two days. Julie won't be joining David this year because she is traveling to China with Jennifer and Charli Grace.

China

China is on the other side of the world. As children, we always joked about digging a hole so deep that we would end up in China. Now, China has given my family a great blessing in a small package. Charli Grace, formerly known as Ming Ming, is my grandaughter. She became my grandaughter the day her mother, Jennifer, saw her photo on a "Waiting Child" site and fell instantly in love with her. Adopting a child is not a simple process. Add another country and thousands of miles into the equation, and it becomes insurmountable to the faint of heart. Jennifer and Chad are NOT faint-of-heart. When they first shared their desire to adopt from China, I was again dumbfounded. (This will be a common theme in my posts. My children announce their newest adventure and I am dumbfounded.) My mind raced with a million questions, how, how much, who, when, where and why? Then I zeroed in on, "Why do you want to adopt a waiting child?" Their logical response was that a waiting child needed them the most. (For those of you how aren't familiar, a waiting child is a child that has some type physical limitation.) Little Ming Ming has congenital glaucoma and cataracts. Her vision is limited. God knew that Jennifer and Chad were the perfect parents for Ming Ming and He set about to knock down huge obstacles and place her in their arms much more quickly than we could ever imagine.