Fun With Cousins

I have always been thankful that I am part of a large extended family.

My dad is the oldest of 6.

My mom is the oldest of 5.

Which gave me lots and lots of cousins.

And now I have nieces and nephews too.

A lot of them spent the night with us last night.

We spent our day today...

...playing restaurant and making soup and mud pies...

...playing baseball...

...hanging around the house...

...going to town with 12 people total (had to take 2 vehicles - too many for just 1)...

...seeing a movie and waiting for the credits to end because you just never know what funny thing might show after the credits...

...eating pizza and playing some games...

...and then coming back home to hang around the house some more.

We've had a great day.

I hope my children always realize how blessed they are to have cousins.

Just Saying...

Happy Thanksgivinvg!  

I hope you all have a blessed day!

(pine cone turkey made by Wesley when he was in preschool)

Conversation

I had 2 conversations today that were exactly the same.  The conversations went like this:

Me:  You need to wear a heavy coat today.  It’s supposed to be really cold all day.

Other person:  I don’t need a coat.  My jacket will be enough.  I’ll be fine.

Me:  No, you will not be.  The temperature is already low so you need a heavy coat now and you will definitely need one tonight.  The temperature is going to continue to fall all day long and you’ll be happy for that coat.  You’ll especially need a coat when we come home from church tonight.  It’ll be around 25 degrees then.

Other person:  Oh, I’ll be fine.  I’ll be in the heated car except for just going in and out of the church and then I’ll be in the church where it’s heated.  .

Me:  Well, you’re going to wear a coat anyway.  Just humor me.

Both persons ended up wearing a coat –

because I said so. 

And both persons were happy that I had them wear a heavy coat –

because it was cold.

The two people I made wear coats today were my Wesley (who just hates wearing a coat) and my dad (who just thought it was unnecessary).

The interesting thing is that this kind of thing happens very often in my world.

I have similar conversations like this a lot…

…with my sons and with my 72 year old father.

Just part of being a caretaker – of the young and the not so young.

Simple Exchange

There are still times when a simple exchange that’s not even noticed by most can make my heart reel.

It happens when I hear a child say, “Daddy, can I do this?” or “Daddy, will you hold me?” or “Daddy, can I go outside?” or “Daddy, I love you” and then I hear the dad’s reply.

Simple, everyday exchanges between a father and a child...

...remind me yet again that for my children,

there will never be another simple, everyday exchange.

They will never get to say "Daddy" again.

Happy Birthday Pat!

Today is my mother-in-law's birthday.

Happy Birthday Grandma Pat!

(Photos are from June 2012 - Crystol's 30th birthday party) 

Solitude

It is after 11 p.m. as I start to write this.

And once again, I am closing down the day alone.

When Rob and I first married, we started the tradition of stopping whatever we were doing at 10 p.m. and taking the time to wind down the day and to just be together – whether it was talking, watching a video or something on television, or just lying together in bed snuggling.  It quickly became the part of the day that I looked forward to the most and he told me it was for him too.  We continued the tradition even after having children – although a lot of the “together” times then included me nursing a baby to sleep at the same time and it certainly did not always happen right at 10 p.m. but it did happen – almost every night.

Those times together,

a practice we continued up until the year he died,

are what I miss the most.

Thinking about those moments we had together over the almost 18 years of our marriage and how we would

talk about how our days had gone,

talk about us,

talk about our children,

talk about the churches,

talk about our dreams of the future,

or talk about nothing at all and just hold each other in the still of the night as the day came to a close in peaceful togetherness,

is what still haunts me each night as I close each of my days in solitude.

70

My mother's 70th birthday is today.

We celebrated!

(Mama at 5 years old)