The Magic of the Ordinary

 Peek-a-boo with Papaw!

Puzzles after breakfast.

Audrey's got her game face on!  

This face CRACKS NINNIE UP!!!

Silly time!

Lots of play time!

Whenever Papaw leaves, he hides money in each of their rooms.  

This time, I was here when they got to hunt them.  Fun times!

On her little potty.

We started to work on potty training with Levi and look who started to join us!

Little Miss Priss did GREAT this week and she goes potty every time we put her on.

Good thing Mama had two potties!  :)

I had to teach Levi the proper use for training pants...haha!

This is a vintage doll bed Jamie found at an antique store while shopping for
vintage kitten decor for Audrey's 1st birthday.  

Jamie also made her little sheets, pillow, and quilt for a Christmas gift, 

using all reproduction vintage fabrics for them.

I love the little decal and the little "abc blocks" in the headboard.

Levi LOVES the bed his Papaw made for him that I brought down here in the fall.  He calls it his "Papaw bed".  He did make the transition very easily from the baby bed to his "big boy" (toddler) bed.

I have spent the last two weeks immersed in my grand baby's glow.

I just thought I'd share a few images and a few anecdotal stories to tell you what I've been up to. 

It's been pure bliss, I've enjoyed every minute, and tomorrow I head back home....the trail of tears.  Saying good-bye is the worst!

Levi told me today "Ninnie, I will miss all my PEOPLE."  He calls all of us from Michigan who visit him as "his people".  He's right, we are his and his sissie's people, too.

My husband and older son left here a week ago, and myself and my younger son got to stay another week.  After his Papaw left last week with his Uncle Mark, he asked:  "Where did my people go?"  I had to explain to him that they had to get back to Michigan and back to work.

This morning when we all got up, I explained to him:  "Tomorrow I won't be here when you wake up, Luke and I will go back to Papaw and Uncle Mark in Michigan."  He responded "Ninnie, I will miss all my people and I want my Papaw!"  

That is the truth, and we shall miss him and his family, too.  

I have learned this from living so far from my babies:  the time spent immersed in their lives 24/7 is the best part of the separation. It's the silver lining I had to look for.  

The worst part is not being here from day to day, in the small ways, but so much of the enjoyment while we are here is waking up with them and being with them until they close their eyes at night, reading them stories, putting them down for their naps...being present for their meals.  It's all so good.

I will see you next week.

 xoxoxox

It's Alright, Momma!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mommas out there! 

And I know if you're like me...

You know that sometimes motherhood can be kicked around, lately even for political gain, with those words  I know many stay-at-home moms have heard from time to time:  "She hasn't worked a DAY in her life...!"  

I know many of you laughed when you heard THAT one, while you were multi-tasking and folding another load of laundry, shuffling down the hall to see why junior was awake again, and making a list of things to do tomorrow before finally heading to bed late at night, right?  

Don't ever let anyone tell you that it's a small and insignificant job, because we all know there's nothing small about raising the next generation of American citizens.  

It's a big job to raise good Americans.

And no, you don't have to stay home to do it.  

But many times we choose to do so.

At times sacrificing a comfortable living to do so.

And there's nothing wrong with choosing the family over anything the outside world can offer a gal.  

There's lots to gain. 

Because at one time in history someone wise once said:

"The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world."  

And it's true.  Let it be your hand.

There's is nothing at all wrong, and in fact there is much that is ALL right with choosing family over a career.

And so much can seem more important, more necessary.

But in the bigger picture, we all know, that childhood is such a small segment of time in the lives of our children.

It goes way, way, way too fast.

And then, as fast as you can say BINGO! you find that one day, as much as you loved motherhood, grandmotherhood is even more wonderful!  

Wedding Day...

Jamie and her daddy, May 12, 2007

Off to a wedding today, the first I've been to this summer...
so excited. This wedding is preceeded by the earth shattering event of


.
.
.
Me, successfully giving myself my OWN French manicure.

Successfully.


I am still in awe.
.
.
.
But back to the wedding I'm attending today.


It's been a sweltering several weeks, with high humidity...the kind of humidity that induces a person to sweat instantly in noticeably unladylike ways upon stepping out of doors.


Well, the bride got lucky, because Thursday night, the weather broke. It's a beautiful summer weekend: the weather tomorrow is to be sunny and eighty degrees. What more could a bride ask for?

I went today to help the bride and the family get the hall ready for the reception.

OH MY. I should have set up a blog post long ago about this....show you all this, they GREW THEIR OWN FLOWERS for the wedding! There are flowers everywhere!


Bells of Ireland, Hydrangeas, Gladiolas, and even their own ferns and English Ivy for filler. I will try to capture some photos for you, this family is so resourceful! Growing their own flowers! They're doing their own food, too. Amazing.

I have a beautiful new dress to wear that I found with the tags on,
at a garage sale for $8, I was beyond thrilled and it fit perfectly...
maybe I'll have someone get a pic for you.

I've known the bride since she was little bitty, am friends with the bride's mother
and it makes me feel so old to know that she's going to be a wife!

I am happy for her.

I know that feeling now that parents of the bride wrestle with...part happiness, and the other part? Heartbreak in liquid form...those tears that flow from somewhere inside your head and pour out your eyes, they're bittersweet saltwater emotions...that have nothing to do with one's head, it's just your love for your child squirting straight out of your heart up into your eyes, and onto your cheeks into your kleenex...

Oh, weddings make me all sentimental...every time.
Do they do that to you, too?