This Mom's, and Nana's, Observations...

Of course you already know that I am going to say something about time passing much too quickly... blah, blah, blah. Well, that's a given, lets go ahead and get that out of the way on this, my son's (the youngest, he's my baby) 33rd birthday! Here is Lynnleigh, his baby, at seven months. Jokingly, I had remarked about her being proud of this new sitting-up skill. No joke; she is so enamoured with sitting up, and the ability to do so on her own, that it actually interferes with her sleep! She and Gregory spent the last few nights here and I found, at naptime and bedtime, that she often sits herself up immediately after being put down and then cries pitifully because she's in that position! I got lucky with this picture, a quickly snapped photo (looking ever-so posed!) in the kitchen while I was making dinner earlier in the week. Her crawling has been halted in a similar fashion because all she wants to do is raise herself up onto her feet. With her hands planted on the floor in front of her, and her hind-end straight up in the air, she is the personification of a capital "A" (or inverted "V") and she cannot move. I tried to show her how to put her knees down on the floor, time after time, but she's not one bit interested in Nana's solution; right back up she goes!

Gregory is a little sponge, absorbing everything around himself and spouting back to us his own observations and experiences on the world in which he lives. These two commentaries kept us entertained, enjoy; I am posting here two personal status updates from Facebook:

e

Valuable information from Gregory to keep in mind before your next shopping trip; this will, undoubtedly, save you time and miles on your vehicle.
At WalMart you can buy dog food, cups and see the fishies.
At Lowe's you can buy better lawnmowers.
At Target you cany buy shoes, but... (this is important!) you need to pay first!

 e

With apologies to his Methodist grandparents, Gregory is showing his deep Lutheran roots; instead of being happy about our new television in the kitchen he is very concerned about where the old one went. At lunchtime today he said, hanging his head, that he is "very sad" that the old TV has been taken to Goodwill, he " really loved that one"!

e

Time is going to fly, we can't stop it or hold on to it or bottle it up to use it later; but, we can enjoy each phase and document the passing of time with photos and sweet stories of precious children growing up and exploring their world. We can be ever grateful that we're on this adventure called life right along with them! My daughter sent photos over the summer of Mason building and writing; of Lucy Ann painting at the easel... miraculous achievements for children who were, seemingly, only born a few days ago! 

I feel much closer to my own parents now. They've always reminded me about times long since gone with questions of  "remember when..." referring to occurences with my own children. To be honest, sadly, I don't recall most of those same things that they do; I guess I was just too preoccupied with being a Mom and getting it all done.  Now, I understand; grandparents were created for just this very thing, thanks be to God!

Life is Good!

Curious

I am curious. I found these blocks stacked neatly in the closet, they're from a block of the month class that I attended in 2007. I'm not surprised to have found them, I knew they were there. There are twelve of them, a years' worth, or so I thought! Here's the curious part: how in the world did I (would I?) make two of the exact same block? (Row 2 block A, Row 4 block C). The twelfth block kit, and pattern was folded up neatly with the blocks. I just don't get it... I can't be expected to remember what I did (or didn't do) five long years ago. I have enough trouble remembering what I did five days, or hours or minutes ago sometimes! I'm curious too as to why I purchased one and a half yards of  the very pretty stripe (used in the Row 2, B block), what was I going to do with that amount?  Okay... so here's my new plan: (I'm committing this to print so I can refer to it later) I'll make the twelfth block as prescribed, I'll put the spare pink/purple block on the back or in my Orphan Blocks box. I have a few ideas as to how I'll proceed with this one; how would you sash and or set this one, what would you do if these blocks were yours? I'm just curious! Curiosity may have killed the cat but satisfaction brought her back... "Satisfaction Stars"!

Life is Good!

Oops!

I've gotten to the point where I need to write things down... every thing! I recently spent so much time trying to schedule a meeting that would accommodate every person's busy agenda that I completely forgot to make assignments for the meeting once a date and time had finally been agreed upon! Groan. That little fact dawned on me very early this morning, the meeting is at 11:30 AM today! And so it goes... last minute phone calls and e-mails to the rescue. In my mad search for devotions (which was the assignment that I issued to myself) I ran across this online. I jotted down the web address on a piece of notepaper. WOW! This was just the powerful and timely message that I needed today, I'm sure it wasn't a coincidence, either. Taking the time to listen is a skill I need to develop. I'm bookmarking this website, that way I don't need to remember where I put the note!

Life is Good!
...and that is something I do remember...

Angels Race

This is a triathalon relay team. From L to R: run, bike, swim. The Angels Race event was run in the opposite order, on Sunday. Kyle, our son, is in the center; he has pedaling legs o' steel!

The Angels Foundation, who sponsor these events in VA and NC, recognizes that we can only become our best with the inspiration and strength of others - angels who see more in us than we see in ourselves. These angels often impact our lives in ways that are difficult to describe, and impossible to repay.

The mission of the Angels Foundation is two-fold:

1. Create opportunities for individuals to honor angels who have touched their lives

2. to encourage people to be angels in the lives of others

The sport of triathlon, like life, is as much a competition with self as it is with other athletes. The Angels Race is an opportunity to challenge yourself to give it your best, and to honor those who inspired you to become who you are, and who you seek to be.

Participants write the name of the angel they are honoring on their body during body marking, and carry the spirit of that person throughout the race.

Many are inspired to their best performance, some resolve grief or celebrate a lost angel while others recognize the significance of someone currently in their life. For everyone, it is more than just a race.

Our son-in-law and his parents also participated; our son-in-law individually and his Mom and Dad on their own relay team. Way to go! It was a beautiful day; one to cherish, one to remember!

Life is Good!