a wish

Okay, this is my sweetie, eating cake.

Just a moment before this, he and I were goofing around. He had a long skinny block in his hand, waving it around like a wand.

I took it from him and tapped him on the head and said, "I give you a magic wish."

He gave me a long look, and his eyes twinkled.

Then he tapped me and said, "I give you magic monkey arms."

Oh.  My.  Gosh.

I laughed, and that niece in the pink jacket was a full witness to the whole thing and we laughed some more.

I told her, "Nobody has ever wished me anything like that before in my whole entire life."

Magic monkey arms.

Whee.  The possibilities are endless.

Magic monkey arms wished on me by a sweetie.   What a Thursday.   love always, Grandma

her birthday party

 It was my mom's birthday party tonight--happy, easy going crowd.

Okay, this is Tim apologizing to his cousin for throwing a poker chip that hit her in the head. No she was not injured, just deeply offended.   No idea what the back story is on this.

 Here's my mom with a pile of grand daughters, not all of them, but some.

 The men entertaining kids in the office:

Okay, and Kirsten noticed these five siblings are all in stripes.   It's coincidental--they didn't even do this on purpose.

 Here's Mom with her cake.

Mama, I've known you my whole darn life, and every single one of us would say the same thing:   There is no one like you--nobody more generous or forgiving or believing than you.    As John once said, "Grandma's got your back."

And that is the truth--lucky, lucky us.  love forever, Val and everybody

thursday guys

That's the little one.

This is one of the aunties.

 Here's Uncle James, cuddling, and b.g. with his special milk.  When he wants milk he specifies the kind. 

And here we are.  He's got his arm around my neck twirling my hair, and between the two of them--b.g. smelled like the strawberry milk he was drinking and t.g. smelled like warm breastmilk.

Plus the older one had his ear near enough so I could whisper, "I love you."   He didn't answer, just pressed his ear against my lips.

Sigh.   Long days, but also very sweet days--demanding little guys who are going to grow up SO FAST these long afternoons will feel like a speck, a blur, something I must have imagined.

love yous guys, Grandma

barcaLounger auntie

Yeah, that's her.

I offered to try and slide him off her onto the couch, and wise auntie she is, she whispered, "Don't touch him."

He had a nice nap there, their legs awkwardly hanging, for at least an hour, and she never complained.

Now I am listening to her saxophone practice upstairs, little plodding melodies I recognize, though not by name.

Auntie Lydia?  We love you.    love, Mom

a couple days

Yes, it was her birthday yesterday, and Jay bought these tremendously festive cupcakes to celebrate.

See how the bakery even packaged them in diagonal rows of juicy, bright colors?

Here are some kids having lunch on the patio.   Mom and I made the mac and cheese she brought.  Usually some sister/auntie mixes it up, so the exact ratios of butter, milk, and powdered cheese were experimental.  We improvised and nobody complained.

This little guy likes to sit up and see, and he enjoyed the stroller for a long time.  I forbid the little crazy ones to push him around.  We don't need that much excitement.  He's small.

 Brothers, eye to eye:

My mom listens to Tim read and she's patient, patient, no rushing in her voice, never.

She's learned about dyslexia along with me, and has seen this through from start to finish numerous times.   It's tedious at this tentative point, somewhere between catching on and fully capable reading.

She said today too, the freedom from worry is very liberating.  It's all good.

Dyslexic people take more time becoming fluent, but it all turns out better than fine.

And that was today, pretty much.   There's a lot of action and it's actually hard to take any pictures.

This is funny though--first thing this morning between this guy and this girl, we had his flagrant attempts to push her down and her equally unremorseful pulling him by the hair.

I put my hands between them and said, "No, no, now. Cousins are nice."

They both glanced at me and then reached out their feet across the space and kicked each other.

Me:  "Okay, now!"

That's when I turned to my mom, who was hugging the baby, and we both laughed our heads off.

Crazy babies anyway.

Onward.  Tuesday is almost over, and Wednesday approaches, and life is good.

love you monkeys, Grandma, and Great-Grandma too.

a beautiful day to be baptised

Happy Baptism, Sweetheart.   love you so, Grandma and Grandpa

thinking under pressure

Okay, so here's the story:

My mom was here helping me babysit, and the conversation veered from this to that, and we were watching the Showcase Showdown on Price is Right, and Julia said she wished we could go on that show,  "Mom! You should go!"

That whole glitzy, decadent oasis of materialism and nonsense?

Well. I dunno.

I said we live so very far from California, and I can't think under pressure.  I mean, that's difficult thinking under pressure.

Then.

Tim said this, and wow, yes, this came out of his mouth, "Thinking under pressure? What's hard about that? Me and Julia have to do that all the time when you're yelling at us, think up lies."

!!!!

Here he is making his nephew smile.

I'm still without words about the thinking up lies thing.

Some snickering, but no words.

This is my kind, beautiful mother, snuggling her youngest great-grandchild, helping me babysit.

As the poopy diapers roll, and the kids go nuts, we have shared a lot of laughs in the last few days, and the kids have enjoyed her company as much as I have.

Onward.

Tomorrow is Friday, and I do so love Friday, and it's going to be like 70 degrees out, and life is nothing but good.   love, Val