Favorite Invention Friday!!!

Today I am celebrating one of God's best inventions EVER....GRANDPARENTS!!! I could spend my whole day describing why they are awesome. Here's my evidence, though, just for this week

We have a grandma, who is out of town taking care of my grandma, writing multiple letters each week and sending treasures to the girls. This week, the grandpa, that goes with that grandma, let the girls hang out with the him for a few hours while I had an appointment. He took them all on a date to McDonald's, made sure there was treasure in the treasure boxes that grandma usually maintains and had the Power Wheels jeep battery charged. And finally, my in-laws are taking all of them away for the annual Torch Lake weekend with their cousins. They celebrate special days...such as backwards day (have dessert for breakfast, pancakes for dinner and wear their clothes backwards) and everyone's birthday...they swim...enjoy the special menu that their grandma planned just for them...go fishing with grandpa...enjoy adventures unforeseen at this time. The kids have so much fun that they start counting down to the next year's trip the moment they return from this year's excursion.

They all set a very high bar for grandparents. And they each are blessing in our lives.

Back to my material enjoyments next week!

So, You Had Spaghetti For Dinner

Just have to reveal another of my superhero powers...I can communicate to you what I've had for dinner without even saying a word...because it is usually all over my shirt. For now, my story is that it's to communicate empathy to my kids for when they get something on their shirt...but what will I do when they have moved out?

3-Years-Old Going On ...?

Today my dad was going to let the girls hang out with him while I had an appointment. The 3-year-old insisted that she wanted to sleep at his house. I told her that they would not be sleeping over.

"I want to take my bag."
"What bag?"
"My pink bag with the jammies in it."
"You don't need to take your bag because you are not sleeping over."
"You're not my friend!"

As my sister noted...I'm not her friend, her dad is her boyfriend...she is acting like a 13-year-old already. She certainly adds some spice to my life.

What WOULD That Look Like?

My 9-year-old often asks me if she can get her hair tie-dyed. This has been her term for a couple of years, so I think she just means colored or highlighted. While the answer for her remains "No"...I am curious what the literal interpretation of her term would look like...on someone else's 9-year-old.

Are You the Imp in Impatience?

From "Morning Jam Sessions" by Betty Malz...

If the devil can't get you to be immoral, drunk, profane, backslidden or a cheat at business, he will rally his imp guerillas of impatience and cause you to wound someone's spirit and bring guilt to your own inner control.

Morning Jam Sessions

Years ago...in a galaxy far, far away (just kidding!)...a dear friend gave me a devotional titled "Morning Jam Sessions" by Betty Malz. I really wish I knew when I had received it...it was definitely 1994 or later. This book has been a daily treat. It is formatted as a page per day for the year. I started writing in the year that I visited each page in 2005. Sometimes I make a note on the page if that is the anniversary of a significant event in my life. And I made a rule for myself that I can never visit a missed day. It is interesting to reminisce about what may have been going on in my life on a missed day...camping or just off track (and why?). I totally envision this being a treasure to one of my daughters someday.

The author is funny...relatable. Sometimes she makes me smile and sometimes she opens my eyes to my stumblings. I tell you all that to introduce this series of blog posts, where I will share tidbits from the book. The ones that I share will be the ones that I needed...so don't be offended...I wasn't thinking of you. But, I figure if I needed the reminder or education, maybe someone else does too. ( I hope so...otherwise it is just me with all these issues.)

I Will Happily Share Him

We have three daughters...currently ages 11, 9 and 3. On a recent family camping trip, conversation around the fire, while enjoying s'mores, somehow turned to boyfriends and dating. I don't even know how we got there. The interesting part was that it was the 3-year-old who was vehemently proclaiming her desire to date and have a boyfriend. My husband and I looked at one another, saying everything with our silent expressions..."We have our work cut out for us". I now another reason to hope that Jesus returns soon.

The next day we were all splashing around in the waves of Lake Erie, having a great time. Suddenly, the 3-year-old grabs her dad's face and plants a kiss on him, informing him afterwards that they were now "dating" and that he was her "boyfriend". I looked at her and asked her "What about me...his wife?" She kindly allowed that we could "share him".

Considering the conversation of the previous night, I am happy to share him with my girls. He can set the precedent on how they should expect to be treated when they are dating...in the way, far away future. It will take some special young men to live up to the bar he sets for them.