What a Wonderful Day

What a wonderful day...... 


ooh.........it's hot!  It's hot here in Oklahoma.  76 degrees as I type, here at 4:30 p.m., November 15, 2016.  It's not suppose to be hot.  It's November for Pete's sake.  Are we going to wear jackets this year?  I digress.


So what better way to entertain ourselves and little Audrey on an unusually warm day than an impromptu visit to the ZOO.  What a wonderful day for a 2 year-old little gal, running from exhibit to exhibit, slide to slide, playground to playground.  She was so happy all morning, but in her tiny soft little-girl voice she asked if we could go home to Papaw and Nana's house.  So only after a couple hours, she was tucked in her car seat heading for home, her head hanging down, eyes closing from time to time. 


What a day!  We debated about taking her because, let's face it, it does take a bit of effort.  We quickly found out that that bit of effort was the best part of our day.  What a wonderful day.


I love you.  Hope you had a wonderful day, too.


The zoo is changing, lots of renovations, but I could still make out the old landmarks from 1958.  So many memories................  Memories of picnics at the lake..................Memories of the monkey boat....................Memories of Judy the Elephant...............

Higher and Higher

It was only a few years ago that this little boy/young man was on the front porch swinging with me, giggling and begging me to go higher and higher.  So many discussions were held in that old swing, but one of the ones that come to mind today is "when am I going to be 10?"  To him at the tender age of 5, 10 was a long, long, long time away while his much wiser grandmother knew it was just a quick breath away.


A breath away..............and it was proven to me a few days ago how time really is but just a breath away when this young boy, now a much wiser 12 year old, told me he was going to take a shower.  Not one time in the last 12 years has he willingly taken a bath at my house.............and now in his deep voice he tells me he is going to take a shower.  I knew at that moment that things had changed.

Yes, things changed and very quickly.  I am not fully prepared for this.  Will he want to come spend fall break with me next year?  Will he want to sit on the swing with me?  Will he beg me to go higher and higher?  Maybe or perhaps not.  I will just have to adjust because time is NOT going to stand still for me.  But in my heart he will forever be that little 5 year old begging me to go higher and higher. 


I love you.  Always.  Higher and higher.

School Starts Tomorrow

These two!

When did they get to be so big?

Tomorrow, these two little boys will be starting another school year.  4th grader, can that be?  Junior high?  Yesterday, he was 2 weeks old and curled up in my arms as he napped.  Three short years until he starts high school, and his nana is already in mourning.  Just kidding..................I think.

So tomorrow begins another school year, and here I am tonight wondering what the year will bring.  Oh it would be nice if they made straight As and won every award on awards night.  Sure it would.........not going to lie..............but my very favorite award would be one for kindness.  So here's hoping their year will be full of kindness from them as well as to them, full of hope and optimism, full of wisdom to make the best decisions, and most of all, full of joy.  Their smiling faces will be reward enough for me.   

Tonight, my sweet boys, I wish you a pleasant evening and deep sleep full of smiling dreams with ne'er a thought about school.  Tomorrow is your day to shine.

I love you. 

A look back:  http://retirementthegoodlife.blogspot.com/2015/08/sleep-tight-my-sweet-boys.html 

Radishes and Tutus

These pictures pretty much speak for themselves.

Who doesn't pull radishes in a tutu?

And don't forget the gloves.

I have such precious grandchildren.

Enjoy your Thursday.

I love you.

Pray for My Little Cricket

 My little cricket

 My little cricket with his grandpa

And here he is with his parents

Last night we were privileged to go to Logan's

3rd grade class musical about insects at spring picnics.

He was a cricket if you hadn't already surmised.

He had a little speaking part and

he was EXCEPTIONAL; never missed a beat.

His grandma was so very proud of him.

Recently, my mind has been overwhelmed with the world situation.

You can't imagine how much this little school production

reassured me that the world is going to be okay.

These little 3rd graders will be

tomorrow's leaders.

Pray for them now.

Pray for my little cricket.

I love you.

Perfect Evening for Baseball

My boy!  Yes, you have seen this picture before. 


Hello everyone.  Isn't this a fine October night?  Well, our grandson's first baseball season came to a close tonight and oh, what a night for baseball.  A perfectly windless night.  In fact, I wasn't the only one to notice a beautiful evening.  As we were walking into the huge baseball complex, I overheard another team's coach tell his co-coach, "I really don't care if they win or lose............it is just a perfect evening for baseball.  I just want them to have some fun."  I couldn't agree more.


Nonetheless, Blaine's team ended up winning.  Not only that, Blaine was at bat twice and both times he got good hits.  And he made a score.  AND HE GOT TO PITCH the last inning.  And he struck a batter out by pitching right across the place.  That's not to say he was perfect the rest of the inning, but the fact that his coaches see potential in him in his very first season of baseball is commendable.  He went out on a high note and sugar cookies all around.  What a perfect evening.  Smiles all around. 


A perfect evening for baseball.


I love you.
If you have never seen Moore's baseball/football complex, you owe it to yourself to take a look some fall evening.  Moore has done their community proud investing in the lives of their future citizens.  Well done, Moore.

Do You Know What the Best Part of My Day is?

My grandchildren and me—Mother’s Day 2015

This afternoon, Logan, next to me on my right (the little guy), called me.  He didn’t  have to say three words before I knew he had some exciting news.  He told me he lost the tooth that he’d been working on for a while.  In fact only yesterday he had me wiggle the tooth, but it just wasn’t quite ready to come out.  He knew that I would be as excited as he was because we’d worked on it together.  If I understood him in his excitement, his friend on the bus accidently hit the tooth and out it came, but somehow the other little boy also got hurt and was bleeding, too.  He told me that the other little boy said he was ok even though he was bleeding.  He said, “It would make me sad if he was hurt.”

And that isn’t all that made his day exciting.  He’d made 90 on his AR test (reading).  WAHOO!  I’d promised him a special reward at the end of the year if he read 5 books over his yearly AR goal and now he is one book closer to that reward.   

Then, be still my heart, he said this:  "Do you know what's the best part of my day is? It is when you answered the phone. I didn't think you'd answer."   I can’t even begin to tell you how much this touched me. 

Logan needed to share his excitement with me.  He wanted a personal conversation with his grandmother at the exact moment of his joy.  He needed me to answer.  He needed to hear my voice and my excitement to mimic his own. 

I have seen so many people receive a phone call and deliberately not answer the call.  How many people just needed to hear your voice, needed you to be as excited as they were?  That call is gone, but next time you start to ignore a call, think about the person on the other end.  Think of their needs…..are they needing a hug, are they needing to hear your voice.  “Do you know what the best part of my day is?” 

I love you. 

Pitching for the Very First Time

There he is.  My oldest grandson.

Pitching for the very first time.  He started

playing baseball only this fall, 7 games ago.

His grandmother couldn’t be prouder.

That’s it on the home front.

I love you.

By the way, these little boys are so cute in their uniforms.

Sleep Tight My Sweet Boys

Tonight little boys and girls all over Oklahoma are getting ready for bed in hopes of a good nights sleep, perhaps a little anxious.  Tomorrow is a big day in their lives; the first day of a new school year.  My grandsons are a little nervous tonight, but excited to start 6th grade and 3rd grade.  I pray that God grants these grandchildren a fun and safe year, and that they fall asleep fast and stay asleep.


Today, when we kept them we decided to make their last summer vacation day a lazy day.  To be truthful I had asked them if they wanted to go to the park or zoo, but they just wanted to watch a movie.  They picked, with our urging, "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World".  They'd never seen this G rated gem and it had been years since we'd seen it.  Blaine built a fort using chairs and a sheet, settled inside with pillows to watch, while Logan just rocked back in the recliner.  And the giggling began............for all of us.  At intermission, we all loaded in the car and went for Mexican food, one of their places.  When we got back, we finished the movie.  All in all, a good, relaxing day. 


Sleep tight my sweet boys.  Nana sends Nana love.


I love you.


The movie we saw today was so entertaining.  I remember seeing this at the theater and I was literally hurting from laughing so hard when I left the theater.  Why can't someone make movies like this again?  Are the writers just not as clever and talented?  I don't know.  I do know that lots of parents and grandparents would head to the theater with their families if there was something entertaining for the whole family; something rated G or even PG.     

Another School Year

Well, it started.  Another school year - 2014-2015.  That alone boggles my mind.  How in the world did it get to 2014?  Gosh, I remember thinking about the 2000s and not really comprehending the idea of another century.  But that was in the 1960s and one day I closed my eyes, the next day I woke up and it was December 31, 1999 and we were staying up to see the year 2000. 


But I digress.  School has started and my two grandsons have started in new school due to changing school boundaries.  I cannot tell you how proud of them I am.  All my worries for the last 3 months were unfounded.  Up until last week, their mom had planned on getting transfer letters for them to remain at the old school.  After getting the letters, mom took them on a tour of the school just in case their transfer request was rejected.  It didn't take them but a few moments to both decide the "new" school might be fun.  So.............back they went to take back the transfer letters and at that moment I knew my boys were going to be ok.  It was their decision and I believe it will be the right one for them.


Blaine loves his new school and his new teacher.  His homeroom teacher and his wife were missionaries in Africa at one point so I know the stories this man will tell will be right down Blaine's alley.  Logan..........well we will wait and see, but he did tell his mom that his teacher might be nice because she told all the other kids that they needed to look at Logan and do what he was doing.  He is always quite proud when someone brags on him. 


So………onward and upward to a good school year.    I love you boys.  You are still the age you were in this picture to me, not 10 and not 7.  Very, very proud of you.  Your nana wasn’t as brave as you.