Grandchildren

Happy Mother’s Day

I’m often torn about how to celebrate Mother’s Day—many of the happiest times in my life revolved around being a mother to my two girls.

Yet, for thirty-nine years, there is a part of me that grieves on Mother’s Day for the daughter I lost.

Katie

But God is good! He sent two beautiful children to my older daughter, Mandy, and the three of them rock my world. I feel like I am the luckiest!

Life is funny, you know. I thought my life was over thirty-nine years ago, and now I feel like I am on the grandest trip, along with Mandy and her family!

I see the world in a whole new way. Through the eyes of my grandchildren.

Although my love will never end for Katie, and I shall never forget her or how she was when she was alive and in our lives, I have been able to move forward and live again myself.

So, on this Mother’s Day, I celebrate my motherhood, but more than this, I celebrate my daughter’s Mother’s Day.

Matt, Savannah, Quinn, and Amanda.

Mandy is a wonderful, caring, and gentle mother. She listens to and adores her kids; I admire her so much!

So, Happy Mother’s Day to all you mothers. Be you biological, adoptive, or step. Mothers and their love come in all shapes and sizes.

This & That ~ December 15th

I feel quite remiss at not writing before now. I’ve been rather worried and upset the last few days since the Tornados tore through Kentucky and the heartland of America.

You see, little Heidi, with her birth family and the breeder, who has become a friend are in Kentucky and they were very close to the epicenter of the storms, Mayfield, KY.

Luckily, the breeder, Gail, and all her pups and all of her family came through okay. But so many homes in her town were severely damaged, and there is no power or water. I fear that will be some time to come back.

So, since my middle name is “Worry-Wart” I have just felt really unsettled. I realized it was getting to me last night at about 12:30 AM when I woke and could not get back to sleep. I sat up for a while, watched a little TV, and eventually fell back asleep at around 3:30. But today I feel a bit tired and I know I have to give this to God. Me not sleeping is not going to help anything.

My grandchildren are visiting Disney. How wonderful! I’m getting pictures several times a day and they are having a great time. But I was suddenly amazed because my granddaughter looks very much like a pre-teen. Gone is my little girl! Wow!

But here is the other thing about Savannah. She has always been beautiful, but as she grows into a young woman she is strikingly beautiful.

Okay, I know. I am her grandmother and I look at her face and see the beauty of her face and soul!

I am thrilled to see that Quinn at least still looks like a little boy. I’m not ready for him to grow up and become a teen!

So that wraps up the last few days. I hope you are all well.

TBT: My Grandchildren & Me

This week I am looking back at the birth of my two grandchildren. There is something so special and amazing when you hold your grandchild for the first time.

I was thrilled when Mandy told me she was expecting a little girl! And then, when I held Savannah for the first time, my heart swelled with a love so strong and so full of happiness!

Ever since her birth, Savi and I have had this connection between us. Maybe all grandparents feel like this with their grandchildren. I would go anywhere and do anything for her, and her brother.

Savannah May 31, 2012

Holding Savi for the first time brought happy tears to my eyes. Watching her grow and change has been such a delight!

After Savannah’s birth, I figured if that were all the grandbabies, then I was a lucky lady. But one day I was in my yard and a woman came by. She was buying our old truck. She took my hand and read my palm and told me that I would have another grandchild and this one would be a boy.

This woman had never met me before or been inside my home. And yet she told me all about my granddaughter and my soon-to-be grandson.

A few weeks later I was babysitting Savannah overnight at Mandy’s and my daughter came running down the stairs waving an EPT Pregnancy Stick! She was pregnant!

To say we were all thrilled was an understatement. I had told her about the woman’s prediction and a few weeks later we found out that our darling Quinn, a boy, was on his way!

Quinn March 7, 2016

Since I never had a boy, I knew very little about them. I learned fast that having a boy was rough and tumble and playing trucks and focusing on anything with wheels. This boy started walking at 7+ months and hasn’t stopped since.

I love being a grandmother, and the love I have for Savannah and Quinn isn’t measurable. I tell them all the time, “I love you to the moon and back!” And their smiles, their hugs, and their love mean more to me than anything.

Savannah, Mandy, Quinn, and me last Christmas.

Disney Kids

Mandy and Matt took the kids to Disney for February Vacation. I love it! So many parents never take the time or opportunity to play with their kids. Mandy and Matt really like their kids, as well as love them. They enjoy spending family time together, just having fun. It’s just wonderful to see.

Matt & Savi

Mandy and Quinn.

Mandy has been sending me pictures and videos and I wait each day for her texts and pictures to arrive. It makes me so happy to see them having such a good time.

Quinn and Savi. How did they grow up so fast? It was just yesterday that they were little babies!

Aren’t they the sweetest?

I am just loving Savannah’s purple sandals. They look so comfortable! And just love those scary faces!

They’ll be back soon and I can hardly wait to hear all about their adventures!

Mandy and Matt are such good parents and I am really proud of them. Not because they go to Disney with the kids, but that they both have the ability to play with their kids, and their kids both know how loved they are.

Being An Oma!

On Facebook, there has been a Meme to show photos of what it is like in the life of being a Grandmother/Nana/Oma.

I’ve enjoyed digging out pictures of me with the kids and posting them. One thing that sort of dawned on me was how much I enjoy playing with my grandchildren.

Sometimes we act silly and dress up. Sometimes we make funny faces and take pictures. Sometimes we just do goofy stuff. But always, when we are together we have fun.

My grandmothers were much older than me. They were already wearing old lady orthopedic shoes and one of my grandmothers died when I was in the third grade. Sadly, I have very few memories of her.

My other grandmother lived until I was 26, but she was fairly proper. Oh, I adored her, but I never would have asked her to play dolls or dress up with me. She was kind of beyond that.

So with Savi and Quinn, I try to just simply play with them. Make them laugh, or say silly things or make those silly faces.

Oh, what a blessing it is to me to have these two children! They make me smile and laugh and every day I am thankful.

I love being an Oma!

The Wonders of Grandchildren

I had the pleasure of having my grandchildren for a few days. What a wonderful adventure. I learned so much more about each of them and was able to thoroughly enjoy the wonderful ages that they are. One is fully conversational now and the other tells wonderful stories with words that far surpass the actual age that he is.

Savannah was incredibly interested in me. She asked me about my previous marriage, what her mother was like as a little girl, and did I love dogs as much as she did? I could see the wheels turning in her head about what to ask me next.

I gave her simple answers for now. The only thing I corrected her about was when she asked if I was sick when I divorced her other grandfather. I told her no, but I was very sad. She asked then if I had loved him and I said yes.

She wanted to know how many years I was married to my former husband and then wanted to know how long I’ve been married to Papa Jack? 11 years the first time and 31 years to Papa Jack! She was amazed that Papa Jack and I had been married that long. I guess 31 years seems like a very long time to a seven-year-old!

Quinn is at the age where his imagination is running wild. He told me stories where he was the Super Hero with big strong muscles! He is extremely well-spoken for a three-year-old and his vocabulary is amazing! He wants to tell jokes, although he hasn’t quite gotten the hang of it. Still, I must say Quinn’s laugh is infectious! And I found myself really laughing with him!

It was nice to see that the kids felt at home with us here so that spending a couple of nights was easy for them. Both slept well and ate well, and played well. So the entire experience was a real success!

I hope we can do it again really soon!

Monday Musings

On Monday I figured I would bring the two grandchildren with me as I did my errands. I never thought too much about it. After all, I raised two kids who were closer in age than Savi and Quinn. So it should be a breeze with these two.

Well, mostly it was. But I worried a bit in parking lots and at the beach and at the Post Office. But, I managed with a great deal of joy in my heart. Especially at the beach. They loved that, and we are in fact going back tomorrow to swim.

I very seldom go down to Waukewan Lake Beach, (Say, like never), but it was really wonderful to be there and watch the kids swim. Tomorrow I will actually put on my swimsuit and go in too! Of all the things we did today, being at the Lake Beach made them the happiest.

I also must tell you about my darling grandson Quinn. He is three years old. And as we talked today I found out that we were having one of those conversations that any adult will lose. It goes like this.

“Quinn, be careful of Anneliese because she is pretty much blind”

“Why?”

Well because her eyes got a disease and she can’t see too well now.”

“Why?”

“Because she is very old.”

“Why?”

And so it went until I was ready to laugh!

I need to get the kids ready for bed now and then get myself in bed early too. 5 AM comes awfully early!

Pictures Say It All

I’m going to let these pictures say it all. They are having a good time and so am I!

And so are the dogs!

Grandchildren Are Great!

I think one of the greatest joys in my life is certainly my two grandchildren. With Savannah and Quinn, I get absolute, unconditional love. They bring me such joy! So when my daughter, Mandy asked if I could watch them while their Day Care/Camp was off I said yes! They will arrive in the afternoon.

Now I have planned meals and drinks and snacks and activities. I have books to read, Legos to play with, and coloring books to color. And I have every known color of Crayola Crayons.

I am thrilled with this visit and I feel like the luckiest Oma in the entire world!

Such a crazy Friday. I was scheduled to drive down to Mandy’s house to watch the kids so they could enjoy date night. During the ride I had torrential rain with hail! There was also a pick-up truck accident which had me stopped in traffic about 20-25 minutes.

Despite the rain we continued to have high temperatures and high humidity.

The kids came home from daycare and we played around, had a picnic for dinner and then decided to just hang out. None of us felt like doing too much in this weather.

Still the very best thing was seeing my grandchildren and their happy faces when they saw me. Put a smile on my face!