Happy Birthday, Halli Rae!!

Ten years ago....
... in Indiana, a dark haired, dark eyed little girl was born.

Was her mom and dad excited with this new life they held?
Did she squint, wiggle and squirm and have all those new baby sounds?
Was she a good sleeper?
Did she have colic?
Did she nurse well?

These things, as her gramma, I don't know.

I wasn't there.

In fact, I didn't get to know this angel until she was 7 turning 8.

Due to some choices her parents made, and decisions made by those in authority to protect children, she became a participant in our county foster care,  Just a few weeks after we loved her into our family she had her 8th birthday.

I was there for that.

I pondered what her little life of 7 years had withstood.

I watched as she tentatively watched us.

She smiled a lot. She was kind. She knew how to love and receive love.

I prayed then that her 8th year {and beyond} would be kinder to her than her first 7 had been.
I thanked God for allowing us to love her...even just a short while, until her home situation could improve and she could be in a better, safer place.

We were new to foster care at that time, and it's all I knew how to do. Love those that we came in contact with and pray for them.

Prayers get answered. {always}

Her 8th year was kinder to her. Her 9th year she was adopted into our family. Her home situation did improve and she is in a better, safer place.

Tomorrow we celebrate our grand daughter's 10 birthday!
We're having her favorite breakfast of sausage gravy and biscuits.
I'll listen to her stories, her giggles and laughter and all the sounds excited 10 year old girls make.

I'll be there for that.

I'll thank God for allowing us to love on her, and I'll pray that her 10th year will be all that God wants it to be....

and I'll be there...

watching, cheering and loving on this beautiful young lady as we continue to celebrate birthdays with her.

Happy Birthday Halli Rae!!

Tuesdays with Gramma!

About a year ago I started pinning things to my "Gramma Time" board in anticipation of fun things to do with my grand kids  I enjoy coming across something and thinking that I'd be the "bomb" of a gramma if I did that with my grand kids  You can follow my "Gramma Time" Pinterest board right here

Well, that day came today. Not that I've not had time to do fun things with my grand kids  but this is kind of the start of a new weekly "event" at my house...I'm gonna call it:

TUESDAYS with GRAMMA!!  {and sometimes Papa!!}

Each Tuesday, I'll get to play with the kids while their mom and dad teach piano. 

It'll be something fun for all of us to look forward to!

So, today, I picked them up a little before lunch and we headed to "Ole McDonald's"...I love it when they call it that. They won't do that forever...soon enough, they'll call if for what it really is, but until then, we had a right proper lunch at Ole McDonald's today!

As we were leaving, Micah noticed a big truck moving dirt. What fun for a 5 year old boy to see his small play trucks, big and in real life, working. He asked me what they were doing, so seizing the opportunity in front of us, we walked over to the area and watched and learned as we saw this, giant in their eyes, truck move big rocks and dirt.

 I'm sure it was the highlight of the operators day to look up and see three precious little ones watching and waving. After they caught the drivers attention and waved goodbye, we headed to make a quick trip to Walmart to pick up some need supplies to do a craft at grammas!

Today, I decided to make "Flubber" with them. I've made it before with my own kids, and always found it a fun alternative to play dough.

I used the recipe I had pinned on my "Gramma Board"...you can find that HERE.
Since I was going to let them each have their own color, I got enough ingredients to do 3 batches.

Here's what you'll need for each individual batch:
Elmer's Glue {I used the "almost" 8 oz bottle}
Food coloring
3/4 cup cold Water
1 tsp. of Borax {find this in the laundry soap aisle}
1/2 tsp. hot water

First thing I did was get each of the kids their own bowl and one 8 oz bottle of glue. They dumped that into their bowls

I then added 3/4 cup of cold water and the color of their choice to the glue:

They then stirred it all together.
While they stirred and stirred, giggled and checked each other's bowls out:

 I mixed 1 tsp. of Borax into 1/2 cup of hot water, stirring until the Borax was dissolved.

It's when you add this Borax mixture to their colored glue mixture that the magic happens and this flubbery, rubbery substance just kind of makes itself happen in the bowl. 

....and the wonderment in the eyes of a child gets to be experienced....

I love watching kids when they are fascinated...learning...living life...

I could watch that all day....

Do you ever just do that?? Just watch a child watch "life" around them?

It's a magical place to be...

I didn't do that much when my kids were little...I think I was just so busy and distracted by life that I just didn't stop long enough to see "life" through their eyes....

But, now that I'm a gramma....

I get to do that...and I could do that ALL day EVERY day...

That's just one of those things you get to experience when you have a grand child...something just kind of clicks inside and you see "life" just differently somehow.. you get to see a glimpse of "life" through their eyes and not just your own... 

I was privileged to teach my kids at home so it's not like I didn't have the opportunity to see that in my kids, it's just different somehow. 

I don't know, I think maybe God just saves that for grandparents...just one more thing we can't explain.

Ok, so then, the Flubber was ready and the the kids got to enjoy the fruit of their labor...

And me....well, I got to sit and enjoy them doing just that...

My Tuesdays just got a whole lot more fun!!!

...and I can't wait to live each one!!