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!!

Letting go of my baby...or so trying...

Well, today was yet another day of letting go of my little boy...well, ok, he's not so little, he's never really been little...coming into the world at a whopping 10 pounds makes him a big boy...but, in my heart, he's always been and most likely always will be my little one.

He turned 18 this past February....

He graduated this past weekend....

He sent in his application for a passport today for his year in Korea...starting in September...of this year....in just a few more months...

Yes, today was another day of letting go.

We as moms will all face this day...or in my case weeks..actually make that year...I've had opportunities all year to "let go" of this little {ok, big} guy. It started when I ordered his senior year textbooks for homeschool. It screeched "LET GO!!" when he turned 18, I cried when he left to get his senior pictures taken and I secretly listened to the pomp and circumstance so I didn't cry like a bumbling idiot at his graduation...well, that worked, but I didn't practice seeing him in his cap and gown...swallow hard, hold back the tears...you can cry later...which I did.

He's the baby of the family...I don't have to do this again.

I graduated 3 children before him. This one has been different...perhaps because I knew I had others yet at home to busy myself with, to absorb that fact that my nest was getting empty. I don't have that now.

I took all the advice of the many older moms as they told me to enjoy my days, to savor the moments because time is fleeting, time goes fast...yes, they spoke truth, and yes, I did enjoy my days and I did savor the moments, but I still have to let go...walk into a new "season" of my life.

But, I'm living in TODAY, and this is where I am TODAY! God has given me a wonderful journey with raising these children given to me 26 years ago...it's been an awesome journey that will continue. I will be on a different path so to speak, but on a journey still the same. God is already shaping my days and activities in a different way because of where I am. I'm a mom, I will always be a mom...and that... I don't ever have to let go of...ever.

I don't fight today. I live in it...