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!!

Being a "Foster" Gramma...

It was not a shock to me when our daughter and her husband approached us to tell us they were seriously considering Foster Care.

They have MUCH love. They LOVE their God and He was directing them to get involved with the Foster Care Program in our area.

I won't go into all the specifics that led them to their decision to become foster parents...but I'll tell you this...

the minute they became foster parents....

my husband and I became foster Grandparents...

You see, this decision affected all of our family. We looked at it as a privilege to come alongside our kids and support them in whatever way we could. We didn't know what that looked like...

until she came...

A little blonde haired, blued eyed 2 year old bundle of energy...

And we fell in love....

we fell very hard in love...

Many emotions raced through our minds as we became very much a part of her world and her ours.

She fit in so well.... she loved her newest siblings....she was adapting beautifully.

For the past two months it became natural to set one more place setting at the table, to make 1 more ice cream cone, to find one more baby doll...

She became family.

But, then it happened. Her case worker had found a willing family member to take care of her. They passed all the tests and the day is here for her to move in with her new family. She'll transition well as there are two little girls waiting to play with her....at her age, she won't skip a beat...and I'm grateful for that....

I gave her one last hug today.

My daughter, son in law and their children have their goodbyes tomorrow....

That's tough...really tough...

But, this goes with the Foster Care territory. The days are numbered that you have these little ones in your care...it can change in a moments notice.

Our kids knew this pain was inevitable when they signed up for Foster Care....
We knew as their parents it was inevitable...
And now the day is here...the inevitable is happening...and it hurts.

But, the pain isn't pain that will keep us from loving the next child, or children, whomever they'll be.

We'll wait patiently, knowing our God will bring those children into our lives through our daughter and her husband as long as they are in the Foster Care program.

Make no mistake, God is in control and He knows exactly who needs us...and who we need!

I'm humbled to be able to stand by our kids and support them in this heartbreaking, but heart-giving endeavor. Very humbled to serve as a Foster Care gramma...

It's the life I'm living TODAY...and it'll never look the same again...

Christmas Gifts {May's "Treat of the Month"}

Ok, I must admit, I was just squealing when I put this gift together for Kim!

I had seen a cookies made by a cookie friend that I've mentioned before, Tami, from here or you can check out her facebook page  right here. She does AWESOME work!

Well, in February, she had posted some awesome chocolate covered strawberry cookies and some cookies that looked like chocolates...you know the kind you get in a box...different shapes and sizes. They were so cute!!

But, when I saw the strawberries, I knew that is what I was going to make for Kim for her May treat.
I had a blast making them!! I did some in my favorite vanilla sugar cookie recipe, and some in a favorite chocolate sugar cookie cut out recipe. You can find the chocolate cookie recipe over here. I just LOVE it! She's another cookier that I admire...she does great work and her recipes ROCK!

I had saved a Driscoll's Strawberry box and, like I mentioned before, I squealed when I put this gift together!

Now, it gets sad....

The USPS lost the box....

Ok,  they didn't really "lose" the box...it just got misplaced...for about 2 weeks!!!

I was sooooooo excited for Kim to open this treat that month and to hear back from her...and I heard nothing....I waited, and nothing...waited some more....nothing....

Knowing this wasn't like her at all, I jumped online to see when they got delivered and to my horror saw that they were "out for delivery" like 3 days earlier....so I contacted her to see if she got them, and she had not. We traced them to a sorting facility 30 minutes from her home...and there they sat for the next 10 days all the time saying "out for delivery"

The clerks at my local post office were in contact with the clerks there and "no one" knew what happened!

Well, Kim did receive these and she thought I had sent out another box because they were still ok to eat!!

....and she did love them...just like I knew she would!

I know, accidents happen, things get lost, people make mistakes....I have found that the best way to "live life today" is to forgive others quickly, forget other's mistakes and realize we are all human...

...it really is a good way to live....

Until next time....forgive someone today, forget someone's mistake that caused you stress...and hug a human!! You'll feel so good....

Christmas Gifts {April's "Treat of the Month"}

Wow, it's just been a blast sharing with you my "Treats of the Month" gifts for a very special friend of mine in Virginia this past year.

The last few Monday's I've shared with you what I sent her in January, February and March.

Kim, my bestie in Virginia, who is the recipient of these treats, loves coffee....loves, loves, loves coffee...

Actually, it's a wonderful past time for her and I to meet up for coffee times together. I moved from Ohio to Indiana back in 1998 and we were about 2 hours away from each other. We'd meet up half way for coffee and we cherished these times....

In May of last year, Kim had her first grandbaby...not only that, she had 2 sons get married and a third son engaged...she was propelled into empty nest season almost overnight...

and.....she moved....all the way to Virginia....to be near this dear one...

Isn't it cute how her mom held up the cookie I sent her for this picture...she's so clever!

Anyhow, back to my April treat....so, we were talking about coffee...and how much Kim loves coffee...so much that she told me once that if she doesn't have time to have a cup of coffee before work she has been known to grab a handful of coffee beans and eat them on the way to work....that's a coffee lover right there...

So, for April, like every other month, I wanted to do something special, and since we hadn't had many opportunities to get together for coffee since her move to Virginia, I had coffee on the brain to send her....

I came across this recipe, right here and knew in a minute this was her treat.

I followed the recipe exactly except I baked it in a pan and cut them into bars so they would fit in the cute little boxes I had found at Hobby Lobby.

They tasted as good as they looked....it was a buttery, soft chewy bar, with bits of chocolate and an occasional crispy crunch from the espresso beans...kind of like a coffee party in your mouth!

When I ate these bars {since I didn't send them ALL to her}, I'd think about our special times together over coffee....

Talking about life, and how we were living it, seizing the moments to be together...little did we know when we started these coffee times together how limited they'd be in our future...

Miss you dear friend!!

Until next time, enjoy those moments you have with your besties....



Christmas Gifts {March's "Treat of the Month}

The last two Monday's I've shared with you my gifts for my bestie in Virginia this year. I gave her a "Treat of the Month" from "Tracie's Sweet Boutique" aka, my kitchen.

Today, I'm sharing with you what I sent her in March:

Easter happened to be in March this year, so Easter cookies were on the menu.  I found the cute little box at Walmart and it was all the inspiration I needed. Are those carrots cute or what??

I am part of a cookie group on Facebook and one of the cookie artist that I hang out with "virtually" is Tami from Tami Rena's Cookies. Check out her facebook page right here and her blog over here. She is a great cookie artist and I am inspired often by her works of art!

You'll see more cookies in a couple of weeks that were also inspired by Tami.

Oh, since we're sharing pages here, feel free to check out my other cookie creations over on "Tracie's Sweet Boutique's" facebook page....right over here

Until then, life is happening all around you...seize it and live it fully!

Christmas Gifts {February's "Treat of the Month"}

Well, last Monday, I shared with you my Christmas gift I did for a bestie of mine this past year.
My gift to her was a "Treat of the Month" from "Tracie's Sweet Boutique" aka, my kitchen...

For February I put together this package:

Isn't that jar cutter just the cutest thing ever?? I just love it. It was actually a gift from a friend for doing some cookies for her daughter's bridal shower. Here is a picture of the same cutter used as a different cookie:

I had a blast making these for her daughter's bridal shower...
This cutter was purchased here
I've seen them offered by other vendors too, so you could google "jar cutter" for more options.

I want to make a "bug" jar for my grandson Micah...fill up this jar w/little fireflies....

Up next Monday is March's gift...

Until then, live your life as if today is all you have....oh, wait...it is....