Groovy Grammy

Sarah and Chris got a chance to get away, so I volunteered to come stay with the grandkids. We're into day two, and I'm beginning to find my grammy groove. I didn't read Sarah's notes every hour on the hour today. Maybe I should have because the kids went down for naps two hours late, and never did get an afternoon snack. News flash - if you want kids to eat really well, don't feed them as often. They'll scarf down whatever you put on the table if they're hungry enough!

Yesterday we headed out on a field trip to Target and when Grayson told me 'Target is boring' I put my fingers in my ears and pushed ahead. I haven't been in a Target for over a month so I was pretty thrilled. We did make a stop at Sonic for milkshakes to keep it fair.

Today we started off with pancakes and Caiden told me he was so happy because he 'hates oatmeal with a capital H'. Funny that I'd somehow forgotten that when you have three kids they all like and hate different things, so much of dinnertime is spent trading and shuffling. Gray will happily eat all Addie's clam chowder, and she'll scarf down Caiden's string cheese and Caiden will eat just about anything except cheese because he's apparently growing and / or has hollow legs just like Sarah's brother, Dan did when he was that age. I forget what dinnertime was like 20 years ago.

I've had fun pulling weeds and praying none of it is poisonous since my arms and legs are covered with poison sumac that I can't identify to save my life. So I'm also spending some time reading my Texas Gardening Guide while the kids ride scooters on the driveway. I've scrubbed the day's grime off their necks and legs and arms and remembered how sweet and tiny they look when they're naked and wet with bubbles stuck to their faces and every single one of their ribs show; we've read Wind in the Willows while I took in the sweet smell of freshly washed kids. We chased chickens (they're not easy to catch!), watered Sarah's garden and fed their dogs.

I've driven around town, making one wrong turn that resulted in pulling the GPS out of my purse so I could get us back home. All this makes me wonder what our mothers must have thought when we left the kids with them. Did they check them and then check them again right before going to bed, to be sure everyone was still breathing? Did they kiss the tops of their heads one more time, even though they were asleep and would never know? Did they feel every single year of their age? Did they wonder how they ever did it 24/7, 365 days a year?

It's D.A.R.K. here at night, and Papa hasn't arrived yet to 'help' us. I use that term loosely since we all know the 'God's honest truth'. Anyway, we've been alone. It would never occur to me to be afraid, being alone. I looked forward to it actually. For the first time in over two months I slept in the middle of the bed, went to sleep when I wanted, and got up early this morning for coffee and devotions while everyone else was still in bed (even if it was threats that kept them there.) I suspect my dear husband is enjoying some time alone too, before he joins us.

But last night, when I was making the final rounds, checking and rechecking the doors to be sure everything was locked down tight, one light was still on by the side of the house. I knew it shouldn't be. And I also knew to reach the light switch I'd have to go outside to turn it off. As I opened the door, and began to step outside, there in the bright yellow light sat four of the biggest toads I've ever seen, contentedly eating bugs. I just couldn't step out. No way. I realize toads won't hurt you, don't bite, but they jump unexpectedly and might have touched my feet. And that would have done me in. I guess there's still a kid lurking somewhere inside me too.

It's good to remember - what it's like to be a little kid, what it's like to be a mommy day in, day out.

Was Easter Really 3 weeks ago?

Oh my, we're so off schedule I didn't realize it'd been that long.

That's okay - the photos are too cute to miss posting them. We almost pulled off having all 13 of us together at one time, but not quite. We did, however, get all five grandkids together for an Easter egg hunt at Uncle Pace and Aunt Poppy's place.
Landon and Miss Addie were friends at this moment, but a few seconds later she was ready to smack the fire out of him for doing something boyish, and he was running for his life. Addie is three months older than Landon, she weighs somewhere around 25 lbs and he weighs around 45. Someday she won't even think of tearing out after him.

Our newest family member, Miss Jae Beth. She's not quite old enough for egg hunts, maybe next year. I think Dan and Janae gave her an Easter basket anyway. Look at those thighs - impressive, aren't they?

The perfect place for an egg hunt - the side pasture. Just have to watch for snakes in the stick piles. (Leslie, I hereby officially apologize for posting you with your hair looking so fabulous.)

Uncle D hoisting Landon and Grayson; they must think he's so big. Oh yeah, he IS big.

End of day - happy but dirty kids, all stuck in the tub together while Aunt Nessie supervises. The water was N.A.S.T.Y.

Perfect end to the day - Uncle Pace gave the bathers glow sticks - super cool!

So we're just not a well-oiled machine lately; next I'll post the fabulous photos from our trip to Fossil Rim the day after Easter (3 weeks tomorrow). Great close ups of giraffe tongues, etc.

Frying up our First Lake Fish

The men went fishing - a little retirement gift from me, they hired a professional guide who spent four hours with them, showing them the ins and outs of the lake.

Results: caught 140 fish in four hours.

Don and Dan, an entire morning of fishing together. It doesn't seem that long ago Don stayed busy untangling line and clearing up snags.

A nice sized hybrid - he said they were a lot of fun to catch.

Final results: kept 30 - threw the rest back in. Fried up some tonight for supper - happy men and yummy dinner!

Resolving Not to Cuss

When we arrived in Texas we were greeted by a U-haul in the driveway and four people in our house. Within a day there were two more, not including us. A total of 7. One doesn't count because she's a baby and wears diapers, so she doesn't affect the plumbing one way or another. That's about 5 more than usual, and 7 more than in awhile. Plumbing works fine when nobody's flushing. Or washing dishes. Or clothes. Or showering. If we'd all been wearing diapers, like baby Jae, we wouldn't have had a problem.

We'd had a plumbing clog months ago, on step one of the move that took forever, and Mr. Plumber came out with his rotor-rooter thing and fixed us up. Gave us some tips on how to prevent problems and drove back to Dallas. When we'd only been in the house a few days this time, and the downstairs shower floor had a lovely coating of pooh that had exploded onto it (you're welcome for the lovely mental picture), we realized 'Houston, we have a problem.' I personally thought I had more problem than everyone else since cleaning the shower floor was my job. I think you have to be a mother, and have about 5,000 diapers under your belt to hold up to a job like that.

I phoned the home warranty people. The woman who took my call had a lovely voice and started out our conversation by asking, 'how are you this morning?' Everything in me wanted to say, 'well, actually pretty SH....Y' but unfortunately I'd made the stupid resolution back on January 1 not to cuss this year. That verse, 'Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths...' (Eph. 4:29) had been digging at me, and the nasty little habit I'd developed of not watching my language like I should.

I thought it but I didn't say it. I said, 'great, how are you?' I did wonder why she asked, since anyone calling the home warranty is NOT a happy camper and has a problem that is likely making them want to cuss and gnash teeth and such.

So they sent the plumber again - it only took THREE days - three days when we couldn't use our bathroom facilities, and we're out in the country, and don't know the neighbors well enough to ask to use the phone, let alone the potty. So after well-timed visits to Denny's and CVS and the grocery store, Mr. Plumber came out and rotor-rooted out the mess, I scrubbed the shower floor and burned my clothes (just kidding) and we thought we were good.

Two days later there was another lovely film on the shower floor. We got out the yellow pages, called a septic system person of random choosing, who gave us a quick lesson in how a septic system works, or doesn't. They told us to call the pooper pumper people. Within hours the pumper pulled up our driveway (don't you know the neighbors were standing inside their houses peering out of their mostly closed blinds, watching us and praying we didn't come knocking on their doors.) He proceeded to poke around our yard with a metal thing, dug up our yard, found the cleanout, and we all stood there looking down at gallons and gallons of grey horribleness. After he'd pumped (literally) 1000 gallons out, he shoved his BARE hand down our horribly nasty tank and found a plastic elbow broken off, telling us we did indeed have a problem. Mr. Pooper Pumper finished his job, my husband paid him and then he stuck out his hand toward my husband, to thank him for the business. I watched in pride and horror as my husband shook that man's hand, then the minute he drove off I suggested he either cut it off at the wrist or go into the shop and scrub it 1 or 99 times with something that burned, to be sure he'd killed the majority of the germs that were surely on him. I'm pretty sure God made Lava Soap for moments like this.

This is our lovely septic field and our friend Lester tearing out the redbud that caused all the problems. Septic systems do not love tree roots living overhead.

So we called our new friend, Lester, who we'd hired to pour some concrete. He can also tear things up and out. He came over with a big piece of equipment and ripped out what used to be a lovely redbud, planted right over our septic tank. In pulling out the tree we found two more cleanouts and another vital part had broken off and our raw sewage was seeping through the dirt under the surface, trickling into the tank, rather than flowing as it should.

The next day my dear hubby (who may be ready to go back to work rather than have all this fun retirement is offering him) proceeded to dig up what used to be a lovely 15 x 10 flowerbed. About halfway through, with sweat dripping off his nose, our son-in-law, Jeremy, who now deserves to have a statue erected in his honor, grabbed an axe and a shovel and began to dig. When they found the final, biggest of all, problem, a broken off white plastic pipe that was wobbling like it shouldn't, Jeremy pulled it out of the ground and what it was covered with was not for the faint of heart. As I stood there watching from a safe distance, (I gave birth three times - no way do I have to help with this job) Bless His Heart Jeremy laid down on that ground, pulled on my yellow plastic cleaning gloves and proceeded to muck it out and put it back together temporarily.

We've now spent almost $1000 to put our septic system back together. It's pumped, repaired, and running well. The repairmen assure us it's working well now. Still, after cleaning out that shower floor THREE times, we've come up with a system for using our facilities that we lovingly call 'The Texas Two-Step'. Do your business. Flush. Apply paper. Flush. Just get over the fact that anyone in the house, hearing the toilet flush twice, will know exactly what you've been up to. Much better than having one of us out in the yard digging up the evidence.

So right now I'm much more appreciative of our plumbing. I'm feeling thankful for plumbing that runs well, thankful for clean shower floors, thankful that somebody decided when they grew up they'd be a septic cleaning person, and thankful I only made the resolution not to SAY cuss words. If I'd resolved not to think them, I'd be in deep pooh myself.

We now have a nice bare area to plant with grass. Only grass. Grass roots make septic systems happy. We plan to put a glider right over it, so we can sit at night, over our septic tank, and enjoy the sunset. Classy, huh?

Life at the lake the past couple of weeks has been crazy. Lovely, peaceful at times, insane at times, exhausting, refreshing, and not a single moment has been dull. We had a driveway - very large driveway - poured last week. At one moment we had 13 men in our front yard and none of them were related to us. The driveway looks wonderful, but we were without phone or internet for four or five days because previously mentioned Lester accidentally cut the main phone line to our house, just a few days after the lovely pooh incident.

Right now we have a big black cable laying across the lawn. As long as no varmit chews it into in the middle of the night during the next week or so til they come out to do a more permanent repair, I'll be back in a few days with photos of our currently crazy life.

A Job Well Done!

You have to take a photo, walking out the door to your last day of work.



I'm not sure he always smiled this big while sitting at this desk.





One last phone call from the boss, receiving well wishes.






Good for you - job well done!

Brilliance is Apparently Not Inherited

She's related, (and maybe, just maybe I'm not completely objective) but honestly she is just coming up with the best ideas lately! If you're a young mom or a Grammy who needs to entertain the grandkids when they come to visit, or you want to organize your winter wear - you can go check out her latest posts.

She seems to be on a roll lately. Maybe I should ask what she's eating since this brilliance I'm seeing obviously isn't inherited, at least not maternally.

An idea that ends up with a kid looking like this - has to be a great idea. He's coming for an overnight stay with us in just a couple of days, and I'm absolutely doing this with him, just so I can see his face light up like that again. When my own son was about this age, and we'd manage to wrangle him into the tub, he'd come out with the bar of soap still dry. If we'd come up with this idea I suspect we'd have been fighting to keep him out of the tub instead.

'Stay-cation'

My husband leaves today for his last overnight business trip E.V.E.R. After 32 years of them, today is the last one. He and his replacement are headed to Virginia to check out a few things, probably eat something really fattening involving beef at Applebees (he always eats at Applebees when he travels apart from me) and spend the ten hours on the road talking over transferring the position from him to the new guy.

For the past three years, while he traveled, and while my daughter and her family lived here, when he was away I stayed home and did projects. Or was lazy and unproductive but attempted to do projects. It somehow never occurred to me to go stay with Leslie and her family and play. Not that I'm ever, ever scared of being alone - I enjoy a large swath of personal space and time. If I was ever going to be scared of being alone, when I was 17 years old and moved out on my own into a really questionable part of town - that's when I should have been scared, but didn't have the sense to be. So why bother now? If nobody broke in and abducted or maimed me then, it's likely not going to happen now.

So the idea just hit me last week, when I heard about this last trip that I could invite myself to their place for 'stay-cation'. So I did, and they said yes, and that's where I am now.

Here's what we're busy doing - playing in the snow, because we certainly have an abundance of it; making homemade waffles and omelets for my son-in-law; watching Julie and Julia (first time for Leslie, 4th for me) because it's about getting published and she needs inspiration to keep pushing to get published; knitting a sweater; sewing window treatments; watching the Olympics a little; watching American Idol a lot; enjoying the smell of a fresh-from-sleep bed-head kid in the early mornings; reading books; playing Candyland and Hungry Hippo and Hi-Ho-Cherrio. Great stuff.

Stay-cation - such a great idea, I wish I'd thought of it sooner. Are you stuck inside with all this wintry weather? Maybe you need to invite yourself somewhere, or invite someone else to come join you.

And a P.S. Happy Birthday to my oh-so-sweet daughter, Sarah. Wish we could spend it together, and next year, by golly, we will! Maybe next year Dad and I will invite ourselves for 'stay-cation' at your place! I'll show up with a birthday cake, guacamole and chips, and my knitting needles - you can give Dad some jobs to make him feel handy, and we'll have a blast together. How about that?

Updating the Baby Photo Album

Good grief, a new grandbaby and I haven't updated the photos in awhile.



What's not to love about a sweet little one covered up with as much pink as possible?

She and Daddy seem to like each other a bit... or maybe he just tells really funny jokes.

At this point in babydom it's always hard to say who is more tired, the baby or the parents. She's busy growing, they're busy coping.

A visit from her Aunt Nessie - two pretty girls for sure.  Don't you know they had fun discussing motherhood. 

There, much better!

Toots and Bedtime Prayers and Such

Reasons to hang out with a little person:

'Toots' are funny, and frequent.

Listening to their bedtime prayers is priceless:  'Dear God: Thank you for my family and friends, and Momma and Daddy, and Papa and Grammy, and Smokester, even if he's a scoundrel, and Miah and Bull. Please help Momma and Daddy come back soon from their 'sweethearts at the beach' vacation. Amen."

You get to go see the Squeakquel to Alvin and the Chipmunks, even when you're 50+.

You have a refreshed appreciation for your adult children, who are busy raising your grandchildren. Thanks, God for the reminder to express that appreciation.

'Toots' are funny, and frequent. I already said that but they're frequent enough to warrant repeating.

After spending the entire day with them, you, too sleep like a baby.

This is the Face of One Very Happy Man

Receiving congratulations from his son, (because of this) right after he walked in the door from work, before we went out to dinner.

That look on his face stayed there all the way through the evening. Right before we went to sleep last night he said, 'five more Saturdays'. Not that he's counting or anything.

Finally the Countdown Begins!

Don gives notice today. Not going to work anymore. Last day to get up at 5:45 am, grab his lunch box, warm the car and head out the door will be February 26 - that's 43 days from now.

So we're going to dinner tonight to celebrate - a nice, quiet Italian restaurant where they let you test the wine (a treat when you're used to wine from a box), the waiters have white towels draped over their arms and everyone speaks in hushed tones. Perfect for dreaming and planning and looking ahead together.

I'm giving him this little present (found at Bed, Bath and Beyond BTW),

to take to work Monday and put on his desk. A good reminder we're in the countdown mode and that's something to celebrate for sure! He told me last night he cannot really believe most women look forward to their husbands retiring. I assured him that's not the case with me - hurry up, be done - we have things to do, places to go, people to see and countless adventures ahead of us! I want to be sure he knows I can't wait for us to get started together.

A Fun Tradition to Celebrate Grandbabies

I didn't quilt when our first grandchild, Caiden was born. When I started quilting, I began a tradition - one quilt for each grandbaby God blessed us with. Caiden's has retro cowboys with navys and blacks and deep reds and tans. Grayson's ended up being Noah's Ark with the same colors. When Addie came along I pulled out the pink / girly stash I'd purchased for 'our first granddaughter', whoever that might be. It has dragonflies and purses and shoes in pink and black and other fun colors with a soft, luxurious backing.

I'm tickled to say each grandchild is very attached to the quilt their Grammy made. (I'm convinced that backing is what endeared Addie to hers.)

Until recently Landon's quilt (the most recent grandchild til 6 days ago) was in the 'good intentions' pile. I'd purchased the perfect fabrics for him but somewhere in the past two years I lost my love of quilting and gotten too busy selling and buying and moving out of and into houses that there just wasn't time for such things. But I kept the fabric with me, at the condo, just in case I got the urge to get going with it, not really expecting it to happen.

Then Sarah started sewing. And taught herself to quilt. She took such a fun approach to it - learning enough of the rules to keep her honest but not enough to stifle her creative juices. She actually made quilting look fun again. Then Leslie asked me to teach basic sewing to a group of her friends, and I fell in love with sewing all over again. Then Santa brought me a new sewing machine. And God gave us another grandbaby, this time another little girl. So I needed to make another quilt.

But Landon's wasn't done. Three days ago I pulled out the fabrics for his quilt. I can stand to be one quilt behind, but not two! Baby Jae is next in line for her quilt, traditionally to be given at the one year birthday. Right now I have 359 days to finish hers (I'm thinking pink and chocolate brown toile), so I decided to take this week of being home and jump in.

First I cut up the themed panel I'd purchased over two years ago. Rustic is the way to go with Landon since he's bound to spend hours in the woods with his Dad when he grows up.

I already had plenty of good companion fabrics, some of them with trees or pinecones or rocks or sky.

I love the way all the earthy colors look together.

Closeups of the pinecone and tree fabric - aren't they great?
I chose Alex Anderson's Rail Fence pattern - it's nice and simple, easy to finish fast, and I won't be wasting time making stars or such that would never show up anyway in such a busy quilt. It was a good pattern to jump back into quilting with - not too intimidating.

I went with a pieced border too, using the fabrics I'd already cut for the blocks to save me more time. It ended up being a nice size to snuggle up with on the sofa, or an afternoon nap or car ride. All that's left is to back it, quilt it and bind it! I'm confident now I can get it done in January. Another quilt to give to a loved grandchild will be finished :-) I'm thinking this quilt will stay with him all the way through college. Not so sure his wife will let him leave it out in the living room someday, but hopefully by then it'll be worn out enough to have earned a spot at the hunting cabin at least!

So how about you - mamas or grammys - any traditional gifts you make or receive on the birth of a child?

Almost More Fun Than I Could Stand

You're never too old to spend a day pretending to be a kid again.

Having a kid to spend it with makes it more fun, and the neighbors won't think you're as crazy.

The kid will encourage you to 'do it again' and again and again.

Squirmy dog - optional.

Look what the kids gave us!

The tag on the gift from our kids said it was 'to keep us young' so I was guessing a new coffee pot since we all know caffeine is what keeps us going these days.

But no - it was a...

We were seriously stunned - would never have thought of it.

We had such a blast on Christmas day bowling and playing golf together. I bowled all strikes and spares but haven't given the golf a try yet and am pretty sure how I'm going to do on that one.

It should be a wonderful blessing, when squirmy grandkids come to the lake and God decides to make it rain and we're all inside for several days - a way to burn some steam is a good thing when you have five grandkids! Maybe we can have neighborhood Wii parties?

So thank you to our six kids who went together to give us such a fun gift! We were completely surprised.

Then Leslie told us they had a Wii fit and for just about the cost of one month's membership at the gym we were able to buy the board and software for workouts right here in our living room. Since we'll be moving to Timbuktoo in three months and a gym is 75 minutes away that's going to come in very handy.

Yoga / pilates here I come. BMI - not sure I want to know that yet. Thanks kids for making Christmas so much fun. Don't tell Daddy I bought him the Zelda game as New Year's Eve present - that should keep him busy while I go play with baby Jae!

Kids giving their parents video games for Christmas - how fun is that?!

Technology is such a blessing!

When our first grandchild was born, 8 1/2 years ago, it took 5 days for us to see a photograph of him. That's when the hospital posted his photo on their website. I still remember seeing it come up - this tiny baby with a blue knitted cap on his head, and the flood of emotions. We didn't get to meet him up close and personal til he was five weeks old, due to September 11 and a son with an emergency hospital stay, so that one photo was manna to my soul for awhile.

Eight years later our fifth grandchild has just arrived one the scene. I get to meet her this coming Sunday, but already I've seen a couple dozen photos of her, with the first one being hours after she was born, after I texted her Daddy (who happened to be a bit busy) and said, 'We need one photo please!' and it came through a cell phone, not even a digital camera.

I've been able to post a few of those photos so Great Aunts and Great Great Grandmothers can check out this newest addition to our family - so great! Not as good as being there and snuggling her myself, but enough that it'll hold me for a few more days anyway. Thank you, brilliant people who came up with all the technology it took to let us check out this beautiful granddaughter, 1200 miles away!

And it's decided - this one photo is my hand's down favorite! Every family can use another girly girl.

Santa Clause flew down the chimney we don't have

Santa said I'd been a good girl, well good enough, so he was very good to me. He completely understood that I NEEDED a new sewing machine and he even let me pick it out myself, that Santa!It was a lot of fun watching my portable Janome leave our apartment too, tucked under the arm of an accomplished seamstress who found herself without a machine. She was just tickled pink over it and I was tickled to find it a good home. It sold in one day, so thank you Craig's List, again.

I've never had a machine that offered much more than the basic stitches so this one should be a lot of fun. I went with a Brother PC-420 PRW, ordered through Amazon, and purchased through AllBrands. The one sewing project I kept here in PA with me is a two year's over due quilt for Landon. Tradition is that each grandchild gets a quilt on their one year birthday, not that I've ever hit that mark, but a girl can still have goals! So I pulled out the fabrics for Landon's quilt - fun stuff with moose and bear and elk and rocks and trees - very manly stuff for his quilt. My goal is to have it finished before we move in three months, and it'll be a great way to break in my new machine (which happens to have a stippling stitch included!) Maybe, just maybe I can have Jae's one year quilt in time for her first birthday, next Christmas. I thought I'd start with adding our names to our stockings using some of the wool I felted for the sewing classes we just finished. A stocking without a name is just sad, don't you think?

When I asked for machines to be donated by our church we got one. It's over 60 years old, the machine seems to have frozen up, there are no additional feet, no instructions, one bobbin so I gently told the person who donated it I think it's going to take more work than it's worth to get it going. (A similar machine was listed on ebay for $24 so repairs likely wouldn't be smart.) She did not ask me to return it....

But the table? The table is a huge blessing to me because I had nowhere to sew except the kitchen table, which made for a frightful mess and difficulty eating spaghetti and such.

We added a board across the top of the sewing table, rearranged the already over-crowded second bedroom and I am so tickled to have a spot to sew! Makes me feel like Cinderella - "In my own little corner, in my own little chair, I can be whatever I want to be!" (Minus the soot on my face.)

Oh, you wanted, needed to see a few more photos of our newest family member? Absolutely glad to oblige.

I can only imagine what this brand new Daddy is thinking about his brand new baby girl. Probably something like he's going to let her date when she's 25.

The ride home from the hospital. Wonder if they were terrified? I sure was when we brought home the first one, having no idea on God's Green Earth what I was doing at the ripe old age of 20. Thank you, Sarah, for making it and being patient with my ineptness.

Priceless!

Special Christmas Gift

Look at our special Christmas gift - she arrived this afternoon - Jae Elizabeth Gibson, 8 lb, 14 ounces, 19 3/4 inches long.

Hours old and still a bit worn out from it all.

Mama and baby - precious!

There are her eyes!

Proud Daddy.

Thanking God for another wonderful addition to our family. Good job, Dan and Janae - she's beautiful!

Grumpy Old Bear - my first knitted toy from Itty Bitty Nursery by Susan Anderson.

A new grandbaby is just about ready to make her appearance on the scene and this is just for her.

This is three years ago, his undergraduate. This Friday he's walking again, grabbing a diploma for his MBA.

Bustin' buttons over him. Well done kiddo. xoxoxo

Cheering on The Next Generation

I can't begin to count how many hours Don and I have spent on the sidelines, cheering for kids - basketball, track, football, cheerleading, pompoming (is that a word?), and one soccer game - played by our oldest, Sarah. She was all of 9 years old, and you can see the nervousness on her face as she's biting her lip. Two notable points here - she remembers this day as having chopped off ugly hair and I'm feeling redeemed that she has a pretty braid with a pink bow to make up for the yellow uniform,

and that man in the foreground is her Daddy, sitting on the sidelines, cheering. I'm not sure if that was before or after she scored a goal for the other team. I think Sarah's kids will enjoy seeing their mama in her soccer days.

So about a thousand games later, with our kids grown up, we're starting a new tradition - cheering for grandkids.

Can I tell you how cute I think it is that Grayson's little legs don't even show with the shorts and the knee pads and soccer socks.

Caiden, waiting for his game to start, squeezing in a few more pages of his book. BTW, look at that book! He's 8 years old and reads like a whiz!

Sitting on the sidelines together, this time both of us with grandkids in lap. Indescribable sweetness.

Hugs for the opponent - how cute is that? Or maybe he was pinching him - they are boys after all. And where are that boy's socks - probably still in the dryer if their house is anything like ours was on game day.

Addie helped as line judge from atop her Daddy's shoulders.

Caiden is a bit more exuberant about playing soccer than his little brother. He ran til his face matched his uniform.

Drat that kid's arm in this photo because I could love it off the charts. I still love it quite a bit anyway.

Pep talk from the coach before Caiden takes his turn as goalie.

Good for him - he stopped one!

Last time through the tunnel, after the last game of the first season of soccer. As soon as the game was over Grayson asked me, "Grammy, will you come to more of my games?"You bet we will. We can't wait.