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We Are Family…

Today, I drove into my driveway and saw 2 of my grandsons playing in the front yard. I parked the car and my youngest grandson, in that family, opened the gate for me. I asked him if I could come in. He opened the gate wide, while he had one hand on the latching side of the gate. I asked him if I could go past. He took one step to the side, my cue for entering. I stepped close to him and he began to close the gate. He took one more step back and I took one step forward. We continued our dance until the gate was latched. Then he let go of the latching side and I could walk up to the front door. I called to say hello to his brother. My youngest grandson echoed my greeting as he followed me up the sidewalk. We both came inside and he immediately went looking for his mom.

I have thought about this as I have gone through the afternoon, helping with a quilt, riding my bike and doing the many other things on my “to do” list.

My grandson knows that we must stay in the gate to be safe. So, he wanted to make sure that I was safely inside before he closed the gate. He didn’t want me to be far away, after all he was at Mormor’s house, and now Mormor was at her house too. As soon as the gate was closed, we were all safe. We were home; we were safe; we were together. All is right in the world.

Grandchildren make life wonderful!

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Serving Love, Part 1

I come from a family who shows their love openly. Even though we don’t see each other often in our extended family, I always feel loved by my family. One of the ways we show love is by cooking for each other.

One of my earliest memories is of my grandmother cooking in her kitchen. This may be a normal memory for most, but my grandmother had cancer and did her work with one arm. She died when I was three years old. But I remember sitting in a chair at a small dining table in the kitchen and watching her. We lived with my grandparents for awhile. I don’t remember her reading me to sleep, my mother says that is one of her treasured memories of my grandmother, but I remember her in her kitchen, making biscuits, going to her kitchen sink and turning on the water (the sink was on the opposite wall from me). There was a pantry just off the kitchen. Perhaps that is why I love having a pantry in my homes. I remember going into the pantry as an older child even after my grandmother died and visiting my grandfather.

I remember visiting my Aunt Murlar in her small rural home in Northern Florida. She always had spent hours cooking for us. Aunt Veatrice made her special rolls for every family reunion. Aunt Hazel taught me to make 7-up cake on a visit to their house. Aunt Iretta came to visit my parents and made cinnamon rolls and homemade pizza. She taught me this and taught my daughter just a few years ago. Aunt Mavis always made chicken and dumplings for us. Aunt Gwen always made her apple pies and taught me to sprinkle sugar on the top crust. My maternal grandmother taught me how to make her 1, 2, 3, 4 cake and how to make homemade hot chocolate.

I didn’t realize it as a child, but now I know just how much time and love went into making meals for me all these years. Each meal was a gift of love from my family member.

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Hot Potatoes

Yesterday was Christmas. For lunch we had baked potatoes. Our four year old granddaughter and her 20 month old brother were seated at the table while we were putting all the food on so that we could eat dinner. I warned the children not to touch the potatoes. They reached across and touched them anyway. “Hot!” said the 20 month old. Then I reminded him not to touch the potatoes. My four year old reached across again and the 20 month old followed again saying, “hot.” I moved the bowl of potatoes farther away so that even with reaching, they could not touch the bowl and get burned.

I thought about this exchange we were having as I was setting the table and they touched the potatoes even after being cautioned and having the experience of touching the hot potatoes. Even though their touch was just for a second, they still repeated the unpleasant experience. Perhaps, they wanted to know if the potatoes were still hot or perhaps they were just trying to show me that they had their choice to make and I couldn’t decide for them. I will never know. Four year olds and 20 month olds don’t always understand why they do things, nor can they explain to us. Even sometimes, we, as adults, don’t understand why we do things we do.

Do we ever make the same mistakes over and over again or do we learn from our mistakes and leave the “hot” things alone? During the next week, we will be setting our goals, putting our plans in place for 2010 and evaluating our progress of 2009. What will your progress be? What goals will you set for the coming year? What plans will you put in place so that you achieve those goals? And will you learn from the mistakes of the past and have a more peaceful life in the future?

Setting goals empowers us to move forward in our lives. How will you empower yourself today and in the coming year?

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Thankfulness

Over the river and through the woods,
To grandmother’s house we go.
The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh
Through the white and drifting snow.

Over the river and through the woods,
Oh, how the wind doth blow
It stings the nose and bites the toes
As over the ground we go.

Over the river and through the woods,
To have a first-rate play;
Oh hear the bells ring, “Ting-a-ling, ling”
Hurray for Thanksgiving Day!

Over the river and through the woods,
Trot fast my dapple gray!
Spring over the ground like a hunting hound!
For this is Thanksgiving Day!

Over the river and through the woods,
And straight through the barnyard gate
We seem extremely slow.
It’s oh so hard to wait.

Over the river and through the woods,
It’s Grandmother’s house I spy.
Hurrah for the fun, is the pudding done?
Hurrah for the pumpkin pie.
From the poem “The New England Boy’s Song about Thanksgiving Day” by Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880)

How blessed we are to be a family and to have each other.
Happy Thanksgiving Day to all!

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Thankful for the gifts of God

We are blessed in so many ways. We are able to enjoy beautiful sunrises and sunsets. We have family and friends to love us and we love them. We can sing. We can dance and we live in an age where remarkable growth and development can make our lives easier.

I have received so many blessings in my life. I look at my family. My family loves and encourages me. My children are growing into loving, kind men and women and are willing to serve and help others. My grandchildren are being taught correct principles and are a delight to be with and to love.

I have thought a lot about being thankful this month. I actually think of my many blessings and gifts from my Heavenly Father often.

My four-year-old grandson came running into the door of our house, calling excitedly for his twin sister. “There is something exciting to see.” I immediately asked what was he wanting to show her. He replied it was an animal. “What kind of animal?” His mother was with me and we asked many questions of him. We discovered it was long and covered with dirt. We asked how it moved to try to determine if he was speaking of an earthworm or a snake. He was not deterred. His excitement continued.

I have thought about this since it happened. There are times when it is easier to give up. Then, I think of those beautiful grandchildren Heavenly Father has sent me and I want to do my best. How grateful I am to have been greatly blessed.

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Grandma Gratitude

So far, I have been blessed to live close to my children and grandchildren. I still have 3 children living at home, but next year that will change. There may come a time in the near future that my children and grandchildren do not live close to me.

I have thought about this a lot. Our youngest grandchild was born in September, but because of sickness, I have not been able to go and see him since the day he was born. (I don’t believe in sharing germs.) So, we have resorted to talking on the phone and seeing pictures online and watching him grow from afar.

Being a grandmother is one of the joys of my life. I am so happy to talk on the phone and in person to these wonderful little people who Heavenly Father has sent to be part of our family.

Is there anything better than being a grandma?

Please share your comments and stories with us about being a grandparent.

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Communicating and Health

This month (October) is Women’s Health Month and Breast Cancer Awareness month. As a result, I have been thinking about the women in my life and the health situations that have occurred or are occurring in our family.   Some of these situations include memory loss (and brain connection issues), thyroid, ovarian cysts, and fibromyalgia.

About a month ago, our family decided to take a sign language class from the local college. We did this for many reasons. I have always wanted to learn sign language, and we were looking for an activity that our whole family could do together; one of our daughters already knows a lot of signs, and, because of our family health history, we are always looking for ways to build our brain connections.

Sign language has been fun to learn. Now that we are in the advanced class, we must communicate one to another by signing during class. I must admit that I almost didn’t take the class because I worry about being able to remember the signs. In our last class, I became aware of something I discovered a few years ago:  I understand more that is spoken in another language than I can speak. The teacher was giving us directions. Even though I didn’t understand all the words, I was able to follow her directions.

Sometimes, our lives are like that. We may not understand each aspect and what is being said, but we have a feeling for what we have to do. We may be unsure at times as we take a step into the darkness, but still, we try to understand what is needed from us.

Taking the class has been good for me. I hope that some day I can communicate with sign language as well as I speak English. There are other languages I would like to learn as well. The more people we can understand, the more we can do to become a family–a family as members of this world.