Grateful for the new babies in my life...

I run to the daycare center to frolic with cherubs daily. And I remember that there was a time when I wondered what was the purpose of this life. Many, warranted and unwarranted beatings can wear upon a soul. As the bible says it discourages the child. Great Expectations movie had that plate in the corner that caught my eye that there are angels who lurk on the side of the room when a whomping is underway. I found a frame with that theme to remind me that there is a day after the whompings. I put Addie-Grace to remind me that that face was with me 50 years ago in my joys and griefs and now she gets to enjoy the beauty that got me through my roughest and happiest days. Same for Charlotte and the other nieces and nephews, but Addie is the representative of them and the future grands, Lord willing.

Learning to listen to me is part of weaning...Learning to listen to God is part of life...

Whenever I see the babies between 0 and 1 it reminds me of Hannah, in the bible. She taught her son to listen with his heart. He taught her that God loved him even more than she did. In the New Testament we have the privilege to follow her example with our little ones.

So many of the stories my children tell me about their childhood start with, I never understood this or that expectation that you had of me, or thing that you said. Today, I experienced it with my Karadyn. She came in the morning determined to clarify this time out process. It is a game to us both. My expectations, I try to make simple and clear. There are many things that inconvenience me, but only 2 or three things that will get consequences. I try to reserve my scary voice for dangers, ie. hitting the baby or touching the fire extinguisher. Time out is only for regular and consistent infractions of the 2 major laws...Don't touch the baby wipes and don't go in the pantry. Both are for my convenience, but also for learning to listen and follow directions

Today, Karadyn was attempting to dissect the loudness issue with me. She is very inquisitive and very smart. She knows that we have a rapport and she uses it. The lesson happened while she was in the walker. She can't touch much from the walker so she went to the fire extinguisher and I clapped my hands and said, get away from there. Her quizzical face helped me to understand her confusion. There is no time out consequence attached to the fire extinguisher, Why? It is attached to the wall and it is a sublime danger, but I don't want to make it a game, like the babywipes and the pantry. I am trying to detract attention from it and keep them on the task of investigating the room. That is a danger and that is that.

Maybe, she'll understand that tomorrow or later on in life. Clarity and consistency in my voice and my consequences is my goal.

The effectiveness of the tennis grunt...

Age slows things down...Things that took a second to do and to learn and to complete take much, much longer. Frustration on the one hand, but at the same time, puzzle pieces come together as well. My muscles go into autopilot on the serve. After about a half an hour, the body can do what it can do and can't do what it can't. I can't really run or hustle, but I can hobble.

I love how the coaches' words and instructions become deeper impressions on the activity. Where your toss goes and how you complete your motion all blend and become a unified presence in your action. You would run up to the box, were there a box to go to and hug all of the voices that have contributed to that excellent serve that you just did. Your mind prays for the living coaches and enjoys the sweet memory of the deceased ones.

Today, it was the American Twist Serve that I was concentrating on. I can usually do one or two and get them in and where I want them to go, but, not today! I was so frustrated about it. I had a little pain in my back and I blamed the pain on my not getting them anywhere near in. I love Nettie's low and quick toss. I tried a couple of those, to no avail. On the last bunch, with a gratefully warmed up shoulder, I tried to inculcate my oft repudiated "tennis grunt". It worked! They were all ace quality. I said, I guess I have missed an entirely useful experience of effectiveness for my repudiation of the noisy addition to my happy silent game.

I guess I will have to "Cry Out Loud!"

For the Love of POP!

Not sodapop, your father. Love him, would you?

Preview of "Professor Owl's Teatime"

I am so glad that you are with your father on that 10 hour journey through the cottonfields...

Thank you Emily, for your strict concern about the details of life in our large family. Sunday breakfast, who ate and who didn't, who has a project due, what is the timeline for each person's daily schedule. We look like we are taking it for granted, but we aren't and God knows what you do for us.

Thanks the most for driving those many miles to the Chowan, for us. Your service is appreciated and we are very grateful to God for you. XOXOXOX

Mrs. Day said, in the movie...

I'll never see what good a record of the spending is, after the money's already spent?

The older that I get, the more I see that Clarence Day Jr. documented the age old struggle of the marriage condition. Men have mostly a single eye to tasks. I and all the women I talk to seem to have a multitasking glut. We do things on the fly, because we have to mostly. One child on the hip and the other by hand and the pots jiggling on the stove. The correct dance of the two, seems that he should help you see when you have too many balls in the air at the same time. You are going to drop them all...And then, you drop them...Why didn't you tell me the balls were all in the air, if you saw them? Why did you throw all of the balls up in the air? I can usually catch them, but this time they fell to the floor. All of them. We are not dumb and they are not dumb. We were meant to compliment each other.

Today, they tell me it is my favorite bridge's 50th birthday!

I am so blessed to have been emotionally and spiritually groomed for life under the shadow of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. Many an emotional joy and struggle was exulted or mourned with the sight of that beautiful gift of engineering in view. We played and we learned and we loved and we grew under the shadow of that great structure. Like a nana, I felt its comfort tell me I was home after a long morning journey through the canals of the underground caves that were the subway commutes.

My favorite memory was when the bridge would be partially covered in the fog and you could really imagine that, Heaven had come down for the morning and that you could reach it if you walked to the other side of the bridge. I certainly know that Brooklyn isn't Heaven and certainly Staten Island isn't Heaven, but God has made a way for us to traverse an even more impossible chasm. Halleluia, before I even knew that my estate was so dire the Bridge of His Grace had already been constructed. Thank you for being a stalwart reminder of Grace and Hope and Future, Mr. Bridge!

These are the good old days!

I did love the enchantment of Mrs. Tassie's face when she said "she's in heaven!" about her mother. There was a beauty of confidence and love of God and her mother that marked her obvious grief.

We traveled through the sad providence with that family in our prayers for them. What a beautiful and sweet Christian family. I saw them in the nursery and then later in the "kid's central" etc. As we dropped Ezra and they dropped their girls here and there. Now, we grieve with them in spirit. I am hoping that their grief is teaching us to number our days and to know that our grief of a similar kind, may it grow our faith and teach us to love God and eachother more. May we carry their hearts in ours through their grief and may they instruct us how to be confident of the condition of our loved ones hearts at their departure from us. what a delightful confidence to know "She is in heaven!" We can't know about the days to come, as Carly sings, but we can follow others who have been where we are going. Hopefully we will stay together and love oneanother into heaven.

For the beauty of the sky!

I simply love the beautiful photos of the recent sky shows we've been having this autumn. The sky seems alive with color and vibrancy in the morning, it does seem more vibrant than usual. I love the sky and these skies have looked to me as though we are making a step up toward heaven, although the providences in the news wouldn't seem to say so. When the sky shows those cloud lines that are straight across like it did these days, it reminds me of the corner of a step. It seems that we just see the side of the step as we go over the side of it. Usually we are on a level point and can't see the changes in levels, but when we get to a bumpy point, I think we are going up. I definitely wouldn't like to think we were going down. Thanks for taking the pictures of it for me.