Friday I did something I’ve never done before: I watched all four grands by myself for four hours. (Steve was planning to be there but wasn’t feeling well.)
So my Friday looked like this. I got up at 4:45 a.m., left the house at 7 a.m., worked the whole day, drove an hour to Nathan and Meagan’s, and got back home at 11:15 p.m. It was quite the adventure for this slightly elderly-ish grandma; I felt like I was back in the days of my youth when those kinds of days were no big deal. I paid for it a little on Saturday but it was well worth it to spend time with the grands and give their hard-working parents a few hours away.
I got to meet the newest member of the Smith family, Cinnamon.
I also got to spend some time with an established family member, Carly. Noah was working on teaching her to shake hands.
The kids showed me their special spots.
Although Grayson is in the picture, this is Madison’s area. It reminded me so much of what I used to do when I was a kid. She has a blanket, pillow, lamp, decorations, and a basket of books, Bible, and notebooks. What more could any girl want?
Grayson and Andrew each have a reading nook in their shared bedroom.
Before the little ones go to bed at night, they get 10-15 minutes of creative time—drawing, reading, playing with quiet toys, etc.
I loved the signs
While Madi worked on getting Andrew down for the night, I was assigned to Grayson. Of course, all grandmas have visions in their heads about how they will sing sweet lullabies to their grandchildren as they drift off into dreamland. However, Grayson was having none of it. Instead, he wanted me to sing The Star Spangled Banner with him.
Yes, that Star Spangled Banner.
The song whose notes go up very high and down very low; the song I cannot sing even on my best of vocal days. But hey, I’m a grandma and I am up for any grandma task. I warbled along following Grayson’s capable lead as he nailed every word all the way to the big ending.
Lullaby Land will never be the same again.
And then it was time for a couple more songs which melted my heart. Grayson is such a darling kid and to hear him sing with such enthusiasm and innocence was priceless.
This first song is the chorus of an old church song. The lyrics are:
Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
Coming down from the Father above
Sweep over my spirit forever I pray
In fathomless billows of love.
I must say though, Grayson’s version is so much more interesting.
He followed that up with a rollicking kid’s song. The kid’s got quite the repertoire.
Try not to smile through that!
I hung out with the Bigs. They got it in their collective blond heads that 9 p.m. was the perfect time to make a recipe created by perusing the pantry for random ingredients, tossing them in a bowl, and stirring them together. (Keep in mind that their grandma thinks 9 p.m. is the perfect time to be sound asleep.)
I realized after the fact that I had forgotten to get a picture of the final product but I guess it could be best described as a cookie-like substance that was, shall we say, interesting.
was hearing Madison explain to a little visiting friend where her parents had gone for the evening. She told her friend that it was a marriage group at church where couples go to “make marriages stronger.” I loved her matter-of-fact attitude about it. She saw that I was listening and said, “Well, Grandma has been to marriage groups, too. She could probably explain it better.”
I told her she had done a fabulous job of explaining it and then sat and pondered for a moment how healthy it was for a child to know that her grandparents (both sets) and all of her aunts and uncles had been to marriage seminars/groups/workshops. And what she had no way of knowing was that probably all of us (although I speak only for Steve and me) have also been to marriage counseling, during those seasons of life when challenges got too much for us to unravel on our own.
When Madison grows up and gets married, it will be the most natural thing in the world for her and her husband to continually find ways to make their marriage stronger. And that makes the heart of this grandma happy.
And so it was really a great night. While Nathan and Meagan were out making their marriage stronger, the five of us were all at home–making music, messes and memories.
What about you?
Have you ever attended a marriage group at church or anywhere else? Did you feel like it was worth your time and effort?
What pets did you have when you were a kid?
Did you have a special place for reading, thinking, praying, daydreaming when you were a child? Do you have that now?
Are you a cook who likes to create recipes or are you more inclined to follow steps exactly?
I really enjoyed the little peek into the the worlds of the little Smiths – and I love that Meagan and Nate have created a little nook special for each of them. I don’t have a designated reading spot, but usually it’s on the sofa with it reclined just a little. (And at my desk at lunch.) I didn’t have any pets growing up but had a couple of dogs when our children were growing up. And I currently have the world’s cutest grand puppy! Ranger is an almost 7 year old German Shepherd and is the sweetest cuddle-bug. He and our youngest daughter visit almost every weekend!
Sue Ellen,
The good thing about reading is that any place can be a reading spot! But it sounds like your partially reclined sofa would be perfect.
Nice having a grand puppy. Cuddle bugs are the best!
Wow – I am impressed. Taking care of 4 of them at the same time. Good Job Becky! The youngest grandchild is about 24 and think she does good on her own. I remember when 2 of my daughters kids went to Bible Camp and the youngest couldn’t, so I told her to come over to our camp I put a sign on the door McDonald’s Camp and she made “stone soup.” Do you remember the story? So she put her washed stone in a pot with some water. I gave her some vegetables for her to put in but for some reason she only wanted to put a couple in. How about a can of tomatoes – nope. Salt and pepper – just a little. Well, needless to say it did not end well like the story in the book did. But she had a good time. Yes, cooking at night is not my cup of tea. Although I have a recipe for Monster cookies – does not make big ones (my choice) but makes about 12 dozen. Takes a while to mix and then to bake them all – depending on when you start it could go into the night. As a child in Fargo – we had 4 rooms and a path. In the summer time the porch was our bedroom. No pets. Don’t think I or we ever asked for a dog or cat either. But when I was about 10 we did have a dog named Trigger. Funny part about that is when my oldest granddaughter got a dog – name it Trigger. She did not know about my dog. Did go to one marriage conference during our marriage.
Sharyn,
I’ve always loved the stone soup story. Such creative thinking! Sounds like your granddaughter’s soup was little bit lackluster but the main thing was she had a good time doing it and I’m sure will always remember that experience with you. Cooking is one of the best ways to make memories.
I guess your family definitely loves the name Trigger. So funny!
We had a pet rabbit too! His name was Fluffy and he was all white and he was a big guy!! Oh and he LOVED graham crackers! 🙂
I love to cook. I don’t especially just create something out of nothing. However, I do a lot of ad-libbing and substituting if I don’t have something, run out or if one thing sounds better than another. I never just follow a recipe to the letter. lol
Grayson’s songs were the BEST!! He did a great job!!
LeeAnne,
Fluffy and graham crackers. Too funny!
Cooking ad-libbing is a lot of fun. Sometimes it turns out great and sometimes it doesn’t but at least it’s an adventure to try!
Such a great post! I’ve had this post up all week in a tab, wanting to comment. I LOL at the Star Spangled Banner story every time I think of it!! Oh my! Such sweet videos of the singing. Thanks for including those. Creatively cooking at 9pm? I’m like you! That’s the time to be in bed! My kids are grown, but when they were older teenagers, up late, when I was in bed, and getting creative in the kitchen, my only instructions were, “Please clean things up like I would.” I was no clean freak, but baking sheets, flour dust and sprinkles everywhere upon my waking wasn’t preferred! Thanks for sharing such precious stories, Becky!
Ann,
I agree. Getting up in the morning to a messy kitchen is no fun. I think it’s funny that you added the words “like I would” to your instructions and not just “Please things up.” Obviously a big difference between how moms clean and teens clean! 🙂
I’m glad the Star Spangled Banner story made you smile. It was definitely a moment to remember.
Many years ago, my sister-in-law was my hairdresser. She had given birth to twins in February, and I had a baby in mid-May. We recruited my mom to look after the 3 babies while I got a perm. At one point, my mom did successfully have all 3 babies sleeping at the same time. It may have only lasted about 5 minutes but she still did it. 🙂 With that being said, I come from a family of 6 kids that were born from 1960 to 1967. People used to think that my three brothers next to me in age were triplets.
Mel,
Good for your mom in accomplishing three sleeping babies. I’m impressed!
I also came from a family of six kids but there were ten years between oldest and youngest. Seven years is not very much time! No wonder your mom was so good at getting babies to sleep. 🙂 Bless her.
We had a dog named Frisky for a while but ended up giving it to my grandfather as he lived in a farm. We lived on Main Street which was the highway through town and were afraid he would get hit. My niece had a rabbit named April for several years.
I’m more of a follow the recipe type cook.
Love Grayson’s sweet little voice.
Phyllis,
I like the name, “Frisky!”
Yes, Grayson’s voice is definitely a heart-melter.
What a beautiful and precious time! Spending that time with all 4 of them by yourself – busy and blessed! Grayson is adorable! Maybe he’ll follow in your footsteps and sing for his supper 🙂
I am not adventurous in the kitchen. My taste buds are very “picky” and I have issues with textures so doing something like the “big kids” did would totally not work for me! I can see my tiny grandson doing that though – he seems to eat everything!
I hope you got some good rest after that!
Suzanne,
Busy and blessed is a good way to describe it!
I only get adventurous in the kitchen if I’m trying to do something leftovers to disguise the fact that I’m serving them a second or third night. But if you don’t like all textures, I’m sure experimenting in the kitchen would not be your cup of tea!
How is everyone getting so big? They are all adorable. Love Grayson’s videos, he is so sweet. I hope Steve is feeling better.
As far as pets, my first was a kitten named Paleface. I got him for my 8th birthday and he lived to be 26. At that age I also had a pet praying mantis. She lived outside on my bedroom window sill and spent a lot of time inside sitting on my head while I went about my day. Finally one day she was gone but left an egg sack hanging from our patio table. Then Paleface knocked it down and all the babies died. Sounds gross but I loved that praying mantis. LOL And I won’t even tell you what Paleface did to the baby bunnies found in our yard. My dad ran over the mama by mistake with the lawnmower and we had all these tiny adorable babies. They were brought into our kitchen in a warm box and we bottle fed them every 2 hours round the clock with goats milk. Then Paleface got into the kitchen one day while we were at school and mom was in the backyard. Yeah, not good. My poor mom walking into that.
We lived next to a farm and the cows would come to our back fence where I would feed them our delicious grass. Once a year they would bring in a large black bull with huge horns and a gold ring through his nose who would stare me down when I was out playing. But months later there were sweet little calves born with names like Daisy, Snowball and Snowflake. One morning I heard a rumbling outside and all the cows were running through our backyard, knocking over our swing set and heading for the rest of the neighborhood. They had escaped. Never a dull moment where animals were concerned.
Lesley,
OK. You win the Pet Story Contest.
A pet praying mantis? Who rode around on your head? A 26-year old cat? A run-over rabbit? Assassinated-by-a-cat bunnies? A mean bull? Calves with cute names? Escaping cows knocking over a swing set as they fled?
Yep. I’ll send your 1000-pound gold medal in tomorrow’s mail. 🙂
Hahaha, those were the days
Thanks so much for including Grayson’s precious hymn. It was my favorite! 🙂
Fred,
Always good to see your name pop up. So glad you enjoyed Grayson’s hymn. So very dear.
So happy you were able to spend some alone time with the grands. I loved hearing Grayson singing! What a character he is. I am pretty sure you were exhausted by the end of your visit.
Not much exciting going on here unless you enjoy watching the snow melt, which I do since it tells me spring is on the way. We didn’t get much snow this year, which I am very appreciative of. Though it isn’t good news for the yard and we may be heading for a drought. It is still very cold here and I am looking forward to spring.
Cindy,
Yes, Grayson is definitely a character and quite the little singer!
Watching snow melt is much more fun than watching it fall when you are really hoping for spring. Not long now!
Wow, what a long, long day. I think it is perfectly healthy for Madison to know her parents are in a group seminar about marriage….it’s like tuning up your car (not that they are cars) . ….they are merely making a strong, loving marriage stronger and in the process, showing their kids how important family is. When I was growing up, my parents went to a group at our local Methodist Church called Couples Club and it was led by our minister and his wife and now, just now, I realize it was related to marriage as well!!!!!
Dale,
Yes, that’s sort of what Nathan and Meagan’s meetings are. They go once a month and have a meal together with other couples and hear a teaching on marriage. Good stuff!
It’s cool they had those resources for couples back when you were growing up. I like your analogy about it being like “tuning up a car.” So true.
I love this! Great job, Grandma, making sweet memories with the Grands! And you lived to tell the tale!
And Grayson? He was a smash hit! I wish I could have been a fly on the wall listening to the two of you making your way through the star spangled banner. And the peace song is one of my favorites. I hadn’t had the pleasure of hearing the train song before, but now I’m clued in. 🙂
I love their reading areas. And Noah and Madison creating their mystery cookies were too funny. I’m glad they like to get in the kitchen! Nathan and Meagan are doing such a great job of providing structure mixed with fun.
Love to all,
Deb
Debbie,
Yes, I’m quite sure that he and I will be asked to the Star Spangled Banner at the next Super Bowl. We were that good!
Between singing and cooking, it was a fun night. And bed never looked so good! 🙂
Thanks for sharing these precious memories. Especially enjoyed Grayson’s mini concert. Just this morning I was singing, “Peace peace wonderful peace…” as a prayer for a relative in the hospital. (I have not sang that in a long time.) It was sweet reassurance and confirmation. Please pass on to Grayson that his song blessed this other mimi.
Cheryl,
I’m glad that the Peace song was so meaningful to you, especially since you had just been singing it. Steve and I recorded that song many years ago and it’s always been a favorite. Hugs!
That was a LONG day. I’m with you – I’m an early-to-bed person, for sure! But what FUN! I’m sure the time flew by. 🙂
A bunny!!! I had a cat named Cinnamon when I first started college. Carly is such a beautiful doggo! Smart too, apparently. 🙂
I loved reading as a child (still do!). I would curl up in the end of my closet with blankets and a small lamp. 🙂
While I’m not a fancy cook, I can figure my way around a recipe. When I bake, I follow recipes to the T, because I learned that cooking is an art, but baking is a science. 🙂
Have a wonderful week!
Stefanie,
Sounds like your reading experience as a child was exactly like Madi’s is right now. In a closet with a blanket and lamp. I love how that concept never grows old.
You’re absolutely right about cooking vs. baking. Baking is definitely a science and if you get the teeniest thing wrong, it’s all over. Cooking is so much more forgiving–it lends itself to all sorts of experimentation which I love.
What a delightful night for the kids and you. Looks like everyone was happy with the night.
I have not attended a marriage group, but wish one would come along as I see the value in them.
I wasn’t into pets as a child although the family had a dog for awhile it was more my sisters toy. I had a parakeet for a short while and that was about it.
I never had a special place set apart for me, but I do remember sitting in the dark pantry. It was a separate closet like pantry in the kitchen. On hot days, I liked to sit in there as it was cooler. We 3 kids each had a shelf to keep toys or whatnot on. I know I scared my mom once when she opened the door and turned on the light (which was on a pull cord switch I always thought was so great) to see me sitting in the dark.
Love seeing the kids mixing up all the various ingredients. My sister and I used to do that also, but never made anything edible. It was more of a taste it if you dare. We used lots of spices and it would smell very interesting. Now I will follow a recipie and add to it as I see fit. I have created some things out of necessity of “what can I make with these ingredients” and many have become things I still make. Since my husband does all the cooking now, I mostly just bake treats.
Patti,
I love the story of you surprising your mom in the pantry. Those kinds of experiences always makes kids laugh. Moms? Not so much. 🙂 Or maybe they laugh after they get over the initial fright.
There are actually websites where you can enter the ingredients you have on hand and it will give you a recipe for them. It’s great that some of your experiments have turned into keeper dishes. And how great to have a cooking husband!
I’m so glad you got Grayson’s sweet songs on video. Absolutely priceless! And I love their reading nooks. I just had my bedroom, but there was space on the far side of the bed by the wall where I would curl up to read. As far as pets, we had cocker spaniels. Honey and then Mandy. Honey was a “runner”, and I spent my vacations while she was alive worrying that she would get out and run away! Mandy was a homebody, thank goodness. As far as cooking, I look at a recipe to get the “bones” of the dish and then do it my way. I’ve been walking on the treadmill a lot in the past year and I watch Food Network while I’m walking. I always thought of myself as a decent cook, but I’ve learned so much, and I try to apply it when I cook. Lastly, I am VERY impressed at your long day! I would have been sacked out when the parents arrived back at home; they wouldn’t have been happy with me!
Pam,
Oh, a space on the far side of the bed is the perfect place for a reading nook. Love it!
Carly is also a runner so I understand your anxiety over Honey. It’s funny how some dogs love to go and some love to stay home.
Good for you for spending time on the treadmill and improving your cooking skills, all at the same time. The best kind of multi-tasking. Hugs to you and Chuck.