4 days of Gran

It is 4:20 in the afternoon here.  School is finished and cleaned up.  Dishes are put away and I just took an apple crisp out of the oven.  

Momma left this morning.  It was so much fun having her here the last 4 days.  We didn't do anything extraordinary, but the girls (and I) enjoyed so much just having her here.  Dinner, painting fingernails, getting hair cut, doctors and dentist visits and trips to Target are just a whole lot more fun with Gran.  Olivia especially enjoyed having someone to follow around while her big sisters and I had school.  She is definitely Gran's new buddy and the first Davenport girl to say Gran at 18 months:).

Okay, my blogging window is up.  Five minutes is about all my girls can handle without supervision.  Richard thinks it's a female thing ... I don't know, I'm convinced they are all out to get me:).

Thank you so much for coming Momma!  Wish you were here to have coffee and apple crisp with me and the girls!

I love you!!

Rain or Shine ...

The rain came today.  But not only did the rain come, Momma did too!  

I can't help but be reminded of a first poem Patterson memorized ...

Whether the weather be fine, or whether the weather be not;

Whether the weather be cold, or whether the weather be hot ...

We'll weather the weather, 

whatever the weather, 

whether we like it or not!

We are thrilled to have Gran here!!  

And even if it rains the whole time, their will be plenty of sunshine at 57.

A Preview ...

And the beautiful weather continues!

Sunny, breezy and 66 degrees.

I'm supposed to be cleaning and preparing for Momma's visit tomorrow, but I can't resist the call of this weather! 

My doors are open and the girls are OUT.  

Neighborhood friends are over and enjoying snacks in Fort Kids (our backyard playground).

It is nice and I can't help but feel a little giddy thinking Summer is not too far away.  

Galatians 6:9

"Do not grow weary..."  

The sun came out today.  It was beautiful.  Not only was it sunny, we had a high of 56 degrees!  Children were out.  Parents were out.  Lawn mowers could be heard in the distance.  It was a seemingly perfect Saturday.  I had a full agenda of things I both needed to do and wanted to do.  I did accomplish quite a bit.  I finished the dishes and picked up from the company we had last night.  I cleaned out the school cabinets.  I folded and folded and folded laundry.  I played with the girls outside.  I took them to the playground.  I ran with Richard.  I spent some time tightening up some English with Parker.  I made dinner and read stories.  But as I write, dishes are piled up in the sink, laundry still remains to be folded ... school papers are stacked up in the corner of my den waiting to be graded, filed or thrown away and Richard has given me 30 minutes to finish this entry and hop in and out of the shower so that I can help him with STATS.  Only five more tests, but just THIRTEEN DAYS to take them.  WHAT?!  Sigh.  

Richard noticed earlier that I was a little less than hopeful.  Days ... even when extremely wonderful, are tiring for me.  Even on days like today where little girls give lots of hugs and give lots of wagon rides up and down hills and sidewalks ... even on days like today where contentment is found in "the wind blowing in my face," as Patterson remarked while riding in the van with the window down ... even on days like today where big sisters are caught holding the hand of their little sisters while they slide down the slide ... even on days like today where I was able to check so much off my "to do list,"  ... yes, YES, even on days like today I find myself more than weary at the end of the day, and wondering how I'll make it through another day. Days like today I feel like I question E.V.E.R.Y. S.I.N.G.L.E. decision I've ever made.  And I feel like every one has been wrong.  It can be so easy (for me at least) to get caught up in all that is going on around me and to grow weary in my life, in the way God wants me to serve Him.  Sometimes I feel that things would be "easier" if I had this or that, or if I didn't have this or that:).  Other times I just think that maybe I'm just not that good at whatever it is that I thought I was good at.  Some days I just get extremely overwhelmed with all that goes on at 57.   I'm thankful that at the end of the day I have a husband who can look at me and see my heart and know my need and remind me to "not grow weary."  I'm thankful that at the end of the day I can curl up on the couch with sweet little girls who are eager to be close to me and listen to me read them a story.  And I'm thankful that when I glance up from the book, I see this ...

A little girl lost in a book.  A little girl that God gave me the ability to teach how to read and to introduce the love of reading.  A little girl that I thought would never pick up a book without being prompted.  A little girl cozy, content and peacefully lost in a book.

My prayer tonight will be one of thanksgiving for this day ... for both the joy and the struggles.  And my prayer tonight will be that I will not grow weary.  

Yes, there is joy to be found in the trenches.

A Smile in my Inbox

I cut and pasted this from an email Richard just sent to me.  I hope you all are appreciating the little blessings in your day.  Notice them.  Embrace them.  Give thanks for them.

The little things really are the big things that make life worth living and many times, most times, they are all that we really need.

UNCLASSIFIED / NONE

I LOVE YOU!!

 

MAJ RICHARD B. DAVENPORT

US ARCENT PSYOP OFFICER

A friend for Kate

This is Kate's first year in a Mother's Morning Out group.  She is in a sweet class of  7 boys and only 2 other girls.  This is quite the switch from her time spent hanging around The Davenport School (which, as you all know, is an all girl prep school ... okay, well maybe not a real prep school, but that sounded nice, so I threw it in).  Being in a class with a high ratio of boys, the probability of her creating a bond with a boy, as opposed to a girl, is pretty high.  And this she has done.   Trey and "Kate the Great" are truly best friends (as best of friends 3 year olds can be).  They are a precious little team and have formed quite a bond.  Today Trey had his birthday party at a local indoor jumping facility (which would be a phenomenal idea for our basement if we were permanent party here!!!).  The party was highly anticipated by Kate and I was a little over protected anxiously hoping that Trey would actually care that she came.  I know, I know ... I need to relax a little, but the mother hen instinct .... OH!  the mother hen instinct:).  As soon as we arrived the two found each other and were not apart for more than a minute or two the whole duration of the party.  I even saw Trey stop running and help Kate off a jumpy thing without her even asking ... just because she was a girl, I guess.  VERY sweet moment to witness.  Yes, there IS hope in the world:).  I'm glad Kate has found a friend ... a true first friend.  Now if she can only teach him to say "Roll Tide!" (*note, while he is completely adorable, that little orange windbreaker that he wears with a big capital T just has to go.  HA!)

So now I enter this post quickly as I drink a much overdue cup of coffee.  (Is there anyone out there besides Momma and me that can drink coffee to wake up in the morning and to fall asleep at night?!)  I'm finished and I think my oldest is reading by the fire still.  I hear the pages turning every now and then.  Makes my heart smile.  I'm going to go join her and read another chapter of Mary Poppins Comes Back.  Our current shared book.  I wonder how long I'll have one to share with her ... hopefully always.  

 

Short and Sweet

As I reread my last entry I realized that I DID have a photo of me and my Olivia. I realized this, of course, because it is ON MY BLOG PAGE!!!!  Okay, I'm winning lots of intelligent points, I know.  I'm going to use the excuse of that's what happens when you are a mom of 5 and have to blog VERY QUICKLY:).  

So, because I just had to post again and make note of my error, I decided to include a fun little video of Patterson from Valentine past.

Who do you love?

I love my best friend.

Okay, so this post could go on and on.  As I looked at over 11,000 images from the past 6 years, I was reminded of ALL sorts of things that I love.  I wanted to include girls in pigtails, hair bows and cowboy hats, ETC., but my afternoon is gone.  Here is my list of "Who I love" (and a little of what I love). 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Enjoy.

photos of me and my girls (I don't think I have one with Olivia ... ???)

sweet baby legs in tennis shoes & socks:)

first friends who are still friends

new friends that we miss

friends who always remember to send a Valentine

(Scott you MADE her day!!)

little girls who are turning into big girls

(sniff sniff)

daddys who love their little girls

Daddy's who sacrifice so much ...

friends who invite us over and make us feel special

neighbors next door

sweet boys on swings

cousins and more cousins (and more cousins ... too many to post!!)

sisters who love each other

Grandfathers on tractors

Grans who visit on birthdays

Sister in Laws who paint their toes purple (and take my girls to paint theirs!)

Grammys who do Brain-teasers with their granddaughters

On this Valentine's Day God has reminded  me of all the people that I love.  

And all of these images are images of my life ... the life God has so graciously given me.  

I love my God, the one true God, who loved me first and loves me perfectly.

Who do you love?