What Are You?

Sometimes an early morning conversation sets the tone for the whole day.
Such was the case today.

Itty Bitty and I were sitting on my front steps waiting for the school bus.  She always has random thoughts in her little noggin.  Out of no where she tells me she heard pop music last night.  They (her family) weren't playing pop music, she heard it in the Village of Quantico. I feel my heart fluttering.  "Village".  What a descriptive word.  My mind immediately went to a cobblestone setting.

She proceeds to tell me she used to be a Townsman, but now she's a Villager.  Mommy, Effan, Rease, Helena and Annalynne are also Villagers. Mom-Mom, Pop-Pop, Ben,  Mr. Paul, Miss Carrwy,  Rease and Helena are Townsmen.  Well, she says, Rease and Helena are Villagers and Townsmen because they live there (little hand swings right) and here (other little hand swings left).  I can hardly stand it.  Of course MY imagination has little pointy caps or flat little beanies on everyone's head.

She then proceeds to tell me that maybe she's a Villager and a Townsman if her daddy lives in a town. And she thinks for a second and concludes that she's could be considered a Farmer too since Granny Bell lives on a farm.   Be still my heart. 

I put my Little Villager on the bus here in Town, waved goodbye and came in to ponder this morning's chat.  I knew I had to record this one for posterity.  I don't want to forget.  Ever.

But on a sad note, my Little Villager arrived back in Town after school with her jacket on.  It was only a gazillion degrees outside.  I don't say anything, but the minute she gets inside she wants me to take her temperature.  She's been coughing all day she says. I test her forehead, it's warm and her cheeks are flushed, so  I oblige her after she removes her shoes, visits the Little Girl's Room and washes her hands.  That gal had a temp of 101.4!  I asked if she had been cold or chilly today.  No, says she.  I had my jacket on.   Alrighty then.

I'm not sure she will ever know the imprint she's leaving on my heart.  The innocence of a child is the most refreshing thing you will ever experience.  I try not to change one bit of  her.  I love the way God made her.  In fact, I love the way God made all my family.  He knew them and formed them and I'm thrilled He did!

The Truck

Sometimes. . . . . . .

We have a thing here where we try to wave goodbye to family and friends as they leave.  Most of the time we make it.  However, this morning, we missed waving to the Boy.  Ittty Bitty, Turtle Dove and I were standing at the door waving goodbye to their Mommy.  I made the comment that we had missed the Boy this morning.  Itty Bitty said:  "He drove his truck."  Not sure if that was justification for missing him or not.  But, she continues on:

Ittty:  "He won't let me drive his truck." 
Me:  "Oh, yea?  He won't let me either."
Itty:  "He'll let Rease drive it."

Pause ~ thinking. . . . .(never a good sign)

Itty:  "He won't let me."
Me:  "Well, you're too little to drive  his truck."
Itty:  "Well, you're too old!" 
Me:  "I'm not too old!"
Itty:  "I can drive it.  I drive Annalynne's all around."

If she doesn't stop telling me I'm O.L.D., I think I may start believing it!  Maybe I'll even act it!
Now let's just move on to normal, everyday things like, I don't know, singing?

Not Much Time

The Little Itty Bitty Girl is obsessed with the fact that I am old 62.  She reminds me often that I'm almost 100.  Often.  Yesterday was no different, but she threw a stick in my spokes  before reminding of that fact ~ again.

She was home with me "recovering" from a little stomach bug.  Nothing good was on TV and I only let her play her Kindle for so long.  Out of boredom she did her spelling assignment on the computer using Spelling City.  I figured it would keep her up to par and she wouldn't have a lot of make-up work to do.  After that we perused  Netflix for a movie.  She loves the Tinker Bell movies and settled on "Tinker and the Neverbeast".  Apparently this "beast" was testy, then friendly, then not so nice.  The woodland fairy that befriended him in the beginning fell victim to his fury.  I'm not sure she really "died" or what.  I just know it was sad and she wasn't moving.  And then something happened (I missed that part) and she was moving again. 

This prompted Itty Bitty to ask me if dying was like sleeping.  I said,  a very deep sleep, I guess you could say.  She said "Yea, that's what I was thinking.".  I told her though, that the soul leaves the body.  She said she knew that.  (alrighty then).  Then came the kicker. The stick in the spokes that brought me to a halt.  She nonchalantly told me: "You don't have much time."  What? What do you mean?  (I knew where this was going).   "You're old." she says.  "You don't have much time left. You're almost 100."

Knock me over with a feather.  I've had the "almost 100" conversation with her before, but not the "not much time" one.  That was unexpected to say the least. Un-nerving.

That's it!  No more deep conversations with this girl!   Not any time soon, anyway.

Spray and Scary Things

Yesterday I re-brushed Itty Bitty's hair.  It was a hot mess, so her Mama asked me to re-do it before I sent her off to school.  I brushed it and pulled it up in a pony tail.  She has these little baby hairs that float around her face and are only cute for a minute before they become a full blown nuisance. I sent her up to grab the hair spray so I could tame her locks.  We make sure to cover eyes and her face when I spray.  When I was done I sent her back with the hair spray.  She came down and promptly asked me:

P:  "What happens if you get hair spray in your eyes?"
Me: "It would probably sting your eyes.  I think it has alcohol in it.  That's why we cover your eyes."
P:  "But what would happen?"
Me:  "Probably burn."
P:  "Would it make your eyes stick open?" 
Me:  (didn't see that coming).  "No, but it could make your eyelashes stiff, I suppose."


Itty Bitty's conversation on the 8th of August.

So it goes:
P:  " I cried yesterday."
Me:  "Why?"
P:   "Efan told me I would never see you again.  You got a new job."
Me:  Puzzeled
P:  "He said you got a job with the jury."
Me:  Thinking: "I knew this 'jury thing' was no good"

All because she wouldn't eat her dinner.  She's such a pokey little thing.
I told her she had to eat, otherwise she wouldn't grow up strong and pretty.

A little bit later she came to me and told me Efan (Mr. Beefy) was scared of the ghost of Jimmy Johnson.  I'm not sure where my mind may have traveled on this one. 
So it goes:

P:  "Efan's afraid of the Ghost of Jimmy Johnson."
Me:  Puzzled (again)
P:  "He said Jimmy Johnson wouldn't eat his dinner and he starved to death.  He died.  And Efan's afraid of him.  He has a sister, Jenny Johnson.  She didn't die.  She ate her food."
Me:  *in my head - alrighty then.
Me:  "Well, there you go.  Eat your food, lest you wind up like Jimmy Johnson."

Later at lunch I heard her making ghost sounds while she was eating. 

Mama said there'd be days like these.  Yep, she did.

Happy Birthday, Itty Bity!

I just want to know how we came from here:

to here:

in just six short years minutes!?!?!?

How is that even possible?

Happy Birthday my Itty Bitty girl

So glad God sent you into our world

You light up the days with those little baby blues

Just want you to know ~ how much I love you.

Love you to the Moon and back!

Mom-Mom

Before I Forget

Much has happened since my last "serious" blog post.  I honestly don't remember a lot of it.  But there are a few things that have just stuck with me.

I always say, if you need to speed, you needed to leave earlier.  So I said.  I wasn't needing to be anywhere at a specific time but I was hasty. Thus the following:

For some odd reason I had both Reasy Peacy and Goldilocks during a weekday.  I don't know if the HS was using it's building for PSAT testing or what, but never-the-less, I didn't have Ittly Bittly.
I decided to take the girls on a fabric excursion since we had the day together and well, you know, the fabric store was calling.  We pile in the red tin can, buckle up and off we go. We are just chatting away going down Lillian.  As I approach the bend I see a sheriff's car parked in a lot.  I look at my speedometer and notice I'm going 40 (in a 30 mph zone).  No need to slow down now.   I round the bend preparing to pull over just as Reasy Peacy says:  "Oh look, Mom-mom, the cop has his lights on."  "Yes, Rease, those would be for me." I reply as I'm pulling over.  We go through the usual, license, registration, and waiting.  Reasy Peacy is in the front with me.  She proceeds to tell me:  "That is Deputy Donut from Mardela."
Oh yea?  Then she says, ever so sweetly: "I may or may not have made him angry at me at school."
"WHAT? Turn around and look out that passenger window.  Do NOT make eye contact with that man.  Do not say ANYTHING!" I warn her.  She's cracking up.  I'm not.  Last thing I wanted was a ticket because "Deputy Donut"  recognized a student he had to rebuke.  He did give me a warning ~ asking when the last time I was pulled over.  Geeze ~ years ago, why?  'Cause apparently I had two incidents on my record.  But, in his defense, he couldn't tell me when.  (I'm understanding his name now)  And, I just realized ~ Goldilocks sat silent the whole time.  Hmmm.

To and insult to injury:  Next day Kellifer told me she was putting on her make up and watching the news when Ittly Bitty came down the stairs. 
Itty Bitty:  "Oh man. I missed it!"
Kellifer:  "Missed what?"
Itty Bitty:  "I thought they were going to say something about Mom-mom speeding."

Okie dokie. Thank you girls for sharing that event.  

Let's continue, shall we?

I had  Itty Bitty this weekend.  We are sitting on the sofa with our gadgets.  She is so close to me she might as well be sitting in my lap.  She does that.  Anyway, she nonchalantly says to me:  "Mom-mom, you married the right Pop-pop for me."  Awe.   No words.


*edited* ~ I was "informed" by Goldilocks that Officer Donut is really Deputy Donut. 
Well, gee willikers Mr. Wilson.

The Little Turtle Dove

Last week I watched the Little Turtle Dove for the first time ~ all day ~ all week ~ by myself.  Well, mostly by myself and mostly all week.  I was beyond  nervous keeping her ~ not because I didn't know what to  do, but because I didn't know what she liked to do!  Fortunately God works all things out!  School was delayed Monday for the HS students due to testing so Reasy Peacey was here with me until 10:00.  Tuesday I had all the hooligans because school was closed due to the Primary Elections.  Wednesday I was on my own.  Thursday Reasy was here until 10:00 again due to HS testing. The girls filled me in as we went and all went well!   And Friday ~ her Daddy had her (I was nervous for him too!) 

Thank goodness she's an easy, delightful baby to be around!  Makes my job much more pleasurable.

Having Rease here helped me while I got the bus schedule figured out (again). She was my extra set of eyes and ears.  Not to mention it was a N. A. S. T. Y. week last week.  One day was just a deluge of rain!  And it was cold.  So cold I had to turn our heat back on.  I was afraid she would turn into a popsicle!

Itty Bitty left her lovie for her little sister to help her make a smooth transistion.  It's almost as big as she is!   It melted my heart.

I must not be doing too badly, she's smiling. . . . .

. . . . . and napping!  Brief as it was, it was a nap!

 

We are on week two now.  I think I have a system (very flexible system) in place.  We should do fine.

As long as The Little Turtle Dove is happy, Mom-Mom is happy.

Old and Weak

They say:  "Out of the mouths of babes."  That's what they say.  Who ~ who invented that statement?  Just curious.

All the local grandies, some nieces and nephews, and kidlings in our lives by association met here Saturday night to go Trick-or-treating.

Bob, aka, Pop-pop went with the younger hooligans and their parents to gather the bounty of the night, aka, candy. 

The older hooligans stayed behind to hand out bounty to the tricksters.
I stayed behind to monitor the older hooligans.  I actually monitored them from across the street.  I opted to chat with my front door neighbor as she handed out loot for said tricksters.  I think I watched my hooligans eat half the bounty they were to distribute.  Not sure, but they sure were chatty!  I'm thinking:  Sugar Rush?

Allotted time slot for perusing the avenues was from 6:00PM to 8:00 PM.  Then at 8:00PM the hooligans and all other tricksters headed for the fire hall to parade their creative attire, get refreshments and try to guess the weight of pumpkins. 

Goldilocks came in 2nd for pumpkin' guessin'.

Itty Bitty came in second for her costume.

Itty Bitty.  She follows closely in Goldilocks's shoes, which brings us to topic at hand.  "Old and Weak".

Bob said Itty Bitty seemed to be slowing down as they were perusing the avenues.  He offered to carry her bag.  She politely declined stating:  "That's ok.  You're old and weak.  You're not as old as Mom-mom, but she is weak too."  I just really have no words.  

I thought of that statement this morning when I tried to open the window over the kitchen sink. I couldn't get it up very far.  It gets all cock-eyed in there and won't go up smoothly.  It had me wondering for a moment if I was as weak as she perceived me to be (however that is).  Didn't feel old, but I did feel weak ~ just for a moment mind you ~ just for a moment.

Old and weak.  A combination of "state of mind" and "state of being".  You are as old and weak as you allow yourself to be.  That's my point and I'm sticking to it!

It's Official

This Itty Bitty thing started school last week.  Because they rotate K-5 for the first week she only went on Thursday.

But, we know there's always a "but", she starts "full time" tomorrow. 

So, it's official.  She is a bona-fide, by school standards,  full fledged Kindergartner.

Let the craziness begin!

K-5 Bound!

In just a few short minutes days this Itty Bitty will be heading off for her very first encounter with school. I am excited for her on the one hand: new friends, stretching her mind and growing in so many ways.  Also, I am ready for some "me" time.  But (there's always a "but"), on the other hand I will desperately, terribly, undoubtedly miss all this:

Playing with her babies and her kitchen

Silly lunch times

Making her own "cocoon", sucking her thumb and

watching her shows

Going through the grocery sales circular and circling

things "we" need.

Helping in my kitchen

Shopping tools with Uncle Ben

She has a thing for "hats" of all kinds

Wearing a splash guard ~ who knows why. . .

Strumming her guitar and singing

Reading ~ always reading

A hat and a bouncy ball ~ what more could

an Itty Bit want?

Best way to watch TV

900 degrees outside and she dons the wooly hat ~

then. . .

climbs the ladder ~ 'cause Pop-Pop said she could

 
Yes, I will miss these days just like I missed Goldilocks' time with me. 

Now if you will excuse me, I'm going to find a corner to melt down in.

A "Sticky" Situation

My Mama always told me to be careful what you wish for.

I got a call last night from a distraught young lady.  She had been on her hubby's case for some time to put his dirty laundry in the hamper with the rest of the family's or it wouldn't get washed.  And IF it didn't get washed, then by George, he would have to take care of that task himself.  

Like I said ~ be careful what you wish for

Hubs must have needed some clothes and Wife had held to her "guns".  So Hubs decided to tackle his laundry himself.  God bless him.

Wife went to get something out of the dryer ~ to which Hubs had added his wet laundry after washing without removing the dry clothes already nestled in there ~ and . . . she pulled out sticky clothes.  Kind of like "bubble gum sticky", but not quite.

Be careful what you wish for

I'm thinking when Hubs brought his dirties down, he threw them in the laundry room floor to get the washer ready.  Then he just tossed them in the dryer (on top the already fluffy dry things that were in there) and let 'er go!  Apparently a sticky mouse pad found its way onto a pair of jeans before they landed in the washer and was then transported via wet jeans to the dryer (on top of Wife's laundry) and the heat from the dryer released the sticky goo all over EVERYBODY's clothes! His accomplishment was the bane of her sanity!  (I would like to have been a fly on that wall!)

Be careful what you wish for.

Seems to me I would rather snag a pair of pants from the floor rather than let a novice laundryman have at my washer.  Just sayin'. . . . .


On a side note:

Today at lunch Itty Bitty, Ben and I were talking about age.  Don't ask ~ don't know.  All was well until this conversation (if you want to call it that):

Itty Bitty ~ to me:  "You are past old.
Me:  "What does that mean?"  (One would think I would have learned my lesson by now.  Never ask if your really don't want to know)
Itty Bitty:  "It means you are probably older than you think."

Hm.  I'm sure that could go either way.  I think I'm young, but obviously I'm not ~ OR ~ I think I'm old which means I could kick the bucket any day now. 
It doesn't help that Ben is choking on his food at that conversation.  Nope.  Not at all.

Thank you, Itty Bitty, for those Words of Wisdom.

Happy Birthday, Piper!

Happy Birthday to the Itty Bitty girl!

 

Oh, my stars, you're five years old!

That's half your fingers,

Or half your toes!

 

You are growing up really fast

I hope your birthday's

A wonderful blast!

 

You won't slow down ~ not a bit,

But you will always be

Our "Itty Bitt"!

 

I love you to the moon and back!

 

Love,

Mom-Mom

Just A Piece of the Puzzle

I love to work puzzles (not crosswords so much) and as it turns out, most of my squirrely girlie's like puzzles too!  Itty Bitty could sit with puzzles all day long.  And I have to admit, I think about letting her!  It is wonderful watching her analyze, twist and turn and finally place a piece where it belongs.

Using the box lid as a guide I taught her to work the border first.  It would give her something to connect to, as it were. Then we would move inward.  The pieces would be encompassed ~ forced to find their place. Next she learned to look for like colors, shapes, patterns and connecting parts.  The similar things allowed the "picture" to start to take focus and excitement followed.  And even though it was far from done she could see progress.  And so the process continued ~ observation, trial and then success.  When all pieces were placed in the correct spot and she stood back to admire the work, there was pleasure.  Pleasure in her work, even though there was trial and error, and pleasure with the end result.  She is now able to see past the fact that it took forever to work that pattern on the tiger because it all looked very similar. Or all the pieces of the same color giving her grief.  Perhaps a piece went MIA ~ only to find she was sitting on it.  All the frustration was lost in the pride she felt with a job well done.  Looking back at the big picture was rewarding and the joy, frustration and the "I don't want to do this anymore." attitude was overshadowed by what lay in front of her. The pieces.  All together.  As they should be.

It reminds me that my life is  just pieces of a puzzle. It is just much larger and sometimes more complex.  In any given day I find myself, more often than not, looking for where I belong. How  I'm going to get the pieces of my "puzzle" to connect together and not damage or misplace any of the surrounding pieces.  Most times I try not to put too much thought in it and just let the pieces fall in place naturally.  But, alas, Easy is never the name of my puzzle. 

Fortunately my "border" is done. I am encompassed by the Almighty Hand.  I am forced to find my place.  I look for like personalities (colors), interests (patterns) and fellow believers (connecting parts).  When I find my similarities my puzzle begins to take form.  And my process continues ~ observation (reaching out), trial (bad, unpredictable days, short temper, frustration, on and on. . .) and then success ~ joyful, blissful days, making it through the rain, dealing with disappointment and coming out on the other side.

But, unlike working a board puzzle, the only thing I can look back on is the "work in progress".  I won't ever see the finished puzzle this side of Glory.  God holds that box with the picture on it for me. 

I will get it some day. I will be able to look back despite the joy, the frustrations and the "I don't want to do this anymore." attitude and be overwhelmed at what lays in front of me.  The pieces. All together.  As they were meant to be.

But, not today.  Not today.

October Woes

October has flown in and almost gone ~ before I could even get caught up with September.  What's up with that?   I truly had good intentions of blogging regularly.  So much goes on and I can't rely on my mind to remember.  It's stubborn that way.  So before November gets here I'd better put pen to paper, as it were, and make note of the goings ons here, lest I forget November gets here first.

Goldilocks broke her little arm.  Yep she did. Her right arm ~ her dominant arm.  She was doing a one-handed cartwheel and came down wrong and heard a loud crack.  Daddy said she was "fine".  But when she woke up next morning, all wasn't fine.   Pops took her to the doctor and the doctor said ~ after x-rays ~ that she had broken a piece off her elbow.  Queasy feeling here.  He said they would probably just cast it and the piece would go back in place, but he wanted her to see the orhtopedic doc.  They would better be able to "diagnose".  She came home with a temporary cast.

BEFORE ORTHOPEDIC APPOINTMENT
SEE HOW HAPPY SHE IS.

 

Hm ~ not all was well in OZ.  Kelly texted the day of the orthopedic appointment and said they told her she would have to have a pin put in the elbow.  It was worse than the original x-ray showed.  She said Goldi flat out told them,  "No.  You can't do surgery. Can't you just push it back together?".  Needless to say she lost that battle, tears and all.  She was a wreck.

AFTER ORTHOPEDIC APPOINTMENT. 
IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY YOU'LL SEE
PUFFY, RED LITTLE EYES.  BUT NOTHING
A BAGEL WON'T FIX. 

As it turned out, she needed two screws in her little elbow.  I'm so glad she didn't know that before the surgery.  We would have needed to knock her out before she ever left the house.
She is mending nicely.  Her arm was just in an ace bandage with a sling.  The bandage is gone now, and the spoiling can return to a minimum.  Poor thing.  Plus side:  she had scribes to write for her, she became a car rider and basically everyone was at her beck and call.  She couldn't (and still can't) lift anything heavier than a fork until next visit in November. 

And on just as grim a note:  Reasy Peasy's hamster, Chubbles, died.  Poor girl.  The only thing Kellifer had to bury him in was a Tampon make-up box.  They said a little prayer for the poor little thing.  Itty Bitty informed me that they buried Chubbles when the sun was almost gone (sunset) under the trees, in the dirt, that he was still their pet, that they still loved him and they could visit him any time they wanted.  She also informed me that if she really wanted to play with him she could just dig him up!  NO! NO! NO!  I politely told her that being in the ground is what keeps him safe.  When I told Kelly about our conversation (via e-mail), this was her reply:

"Well this conversation was had last night… she said “sooooo I can dig him up when I want to see him if I miss him” almost in unison Ethan and I said NOOOOOO leave him alone he needs to stay in the ground so we can visit him. P- “I sure will miss him. I miss you Chubbles you are my friend”

I feel like she is going to have to stay out of the backyard unless supervised for quite some time.

 Just keep reminding her that he has to stay in the ground he has to. Mom I would simply die if I walked out back and she was carrying around in my “makeup box” simply die….

 

Glory be.  I still don't have a peace about this.  N. O. No.

Let's just get a grip on the week remaining.  Shall we?

But, likely,
I'll see you in the funny papers.
Promise