November 25, 2005
Lansing, Michigan and the snow is falling in soft, white, feathery flakes. This Thanksgiving holiday has been different in many ways this year. For the first time in 3 years we are spending Thanksgiving with our oldest son, Jason and his family. I was so excited to have the opportunity to fly up here in this northern state to visit with Jason and Kari. I am especially excited to get to know our two grandchildren, Aidan and Regan.
Aidan will tell you if asked, that he is two and a half years old. He has a very good vocabulary for his age. He announces with enthusiasm, "I don’t drink beer anymore". Something his mom wishes he would not say, but he always gets a good laugh out of it. He picked it up one day from his daddy. The first time he repeated the amusing beer phrase, his parents laughed. Now it is Aidan’s favorite joke. It just proves that you never know when little ears will listen and pick up what is heard. Of course, we try not to encourage it even though it is very cute. Besides we ARE glad he's "kicked the habit". ;-0
Regan is 7 months old and learning to crawl. She has the biggest brown eyes that laugh with her big one-tooth grin from behind a pink pacifier. Her biggest ambition right now is to become proficient at crawling well enough to get to her big brother’s Thomas train before he catches her. It has been a real treat to observe her and experience all that is "Regan".
Aidan is taking a nap right now. Something I was not patient enough to perfect in his daddy and uncles. He likes to hear a story or two while sucking his middle two fingers on one hand and rubbing his own hair with the other hand. I was reading a few stories to him the other night. One of the pictures was of a bear with an astronaut suit on. Aidan calmly professed that he wanted to be an astronaut one day. Pretty big dream for a 2 1/2 year old.
Well I hear Regan waking up from her nap. She is being broadcast from her bedroom on the baby monitor downstairs in the room where we are sitting. She makes quiet sounds as she wakes up and is probably sitting up in bed looking around her pretty room.
The snowflakes are coming down faster and fluffier now. I’m sure that when Aidan wakes up he will want to go outside to build a snowman. Something every little Michigan boy and girl know a lot about.
Time to play "grandma".
November 26, 2005
November 12, 2005
Ride a Bike
Forget the political issues of the day. Forget the work that stares forever in your face. Forget that you have any problems at all. Ride a bike.
Today is a beautiful day. Sunshine and just the right temperature for going outdoors without a jacket and feeling very cool at the same time. As I drove down our street, I passed a young blonde-headed boy riding his bicycle. All by himself, he was braking in the gravel, causing his bike to swerve to the side. He was feeling no pressure of any kind. It was just the day, his bike and no worries.
As I watched him play on his bicycle I was all of a sudden back in Port Neches. I was around 8 years old with braids bouncing on my back as I rode my blue bicycle around my neighborhood. I remembered the carefree feeling of independence as I rode anywhere I wanted. Sometimes I just rode around the block numerous times. On other days I'd ride up to the high school or a couple of blocks uptown to buy a soda from the drug store. I recalled the excitement as I rounded the corner near my house, because that was where the black and white boston terrier lived. His name was "Bullger" and he would always chase me on my bicycle. I didn't like it and was afraid of the dog, yet I was pushed to beat him and outride his approaches. I still recall my heart pumping fast as I would outride him and see him go back into his yard. Victory!
Still, the thing I thought of most as I watched the young boy ride his bike this morning was the freedom he felt to just simply ride. Ah, the joys of childhood. For a moment I was blessed to glimpse back into a simpler time.
Today is a beautiful day. Sunshine and just the right temperature for going outdoors without a jacket and feeling very cool at the same time. As I drove down our street, I passed a young blonde-headed boy riding his bicycle. All by himself, he was braking in the gravel, causing his bike to swerve to the side. He was feeling no pressure of any kind. It was just the day, his bike and no worries.
As I watched him play on his bicycle I was all of a sudden back in Port Neches. I was around 8 years old with braids bouncing on my back as I rode my blue bicycle around my neighborhood. I remembered the carefree feeling of independence as I rode anywhere I wanted. Sometimes I just rode around the block numerous times. On other days I'd ride up to the high school or a couple of blocks uptown to buy a soda from the drug store. I recalled the excitement as I rounded the corner near my house, because that was where the black and white boston terrier lived. His name was "Bullger" and he would always chase me on my bicycle. I didn't like it and was afraid of the dog, yet I was pushed to beat him and outride his approaches. I still recall my heart pumping fast as I would outride him and see him go back into his yard. Victory!
Still, the thing I thought of most as I watched the young boy ride his bike this morning was the freedom he felt to just simply ride. Ah, the joys of childhood. For a moment I was blessed to glimpse back into a simpler time.
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