ENORMOUS "Little" Things

For this week's Five on Friday (click on the link to see more of Amy's wonderful meme!) I want to get a little philosophical for a change.  A little bitter-sweet happy-sad in my thoughts.  Thoughts about children.  As I look at our grandson now my heart hurts.  At 13 his voice has changed and he is almost as tall as his mother now and he is no longer the little boy I have always cuddled with and read to and spoiled as much as I could, and smothered with kisses and hugs.  He is becoming a young man.  And though I look at him now with awe and pride, and see him growing happily into what he will become...there is a tinge of sadness there that the little boy is gone.  It is the way of parents to go through this with their children (we did so with his mother as she moved from little girl to lovely teen and then to wonderful adult) and of grandparents with their grandbabies.  His mother is feeling it too as she looks at him.  We have all moved on to the next phase, and boy, as I said, it is bitter-sweet, happy-sad.

1.  So, for "one" of my five, I offer you the little guy...

In Texas with my pet rooster, Lonesome George

With his Grandaddy at the Patriotic Concert at Festival Hill in 2004

In North Carolina, playing with snow on his sand table

Also in North Carolina, checking out his stocking on Christmas morning

Another Christmas, showing off a handmade ornament

With Mommy, starting kindergarten

2.  Last week we had Vacation Bible School at my church.  I was only signed up as a "floating helper" and because I was sick earlier in the week, only ended up attending the last two days.  It is always a HUGE blessing.  We have a wonderful church of sweet Christians, who go all out for these kids.  The theme was "Outer Space" and the kids all seemed to really enjoy themselves, and learn a lot about the Lord.  I am always pretty taken with the Pastor's adorable little grand-daughter.  Missing my "little girl" who is long past being grown, and not having a grand-daughter, I radiate toward this little charmer.  Everyone does at the church.  She isn't even two years old and yet is always right in there with the older kids, trying everything they are doing.  I watched her delight in throwing water balloons with the other kids.  With the girl-boy rivalry in the auditorium over the amount of pennies brought in by each for the missionary, each group would holler "Boys" or "Girls" about who would win.  I watched her sitting in her Daddy's lap, yelling with the rest of them, throwing her arms up with her hurrahs. Just TOO cute!  Then there was the missionary's 18-month-old son, in his Dad's arms as he led the singing, and he was moving his arms around like a song-leader, just like Daddy.   Just melted my heart!  Later the little guy had a piece of pvc pipe and while Dad sat at a table talking to the older boys who were doing a wood-burning project, the little guy sat there humming into the pvc pipe, like he was making music. Again, TOO cute!  These little moments of innocence, of sweetness....of learning and growing are the ENORMOUS things in life.  Such little ones, like my daughter and grandson when they were small and like these two toddlers this past week are the bearers of shining moments of pure joy, and make life's trials melt away.  I told you I was going to get philosophical! :-)

3. Oh, but there is so much promise and joy in a thirteen-year-old as he faces the future.  And such love still for his Grandmother, that it warms my heart!  I need that boy's love, and I know I will always have it.  He means so much to me!  And I know I will be proud of the man he is going to become, just as I am proud of his mother. I had planned to take a picture of him this week with his Mom to show you how much he has grown...but well, that didn't happen. :(  Maybe soon.


4.  So, for "four" I will move on to other little things: (Here is a teaser of a couple of shots, with more to be posted later...)

After seeing one set of baby quail with their parents early in the year, I kept hoping we would see more, because my photos of the fuzzy balls were very inadequate.  And it's so cute always to see babies.  Finally, a bell-shaped seed feeder I had put out for a while  was noticed and we have started having daily visits from a Gambel Quail family! Here is Papa Gambrel Quail and the little ones. (More photos will be shared later)

5.  And finally, I had planned to use "five" as my announcement that I was going to take a little time off, maybe five or six days, to finish some projects before the end of the month.  Only, I've already been taking time off every day to get these accomplished, and then keeping my big toe in the blogger water.  I am drastically behind in getting back to you all after your comments on my posts (about three weeks!) so I hope you'll forgive me.  I am getting even more behind as I finish these, and I guess I'll say I need about three days off now, so I will take it.  I promise I will try to get caught up with everyone as quickly as I can!  And to give you a "little" taste of what I've been doing, here is a pj set and toy bunny I made for the Children's Home...