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The Dude He Is A Changing

IMG_0981Collin is growing up. This was him last summer being just an innocent that didn’t have much of a conscience. A little boy that was four in a house full of girls.He was at my house quite a bit because the girls needed a rest from him in the summer time hotness and I was home recovering from another knee replacement. He was my little knight in shining armor and I was his damsel in distress. We were a match of rocking chairs creaking and story books of diggers and tractors. He still chose to sleep in Grandma Jahr’s old metal crib after his body would betray him into limpness while cuddled in my lap. This little guy was my promise from God that life could be simple. A kiss could cure his booboos and a smile was all he needed for encouragement. Although each one of his siblings mean so much to me he in his uniqueness lets me know that we are all wonderfully made and boys are boys even in a house full of girls.

IMG_1135This summer he learned how to ride his bike without training wheels. It was the first thing he ever accomplished before his twin sister. Who knew that hand me down Dora bike would hold so much significance in his little existence. I laughed so hard when he told me it was just a practice bike and his bike was in the garage with the trainers still on it. It wasn’t long and he was doing wheelies and riding like he was a race car driver with the checkered flag in sight. He ran his mother over and she went flying in the air that brought a flash back of her doing the same thing to her brother the year she learned. That bike gave him confidence and freedom.

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This year he became a protector of his cousins feelings. They still fight but when she is sad he is sad. I saw him give her one of his beloved tractors to take home when she was crying something unheard of before she was a part of his wheel house. She is his Kinz as he calls her and he loves her just like a sister. He knows how to comfort because of her. I know she will be special to him for all of his life.

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He learned how to wink. The first time he showed me his little eyes were going light a corner caution light because he couldn’t get the one to stay closed but now he has it down. His mom was so proud that she posted it to his dad and Aunt Aimee with the caption—Watch out ladies. This is going to come in handy because on the first day of school he came home and announced he had a girlfriend.He didn’t know her name but he liked her because she gave him a pencil and a color. After much prodding from his mother we found out Adeline was the recipient of his affections. Sweet Adeline you are a lucky girl.

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Gone is that baby and now emerging is this delightful little boy that I so adore. His baby magic smell is now replaced with soap and a smidgen of his dads cologne if he is ever clean and that is rare. He will always be my Little Dude no matter what age. I ache for that little guy sometimes. I miss it. It goes by so fast I just want time to stand still for a few minutes but that is not to be so I must revel in his newness of life everyday and thank God he is healthy and hope he doesn’t blow something up or flood the basement. Whatever he does I hope he knows that I will always love him even when he destroys the garage in five minutes or leaves the hose on outside for two hours. His vices are safe with me. He needs me and I need him. We are a heavenly match on earthly soil and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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Recharging

There was a whole lot of battling going on today after my daughter Alisha left for work. Miss Peaches and the thing we call a dog were at war. She was hollering at him in Chinese (she is trilingual) when he stole a plate she was using to make something that only God and she knew what it was. All I know is it must have been delicious because Peach sounded like an Amish person at a smorgasbord while she was taste testing in her little  kitchen. I was trying to put clothes away when the dog came jumping over the step like a gazelle with the plate in his mouth. I grabbed him and gave the plate back. Disaster averted. One pair of socks put away and he has the stinkin lei she was wearing and it is on again. I was glad I couldn’t understand her at that moment because the German that was coming out of her mouth wasn’t a prayer I can tell you that. She was soooo tricked off. He tore the lei and I had to throw it away and give her another one. Back to the toy room she goes. I think what ever she was cooking was on fire by then. She is working away and I sit and watch her for a minute loving her little ways and listening to her. She can’t say a lot but she is a master when it comes to pretending. It reminds me so much of her mother when she was little. She wasn’t a big talker either at that age. Pretty soon she is immersed in her cooking and so I go to finish putting away the clothes. I am almost done when I hear her bellering TOP TOP TOP CHARWEE. That is English folks. It means stop stop stop he’s got Charlie. This is serious. That dog snuck back upstairs and took Charlie right from her little table where she was entertaining and serving the charred remains of her whatever it was. You don’t mess with Charlie. She is so mad and I am too. The dog is disobeying and it takes me twice as long to get anything done because of it. I finally talk her into going down stairs for a little snack. The phone rings and I am talking maybe five minutes and hang up.

IMG_1181This is what I find in the living room. I knew she was tired. Charlie got left upstairs and Snoopy must have been on the couch.

IMG_1180Guess who else was tired.

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Recharging. I’d say on the seventh day they rested but it’s only Wednesday! Blessings everyone.

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Blame It On The Heat

We have had unbearably  hot weather here in Michigan this last week. I was so looking forward to the storm that I knew would eventually break the heat wave but I never knew it could cause such commotion. So rewind here we go.

Hungarian Work Horse came home from work yesterday with a big grin on his face. He works outside all day and this was the first night in a week that I saw him really smile when he walked in the door. I knew he had a story and I was ready. Sometimes he finds stuff out about the grandkids before I do because our son-in-law Mike works with him. His abbreviated story was that Brooke had to evacuate the house because the smoke detectors kept going off and she didn’t know why. Mike left work in a hurry to help. It seems it was so hot outside and somehow one of the windows in the basement got opened and it kept making the smoke detectors go off. Can you guess who Papa thought the culprit was? I’ll show you a mug shot from this winter.

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We had a bad storm last night and this morning quite early I got a phone call from Brooke that they had no power and she and the kids were coming over. I knew my day wasn’t going to be like I planned and I hopped right in the shower thinking that today would be a good day to take Brooke to see this little Mennonite grocery store I love to go to. I was just getting dressed when the bedroom door popped open and here comes the Little Dude and all he has on is his underwear. His mouth was going so fast with stories about the no power deal I was just cracking up.

“Nana, not a man or a monster open da window but I was wooweed about dat smoke deflector.”

I knew when he said that he never opened the window. He would tell me if he messed with something. Remember I am his girlfriend and he is going to marry me.

Downstairs we go and he is the first in the shower. I help him dry off and people I know what heaven smells like. Little boys that just get out of the shower with shaggy hair and stained feet. I suck in the baby loveliness that will be replaced by dog smell in about an hour. He lets me rock him for a few minutes and then he is off.

We get all the little girls showered and I start telling about the adventure we are going on to my little store. Please don’t judge me but I tell them we are going to a for real Mennonite store and if they look they will see a real Mennonite. Miss P asks if they sell toys there and I answer that she will just have to wait and see. I know she will be my partner when we get to the store because she is so curious about these Mennonites.

We get there and Miss P and Little Dude go with me and we shake Brooke and her two. As we are walking I start to tell her about the Mennonite faith and she asks me if they believe in our God. I tell her yes and let her know that God is everyone’s not just ours. Little Dude is walking a bit ahead of us and he comes running back excited because he thinks he found some pizza ice cream. When we look I start laughing because it is pineapple orange but it does look like pizza on the box.

On our way home Brooke tells me her version of the smoke detector caper. She wasn’t as rattled as her Dad made it sound but she did pack up the kids because she didn’t know why the thing kept going off. Mike had her looking at wiring and everything when she was on the phone with him. She just said it was so hot in that basement she couldn’t believe it and it had a weird smell so she took the kids and left. Mike came home from work and finally  figured out a  window was open and the temperature got so hot in the basement it made the detector go off.She said that they were talking about it later and Miss P was listening. She stated that she and Alexis never opened that window in the back room.

The funny thing about that was nobody said it was the window in the back room.Hmmmmmmmm. It kind of reminded me of a television set that got shot with a pellet gun at my nieces house. Nobody did that either. It must have been a man or a monster.

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Here is a photo of the suspects. Who do you think opened the window and let all that hot summer air in and caused such havoc that their dad had to come home from work to shut a window.

I hope he wasn’t too mad because there is a silver lining in all of this. He got to start his weekend a little early and he got his favorite cheese from the Mennonite store. Let me tell you I don’t care who opened it I love them all and someday when they read this it will come out how it happened. A lesson was learned in the Mennonite store and next time they come over we will thank God for pizza ice cream that tastes like orange pineapple. I am so blessed and sometimes I forget. I let worry take me where I should not go and then I have a day like today that brings me back where I belong. I need to remember to be patient and know that things don’t always happen when I want them to.

image (12)I love you Alisha and McKenzie. We can’t wait to see you.

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Rosie,Lilly,Kirk,And My Sis

IMG_0606My sister Linette left to go back home to Montana and I am sad.That’s not her up there,it’s her dog Abigail.Miss you baby.Tonight as I was watching The Dog Whisperer calm a rabid miniature poodle I sobbed uncontrollably with sadness.Abbey aka Rosie please remember all of the wonderful things that I taught you when you were here and don’t be fighting with your sister.You are the first as I am so lead by example.I know it is hard when your most beloved possession is a pig but you can do it.Pigs come and go sisters do not.

IMG_0605Lilly, my darling you were the sweetest little girl after your hysterectomy.I know what that’s like.I too became more aggressive after I didn’t have to worry about all things female.It was liberating not having to stop at the drug store for Midol every month.Be patient with your sis,I think she acts like she does because she has weight issues.She really does love you even if she doesn’t like to share.You were an angel in my training classes and I will be forever grateful to you for signing up for my new class in the Spring,How To Overcome The Embarrassment of Facial Hair after Your Hysterectomy.

FerbKirk, I miss you too,but please don’t kill any more beavers and send them to us in Michigan.My mom’s mail lady is still in therapy after the package came open and that hyena started chasing her car.Word around town is she is thinking of retiring now.Never in her thirty years of service did she have anything so upsetting happen to her on her mail route.I tried to tell her they were just gloves but she didn’t care.She said the hyena didn’t let up until she threw it her lunch.She had a headache for the rest of the day and her sugar spiked.I know it’s not your fault that you like that kind of stuff.You can’t help but think it is normal after hanging around with those Huttterites.I posted this picture of you for Linette.Back off women,he’s taken.

IMG_0510Oh, my sister that I love how I miss you already.Today at work I walked by the vending machine and saw a Hersey Bar.I started hallucinating that I could hear your voice beckoning me to click my heals three times and I would be in Montana.Thank heavens I then remembered you giving us all a lesson in ear etiquette.Notice how your little granddaughter is bursting with interest.Remember when you laughed at mine when you saw them flapping as we were taking the dogs for a walk?Why click your heals when you can fly with these hearing attachments!

I feel better now.Think of me often as I do you.God’s blessings to you all.I love you and I really do miss you.I hope you had as much fun as I did when you were home.Kirk, please take care of my sis,she is precious to me.She always has been and now you are too.