Really Neat Memory

I just had a memory pop up out of nowhere...

I was very close to my paternal grandparents growing up. My grandmother went Home less than a year before I met Jesse. My grandfather joined her the fall of Katrina. But he got to meet and spend some time with Jesse. I'm so thankful for that :) I miss them both terribly still. Just writing this is bringing tears to my eyes... I dream about them sometimes, that I'm at their house, feel their love surrounding me, just like it did during some rough times in my life...

Anyway. My grandparents watched my brother and I after school/Mother's Day Out for a couple years. One afternoon I was working on social studies homework. I was probably in 6th grade. It was a map that had to be colored in with colored pencils. I don't remember the details, but there was a set color for each section. I really wanted to finish it but my colored pencils had very little points left. They were worn down to the wood. I asked my grandparents if they had a pencil sharpener. Grand-daddy said they didn't but that he had something in his tools he could use. So he took my whole pack of colored pencils out to the garage.

Time passed. He was still out there. I went to see what was taking so long.

He was standing out there with his pocket knife, shaving the wood from each pencil by hand, until it had a good point on it. I got upset and told him it could wait till I got home and I could use my pencil sharpener. But he insisted. He stayed out there and worked on them until almost the whole pack was nice and sharp. He wasn't young. His hands must have been tired. They were probably hurting, if not cramping. But for some reason it was important to him that he did that for me :')

I wish that I could give him a big hug again and tell him thank you. It was in the little things he and my grandmother did that I felt their love, and God's love. They are a huge part of why I'm a Christian today.

I wish they could see me and my life now... I hope they would be proud of me... <3

Big Dietary Changes

For those of you who don't follow my health blog...

A few weeks ago we did a 9-day fast from obvious wheat. When I reintroduced it, both boys and I had reactions :( So we are now wheat-free. I'm not being real particular about avoiding gluten in any form right now. The boys will be getting bloodwork done to test for celiac disease. I'm waiting to hear back from their pedi's office about when they'll do it (their pedi is out of town right now). After we get the results back, we will hopefully have enough info to make some big decisions. Until then... We pray.

Special Moment!

Sometimes the joys of parenting are about the little things... The things you don't expect to make you feel warm and fuzzy.

We live in south Louisiana. It's Mardi Gras season and we live very close to where the parades pass. Today we were in very slow stop and go traffic along the parade route. Gabriel pointed and said Truck! I looked over and we were next to a parking lot full of RV's. People come from out of town in RV's in the time leading up to Mardi Gras and park in small "communities" in parking lots.

I found unexpected joy in explaining to the boys what RV's were, their similarities and differences to hotel rooms, etc. Instead of being frustrated that it was taking a long time to get where we were going, I took advantage of a teachable moment.

My reward was Ethan's fascination, and the knowledge that little moments like these deepen our connection to each other...