This year my Christmas Day was filled with little foot beats, giggles, laughs and a lot of noise, happy noise. My three grandchildren I cared for during the Spring and Summer and their parents spent Christmas at Granny’s house. It has been twelve years since a child spent Christmas Day at Granny’s.
The past years we have celebrated Christmas with family on a day other than December 25. After everyone has celebrated Christmas with their families and others, we would choose a date in January for a feast and gift exchange with us. Christmas Day past has been a quiet day with my husband.
Today, the grandchildren, my son and daughter-in-law started their trip returning home. The house is quiet, the train under the Christmas tree is still. I will miss them, each and everyone, but there is plans for them to visit again in April, and the coming summer.
The past week I have focused on painting snowflake decorations with my grandchildren, playing “Shark Bite”, baking and decorating sugar cookies for Santa. Times of doing chores and petting newborn lambs. Reading a bedtime story. Many meals to prepare and serve, thankfully my daughter-in-law washed the few dishes as paper plates were used for all meals.
Today is the day to change the focus to the approaching New Year. Plans are being formed and changes have to be made. Some of the changes will be sad ones. Thoughts of new adventures in creating income. Memories of this Christmas to help me keep my chin up as I begin a new and change year.
Today, we celebrated the birthday of my daughter’s triplet boys. It is hard to believe they will be a year old tomorrow. They were so very small at just a few ounces over 4 pounds, large for premature triplets. The doctor did not let the triplets reach full term due to the hardship on the mother’s body causing complications for mother and babies.
From a mere 4 pounds they have grown into little boys who are happy, very active and different from each other. When they were born, they were so small and would move quickly, making it necessary to hold them a specific way to prevent dropping them. Most of those attending did not hold them when they were born, due to them being so small and appearing fragile. I was blessed with the opportunity to help the parents care for these small precious gifts, three adults each with one baby helps the feeding to progress faster. Today, I helped one of the boys each their lunch, watching they did not choke on the pizza and spoon feeding them baby food.
They crawl everywhere, stand up with the aide of the furniture or their walking toys. It will not be long before they are walking everywhere. Big Sister is learning to keep her bedroom door closed, so her brothers do not get into her small toys and put them in their mouths.
Big Sister has and is learning to adjust to her little brothers. She had been an only child until she was five years old. Instead of learning to share life with one sibling, she has had to adjust to the demands of three at once. A protective Big Sister she is, making sure to inform and watch anyone around her brothers to be careful. There will be more adjustments for her to make when her little brothers become more mobile and older. I know she will not like her brothers much when she becomes a teenager with her friends or wants to start dating. Can you imagine introducing a potential boyfriend to your parents and triplet brothers?
The house is full of baby things, three highchairs for feeding, three swings when they were smaller, three cribs. There is not only the three of every baby item needed for their care. There is three times the giggles, three sounds to say they are ready to eat, three mouths open for food with two parents to spoon the baby food to the waiting child. Three little ones to hold and love. No one was fighting over a chance to hold the birthday boy today, as there was three to share.
The years ahead will be fun as we experience their continued growth and the challenges of having triplets in the family. Having triplets is not like having three babies born, they have their own little ways of communicating seen since they were born and continuing now.
The temperatures are hot, very hot. The grandchildren went home with their parents the first week of August. I cried the first week they were gone. “Empty Nest” all over again. The sounds of little foot falls in the early morning as everyone is greeting a new day is what I miss the most. There are the video calls to keep up with how they are doing. Video calls such a nice way to visit with grandchildren who grow up in a short time. I did not have video calls when my children were little.
With the grandchildren gone, it was time to catch up on the farm projects. Before they arrived in April, I had started cleaning shelters and doing some reorganization of sheep pens. When they arrived all those projects were put on a very slow snail pace towards completion. After crying for a week, it was time to get to work. Winter and lambing time are going to be here and these projects need to be completed before their arrival.
The hot temperatures and drought in our area hinder my progress of completion. Heat stress on the animals and myself has been a constant concern. In order to avoid heat stress in 110 degree Fahrenheit temperatures, I have to work early in the mornings for just a few hours. My biggest chore has been keeping water full for the animals. Watering the trees and shrubs around my home is done daily, moving hoses and sprinklers. At night, I am exhausted, not from the amount of work I have done, but from working short periods moving hoses, sprinklers during the extreme heat.
Corner Garden Summer 2022
There is no pretty corner garden this year. The time of working with grandchildren and the extreme heat, I could not keep the ground moist enough for the corner garden. The animals needed water more than my little garden spot. But do not fear, I have plans for a fall garden in my little corner. As with every summer, summer will come to an end and the cooler temperatures of fall and winter will soon be upon us.
I have sold several sheep this summer. But any profit has gone into purchasing hay to feed, since I do not have pasture for them to graze. I have plans of planting winter wheat as a cover crop on the pasture for winter grazing, hoping for rain to water the seed and help it grow.
I move forward one day at a time as any farmer does. Getting done what I can each day, with the next day already lined out in advance. Every farmer has hopes that the next year will be better, the weather will cooperate with the plans made. Maybe farmers are a mental lot, always hoping and working for a brighter tomorrow. But I would not be anything different. I enjoy being a sheep farmer, grandmother, mother and wife.
Each writer has times they get writer’s block, or can not seem to find words to share with others. Since April, I have struggled to write. I do not have the struggle of writer’s block, but lack of time. My life is rather busy.
For those who may not know, in April I started caring for three of my grandchildren, ages 11 months, 2 years and 3 years. My day starts at 6 am with a small amount of time to wake up and talk to the Creator for have the strength and wisdom to navigate the day. At 6:30 am, children are waking up, there are diapers to change, food to prepare and children to feed. Then we are outside to move sheep to pasture, feed other sheep and livestock, and fill all the water troughs. Laundry, dishes, food preparations and the ever needing care of the children keep me busy. Finally at 8:30 pm the house is quiet, all are in bed asleep. Now is when I have the time to write, but most days I am so tired my fingers do not want to work, or my brain put sentences together.
I struggled with not having the time to write. I missed the writing. I missed putting my words down for others to read, or the creation of a story that will be come a novel. Writing on my blogs and reading the comments, as well as ready others blogs. After several weeks with the children, I realized my life was in a different season now. The path I am on now is one of being a “Granny-Mom”, and the children are my work or gift at this time.
How long will I be the caregiver for these three small children? Only the Creator knows. I do know that caring for three small children at the age of 60 years is tiring. My mind and body needs rest when the quietness of evening arrives. The time to write will be few. The rewards of caring and teaching three young minds to talk and grow from infant to child are starting to be many. I now only change the diapers on two children. Instead of guessing what the two toddlers want or need, they are using words. And there are times we are working on conversation. Now, my words are verbal teaching, instruction and guidance shaping young minds towards adulthood.
The quietness of evening, when the sun and children are asleep, a time to give thanks for the day, remember the small accomplishments of little ones, and every once in awhile to put my thoughts to words to share with others.
To say it has been easy would not be the truth. Raising children is hard work. Raising grandchildren seems even harder. The first difference I noticed is I am tired. I do not seem to have the energy I did when I was younger. I sleep lighter than I did four months ago. I listen for the cry of a small child, a cough, or tiny footprints as a child gets out of bed. The hard work brings joys on this journey. The learning of a new words. The glimmer of joy and self-esteem in a small child’s eyes the first time they dress themselves for the day. Hugs and kisses at bedtime as they snuggle down to sleep knowing they are safe and loved. There are sounds of laughter and giggling, replacing the sounds of anger and fighting. Kind sounds and words are being spoken in the place of roars, growls and mumbled sounds. Changes made from love and guidance in love and kindness. The Mr. A, the three-year-old, is toilet trained, meaning no more changing diapers for him. Mr. M, the two-year-old boy is interested in the child toilet seat but is not ready for toilet training yet. I now only have two diapers to change at a time, instead of three. Helping to lessen my workload. There is still plenty of work to do. Laundry every other day, bathes every day. Busy boys playing outside get dirty every day. They are busy exploring bugs, birds and playing with rocks and dirt. I purchased some outside dump trucks and loaders for them to use in the dirt. They dig holes in the front yard along with the dogs. I do not mind as it is an important part of learning and exploring. There are times Granny digs in the dirt. Removing thistle plants and cacti from the backyard. They learned that even the cacti pretty yellow blossoms are protected by “stickers” that are removed with tweezers. The reason Granny uses the shovel to put the cacti in the wagon and tells them not to touch. The regular excitement morning and evening of doing chores. Moving sheep to the pasture or returning them to their pens. Carrying their bucket of grain for the horses and helping to push the wheelbarrow loaded with hay. Then the dogs are let out of their kennels to run and play, the perfect opportunity to run with the dogs. Exciting activities for young minds on the farm. Granny spends time reading small story books to them as they sit quietly while little sister sleeps. Flash cards to help learn letters, words, numbers and colors. The working of puzzles or simply drawing and coloring in the coolness of the house, away from the heat outdoors. There is no worry on when to eat. Granny has breakfast, lunch, snacks and supper all ready when the time arrives to eat. A variety of tastes and textures stir their taste buds, some familiar but many are new. Granny prepares a balanced diet for the day to encourage young boys to grow and run and play. In seven weeks, the boys have grown more than an inch each, their checks are round their legs and arms are growing muscle. Granny has purchased new shoes for them both as the ones they wore to her home no longer fit. Their days are full of activity, so when the sun starts to set and rest for the day, they also are ready for a good night’s rest to be ready for the next days activities and adventures. Granny’s farm is a lot of fun, fun in learning and doing. Granny is ready for a little bit of quiet before retiring to bed for much needed rest in order to keep going the next day.
Bloganuary dailly prompt #10: What book has changed your life?
I love books, the smell, texture and endless possibilities of what lies within. I have read books for learning. Books about animals has always been a favorite. History and historical novels are a favorite. Learning new skills in gardening or cooking peak my interest. There have been a few self-help books, one of my favorites is ‘Who moved the cheese?’. Sometimes just some place to go, much different from my own to relax.
I can not there is one or several books that changed my life, but different things in books influenced my thinking and sometimes the way I chose to do things. There is one book that changed my activity as a mother, ‘Farmer Boy’ by Laura Ingalls Wilder. My oldest son was in the third grade, and not reading so well. He really wanted to read ‘Farmer Boy’, but those reading the book were in a much higher reading level group. His teacher called me in for a conference to discuss that my son really wanted to read the book and we were trying to encourage him to want to read. His teacher and I both agreed to let him join the higher reading level group, and I would read the book with him at home. That started a process of reading books with my children that they were required to read in school. Reading the same books gave us something else to talk about and discuss. I followed through with reading books my other three children were reading as well. I did a lot of reading.
Today, my children and I still read and share books we enjoyed reading with each other. What started out as helping my oldest son to enjoy reading and learn to read, became an activity we share still today. Along with my children and I sharing books, my children read books with their children and participate in discussions. Sometimes if it is a book I have read, my grandchildren and I will talk about the book.
Recently, two of my granddaughters requested books for Christmas gifts. I was happy to buy the books as gifts and send them. One granddaughter requested Sherlock Holmes books. I found a set of seven books. I had read two of the books and thought it would be nice to read the other five. I will have more to talk about with my granddaughter.
Books, I have books, love books and enjoy reading. I have passed the love of books forward to my children, they to their children.
This week I was honored with the invitation to attend an ultrasound appointment with my daughter who is pregnant with spontaneous triplets. Spontaneous triplets are conceived without any assistance from fertility drugs or treatments. They were wanting another baby, and was blessed with three.
According to the CDC, triplets happen in 1 out of 10,000 pregnancies. Majority of triplets are conceived with the aid of fertility treatments. Becoming pregnant with triplets without the assistant of fertility treatments is more rare.
They are 28 weeks in gestation, the beginning of the third trimester. Being able to view the ultrasound and see my grandchildren was thrilling. They are crowded inside, moving a lot. They are doing very well. Each baby weighs a little over 2 pounds, total is over 7 pounds. I was able to hear the heart beats of each baby. We were also able to see and hear them practice breathing.
As a mother in the 80’s and 90’s, I only had two ultrasounds during my four pregnancies. Being able to see my grandchildren during this visit was a blessing beyond measure. These three grandchildren bring the number to fifteen grandchildren. I am blessed.
Babies and mom are doing well. We are looking forward to their delivery in September. Prayers and positive thinking are appreciated.
My grandson, J. , has been with me for three weeks. We look forward to the summer weeks we spend together. The time is precious to me when he visits, so I focus on him and making precious memories. This year there were some milestones reached, and my “little boy” is growing up. A sobering undertone realized by both of us on this summer visit.
When he was barely two, he came to live with me for 18 months, part of the time his father lived with us. The start of summer time visits began. Each summer he has come to visit for three weeks to a month. Our visit begins with a long drive, I live in Texas, he lives in Colorado, 15 hours one way. Traveling is not a bad way to start the summer visit, we talk during the drive, catching up on the happenings of the year and making plans for what we are going to do during the short time he is with me. During these visits there are two things we always make sure we do, ride his horse and fish.
The horse he rides is the horse I gave him when he was two years old. My mare I competed in Reined Cow Horse events. She is an awesome children’s mount. This year she turned 16 years old. I purchased him a saddle he has ridden in all these years. When he mounted this year, the stirrups had to be lengthened once more, to the last hole, the longest they will go down. Lengthening the stirrups to the last hole was a visual sign he was growing up, his last summer in the children’s saddle. Next year he will have to ride in my saddle, an adult saddle.
20 1/2 inche channel catfish.
Fishing, my little man loves to fish. His journey began when he was two and would reel in the perch I or Grandpaw hooked. He graduated to an adult pole when he was seven. That year he caught his first big catfish, a 28 inch channel catfish. When he finally got it to the bank, his arms hurt. The fish was longer than half his height. This summer he caught two nice catfish, a channel catfish that was 20 1/2 inches long, and a blue catfish measuring 20 inches long. We use a tape measure to measure the fish, not going to have any “fishing tales”. He has out fished me the past five or six years.
Our fishing hole for the big catfish.
This year, I and Grandpaw have decided to move closer to my daughter, his aunt. That means it will be a two hour drive to our lake, instead of five minutes. He has learned to fish at this lake, and it is where he has caught his largest fish to date. He mentioned we would need to travel back to our lake, at least once every summer. The lake is open to everyone, but there are very few people, if any when we go fishing. We are alone, the two of us, with the lake and wildlife, as if it is our own personal lake.
The lake is a nice place to enjoy our surrounding and to talk. This year we talked about him turning thirteen. He is getting older and will soon want to do something different than visit Granny. He will have a job, a girlfriend, and other things. I let him know when the time comes he does not have time to visit in the summer, it is ok. As a young boy becomes a young man, things change, change is not bad. Living is about change, we learn to do new things and remember the past things we did.
Every summer there is work to do as well as play. He helps with the chores. This year he did the chores on his own. Caring for the animals brings him joy. We also sanded a dresser for my daughter who is having triplets. In the past he has helped me build sheds, paint fence, build dog houses, plant fruit trees and bushes, and care for the garden. This year we worked on refinishing an old dresser.
We also did something he has an interest in, baking and decorating cakes. We watched shows on decorating cakes. He baked a cake for his cousin’s birthday and learned to decorate the cake. His cousin loves strawberries. The cake was a simple white cake made from scratch, not a box. The frosting was cream cheese frosting. The layers were seperated with a strawberry reduction. The pokemon, decoration is fondant. We had fun working on the cake together, sharing ideas and learning.
I have had to learn to share my grandson. This year my daughter, her husband and daughter took him to the ocean for a weekend. He loves the water and enjoyed the visit to the ocean. They also played miniature golf and games at an arcade, while my daughter sat in a room.
Then it was time for the trip home, another 15 hours in the truck traveling home. We make a stop at my other daughter’s family’s home to sleep before going on to his home. This year, his baby sister was born when we arrived at my daughter’s home. So for the last leg of the trip home, his aunt and his other grandpa (my ex-husband) were with us. We dropped him off with his mom. He later met his dad and us, at the hospital to see his baby sister.
We have traveled through good times and bad times, challenges and disappointments in life. The one person he can talk to without any reserves or fears, is Granny. These visits help him to recenter and refresh to handle the challenges that arrive in the year. This year, I realized he has learned the tools to handle any challenge that may come his way.
My “little boy” is growing up, and soon he will be a man. The time of calling my grandson, “my little boy” is coming to a close. He will always remain my close buddy and fishing partner. We have many memories to share.
Each year I drive the long miles to pick up my grandson, Mr. J. He has come to my home each summer since he was four years old. He actually lived with me for nine months starting at age two. Circumstances with the divorce of his parents, and his mother moving to Texas, he needed a place to stay for awhile until she became settled. Granny’s house was a good place to go. Then his father came to Texas and stayed with us for nine months. So, for over a year he lived at our house.
When things settled and his parents found their rhythm in life, he came for visits. The length of time started as a whole month. But as children grow, they have other activities. This year Mr. J will visit for three weeks.
The drive to bring him to Texas and return him home is the worst part of our summertime visit. Two days on the road makes a long trip. On the trip to Texas we talk about the year and catch up. We also make plans for what we will do this visit.
This year, we are fishing and riding horses. His horse is not caring for a baby this year, and we will be able to go on rides. He has been riding her since he was two, they are both getting older. There will come a time when he will not be able to ride his beloved Vicky horse.
Fishing is another activity he started learning at the age of two. We would take him to the local lakes, hook the perch and let him reel in the fish. He has learned how to bait his own hook, take off his own fish, and how to put rigging on his pole. The first day of fishing this year, his first fish was a channel catfish, 20 1/2 inches long, weight 3.5 pounds. His largest fish he has brought to show was three years ago, a channel catfish 28 inches long.
But staying with Granny is not all play, there are the daily chores of taking care of the sheep and horses. We are also refinishing a dresser for his aunt who is having triplets. He has learned how to paint different items in the past visits, but this year he is learning how to hand sand and refinishing an old dresser, and make some minor improvements and repairs.
Two years ago when Covid-19 broke out and everyone was on lockdown, he could not come for summer visit. His mother said he was miserable. She said that would not happen again. His summertime visits are a recharge for him. A time to learn new things and just be a kid.
Mr. J and I have a special relationship, grandmother and grandson, but also best friends. He is able to talk to me about anything and everything, without feeling judgement or getting in trouble. We have worked through some of his hard problems, learned how to deal with emotions,the problems that arise from having divorced parents and step parents.
During our fishing trip, we discussed that these summertime visits will eventually come to an end. He is getting older. One year he will have a job, or be at college, and unable to take three or four weeks visits with Granny. He is getting older, growing up and will eventually have commitments and responsibilities, that he does not have today. Today, we will enjoy the talks on the lake banks waiting for the big catfish to bite, or feeling the rhythmic hoofbeats under us as we ride.
He also realizes that the day will come when his beloved Vicky horse will no longer be able to carry him on a ride, she is sixteen this year. His hope is to ride her filly born last year, when the filly will be old enough to ride. And perhaps, he will be able to train her, be the first on her back for the first ride.
It has been a cherished joy to teach my grandson the many lessons, first to be talk using words, to learning to ride alone, to catching and reeling in a 28 inch catfish. Memories we both will cherish for a lifetime and beyond.
So, if I miss a day or two from writing the next few weeks, I am out fishing or riding or working on a dresser, building more memories to recall in the future and a relationship for a lifetime.
February is when people focus on their love for others and themselves. At the end of every year, I do a self reflection of the year and my life. I have thirteen grandchildren, with one on the way and one in planning.
The sad part is I live so far away from my children and grandchildren. There are times, I feel I do not know my grandchildren, but mostly they do not know me.
On resolution I made for 2022 was to write letters to my grandchildren. To share with them stories of the parents’ childhood and mine. The share memories.
I realize we have email and texting, but that is not the same as getting a letter, just for them in the mail. Think, what do people usually get in the mail? We pay our bills online, very few get paper statements. I get advertisements, credit card and insurance sales pitches, nothing personal.
I remember when my children would get a birthday invitation from a friend in the mail. They were so excited and that was back in the day when mailing something was common. How much more exciting would it be today for a child to get a handwritten letter from their grandmother who lives far away?
I decided to hand write the letters. Hand written letters are not seen with the common use of computers. The easy pecking of the keys to put thoughts on a screen, make a mistake just delete or the computer automatically fills in the words for you.
A hand written letter takes thought to compose the idea and artfully draw the letters on to the paper. The action of writing the letters, words and thoughts is time consuming, but special when received. Each person has a distinct way of moving the pen or pencil to create lines, letters and words forming thoughts. Hand written letters will be giving an actual piece of myself to my grandchildren.
Perhaps I am old fashion, I am definitely older. I remember writing letters and receiving letters from my grandparents. I felt so grown up and special when I opened the letter addressed to me.
Perhaps, some old fashion ways of doing things should not be taken away due to technology and advancements.
Me, Myself and I 