Ode to Summer, for I simply will not acknowledge an autumn which does not truly begin until the Autumnal Equinox, on the 22nd day of this month sometime in the late afternoon. Yes, school is back in session. Yes, the nights are cooler, some mornings even crisp. But I must sing of my love for the summer until the last verse fades softly, for it is hard to bear the end…
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.” ~John Lubbock
Gavin.
Gavin toyed with an Edward-do, a la Twilight (the movie), before settling on a mop-top later in the summer. He is such a sweet, freckle-faced kid. He turned me into Nonna 6 years ago this summer. This summer we went to the nursery together and I helped him put together his very first, very own planters of flowers and tomatoes (a passion we share). He changed my life forever.
Hunter.
My little inquisitive, curious, talkative, adventurer, Hunter, will be 5 soon. He questions everything, knows something about all topics and is growing like a weed. This was the summer I had to make a lot of deals with him to get photographs. If I take one of him, he gets to take one of me. He is the perfect mix of both his mommy and his daddy and he always asks me, “Did you miss me while I was gone, Nonna? Are you so glad to see me again?” I so did and I so am.
Guinivere.
I call Guini my flower girl. She loves beautiful blooms and picks them every chance she gets. She likes to play “flower shop” when she comes to visit. She is quiet, but decided, mysterious and cuddly – but you have to be ready to drop everything for the magic moment, for it can be fleeting. We hang out, she’s my girl.
Gemma.
This was the summer of Gemma in the quinitessential yellow sundress. It matches her vibrancy and her spirit. I wanted one just like it! She is hilarious and she is two. She is very good at it. But she is also very helpful. She sunscreened herself before outings, or during “naptimes” or whenever she could – a lot! She’s my little “sweet petite,” who cannot keep her jeans up since she started wearing big-girl undies!
Averi.
Averi-baby is on the run. All. the. time. Except when it is time to eat. She and I share that hobby! From certain angles, I feel like it’s the early 80’s and I’m chasing Tredessa again. She loves to wear (and break) my reading glasses and when mommy and daddy go somewhere, she asks me, “Where’s mama? Where’s Rocky?” Every now and then while we are running around the backyard together, she will stop and tell me the most hilarious story and uproariously laugh at her own joke. It cracks me up.
These are the 5 smile-bringers of my summer. Of my life. I don’t deserve them, and yet they are here. And all they do is bring me joy.
“Grandchildren are God’s way of compensating us for growing old.” –unknown
They do make life grand!
Guinivere Eden.
Guini jumps on my lap, wraps her arms tightly around my neck and with an almost-urgency says, “I need you, Nonna.” I look to see if a boogey-man has been chasing her, but I see no one. I ask, “What do you need?” She tells me, “I just need you, Nonna.” I am overcome with gratefulness that she does. I hug her tightly back. The moment vanishes and she off to play again.
Hunter Douglas.
Hunter tells his mommy, “I need to speak to you in regards to…” He is four. What does a four-year-old know about “regarding?” Today he is busy cutting out paper crosses. He says he wants to put them all over the ground at Heaven Fest so that people will be able to worship Jesus there.
Gavin Lee.
Grandpa will be taking Gavin to school while his mommy is at the dentist. “It’s almost time to go,” Grandpa tells the little red-head. Gavin looks his grandpa up and down. “I think you forgot to change your shorts…and that shirt,” he says, clearly concerned that his grandpa will not be meeting the fashion standard at the schoolyard. Dave is wearing a orange t-shirt (which I ask him not to wear, but he believes to be quite comfortable on his work-at-home days) and some navy stretch shorts (which, though they are the closest things you can wear to pajamas in public, are nice). I laugh my head off and wonder whatever Gavin will think of us by the time he reaches 1st grade next fall?!?
Averi Jadyn.
“O wow o wow o wow o wow,” Averi said to me the other day. Despite the remaining fullness in her cheeks, both those seen and unseen, Averi is getting taller and thinning out, growing into her baby weight as she darts from room to room as quickly as her little legs will carry her. Averi’s true passion in life is putting all her new teeth to work. She loves food with great zeal and loudly mourns the end of every meal or snack time. This, I am certain, she inherited from me.
Gemma May.
What a saucy little redhead! When she walks in a room, it is with great fanfare as she invites, “‘Ook at me! ‘Ook at me!” Then usually, and with great authority, she’ll spew some cursory commands at Sandy-the-Dog, who wishes for nothing more than to slink from Gemma’s sight before her tail is yanked on unmercifully or Gemma hops aboard for a ride. Gemma’s life is spent in pursuit of any reason whatsoever to laugh. She never fails to respond to my affectionate “I-love-you” with a very bright response in her quivering little lamb voice: “I wuv you!”
Who knew it could bring this much?…Jeanie-the-Nonna
Pictured, left to right: Averi, 8 months; Hunter, 4; Guini, 3; Gemma (in Gavin’s grasp), 1; Gavin, 5
O God, thank-You for these, my amazing five! They’re the reason I was born! They are my heritage-the gift You have given me. The eternal things I place in them are the legacy I will leave.
I pray Your Word will always be in their mouths. I pray that Gavin and Guini, Hunter and Gemma and Averi will grow up hiding Your Word in their hearts and will choose, even now, to serve You and You alone. I pray these five, my little amazings, will seek You for wisdom and will receive knowledge and understanding from Your heart for their lives. May their worship rise to You. May their song reach Your ears and bring You joy.
Thank-you for the gift of them, Lord. I will tell my grandbabies of Your faithfulness. I will declare Your great works to this generation. I am watching for the spiritual harvest, Lord. Because I am sowing to the Spirit – I am watching for the harvest…
I am so honored God has brought me this incredibly noisy, full and increasing heritage. He is making all my dreams come true…Gavin, Guinivere, Hunter, Gemma and Averi’s “Nonna”
NOTE TO SELF: I have earned the gray hair and grandma wrinkles-even if I don’t yet wish to avail myself of them.
“Enjoy the good life…everyday of your life. And enjoy your grandchildren…” Psalm 128.6 The Message
You recognize that quote, right? It is exclaimed by the saintly Tiny Tim at the end of the Charles Dickens’s classic “A Christmas Carol.
Three
We have tiny people around our house often these days, our grand-kids: Gavin 3, Hunter 2, and Guinivere 1. Our tiny ones have yet to declare “God bless us, every one,” but they are bringing great delight to our hearts in the glow of the tree this Christmas season. And oh, we are blessed by them!
Gavin knows what a cotton-headed ninny-muggins is…(do you?) Gavin, who has watched “Elf” at least 47 times in the past few weeks and made us watch along many times. The best was last night, though, when he reached over to gently hold my hand. As we watched this silly grown-up, pre-school-ish Buddy the Elf character played by Will Farrell, I apparently began to nod off. Gavin whispered, “Don’t go to sleep, Nonna, watch with me,” and then he reached over and hugged me and held my face for a moment to look into my eyes, making sure they didn’t close again. Melt…
When I suggested maybe he would also like to go to sleep, he politely whispered, “No thank you.” I stayed awake at my post, holding his hand and watching “Elf.”
Gavin’s mommy and daddy are making sure he grows in his understanding of Christmas and God’s great gift to mankind. His Jesus-awareness has increased. I found this out recently as he responded to my inquiry “Is there anyone in this car who wants french fries?’ as we hit a Wendy’s drive-through. Gavin piped up, “Yes, Jesus does!”
Hunter is picky about his Christmas confectionsIn spite of the fact that when Hunter discovered, just this past Wednesday, that he did not like chocolate-covered-cherries and flailed the partly chewed brown and red gooey ball at me in utter disgust, he is pure delight! At 2 years old, this little prince is destined to give that Tiny Tim a run for his “God-blessing-quoteable” money.
Hunter loves to lift his hands and “praise Jesus!” He sometimes seems reserved, almost contemplative (not the usual description of a boy at 2), but I suspect there may be a hell-fire and brimstone preacher coming. Even now, he powerfully gestures and declares and holds an audience spellbound. At a recent CD release party, Hunter was heard singing, with all his little might, “Fire fall down…fire fall down on us we pray...” with his arms raised into the air as high as he could get them.
Hunter’s recent “discovery” of “Toy Story” and Woody and Buzz Lightyear has made that movie new again. The other night when just he and I were hanging out, he was rummaging through our basket of Christmas movies and with great joy informed me, “Nonna, look – it’s ‘Woody 2!’ ” No, I don’t believe he was saying “it’s Woody, too…” I am certain he had heard rumors there was a sequel and knew he had found it. He gets the movie numbering system. That’s the kind of mind he has.
Cuddlebug Princess
Guinivere is the princess. She says, “Hi,” a lot and very brightly, like she really means it. “What’s that?” is her favorite question. And there is a lot of other jabbering, too, which seems to be her own secret language, but is spoken fluently by big brother Gavin and cousin Hunter. Everyone in the family thinks that Guini loves them best (although I am sure in my case, it is true) because of the way she comes up to me and raises her arms like I am the answer to all her prayers. She wraps them tightly around my neck while pressing her chubby cheek to mine. Then she’s off, spreading the love, making others think she loves them the most.
Then this happened…
Seeing Santa Claus A few days ago, their mommies and aunts and I packed up Gavin and Hunter and Guini and took them to a small room at United Power, where it was rumored that Santa Claus would be making a visit. We all acted excited about it, so the kids humored us and got all enthused about it, too. There were hordes of beleaguered parents and ornery kids being forced through the room in a tight maze created by tables. Up and down the aisles we went, like cattle being led to slaughter, all for the treasured keepsake photo of our little ones with Santa Claus.
Some families had all 2.3 children dressed in matching reindeer sweaters and were perfectly coiffed, with shoes shining and teeth straight. Others had kids with snot running down their faces and their hair standing straight up due to static electricity, with one shoe untied (is this fair – should the kid with snot have to have static in his hair, too?).
Getting all the way to Santa Claus was long and arduous. How did we keep their eyes on the prize? Because across the room you could see the man in the elf hat with a plate of cookies and a table full of candy canes. So we stayed in the line with 238 people in front of us, 867 behind. Guini waved and said “hi” quite merrily throughout, even though it was just the same group of people over and over, up and down the maze. She thought everyone was there to receive her love and friendship.
Finally, it was our turn, our moment with Santa. It was the moment I would get the perfect picture of my 3 adorable grandchildren, sitting atop the Claus’s knees, smiling, delighting him with their gift requests. I daydreamed how I would show the picture to all, the symbol of our perfect Christmas 2006. And soon, the icing on the cake: cookies and candy canes.
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photo taken a split second before Guini began pummeling Santa to within an inch of his life
And now, in this corner, weighing in at only 21.5 pounds… Well, when Tara put Hunter on Santa’s knee, he began to cry. Big, wet, grievous tears spilled from his face. Gavin got less thrilled about the whole thing the closer he got to this big furry-dressed man. But he politely smiled and stood close, but not too close to Santa’s knee, refusing to even look at the gentleman. At this point he was wondering why we had all been so excited. Guinivere, “Miss Friendly”, let out a bone-chilling scream of protest when she was placed on Santa’s lap. All the people squished in to that room, including Santa’s helpers stopped dead in their tracks. We held our breaths…
The photographer looked panicked, but was somehow able to snap the fastest kid/Santa photo known to mankind just a split second before Guini turned around and began beating Santa in his big, fat, acrylic, fuzzy, fake beard for all she was worth. They had to call security. But doggonit, we didn’t leave without our cookies and candy canes. So, you know, it was worth it. Tiny Tim has nothing on my grandbabies!
Blessings! Jeanie
NOTETO SELF: Watch with them, pray with them, squish cheeks with them…get cookies and candy canes with them by any means available! And remember – Jesus is in the car with me. And He may want fries. :)