Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Mamaw Mother's Recipe for Happiness

Makayla

Throw in a pot of Reva’s hot chili, a few chips & some dips, a game board, toss in a generous helping of kids, lightly sprinkle with 2 year old Makayla Paige, gently toss in 13 year old Brandon and you have the makings for a night of happiness full of fun and laughter. Serve warm with lots of love, sprinkle kisses on rosy red cheeks and add several arm loads of hugs.

Yes….Once again Saturday night was game night at our house. And even though Reva was kind enough to bring over & share a pot of her homemade chili with us, we didn’t get a chance to eat any of it that night. We did however have it for our Sunday dinner the next day and it was delicious…it was seasoned just the way we love it with a slightly hot taste. Not too hot to make our eyes tear up, but just right. Thank you Reva.

Makayla is the most well behaved 2 year old, as 2 year olds go. She joined us in playing our games and was Brian’s official dice thrower. Each round, when it was Brian’s turn, Makayla would gently shake her tiny hand, squeeze the dice between her two little fingers and drop it with a spin as she gleefully giggled, as little girls do. Then she would patiently wait for her turn again, sometimes quietly practicing her dice tossing technique of course, but, she never tried to grab or take any of the game pieces off the board, which in this case were colorful marbles. Makayla is a bubbly little girly girl, full of never ending energy.


Doug & Tabitha

Makayla is our great-granddaughter by marriage of our grandson Doug to Tabitha, her mother. They were married last February and Makayla came up with a name for me all on her own. She calls me, “Mamaw Mother,” and how she came up with that name, she only knows. I’m not her mamaw’s mother, but I am her papaw’s mother as she well knows. I guess calling me papaw’s mother didn’t sound quite right to her. All the rest of my grandchildren call me grandma, which she hears, but she insists on calling me mamaw mother so I guess we’ll just let her call me that until there comes a time when she wants to change it.


Brandon

After everyone was through with the games Brandon still wanted to play on. But playing with just two is rather boring, so Brandon & I came up with a new set of rules to be used when playing with only two players. The new rules make the game much more challenging and it requires much more strategy to play as well. Brandon & I will have to sit down one day and write the new rules down. They’re really very easy to follow and it makes the game so much more exciting to play with many twists & turns and major mistakes if you aren’t paying close attention…as I found out when I lost big time.

Brandon is our youngest grandchild, there are younger great grands, but he’s the youngest of the grands. He is going through a growth spurt right now and is already about 5 foot 6 inches tall and still growing. His doctor predicts that he will be well over 6 feet tall, which makes Brandon smile…and he does have a beautiful smile. I know I should say handsome, but I think it’s beautiful.

Brandon

Not to leave out anyone…I forgot to mention that Doug & Tabitha dropped in very briefly on their way to work on Saturday night. It’s really too bad that someone has to work, but who will keep Jimmy & I in social security retirement checks if someone doesn’t get out there and work? hehehe. We hear it now takes seven grandchildren working for every grandparent collecting social security retirement checks…so we encourage all of our grandchildren to get out there and find a good paying job just as early as they can. Heaven forbid that we should have to give up taking long vacations, sell our bikes, and go back to work if the checks stop coming. We might even have to give up game night because of work...now that would be really bad!!! Besides, we worked hard all of our lives reproducing like rabbits so we could enjoy the fruits of retirement. So work on grandchildren, work on.

* *******************

Today we spent the whole day riding to Cynthiana and back with little Makayla, Brian & Reva. It wasn't the prettiest of days, but the leaves were beautiful in all their splendid colors. The day was warm, dreary and rainy, but spending time together was nice as it always is. I couldn't believe how the leaves turned colors overnight...well in the last couple of nights to be exact. A couple of days ago while out at Brian's I took some pictures of their beautiful trees and I told Jimmy that here we are, riding miles & miles away searching for fall colors, and all we had to do was come back home to Shady Oaks where Brian & Sharon both live...That's where all the beauty is. I'll post those pictures at another time.

Today our mission was to take Brian to Cynthiana to pick up his new sleep apnea machine and all the gear he needs for a good nights sleep, insert laughing here. Now he's all set to spend lonely nights under that airmask. Yes, lonely nights! Have you ever tried to snuggle up to your partner while wearing one of those bulky, funky looking air masks? You look like some sort of space alien. And your partner doesn't want you near them either especially on a cold night... you're a source of cold air blowing right at them. Cold air blowing in their ears, eyes, in the middle of their backs...brrrr. I'm a snuggler, so this has been very difficult for me. I've been VERY GOOD about sleeping with my own airmask on every night except for one night when I wanted to just be normal again, just for one night...and YES it was worth it although I did wake up with a headache, it was still worth the snuggling and sleeping in my husbands arms all night. Well, enough of my bedroom secrets...

Of course we were running late, because Jimmy took the long way home from Cynthiana, so instead of going straight home we had to make a deteor and head straight over to pick Brandon up from school, before he boarded the last bus ride out. We got there with 15 minutes to spare and that always feels good. Of course we had to light a fire under Jimmy, so he'd drive a little faster. hehehe

Although it drizzled today and spit a little rain every once in a while, it began to pour when we got home. And by pour, I mean really POUR! Suzanne called and told us that it rained here all day long while we were gone. That was really great and I hope it rained south of us in Tennessee and Georgia as well, because they really need it. It is still raining hard here and for that I am thankful.

Another reason I am thankful is that blogger finally let me upload pictures today. I've been wanting to post since the weekend but I like to use pictures. Tonight I finally decided that I was going to post...pictures or no pictures.

So how was your day?

6 comments:

JunieRose2005 said...

Hi Sandy,


Wow! Sounds like it's been pretty lively around your place with all the
Family visits. That little girl looks like a sweetie- and what a handsome boy your Brandon is- and -yes- a beautiful smile!

Granny said...

The mask is right up there with trying to snuggle with someone on 24 hours oxygen. Frustrating.

Brandon is handsome and the little girl is lovely. Sounds like you had a great time.

Jamie Dawn said...

I LOVE all the lovin' that goes on in your family.
That's the way it should be!!
The first paragraph of this post is divine!!
What a recipe!!!!!!
Mikayla and Brandon are lovely kids. Yes, it's okay to refer to boys as lovely & beautiful, because sometimes they just ARE. :-)
How wonderful that Mikayla can be so well behaved.
She is precious.
I sure hope Georgia gets the rain it needs. They are going through such a horrible drought.
It's hitonious indeed!!
Chili sounds good. I think I'll make some for tomorrow's supper along with some cornbread.

Granny Annie said...

You are absolutely correct with your recipe for happiness. Ours call for eight grandchildren in th mix!

My oldest grandchild named me Granny Annie. The second grandchild adapted that to Annie-Annie. My godchildren called me Annie Wannie. I still hear all of those nicknames from time to time.

Alipurr said...

what a sweetie makayla looks like!
great pics

Kerri said...

I enjoyed reading about your family fun and seeing those grands and greats :) Makayla looks and sounds like a little sweetie. Funny how she picked that name for you :)
I'll bet Brandon enjoys being doted on by his sweet grandma :)
Oh dear, now Brian has to go through the torture too? I don't envy either of you having to wear those awful air masks. I'm glad it helps though.