When you have six grandchildren under the age of 5, five of those under the age of 3, you can plan all you want, but they dictate the events of the day. Well, lets say, even their parents dictate!
My Joshua, he is the one who encourages me like my Benjamin, brought it all about. Don't we all need those who openingly voice their love for what you are doing or encourage you on when you want to just set down and say "NO!"? Well my Benjamin wins that prize first and Joshua comes in second. Weeks before Thanksgiving Joshua looked up at me and said, "Grand Mommy, how much longer before I come to your house for Thanksgiving?" To be honest, I wasn't in the mood, I really had too much on my mental plate to desire kicking into gear for a large group for Thanksgiving. Let me just tell you one thing!!! That little boy's question put gas on my very little flame and made it explode. My mind started going 90 to nothing, what could we do this year that would be memorable?
Then there is my Benjamin. I had decided to dye my hair just a day before our adventure to celebrate all the November birthdays, our gift to the four of them. I have posted before how much I hate worrying about my hair. I hate to schedule and have it cut, I never know what to do and I hate deciding if I should let it go totally grey or not. I hate to dye it and leave it for a year, to giving into the dying. Which I gave into and bought a box, after 30 minutes in the grocery store trying to see which color to use....of course, I picked wrong. So for all the Thanksgiving events, I would look like "witchy poo" in dark, almost black, hair! Benjamin came to my mental rescue telling me it didn't look bad, it looked good! So, my two little men keep their mother/grandmother motivated.
Our week of Thanksgiving started with taking the new 3 year olds to see animals at a drive through ranch. Now, if you don't know by now!, this Texas girl loves her outdoors. I have even slept on my own trampoline in order to view the star! So I experienced my own slice of heaven, with three of my children, one daughter-in-law and four grandsons. This really is an experience we will repeat again and again. God's creators at our finger tips!
I planned out every detail for our Thanksgiving gathering. You all know the routine, you clean your house...so they can get it dirty, you cook and keep thinking is that enough? You plan things to do...you pray and pray! This year I moved my dining room tables into our den and den into the dining room so we all could be in the same room. They all arrived and everyone has their own agenda. You know...different time schedules, different desires for play, want to set in different places, different food and different ways to do everything! What joy! We are all so different and the more noise and dishes means we are alive!!!
This year I prayed before our meal, among the moving, crying, eating, because they were starving, among the events of human life! Not something we have done before, but what God had placed on my heart. Bill normally leads our prayer. Each mother at the table prayed over her family and we lit a candle.
Our turkeys ran everywhere. When they all left..which was the afternoon, naps needed to be given for those little boys, I crashed!!! A good crash, but still crashed. We are a family...we have many bumps and bruises and will continue to add more. Nothing will go perfect, things will be spilled, people will be late, someone will offend someone, not on purpose, but it will happen. But in the end...everyone returns to their own homes, the kids are exhausted and memories are made!
It is called ------------------------------ FAMILY!!!!
I pray you all experienced the same. The grace of God on all our messes and the joy of knowing He is writing our stories. Prayers spoken among the noise of life, and a God who hears and promises His Word will not come back void, makes all gatherings special.
Blessings as we all end November to enter the season of Advent.
I want to blog on what happened on Saturday. The story of two very different women standing face to face, with one very important thing in common. Stay tune!
I'm sure you were ready for a nap. But how wonderful you could all be together, brave grandma with all those little ones. Someday they'll be teenagers and maybe they'll clean up the kitchen after your meal!
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing like the blessing of family! Sounds like a wonderful time.
ReplyDeleteHi dear Janette,
ReplyDeleteIt's been a while since I was here, probably years. And all of a sudden, you have six grandchildren. Wow... has it been that long, really? I myself have four grands now, so I guess that's right. It's been a while.
I loved reconnecting with you through this post. What a treasure family times are. Thanksgiving is a big event... but now there's Christmas!
Thanks for dropping by my blog place. "It was a pleasure having you on board..." See you around again soon...
Love
Lidia
Oh, I only had two under 2 and I crashed once they left. It's just hard when they are under foot and you are trying to do the necessary preps for meals. But, as with you, a lot of memories were made, I've recovered and now on to the next thing. Happy week!
ReplyDeleteJanette it sounds heavenly! I love those turkey toes! So stinking cute!
ReplyDeleteSounds like the mayhem that comes with many. Many is a great blessing and I am sure that memories have been made. I related to your story about pulling yourself together for the day as a gift. I thought I looked so cute, then I saw the pictures. Ha!
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice post and what a very nice gift from God. I am so glad you had such a great Thanksgiving. I love that turkey.
ReplyDeleteYour grandchildren are amazing.
God is so good. Thanks for sharing.
Well you know I can totally identify with this whole post. We gathered altogether on the Saturday after Thanksgiving this year as most of my kids were at the inlaws this year. Anyway, with all of us it is total chaos most of the time. There are 5 of the them 5 and under and a couple of 7 year olds and a couple of 12 year olds and a 10 year old and a few teenagers thrown in for good measure, and that's not counting all the adults, lol. But even though it was loud, messy, confusing at times, and did I mention loud, it was all done and over the next day and we went back to silent and neat, lol. The memories were made, good times were had, and I love every minute of it. Sooo glad you enjoyed and I love love and appreciate your honesty. Hope your December is off to a good start!
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