happiness is...

• Eight well-endorsed, unread paperbacks on my bookshelf
• Open-mouth baby kisses
• Four year olds who get dressed when you ask them to
• An empty dishwasher and a clean kitchen
• Girlfriends, chocolate, and really good port
• Sunlight at 6am instead of darkness
• Not having to wear a coat in the morning
• Friday about 5pm....

happy times...

we just returned from a ski trip to the Sierra Nevada. it was a happy weekend spent with close friends from home and afar. you might recognize this guy as the dedicated writer of the LifeisGoodinTobinHill blog.

Scooby and Scrappy enjoyed all the attention, too. Big G sported a colorful eye after his cheek connected with his ski pole on a mogul. He kinda looks like a bouncer now.

Surprised by joy

The mail came yesterday, and with it, two bright red envelopes addressed to each of the boys. They were mailed by my parents. Yes, my parents. Plural. I have two now. I lost one. I mourned one. Now...I'm back to two. Surprise #1.

Also worth noting, they were mailed two days after their wedding. She had the time and energy to think to buy and mail Valentines to my kids within 48 hours of a wonderful, but exhausting, event. Surprise #2.

Upon reading the sweet Valentines to my two sons, I noted the signature. Love, Papa and Nana. Surprise #3.

I hadn't realized how great a void has been left in our lives by the lack of a maternal grandmother. I mourn my mother's loss, but I hadn't let myself dwell on the far-reaching effects of that loss to my own children. We have a wonderful paternal "Grammie" who lavishes love and delight upon our children, but that's all they have ever known, and truly, all I ever expected them to know. Who could ask for more?

But God gives lavishly, and now, my boys are enjoying the love and delight of a Nana as well.
I still find it hard to believe that she WANTS to take on the love and attention of four more grandchildren when she has such a wonderful batch of her own blood kin to cherish, and yet, she really seems to want us as her own.

My children really will get to enjoy a maternal grandmother, for the very first time.
I'm thrilled, delighted and touched. I just never expected it.
"Surprised by joy" really sums it up.

Worth reading: What Papa himself has to say on the subject of joy.

a thousand words...

How cute is she? Who knew that Mom was a blonde as a babe...and that blonde WAS a babe, was she not?

We are all rejoicing in my father's new-found joy, and will be celebrating with him and his bride-to-be this weekend as they join their lives together. In preparation, his house has been under a major overhaul the last few months and the deepest, darkest closets have been emptied...onto my dining room table. I've been wading through piles of prom dresses and formals, halloween costumes, boxes of photographs, Mom's old sketch books, family photos, jewelry, heirlooms and enough pairs of Dyeables for an entire wedding party. Many, many happy memories have emerged, this photo being one of them. This was taken Christmas Day (um, I want to celebrate Christmas where my kids can run around outside in the sunshine all afternoon in their short sleeves!) approx. 1953. I love the blonde curls and double strap shoes. So cute. Some of the really stellar finds have been:

• My high school prom dress (pink satin...)
• My great-grandmother's wedding ring.
• The only known photo of my great-grandfather, at 8th grade graduation in the early 1920's.
• Mom's sketchbook - dozens of figure studies, hand studies and portraits of my brother and me as babies. I'm going to have fun framing those and sharing them with the rest of the family.
• The dress my mother wore to my wedding.
• My first bridesmaid's dress, circa 1983 (lilac taffeta with LOTS of ruffles!).
• A puzzle of all the counties in Texas that my brother made, by hand, probably around the 8th grade. Why Texas? I have NO idea.
• A photograph of the USS Bainbridge, upon which my Dad served during the Vietnam War
• Several watercolor sketches by my Grandpa B.
• The silver and enamel bracelet Dad sent Mom in a puzzle box from Singapore during the war. He sent the combination two weeks later, but lucky for her, it arrived before the box did.

Happy memories. Life goes on. Joy comes back. Isn't it nice how that works?

he could have said it worse...

The other morning I was cuddling in bed with Scooby as we often do on weekdays. We were nose to nose, discussing his dreams, what we were going to do that day, etc. until Scooby politely said, with a wrinkled nose: "Mom, can you turn your head? You're giving me too much air."

hey, it worked!

I've been stumped as to how my template had gotten so messed up until a very tech-savvy friend pointed out that my funny FBOFW cartoon had misaligned the table. Now fixed, I shall update my booklist and links accordingly! Happy Tuesday.