The Kid Is A Big Fibber



 

Today is The Kid's birthday.  He is 12.  TWELVE!!  Enough about that.  Let's talk about how adorable of a baby he was.  Look at us.  (What happened to me?)  The Kid is not very old in this picture.  He already owned most of my heart.  He could be found in my arms whenever I could steal him away from his Mother. 

 

Here is The Kid on one of our many adventures.  This is Starved Rock.  Look at that cute face.  So young.  Still loving adventures.

Or this one.  Another adventure.  This one to Green Lake, WI.  Grammy and her sweeties took this adventure.  We were on a yacht trip around the lake.  The Kid was loving all the history. 

This adventure was great.  I would do it again!  We went to Niagara Falls.  In this shot The Kid is looking at Lake Erie.  We want to see all the Great Lakes together.  Still have two left.

Here we are at the falls.  I'm holding tight so he does not fall into the water.  (I might be a tiny bit afraid of heights.)  Look at that adorable little face.  Still loving his adventures.

Here he is looking at Lake Ontario.  Same adventure.  Two Great Lakes.  We like to multi-task on our adventures.

This adventure took us to quite a few states.  The Kid is looking at Mount Rushmore here.  We had such an amazing time.  Saw so many places. 

This is a local adventure.  Several years in a row we went to Gebhardt Woods and hiked along the canal.  Easy adventure.  One we all enjoy.  (Did not happen this year.)

This adventure included his Mom, sisters, and cousins, no Popop.  This is our surprise trip down south.  The Kid playing in the Atlantic Ocean. 

Same trip.  The Kid at Fort Tybee.  We have been to a few forts on our adventures.  The Kid and Popop share the love of history.  I go along.

I think this picture was on our last big adventure.  We went to Arkansas and stopped in Branson to see the Titanic Museum.  Big smile on The Kid's face.  He loves the Titanic.

That was our last adventure.  This past summer was spent getting my shop open, watching The Kid grow.  TWELVE.
The Kid is taller than me now.  No surprise.  Not a major deal.  We all saw it coming.  I'll be impressed when he becomes taller than his Mom.  Thrilled if he outgrows his Uncle.  Loving it if he becomes taller than his Popop.  He has the looooong arms like his Popop and Uncle. 
This year The Kid became so handsome.  It takes my breath away. 
It was the year I lost my twin.  No more Friday nights side by side on the chair reading books.  No more Friday nights having The Kid spend the night.  Listening to him talk about whatever his latest obsession is.  Listening to him plan where he wanted our next adventure to be. 
I have always known what to buy him for his birthday.  I mean, he was my twin.  We spent so much time together.  I always knew well in advance what he wanted me to buy him.  Now I rarely see him.  I get to stand on the sidelines watching him live his life.  Running track.  Playing baseball and basketball.  Giving amazing speeches.  He would rather stay home with his electronic devices than hang with Grammy at the shop.  The Kid is 12.  He is out there living his life.  Too busy to hang with a Grammy.  Does it make me sad?  No.  I want him out there having a great time.  Do I miss him?  Like crazy.  Friday nights are not the same.  Sure I can have a little girl on my lap.  Not a twin.  Now The Kid has his adventures with his friends.  That is how it should be.  Does not change the fact that promises were broken.  The Kid promised to stay 4.  He promised he would stay 6.  Now he is 12.  Sounds old.  He is growing up too fast.  Hope we can get a few more adventures out of him!
Happy Birthday Kid!  Love You More!!  (Slow down!)

What Being A Grandma Means

If you are a Mom, you will understand what I am going to talk about.  When your child is sad or someone hurts them, a Mom hurts all the way to her soul.  When people are cruel to our kids, even adult kids, it hurts so bad.  We always want to protect our children and know they are safe and happy.
As a Grammy, the feelings are not quite the same.  When people are cruel to my grandson, I really want to beat the snot out of them.  Unfortunately, Tru Stories will not let me.  I'm just saying, she is not always around. 

The Kid Turns 10

Years ago, my grandson, The Kid made me a promise.  He promised to stay my little boy.  He said he would stay 5.  He said he would stay 6.  He said he would not move into double digits.  He did it anyway.  He has certainly not stayed little. 
I was born to be a Grammy.  Practiced on my children.  Practiced on many, many, many children that were in my home daycare.  The older my children got, the more I was ready for a baby.  When The Kid came into our life, I was a happy Grammy.  I fell in love with him instantly.  Grew to love him more everyday.  He and I formed a special bond that still exists.

I was not the only one that was happy to have The Kid in my life.  Popop was a happy guy too.  He was not happy with his name.  He wanted to be, GRANDPA.  Just, GRANDPA.  He had told us many times.  No cute name.  When The Kid started calling him Popop, he was sure it was temporary.  As soon as The Kid could say Grandpa, everything would go as planned.  Then one day, clear as could be, The Kid said Grandpa.  Just not to my Hubby.  Like it or not, Popop had a silly name.  Still has it.  This is not what Popop was waiting for.  He does not enjoy holding little babies.  He wanted his grandson.  One he could have discussions with.  Talk about birds.  Share knowledge. He has that now.  Even Popop mentioned double digits were not suppose to happen.  At least not this fast.

We were not the only people in our family waiting for The Kid to arrive.  Look at this happy guy.  Uncle loved his new role.  He enjoyed spending time with The Kid.  He even did some babysitting.  That big smile on Uncle's face shows up in quite a few pictures when he is holding The Kid. 



Ten years ago today, our lives were forever changed.  Every Friday Popop asks if The Kid is coming to stay.  It is not a perfect Friday unless we have pizza and The Kid.  I love when we sit side by side reading.  He brings us so much joy. 

Here is what confuses me.  Ten years ago our lives were forever changed for the better.  One more person to love.  One more person to make us smile.  Kid you bring us so much joy.  My heart overflows with love for you.

The thing I do not understand is, how could so much joy cause us to age so much.  What happened? 

Happy 10th Birthday Kid!  I love you more.  Always have.  Always will.

A Surprise Visit From The Kid

I do not think I have mentioned enough lately how much I love The Kid.  He is really something.  Yesterday he played a great baseball game.  Today he made the Top 5 Readers in third grade.  In reality he should be much higher than 5th.  He reads all the time.  The problem is the way this contest is set up.  The students have to read chapter books and be tested when they finish the book.  The Kid likes to read books of facts or encyclopedia type books.  He likes to learn from his reading.  I would be thrilled if I could tell you he was the Number 1 reader in third grade.  But.....I would much rather tell you that my grandson reads for enjoyment and learns while he is doing it.  I do not want him to compromise his joy of reading to win a contest.  He does not need a gift card to Barnes & Noble.  I think he has an in with someone that will buy him books.
Today The Kid could not wait for me to get home from work.  He wanted us to sit outside and read.  We went to my front patio.  Unfortunately, I started looking at my flowers.  That lead to some weeding.  Sweeping the patio.  Finally, I was reminded we were outside to read.  Something I have not been doing enough of lately.  Put my passion for reading higher on my priority list.  It brings me joy.  Sitting side by side on the patio reading with The Kid, major joy!!
I hope that years down the road The Kid will still remember to make time for reading.  I hope that he will still have that passion.  I hope that once in awhile when he picks up a book  he will remember sitting on the patio side by side reading with me.  Most importantly, I hope he and his wife consider a great date going to the bookstore.  I hope once in awhile they shut the TV off and sit side by side reading. 
Why not take this one step further.  I hope he reads on the airplane to relax as he flies to his next professional basketball game.  Don't let him know I said that.  He will say, I don't want to be a professional basketball player.  I want to be a Geologist or a Marine Biologist.  He is a great kid.