Weeds and Wisdom

In the quiet moments of the morning I will write a blog entry. Paige is sleeping over at her namesake Great Aunt's house and Emma is still sound asleep. A week from tomorrow they will be packed and ready to leave later in the day. Last night we met and had supper with the woman who will fly home with them. She is the sister of one of my sister in laws and I must say at this point she is very high on my favorite list. I can not even imagine mustering the energy to fly across the country with the girls . I am just about done in. For some reason my reserves seem lower this year. Parenting and grandparenting is not for the faint of heart. Gardening is not either. The weeds are beating me . It only stands to reason that a job that would require a minimum of ten hours a day when given a tenth of that can not be done to my liking. I may have to seriously argue for smaller gardens next year but am not confident that my pleas will be heard. Oh well. Today the girls have been invited to spend the day with neighbors and I will tackle some of those weeds . Just like the uphill battle of so much in life trying counts for something. The sunflowers keep growing upward . We have a brown bunny that keeps running out of the woods nibbling here and there . The chickens seem to like my lettuce and bugs chew holes in potato and squash plants. Nothing is as easy as we would like .Children argue , they push the limits, they stubbornly develop into their own little beings and they wear you out. Complete control and perfection is not attainable and we all need a reminder of that from time to time. Who better than a seven and four year old to teach this tired old grandmother that. And what better than to watch the progress of my row of sunflowers as they grow regardless of a weed or two.

Growing Still

We have reached the halfway point of the girls summer visit this year. Halfway marks are a good place to take stock. I am exhausted. When speaking to other grandparents my age they often say that after a day or two they are worn out so I guess two straight weeks with the prospect of two more can be reason enough for my weariness. bedtime this year for some reason has not been a piece of cake. I think they must still be on Alberta time as evidenced by the fact that I am writing this entry at almost ten oclock in the morning and they are both still sound asleep. I have decided not to make bedtime an issue but that being said I need to get myself to bed before midnight. However the rest of the bedtimes play out I will survive. Reading back to two summers ago in my journal this morning I recall the sense of accomplishment Emma felt when she swam under water for the first time. Now two years later she swims under and on top of the water with great ease and confidence. She made it out and back from the raft twice yesterday , taking help from Monkey and Toad to get out there but swimming back totally on her own. I expect by the end of her visit both ways will be within her comfort level. Two years ago we were toilet training Paige and needless to say that accomplishment is just a given now. I see them grow and develop every single day. What precious little people they are and my exhaustion will be forgotten and replaced very quickly with longing to see them minutes after they board the plane for home. My sunflowers are stretching up as well. They stand in a row now just a few inches off the ground but as the days and weeks go by they will reach higher and I look forward to watching that. I look forward as well to the victories and changes I will see next year in our granddaughters. The challenges will change although I expect Grampie's teasing and "bossy " ways might stay the same. So today I take a deep breath and prepare for the busy day ahead knowing that days like this one will not return and I only get the privilege of living it just this one time.

Keep Growing Toward the Sun

Yesterday I weeded and hoed up the row of sunflowers and observed their progress. Just as the sunflowers continue to grow so do my granddaughters during this summer of 2016. Emma has lost baby teeth and adult teeth have replaced them. She is taller of course and can do things she couldn't do last year. One of those things is read and she takes great pleasure in reading all or part of her bedtime stories this year. Paige is a talkative delightful and very entertaining four year old. We are soaking up her sweet personality so we can remember it when she goes back home and refuses to talk to us on the phone. So as I continue to watch the sunflowers I take pleasure in watching my granddaughters. Not much time to write blog entries on these summer mornings. I must tend to the garden and to caring for our girls as they continue to grow.