So Much to Love (and alas, to leave) in Ohio

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Our granddaughter Anya loves to draw. Inside and out. With every medium and on every kind of surface.

Gentle Readers, as you know if you’ve been popping into my little corner of the internet now and then, the kids and I drove to Ohio this week to be with Andrew, Sonia, Anya, and to meet the new dewy-skinned princess Eleanor. If you remember, we drove out here in February with hopes of being of assistance when the blessed event took place, but Eleanor–for her part–was in no hurry at all, and we drove home several days after her due date, our arms empty and unbabied, because we had to go home and pack up for our trip to New Zealand.

And no, we are not big world travelers, at all. We are actually big stay-at-homers, but this year has been different, with several back-to-back trips! Amalia, Mack and I left the chickens and the gerbils and the goose and the dog and the kitties at home, and the long list of to-dos for our kitchen remodel, as well as hundreds–well, actually thousands--of seedlings spread out all over our place.

I have such a complicated mess of spots now, inside the house and in the hoop house, set up and full of beautiful little tender seedlings–all the way from 8″ high tomato plants already planted in the hoop house and (squealing) sporting tiny wittle ‘maters about the size of the end of your little finger, all the way down to plug trays in the basement, under lights, planted but not germinated yet (when I left, that is–they may be germinated by now!).

Bryan and Timothy are in charge of keeping everything alive while we are gone *phew*. It’s a big, big job. I know that I need to bring them something fantastic, a surprise, a treat, a reward, for all those feedings and waterings. I made two charts before I left: How to Keep the Critters Alive, for Timothy, and How to Keep My Plants Alive, for Bryan. I had a verbal agreement with my Mom to water the garden beds that I had already planted (radishes, beets, and spinach), just in case the dry weather continued, but since the weather forecast showed rain and plenty of chances of it, I wasn’t worried that Mom was going to have to figure out my complicated watering system.

*Phew*

I’m going to keep my eyes open for something special to get for the guys on the way home, but shhhhhhh, don’t tell. We’ve done almost no shopping while we’ve been here with the kids, and we don’t really want waste any time shopping, either.

Wanna know why?

Now we get to the good part of this post. The baby photos. 🙂

The moment you have all been waiting for . . . I present to you . . . in her debut on the worldwide stage: our newest grandbaby . . .

. . . Eleanor Leigh!

Little Miss Eleanor is a wise baby (as you can tell from these photos) as she doesn’t tolerate boredom. “Don’t even think about it,” she says, in no uncertain terms, if you decide, while you are carrying her, to sit down and rest your knees for a minute. Or . . . half a minute . . . 🙂

Inaction. Stillness. Placidity. A lull. All of these are abhorrent to my new little granddaughter, at least most of the time. There are a few moments each day when she’ll lie on her back and gaze adoringly up at her beautiful mama, and grace her with a few smiles and cute grimaces, before she is fed up with it, and lets out a command for–once again–some creative movement.

I believed myself, when my babies were small, that this very familiar attribute–of desiring movement, change, creative dancing, swooping, bouncing, walking, and pretty much constantly done, at that, during the waking hours, was evidence of intelligence and creativity. Who wants to look at the same dull spot on the wall for hours, after all? None of my babies did.

It appears that Eleanor shares this same excellent quality.

This sweetie certainly knows her papa. He, and her mama, and big sister Anya are all sweetly attentive to her every whim and clearly-communicated deep desire. It warms the heart, doesn’t it, when you see your children become parents, and excellent ones at that? Life is so hard, and is made up of so much uncertainty. So many puzzles to work out. It’s a blessing and a relief to see that your kids have gotten the important things down: Family. Loving each other. Taking care of those in their circle. Being servants of and faithful to each other. Loving God and showing it in their lives. So. Blessed.

Now I did promise you pictures, right? Here we go. 🙂

Big things happened while we were in Ohio. Andrew’s Book of Coloring books arrived, from the printer, several boxes full, and he was pleased with how they turned out.

They are beautiful, and if you want one, you can purchase one here.

Anya and Amalia and I spent lots of time fussing over her darling little fairy garden. Amalia helped Anya build the flower and moss-covered lean-to (to the right of the brick cottage), and we added a pebble walkway and some little dried flower trees, and a petunia, a pansy, and snapdragons.

Isn’t this a grand idea? Anee’s mama has the best ideas. Andrew and Sonia both spend great swaths of each day, making and creating. Creativity is simply an important part of every day. So it’s always easy to find something to do when you are there.

Like draw with chalk on the back patio.

I’m so proud of the kids for not raising their children to be sucked in every day by the t.v. or computer. My granddaughter’s inner (and outer!) life is rich with imaginary, whimsical play.

This pleases me more than you can imagine.

There’s lots of fun stuff going on in that pretty little head.

As it should be.

And, though her spot at The Princess has been usurped–for now–she has nothing but love and tenderness for the darling little usurper.

That’s all the baby pictures you will see in this space, probably, for awhile, Gentle Reader. Once I get home (I’m writing from a hotel room in Iowa right now) and get my hands in the dirt of my garden, I probably won’t be going on any trips for awhile. I’ll beg Amalia to do my grocery shopping for me. I’ll loathe the trips back to the house to attend to matters there.

It’s spring.

Thanks again for popping by, my darling Gentle Reader. Your support means the world to me.

Oh! Before I forget, did you know that I have a giveaway going right now? You might want to check it out!

*hugs*

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