My face is happy, my heart is happy…  I look around and see the remains of Layla, Thomas, Iris, and Luke.  My children gave me a great Mother’s day gift – what I wanted was a picture of me with all four of my grandchildren.   Craziness ensued.    Shyness, finding the right place to sit, planes to see in the sky, trains to hear – so many things captured the fancy of all these sweeties under 4.  And even rain came … but that did not deter us from the mission at hand.  And so we got pictures.

And then everyone stayed.  Waffles came out – crayons – paper – scissors – books to read – giant tub of balls– Netflix “Spiderman” and loud grandchildren fun ensued.  I read to them all.  “No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed” – a little Dr. Seuss – and a lot of nature books where all of the different species were named.  We sat on the floor and I drank it all in.  Much of the stuff from their parent’s childhood was taken down and examined.  Some liked and some discarded.  But all viewed with fascination.

The morning was filled with JOY.  And now I look around and know that what I see will be straightened up soon but what I feel, what I will remember, will stay in my heart forever.  And I am grateful.