Precious

Precious
I remember my child, well actually maybe both and a few of their cousins (you know who you are!) teasing my Mom about that word. Their eyes would twinkle and the grins would appear as soon as that word was out of my Mom's mouth. They would mimic her Okie way of saying it and they would call everything under the sun by that one word.

I guess it stuck with me more than I realized. Often as I blog or comment on my daughter's blog, I avoid the word precious. I don't know if it is the flash forwards of my grands teasing me one day about my pronunciation of it or how often I use it or the context I use it in, but I find myself avoiding it. I even choke on saying it at times. The pr sound is all that makes it across my lips and I quickly insert another word: sweet, cute or some other inadequate substitution. Lately, I have been feeling a little bummed about that. It's a good word, a descriptive word and actually sometimes, it is the perfect word.

Last weekend while in P-burg. Precious was mentioned. Not by my Mom or one of our kids, but by one of my sisters. We all stared. She casually mentioned how that one word is actually the only one that sometimes expresses how we feel about our grands. I guess our kids teasing our Mom stuck with my sisters too. I kept my thoughts to myself. I've been thinking on them since.

Yesterday, we watched our oldest grand - Casen play his first soccer game. He is only three and although he often tells me, "I'm Casen, The Big Boy!" I still think of him being so little. Yesterday he was running, following the ball from one end of the field to the other - smiling almost the entire time. He often came to the sidelines and asked if it was time for snacks and would happily run back to the game when told no, not yet. He got in a few good kicks and even had a part in his team's first score. His little legs were covered by his shorts and shin guards. His shirt was really, really long, even tucked in. He was, in a word, precious!

So I guess the end of this entry is a warning to my grands (and also my kids). You are not just sweet, or cute, or handsome/beautiful, or ornery, or funny or thoughtful. You are in a word: PRECIOUS. Grands, I know that someday, you will probably tease me about calling you that and may even one day be angry with me for letting it slip out in front of your friends, but I will be using it.

Casen and Liam, you are Precious to me!

Blessings

Heard a beautiful song on the radio yesterday. Have a listen:
http://www.laurastorymusic.com/

Chillaxin

Relaxing at our hotel was one thing on Jordan's list while he was on liberty. He was able to take a long shower, have us laughing at funny stories, eating some no-bake cookies from home and just have some down time.

He was sweet about us taking some pics of him relaxing and even let me take pics of his BCG's and ear covers.

We enjoyed getting to see him do ordinary things - it made us realize how much we miss his day to day presence and his sense of humor!

The Train

While visiting Jordan, we all rode the train into the city. Brian and I had been looking forward to riding the train and it turned out Jordan was too. It was relaxing to just visit all the way downtown instead of worrying where we were going and where to park. Before we knew it we were at Union Station.

We Miss Uncle Jor Jor

While visiting Jordan in Great Lakes we did a little shopping for those back home. Jordan (Uncle Jor Jor) bought Casen and Liam sailor hats. Jordan asked us to send him pictures of the boys wearing them, so we did a little photo shoot. Here are a few of the pics.

(More pictures are on the right side bar of blog - enjoy!)

Casen Turns Three

Today, our grandson - Casen turned three. I had dreamed of grandbabies for several years when he arrived. He is a joy and a blessing to Brian and I.

We celebrated his birthday yesterday with a Race Car party. It was a fun afternoon and evening - filled with yummy food, good company, 6 precious children and one little puppy - Hobo. The kids enjoyed playing outside, chasing Hobo around and getting loved on by all of us.

I got to make Casen's birthday cake - it was fun to make and so worth it when I saw how happy he was to have a Race Car Birthday cake.

Driving Around Chicago (Translation: "Getting Lost" in Chicago)

While in Chicago, Brian really wanted to see Wrigley Field. After our morning trip to Wisconsin, we headed for downtown Chicago. We were armed with a map, bottled water, and optimism.

We found it was difficult, no -nearly impossible to:
A) locate Wrigley Field

B) find a parking place

C) find a public restroom.

Finally, Brian spotted a sign which read: "Wrigley Field" with an arrow pointing to our left. We were actually in the correct lane for a left turn, so we turned and there it was - Wrigley Field!

It was worth it. Worth getting lost in Chicago, worth the almost wrong way turn onto the One Way street and worth all the honks directed our way. We were surprised by it- we are used to ballparks which are easy to spot and which have huge parking areas. We liked how this ballpark seemed to be tucked away in this little neighborhood. We liked how people were walking up to it, pointing to the signs and taking pictures. It seemed to be PART of this neighborhood, and that just seemed right to us.

After this little adventure, we decided when we returned to downtown Chicago with Jordan, we would take the train!

Oh, and even after a trip into a neighborhood Starbucks, we still had not found a public restroom!