The Nanny Orange

 (The Cooper Grandchildren, sans Leta, with Nanny and Papa, '82 or '83)

Call me sentimental. Go ahead. But I've always been fascinated with how little things, like a scent or a song, can conjure up long-buried memories as vibrantly as if time had stood still. The older I get, the more precious those memories become.

There are some things about childhood that never leave you. My paternal grandmother, "Nanny", lived just around the corner of the red dirt-road where we lived during the earliest years of my childhood, and us kids visited her just about every day I guess. She never learned to drive and didn't really like to leave home very much, so she was pretty much a permanent fixture for me. She'd always be there, on her screened-in front porch, waiting in her favorite rocking chair.

She was in her 40s when my Dad was born, so by the time I came along, some 30 years later, she had already slowed down quite a bit. She wasn't the type of grandmother that was able to get outside and pull me in a wagon or take me for a swim, but she had her way of doting on us grandkids. While we sat on the front porch swing, surrounded by hanging and potted plants, she would shuffle to kitchen, slice some oranges in half, and sprinkle sugar on top. She wasn't stingy with her sugar, either.  Then we would eat them, right out of the peel, with juice dripping down our chins. You had to get it just right with your teeth or you would get the yellow, bitter part of the peel and have to spit out the whole bite. And when we'd ate about two-thirds of the orange half, we would turn it inside out and get the good, juice part left in the bottom. She'd sit and chat with us about our day while we slurped on our sugared oranges.

 Nanny was always ready to listen and she loved to laugh with us with her special cackling laugh. If we confided about someone hurting our feelings or some teacher being unfair she was ready to give them what-for (at least from within the privacy of her four walls). "Now", she'd say, "if that don't beat all!". She lived to be in her 90s, and I wish she could have lived longer, although I know she was ready for her good rest. I wish I could have seen her with my children and nieces and nephews. Boy would she have enjoyed them! I want my children to know what they missed in not knowing their Nanny, so the other day, when they asked for an orange, I cut it in half and sprinkled it with sugar. And then I told them how my Nanny would fix it for me, and let them sprinkle as much sugar on it as they wanted. And now, just about every day, they ask, "Mama, can we have a Nanny Orange?" And if the Lord tarries, and they gave me grandchildren of my own, I hope we can sit down together and enjoy a good, juicy orange and a visit rich with laughter and conversation.

I love you, Nanny. You're not forgotten.

Taking A Moment....

...for a little update. Things are always hopping at our house. I'm beginning to realize, and grudgingly accept, that things are not liable to slow down anytime soon, so I might as well tighten my boot straps and get with the program. In keeping with this resolution, I joined Weight Watchers two weeks ago. I mean, there's no sense in me dragging around this extra weight, letting it slow me down and hinder all that God has for me to do, right? I also started jogging via Couch 2 5K, which I downloaded for free to my ipod and utilize 3 times a week. So far I've lost 7 lbs in two weeks! Stoked! 

Around the house, there's never a dull moment. We've sort of adopted (not literally--he just stays here a LOT) a little boy in our neighborhood, and it's fun for Elijah to have another boy to carouse with on a regular basis. The girls have each other to do girly stuff with, and so it's good for him to have that boy interaction every day, in place of a brother. They are a hoot.

 

Schoolwise, we are almost done! In about a week, we will celebrate our last day of school for this year. We did it! I learned SO much, about myself, and my children and their learning styles. I really do have super smart kiddos. Through our awesome homeschool group here, I'm learning more about homeschooling and that there's many different ways to approach it, but that's a whole other post.

 Gracie is a part of a little girls' club called GEMS (also through our homeschool group) and they had a spring tea this week that was absolutely precious and so much fun! She has just recovered from having her tonsils removed, and is feeling much, much better, thank goodness. She really was a trooper through the whole ordeal.

Emma is just full of life and energy and busy, busy, busy. She has such a growny, prissy personality and is always pretending that SHE is the Mama and Miss In Charge! As you can imagine, this drives her brother and sister crazy (and me too at times). One day last week, she filled her purse with my cell phone, car keys, and wallet, put her sunglasses on and declared she was going to Wal-Mart. She proceeded to march out to the van, buckle her baby doll in the seatbelt, and stick the keys in the ignition. Then, she somehow managed to lock everything, including both sets of keys, in the van. Mind you these are the only keys to the van that we own. So, she experienced her first grounding, and was banned to her room pending her father's return from work. Thankfully, my industrious husband was able to break into the van with a coathanger and saved us from being billed from Pop-A-Lock. Miss Thang got a little too big for her britches, but I don't think she will be doing that again anytime soon. We are all a little relieved when at 1:00 every day, Miss Busy Britches goes down for her nap :).



We are enjoying life, and anticipating great things in the next couple of months. We've been waiting on something particularly important to take place for about two years now, and it seems we are closer than ever before. We're at that place where the ball of change is at the top of the hill and is rocking on the edge, just getting ready to set events into motion. We are anxiously watching for it to fall any day, and a little disappointed that it hasn't yet. I keep reminding myself that God's timing is perfect, and while I'm waiting, I might as well learn a little patience, eh? Not the easiest lesson to learn.

To occupy myself while I wait, and I've been tackling the spring cleaning. The fact that we plan on putting the house on the market this summer is good motivation as well. Y'all, I ain't playing around. This house is being de-cluttered like nobody's business! And it feels sooo satisfying to walk through a room that is fresh, clean, clutter free, and can be packed up lickety-split if need be. I'm cleaning by faith! As I clean, I'm praying, Lord, you know  I'm cleaning this room so well because we are going to get good news in a few weeks and I am going to be able to pack everything up in no time! :)

 I feel like this has been a rather choppy little post, but it is what it is. The kiddos are up and ready for breakfast. Hope you have a  great rest of your week. Happy Hump Day! (that's what I call Wednesday).

Toodle-oo!

 

Longing...

 Spring is here, in all its glory! This type of weather makes me want to spring clean from corner-to-corner, wall-to-wall, on the inside. I want to mow and weed and paint and power-wash, on the outside. Unfortunately, I have more ambition than time, and so I have to deal with the frustration of a check-less to-do list.  Say that ten times. Check-less to-do list. Bleh.

As much as I long to have things spiffed and in order, there are much more important, though intangible things I long to see happen, on what I call my "Longing List".

• To have a certain blonde-haired, green-eyed boy asthma-free, and able to romp and run without the worry of a wheeze
• For my Gracie-girl to have relief from swollen, blistered tonsils (going on 7 weeks now--they are coming out via tonsillectomy on Monday). 
• For my husband to regain his strength after a two-week bout of the crud 
• For true, old-fashioned,  soul-saving, life-changing revival in our churches and our country
• And, on a bit of a selfish note, a vacation

Here.

Seaside, Florida

photo via Pinterest 

photo via Pinterest 

I mean a real vacation, with nothing to do but curl up with a book, build sandcastles with my babes, catch a romantic sunset with my honey while I listen to the waves roll in. Phones of any type not allowed. 

 I might be waiting a long time for that last one, but...it's OK to dream, isn't it?

And, totally off subject, but I just have to share this GOR-geous pic of my beautiful girls, taken a month or so ago by my talented sis-in-law. So excited about her taking our spring family pics soon!

May the remainder of your week be all you need it to be, and  all the longings of your heart be fulfilled.