Wandering Through The Hodgepodge

Welcome to this week's edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions add your link to the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger before you. Here we go-

1. What's something bizarre you've seen or heard recently? 

Oh wow, where to begin? How about men 'chestfeeding'??? A man winning the Miss Netherlands title? The list is long.

2. July 18th is National Sour Candy Day. Who knew? Do you like sour candies or other foods with 'sour' flavors? Kimchi, rhubarb, gooseberries, tamarind, dill pickles, sour cherries, sauerkraut, cranberries, and  grapefruit...of the sour foods listed which is your favorite? 

I love sour candies, and actually all the sour foods (that I've tried) on this list. I don't think I've ever had a gooseberry. Hard to pick a favorite, but a good dill pickle ranks right up there.

3. Share a favorite memory of an aunt or uncle. 

My extended family included lots of aunts and uncles, but I didn't grow up living geographically close to any of them. We used to visit my dad's parents and his brothers and their families in Colorado. Whenever we made one of these trips we always made a trek into the mountains with everyone. We'd cook a big breakfast beside a stream and have some fun with our cousins. 

Another favorite memory I have is with my mom's only sister. She lived a long way from us too, but she and I became pen pals after one of her visits and we wrote a lot of letters to one another for many years. 

4. How would you describe your ability to manage stress? 

Pretty well I think. Depends on the day and of course what sort of stress we're talking about. I might have a moment of panic, but I don't stay there. I pretty quickly fall back on my faith, remind myself God is good and in control of this upside down world. That nothing surprises Him and He cares about the smallest details of my life. That He works all things for His glory and my good. Resting in His unfailing love is the best stress buster I know. 

5. What do you think about when you let your mind wander? 

I could make a list of about a hundred different things because I'm a daydreamer and sometimes an over thinker, but I'll spare you and just say generally it's one of two things-the never ending list of things we need or want to do to this house, and also 'how we want to live going forward'. 

We love our home, but it is a lot of work in terms of maintenance and upkeep so not sure we'll stay here forever and ever. No plans to go anywhere anytime soon, but it's good to dream and plan and think about what we want/don't want someday down the road. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

I have a short list of random nothings that I think I'll turn into a something. I want to get back to blogging and random is my wheelhouse. Stay tuned.  

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Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 512

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog then hop back here tomorrow to add your link to the party. See you there! 

1. What's something bizarre you've seen or heard recently? 

2. July 18th is National Sour Candy Day. Who knew? Do you like sour candies or other foods with 'sour' flavors? Kimchi, rhubarb, gooseberries, tamarind, dill pickles, sour cherries, sauerkraut, cranberries, and  grapefruit...of the sour foods listed which is your favorite? 

3. Share a favorite memory of an aunt or uncle. 

4. How would you describe your ability to manage stress? 

5. What do you think about when you let your mind wander? 

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

The Labor Day Weekend

Our Labor Day weekend was light on labor and big on fun, family, good food, and foul weather. We didn't let that foul weather dampen our spirits though, and it was the most fun-full Labor Day weekend we've had in a long time. 

Daughter1 and her two boys drove over on Friday from their Tennessee home. Her hubs was on call this weekend so he couldn't come with, and it was a long drive for her.  We all do what we must to have family time, and she's a trooper. 

Also, seven months pregnant so go her! 

They arrived about 6 PM and the grandboys hopped out of the car and asked to go swimming. Why not? We put on our bathing suits and cowabunga-d off the dock. 

Not the pregnant lady. She sat in a lounge chair and watched and everyone was happy. 

Daughter2 and her hubs and baby boy drove over from their Tennessee home on Saturday morning. It rained buckets but they arrived without incident. We oohed and ahhhed over baby boy and then hubs, my son-in-law and the mancub crossed 'swimming in the rain' off their bucket list. 

Oh and their chiahuahua learned he is in fact a water dog, much to everyone's surprise. 

The sky was so gray all weekend long and we had a tremendous amount of rain all weekend long, but no  thunder or lightning so we made the best of it. Swimming in the rain is how you make the best of it. 

Saturday night daughter1's in-laws, who live nearby,  joined us for dinner. As it happened our brother-in-law was traveling north from Florida and was also able to join us for dinner and stay the night. He hadn't met the newest little guy yet and doesn't get to see his nieces often, so this was a treat. 

Hubs grilled wings and brats and the in-laws brought everybody's favorite sweet potato cake for dessert. Since hubs celebrated a birthday on Thursday the boys added candles and helped him make a wish. 

On Sunday daughter2's in-laws drove over from their home to spend the night and celebrate daughter2's birthday. And see the grandbaby of course, but that goes without saying. Hubs and I really enjoy both sets of in-laws which is such a blessing.

Hubs and my son-in-law (along with their talented sous chef) grilled a ginormous brisket for our Sunday dinner-

They actually put it on the Green Egg the night before and spent at least another 24 hours discussing the finer points of grilling-ha! 

It was de-lish! I made a chocolate cake for the birthday girl and there were more candles and wishes and gifts. It was noisy and sweet and oh so special. 

Daughter1 and her crew left Monday morning for their ridunkulously long drive home. Goodbyes are always hard for sisters turned aunts.

Plus her six hour drive turned into more than nine hours and we just hope she'll come back lol. 

Daughter2's in-laws left a little bit later in the morning, and there was a miniscule break in the weather so we let baby boy have his first dip in the lake. It took longer to get him in the swim suit, hat, and life jacket than he lasted in the water, but it was super cute so that's something. 

We spent the rest of the day relaxing on the porch (there will be a nap in my week somewhere!), made a shepherds pie with some of our leftover brisket, and then watched college football because it's that time again. 

We love a full house and having family and extended family here is a true labor of love. Hope your weekend was full of the people you love too. 

Meetin' And Greetin'

We have a big family. I guess you'd call it big? I have three siblings and hubs has three siblings and all our siblings are married and some have children too, and then there's also my mama and hubs mama, so I guess that qualifies as big. 

And we're all spread out geographically too so it takes several months for the newbies joining our family to meet the oldies already here. It's probably best that these introductions happen in stages because we're all baby hogs and nobody wants to hand over baby boy once they've got him on their lap. 

I get it. 

First things first. Gotta meet the aunt whose been his mama's best friend since the day she was born. 

Next up were the cousins. 

I mean THE COUSINS!! 

These little men were sooooo excited to meet their very first cousin. 

What's a cousin? Does he talk? Why not? When will he talk? Can he throw the ball? Why can't he throw the ball?

Baby boy is well loved by these first new friends who are also family...

Also he's tough-ha! 

Little man was also introduced to my mama when she was in town this month. They share a name which made their meeting extra special. My girls like to share the baby's gender before baby arrives, but they always hold off revealing the name until baby is actually here. I like this. 

Hearing his name was a sweet surprise and made my mama a little teary. His middle name is her maiden name, and it all made me a little teary too. 

My oldest sister and her hubs drove out to the lake to pick up my mom so they were also able to meet their newest great nephew while he is still pretty new. 

My oldest sister loves babies and you have to check her car when she leaves to make sure she's not taking yours home with her lol. 

Then last weekend hubs brother and sister-in-law took his mama for a meet and greet. How awesome is it to be so loved by not only your grandparents but by your great grandparents too? 

I will tell you. 

It's completely awesome. 

Okay little man, that's ten down, thirteen more to go. On your momma's side I mean. Your Daddy's got more than a few folks waiting in the queue too.

Welcome to your great big loud big fun big loving family...

 I suspect you'll fit in just fine. 

So Happy Together

How is everyone on this spectacular Monday morning afternoon? I hope your weather is as lovely as ours. How can anyone not love autumn? 

Remember when I said August was busy around here? Well October is coming in a close second with grandchildren in the house, my niece's wedding with lots of out of town family here to celebrate, my momma staying on for a couple of weeks after, hubs trekking to South Dakota for a pheasant hunt and just so many everyday life happenings on the calendar. Whew. 

I guess life slowing down is an illusion and we're okay with that. I mean sometimes we want a nap but really we're okay with full. 

cousin crew

So...a week and two days ago my niece tied the knot with her favorite guy and y'all...all of my children and all of my in-law children and all of my siblings and my momma were here for it. I can't remember the last time all of my siblings were together. 

I want to say it was Christmas of 2017 which doesn't sound right but photos do not lie. We have been together in various combinations of two or three, but all of us plus my mom in the same place at the same time? It's been a good long while.   

Friday night hubs and I met my brother and younger sister and their spouses for dinner downtown. There was a huge and well attended festival happening in the small big city this same weekend so it was a little bit nuts trying to get ourselves parked, but we did it and we ate in a restaurant we hadn't tried before so that was fun. 

Afterwards we walked around some before meeting up with the rehearsal dinner crew, which included both of my girls and both of their husbands. This weekend was the first time my sons in law had met in person, which seems crazy and in any other decade would have been, but connecting in the 2020's has not been simple. 

The wedding was Saturday evening and the venue was gorgeous. Tucked away out of the downtown area, but not too far out of the downtown area, with a view of the mountains and a secret garden vibe, these two cuties said I Do. 

The weather was fabulous the entire day and the entire night except for the thirty minute ceremony slot where the skies opened up just a little. Nothing terrible although our hair might say otherwise, but on the literal bright side-

Not every bride gets a rainbow on her wedding day. 

Sunday morning Daughter1 headed to her in-laws to collect her boys and bring them to the hotel so they could meet what I'm sure felt like everyone in the universe. It was so much fun. 

I loved watching them soak up all the love a big loud funny family brings to the table, and it just made my heart want to burst. My own girls have so enjoyed and benefited from having lots of aunts and uncles in their lives who support and love them more than words can say and these little boys are the next generation to be scooped up into that embrace. So precious and such a gift, one I don't take for granted. 

My younger sister, her husband, and my nephew had a later flight out that evening so we had brunch with them downtown then they drove out to the lake and my nephew went swimming with our pup. Yes it's mid-October, but it was plenty warm and the water even warmer and he was a happy camper. 

So was my nephew-ha! 

My mom isn't flying home for another week or so and my older sister (aka mother of the bride) and I have been sharing time with her. My sister lives about an hour from me so there's some back and forth in terms of miles but we've made it work and it's been nice to have this relaxed time with my mom. 

Hubs has gone on the hunt for birds of the pheasant variety way out west so it's just us girls for a few days. We're working puzzles, playing cards, and soaking up the glorious weather all from the cozy comfort of my porches.  

I was reminded this weekend of how very much we need our people. Not just on facetime or via text, but in person, beside us on the couch, eating at our dinner tables, giggling over something funny or talking over some bit of everyday ordinary life because those things are more easily shared when you're skin to skin as opposed to screen to screen. 

We are made for being together. 

Two

Dear Little Man Cub,

Today you are two. Or maybe it's tomorrow which is your today? You're a million miles away from us geographically speaking, but never more than a millisecond from our thoughts.

Your mama made a video filled with snippets of your life this past year, and it's fun to see how much you've grown and changed. You're a full-fledged toddler boy now ready to take on the world, a new country, and a baby brother.

You like to lay your head on your mama's belly and say 'Awww'. I pray you and your brother are best buds from day one the same way your mama and auntie are and always have been.

Peas in a pod.
That's my prayer.

While everything about you is my favorite thing here are a few of my most favorite right now-

Grace. This tops the list because it's new and precious and tells me your heart is oh so tender. When a plate of food is put in front of you (definitely one of your favorite things) you stretch your arms out wide and grab the hands of the people beside you and shout GRACE!!

Everyone snaps too and smiles big and tries not to laugh as we bow our heads and say 'God is great God is good....' Then we say Amen and you say Amen, but you raise your hands high above your head when you say it so we all add a great big hallelujah and it just makes my heart beat wild with delight.

The way you love boats, planes, trucks, and trains, particularly one called Thomas. The world can say what it will, but I think loving all things that go is wired into a little boy's DNA.

Your minor obsession with rolling suitcases, backpacks, coolers, anything with wheels you can pull along behind you.

Your major obsession with balls of all sizes, shapes, colors, and sport. Footballs, baseballs, basketballs (or hoop as you like to call it), golf balls, balloons (boons) that look like balls, bubbles that look like balls, balls in books, people playing ball on TV,  the moon when it looks like a ball...just give you all the balls.

Books. Your current favorite is My First Book of Korean Words which I've read approximately 725 times in the last couple of weeks. You like the sing song rhyming and words that make you giggle-echwi (ahchoo!), kkachi (meaning magpie-that double k is fun to say), and especially the part where Nana reads the 'gimchi is so spicy it will make you squeal' and then we squeal.

Other current favorites are Bee-Bim-Bop (can't wait to taste some with you!), Fiddle-I-Fee, and In a People House. 

The way you say Korea when we ask you where you're moving-"Key-ee-ah"
The fact that when we ask you where you're moving you know the answer is Korea.

Doing laundry. Who knew this task could be so much fun? You like to help me put clothes in the washer and later in the dryer, but you especially love pushing all the buttons to make it go. Sometimes too many buttons and sometimes Nana isn't quick enough and you turn the machine off mid-cycle and we have to start over, but you don't mind.

The way you ask me for a 'bite' when I have a drink in my hand.

The way you say crouton, helicopter, gobbledygook, and onomatopoeia

The way you call me Didi. I know you're saying Nana but it comes out as Didi and now I'm loving Didi so maybe that name will stick. Secretly I'm hoping so.

The way you wake up happy and go to bed happy and sleep like a teenager and how you love to sit at the counter with a bowl of cereal like your Daddy and I get a glimpse of the actual teenager you will be one day.

The way you pronounce your Aunt's name. The way you look for her as soon as you wake up. The way she turns an almost melt down into something just the opposite. The way she is your person and how we all need someone to be our person and how lucky you are to know she's yours.

The way you want all the people you love close by.
In this way more than any other you are your mother's son.

Happy birthday my travelin' toddler boy-

You are so very precious and your Nana/Didi loves you deep and wide.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He makes straight your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

The Sweetness of Summer

I guess I'm catching up here today. Again. That's likely how summer blogging will go and I'm rolling with it.

Daughter1 and her little guy arrived on Father's Day and we had a week of fun in the sun with the two of them before hubs and I headed to Austin to attend a friend's son's wedding. Why do all those apostrophes look wrong?

Anyway, each time the mancub is here he's a little bit better on the boat. He's big enough for a puddle jumper now as opposed to the life jacket and it's much more comfortable. They're Coast Guard approved unless you're skiing, but we don't have him up on skis (yet!) so it's perfect.

He is a huge fan of his aunt, and next to Pawpaw she's his favorite person. Or she might even be the favorite, but don't tell Pawpaw.

I'm third but I've already called dibs on baby number two-ha! Which (insert drum roll) is a BOY!! We're all so excited to have brothers in the house. The boys will be close in age and I hope they're best buds just as their mama and aunt have always been.

Also, baby boy loves his Nana plenty so no worries.

We spent most mornings at our neighborhood pool, and every day he got a little bit braver about leaving the step.

Is he just the cutest or what??!!

Afternoons were spent in the lake and looked mostly like this-

I know. It's a blur, but it's also an accurate reflection of what it's like keeping up with a not quite two year old on a dock beside the water. In he goes with a huge smile on his face, then back up the stairs lightning fast, then almost before you can blink he's launching himself back into the lake. We tag team him with someone on the stairs, someone on the dock, and someone in the water.

It takes a village y'all.

Friday we motored out to one of the little islands on the lake and he loved that. We loved it too because there was a sandy beach that allowed our water baby to walk into the lake hands free.

He splashed and paddled and chased the beach ball and played in the sand and had himself a grand old time. We all did! It was an absolutely gorgeous day so how could we not?

Saturday hubs and I had an early flight to Austin and Daughter1 and the mancub headed to her in-laws for the week. Her hubs is here too, but he spends all day every day in the university library studying for his Boards happening later in July.

This is why I'm not a doctor. Well one of the reasons I'm not a doctor. I lack the super deep well of self-discipline required to say I'll spend all these sunshiny summer days in a library cubicle instead of on the water.

Oh and guess who else is here?

Y'all he's cute. He wears his life jacket with nary a complaint and would happily run off the dock all day every day if we let him. And we might because he has some energy to burn. Hubs purchased a super duper deluxe pet hair dryer we've set up in the lower garage and so far that's working out well.

The pup is headed to a trainers for two weeks starting tomorrow and I think he'll do great. He's a really smart dog and he seems to have settled in. Of course we're wearing him out every day with the walking and the swimming and the ball chasing so he's pretty pooped by the end of the day. Getting into a routine with two is taking a little figuring out, but we'll get there.

Austin. It was hot. But we had a really lovely couple of days away and enjoyed sleeping in, eating queso and sipping margaritas-

visiting the LBJohnson Presidential Library-

and celebrating the wedding of a super sweet couple-

This is not that couple. This is us and we've been married thirty-five years. We are super sweet though.

We flew out Saturday and were back home Monday evening so a quick trip, but just what we needed in the way of rest and recharge. We have family coming in this weekend and the mancub and his mama will be back at the lake to enjoy catching up with everyone. More family will follow and there will be cookouts and bare feet, fireworks and ice cold watermelon, stories told and memories made.

If you need us we'll be right here...soaking up all the sweetness that is summer.