"Children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate themselves."
Every day, after school, Cole comes in the door and does his homework. No one needs to tell him to get busy. He is usually at the table working, when his dad comes home from school. He is such a good kid. In the morning, he gets his own breakfast, feeds and takes out the dog, makes his bed and gets ready for school with no one saying a word to him.
When he goes to leave in the morning, he always kisses and says goodbye to his sisters. I don't get a kiss, but I do get a "see ya Mam". He is a good student and athlete, most everything anyone would want in a son/grandson. All his cousins adore him.
He is soon getting braces on his teeth. I'm not sure how that is going to go, but I know he will do his best.
"Gone-flitted away, taken the stars from the night and the sun from the day! Gone, and a cloud in my heart."
I had to say goodbye to my babies once again. It was so hard, as always. I don't think I will ever get used to it. My only saving grace is, that I have 5 other grandkids to love on AND they are only moving a 6 hour flight away. Not near as bad as the 14 hour flight to Abu Dhabi.
Nonetheless, I still cried and now I have a horrible headache. I just can't be strong when saying goodbye, no matter how hard I try. My grandkids are my world.
I'll be on the computer looking for a ticket to CA - TONIGHT! We can't go until they find a house, but as soon as they do, I'm on the next flight out.
"A Great-Grandfather is someone with silver in his hair and gold in his heart."
Yesterday, we had the kids for the day. I called my dad to tell him they were here. He said "I'll be right down." And he was. Since my Mom has been getting worse with Alzheimers, he hasn't been able to do much for himself. We finally have in-home care for her 6 hours a day. It's going well, she loves her caregiver, and it gives my Dad some free time. I can see a big difference in him in just a few weeks.
He loves the kids and wants to spend as much time with them as possible. It's too cold for the kids to play in his pond, which they love to do, so it's just easier to have him come here. He looks at the kids playing and just laughs. It does his heart so much good. He's sad that they will be moving away again and isn't looking forward to saying goodbye on Friday. I told him that they are only a 6 hour flight away and I can take him to visit if he wants. I doubt if that will ever happen, but I will do it if he wants.
"Those who sleep under a quilt, sleep under a blanket of love."
Several years ago my son and daughter-in-law told us that they were adopting a baby girl from China. I was so excited because I always wanted to adopt from China, but never did.
My son and I had talked about it several years before when he was in college. The college was having a seminar on adopting from China and one of his professors was adopting. I decided it was too late, and too expensive for us, so I was just so happy for his professor.
Now, as I look back, I should have gone for it! There are so many things that tied us to this adoption, without us ever knowing. My son and his wife had always planned to adopt, even before they were married. They also talked about working in an orphanage in China at some point. My DIL even was offered a job from the same agency that they used for their adoption.
While at Messiah College, all my sons played soccer. The team always came unto the field while the bagpipes were playing Amazing Grace, which was a favorite of mine. Now, I see how all of this ties in with the adoption.
After they told me about the adoption, I immediately began buying little girl clothing and thinking about this baby girl. I joined the One Hundred Good Wishes Quilting Yahoo group. They are all moms (and grandmothers) that are waiting for their babies, usually from China. They hold quilt square swaps, with different themes, to collect the 100 squares they need for the quilt.
The Bia Jia Bei, OHGWQ, comes from a tradition in China. Friends and family all contribute a piece of fabric, along with a blessing or wish for the new baby. The new mom assembles the pieces into a quilt for the new baby. The OHGWQ represents all of the blessings and good wishes from friends and family. The quilt is passed down from generation to generation.
Luckily for me, my DIL allowed to me collect all the squares for the quilt. It was so much fun and helped to pass the time while waiting on the new baby. I met lots of new 'friends' through this and enjoyed following along on their adoptions. I still follow their blogs.
It took a few years to get it done. I didn't have enough confidence in myself to sew it together, so my one DIL, Bethany, did it for me. It was a huge job and it meant so much for her to do it. She then took to a lady who has a machine that does the quilting. It turned out beautiful! We kept the squares big, so Gracie could see how beautiful the prints are.
Before I went along to China, I started a blog, called "Amazing Grace". See the connection to the song that I so loved years before and the song that was the connection to Messiah College (where the adoption seminar was held) Everyone involed with Chinese Adoption knows the saying about the Red Thread. But for those who don't - 'An invisibile red thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place, or circumstances. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break." There are other pieces of the red thread that I now see, but won't go into. This post is already way longer than I had intended it to be.
I think the quilt was one of the most satisfying things I have ever done. One day, when she is older, I know she will realize how much love went into it. She is such a blessing to our family and we loved her before we knew who she was.
Her name and birthday are embroidered on the 100th square on the back of the quilt.
