Birthdays and Zinnias

Today is my grandson Will's birthday..Nine years old and such a terrific young man....

and.....

My zinnias are beautiful.....

Happy September y'all......

My fall garden is already planted...maybe I am a glutton for punishment..  or maybe I just can't help it!  Either way my turnips and kale are already up...so are the collards and the deer tongue lettuce
I love fall...and next year maybe we will have apples.  I planted two apple trees this year...

Fare the well my long and hot summer....

WELCOME fall....and September...

Love,

Mona

First Day of School....

All I can think about this morning is my oldest grandson Will...it is his first day of first grade...and I know it is an important step in his little life..excited and nervous, he forges ahead.  I know he will do great but does he know that??  I hope so.  I pray that his teachers will see the potential in him and encourage him to be all that he is meant to be.  and to help him succeed along his path in life...

Looking back, I simply cannot believe that the years have passed so quickly..

What a joy to be the grandmother to this wonderful little boy that made me a grandparent for the first time..forever changed..and in love .....

Will, I love you and I am so proud of you!    Love, Honey

The Week of Will

This week my firstborn grandson, Will, has reached some milestones in his little 6 year old life......

We started the week off by celebrating his decision to become a Christian and get baptized..we are so happy for him and totally support his life changing decision.....
Then he graduated from kindergarten.....all smiles as you can see....

After graduation, I got to see him practice baseball..opening day is next week and he has practiced hard......

Poised and ready for life...he is a boy that has so much potential..it will be rewarding to see where his path in life takes him...I am one proud Grandmother.....this is a precious and wonderful little boy....Will...

His expression just melts my heart.....

oh the innocence of a little child.............

I never knew a love like this one...a grandmother for her grandchild.....

 I am sharing this post at  Simple and Sweet Fridays ...come and join us...you will be glad..

THE Birth of THE Boy

Six years ago I became what has become my very favorite part of parenting...a GRANDMOTHER!!!!!!!

Will was born.........

at UGA stadium

in the liriope

in front of the Grill

he is looking at me

and we became grandparents...

he is an absolute joy to us....

he amazes me at all that is contained in that little mind and body of his.....

and I just needed to share these few glimpses of him with you...

there is NOTHING IN THE WORLD like hearing his little voice say

 'Honey? I love you'

.....melt my heart....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE YOU SO VERY MUCH

Thank you for stopping by and sharing Will's birthday with me...

until next time.....find something to laugh about.....

Mona

Who do you love more?

Honey, who do you love more?   a simple question that is a heart cry in everybody.........my grandson Will asked this question......

do you love me best?  that is what we want to know...it is what we want to happen to us...we want to be somebody's favorite....loved above all others..we want the question answered..why, of course, I love YOU best!

I am amazed at the way my daughter patiently answers the millions of questions these little boys shoot at her nonstop.....

Her answer to this question was filled with Mama wisdom...it doesn't work like that Will.....I love you all..there is room for love for all of you.......the same amount but different......as you are all different....I love you the same amount...

I think one of the questions that are hidden in this heart cry is this...do you love somebody else more than you love me????

Don't we all want to be somebody's favorite?   I think that is one of the root causes of sibling rivalry..the NEED to be above the others...the MORE!!..    parents have a great responsibility in helping siblings to work through this most damaging quest..it is not possible to stay unified as a family when this is left to run rampant unchecked........

We need and want to be number one!!  Me, Me, Me....it is still cute in a 5 year old.......not so much in a 50 year old..

The one place we can  be the favorite is in our marriages....we need this from each other..that we are indeed the favorite of our spouse...but sometimes that fails....

and the only REAL place that we are THE FAVORITE is in God's eyes.....We are each His favorite all of the time..I do not pretend to know how this works but I just know that it does.....He picks us every time...He will never leave us or forsake us...

getting to know Him is the only sure way we can overcome this awfulness of having to be somebody's favorite or more!!  We can be content..knowing that God picks us....it is a foundational  truth....that we are LOVED by a Father that is good all of the time...and He is always in a good mood....and He can meet our needs in a way that makes us know we are special to Him...

Thank you for stopping by today..I hope your weekend is filled with love...with the knowing that YOU are God's favorite and that you can rest in that truth.....

I hope to see you again soon...
Mona

Will...he is indeed my favorite 5 year old..that is what I tell him...

Focusing rightly

Jesus   ....Emmanuel

I am going to turn my focus for the rest of the week onto the reason we even have Christmas....the real story behind all of the commercialism and money spending....Jesus.......

He came as a baby..and grew into a MAN...and gave His life so that we might live forever...if we turn to HIM and trust HIM to take our life and turn it into something beautiful..........
I did that many years ago....33 to be exact..I have never been sorry..He is LOVER of my soul....my everything....

There is good fruit from a life of living to please God...here are just a few fruits that I am so absolutely thankful for.....I never knew love like this before...unconditional..and to think that God loves me and you even more perfectly than we love our children and grandchildren.....

JOY unspeakable

PEACE that passes understanding

unconditional LOVE

Yes, these are a few of my favorite things..........

a Saviour named Jesus....

and three little boys named Will, Mac, and Marshall...He did indeed give me beauty for ashes..no matter how bad we mess it all up, He can redeem it..I am living proof of that...

Merry Christmas week to all of you...I hope to see you again soon...

My cup runs over.....

Grandchildren are the crowning glory of the aged;

I am so thankful for the blessing of grandchildren...these little lives..this daughter and son in law that pour their lives into making these little boys into great men..

I am thankful that they have developed a love of learning already at their young age..and their love of books and reading make this grandmother happy......I stressed the importance of reading at a very young age with my own children and they are amazing readers....and lovers of learning.....now, it brings me great joy to see the next generation embracing this too..  we recently spent the morning at our local library where we have a really good children's librarian and a good story hour....I only got a few pictures but I think you can see how much they were enjoying it.  I am proud of Betsy for making the effort to get them reading and loving books at an early age.....it will help them go far in this life....

eating breakfast to start the day..Marshall

children's section at library

Mac got a book as soon as we got there

Mac and Marshall

Will..thoroughly entertained

intent...

listening

here is who had their attention

It was a fun morning and I am thankful that I get to share in some of the day to day things that my grandsons do.....after all, it's the little things that mean the most......Thank you Betsy for making the huge effort to come and spend the night with us...we love every minute of your visits...

thank you for stopping by this morning......come again soon....

Grandsons

What a joy are my 3 grandsons....they are so different but yet so much alike...They all came to spend the night this week and I was able to capture a little of their personalities with these pictures.....I hope you enjoy this picture....
they are such a delight......

Betsy does a wonderful job of helping them develop their individual temperaments.......truly raising them up in the way they should go....I am sure Mike has a lot to do with this too...they are good parents..these boys are amazing...watch out world!!!  they are going to CHANGE you!!!

thank you for sharing your time with us today.......

Happy FALL!!!!!   so glad to see you once again......I will really enjoy you this year.  I promise....