Annie and other ramblings

I'm sitting here at the kitchen table -- not mine, my daughter's -- with my granddaughter, Annie. She's such a sweet child. She's seven. She's being home-schooled, and she finished her work for the week, so she's sitting here with me working on an album (scrap-booking) of a trip she and her friends took to Clifty Falls. She's doing such a good job. I can't believe how artistic she is. She sees things, I can't even think about. That's her in the picture.


I'm having so much fun with my older grandchildren. They understand my limitations and don't push me to do things I can't do. The younger ones don't understand when I can't run up the stairs, down the stairs, back up the stairs, then down the stairs, etc.

So, I'm sitting here with Annie. She has a great vocabulary for her age, and we're just gabbing away. She has told me about her birthday and the trip to Clifty Falls with her friends (click on today's title and it takes you to the Clifty Falls website). I missed her birthday this year -- I didn't miss getting a gift to her, just missed the party. We were in Florida at the time of her birthday.

I'm so glad the Lord has blessed me with a "quiver full" of grandchildren (currently 12, number 13 will arrive in November and one is in Heaven). I think I mentioned that to some folks that the new baby was due in October. Well, I was wrong, it's due in November. My daughter -- not Annie's mom, my other daughter -- is on bed rest for now trying to keep that baby -- the baby is in great health according to the doctor -- in its growing place for another seven months, just that Cyndi is having problems.

But this is about Annie, not my new grandbaby. Annie...since the day she was born has been for me a very special child. She is quiet -- she likes to whisper things to me or her mom. Not that they're secrets, she just likes to whisper. It's so nice to be around a "quiet" child.

Annie wants to be a baker -- bake wedding cakes -- when she grows up. She likes to decorate cakes, and she's good at that, also. Of course, she's seven, so we'll see where that goes. By the time she's 17 she might want to be something else.

I mean, how many times in our lives do we change our minds and want to become something else? How many of us knew from the time we were 5 or 6 or 7 what we wanted to be and stuck to it? My youngest daughter did. She wanted to be a mommy. From the time she was 3, she wanted to be a mommy. And she got married when she was 19, and when she was 21 she was a mommy. Now, she's a mommy five times over, and is about to be a mommy for a sixth time. What can I say? She loves children. And she's a good mommy. She's a fun mommy.

I don't think I was ever a "fun" mommy. I took care of my children, but I don't remember enjoying them or doing "fun" things with them. They remember "fun" things, but I don't. So, I'm doing "fun" things with my grandchildren, Annie being one of them. My precious, beautiful, Annie.

When she was three she didn't want to be "beautiful." And I would sign (like sign language) to her that she was "beautiful" and call her my "beautiful, beautiful, Annie". She really wanted to be just Annie.

So, now, Annie's run off to do something else for a while. She's scrapped about 10 pages -- really nice pages, too, and it's time to do something else. Children's time spans just aren't what adults are.

Annie just came back and gave me more information about Clifty Falls and the caves and the water fall that at least four times higher than her house -- that's what she told me -- four times higher than this house - and some of the caves are tunnels (meaning, I suppose you can go to in one side and out the other and see from one end to the other). But, she's seven, and I know her dad knows all about Clifty Falls Park and what's in the park, so I'm sure by the time she 11 she'll know all about the caves and tunnels in Clifty Falls State Park.

So, today, is a grandchild day. This afternoon, will be Grace's and Dan's turn to do something "fun" with me-mom. And Dan's a chatterbox, so I'm sure I'll get lots of new information about something. We'll see how that goes. Can't wait.

Oh, by the way, Annie has never been to Runnemede. She was born after my father left to live with my sister. In fact, Annie never met her grandfather. He died before she was born. So, there's absolutely no Runnemede connection, except through me!