Turtle Tales: Day 6 & 7 - Grandchildren - Like dots connecting the lines from generation to generation!

"Grandparents are like a piece of string - handy to have around and easily wrapped around the fingers of their grandchildren"

The last two days have given us an opportunity to be with the grandchildren that we don't get to spend a lot of time with due to distance. We live in Texas, they live in North Carolina.....needless to say, we have been making up for lost time, and enjoying every minute of it!

Jim and I have a total of eight gandchildren, and one great-granddaughter. They range in age from 18 months to 26 years of age! All the older grandchildren and our great-granddaughter live in Texas, the younger grandchildren belong to our son Jason and his wife Shannon who reside in North Carolina.

They have three sons (Elijah (adopted), Levi and Seth) and one daughter (Melissa - whom we call Missy). Elijah is 10 years old, Levi is 4 years old, and Missy is 4 years old as well (she is also adopted) This is one active household from sunrise to sunset! During the day Elijah and Missy go to school and Levi and Seth stay at home with Mom. Missy is a special needs child who is enrolled in a special program that addresses her specific needs. She has really come a long way since we last visited! She is a diva if I ever saw one! All the children are very sweet and have already learned how to push Gramps buttons! (We are Me-Mom and Gramps to our grandchildren, and they all seem to gravitate to Gramps for some reason........)

"Grandchildren are God's way of Compensating us for growing old........"

It is fun to watch the children interact and work with one another, whether they are doing their chores or playing. I especially love hearing the little ones say grace at dinner time.....it just makes my heart sing!

I cannot say enough about my daughter-in-law Shannon, she has the patience of a saint and does a wonderful job with the children! She should definitely win the "Mom of the Year" award!

Today we spent time doing home household chores in the RV then took a ride to Jason's work facility (Flint Marketing) , where he gave us a tour of the plant and showed us what the plant produces. It was very interesting and educational. They actually manufacture heat applied thermoplastics, and Jason works in the the research and development division as a lab technician. Today he was working on a purple color substance which would appeal to our grandddaughter Candace who loves the color purple! We then went and had lunch at a Mexican restaurant and headed home so the little ones could get their naps! After naps, we went for a walk and played with play doh (can't tell you the last time I did that! :)

When Jason is not working at Flint Marketing, he is ministering at his church in Ashville, N.C. He and Shannon both participate in the musical ministry at the church as well. Shannon is an accomplished pianist and teaches piano lessons in her "spare" time!

Jason and Shannon live right next to the Lexington Country Club, and every Wednesday they have a golf event called "Captains Choice " which draws quite a crowd! (not being a golf person, I can't tell you what this is, but it must be popular!) When we passed by the club on our way home from lunch, there must have been 50 colf carts ready to head out on the course - it was quite a sight! Those golfers are die-hards for sure!

"Speedy" finally got out today, and he was a big hit with our grandson Seth - I had a hard time getting him back from him when we arrived home! So being the good grandparent that I am, I went on line and ordered one for him - it should arrive here by next Monday! <grin>

Tomorrow we plan to get up close and personal with some "Pigs" in town, and do some exploring. I also need to get a picture of Elijah - and the dogs! He loves the dogs and is very good with them!

"Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children.........."

Til next time..........................

"Diva" Missy