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Today’s article falls into that dreaded category marked ‘grandchildren stories’ but I am trying to be fair by warning you ahead of time on this Wednesday, May 27, 2009. This past Friday evening I had our middle son’s four children over for our first official sleepover at MiMi’s and Poppy’s since Hurricane Ike. Using the word hurricane and these four kiddos in the same sentence could be more relevant than it would appear. NOT! We had a ball. They were good. They were fun. They were energetic. They were HUNGRY all the time! They were entertaining. They were exhausting but in the best tired sense of the word. By Saturday night those dreaded other kinfolks, Uncle Arthur (Arthritis) and Uncle Bursey (Bursitis) had showed up and were making noise but their best stuff was only incidental compared to the joy of being with these blessings.

Jimmy Jr. is 12 and he was able to figure out all the set up needed to get their Wii going on our large screen TV. After messing with it for a few minutes and not having any luck I told him we should call his Uncle Chris. He said we didn’t need to call Uncle Chris because he could figure it out. After working with this setting and that he got it going and they enjoyed playing all the games. I think they enjoyed even more coming up with an icon image for their MiMi and Poppy. Once they added me to the system they then wanted me to play. Whatever coordination I had back when I was an all star baseball player must have long exceeded its use by date because I feebled and fumbled around until I reported myself to be officially pitiful. However, Lil Jim, as we call him, never stopped encouraging me, and rooting me on and telling me I was doing better than he did when he started. I’ve seen that motivation manipulation stuff before. Who does he think he is trying this out on his Poppy? The entire gang also had some good laughs watching me try.

The 11 year old twins, Alesha and Amanda, they are very sweet girls who enjoy just about anything on the Disney Channel. When I commented about their food requirements Alesha asked if I was familiar with the concept of growing spurts. These kids have it all figured out. Then there’s our little Alex, 4, now he is a one-of-a-kind if there ever was one. On Saturday morning he indicated his interest in watering some of his MiMi’s plants. I played along with him and soon he was trying to use the spray nozzle to make a rainbow but ended up being soaked which wasn’t any big deal to me. This sleepover episode reminded me that I can always work as a short order cook if push comes to shove. It was a special time and we enjoyed every second of it including when I saw their dad turning down at the corner to pick them up. One of my neighbors watching Alex playing with the water hose while doing his rain dance told me to enjoy him while I can because he will get away from us before we know it. How true! But I’ll take these brief handfuls on purpose any time they come. I’m already looking forward to the next group (Lexie and Brady) when they can come and stay. Of course Lexie will want the twins there and Brady will want Alex to play with. Buy stock in Kroger!!! May God bless each one. Amen. …..More later.