Max's Gift

The other day I was telling Max that I lost my Ugly Doll key chain. This was very much needed by me because it is a big fat stuffed doll that helped me find my keys in the endless bottom of my bag lady purse. Max liked Ugly Doll too. I got him one for Christmas and he attached it to his backpack. As soon as I mentioned it was lost, he ran to his backpack and removed Ugly Doll, known as Poppy-n-Peep. He gave it to me, and said "Meme, you can have my Poppy-n-Peep. I was so touched, telling him that he should keep it. I knew he liked it. But, he insisted. That was so thoughtful. My heart did one of those swelling up thingies. His aunt was with us and she said, "Meme, you better take that and treasure that gift". Indeed I did. I will forever remember how my Max wanted his Meme to have a treasured gift, cause I love that Ugly Doll.

Thanks Max.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOTHER

Today would have been my mother's 93rd birthday. I hope they have birthday cakes in Heaven and the angels sing Happy Birthday to her.

Ballet,Baseball and Graduation, Oh My

Talk about a grand slam. I had three wonderful grandchildren filled days. The kind of time where it reminds me of when my boys were little and we had to go, go, go. Nonstop. And I loved it...

First, on Wednesday Lily had a ballet recital. She was so cute with her hair in a bun and a circle of flowers on her head. She was so sweet. She knew her dance steps and danced wonderfully. It is always so exciting to see their little faces light up when they recognize mommy and daddy in the audience. She waved to us and blew kisses. Memaw and I were watching every step, loving every minute. She raised her delicate arms and hands over her head, just like the prima ballerina she wants to be. I thought of my recitals in dancing and how stage frightened I was, and she did not seem to have any of that. She seemed to be right where she wanted to be. She has talked about being a ballerina forever, and that day she was. A sweet ballerina.
Come Thursday, it was an about face. I picked Max up from school. Usually everyone is quiet and orderly, but with only one day of school left, the kids were electric. Max and I had some of those nuggets the cows love, and headed to the baseball field. Once the game started and the hits started coming, he was so excited. He would holler, and I do mean holler, "Meme, were winning!!!", all the while giving me the thumbs up sign.
Unfortunately, he struck out both times at bat. But, watching him swing his bat, if he had hit the ball, with his strong arm, it would have been a home run, I have no doubt.
He did get a hit to him when he was in the outfield, and his powerful arm through threw it home, well almost home. Pretty far.

When we got home, it was time for bed. However, with school almost over who really needed to go to bed at a descent hour? Not Max and Meme. Nnnoooooooo.....not us.
Instead, we played the CD of all the songs he had learned at school this year. He turned the volume up and we sang along. Think music. Head and shoulders, knees and toes. Head and shoulders, knees and toes. Doe, a deer, a female deer. Ray, a drop of golden sun. Oh, I think you are getting the drift. We were belting it out, when in walks Mom. Yikes, we did not mean for anyone to hear us. We had fun, fun, fun. Oh my.

Last night was Graduation Day for Lily. She has finished kindergarten. My, my baby girl is growing up. Her class presented The Little Red Hen. Lily was a baby chick. She sang her little heart out. It was so cute. The red hen kept loosing her red feathers and one little boy who was easily distracted kept picking them up and throwing them.
Lily and her classmates kept right on singing. The teacher was so patient. She is Lily's mother, my daughter-in-law, but, she is a great teacher, I think.

Forrest and his other Butterfly friends sang Slippery Fish. He also sang his heart out. It seems like in the past few months he has turned a corner and is talking more, singing more, and generally loving school. He smiled so big, and seemed to love being on stage. He got his hands in place to show his fishes. He was so funny earlier in the day. He was trying to show me his car and I was rushing around and he said, "Beverly, do you see what my car can do"? I was shocked to hear him call me Beverly. I asked him why he called me Beverly and he said, "That's what my mommy calls you"!!! So funny.

After graduation we all went out to eat. Forrest adores his older cousin Max. He really looks up to him. He actually was so upset when his spagetti was not exactly like Max's. Shannon had to actually give him some of Max's spaghetti before he was happy. Way to go Aunt Shannon!!!

It is always fun to spend time with my family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAX

Max is seven years old. May 3, 2008 was his birthday. Max is really seven years old! It is said by all, "I cannot believe "whoever" is however old", but I really cannot believe my first son's first son is seven...no way...

Max's birthday was celebrated at a park in Harbor Town. So much fun. Little kids laughing, running, screaming, climbing. Sounds of childhood, so wonderful to hear, especially when three of them are mine. Watching them having so much fun is a cherished memory for a grandmother.

Max's cake was a Snoopy cake. His mom always makes the BEST cakes. This year was a trick for Shannon to keep all the candles lit since we were on the windy river, which made it easier for Max's wish to come true. Oh, boy!!!

Soon, it was time to open presents. All the kids get so excited to see what the birthday boy gets. They don't even care that they aren't theirs. Max's eves sparkled with each present, and would shout out a big thanks every time.

A good time was had by all. Happy Birthday Max

I Heart Memphis

I have heard that Memphis is not a good place to live. They say the mayor and council are, at best, inadequate. I'll agree with that. It seems to me that their greatest fear is fear of crime. Close friends have been victims of crime that seem to be rampant in our city, but if they watched the news, and I am sure they don't, they stopped doing that when the news only reported "bad" news, but if they would watch the news they would know crime is increasing at a scary rate everywhere. Is it because we have so many more people in the world today therefore crime is increasing too. You see people commit the crimes, not cities, but people are everywhere. Crime is everywhere. I am scared of crime and pray everyday for my family to be safe. I still love Memphis. Is it because I became an adult here, married, had my wonderful babies here? Maybe so. I don't know why I love it, I just do...call me crazy, I just do.

Time Goes By...Man Does It Ever

If any of you are elderbloggers, Ronni at Time Goes By, is conducting a survey about us. Whe will gather information and publish it in May 2008. I think it would be interesting to see what many of us think. Please check it out. You have to be 50 years old. Yes, if you are 50, you are an elder. here

Preemie Affair

You may think I planned the past two posts, but I promise I did not. Honest.
Cross my heart. We will have a second annual fund raiser benefiting the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. This year we are having an Online Auction at Preemie Affair. Why not stop by and see if there is anything you might like to bid on.

NICU Visitor

I met the little one's mother. When they rolled her into the room, she was so excited to see her little one. She was beaming! We talked some about him, and I asked if she had held him yet. Even though he was three days old, she had not held him. This is not uncommon in the NICU. When my babies were born, I could not wait to get them in my arms. I would have been inconsolable if for some reason I could not have gotten my hands on them. But, her baby was too sick to be held at first, and so was she. When she came in, he had already been fed, and we try not to move them or giggle them too much after a feeding, so they don't spit. Sometimes though you have to think about what is best for everyone, and today she needed to hold her baby. Period. He probably wouldn't spit that teaspoon of milk if we were very gentle with him. Mom, however, would really be helped if she could cradle her baby for a few minutes. When I put him in her arms for the first time, tears rolled down her cheeks. At that moment all was right with the world.

My Day in the NICU

What did I do today? I normally do not write about my work. However, I think some of the things I do everyday would be considered very moving or touching to some people. I have done it so much over the past forty years that I forget this. As I started to think about what to write about, I decided I could speak generally and not about any specific baby. I decided to give it a go. Today, I fed a tiny baby his first feeding. When you think about it, that is a pretty monumental thing for a baby of about two pounds to suck a bottle. The bottle was almost as big as he was. He loved it, even if he was somewhat startled that milk came out, instead of the usual of just sucking his paci. You know how much he drank??? 2ml...yes, not quite a half of a teaspoon. His mama pumped and pumped to get him that milk, and he loved it. He told me by the way he grasped his hands together and curled his little toes. That is not all I did today, but it was the most gratifying. For me and for him.

Regatta

Saturday was the annual Regatta at Maria Montessori School. The school is in Harbor Town on Mud Island. It is a beautiful campus overlooking the water of the marina. They have canoe races and Team Dixon, made up of Brain, Shannon, and Max came in second! Yeah!
It was a beautiful day, made even more special because all of my family was there...Brian, Shan, Max, Kev, Amy, Lily and Forrest. We put our quilt down on the grass and ate grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. The little ones played all the games where everyone is a winner of prizes. They had face painting and Lily and Forrest had their hair painted. There was mighty good music to be listened to while we all lounged on the grass. I was so happy as I lay on the quilt, looking up through the trees, and and !!! seeing Lily and Max in those trees. Wait a minute, how did they get up there??? Those two had so much fun climbing trees and then yelling for meme to get them down.

I enjoy wandering around Max's school. They have gardens where they grow vegetables and herbs, then harvest them and use them in meals. They have a shop where Mr. Fletcher gets their assistance in making different projects. Max even helped build the barn. Yes, they even have a barn. So far, they haven't raised any little animals. Oh, I forgot about the cat that lives there. He wanders around the classroom doing his own thing.

I had so much fun, I can't wait till next year.