Catching Up

As a kid growing up, I often heard adults around me talking about how "time flies." I couldn't imagine how they could think such a thing, when, clearly, an eternity seemed to stretch from Christmas to Christmas and from one of my birthdays to the next.

Now, however, I understand too well what they meant. Thanksgiving has already come and gone, baby Packee has made his first visit to Googie's house, and tomorrow I will turn the calendar to December. That will give me a frantic twenty-four days to finish shopping, wrap, send cards, and throw a tree into the corner of the living room. How did I ever have time to work? I remember the older adults of my childhood saying that, too.

Situated as I am here on the short track to Christmas, I can't see how in the world I will have the time to store away all the unrecorded "treasures" of the last several months here in "Googie's Attic." Yet, because these events are all momentous in their own ways, they merit at least a cursory mention to secure their place in this record the kids and I will want to look back at someday.

I have often noticed how newspapers, at year's end, will go back to review their top stories of the year. So, taking a cue from them, I am looking back over the past three months to consider several topics that I fully intended to write posts about but, for various reasons, didn't get to. Though each of them deserves its own spotlight, they will have to share the stage this time. So here is a little "collection," of sorts, that I wish to relegate to at least this small corner of Googie's attic.

Aunt Julie comes back. In August, Pa-pa and I were surprised and delighted when Julie, our AFS daughter from three years ago, made an impromptu two-week visit to the States. Of course, high on her list of priorities was a visit to Sooby, Bootsie, Zoomie (in front), and Pooh in Kansas. She even brought a little stuffed bunny, named "Miffy," for baby Packee, whose arrival was still a month away. She also brought us loads of stroopwafels and Dutch candy. Pa-pa and I look forward to traveling to the Netherlands in the spring to visit Julie and her family there.

Green Machine wins Zombie soccer tournament. In late October son Teebo (back left) entered this team of future soccer pros in tourney play at the end of a season that saw them go undefeated. True to form, they dribbled and shot their way through the tournament, winning all four of their post-season games and maintaining their perfect record. Both Heero (far left) and Beenie (second from right) played their hearts out and contributed goals to the team effort. Pa-pa and I didn't miss one exciting moment of tournament play, and we look forward to more Green Machine action next fall.

Moose, saucy wench, pioneer girl, and storm trooper rock Halloween night. Pa-pa and I made a quick overnight stay in Kansas Halloween night as these four candy-mongers took to the streets of Maple Hill. Next year, they may not be able to cover quite so much ground with little Packee toddling alongside. Hopefully, we will get to see him on his first trick-or-treating excursion and find out whether or not he has inherited the family penchant for chocolate.

Googie's "kiddie bus" gets totaled. No, November did not start out well, and I normally would not give such a disappointing event space in our "Attic." But over the past four years all six grandkids and I have traveled so many miles together that our gold van was like our good friend. There was nothing like tooling around with all of them in tow and giggling at the overhead antics of SpongeBob, the Ninja Turtles, Elmo's Potty Time, and the like.

I am thankful beyond words that none of them were with me the day I happened to be in an intersection when another driver ran through a red light. Despite the painful bumps and bruises and the seemingly  hopeless tangle of insurance issues, I know that I am very lucky that the outcome, whatever it may be, will not be as bad as it could have been.

Great-grandma Susie celebrates her ninety-fifth birthday. Just before Thanksgiving, my mom turned ninety-five. She is an integral factor in our family dynamic, and it has been a privilege to watch her enjoy her great-grandchildren (she has nine) and to see her develop a relationship with all of them. They will be quick to tell you that she bakes good cookies and sews pretty quilts.

So--that wasn't exactly a New Year's Eve countdown or anything, but you can see that some big events have affected our lives over the past several months. They are things that have made us laugh, cheer, feel sorrowful, and rejoice. This period of our lives is a microcosm of the whole of life itself, and, hopefully, you can see why I thought it needed to be remembered.

Looking at my calendar, I am afraid I may not make it back to the blog until after New Year's. But I'm sure there will be holiday stories to tell then and photos to share. For the moment, I feel reasonably "caught up." But in only a few short hours I will have to turn over the calendar page, and once again--already--December and I will step up to the starting line and the race will be on.

Heero's Knock-Out Party

There is just something special about turning six. In Heero's case, the past year marks his transformation from a little boy reluctant to climb ladders and sleep in the dark into a regular kid who swings a bat, dribbles a soccer ball, shoots hoops, and rocks kindergarten.

A short six months ago Pa-pa and I were attending his preschool graduation. It was during that ceremony that I got the first inkling of Heero's future plans. We listened as we heard from children who aspired to be police officers, fire fighters, and all the career positions you might expect from a group of four- and five-year-olds. Then, toward the end of the program, we heard our sixth grandchild tell the world what he wants to be when he grows up. Apparently, Heero wants to be . . . a boxer.

I thought of Muhammed Ali. I thought of Rocky Balboa. I imagined that sweet little boy standing up there on the stage sporting a designer mouth guard and wiping blood off his face with his forearm. In my mind I watched him dance around the ring, delivering his own well-placed punches while dodging those of his opponent. And, of course, since he is my grandson, I imagined the referee counting to ten, declaring the opponent OUT, and raising Heero's sweaty little arm up in victory amid the deafening cheers of an arena full of devoted fans.

So when his sixth birthday rolled around this past week, I could see my mission clearly. I must do my part to help this boy realize his career dream. Yes, this was a no-brainer. I must buy him boxing gloves. A tip from his mama clued me in on the color red. Even the casual observer will admit that he already looks the part.

The party where Heero acquired his gloves was a knock-out in its own right, building on a LEGO theme. There were LEGO favors for all his friends and cousins, as he models below.

Other prize-winning aspects of the party included a pinata shaped like the Number 6, a LEGO version of the Twister game, and a magic show performed by the birthday boy himself.

Rounding out the fun, in addition to all the candy treasures that flew out of the pinata, were pizza and, of course, the obligatory cake.

To cap off Heero's birthday week, I got to be his guest at his first school Grandparent's Day, where we wove a yarn spider web, combined our artistic efforts to "Draw a Grandma," and picked out two books for him at the school's book fair. (It is good, I suppose, that we are encouraging reading and other skills as a back-up plan just in case the boxing thing doesn't work out.)

And so, I close with a birthday wish for this amazing all-grown-up boy who, until just six weeks ago, was my youngest grandchild: I have loved every moment of my time with you this week. You seemed to jump into this world landing on both feet and have kept things interesting ever since. I hope you are always this ready to embrace new adventures and punch through any obstacles that try to get in your way. It won't be possible to win every fight that comes along, but I will always be among your biggest fans and you will always be Heero to me.