He'll Be a Great Dad...

...someday.

I'm looking forward to seeing Josiah with his own children, in about...oh, 15 or 20 years. I think he'll be a wonderful father to any children that are blessed to call him daddy. He's getting lots of good practice now as he functions in his one-of-a-kind role as biggest brother in our little flock of sons. Recently my heart has been warmed immensely by his kindness and tenderness, particularly with Shav and Tobin.

For example, today I had Shav on my bed while I was folding laundry. I needed to run downstairs for something so I asked Josiah, who was in the room with me, to watch Shav for a minute. When I came back, this is what I found...

...my oldest cuddling with my youngest, his arm placed over him protectively and lovingly. Pure maple sugar--it's as sweet as pure maple sugar.

Josiah has also been very tender with Tobin recently, and they've had a lot of fun together. Last Saturday afternoon, the three of us were being goofy together. I was trying to get a video of Tobin talking and walking, but he wasn't the most cooperative. Finally, he said some words, and did some walking (accompanied by the sounds he often does when walking these days...halfway between a growl and an engine noise...I guess it helps him move!), and then some spinning. Josiah did some spinning, too. I did lots of laughing. :)

I love these boys! They bring such sunshine to my days.

Days 8 & 9 - There's something about the food at Grandma's house. Even if it's the same basic stuff that you get at your own house, it somehow tastes better, more special somehow. My paternal grandmother wasn't much of a fancy cook; she was too busy helping my granddad with the patients in his office to devote a whole lot of time to cooking. She was very hospitable, to be sure, but chose to serve simple meals in a warm and gracious manner, rather than worrying about lavish foods with lots of preparation time. But food was still special there, in my opinion. I remember Quick Refresher and cottage cheese with lavish amounts of apple butter piled on top, cheese slices on Ritz crackers (which we never had at home because at home, we had to have healthy wheat crackers!), eggs fried in an alarming amount of grease; but most of all I remember the snack size Milky Way candy bars they always kept in the refrigerator. My brother David and I thought we were so sneaky as we crept into the kitchen to snatch one. I'm sure all of the adults knew exactly what we were doing, but we felt very daring as we made our raid. To this day, although it's very hard to narrow down, I'd say Milky Ways are my favorite candy bar, all because of those memories of eating them secretly at my grandparent's house.

Another memory that surfaced in my mind recently was about one Sunday afternoon when we had dropped by their house to visit. I was wearing my church clothes--a dress and black patent leather shoes--and after a while, I went into the backyard to play. As I was out there, down a slight slope from the entrance to the house, what should appear before me but a mother skunk and her babies?!?! I was terrified! I scrambled up to the house as fast as my little legs in those slippery-bottomed shoes would go, breathing hard, heart beating fast, sure that any second I'd get sprayed. What a relief to be in the house! What a sense of security came from those sturdy limestone walls, thick enough to keep out any skunk that wanted to spray me!

I'm thankful for the food traditions I inherited from my Grandma Huffman, for the sweet delight of eating Milky Ways, for safety from skunks, and for these happy memories.