Time to Think about Making Praying Arms for Lent

I love spending time with my grandkids. Two of the local grandsons decided awhile back that they want to do "cooking day" with Grandma every week. So for the past month or so we meet weekly to learn cooking skills and enjoy the results. One of the big benefits is that it gets them away from the computer games. They bring their Ipads to do math tutoring with their grandfather (They're home schooled), but that's it. Bike riding, board and card games, and cooking are the fun for the day. They are becoming quite the little chefs.

Monday of Holy Week and Five Reasons We Didn't Make it to Mass

Painting the seashells Grandma collected in Florida

 Larry and I go to daily Mass almost every day of the year. When we were in Florida, the available church only offered Mass on Monday and Tuesday, but we were blessed to be there in Lent because they offered Mass and stations on Friday evening. Here at home we have Mass every day and would normally have been there this morning, but I couldn't face getting five grandkids out of bed early after staying up too late (It's hard to settle them when they see their cousins) and corralling them in time to make Mass. So we had a big breakfast instead and chatted around the table. They love our "big breakfasts" and always ask for them when they visit. We think we'll start a pool to guess how many (waffles, pieces of french toast, or pancakes) Ryan can eat. I also made an entire pound of bacon this morning so we wouldn't have an argument over who gets the last piece on the plate.

Grandchildren and Getting Up Close and Personal to God's World

And what a blessing to combine them both. Anybody who's been reading my blogs for long knows that Larry and I are novice beekeepers and loving it! So if you want to see what Springtime is bringing in the way of our love of our grandkids and our love for nature, check it out here. You can admire our girls -- we have a cast of thousands!

Remember the Village that Raises the Children?

It's Gramma's house! Today we enjoyed the company of seven little girls from two families. Five belong to our oldest daughter from Pennsylvania and range in age from 18 down to five. They are staying with us for the week while their parents enjoy a holiday. The other two, almost five and almost two, belong to our youngest daughter who lives locally. What a great time all these happy little sisters and cousins had today. We took the five to Mass then came home and weeded in the garden for half an hour, got good and hot, then changed into swim suits for a leisurely day in the pool. Cousins arrived in time for lunch and joined the fun. When all the girls had finally had enough swimming they moved on to the dress up box and the art supplies. And then it was time to help set the table for dinner, eat, and clean up. Everyone worked and everyone played, just the way families should be.

As I blog, the girls are donning pj's for a pajama party with a movie and popcorn. The only one not staying is the baby who's not quite ready for a sleepover even with her big sister. And, of course, there will be stories read by "Paka" and evening prayers by candlelight.

I call this a good summer day and we have lots of plans for the rest of the week as we celebrate the joys of grandchildren: the potato chip factory, hiking, wading in a feeder stream of the Shenandoah River, thrift store shopping, and, of course, morning Mass. This week of family fun is why we settled at "Camp Kreitzer" instead of buying a retirement cottage, and we are never happier than when it is filled up and bustling with musical little voices. If you could hear our "Chirpita" and her sisters describing all the fun of their day, you would understand exactly what I'm talking about.

How can anyone ever think there can be too many little ones? No wonder Jesus said, "Let the children come to me. Do not hinder them. The kingdom of God belongs to such as these." We had a foretaste of His kingdom today and it filled our hearts with joy!