Extraordinary Days

We recently kept our two-year-old grandson Maddox for a week while his mommy and daddy were on a cruise, and every minute spent with this little guy was truly a pleasure. My parents came to help (and to play), and we made so many sweet memories with this little 35-pound bundle of joy ... and to be able to share it with my parents made it even more precious and memorable. We introduced Maddox to some of the simple pleasures of life, like playing in water ... Our little fisherman ... It didn't take him long to find out that sitting in the water could be fun, too ... especially if you had some rocks to play with. Time out for a snack ...  I know there are some Vanilla Wafers in there somewhere!   Ahhh ... I found one! Gotta love those shorts ... the soggier they got, the longer they got!  While Maddox was with us, we celebrated my dad's 89th birthday, and Maddox had fun helping "Granddaddy" open his presents ... He also had fun playing with a set of Fisher-Price "little people," which was his mommy's when she was his age.   That really brought back some sweet memories of the countless hours we spent playing with her with them.    Rest time. It doesn't get much better than watching Dora and eating pretzels with "Max" ...  Even though it was not easy keeping up with a two-year-old who has the fastest little hands and feet I've ever seen, it was a wonderful week filled with love and fun and thankfulness for this precious little Godsend named Maddox.   His story is one of blessings, miracles, and hearts overflowing with love, and I wouldn't take anything for those extraordinary days spent with him and my parents. He melts his GrandMama's heart ... One of my favorite pictures of him ... While Maddox was at our house in Vicksburg, his sister Avery Grace was at home with her sweet Great-Aunt Dorothy, who came to stay with her since she had to go to school.  Avery was at our house this past weekend, and I did manage to capture a sweet memory of her and her great-grandmother making potato salad ...  I love those little hands ...  A priceless picture ... and another heart-melting moment. And believe it or not ... my mother and I even managed to do some Fall decorating in and amongst the playing and feeding and bathing and cuddling and snuggling and diaper changes.   This is the sideboard in our dining room ...  I'll share more pictures of my Fall decorating projects later this week, if all goes according to plan.