Advent Ribbon 2018

Lyra, your sweet Daddy, sent me this picture on my phone.  He said you like to play doctor and use your medical bag.  It makes me smile when I see this picture because I had a doctor bag at your age and eventually became a nurse.  I am so glad you like to help others, you are thoughtful and kind and we love you so much.  Diva and Poppa

Lyra Jane,  This is one of my favorite pictures of you and your sweet Mommy.  She loves you so much and will be your very best friend.  She knows you better than anyone else and loves to sing to you and your sister.  Take good care of her.  Diva

 

Lyra here is a picture of all your cousins sitting on the Aunt Suzy’s and Uncle Tim’s front swing.  Emma 11, Oz 9, Charlie 7, Henry 5, You 3, and Lucy 1.   Poppa and I love having all our grandchildren together.  We may have to get a bigger swing next year.  Diva

Lyra Jane here is your crazy family bowling together.  It was fun to watch your Daddy try to beat Poppa.  Your Mom was the best bowler...Diva was the worst.  We had a good time together.  You and Henry did very well (better than  Diva).  I always enjoy having my family together.  Diva

Lyra, when you first got to Auntie Suzy’s house you were tired and overwhelmed by all of us.  Your big cousin Oscar, did a very kind thing for you.  He took you into the library and started reading a book to you.  You enjoyed it very much.  I could hear you laughing.  Diva

 Lyra Jane, want to know a secret?  Sometimes being a big sister is even better than being a princess.

Love you to the moon and back again.  Diva

 Lyra Jane, I love your smile and I love to hear you laugh and play.  I think that happy girls are the prettiest girls.  You fill your Diva's heart with rainbows and happiness.   Diva 

Lyra, I may not see you every day or talk to you every day, but I think and pray for you every day. God is watching over you.  I know because I ask Him to.   Diva

 Lyra, any day spent with you is my new favorite day.

  We love you, sweet girl.  Your Diva and Poppa

Lyra Jane,  I love hearing your Mommy sing “You are my sunshine” to you and your sister.  You do make us happy when skies are blue.

I love your smiles and sunny disposition...We even like partially cloudy.   Smile...Happy Looks Good On You.  Diva

 Lyra, do you like Winnie the Pooh?  He is one of my favorite characters and I love that silly old bear.  “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”  Winnie the Pooh.  I feel the same way whenever we have to leave you and your family.  Take good care of your Daddy.  Remember, he is my little boy.  Diva

 Lyra Jane, little girls make the world sweeter.  We are so excited that there will be 3 special girls in Texas for us to see.  We love you so much.  Your Diva and Poppa

Diva loves hearts

 

I am a very sentimental person.  I love watching Hallmark movies, even though I know how it will end.  I love happy endings, treats, thoughtfulness, hearts and flowers, and random acts of kindness.  I am definitely "a happily ever after" kind of girl.  

I was reading a devotion today from a book called "Devotions for the Hungry Heart" and she shared this story with her grandchildren that I would love to share with mine.

God shows us His love by showing us heart shapes in nature.  They are all around us and pop up in unexpected places.  I like to see them so He shows them to me.  It's like a little note from heaven right in the middle of the day.  When I see it, I think about how much God loves us and I have a little party in my heart.

Had to laugh at the heart-shaped bum.













I loved the hearts on the wings of this butterfly.













Heart-shaped rocks.



So my darlings, I am hoping to have some heart adventures with you this summer.  I will start collecting some I can show you and start taking pictures of the ones I find.  Don't be surprised if we go on a heart hunt adventure.   I hope you know you are always in my heart and never far from my thoughts.

Diva remembers roller skating

When I was 8 years old one of my favorite past times was roller skating.  The picture below is the street skates I used, complete with a skate key to tighten up the clamps on my shoes.  The skate key was very important or else the skate fell off every time you picked up your foot.  I lost many skate keys growing up and had to get my dad to use a pair of pliers to adjust the clamps so I could skate.

Not only were the skates heavy and awkward but I learned to skate on the sidewalks outside our home in Abilene, Texas.  Our sidewalks were cracked and if you had any speed at all and hit the rough and uneven pavement a fall was the predictable outcome.  I don't remember how many times I fell but I usually had bruises, skinned knees and elbows and lots of colorful bandaids to show for my skating adventures. ( Remember this was long before knee and elbow pads and helmets.  So if occasionally Diva acts goofy its probably from a childhood skating accident.)  Occasionally my parents would take pity on my injuries and take us skating at the local roller rink.

Ah.....the roller skating rink with a smooth wooden floor with lots of room to skate and shoe skates that they rented out.  Back in my day it was 8 year old heaven.  For my 8th birthday, my parents rented out the roller rink and had my birthday party there.  I was the most popular girl in school for that brief week.  I was able to invite all my classmates, Sunday School class friends, Brownie troop, neighbors, and friends. What could be better than shoe skates, birthday cake, presents, music to skate by as well as skating games and "couples only" skate time.  I skated with Jerry Cleveland my third-grade crush....he had braces, bright red hair cut in a crew cut, thick glasses and was the smartest boy in my class.  (Yes, sweet Lyra....your Diva was attracted to Nerds even back in the day.  Jerry was a math whiz and did my math homework for me. (But don't tell great grandmother--she just thought I got really smart in math in that year!) 

   I broke my arm roller skating.  It was the first of three broken wrists that I experienced in the first, second and third grade.  My cousins used to say that "I was slippery", I think they meant that I was breakable.  It was my left wrist.  I was going too fast down an incline and couldn't stop myself from hitting a parked car.  I used my left hand to try and stop myself but it bent backward and I heard it snap.  I wore a cast on it for 6 weeks.

In high school, I used to watch Roller Derby on TV.  The girls skated on a banked track and it was really a physical contact sport.  My friends always laughed at me that I enjoyed watching it and called me the Roller Derby Queen.  I actually got to go to a game in Norfolk and meet one of my heroes...Joan Westin of the Bay City Bombers.  I laughed when your Auntie Becky told me she was interested in skating with the Roller Derby in Saskatoon.  Who knows maybe she will fulfill one of my long lost dreams and be a roller derby queen.

As I write this for you today I want you to know how excited we are to see you play soccer, skate, dance, write and create.  Poppa and I love you very much and pray for your every single day.  Know that you are always in my heart and in my thoughts.

Your Roller Derby Skating Queen......Diva