Day 572 -- The Uncles


Cole Brady and Cal Riley are Colby's youngest brothers.  Cole was born during my sophomore year of college and Cal was just a tiny baby at my wedding, so I have literally watched them grow up.  They are now entering their fourth grade year at Warner Elementary.

These boys are the most amazing uncles to our kids, and let me tell you; Breslin, Dharia, and AJ adore them. 

They are always excited to see my kids, and my kids are equally excited to see them.  What I have been most suprised to see, however, is how much Cole and Cal are willing to help and watch over their neices and nephews.  It's like even at this early age, they boys have developed an uncle-like protectiveness.  I have watched them gently push AJ in the swing, play a relaxed, easy game of catch with Breslin, and stand behind Dharia as she climbed up the steep stairs to a big slide.

Since I had made such excellent progress on my packing this morning (and our house was unbearably hot), we made a spontaneous decision to visit the Nixon water park for a few hours. Grandma Sharp and the "boys", as we call them, met us there. It was really sweet to watch Cole follow one of my kids around the pool and Cal another -- just making sure that the little ones weren't going in water or falling off the edge of the pool. My kids ate up the one-on-one attention from these uncles they look up to so much. I even overheard Dharia saying "Uncle! Uncle!" at one point when she was trying to get Cal's attention.

I am so thankful that my kids have these boys who they admire, respect, and love so much. I know that they will look up to their uncles throughout the rest of young lives. Similarly, I am happy to know that there is yet one more pair of people who will love my kids and look out for them as they grow up.

Thank God for the Uncles!

God, thank you for Cole and Cal. Thank you for the joy they bring to my kids' lives and for the help they are always so willing to offer. In your name I pray, Amen.


Had to include some cute pictures I got during the day too, of course: 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 162 -- "Showing Us the Way"

Image
One of my favorite things about the spring is the baccalaureate celebration that takes place the week before graduation.  I love the chance to see my seniors in their caps and gowns and to praise God for their arrival to the finish line.  For every year since I can remember, I've listened to Western's Select Choir perform the song "Showing Us the Way" by Michael V. Ficocelli.  When I was a senior, I even got to sing it at my own baccalaureate.  That year, and every year since I have taught at Western, I get choked up listening to the perfectly fitting lyrics of this song.  Tonight, on a perfect evening at the Cascades Falls, tears ran down my face as I watched the seniors I taught sing the words of this song to their classmates, parents, teachers, and friends.  I smiled and cried a little more as I realized that someday there's a good chance I'll be watching my own kids sing it at their baccalaureate. I had to share it with you.  This isn't Western's...
Read more

Day 80 -- Calvin and Hobbes

Image
When I was in junior high and high school, I used to read the anthologies of several comic strips, including Garfield, Fox Trot, The Far Side, and Calvin and Hobbes.  I remember reading them by the light of my bedside lamp, trying to stifle my giggles so that my parents wouldn't come bust me for staying up too late reading (the horror!). Calvin and Hobbes, especially, resonated with my sense of humor.  I found the strip simultaneously witty, funny, thought-provoking and perceptive.  I collected all of the anthologies, but somewhere between then and now, I either lost them or gave them away.  I told my husband about my tendency to read them from cover to cover, and how I was sad that I no longer had them.  Not too surprisingly, for Christmas, I received The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book from Santa. I have been slowly working my way through the book, and tonight I was reminded of Calvin's finicky eating habits and of his gift fo...
Read more

We Dance...and We Sing...When We Play the Drum!

Let it be known that my son gets his money's worth out of his toys. Or, in this case, someone else's money's worth. Whatever. You know what I mean. The toys that he likes, he really, really likes. He uses them a lot for a long time. This particular toy is a drum that was given to him by our friends, The Tappans, at his FIRST birthday party. Needless to say, tonight he was REALLY enjoying his gift.
Read more