Dear family,
Here it is!! My “post-visit with Megan” letter. When I arrived, yes indeed, there were no counters, flooring, or water in her kitchen and NOTHING in her downstairs bathroom. The frig was there and a microwave on the wall, lawn chairs spread around the perimeter of the room and a folding table in the middle of it. I couldn’t quite imagine visiting Meg without delicious meals (selfish, food-focused mother that I am).
Well, all fears were allayed as Easter dinner was set before me. We enjoyed it on Saturday evening when I arrived (rather than Sunday) so our holiday would be a little less busy. Glazed ham, pineapple stuffing, fresh asparagus, fruit salad, sweet potatoes….. I can’t even remember all the dishes we enjoyed. I wondered how in the world this had happened. Even making a cup of tea for myself meant going outside, around the house…… which side of the house was the hose on??……. filling a cup, and heating it in the microwave, or going upstairs, and waiting in line at the bathroom that most of us shared.
Yet, every meal was just as amazingly delicious, with fresh baked biscuits, beautiful soups or stews and salads. I found out that Megan and Siobhan had spent 7 hours (before I came) toting pots and pans and groceries to the church in order to use the kitchen to prepare meals for a whole week. All was so fun and well organized that we hardly noticed the inconveniences. It was kind of a cross between camping and going to a 5-star restaurant:) The floors and furniture were rustic, but the meals were awesome.
Amazingly, some of the inconveniences were relieved throughout the week. First, the new oven was delivered shortly after my arrival. That made warming their lovely pre-made meals a lot easier. Then a few days into my visit Stephen bought a utility sink at Home Depot (like you might see in a laundry room) and installed it into the hot and cold water and drain in the kitchen. That was a huge help. No more dish washing in the bathtub. Although I could now do a tutorial on how to wash dishes in the bathtub without ANY of them EVER touching the bathtub. It’s quite an art.
Easter Sunday was so fun. A lovely service followed by an enthusiastic egg hunt at home. Baxter offered me a purple egg (because that’s my favorite color). The twins never cease to amaze me, especially in the way they look out for one another more passionately than they do for themselves. During the candy hunt, Cade said to Baxter, “You have more candy than I do.” Baxter replied, “Oh, I’m sorry. Here, you can have some of mine.” Another time when they were playing a game together, I heard one of them say, “It’s your turn to win this time, and then it’s my turn to win.” Another little exchange I had with them couldn’t have taken me more by surprise. The twins brought me Aidan’s iPad and asked me if I would enter the pass word because they are allowed to watch a children’s show on it. I told them I didn’t know what the password was, and they promptly informed me, “It’s the first 5 digits of pi!”
Throughout the week we took walks in parks, on mountain trails, around ponds, through streams. At one place we saw a mother duck with 12 tiny ducklings following her everywhere. She finally gathered them all under her body and wings. I pointed this out to the twins and Baxter informed me, “They’re just nursing their mom.”
I had fun plans with each of the kids. The first was a shopping spree with Siobhan and Shaila where we bought materials for craft projects Shaila and I had planned. We also had a delicious cup of tea called “sweet potato chai”. I felt very “connected” with Siobhan and Shaila all week because they gave me their beautiful bedroom and comfy bed to use the whole time I was there. Shaila and I also finished a small braided rug project and two macrame key chains. These are part of the requirements for earning a craft badge in her American Heritage Girl club. I almost forgot, I also taught Shaila and Brandan how to knit. They worked tirelessly on their projects.
I got in on a bit of Connor’s birthday surprises by going with him and Ethan to a pet store where he “met” his birthday gift (a newly hatched Bearded Dragon) and bought the accoutrements for a beautiful aquarium. Ethan treated us to a yummy drink afterwards at (of course) Chick Filet. Connor also showed me his entire coin collection. I had no idea that some foreign coins could be so small!!
Aidan and Shaila and I played one of Aidan’s challenging board games called The Farming Game. These always scare me a bit because I am SO SLOW to figure out the strategy. However, Aidan is infinitely patient AND THIS TIME I WON!!! That has never happened before.
Brandan and I were the best organized in planning our time together. He emailed me a list of ten things we would do together. I promised him that I would print them and bring the list with me. We did all but one – that was to help fold laundry. We used to have so much fun in Boscawen folding laundry in the basement. (Don’t tell Meg, but we might have had some under pants tossing “fights”.) We didn’t do that this time, but we did all nine of the others. My favorite was listening to Brandan read me the next 3 chapters of a story he is writing. For years, I would write him a story when I came, and now he is writing one for me.
Baxter and Cade’s favorite activity was to bring me their Phonics Museum curriculum text book – full of activities for learning letter sounds, rhymes, reading…. It was several hundred pages. I think we finished about half of the next school year. They LOVE their school times.
Little Owen is as cute as can be and up for anything. We mostly played outside (although he loves books as well). HIS favorite activity was to run as fast as he could to the creek behind their house, pick up a stick, and throw it in. That was NOT my favorite. I preferred swinging him in the safely confined toddler swing in their yard. We also took lots of stroller walks.
Last, but certainly not least. I loved seeing Megan and Stephen. Megan and I had precious walks and talks together and Stephen and I had companionable drives and talks since I got to ride “shot gun” to every mountain, park, creek, and airport that we drove to and from throughout the course of the week. The fruit of their lives is evident in every moment of the day when I visit them.
Love, Mom (Grandma)
PS Did I mention that I beat Aidan at The Farm Game!!!
