As I’ve expressed before, I like this a lot!

He isn’t posing; he really had to take care of something important before we headed out for lunch.

Have I mentioned how much fun it is having granddaughters who will play games with me? 

Marissa, Bailey, Paul, Cassidy, Addison—beloved grands!

And their still-sane parents.

White-hanky farewell #1 (holding down the fort).

White-hanky farewell #2 (dropped off at choir practice).

And a sweet hug farewell as we head for home. She white-hankied us too, but I like this better.

Bailey’s baseball practice (outdoors, you’ll notice). He’s the one with the gold bat.

Then we moved on to…

Addison’s basketball game. Her team won, with our granddaughter making half of the points. Um, the score? 6/3. Okay, so they have a little room for improvement. But a win’s a win.

After lunch we headed out again, this time to watch…

Cassidy cheer with her squad.

After all this exercise, we needed fuel. So off to Pei Wei for supper and one more 5th birthday celebration for…

Paul. And then back home again for some more sports:

Looks like we’ll top off our sporty day with a big win over NC for our Dukies. Gimme a “D”! “U”! “K”! “E”!

Actually I’m quite happy to make crafts with my dear granddaughter. In fact, we have enough history now to be able to look through the book and remember together which ones we’ve made. Here’s this visit’s craft choice:

And here’s our version:

Not exactly like the picture, but close enough.

We couldn’t not go there for lunch.

No complaints from Paul, who turned 5 on Monday.

The dinner hour came and we had the whole tribe along.

It was the happenin’ place to be! 

Joseph, the young man on the right, was a toddler when I first met him. And we’re particularly fond of his extended family. So of course we wouldn’t want to miss seeing him play the part of Mr. Bingley in our beloved Pride and Prejudice at the local high school. Young friend Zach, also a long-time acquaintance, played the role of Mr. Gardiner, the Bennet sisters’ uncle (no pic, sorry).

On Thursday another young friend, Eliana, came to the office with her mom to ask if we’d post this:

Eli plays the role of Hadassah (who becomes Queen Esther), so of course we wouldn’t want to miss that! Besides, my friend Lisa and I are working our way through Beth Moore’s Bible study on the book of Esther. So off the three of us went to the Alpenrose Dairy Opera House!

Here’s our little star:

We were quite amazed by the scope of this production: the huge cast, the costumes, and the delightfully light-hearted script. I mean, really, can you find fault with a biblically based theater production that includes a song titled “I Was Born to Be a Eunuch,” choreographed Rockettes style?

A little half-time refreshment…

…and a moment to admire the nearly full moon as it peeked through an opening in the cloudy sky.

Nearing 10:30 (!) we took our time exiting the opera house and were rewarded by this:

A star is born!

Yesterday I read Liz Wood’s blogpost about “thick, chewy granola bars,” and I knew they’d be my next adventure in eating. I adapted her recipe (attributed to Smitten Kitchen) to accommodate what I’m allowed to eat these days. This time I didn’t drive the 27-mile round trip to get organic ingredients (though we keep organic butter and eggs on hand), rationalizing my purchase at the store mere blocks from home would qualify as “eating local.”

The result is quite a bit crumblier than Liz’s, but, oh, my, are they tasty! The thick, chewy granola bars are safely stored away in individual sandwich bags in the freezer—but I’m pretty sure I won’t forget.

So if you’re up for a healthy eating adventure, here’s my altered recipe:

Thick, Chewy Granola Bars

Ingredients: 1 2/3 c rolled oats; 1/2 c honey; 1/3 c oat flour; 1/2 t salt; 1/4 t ground cinnamon; 2 to 3 c dried fruits and nuts*; 1/3 c almond butter; 1 t vanilla extract; 6 T melted organic butter; 1/4 c maple syrup; 1 T water

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8.5 x 8.5 x 2.5 pan in one direction with parchment paper, allowing it to go up the opposing sides. Lightly grease the parchment paper and the exposed pan, or coat with a non-stick spray.

Stir together all the dry ingredients, including the fruit and nuts. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, melted butter or oil, liquid sweeteners and water. Toss the wet ingredients with the dry (and almond butter) until the mixture is evenly crumbly. Spread in the prepared pan, pressing firmly.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until they’re brown around the edges.

Cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack. Cut into squares. To store, wrap the bars individually in plastic or stack them in an air-tight container. They freeze well.

*Fruit/nut suggestions: dried cranberries, apricots, pecans, sunflower seeds, coconut, walnuts, sesame seeds, pepitas, dried apples, chocolate chips, wheat germ, dried cherries, pecans, almond slivers.

I don’t feel at home with a lot of clutter, but for some reason I love this little heart-themed shelf of memorabilia.

I’ll resist the urge to tell the significance of each item, but you can be sure there are lots of stories on that tiny shelf: the doll a gift from dear friends in a former life, the wooden apple a gift to Margaret-Rose in her teacher years, the car a leftover from Paul’s childhood,

the cross-stitch from Quinn just learning how, the JOY award given to Ben at Grace Youth Camp,

my original Rubik’s Cube, the “M” carved by Mauri, wax lips…my treasures, someone else’s junk.

My right hand had moved discretely to your thigh as we talked. Then out came the crucial question: “So when should I start thinking possessively about this?”

“About what?”

“This!” I said, gently squeezing your thigh with my fingers. Not a hint of surprise crossed the curves of your bearded face as we grasped simultaneously the meaning of my question. No doubt about it—that was a proposal and needed a response, which came with your next breath: “You can have it all—lock, stock, and barrel.”

It’s here again—our very own Valentine’s Day. We’ve built a good life together in these 16 years since I asked for your thigh in marriage. It’s a moment to recapture, recommit. A moment worth celebrating.

——

That’s the assignment I read to my writing group last night. And today Mauri and I took the day off work to hang out together—our kind of celebrating. It was very nice. And a couple of reminiscent pictures to cap it off.

Here’s the “tiny cabin by the ocean.” [For the record, I stayed in Captain's Cabin; Mauri stayed in Lower Deck.]

Yep, the couch and the famous thigh that started the whole thing.

You can’t see the ocean or the Twin Rocks, but you can see that Mauri set up his keyboard and took his guitar. Singing together has always been part of who we are.

We haven’t changed much at all, have we?

You might remember the Old Maid cards I made for the Anderson girls. Oscar needed a set too. Here’re the before/after pics.

Granted, age one is a little young for the game, but he can still be reminded of all the people who make up his family, who love him from the top of his soft blond head to the bottom of his sweet kissable feet.