Little Gifts

What's on my mind today? Oh, lots of things, for sure but among them are things that make me really grateful for the little things in life that make me happy.

Okay -it's an old picture I came across this morning while searching for something else (and it's not the best photo ever taken either) but this little girl and her Grammie -Maya and me, in other words, taken over two years ago, is one of the things in my life that always brings a smile to my face -even if the picture isn't the best, Maya is the best granddaughter ever!  (Well, most of the time she's that.)

Mandy told me last night that she and Ken and both kids had taken Sammy for his later in the evening walk down the road and as they were venturing along, Kurtis began one of his spiels of rapid talking which generally also means a lot of jibberish that no one can figure out what it is he's trying to say then. After one of these vocal outbursts from him, Maya turned to him and said "Kurtis, will you please speak in ENGLISH!"

Two weeks into the school year and we started this week off on a not so great note Monday morning when Maya realized that she had a homework assignment given to her on Friday and which she hadn't done over the weekend. Her reaction to that resulted in a bit of drama before she left for school because that's a big no-no in her life to not have your homework completed and ready to turn in to the teacher. (Boy, how I hope and pray that attitude stays with her over the school years to come!) But then, Monday evening when she came home and sat down at the table to work on the homework assignments from that day, more drama arose as she realized she had inadvertently forgotten to put her homework assignment in her back pack. A little lecture followed that bit of information and a reminder that if she doesn't remember homework in the future she was going to be getting an "infraction" on her record for the school year. (The school district implemented this system/program of infractions the students would get for various issues and neglecting homework is one of 'em. Needless to say, she was more than a bit concerned to go to school yesterday a.m. and have to tell her teacher that two days in a row she didn't have her homework done but luckily for her, she didn't get an infraction for this neglect on her part.)

Although last week, we were happy -and very excited too -with the news that Kurtis is making a friend in school and has someone to share playground time with too but Monday evening was not all that pleasant here for him as Mandy also learned from Miss Dawn (his TSS) that he had several behavior issues that day. He'd been more than a tad mean and rude to Miss Dawn and also, his behavior in class had resulted in his clothespin being moved. Now, this is something I'm not sure about but apparently his teacher has a system wherein each student has a clothespin and I gather it's sort of a warning device to the kids. If they misbehave the clothespin will get moved and if it gets moved too far or something along those lines, in the wrong direction maybe -not totally sure on how this system of hers works -then they lose privileges. And he's comprehending enough about that so when his clothespin got moved on Monday, Miss Dawn said he had been really, really upset by that! That night, as he was going to bed, Mandy sat with him and talked to him about making good decisions and trying to be a good little boy at home and in school -all that kind of stuff, ya know. She said he was very tearful when she talked to him about the clothespin and being nicer to Miss Dawn. Hopefully, he will remember that chat and do the things expected of him in school. At least we know he understands a bit about empathy and how things we do and say can and will make others feel, so that's a good thing in my book.

Here's a picture of two of the little things in my life at a time when they were both practicing being nice to each other -which is one of the little things I really appreciate from them very much! They look so darned sweet and innocent here, don't they, which makes it really difficult then when they turn on each other! Ah, sibling rivalry at its best I guess that would be.

And here's Miss Maya with one of the nicest little things to come into my life -and our home -in a long time! That's her holding the newest addition to the family -Pearl the PurrBall Kitten! Pearl has to be the sweetest, most lovable kitten we've had in a long, long time. Mandy says Pearl's ways remind her very much of the great cat -Gracie -that we had here for over 16 years until she had to go over the Rainbow Bridge about 2 years ago now. Mandy found Pearl wandering around in the rain about 6 weeks or so ago, at the house a couple doors up the street from us. Seems the people who had been living in that house had just vacated the place and had left this kitten and a sibling to it behind. Pearl had fallen out of an open window in the house when Mandy found her and brought her home, telling me, "But Mom, you know I just couldn't go and leave this poor little baby out there in the cold rain. Just could NOT do that!" (She knew I wasn't that happy about adding another cat and especially not a female one too boot in the house, but she also knew too that once in the building, that cat would never be tossed out either!) So now, Pearl is definitely part of the family and frequently sleeps between Maya and me, along with Sammy, who usually prefers to sleep at the foot of our bed. Yeah, the menagerie continues to exist here, doesn't it?

The reason I was perusing through bunches of old pictures -when I came across these couple of pics -was because my intent was to locate a photo I thought I should have of a friend who lives up the street a ways from us of her house. She had put a picture up on facebook yesterday of her house but from the view of it, the house doesn't show up very well and I was sure I had, in my walks around town, take a photo of that house because it's one place that I've always thought was such a pretty little place. Well, I searched through all the photo files I have on the computer and didn't come across one of her house so guess I'm gonna have to walk in that direction some day soon and see if I can't remember then to get a picture of Sherri's house to post here!

Her home is one here in the village that has a bit of history with it as it was one of those "Sears-Robuck" homes that were available back in the day. You could order a house and it would be delivered to you to be put together then and they generally were of a very distinctive style. Her house also was known for years as being the "Doctor's House" too as back around the earliest days of the village, when the coal mines were in full swing, the coal company also had a "Company doctor" and he and his family got to live in this particular house. I don't remember it from those days but when I was a kid, the family who owned this place were among those few in town regarded as being a tad above everyone else with a better income and such a pretty little house too that they could call home. I always wanted to see the inside of this place but thus far, never have had a chance to do that although my friend Sherri -who just moved in there about a year or so ago now -told me to come up sometime and she'll show me through the place. I'm going to have to take her up on that offer now one of these days so then I can say I saw the inside of the "Doctor's House!"

Just another of those "little things" in life that interest me, ya know!