Jeweled Leaves Under Foot

I went to jail.  Yep.  Yes, I did.  Even though it was my birthday weekend, I had to spend time in jail.

It was a beautfiul Sunday in October, crisp and clean air, crunch of jeweled leaves under foot, and the smell of dinner long past.  

The day was coming to a close and so was my birthday weekend.  Still, I had to go to jail!

Ian had kindly offered to buy my meal after church and since I'm not a person who likes to eat out, I opted for food dishes from the deli.  We had broasted chicken, pea salad, potato salad, pasta salad, broccoli salad, Pringles, and John made us a pot of spaghetti to top off the meal, especially for the little ones.

Through miscommunication we ended up with the toddlers Alayna, and Lilly, and kindergartener Jayden so the spaghetti was more their cuisine.  They flanked me on either side "I like broccoli, can I have yours?" said the boy.  "No!  I don't wanna eat," from one girl.  And, "Slur-r-r-rp...." from the other girl as she hung spaghetti in the air on her fork and hovered it over her cavernous mouth to suck it in.  What messes!

Remember...this is my birthday.  LOL.  And, though unusual, it was happy.

It started Saturday with a visit from sis.  She didn't bring me a regular cake, she brought me cheesecake, strawberry cheesecake!  Yum!  There's still some left, you can't have some, I'll eat the rest today, eeeeee.

Actually, Saturday was my birthday, but Rusty and wife had planned a party for Alayna who's birthday is 2 days before mine.  So, we were at their house eating donuts, drinking hot chocolate, taking family photos, and visiting with her side of the family when Spencer said, "Wait."  He hands me a thick loosely wrapped 6 in. square object.  It was a hand made glass trivet of Tybee Island light house!  Beautiful!  A beautiful blue!  I love it!  Such a thoughtful gift.  

Now, what was unusual about that, you're wondering.  Well, this gift "came without ribbons or tag, it came without boxes or bag" but it did have his handwriting on the crumpled wrapping paper.  It read   

"MOM Christmas (fragile)".  "B-day"

Christmas was crossed off and B-day written in it's place!   LOL, now I'm wondering, what am I getting for Christmas?  Huh, huh, huh, that's my next curious question.  

Oh, but you wanna know 'bout jail.

Okay, back to where we were -- at home, after the meal, and one set of parents has arrived.  Kids are running amok, men are in the new garage, one mom is off to town, another mom is nursing a headache on the couch.  

Early, yes, early last week, while it was still warm outside, I set up candy canes in the front yard.  I'm making a Christmas trail.   It winds around the huge tree, around the water feature, up and over the stumpery, and across the balance log.

I sowed grass seed, strew straw, drove stakes in the ground, and slid large plastic candy canes over the stakes.  It's not done.  Still need lights.  But these little kids are out there running amok -- pulling up canes, uncovering the stakes, and using them as swords!    

Parked at the base of the maple tree for the ducks to cozy up to is an oval mirror but little Alayna dances in front of it, LOL, and quickly changes direction to chase ducks.  Then the kids beg to be pushed in the swing so we have to watch for baby Jacob, who's still new to walking, as he nears the swing.  He has a cane, too, how he managed that, I don't know.  He even managed to hook himself once, "Waaaaaa".  GrammyPam to the rescue! 

Oh, yes, I digress.  Going to jail.

Well, I'm in the new garage 'cause baby Jacob heard a loud motor noise and wanted to see.  We toddled over to the open garage door to see his daddy and Grandpa tuning and revving up a chain saw.  Those red screwdrivers looked interesting and they were eye level so Jacob takes one in each hand.  Dadddy laughs but isn't sure someone wobbly on their feet should have a spear!

Here's come Alayna - bouncy, head strong, drama queen.  She pinches a goodly amount of material of my skirt and begins tugging, hard, "Come on, GrammyPam."  

"What do you want?   Where are we going?" are many questions I ask.

And she's pulling hard.  If I were to disconnect, she'd end up on her butt.  "Where are we going?"

She smirks a straight line smile, "To jail."

"To jail???  What are you talking about?  Where's jail?"  And she points to the rock bed between the deck and steps, "There."

"Why am I in jail?"

"You were bad", and she crosses her arms and stands guard.

I think I took too long with baby Jacob in the new garage, I think I was supposed to give her another turn on the swing.   Anyway, I remained in jail until Jayden came and bailed me out.  With a slight pull, my veiny hand in his soft baby hand, I was encouraged to return to their society.

And that was the highlights of my unusual Happy Birthday weekend, in and out of jail, LOL.

Thank you for my birthday wishes.

Thank God for my many blessings, and those toddlers -- those jeweled leaves under foot.