Oak Tree in an Acorn: Grand Birthday Weekend

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Grand Birthday Weekend

The girls and I spent this last weekend with their Granddaddy and Granny Gigi at their home in East Bernard. Granddaddy's birthday was August 19, so the girls were happy to get to spend this weekend before his birthday with him. It was my first long trip with the girls by myself (and Eve's first trip down to East Bernard), and although I was fearing the drive, they did wonderfully. There were a couple of times when Genevieve dropped her sippy cup, but Big Sister, Olivia, came to the rescue and retrieved it for her.

With Eve getting older, we will be able to do more things together like this, and I am excited about the possibilities! :)

(While we were away, Brian got some well-deserved downtime. He painted our living room orange!!)

While visiting, we went to see my grandmother, Mary Ferrell, at her home in Boling. We enjoyed seeing her again, and she was able to meet Eve for the first time. She has a beautiful "Around the World" quilt top she is working on.

Eve just had the best time rolling all over the quilt and telling us and signing to us the colors of the quilt squares. Olivia had fun playing ball with her cousin Conner who was there with his grandparents, Allen and Bonny Ferrell.

While at Grandaddy and Granny's house, the girls played outside quite a bit when the rain stopped falling. Olivia played with the toy workbench, and Eve was a bit obsessed with their dog, Giorgi. She wo

uld say, "Giorgi, hold you!" while she stood by the backdoor asking Giorgi to hold her. It was precious! Olivia rode with Granddaddy on the riding lawnmower and was so proud of her lawn-cut

ting job. I told her how when we were little my brothers and I would drive the lawnmower and go-cart around the yard pretending we were driving cars....those were the days before gas was $4.00/gallon, of course!

We had a grand weekend and we wish Granddaddy a very happy birthday!

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Why the title, "Oak Tree in an Acorn"?

Well, really it's all about perspective when raising the girls. It helps me to think about the grand scheme of parenting and remember that what we do now affects how our little acorns will grow. Like an oak tree, we want them to be strong in their words and deeds, be able to withstand life's storms, set and reach their goals, and be people that others can lean on and trust.

We have an oak tree planted in our yard that came from an acorn my dad planted in a pot. This acorn came from a huge oak tree that was planted in the backyard of my dad's childhood home. My dad's father also planted this tree from an acorn he found on his hunting lease in the early 1960's. Our tree is thus a family heirloom, a "family tree".

It was the year of Olivia's birth when we planted our little sapling. It looked so very sad that winter with no leaves; it was, basically, like a stick rooted in the ground. Five years later, though, it stands 9 feet tall, and we continue to nurture it and watch it grow. We hope one year it will produce acorns of its own, and we can continue to pass on this family heirloom. We hope to remember it's example of how each acorn has the potential to be an oak tree, and how our acorns, Olivia and Genevieve, will one day, with help from God, become mighty oak trees themselves.