Gaggle

Gaggle, J3, "A" and Lala...

The last post was the story of the new kitchen counter tops and my nephew, Gaggle. I thought I would take a moment to share with you how he received the name Gaggle, because if I were you I would be thinking "What kind of self respecting, young man would be walking around with the nickname Gaggle?"

Well, it came about like this...

When J3 was just a little fellow, he loved his big cousins (still does, quite frankly!). And as I have mentioned before, two of his big cousins were around us quite a bit back in the day.

I miss "the day" by the way.

Well, anyways...J3 was just learning how to talk and was trying with all his might to not take a nap one day because LaLa and Gaggle were at the house. As I was rocking him, he picked his head up and looked at me, pointing to the door, hoping that I would get the clue that playtime with the cousins seemed a whole lot better than a nap. Somehow during this process, the name of his cousins came up.

As he and I were having this "heart to heart" in the rocking chair, he was trying to pronounce Kyle's name (I try not to use real names here, but I think in this instance it is okay!!.)

I would slowly say Kyle's name, dragging out the sounds of this one syllable word.

"Kyyyyyy ull" I said.

J3 looked satisfied and responded with a heartfelt "moo". It wasn't just any old moo, it was as long and drawn out as my attempt at Kyle. "MOOOOOOOOOOOO"

Okay, that totally cracked me up.

He thought I was saying cow.

So I tried again. "Kyyyyy ull" Adding more emphasis on the "ull" this time.

J3 was ready. With a look of shear determination he rattled off his best pronunciation of his beloved cousin's name, but alas what came out wasn't Kyle, but instead was Gaggle.

Side note - Wonder why my kids were never good nappers?

Well, any how, he no longer calls him Gaggle...another sign that my kids are growing up.

And sadly, we also no longer have visits from Katchtika and Hippapotopoo. But that is another story for another day!

More Christmas "Slackness" and an Amazing Surprise

We spent Christmas with our family in Tennessee and had a great time. It is so wonderful to all be together. The kids have a lot of fun hanging out together...they don't get to do it enough!

I continue along in my theme of not doing the things that I should and/or want to do by not taking any pictures while we were at their house...I mean really! What kind of mom doesn't get pictures of their kids on Christmas morning! UGH!!!

One thing that we did get pictures of though (thanks to "A" and her new camera) was the amazing surprise by my more than amazing nephew.

For years, sweet "Gaggle"(the name is another story for another time), one of my sister's sons, has been very bothered by the fact that I have had to live with ugly laminate (or faux wood, as I always liked to refer to them.Trying to make the best of it, you know!) counter tops. So in all of his preciousness and thoughtfulness, he decided that he was going to install new granite tile counter tops as a surprise while we were away. J2 was concerned about me not knowing anything about it and at least having a chance to have input on what would be installed, so they told me ahead of time what was going on.

My sister, who has wonderful taste and the ability to make things look like a million bucks on a dollar-fifty budget, picked out the tile, which was black granite and beautiful. Then while we were away, Gaggle and his dad worked to install the counter tops, a new sink and a new faucet.

When we got back into town, Gaggle met us at the door with a blindfold in hand, making sure that things would be a surprise to the end. It was so cute! He walked me in and took off the blind fold to revealing a kitchen that went from this....









to this!!!!!










It looked amazing!! Absolutely beautiful!!

I am still enjoying the new counter tops. It has made a big difference in the appearance of my kitchen.

But the best part, in all honesty, is the fact that Gaggle cared enough about me to do something so special. How many 21 year old guys would give up days of their Christmas break to work on their aunt's kitchen, with not one thing in it for him. It just means so much...really more than words can say.

There hasn't been a day that has gone by when I haven't thought about him and prayed for him while keeping those counter tops clean and shiny! He is a blessing...an amazing young man.

And a shout out to his dad too for being there and working with him. I know that his knowledge and expertise really helped make it such a quality job!!

What We Hold To....

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21