Monday, July 21, 2008

Kids for a Day

On Saturday, my husband and hosted a birthday celebration for Jeremiah & Chloe, our adopted grandchildren. Their dad is our associate pastor, they don't have grandparents nearby, and we feel blessed to play the role. Their birthdays are two days apart. And they are two years apart in age - 9 and 7. So we kidnapped them for the day and hosted a day of surprises.

The first surprise was on me. My sweet dog Josey went into early labor and spent the morning birthing puppies. All went well and by the time she was done we had 5 new little yorkie puppies. One girl and four boys. Jeremiah and Chloe got to watch a couple of them be born. Chloe was all interested but Jeremiah thought it was "eeeewww gross!". Appropriate for a 9 year old boy I would say.

We got them each a gift and to make it more fun I devised a treasure hunt. The only rule was that they had to stay together. So I handed them the first clue and they spent the next half an hour deciphering clues and running all over our acre looking for those gift bags. They finally found them in the backseat of the car. I think they enjoyed the hunt as much as the gifts.

Next on the agenda, we packed them in the car and told them we were taking them someplace fun. They spent the whole 30 minute drive trying to guess where we were going. We ended up at the theatre and watched Horton Hears a Who. What a fun little movie. I loved the messages in the movie that said "It doesn't matter how small you are - you still matter", and "Just because you can't see it or touch it, it doesn't mean it doesn't exist". Hmmmmm.... rather profound thinking for little kids.

Next we went to the Golden Corral restaurant because they told us that was their favorite place to eat. And no wonder. It's a smorgasbord type restaurant and they just took their plates and filled up on whatever they wanted. Chloe had a plate of strawberries, some ham, two brownies, a chocolate ice cream cone, a cup of hot chocolate (are you seeing a pattern here - a girl after my own heart), and some gummy bears. Jeremiah had three helpings of steak, a plate of black olives, and a plate of candy corn. I promise, this isn't the way we let our kids eat. But I figured just once wouldn't hurt and anyway they were going home that evening so if they got sick it wouldn't be on my watch. :)

After that we rolled out of that restaurant and went home and played for the rest of the afternoon with all the yard sale toys I collect over the summer.

I think they had a great day. It was so much fun to make it special just for them. And it was fun to be a kid all day.

4 comments:

Girl Raised in the South said...

Wow - the perfect grandparents - let them eat candy corn and chocolate to their hearts content! Are you adopting anymore, I'd volunteer. Sounds like you were probably as blessed as they were, and it's precious that you fill in that gap for that family.

BTW I'm not at all sure why youre having trouble with my blog, I wish I was more techno-savvy and could fix it for you. I appreciate your efforts to keep in touch.

Dawn said...

What fun adoptive grandparents you are! I'm afraid I don't have that much energy at this time! DC is much better at this kind of stuff.

Kathy Schwanke said...

Hi Robin!! Sounds like a full rich life!! Grandbabies, adopted ones, kids home, vacation, that long list of celebrations, God giving your daughter the job (Yay God!!), your work schedule...Vacation, did I mention that already? In the winter...One blessed lady!!

It was fun reading about your summer!!

Amy Jo said...

Oh, Robin! What a beautiful thing to do! Bless you!!! We have a couple from our church that have adopted my husband and I as their "kids" and our children as their "grandkids." I can't even begin to tell you what an amazing blessing their love and grace have been to us. I know you are touching those kids' lives in AWESOME ways!!! Thanks for sharing. :-)