It's been quite some time since I posted and today I want to let you know where we're at and what's happening at our house!  Of course, I often post on FB about my grandchildren and that's what I plan to use my blog for, as well.  Life is so much fun and sharing it through a blog is one way to let folks know how life is going at our house.  For the time being, Amy and Luke are sharing our home.  Amy decided that she needed a "village" to help raise Luke so she returned to her roots even though she continues to work in Birmingham.  Luke attends daycare in our area and we are so blessed to have found a good one.  One of my closest friends in life, Nancy Thornton, who was my high school friend, and college roommate, is his teacher and she never hesitates to call if he isn't feeling well and needs to be picked up.  Just knowing that she's with him brings us peace of mind!  Amy does depend on us to be available to pick him up in the afternoons, before she gets home, but if we decide to go somewhere, she makes arrangements for someone else to keep him.  It does sometimes get stressful having two families under one roof, but Amy is very helpful and pays rent so the added income offsets any financial burdens her living her could create.  She more than compensates us for the cost of extra food, utilities or other costs involved in daily living!
Having retired a year and a half ago, I continue to enjoy being free to do whatever I choose each day!  My heart is still full of the children I worked with for so many years! I often run into a chid I worked with and I always get a big hug and a sweet conversation from the encounter!  Social work never ends.  I still get calls from family and friends who need advice on issues, and I maintain some of the relationships I made at DHR. 
My life has been forever changed with the loss of my mother and my beloved Aunt Thelma.  Both of them added so much to my everyday life!  Mother passed away before I retired, and then just two months before I retired, Aunt Thelma left! While I know that she is in a better place, I so wanted to be able to share some of my free time visiting with her and taking her for rides in the country, which she loved!
Each of my grandchildren holds such a special part of my heart! Julia, the first born, is so very dear to me and I delight is watching her evolve into a preteen! She is so smart, and reads everything she gets her hands on!  Charli, my next one, is a live wire, and has suddenly become my "teacher" holding classes each time she comes over.  She uses Aunt Thelma's desk as her base for class, and the little bell on the desk brings order to her classroom!  After assigning work to the students (Meme and lots of imaginary students) she busys herself with grading and other things while "we" complete our assignements!  Sam, the third grandchild is absolutely the most affectionate child! He is full of mischief but grins the whole time! Luke is so bright, and always comes out with statements that are far above his biological age, amazing us with how he thinks and learns! My dad calls him the "little professor"!  Zack, our oldest grandchild, but the last to join the family is actually Matt's step-son, but he is so much a part of the family! He has just returned from football camp at the University of Alabama and is so excited about playing for the varsity team in the fall!  Because Glencoe is such a small school, he may actually see some playing time as a freshman!
David and I haven't been able, financially, to do all we had planned for our retirement due to having to spend so much money helping Matt to fight his legal battles to gain custody of, and keep his beautiful daughter, Charli, but we know that the battle was worth it, and money is only good if you use it!  Anything we are missing because we can't afford to travel is compensated by that adorable little girl who loves to go to church and to spend time with her cousins!  She would have been a very different person if she had been raised by her birth mother, who isn't a Christian and who has no interest in becoming one! Life takes unexpected turns, and what's around the next bend is waiting to be experienced!!!! Life is about living and learning!  Take each day as God gives it to you, and make the most of it!