When we're going anywhere farther than about an hour away, it never fails that all my children suddenly feel the need to start texting me at the same time about various subjects. In those cases, I hand my phone over to whomever is in the passenger's seat and dictate responses. When it's Husband doing the texting, however, he starts typing whatever he wants to, and his responses quickly tip off the kids that I'm not the one who is answering them.
Here's a text convo between me and Gabrielle. Or, rather, Gabrielle and Husband, as I was in the driver's seat. She'd noticed a hole in her tooth and was kind of freaking out. Arrows point to obvious Dad-style responses.
My texting conversations with Elannah revolve heavily around two subjects: her asking me for a ride, and her asking me for money. My first two girls hardly ever asked for money. Elannah and Sophia, however, have developed expensive hobbies and tastes. Sophia has a good job now, so she pays for herself 100%, but Elannah is between jobs and still feels she has a lifestyle to maintain, as exhibited in the following conversation.
As I recall, I rejected the proposition after briefly considering it. She does have a gift card for Panda Express coming to her tomorrow for Christmas. She'll probably cry. But she'll cry even harder when she finds out that Gabrielle and Sophia teamed up to pay for driving lessons so she can finally get her driver's license. Of course, once that happens, I'll never get to drive again because I'll never be able to get my hands on my car.
Here's a picture I snapped last night when all six (seven, counting the son-in-law) of my children, my mom, in-laws, a nephew, and two of my siblings, and a sibling's significant other were here and the house was full of merriment and food and love.
It's Husband and Tyler, my grandson. Is Tyler not the absolute most cutest thing to ever grace this earth? Not that I'm biased or anything. He's over five months old now, the little chunk. He's been on a high-calorie formula for a while now, and I think he's ready to come off it. And just look at his pointy ears! So adorable!
The man holding him is pretty great, too.
In conclusion, Merry Christmas to you, dear reader. I wish only the best for you. I wish you a year full of good things and the hope and faith that when hard things happen, there is light waiting for you during and after your trials. I send you all the love in my heart. I add my prayer to the prayers of angels and dear ones gone before that you are always watched over. And may delicious pies be a part of your holiday season.
