Sheldon, Andrew and Julian

I have three wonderful grandsons.  Sheldon is 11 and belongs to my oldest stepdaughter Shelly who is an R.N. at the County Hospital Emergency Room.  Andrew is 10, he is the oldest son of my stepdaughter Annie, who passed away in May of 2008.  Julian is 6, he is Annie's youngest son.  Andrew and Julian are being raised by Shelly since Annie's death. 

Recently, like in the last 6 months, the boys have been "requesting" to come to my house A LOT.  They like the attention they get here, they love being with their uncles, David and Dale and I think they really just love the stability and sense of peace here at my house. When the boys first started coming over, it made me nervous because they are "wild" and I have my mom to watch out for.  I was really surprised and am blessed that they respect her "territory", they watch out for her and have become accustomed to her schedule. 

Thursday night I took them to see Dale's last football game.  When I dropped them off they asked if they could come over and spend the night on Friday, which they did also last weekend.  I picked them up from school on Friday and brought them over.  One night turned into the whole weekend.  We had so much fun, it was so great having them together, and playing with their uncles, climbing trees, throwing the football around, riding bicycles, playing legos.  They sure didn't watch too much television, they were very busy.  They even helped me out in the yard, raking and picking up leaves.  They mostly fend for themselves when they are home so I enjoy doing for them, cooking for them, loving on em, and just enjoying every minute I can with my wonderful grandsons. 

Raising my stepchildren was far from easy, probably the second hardest thing I have ever done.  Our household was the picture of dysfunctional.  It was horrible for everyone, there was lots of abuse, of all kinds.

It is such a blessing to me to be able to be past all of that.  To live in the now and appreciate what God has given me.