Eyes on the Giver

"When someone is counting out
gold for you, don't look at your hands,
or the gold. Look at the giver."
-Rumi 

Eyes on the Giver, the counting continues...

#86 Always room on Nana's lap 
 
#87 Little legs kicking up cartwheels.

#88 Being asked to refereee donkey kick contests.

#89 Catching her in the middle of a made-up song,

#90 How she kept singing.

#91 Secret hideout under the drooping pine.

#92 Cross training opportunities springing from a snow-filled driveway.

#93 Ibuprofen. (I might have mentioned this one already?) Because shoveling snow is apparently much more taxing than running a half marathon.

#94 How they only came in after two hours because I bribed them with hot cocoa. 

#95 A truly wiggly tooth, not just his imagination.

#96 Sweet nieces who double as babysitters.

#97 A menu with no kids' options, and

#98 An evening with no kids.

#99 Muddled mint and lime.

#100 Latin American inspired calamari. Who knew?

#101 A forced early reservation turning into a chance to hit the bookstore after dinner,

#102 And then Trader Joe's.

#103 And I could list another dozen right here, all of them TJ's food,

#104 But I'll just mention the crispy crunchy chocolate chip cookies and leave it at that.

#105 A tooth lost!

#106 A note imploring the tooth fairy to please let him keep his first tooth,

#107 A note from the tooth fairy, allowing it, asking him to keep brushing his teeth well and to help his sister too.

#108 Under the pillow, a special book about Babe Ruth.

#109 His newly-gapped grin,

#110 Dani asking, "How did the tooth fairy know Caed is such a good reader?"

#111 And Caed adding, "Yeah, and she knows I have a sister too."

#112 Toothpaste all down her chin, from Caed "helping" her brush teeth, just like the tooth fairy told him.

#113 The way she danced down the aisle with the car seats, then stopped, hands on hips, pointing.

#114 "This is da booster I was talkin' bout! The one witd pink flowers!"

#115 Ahh, my baby-gone-girl buckling herself in.

#116 Bargain curtains, newly hung across the front window. (It only took me eight months after moving in.)

#117 Watching Ohio State win the Big 10 basketball tournament--

#118 Without broadcasting the full footage to the nice folks driving down our road. (Seriously, why did I wait eight months to put up a curtain?)

#119 Woodburning stove ablaze.

#120 Night pulling dark blanket over our heads.