THe Generous One

Christopher submitted the letter below to the Children's Director at our church:

Our daughter, Lelia, certainly displays gratitude but there is absolutely no doubt that she is the most generous person in our family and one of the most generous people I've ever met...no exaggeration. It comes so easily and naturally for her that I'm convinced God created her this way and that as she grows in Christ, the Spirit is going to use her generosity in very powerful ways to serve others in the body and beyond.
It doesn't matter how little she has of something, she immediately offers it to those around her. She will be given a single piece of candy and immediately offer to split it up for her two brothers and her parents. And if it's too hard to cut up, she'll offer for everyone to take a lick. (I won't tell you whether we actually pass the candy around. That may be a little more information than you need.)
It is a rare day that she does not have something in her backpack that she is taking to school to share: an article out of the paper that she knows one of her friends will like, a homemade picture or card for a friend or teacher, cookies for the bus driver...
Just this morning she took a loaf of my wife's freshly baked pumpkin bread to school for her teacher. And this ties into the fact that her generosity often leads our family to be more generous. In fact, even though my wife made pumpkin bread and pumpkin pies earlier in the week, she was motivated to make more pumpkin bread on Sunday night because Lelia kept saying how much she'd like to take some to school for her teacher as she was eating some of her own during the weekend.
I do my best to let Lelia's sensitivity to others' needs serve as my guide for following Scripture's command that we love each other deeply from the heart. If she expresses a desire to share something we have with someone else, I have learned to stop what I am doing to seriously consider following her lead. And rarely do I override her inclination even if it includes unexpected time, money, or effort on my part. I'm that convinced that Lelia has a gift in this area.
So, while Lelia displays the virtue of Gratitude, she embodies the virtue of Generosity.
Christopher and/for Jill, Wesley, and Calvin Graham.

Happy Birthday!

I called my mom bright and early this morning to wish her a happy birthday - I wanted to be the first one! The kids and I were ready to walk out the door so as not to be late at the bus stop when I realized the date and decided we could take one minute to call and get her day started of right. After she picked up the phone and gave a groggy morning hello we all sang our hearts out with Calvin's, "Cha-Cha-Cha's" adding flare and ending the song quite nicely. Mom was so appreciative and then gracious when she said her birthday is actually tomorrow. "No," I replied, "today is the 20th." "No... it's not." "Oh," I said. "Well, we'll talk to you again tomorrow!" And off we went to catch the school bus. I was, indeed, the first one to wish her a happy birthday!

Every year i the kids and I try to go downtown in Dallas to the Farmer's market. We missed the pumpkins this year but once again the kids enjoyed climbing on the tractor.

Our friend Sarah and her son Christian joined us for our walk through the Market.

Growing Up

Growing Up

by Wesley Hugh Graham

6th Grade

Growing up

Changes you don't realize

Then you're all grown up.

First it starts with your height

You get taller and taller.

Then something happens to your voice

Getting gruffer and gruffer

Or thinner and thinner.

But all the while

You don't realize that

A change is taking place.

But others notice your change.

They notice that

You are changing

From a kid

To a preteen

To a teen

To a young adult

To a middle ager

And at last to an oldie.

Throughout that time

You have your share of trials

And your share of good times.

You have your bad times

And you have good times.

We all do.

Though we're not all the same

We're alike in different ways.

Ways we don't even realize.

Tagged Squared

I've been tagged twice now, so looks like I gotta follow through! Below are seven things about me you may not know.
1. I love marching bands! It's my favorite part of parades, and I love attending all-day band competitions! I wish the T.V. networks would show more college football half times! I have a CD of the Nebraska Marching band playing various peices, including the Nebraska Fight Song and "There is no Place Like Nebraska." When my kids were younger I taught them to march around the dining room table on game days everytime the Husker's scored. We played the CD every Friday night before Game Day and every morning of Game Day. At the end of the Fight Song it was so cute to hear my little toddlers and preschoolers shout "Go Uskers!" with their fist high in the air.
2. The bright sun causes me to sneeze. As a kid, I thought I was the only one afflicted by the sun, but I don't think that so much anymore.
3. Heterochromia is a condition in which a persons eyes are different colors- most commonly one being brown and the other blue. My left eye is blue, and my right eye is green. Any suggestions on what I should put on my driver's licence?
4. I onced saved someone from drwoning! Well, not really, but I attempted to only to have them save themselves just before I got to them.
5. Big secret: I still have my Michael Jackson Thriller tape. It's hidden away because... well... that's another secret.
6. In 7th grade I hit a girl on the arm and felt so horrible about it I cried in the Counselors office for 30 minutes!
7. I've had to go to the emergency room 3 times: pnce for a broken hand, once for a broken ankle, and once for a severely bruised bum, thought to be broken. It's a very funny story!- ask me about it when you see me!

Holiday Baking

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the crisp smell in the air, the sounds of leaves crunching under frolicking feet, and the beautiful colors of leaves, pumpkins, and other fall decor. My favorite thing to do when the weather turns cool enough to open up the house (remember, I'm in Texas and we run our central air through September!), warm up the oven, and begin my Holiday baking. Though I love eating what I bake, I really enjoy baking for others. it's sort of and act of love and kindess for me. I mean, who doesn't love to eat? My husband is my personal taste tester - I certainly can't give out anything that may taste bad! About 15 years ago I decided to see what a pumpkin pie made with fresh, mashed pumpkin would taste like. Unfortunately I did not know pureed pumpkin has a finer textured than just mashed pumpkin, and my pie was a little stringing - way too much texture! Enter my taste tester who onjectively gave me some pointers, raving the whole time over my efforts. Over the years I certainly have learned my lessons!
Adding to my love of baking I've learned to appreciate Fall and holiday dishes, taking a fancy to fun shaped pie plates and serving dishes. I can use the same drapes, bedding, towels, wall and door hangings year round, but I love changing out my dishes with the seasons! Last year my husband and I ran across a pumpkin shaped pie plate perfect for my yearly pumpkin pies - I do mean the plural as I make several for my family to enjoy. Above is a photo of Lelia and I after baking the first pumpkin pie of this season and I felt brilliant for adding the triangle facial features.

I try using recipes that my kids can help out with. later I will upload a photo and recipe of my latest cookie endeaver. Nothing fancy, but my kids will be able to make it without my assistance, and I will be able to enjoy eating it!

For Your Own Good

My Lelia Elaine has always been her own person. The picture to the right is of all three kids last year at the Fall Fun Festival. Her Gandpa calls her his Yellow Rose of Texas, and she is- right down her love of dresses to her cowgirl boots! Sometimes the boys show themselves so vividly we miss the soft color of our little girl. Lately she has been showing off her beautiful rose petals through her creativity in writing and drawing. Just the other night she aksed me for some yarn to hang a sign around her neck, but I suggested pinning the sign to her shirt instead. A few minutes later I saw her happily pass by the kitchen with her sign boldly stating: "Do not disturb" and in smaller letters underneath: "for your own good." What a stitch!
Lelia is currently working on a book about her friend Jakiah and stories of how and when they first met. The first page starts with a note to her readers! She certailnly has learned how to express herself!

Her current favorite movie is The Sound of Music and she knows most all the songs singing them throughout the house, and van, and on our camping trip... She just expressed interest in singing one of the songs for the K.B. Polk talent show at the end of the school year. I think our Yellow rose is beginning to blossom!

A couple weeks ago we met my parents at Myrtle Beach. This was the first time in my Mom's 60 years that she visited the Ocean.

What's a trip to the beach without visiting the local Ice Cream Shop. All three kids enjoyed a banana split, not leaving very much for Daddy to clean up!

Being buried in the sand has become a popular activity for the Graham Family.

Wesley becomes one with the sand.

We were able to purchase two boogie boards on this trip which added much fun to the day! So much in fact that Christopher never emerged from the water! All our pictures show him out in the deep with either or both of the boys- a kid at heart, himself!
After leaving the beach we left the kids in Georgia with Grammy and Grampy for the 11 days. We have had a fun time of eating out, seeing a movie (on it's first day out, too!), whatching the first season of SNL, and scrapbooking without having to clean up the table. We drive to Jackson tomorrow to pick up the kids. They are as happy to bee seeing us as we are to see them. While in Jackson we will visit out 13th State Capitol!

I'll post more pictures of our Virginia Vacation as I get them!

Life in Texas

My family has been visiting the same places for the past nine years. Here is a picture at the Dallas Zoo of our Texan, Lelia at age four, she will be eight next month.
Things we like about Dallas: The Dallas Zoo, The Dallas Arboretum, wearing shorts in November, Planting flowers in January, Feeding the ducks at White Rock Lake, Riding the Uptown Trolley, Divino's Pizzeria I'm sure I'll think of more later!

What's in a name?

Three years before Christopher and I were married he got a job in and moved to Vermont (VT). Five months before our scheduled wedding(May 4, 1996), I moved up to that more-beautiful-than-a-post-card state. Three days past our celebrated First anniversary, Wesley Hugh Graham was born in Fletcher Allen Health Care. Twenty-two months later Calvin Russell joined the growing Graham family. It is in Vermont we had our first email account so "VTGrahams" made sense. That's the story behind our screen name and it is used for everything we register.
Unfortunately, we were not to stay in Vermont much longer and headed to Texas to attend Seminary. Lelia Elaine, our sweet Yellow Rose of Texas was born at Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas in August of 2000. Although we now have some roots here in the Lone Star State, keeping the "VT" helps me feel connected to the many memories I have of Vermont.