If A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words, then...

...my heart is filled with volumes.

My daughter and daughter-in-love do an amazing job of helping me be a part of their daily lives. 

• I get texts of quotes from my grandchildren that make me laugh-out-loud. 

• I get close-up photos of little Phoebe's eyes, saying 'will they stay blue?' We pray so.

• I get videos of Bradley shooting one of his first baskets during his Upwards Basketball game.
• I get FaceTime calls from my nearly two-year old granddaughter who says she wants to call "Nina" and sing her Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.
• I get videos of Brielle who at 22 months has the vocabulary of a three year old, trying to say 'cantaloupe."

Click here to view

• I get to sit next to Norah via FaceTime as she shows me her very own iPod and what it can do. She even set me up on her desk so she could show me how she's improving her cart wheels. :-)
• I get photos of beautiful coloring pages completed with love for Nana.

• And I get to read to my oldest granddaughters who cling on every word of the story. Except for this last time when Norah was drawn away from listening because the sun was shining on an unusually warm January day in GA. She kept looking out the window, and I completely understood because if I had been there with her that's exactly what I would have done too.

It's true, our world became much smaller when the Internet and Social Media came along. But there's nothing that can replace the feel of snuggling a baby close to your chest or kissing the cheeks of a giggling toddler. Those times are reserved for our face to face gatherings. But I must admit I'm grateful for the pictures I carry in my heart each and every day.

If you are a Faraway Nana like me, I encourage you to connect as often as possible with your grandchildren in any way you can. The time goes by too fast to waste a moment or a tear or a laugh with them. And they need to know that even though miles separate us we carry them close in our hearts 24/7.

I'd love to hear your stories of making the distance more bearable.

(Book shelf photo credit: inafurniture.com)

Waiting For And Welcoming Phoebe Wren To Our Family

In October were privileged to stay in Tennessee for 3 weeks to wait for the birth of our 8th grandchild to our son and his wife. Phoebe Wren (their 4th) was due mid-October so we got there a week early hoping to have plenty of time to meet her, hold her and help as much as needed.

Tom found us a little cottage on Airbnb.com that turned out to be perfect in every way. It was on an 5th generation dairy farm in a little town called College Grove south of Franklin. With one bedroom, a tiny kitchen and an even tinier bathroom, we managed to make it our home for our time there.

Now for our Phoebe story. The plan was for us to go to Jason and Ashley's home when she went into labor and watch their three kids so they could go to the birthing center, located about 15 minutes North in Nashville.

Ashley passed her due date, so she started getting a daily gift from me to ease the disappointment. This is a fun tradition she has enjoyed from me because she has always been late. <sigh>   I also spent time writing Phoebe's very own song from Nana. This another tradition I started with Bristol and have continued doing with all of my grandchildren.

On Saturday night, October 24th at 11:20p. Jason texted to say Ashley's water had broken. Yay! And OH NO! We were 15 minutes south of their home. We managed to get in the car in 7 minutes flat! Amazing, but it wasn't good enough. Jason called again to say they couldn't wait--they were waking the kids up and taking them with them to the birthing center. We said we'd meet them there.

We arrived in the parking lot right behind them at midnight. Ashley had just been taken to the birthing room, the nurse was there, but the midwife had yet to show up. We walked into the dimly-lit lobby to find our half-asleep grandchildren looking bewildered and concerned for their mom. Tom and I figured we'd wait to make sure all was well with Ashley before loading them back up and taking them home to bed.

At 12:05a. the nurse came in the lobby to get some water. I asked her if she had any idea how long it would be? I'll  never forget her response...

"Oh, she's already delivered. Both are doing fine!"

What!? We couldn't believe how close she was to delivering Phoebe in the car. And we thanked God for making it there just in time. A few minutes later we were allowed in to meet her for the first time. It was an amazing moment to see Bristol (8), Willow (6) and Vito (2) meet their new sister, and she has won our hearts.

I must admit that leaving Nashville knowing that I wouldn't be there for all the newborn moments was difficult. I soaked up all the cuddles and snuggles I could to last me until the next time I would see her.



God is helping me let go of what I've always wanted to embrace what His plans are for us and for them, and it is good.

Happy New Year!

Divide and Conquer

One of the hardest parts of being faraway from our grandchildren and married children is that we can't always be there to help out when life is difficult.

The past two weeks have been overwhelmingly difficult for our daughter who has four of our little people, ages 18 months to 8 years. Her husband was going away on business for almost two weeks, and we knew it was going to be a stretch for her. We were already committed to being in TN to await the birth of our son's 4th child, our 8th little person, so we couldn't help. At least we didn't think we could.

The day before her husband was to leave, our daughter called to tell us they had a flea infestation. She was overwhelmed to say the least. We decided to leave two days early and stop by her house and help with the burdensome task of spraying and cleaning everything--several times. It took all three of us many hours, but we managed to get the job done and the fleas were gone.

The next day we headed for TN. And we're still here, at least I am. Tom had business in SC already planned in the middle of our three week stay here. But what he didn't plan on was making a stop back at our daughter's home to help comfort her children who were missing their daddy BIG time. Just having a man in the house comforted them in a way our daughter couldn't. When Tom sent me this picture of our 8 year old granddaughter cuddled up and sleeping on his shoulder I knew we had made the right decision by dividing and conquering.

Being at a distance from each other physically doesn't mean we care any less. And gratefully we are often able to go the distance to meet a need or fix a meal. We count it a privilege to love and serve our kids physically when we can. But when we can't our prayers are ever ready to appeal to our Heavenly Father to provide the hands to help and the heart to care through others who live close by.

As I sit in our little cottage waiting for a middle of the night call telling me, "It's time!" I am grateful just to be here, to be called Nana by seven, soon-to-be eight little people, and that "Faraway" doesn't mean I love and care for my little people any less. I'm a here-to-stay Nana at least in my heart.

Until next time...

Cultivating A Love For Books - A Nana's Privilege

I love reading to my grandchildren, and thankfully I can still do this. Skype and Google+ Hangouts provide a perfect way to read aloud to all of them.

What do I read?

My three oldest granddaughters are enjoying a series of books called The Doll People. We are on the third one and were very sad that this was the last one. Until.....I discovered the author has written another book. They are full of imagination, great life lessons, laughter and suspense. In fact my granddaughters beg me, "just one more chapter, Nana!" My only regret is that with our busy schedules we don't get to do this as often as I'd like.

If you're interested in this series, I've provided the links below:

The Doll People
The Meanest Doll In The World
The Runaway Dolls
The Doll People Set Sail

My three year old granddaughter recently joined the fray when she called and said, "Nana, can you read me a book?" Of course, I obliged. I asked her which book she wanted me to read, and I was surprised to discover she knew exactly the book she wanted! It was one I read to her the last time we were together. Amazingly she remembered the title from when she was here in May. Ah! Never underestimate the impact we make on our grandchildren when they come for a visit. She clung to that memory, and it was the book she wanted to read when I had the time. I'm happy to report I read to her yesterday. Imagine my thrill when her younger sister was right there listening to "Nama" (as she likes to call me) read a story.

What books have you read to your faraway grandchildren? 

Photo Credit: www.gweissert.com

When Plans Fall Through, What's A Nana To Do?!

One of the drawbacks of living faraway involves unexpected changes in plans. If you're like me I look forward with great anticipation to our times together, and when things change at the last minute it often leaves me discouraged, and maybe even a bit angry, it pains me to say.

This happened recently. On the 4th of July weekend we had made plans to all meet at our cabin in NC. It was perfect because our sons wouldn't have to take much time off from work, and we'd have a long weekend together. At least that's what we thought...

Until the phone rang...

Our daughter called saying her toddler had a fever and was throwing up two days before the trip. With our daughter-in-love 6 months pregnant we couldn't risk her being exposed, so our daughter made the hard decision to not come with her husband and four of our seven grandchildren.  :-(

I wasn't ready for this change! I had planned a group birthday party for five of my seven little people who have birthdays wrapped around July 4th. I had saved all of their gifts to give to them in person. I had bought them all matching Fourth Of July t-shirts for the parade. I was anticipating this weekend so much so that it was hard to recover from the disappointment, but I knew I had to. I still had three precious little people coming to spend time with Nana and Papa. They expected me to be fun and happy, but I didn't feel it.

So I did what I had to do. I cried out to God to forgive me for being angry at Him for allowing my plans to fall through. I asked Him to help me refocus and rejoice. I knew He had a purpose in the changes, and I also knew that I wouldn't find the good if I was focusing on the bad. He helped me embrace my time with my grandchildren, and we had a great weekend!

We gave the birthday gifts to the ones who were there, and we made plans to take a detour home to deliver the birthday gifts to the ones who weren't. I postponed the party until we could be together again, since they didn't know I had this part planned. :-)

I'm happy to say we were all able to be together this past weekend, and it was made sweeter because of the bitter disappointment of the month before.

Papa and I took the four oldest (two aged six and two aged 8) to see the Minion Movie at the theatre. We had Slushies, popcorn and lots of fun. When we got home our daughters had set up my Minion surprise party, complete with twinkie cupcakes made to look like a Minion. They had no idea that this party was supposed to happen in July.

What's the take away from all this?

I believe it's to hold our plans loosely, for we never know when circumstances will change. This makes the times when we do get to be together that much more precious.

All Or Nothing

One of the hardest things about living faraway from my grandchildren is not having them around on a regular basis. I miss knowing what their favorite snacks are, what they eat for breakfast, and what their regular routines are. I miss doing life together in hourly segments...an afternoon here, an evening there...meeting for lunch before nap time. All the ways you can connect in short increments of time.

Since my little people moved away I only see them when we've planned extended time together. And it usually happens a week at a time--all day, every day. It's exhausting since I'm not used to it, and that makes me sad.

The hardest thing when we have time together is entering their world fast and being fully engaged. I'm not used to the busyness of toddlers, the constant demands of children, the noise, the laughter, the fighting, but I want to be. Which makes me sad once again with the distance that separates us.

This Friday my daughter and her husband will be driving to our home so we can watch their four children while they go on a cruise to celebrate their 10th anniversary. (Can we just pause for a minute to celebrate the fact that we have a daughter who has been married for a decade? It blesses my heart to no end knowing that both my son and daughter are married to their best friend and that they want to continue to build their marriage for God's glory. What a miracle this is in this day and age, and something I never want to take for granted.) I'm so excited they get to come to my house. We can swim in our pool, go for walks around the block, color on the sidewalk and go out for lunch with Papa.

But first I have to get my house Stella-proof....

She is the curious one (almost 3) who never stops for a moment. I'm afraid there are many things in Nana's House that will be far too tempting for her to resist, so I must get on my knees and look at my home from her vantage point.

I'm slowly getting used to the All or Nothing aspect of being the Nana to seven (soon-to-be eight!) little people. It takes more effort to stay connected when we're far away, and even more effort to enjoy the connection when we're close. But I wouldn't change a thing! The blessing of these children in my life is incalculable no matter the miles that separate us.

How about you? How has this all or nothing aspect affected you and how have you dealt with it?

Four Ways To Connect With Your Little People Using Video Calls

Photo Credit: NY Times

We live in a day and age when we can stay connected even though miles separate us.

I love video phone calls. It's a great way to talk face-to-face with your little people, and helps your empty arms find comfort from a full heart.

There are several different ways to make video calls to your little people. Below is the list of those I've used, and a brief description as to how to make them work.

Skype - probably the most familiar and easiest to use. However, in order to connect more than two computers you have to pay for their service, something I'd rather not do. If you're only calling one computer, this would be my recommendation, and it's free. If you need help to install Skype on your computer, check out this step by step guide.

Google Hangout - If you already have a gmail account, you'll most likely want to use this platform. Simply go to your Google Plus page (look for your name with a + sign in the top toolbar of your gmail page. In the right sidebar you'll see "Start a Hangout". Follow the prompts to invite your kids to join you in a private chat room. If you'd like step by step help click here.

ooVoo Video Chat - This is another great service that provides free calls for up to 12 computers. Great for those with families all over the place. For more information on how to install ooVoo check out this video.

Facetime - This video conferencing app can be used on your smart phone. My granddaughter, Stella, absolutely loves FaceTime. She's only 2 and knows how to find me on my daughter's phone and call me herself. It's the cutest thing when I see her face pop up on my phone. She's always in the middle of a conversation when I answer. I think once she sees my photo she thinks I can hear her. Makes me laugh every time I think of it. She carries me all over the house while she plays with her toys. If you'd like step by step help on starting with FaceTime, click this link.

The New York Times published an article 7 years ago talking about the future of grandparenting via the computer...

"Nearly half of American grandparents live more than 200 miles from at least one of their grandchildren, according to AARP. Prof. Merril Silverstein, a sociologist at the University of Southern California, has found that about two-thirds of grandchildren see one set of grandparents only a few times a year, if that. But many grandparents find that the Web cam eases the transition during in-person visits, when grandchildren may refuse to sit on their laps or may reject their hugs because they do not recognize them. As a Web cam evangelist wrote on her blog, Nanascorner.com: 'You'll be able to pick up where you left off without those warming up to you, awkward moments.'"

I agree. Video chats keeps you near and dear to your grandchildren, but it can never replace the warmth of a real hug or the tenderness of a sweet kiss. I video chat with my little people quite often, and it's a time we all look forward to. But let's not let it replace it from those visits face-to-face.

How has using a web cam helped you stay connected with your grandchildren? Which of these services do you prefer and why? Won't you add your comments below, thus helping the rest of us glean from what you've found to be helpful?

Until next time...

The Faraway Nana
to Bristol, Willow and Vito in Tennessee
Norah, Bradley, Stella and Brielle in Georgia