Time With the Boys

I didn't have to go to work today as it is Martin Luther King Day in honor of the civil rights leader who spurred the movement to racial equality in this country.  My daughter-in-law, Bee, had to go to a class she's attending to get her realtor's license, so I was volunteered (and I didn't mind) to take care of my 3 grandsons during that time.  This meant leaving the house half an hour earlier than I do when I go to work and driving to my son's house in Raleigh, which takes about 25 minutes. 
The 2 older boys were waiting for me and eagerly threw open the door and immediately dragged me up upstairs to their room so I could see the Spider Man decals on the wall.  A few minutes later Bee slipped out of the house, and Niland, Benny, Ian (short for Julian) and I went upstairs to the great room over the garage, where they have an indoor play house that is 8' tall and has a ladder, slide (yes, a full-length slide!), and a fire pole which extends from a platform to the floor, constructed by Daddy for the boys.  The unit has 2 levels, and the floor level has a large entrance on one side that lets the kids sit under the upper level.  It's a nice place to hide.
When we entered the room, I couldn't believe the mess!  Toys were everywhere on the floor!  I had to be careful not to trip on them.  We played percussion instruments and a guitar, making fun music and a lot of noise.  After a brief attempt at picking up one section of the room, snacks followed, and let me tell you these little boys are eating machines, even Ian who is a little guy.  I managed to do some cleaning to help Bee out as she's also been carrying a part-time job, and folded some laundry, a never-ending job with 3 little boys.  Later, Ian went down for his nap without complaint, which was a real relief! 
Having heard how good Benny is at putting puzzles together, we dumped a bag of puzzle pieces onto the coffee table to put them together.  To my surprise, there were 4 puzzles in the bag!  I had no idea what they looked like, but I did know that they pictured Buzz Lightyear (you should hear Benny say "To infinity and beyond!) and 3 different scenes from Pixar's "Cars."  Niland, thankfully, knew where the box was, and once we had that, the puzzles went together a little quicker.  Now I like to do puzzles, but Benny blew me away.  He was grabbing pieces and putting them together faster than I could!  Over and over, he kept finding the right pieces, and soon Buzz Lightyear was almost complete.  Benny is not quite 3 1/2 years old, and ever since he's been able to walk, he's placed items in patterns and order; one time he took bottles full of water and laid them on the floor in several perfectly straight rows, one next to the other.  These puzzles we were working on are each about 60 pieces, and he can put them together by himself rather quickly.
Lunch time soon rolled around, and Benny wanted only grapes.  "They're healthy," he kept telling me despite my attemps to get him to eat anything else.  I think he ate too many crackers for his snack.  Niland wanted some left over rice, so he got that and some ham slices.  He piled the rice on top of the deli ham slices, rolled it up and exclaimed, "Sushi!" 
"Do you like sushi?" I asked.
"I'm not allowed to eat it."
"You're not?"
"Well, some kinds I can eat, but that's all.  Shrimp is my favorite."
"Yeah, all kids of things are used to make sushi -- cucumbers, avocado, fish . . ."
"And seaweed and rice!"
Where does this 5-year-old kid get so much information? 
Before long, Ian woke from his nap, and as he was eating lunch and I was folding clothes, Bee came home from her class.  After visiting with her, I returned home to do my own laundry, which I've yet to tackle.
I'm so grateful for the time I can spend with my grandkids when I'm not working; it seems as if there's far too little of it. 
When I got home, my daughter Dori called.  My granddaughter, Cami, is sick again.  John, Dori, Luke and Cami all got sick during their week of vacation at Disney in Florida the week after Christmas, and sickness has kept one of them down since the beginning of November.  Dori's getting pretty worn out with all the sickness.  John is currently in New Jersey (he travels quite a bit on his job), and it is supposed to snow in New Jersey this evening, so Dori doesn't know if John will make it home or not because of the potential for snow, and she's about at the end of her rope.  I wish I could do something to ease her load. 
So much more to write about, but this is long already.  Oh, just one more thing.  A job has opened up, something that I would be privileged to do, something that I feel God is calling me to.  I'm to speak to the director of that organization tomorrow.  This job would offer the opportunity to use my past to save others from making mistakes in the future.  The job is an answer to prayer and a promise I believe I received from God, but I know that the person God wants will get the job.  This is one of those times I truly want it to be me.  I want God to use me to make a difference.