Word of the Day: Jubilation

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Word of the Day: Jubilation

Today's word is... JUBILATION!

Definition of jubilation (per Merriam-Webster):

1: an act of rejoicing : the state of being jubilant 

2: an expression of great joy

Jubilation on display:

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Throwback Thursday: Valentine's Day Marshmallow Pops

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Throwback Thursday: Valentine's Day Marshmallow Pops

This #TBT piece by Lisa Carpenter originally published February 3, 2015 on Grandma's Briefs.

What you need:

20 large marshmallows

4 ounces or so vanilla candy coating, aka Almond Bark

festive decorative cookie sprinkles

20 lollipop sticks (popsicle sticks might work equally well)

What you do:

Have kiddos poke sticks into marshmallows, all the way...

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Final football photos

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Final football photos

Final football photos!

With Sunday's (spectacular!) Super Bowl marking the end of football season, I figure I should go ahead and share my favorite football photos of the season. Photos I forgot to share soon after they were shot.

My favorite football photos of this past season are — surprise, surprise — of my three desert-dwelling grandsons. Photos not of them playing football, but watching football. Well, even better than watching football, my grandsons were attending their very first professional football game!

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The difference one hundred ninety-nine days makes

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The difference one hundred ninety-nine days makes

Up until this past weekend, my husband and I last saw our three desert-dwelling grandsons one hundred and ninety-nine days ago. At that time, we flew to their house to celebrate their birthdays — all of which are in June — a few weeks early. At that time, they looked like this:

Last weekend Jim and I flew to their house to celebrate Christmas with them — a few weeks early. In the one hundred and ninety-nine days since our visit in May, Brayden, Camden, and Declan have grown by leaps and bounds — in stature, maturity, conversational prowess, game-playing ability, and more.

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Plural magic!

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Plural magic!

Plural magic!

Welcome to a new week! I'd like to start this week sharing with you a smile, and few folks make me smile as much as my grandson Camden.

Most recently, Camden cracked me up with the following, which Megan posted on...

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On spidorpions and refrigerator art

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On spidorpions and refrigerator art

My grandsons live in the desert, where creepy crawly things reside, too.

Most of those creepy crawly things — primarily scorpions and lizards but sometimes other icky things — though horrifying to me, are merely common sightings for Brayden, Camden, and Declan. Nothing to write home, I mean, write Gramma about.

The boys — and Megan — recently encountered a critter like none they'd encountered before. One they weren't even sure what it was. First Megan, then Brayden, then Camden described...

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Rapid recovery

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late night phone call

Grandmothers and others know few things prompt panic in a parent's or grandparent's heart quite like a late-night phone call or text from a child. Even an adult child.

I received one such scary communication from my daughter Megan — mom to my grandsons — last Friday night. Granted, it was only 8:30 in the evening, 7:30 her time, but that's not a time my long-distance daughter and I typically talk or text. So my heart indeed flip-flopped a few times upon hearing her ringtone.

Camden hurt himself, she told me.

Long story short: The rambunctious kid had been rambunctioning about (my word) and demonstrating to big brother Brayden how awesome he was at holding his breath. Resulting in Camden — briefly — passing out. And landing, unconscious, on his head on the hard stone tile flooring found throughout much of their house. A tremendous goose egg on his head served as reward for the frightening feat.

Thankfully Megan's sister-in-law is a pediatrician, so...

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Friday briefs: On precious witnesses, my holiday ride, and what the heck is this?

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Precious witnesses
My middle daughter, Megan, and her husband, Preston, were both baptized as babies. Separately, of course. Last weekend the two of them confirmed their commitment to Christ together, publicly declaring as a couple they will forever live their lives for Christ.

Brayden, Camden, and Declan were front and center to witness the event.

boys watch Mom and Dad get baptized
Anticipating Mommy and Daddy's turn.

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My (uneventful) week in photos

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I haven't done much of anything worth writing home about about on my blog this past week. Which, in all honesty, is okay with me. Sometimes busyness and booked calendars are highly overrated (not to mention exhausting).

Even with nothing much on the agenda, though, I did manage to take — and in one case, appropriate from my daughter's Facebook page — photos of the nothing much marking my days. Following are a few such markings from my past week.

bear yard art
A chainsaw-crafted set o' friendly bears a neighbor recently...

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BTS 2017: Grandsons and good teachers

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From the look of their first-day-of-school photos (which I nabbed from my daughter's Facebook page), my grandsons lucked out with caring and personable teachers for the new school year.

brothers first day of school 2017

Camden kicked off kindergarten with a super-sized grin — sporting the empty spots...

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