📰💙❣️ EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! MISTER CRUZIE’S FIRST EDITION! 📰🤩
The Neighborhood Times — One Little Publisher, One Proud GiGi & a $5 Subscription! 💵🎒❣️
Living Joy-Filled GiGi Adventures with Grumpa & Grands! 💞
Well, wouldn’t you know it!!! 😂❣️
Just when I think I have discovered all the wonderful things my Grands are interested in, along comes MISTER CRUZIE with something NEW!
HIS VERY OWN NEIGHBORHOOD NEWSPAPER! 📰🤩❣️
And not just any newspaper, mind you!
It’s called…
📰 THE NEIGHBORHOOD TIMES!


Complete with neighborhood happenings, sports statistics, interesting people, pets, and even a little public safety announcement! 🚗⚾🐶
And this GiGi was about to become one very interested reader! 🥰
As Cruzie and I sat together reading his newspaper, I began asking him questions about the different articles.
First, there were all the neighborhood happenings! 🎃🍎
Halloween activities, community events, and even a cider truck!
Of course, GiGi had questions! 😂
Then there was an article with a headline that caught my attention…
🚗 “SLOW DOWN PEOPLE!” 🚗
Apparently, Mister Cruzie had some thoughts about people driving too fast through his neighborhood!
HMMMM…a little community watchdog in the making! 😉❣️
Then came the SPORTS! ⚾🏆
Now, if you know our Cruzie, you know this boy LOVES his baseball!
And the statistics? OH MY GOODNESS!
He remembers players, numbers, championships, and sports history like nobody’s business!
Sometimes I wonder if he has an entire sports encyclopedia tucked away inside that head of his! 😂⚾📚

But then we came to some of my favorite stories.
🐶 HEAVY THE DOG!
As Cruzie told me about Heavy, I couldn’t help but say something like…
“Oh, Cruzie! Heavy sounds like a dog GiGi would just LOVE to pet!”
And Cruzie agreed! 🥰🐾
Then there was ROCKY’S STORY 💙
A story about bravery, kindness, and perseverance.
And I found myself thinking…
Look at all the different things this little boy notices about the world around him!
Not just baseball.
Not just statistics.
But PEOPLE. ANIMALS. HIS NEIGHBORS. THEIR STORIES.
And THAT made this GiGi smile! 🥹❣️

As we continued talking, our conversation wandered from newspaper stories to books, family memories, and all the interesting things Cruzie loves to learn.
And you know what else makes me smile about Mister Cruzie and me? 🥰❣️
We have this funny little habit whenever we’re together!
One of us will ask the other a question, and before you know it, we’re both wondering about something neither one of us knows the answer to!
And then one of us will say…
“HEY! LET’S ASK SIRI!” 📱😂
Or…
“LET’S ASK CHAT!” 🤖🤩
And OFF WE GO!!! 🚀🌎❣️
Down another wonderful rabbit hole of questions, answers, discoveries, and sometimes even MORE questions!
From baseball payroll to national parks, from history to populations of countries, to how can you tell how old that tree is, and just about ANYTHING else our curious minds can dream up! ⚾🌲📚🐶
We laugh because one little question can turn into an entire adventure!
And isn’t that just the WONDERFUL thing about learning?
The more we discover about God’s amazing world, the more we realize how much MORE there is to discover! 🙏🌎💙
And OH, how I LOVE exploring it with Mister Cruzie! 🥰❣️
We even talked about Doogie Howser, M.D., the television character who became a doctor at an extraordinarily young age.
I asked Cruzie whether he thought he could ever do something like that.
His answer?
“Maybe, because I remember lots of things.” 🤩📚
Well, YES YOU DO, MISTER CRUZIE! 😂❣️
And then GiGi had a little editorial suggestion.
“Hey, Cruzie! I think you should put FIRST EDITION up in the right-hand corner of your newspaper!”

After all, every great newspaper has to start somewhere! 📰😉
And THEN…
I handed my little newspaper publisher FIVE DOLLARS! 💵❣️
My subscription payment!
Oh, you should have seen that smile! 🥰
He took that $5 and carefully tucked it into a special pocket in his backpack. 🎒
And as I watched him put away his money, another thought popped into GiGi’s head!
Now, if you know me, you know that when a thought pops into my head, it usually comes right out of my mouth! 😂❣️
“Hey, Cruzie! Have you ever thought about becoming a journalist? You could travel all over the world, writing stories about the people you meet and the things you discover!”
🌎✈️📰
Well…
Mister Cruzie didn’t need much time to think about THAT!
“Probably not, GG, because too much time away from home and family is not for me.”
OH MY GOODNESS! 🥹💙
There I was, imagining my little newspaper publisher traveling around the world, discovering fascinating places and writing wonderful stories…
And Cruzie was thinking about HOME AND FAMILY! 🏡❤️
“HMMMM…” I said.
“YOU NEVER KNOW!” 😉❣️
Because here’s the thing about Mister Cruzie…
He is a MIGHTY EXPLORER!
He loves baseball, books, national parks, adventures, interesting people, and learning about just about anything that catches his attention! ⚾📚🌲🌎
And he’s TEN YEARS OLD!
He doesn’t have to decide what he wants to be when he grows up.
He’s still discovering all the wonderful things God created him to be! 🙏💙
And isn’t THAT one of the greatest adventures of childhood?
Discovering the gifts God has tucked inside each one of us!
As I thought about our afternoon together, I realized something else…
Cruzie and GiGi have a little something in common.
WE BOTH LOVE A GOOD STORY! 📰✍️❣️
GiGi writes her Joyful GiGi Adventures, hoping someday her Grands will read them and remember all the wonderful times we’ve shared.
And Mister Cruzie?
He’s already out there collecting stories of his very own!
Maybe someday he’ll become a journalist.
Maybe a baseball player.
Maybe a businessman.
Maybe something neither one of us has even imagined yet!
But one thing I DO know…
God already knows the plans He has for Mister Cruzie! 🙏💙
And this GiGi intends to keep cheering him on as he discovers them!
So here’s to THE NEIGHBORHOOD TIMES! 📰🎉
Here’s to its TEN-YEAR-OLD PUBLISHER!
And here’s to one very proud GiGi who happily paid $5 for the privilege of becoming a subscriber! 💵🥰
Because sometimes the greatest adventures don’t take us halfway around the world…
Sometimes they happen sitting beside a little boy, reading his very first newspaper.
And sometimes the most important story isn’t even the one printed on the page.
It’s the story of the little boy who wrote it. 💙📰❣️
And OH, MISTER CRUZIE…
I cannot WAIT to see what God has planned for YOUR STORY! 🥹🙏❣️

“For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus…” — Ephesians 2:10 (AMP)
GiGi Will L💝ve You Forever & Like You for Always!
Proverbs 17:6 🙏💞
Of course I love Cruzie is a writer, journalist, editor, and curator of life experiences. We need more genuine curiosity in the world, AND people spreading good news. Well done!