Ooops!

Should I admit this or not? Heck, why not? It was pretty funny when all was said and done and I knew my baby was safe. I'll set the stage for you...

One of my BFF's (Kim) came over one morning to help me strip some horrible wallpaper. Knowing that we'd be next to the nursery I decided to put up the pack-n-play in our bathroom so that Griff could take his usual morning nap without distraction.


I put Griff down and Kim and I began our tedious job of removing some U-G-L-Y paper (well not all of it was bad...but not all of it was good either). We went on about our business for a couple of hours. When we were finished for some reason I can't really recall at the moment I decided that my baby boy had slept long enough and I went in to get him. This is what I found...

In case you can't see ... let me point out a few things.... that shiny thing in the bottom left corner is the famous TSA 3-3-3 zip lock bag ... in it were: Q-tips, a toothbrush, hand sanitizer, deoderant, toothpaste, fingernail clippers, hair gel, Zicam, NyQuil Daytime (broke open with one missing), ... do I really need to list anymore? If you're gasping by now...well, join the crowd...I didn't quite know what to do...so I ran downstairs to get Kim and we ran back up to acess the situation...the one that really scared me was the Daytime stuff. But then Kim brought me to my senses and said, "well, if he would have swallowed that he'd be bouncing off the ceiling by now." He woke up fine and appears to have no long term scars from the experience.

Lesson Learned - make sure that Baby is far enough away from the vanity drawers to keep him safe. *sigh*

Another view of my little cherub. Oh yes, that's his hand in Daddy's Shaving Bag with the electric razor...Thankful that God and His angels watch over my babies at all times.

Digging Deep

Ever had a time where something was really, no I mean REALLY bothering you? And you just couldn't put your finger on what it was. I have.

Yesterday, I was catching up on a favorite blog - in fact, she's a sister of a friend at church. As I read, I could hear her crying out in frustration about something that was gnawing away at her. I was very quickly reminded of an exercise I learned twelve years ago when I attended part of the National Writing Project (an excellent program I might add). I commented on her entry and suggested she try this little exercise. She did. She unearthed some things that just wouldn't come out.

I've suggested this exercise to a few people in the past, as a way of helping one articulate what they may be scared to actually vocalize or possibly can't. You see, our minds are good at things like this. There is so much happening in our conscious and subconsious sometimes it's hard to figure out what is going on at all...that little 3 pound thing located on top of our shoulders is a very complex machine. Sometimes we have to do things just a little different to really, really figure out what is going on in there.

So here's the exercise:

In a quiet place by yourself, grab a paper and pencil and timer. Begin thinking about your subject (I would pray too and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what He wants). Set the timer for 5 minutes and as fast as you can write every word, thought, and phrase that comes to mind. No grammar rules apply. No complete thoughts or sentences necessary. Whatever pops into your head scribble it down. If you begin to draw a picture - go with it. It's your time to let it all out. If you end up with only a list of words that's okay. The hard part is to keep your brain from trying to write paragraphs. I find that if I stick to only single words and short phrases I unearth a lot more - (but that might just be me). There is no order to this wherever you feel led to write something on the paper do it. You may find your self somewhat ordering thoughts...just let your subconscious do the work. The only rule - DON'T THINK TOO HARD!

When you are finished you go back through it and begin to weed out, or to see the pattern of what you were trying to dig up and articulate, but never found the way - until now.

If you want to read the orginal post from Janet click here and the follow up to her exercise click here. By the way Janet is a Top-Notch designer, photographer and scrapper in the Digital Scrapping Industry. You can visit her web site, The Daily Digi and check out her amazing gift of creativity.

New Look & Florida Pictures

I enjoy learning new things even though sometimes it simply puts me over the edge and I have to quit for a while. That has been the case with this blog. I wanted to change the look of it, without paying someone else to do it, so therefor I had to learn how to do it "by myself." I sound like a toddler, don't I?

Anyhow, here is my attempt at changing the look of our blog...not too bad, huh? Don't look too hard or you'll see a thing or two that need to be fixed.

We had an awesome trip to Florida a few weeks ago. Very relaxing and very fun. So, here are a few pictures to share with anyone who is still out there reading.

Graham and Griffin after their first plane ride together (Griff was on one at 4months)

that's it for now...too hard to upload on this blog...you can see the rest on my Facebook album.

Flashback

Everyone Should have at least one picture like this!

Not quite a decade flashback or anything like that...just flashing back to December. It flew by so fast (wow! that makes me sound old when I start talking about how fast time flies...but it does!!) I hardly had time to think straight.

We had a great holiday season and really enjoyed it with the kids. One of the highlights was introducing Graham to Santa. The first talk of Santa came sometime in November when I took the boys to Wal-Mart. Graham immediately spotted one of those Tonka Titan Recycle Trucks and of course "had to have it!" I told him that Christmas is coming and he'd have to ask Santa for it.

Throughout the rest of our shopping trip he repeatedly asked, "is Christmas coming over?" or "will Christmas come after my nap?" Our conversations that afternoon provided a lot of chuckles and knowing nods from shoppers who remembered the preschool days.

The funniest was when a very nice middle aged lady stopped to talk to the boys and Graham ever so intently looked up at her and said, "are you Santa?" She laughed and said she'd been called many things, but never Santa.

That afternoon, Graham continued his quest to find Santa and to pin me down on just when Christmas was coming over to his house. His final attempt to discover just who Santa was at checkout when he asked the checkout lady if, indeed she was Santa. She confirmed that she wasn't but listened intently as he put in his request for the "Ricycle Truck" (as he called it).

We had a fun few weeks trying to convince him that Christmas was an event not a person and by the time the day arrived I think he finally understood.

He was pleased and elated to share his list with Santa but his brother - not so much. We had to pull Graham away as he and Santa were deep in conversation discussing Recycle and Street Sweeping Trucks.

Out of the mouth of babes....

Being the mom of two little boys I have learned much more about heavy equipment and trucks than I ever thought possible. In fact, who knew that there were so many diggers, cranes, back hoes, bobcats, buses, dump trucks, garbage trucks, vacuum trucks, and cherry pickers around? I'm sure they've always been there, but I assure I did not know the extent of their existence until the last 18 months or so when Graham started recognizing them ALL OVER the place. Who knew?

One morning this past fall we were driving down the highway not far from the United Parcel Service distribution center in Livonia. It was just a few minutes after nine and apparently the gates had opened and dozens of the big brown trucks were making their way on the numerous overpasses and on ramps to make their deliveries for the day. Graham was on sensory overload noticing all of the big brown boxes EVERYWHERE. "What's that Mommy?" he asked inquisitively. "What? Those brown trucks?" "Yes!" "Those are U-P-S trucks." "Oh, I like them!" That last bit of information didn't surprise me at all. He watched intensely as we passed each one (I promise you there were many to watch that morning!)

A few days passed and I heard his little voice from his car seat say something like..."Look Mommy! It's the babyass truck." .... puzzled and confused and wondering if my ears had heard right. I said, "the what?" just to be sure my ears hadn't decieved me ... "the babyass truck." and he pointed to the big brown box.

I tried not to laugh or draw attention to the three year old interpretation of U-P-S, but couldn't wait to share it with Tim. A couple of days later, we were in the car with Tim and spotted one of the trucks. Graham immediately noticed it and shouted for daddy to "look at the babyass truck!"

Yesterday he spotted another one and mentioned something about all of the babies inside of it...so...I'm not really sure what he understood U-P-S to mean, or where he saw a bunch of babies inside one...but he sure has provided us with a few good laughs. Maybe someday it will all be clear...

Maybe we'll teach Griffin that's it's the "Ups truck" instead and avoid any confusion?!? or maybe not.

New Year Resolutions 2009 Q1

Well, it's that time of year again. I'm excited at all the new roads and challenges that lie ahead...only God knows where we will travel this year. We trust that He has a wonderful route mapped out!

I took some time yesterday to sit and ponder where I've been and where I want to go. I'm actually quite proud of my first quarter resolutions for last year, but I never sat down and revisited them for the other three...so that is first on my list...

• Re-evaluate goals before each quarter ends for me this means late March, June, August - since I will be going back to work in September, and December.
• Continue with Flylady routines continuing to realize that "I am NOT behind" and that "babysteps" are important.
• Digi Scrap Graham and Griffin's Baby books, Our Wedding, and my Mom's Heritage Book in addition to a goal of 10 pages per month on our lives. Still considering the 365 project.
• Weight Loss - loose 1lb. a week
• Lifestyle change towards more raw foods and less meat products by reducing our meat meals by two a week. Increasing my fruit intake by consciously eating a banana for breakfast, some veggie at lunch, salad at dinner. Limiting dessert/treats to 1x week. Water - 64oz a day.
• Coffee- reduce to 1 cup a day with hopes of eliminating all together very soon.
• Exercise: January using the elliptical machine 3x week building to 40 minutes by January 15; February - 4x week, 40 minutes; March - 5x week, 40 minutes
• Reading the New Testament through this year. I found this great site that will email me my reading for the day in one of many versions.
• Devotions and Prayer for Tim & I together on Monday evenings at 9pm.
• Keep a prayer & praise journal for my Christian Mommy friends.
• Spend some meaningful time on the basement at my Mom's house.
• Enroll Graham in gymnastics this winter.
• Ebay the stuff I've been collecting to do so with.
• Schedule "Mom's Night Out" for my friends at church.

Feel free to hold me accountable by asking how I'm doing on my goals...I can ALWAYS use a kick in the pants.

Happy New Year everyone!

Christmas Pictures

Yes Santa, I've been naughty!

That's it...it's been crazy around here.

My Christmas tree looks like a cat has attacked it (Griffin) ... I can't keep up with the messes my littlest one makes. He's a disaster.

Graham on the other hand is absolutely loving Christmas this year. He gets it. He believes in Santa (so make sure your kid doesn't blow it for him) and is anxiously awaiting his turn to sing "Away in a Manger" at church this coming Sunday.

We've had a great time playing with the Little People Nativity set and reading many different versions of the Christmas story from the book box. It's exciting to see which character will be perched on top of the creche. The camel is the funniest. The wise men must have experienced a rough trip, as they have been spotted more than once in the Little People school bus.

The Birthday Boy

I may only be writing this for the sake of writing it since my faithful blog readers have probably given up on me. I do know there were at least a few people that mentioned missing it. So, I will do better - I promise.

On November 6th we celebrated one wonderful, spectacular year with our "little" guy, Griffin!

His smile lights up any room and draws attention from strangers everywhere. He's quite the charmer and flirt. I predict he will have a great sense of humor, yet resemble Linus from Peanuts! He can make a mess in the blink of an eye! He is never lost...just follow the mess and at the end you're sure to find a smiling, giggling Griffin!

the end!

Moving On

The time has come to move on. I've been avoiding my blog knowing that my small tribute to my dad would pop up when I opened it. I have purposefully opened it a time or two and it has been greeted with various emotions.

Every now and then I realize that he's no longer here and that makes me sad ... and then I realize he's in Heaven ... with Jesus and all those who have been called home before now and that makes me happy. But still - I'm sometimes sad.

As prepared as I thought I was, I still have experienced pain and hurt. Part of that is probably because of the roll that a daughter partially plays in the whole event - at least in our family we (the daughters) had to be the strong and logical ones and that doesn't always allow for much grieving. Until after ... when everyone is gone, the commotion has died down, and you and one is left to live life ... but you still have grieving to do.

This happened to me. I kept thinking, if I can just make it to Tuesday night (the evening of the funeral) I can have a few minutes to myself or maybe even a couple of hours. But, that didn't happen as Tim's company announced it was selling itself at 430 that afternoon.

So I thought ... if I can just make it to Thursday evening, I'll go out by myself for a couple hours, so I "bucked up" and took on the role of consoling wife. Adopting my father's "we'll cross that bridge when we get there" philosophy and once again became the reassuring one of the family.

Thursday night came along and I truthfully don't remember what happened, but again... I sucked it up and put myself on the back burner. The problem is, you can only put yourself on the back burner just so many times.

Honestly, I was pushing it and by Friday morning, I blew. I thought my head would explode and I thank God for good friends like my friend Leslie who didn't say, "call me if you need me" as those who know me, know I would never call. Instead, she said, "I'm sending someone over to watch the kids." And she did. And I swallowed my pride and admitted I needed help.

Within two hours someone was here to watch my kids while I took myself over to Panera and was able to sit, pray, and read ... and think through the events of the last week. That's all I needed - a couple hours, uninterrupted to sit and think and pray.

It's not rocket science - it can't get much easier than that. So, why is it so hard to make sure it happens on our own? I'm extremely thankful to everyone who looked out for me, helped out and was simply just there during this time.

THANK YOU!

That is all for now... and I leave you with a picture of the week:

Tim participated in the Monroe Boat Club Single Hand Race this past Saturday

That's Tim sailing Captiva

This is the hazy start to the race -

I think that is Captiva on the far left...see the blue at the bottom of the front sail?

He's Home

Paul W. Chipman

December 17, 1928 - August 9, 2008

Our prayers have all been answered, I finally have arrived.

The healing that had been delayed, Has now been realized.

No one’s in a hurry, There’s no schedule to keep.

We’re all enjoying Jesus, Just sitting at His feet.

If you could see me now, I’m walking streets of gold.

If you could see me now, I’m standing tall and whole.

If you could see me now, You’d know I’d seen His face.

If you could see me now, You’d know the pain is erased.

You wouldn’t want me, To ever leave this place,

If you could see me now.

My light and temporary trials, Have worked out for my good.

To know it brought Him glory, When I misunderstood.

Though we’ve had our sorrows, They can never compare.

What Jesus had in store for us, No language can share.

If you could see me now, I’m walking streets of gold.

If you could see me now, I’m standing tall and whole.

If you could see me now, You’d know I’d seen His face.

If you could see me now, You’d know the pain is erased.

You wouldn’t want me, To ever leave this perfect place,

If you could only see me now.

If you could see me now...

Christian Mommies - Chicago 2008

A few people know about this and others don't...so I'm outtin' myself on yet another thing.

In May 2007, I found myself looking for something during the day while Graham was napping. After all he napped 4-5 hours, so after napping myself, cleaning, doing my bible study...I was bored. Many afternoons I found myself on Baby Center a site for moms in all stages of life.

I finally ventured onto a message board titled "November 2007 Babies." This was a board for all the mommies having babies in November 2007. Interesting. I read and lurked for a while and eventually came across a thread titled "Christian Mommies.' I lurked there for a week or so and then finally jumped in and started chatting with this group of mommies to be.

As we progressed through our pregnancies, our friendships began develop and blossom. We laughed, exchanged advice, prayer requests, and even cried. Some members came and went - but a core group hung around.

Just before our babies were born, we decided to take our group private so that we could share more specifically and personally about our lives. Having privacy allowed us to grow even deeper relationships. Sixteen women joined the private board at the end of October. Over the coming months 3 fizzled out for various reasons, but thirteen remain.

Sometime around the first of the year we started planning a meet up for the coming summer. That meet up was this past weekend. Eight families were able to all come together in Chicago. And what a blast we had!

I layed in bed on Saturday night thinking about what had transpired in front of my eyes and I came to the conclusion it was like nothing I had ever experienced before. Just a very little of it was like a blind date...but for the most part it was easy...just like old friends. Only friends who had never met face to face...only computer to computer for fifteen months. It wasn't weird at all. It was just like home! Easy, comfortable and safe.

The incredible part was the husbands (or DH as they are affectionately referred to on message boards)...they got along amazingly well too - and they had never spoke to one another.

It was sad to say goodbye, and it was great to chat again with them once we all returned to our respective homes.

We didn't plan too much...but we did go downtown to Millennium Park, the Lincoln Park Zoo, Maggiano's and we hung out at the hotel a lot.... Here are some of the highlights....

Tim at Millennium Park on some big swinging thing

Graham at the Arbortorium - Lincoln Park Zoo

All the Babies

The Whole Gang

Graham's Boy Bed

We finally decided to let Graham out of his crib...what fun this has been...it's been a couple of late nights getting to bed and even more time consuming getting down for a nap. Today went much smoother.

Here are pictures from the inaugural nap...

Is that really comfortable?

Which is Older...Your Body or Your Brain?

Try this to find out!

Read the rules here first because they're in Japanese.
1. Click on "Start."
2. Wait for 3, 2, 1.
3. Memorize the positions of the numbers on the screen, and then click on the blank circles in order from the smallest to the biggest number.
4. You'll do this ten times, and then it'll calculate the age of your brain.

I'm happy to report that my brain is 5years younger than I am.

Try it yourself and see how you rate. Be sure to post your score in the comments.

I was tagged....

I was tagged by Sally. So here it goes:

The Rules: Answer the questions using only one word.

Then tag four others.

I actually answered these Sunday evening...

1. Where is your cell phone? purse

2. Your significant other? bathroom

3. Your hair? up

4. Your mother? sad

5. Your father? dying

6. Your favorite thing? babies
7. Your dream last night? forgot
8 Your favorite drink? coffee
9. Your dream/goal? speaker
10. The room you’re in? dining
11. Your hobby? scrapping
12. Your fear? accidents
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? beach
14. What you’re not? disciplined
15. Muffins? almondnutchocchippeanutbutter (that’s one word isn’t it?)
16. One of your wish list items? diamondearrings (I AM cheating now)
17. Where you grew up? Michigan
18. The last thing you did? swam
19. What are you wearing? dress
20. Favorite gadget? computer
21. Your pets? none
22. Your computer? BFF
23. Your mood? tired
24. Missing someone? no
25. Your car? practical
26. Something you’re not wearing? shoes
27. Favorite store? Costco
28. Like someone? yes
29. Your favorite color? orange
30. When is the last time you laughed? earlier

31. Last time you cried? today

eeney, meeney, miney, moe....

...I'm tagging Lisa, Jamie, Jennifer

and Jessica (because you need to update your blog ;-0 )

Summer Saturday Night

We had a beautiful sail out to the lighthouse on Saturday evening. It was so beautiful and peaceful that Graham even fell asleep in his Daddy's arms when they were sitting on the bow of the boat. Tim hated to wake him up, but someone had to bring the sails in (we don't get too many opportunities to hold him when he's still) and then...

Daddy took us to a new Mexican restaurant he spotted last week.

Graham and Daddy are bargaining for the last chip.

Summer Nights

I know I promised Birthday photos, but I haven't put them together yet...in the meantime here is Graham and one of his little friends last night....sooo cute!! :-)

Days of Our Lives

It's been a pretty crazy week and truly I should be cleaning something. Cleaning? Who wants to do that? My IL's are coming tonight and we have a babysitter too...so I better get going on it.

But, first I wanted to share a little of what has been going on the past week or so.

Graham graduated from his preschool class on Thursday, June 5th
Graham and Miss Teri

Griffin fell asleep in my arms at church -

for those of you who know my kids well, know that this is amazing!!

My last class graduated from 5th grade

Megan, Haley and Mitchel

Graham made Tim a Fish for Father's Day

I paid more for a tank of gas then my first monthly car payment

($70.64 in 1986)

My baby discovered the joy of a balloon!

Happy Weekend...I'll be back with Birthday pictures soon!

When No Words Are Spoken

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.

We do not know what we ought to pray for,

but the Spirit himself intercedes for us

with groans that words cannot express.

And he who searches our hearts knows

the mind of the Spirit,

because the Spirit intercedes

for the saints in accordance with God's will."

Romans 8:26-2 (NIV)

I was so thankful when I came across this verse many years ago. I hold it near and dear to my heart.

So often, when we hurt or are confused, we just don't know what to say or what to pray. This verse assures me that the Holy Spirit, who sits at the right hand of the Father, speaks for me. I can rest assured that my needs and wants are being conveyed in words, phrases and expressions that I can't even fathom.

I'm taken care of...Praise Jesus! What would I do without Him?

I Surrender All

Todd Smith Performing "I Surrender All" at Cross Point Community Church following a video testimony about losing his daughter Audrey Caroline Smith just a few hours after she was born.

Todd Smtih "I Surrender All" from Matthew Singleton on Vimeo.

Easy - Peasy Garlic Chicken Parmesan

I'm not usually fond of baking chicken (I can't seem to tell when it is or isn't done) but I was desperate the other night when I had forgotten to marinate my chicken and it was raining to boot. This had excellent flavor and it cooked up just right!

ENJOY!

1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese (I used shredded for a fun look)

1 envelope GOOD SEASONS Italian Salad Dressing & Recipe Mix
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (2 lb.)



Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix cheese, salad dressing mix and garlic powder.
Moisten chicken with water; coat with cheese mixture. Place in shallow baking dish.
Bake 20 to 25 min. or until chicken is cooked through (165°F).


For a nice finished look turn on broiler at end and broil 2 to 4 minutes. Watch it carefully.

The Past and the Pitcher

Yesterday, I wrote of the tragedies in the Smith family. While browsing Angie's blog (whom I don't even know) I read a previous post that struck a real chord with me.

We all have broken pasts in some way, shape or form. She writes of a beautiful experience God led her through in showing her that he was in control and can heal all her brokenness. Grab a box of kleenex and read on... The Past and the Pitcher

For Luke

Some of you may be familiar with Nicol Smith Soponberg (of the group Selah) and her connections to Gilead (brother Jack is the worship leader). She delivered her second child a son on March 18th of this year. His name is Luke.

Last Tuesday evening she put him to bed and then around 9:00pm, she went to check on him and found he was not breathing. Paramedics were called but they were unable to resuscitate him. His funeral is this afternoon in Georgia.

In April, her brother Todd and his wife Angie also had a new baby, Audrey, who was born prematurely with complications and and died the same day. This family has been through a lot in the past few weeks. If you want to read more you can check out Angie's blog.

Keep them in your prayers today and through the coming days.

The Corner Store

In the middle of my childhood neighborhood stood a little white building. The neighborhood kids affectionately called it - The Corner Store. When I went to public school in 5th grade I found out the rest of the neighborhood called it Little White's although it's official name was the Grindley Market.

It seemed like such a huge store and the counter seemed even larger. Behind the realistically tiny counter stood not so pretty wooden shelves. Those not so pretty shelves held something very beautiful to the neighborhood children...CANDY.

Every kind of candy imaginable to a kid back in the mid 1970's...bottlecaps, licorice, Milky Way, Snickers (I remember paying 15 cents), Three Musketeer's, Big League Chew, candy cigarettes, Goetz Caramel Creams, smarties, candy necklaces....but the best was the penny candy...Tootsie Rolls and Swedish Fish. My very favoritest being the latter....SWEDISH FISH!

We (me and my BFF Kim) were usually allowed to take a whole Quarter to spend. The whole way there we would talk about what we were going to get. I usually liked to divide mine up - a little of this and a little of that. With a whole Quarter that meant 25 pieces of candy...that could last a loooonnngggg time!

I remember one particular Sunday afternoon. Kim came home from church with me and we took our quarters and walked up to the store. We made our purchasesand walked home. As all children do, we dumped out the goods and began to observe, compare and enjoy our candies. It didn't take long to realize that the lady had given me much more than I had paid for. Wouldn't you know that our lesson in Sunday School that morning had been about honesty? So, we put all our candies back in the bag and walked back to the store. I happily handed my bag to the lady and said, "you gave me too much." Expecting her to be so proud of my honesty I eagerly awaited the praise with a smile on my face. But I wasn't greeted with the praise I had expected. She crumpled down my little brown bag and handed back to me all while rolling her eyes. I was shocked and confused. I thought she would applaud my honesty. But she didn't.

Many years later I realized that she was either in a hurry or didn't want to be bothered with counting out that many fish. If she would have just taken the time to say, "oh that's okay" or "I just guessed". But she didn't. Her bothered attitude led me to believe that honesty didn't always pay or wasn't rewarded. Thankfully I now understand the whole situation - but I didn't for many years.

Just a thought for when dealing with small children. What do you think?

The Promise

I crawled into bed last night at 930. Tim shared Proverbs 27 then I quickly and quietly slipped into sleep with the promise of a good 9 hours of shut eye in front of me...until 341 am when the preschooler started SCREAMING.

Heart pounding and crazy thoughts running through my head I threw back the covers and ran down the hallway. In the dark I could see that the pillow was over said Toddlers head, so I quickly removed it. Crazy thoughts still swirling around in my head...but do you know what he was screaming? OPEN THE DOOR!!....Are you kidding me? You woke me up just to open the door?

That was it. I was awake. He was quickly back to sleep.

My body has been running on just 6 hours of sleep for so long now, that it thought it was done and I should be up for the day. Apparently Tim's body thought the same thing. We tossed and turned until a little after 5 when Baby Baby started crying - luckily his was short lived. I turned up the furnace and hoped the warm air would put everyone back into a nice state of slumber. It worked for a while until the baby woke for his breakfast a little after 6...so much for the promise....maybe one of these years....

I wish I could attach sound to this post...

...Just so you could hear what it sounds like in my home at 9 am! I am soooo grateful for the laughs, giggles, screams, squeals, I love you's....I just wish I could turn down the volume a little tiny bit...I won't explain anymore I'll just post the pictures...

To paint the picture above....the piano plays a continuous loop of lively music, the boom box (dating myself on that one) is playing Wee Sing Silly Songs, the guitar plays the Wiggles and thankfully the triangle takes a real person to produce any noise....and the baby is screaming in the background.....

Our Weekend Garage Sale Bargain...

On Friday evening's we try to eat at George's where they have a live guitar player. Graham LOVES to sit and listen to Mr. John play. It makes a quiet and peaceful dinner for Mommy & Daddy.

Hopefully Graham will get his daddy's musical ability...did you all know that Tim had musical aspirations in his teen years? Ask him about Cruciati (hope I spelled that right) someday (imagine muscle shirts, parachute pants, and loud music).

The World of Sweet Tea

As I was searching for this picture I came across a message board of obviously bored Michigan State Athletic Fans that had nothing else to talk about since it's considered the off season for college teams...one asked

"Does anyone else think McDonald's promotion of its sweet tea is their lamest promo ever. I can understand the hype over their gourmet coffee blends. But tea? Sweet tea? Thanks, anyway but I still prefer a Coke."

Spoken like a true Michigander or is it Michiganian? His highest aspiration is probably to retire "up north" too! For the rest of you who have ever traveled passed the Michigan state line and headed south a bit you've probably experienced Sweet Tea or as southerners call it - Tea.

Sweet Tea is a true statement. It can hurt your teeth sometimes it's so sweet. In some cases the level of sweetness increases the further south you move. McDonald's latest addition to the Michigan market has been a nice walk down memory lane for me...

I'll take you back to a warm August evening in 1988...my parents had just left me alone in Virginia for my new college adventure. It was the very first weekend of college, a Friday night to be exact and classes were to start on Monday.

After dinner we went to DeMoss Hall to hang out and check out all the guys. This is what everyone did. It was a large square area that had a wall around it and a walkway next to it. People would perch on the wall (it was maybe 3 ft high) and others would continually walk around the wall waiting to find a friend, catch up with someone or just see the sights.

Alene (a BFF from HS) and I decided to perch and watch the sights. It didn't take us long at all to realize that there were some of THE most BEAUTIFUL people we had ever seen. Guys and Girls. This was back in the day before the whole grunge look took over. Guys wore nice button down oxfords, khaki's, jeans...girls wore dress pants, nice shirts, hair done, make-up....it was a true fashion spectacular...I wish we had video tape of that night...I'm sure you might have seen drool coming off our lips...we were utterly amazed.

Being the social butterflies we WERE...and feeling totally uninhibited that weekend...we set out to meet anyone that our little heart fancied. After all that's what Freshmen Weekend was all about, making friends and getting to know people. After quite a few hours of socializing and mingling we finally met some upperclassman who had a car and offered to take us down the mountain and into town. We jumped at the chance.

He offered to take us to Hardee's for a Tea. Tea? Sure...why not?!? He then proceeded to tell us the importance of tea to the social scene. Not wanting to be left out of that social scene we wholeheartedly indulged ourselves in what would become an addiction. The Sweet Tea addiction. I don't know about Alene but I still fall prey to the addiction when it's available and it looks like Mickey D's is going to feed my addiction from here on out...

What do you think of McD's sweet tea?

I'm a Stalker....a blog stalker that is....

I love to read, I just don't have much time to read anything of length.

I've always been one of those people that picks up whatever is around and reads. When I was a child I read the cereal box every morning while I ate. I read signs. I read bulletin boards at the Hardware store.

I use to pick up so many brochures, small newspapers, bulletins, magazines, etc. that I had to enact "Cheryl's Paper Reduction Act of 2000" just like the government. It's been eight years now and I've reduced my collection of paper greatly, although I still struggle with this addiction from time to time. With the Paper Reduction Act I also canceled my newspaper subscription. Newspaper can make a huge mess if you aren't able to contain it very well. The paper here is so huge too that it's a waste - I'm miss the Lynchburg News and Daily Advance you could read it cover to cover in under 45 minutes.

A little over a year ago I learned what a 'blog' was. At first I thought, why would I want to read some Joe-schmoes thoughts...and then I began to think...Hmm! Maybe I can find some writers that think like me instead of the liberal mainstream media. Maybe I can find some blogs that enlighten me on things I enjoy. Over time I've collected a list of favorites that I visit almost daily along with my first cup of coffee. Today I want to share my latest stalking habit with you...so without further Ado...I introduce you to....

The Pioneer Woman

Who is this woman you might ask? A city girl turned ranchin' momma and wife. You can check out her About Me page for more details. She's an excellent writer and has multiple facets to her web site...photography, cooking, and home and garden. Give her a try...she'll make you smile - a better choice than getting ticked off at the liberal media!!

The Robber

My dad has a horrible disease. Parkinson's. Almost like a thief in the night it came in and robbed him of a full and vibrant life.

Growing up my dad was the physically strongest and hardest working man I knew. He grew up on a farm and never left his hard work ethic behind. He worked from sun up to sun down. Even during the hardest of times whether personally or economically he always took care of us. Our needs were always met.

About 15 years ago he started having nightmares and slight tremors. Eventually a neurologist diagnosed him with Parkinson's. Along the way various doctors said, "no, it's not Parkinson's" and as any of us probably would, he wanted to believe their diagnosis more than the real one. He never gave up. He always pushed ahead and worked himself until he was exhausted. Sometimes after a day's work, he would spend the entire next day in bed or at home re cooperating. This was a side of my dad I wasn't used to seeing. Growing up I knew that my dad was REALLY sick if he ever missed work or came home and went to bed. It was a sight I only remember seeing a time or two in my entire life. Until the robber came into his life. Even in the beginning stages, he pushed himself to do more than he probably should have.

During this initial diagnosis I was living in Virginia and didn't notice his decline like my mom who lived with him day in and day out. The realization came with me one summer evening when we were standing on the porch of the Madison house. Joking and playing around with him, I gave him a bit of a shove and almost knocked him off the porch. Quickly I grabbed him and helped steady him before he fell off and to the ground. That was my first encounter with the fact that my daddy wasn't still the strongest man I knew.

Watching a parent slowly slip away is something I would never wish on anyone. It hurts. We all deal with hurt in various way. I would rather choose to remember him how he was. Seeing him laying in a nursing home bed unable to take care of himself and at the mercy of some underpaid aides and nurses makes me sad. It's a fine line with my mom - she wants us there for her comfort, but we (Karen and I) would rather not see him like this. I know my mom's friends probably think we are awful because we're not there 24/7...I just hope someone understands how hard it is for us.

Now we face the question of life support. Dad's wishes have always been very well known that he DOES NOT want any kind of life support....but does that include a feeding tube which the doctors now want to put in?

I hate this part of being a child. I hate the robber that stole my dad's life. But in the midst of my anger and hurt I rest in the knowledge that my father gave his life to Jesus in the 1950's and that I am assured he will spend life in eternity.

Please join us in praying for comfort and wisdom in the days ahead.

Just Another Night

On Thursday evening while I was tending the "home fires" Tim was cruising around New York Harbor on a dinner cruise and this is was one of the sights....

At his hotel he saw the once famous Marsha Brady...

And when he returned to his luxury accomodations that evening he didn't find chocolates on his pillow, but rather ear plugs?!? I'd say he needed them too since I could hear the famous NYC cab horns honking while we were talking on the phone....hmmm!

this

instead of this