HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL

We are off to baby sit a couple of our grandchildren for New Year's Eve, so I will probably have more pictures soon. Tomorrow we go to help celebrate Son #2's birthday (which is really today) and that will ensure MORE pictures!

Meanwhile, I liked this meditation from Richard Rohr for the New Year:
When we celebrate New Year’s Day, we celebrate the rebirth of time.
We wait for our God to do new things.
We wait for who we are, and who we are to become.
We wait for the coming of grace, for the unfolding of Mystery.
We wait for the always bigger Truth.
We wait for the vision of the Whole.
But we cannot just wait. We must pray. Our prayers then start naming and defining us. When we hear our own prayers in our own ears and our own heart, we start choosing our deepest identity, our biggest future, and our best selves.

CHRISTMAS FUN!

We had Son #1 and family here for Christmas and we had lots of fun! Son #1 has two of the sweetest, most polite, gentle teenagers I have met in a long time. It is so rewarding to see my own children raising such wonderful children.

Son #1 with Grandson #1, waiting for everyone to gather for opening presents.

Granddaughter #1, all ready for unwrapping presents.

Son #1 obliged by wearing the reindeer antlers--so cute!

Daughter-in-Law #1 looks pretty in her antlers with the pretty white bow!

And one of the best presents of all is that Son #1 helped Hubby finish rewiring for my new washing machine and it is all hooked up and being very much appreciated! I am not sure THEY enjoyed that part of Christmas evening, but I was very grateful!

I was sorry to see everyone leave this morning, but now my new washing machine is buzzing away with all the sheets and towels being washed, thanks to my sweet daughter-in-law who stripped the beds and gathered up all the towels before they left!

VISITING FAMILY

Last week, in the midst of all our other busyness, we slipped off for a quick overnight visit with Son #4 and his family. We had such a great time with Miss Ella Bella who is two but going on seven, I believe. She spent the evening showing us her daddy's fire trucks.

Grandson #2 also put in his two cents' worth during the tour.
And hubby got to climb up in the big truck to inspect whatever was up there.
Next we went to their home so Miss Ella Bella and Grandson #2 could introduce us to their new puppy, Sally.
The next morning Miss Ella Bella showed her Granddaddy that she was going to take the little leopard that he brought her to school "for nap time."
And Grandson #2 told us good-bye from his car seat--holding the marlin that Granddaddy gave him.
Next we stopped off for a very short visit with Son #1 before going on to a luncheon and returning home. The trip was way too short, but we really enjoyed seeing everyone!

Thankful Thursday

I am so thankful for the wonderful neighborhood that we live in today. We have lived here since we only had two children, added two more, watched them grow up and now have grandchildren come to visit. Some of our neighbors were here when we moved in and some are new--younger couples with young children of their own. It is nice to see children in the neighborhood again.

I am thankful for our neighborhood because of the close bond between the neighbors on our cul de sac. One of our neighbors was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and everyone has rallied around her in such a wonderful way. We have all visited back and forth with her and last Sunday afternoon one of the neighbors called to say she was having an outdoor cookout and invited us to come. Each of us brought a dish, the host grilled chicken and sausages and made homemade ice cream and we all sat around and supported our neighbor who is soon heading off to M.D. Anderson for evaluation and treatment. Here are some pictures of the fun we shared in the
"hood" that evening.
We visited, added support and visited some more.







The children played games on the Wii and in the pool. And we all ate and visited some more.











And we had one last picture of the "women of the 'hood' " before everyone left. It was a fun evening and wonderful support for a member of the neighborhood who needs that caring kind of support at this time!

Graduation Time

It seems like it is graduation time all over the place right now. I ran across this picture the other day and remembered back to the day (several years ago) that our daughter-in-law, Kara, our #2 Son, and I all graduated on the same day. It was an interesting experience and one that I treasure! Since that time we have all moved to other cities, #2 Son and Kara have added three girls to their family, and we are all involved in other jobs and endeavors now.

And then there was the picture on the left taken when our oldest grandchildren (and only ones at that time) were quite young. Now they are both in their teens and our #1 granddaughter is as tall as I am. Mercy! How time flies! We have added another sweet daughter-in-law and four more grandchildren since then--and one more grandchild on the way.

Quirk #1 - Hanging Clothes Outside to Dry

1. I LOVE to hang my clothes outdoors to dry even though my husband claims that his underwear is "crunchy" when it comes in all fresh smelling off the clothesline.

A long time ago when two of our boys were babies my husband was in graduate school and we rented a house with a Maytag washer (that we bought for $5 dollars from the owners) but no dryer, so I hung the clothes and the endless cloth diapers out on the line. This was in Illinois and it worked well until the first freeze and the diapers and other clothes froze on the line. At that point I strung a clothes line all over our wash room that also contained the heater for our house and dried the clothes that way. Finally, we picked up a used dryer for $10 and that ended my winter problem. However, I still enjoyed hanging the clothes out to dry in the summer.

When we moved back to Texas I had a clothes line and used it during the summer. By that time we had added two more boys to the family so we still had numerous diapers to dry. It always seemed easier to be outside with the boys in the back yard and hang up the clothes at the same time.

Once the boys were out of diapers I still hung my clothes outside because I had established over-the-fence friendships with the neighbor behind us and the neighbor next door. Both women were older and had great words of wisdom to pass on to me as they watched our family grow up in the back yard.

Nowadays I can hardly wait until the spring pollens are gone (that yellow oak pollen RUINS whites!) and then I begin my summer ritual of hanging clothes outside. There are four reasons I still hang clothes outside: 1) I hope I am saving energy and dollars by doing this, 2) the dryer is not blowing more hot air into the already intense Texas heat, 3) the dryer is not killing my plants by blowing heat onto my garden through the vent in the backyard, and 4) I LOVE to be outside in my little retreat spot where the clothesline is--where I can look up into the opening between the trees and watch the intense blue of the sky or the clouds scudding across the opening or the sunset turning the sky delicious colors in the evening.

Write about something that you LOVE to do!

I'm Back

Well, I have been working on this blog post for three days now and my computer has been on the fritz. Now it is behaving somewhat better, so I will continue with the account of our visit to Son #2 and his family over the weekend to see Em make her First Communion. This first picture is of Soph and Em in front of their house at Cotton Top Hills. The next picture is of Em at the church. She is holding her new rosary that I made for her. She got to carry the chalice during the presentation of the gifts at Mass.










Em receiving her First Communion. Her dad is in the white shirt in the background, also taking pictures.








Son #3 also came for Em's First Communion and brought her a beautiful big cross to hang in her room. Soph and Em enjoyed visiting with their uncle and we were all sorry to see him leave so soon. We enjoyed eating together and Soph graciously shared her ice cream with Little One.

Granddaddy says goodbye to Little One before we left. We had a wonderful time!

SIDEWALK MEMORIES

The sidewalks that I remember best are the ones in my neighborhood when I was growing up in the Texas Panhandle. Those sidewalks surrounded our whole block except for the space in front of Billy Bob Caldwell’s house down the hill towards the dry creek. I am not sure why their sidewalk was missing, but their house was set way back on their lot and they used their front yard as a parking lot for a number of old cars. There always seemed to be men there taking parts out of those cars or putting things into strange places under the raised hoods.

The rest of our block had sidewalks that we children used mainly for roller skating. The concrete sidewalks were installed in squares. The squares were probably originally flat on the ground. However, huge elm trees that grew along the curbs in most yards sent out bulky roots along the surface of the ground and those roots caused the squares of sidewalk to tilt at various angles. Some squares were even cracked into two or more pieces. This interesting phenomenon made roller skating quite an adventure. The tilts and humps of the sidewalk caused us to become skilled at navigating the ups and downs and the bumps and dips that we encountered as we sped around the block until we came to Billy Bob’s front yard. We could not skate in the dirt for fear of clogging up our ball bearing wheels, so we turned around at Billy Bob’s and went the other direction around the block, jumping the curb at the gravel alley and gingerly walking our skates across that rocky surface.

Roller skating was a favorite after school activity. I remember dashing home to change clothes, donning my stiff-as-a board blue jeans that chaffed between the legs by the end of the afternoon, strapping on my skates with leather ankle straps and tightening the front toe grips until the soles of my brown, scuffed oxfords curled up a bit. I then proudly put my skate key on a string around my neck. The skate key was a very important part of the whole roller skating activity. The skate key (seen in the middle of the picture above) kept wheels on tight and secured the nut on the bottom of the skate that allowed it to be lengthened or shortened. It also tightened the metal toe grips on the front of the skate. Everything had to be secure to keep the skates on the shoe.

I suspect that we became as skilled on our roller skates as the skate boarding youngsters I see today—jumping curbs, going down steps, and facing a variety of uneven surfaces.

A Great Family Gathering!

Over the weekend about 25 of our family members gathered at the beach for Little One's first birthday celebration! Everyone had a marvelous time, the weather was fabulous, and the time together was way too short. Here are a few pictures of the fun and festivities.

Little One enjoying her first birthday cupcake--to the fullest!

My sister's granddaughter also enjoyed her cupcake!

Little One grinning at her cousin as they check one another out. El is not too sure...

Mom and Soph help Little One with lots of presents. Son #2 and Son #1 and "friend" and Hubby with "friend."

Sister-in-law with her son visit with Kara, her parents and two of her children.More cousins, posing and playing with each other.

What fun we had!

Flu BUGS! BAH!

The flu bugs have hit our household! My husband has the regular flu with watery eyes, fever, sneezing, aches, coughs--the whole works! And I have had the stomach flu--the whole works! No fun at our house right now. Yesterday we chose different beds and slept most of the day and today has not been too much better. However, the notable thing about this is the care and concern of our children and our neighbors. Two of our grandchildren and one of our sons are sharing their flu stories with us. The neighbors brought in enough food to feed an army, plus enough of their favorite remedies to get us back on our feet soon. I am sure the ole saying, "This too shall pass," will be a reality in a few days, but this is surely NO FUN right now!

A Quick Visit

We just returned from a quick visit to son #4 and his family. We had a great time and I wanted to share some pictures. This first picture, on the right, is of Ella opening a Valentine present from Grandmommy.

The next picture, on the left, is of Ella and her dad on their back patio on a warm February evening with just a few sprinkles. Ella is wearing her "Big Sister" shirt.

This third picture, on the right, is one of Ella listening to her mother read one of the new books that Granddaddy bought for her at Hastings. Ella LOVES books!

This next picture, above, is one of Ella sitting in a "big girl chair" at the restaurant for lunch. She sat there for the whole meal and was so good!

And this last picture, on the left, is one of Ella with her dad and granddad just before we had to leave and return home.