Our Princess

This is my heart outside of my body!

I learned a whole new love when my children were born. One I thought the Lord could never top! Oh how very wrong I was. After everything involved in birthing and raising children of our own...Chuck and I breathed a sigh of relief when we became "empty nesters". We looked back and were proud, not only of what we had done...but of the people our children had grown to be.

God is good!

Then......we were blessed far beyond anything we could ever imagine. Grandchildren!

Everyone knows how we feel about Jacob, our first...the boy!

BJ and Catherine surprised her mom and I on Mothers Day 2005 when our gifts were presented to us.Brenda's was in a blue gift bag, and mine in pink.
Sweet gift wrapping, but we thought nothing strange about it.

When we opened our gifts, Brenda got a blue sleeper with a matching blanket.
Mine was an identical gift in pink. Again....we didn't get it!
Ahhhh...but Chuck did! He jumped up with a look on his face that I had only seen once before and then the light bulb came on! They were having a baby!

December 15th of that year, we were blessed with Miss Olivia Lyric!
We thought the name a bit "different" at first....but we loved it!

Little did we know how much that name would suit her. She brings a song to our heart, and just the sound of her name is music to our ears!



OK, most of the time!

Lyric is so sweet. However she's NOT a "girly girl". She sings, she dances, and she tells the corniest jokes I've ever heard from a 4 year old! She is a very opinionated child, and woe is the person that disagrees with her. Do I see a lawyer in her future?

Her Paw Paw is her best friend,they "get" each other and have the same sense of humor.

She loves to spend the weekends with us, and we take advantage of that every chance we get.

We go places, read stories, and discuss all things I Carly and Sponge Bob...but we will not talk about Justin Bieber.....he stinks!

She rewrites the ending of all of her favorite shows.

She will sit and watch a television show, and tell us how she thinks it should have ended. See....opinionated!

A few Sundays ago at church, we were talking to Erin, one of our youth directors (who is expecting a baby this fall). Lyric asked Erin what the baby's name was going to be. She told us she wasn't sure because they didn't know the baby's sex yet. She went on to tell Lyric the names they had chosen depending on the baby's sex. THEN.....she asked what Lyric thought of those names.

With the most straight face the child could muster she told Erin that the boy's name was "awesome"... but "that girl's name is crap" !

I thought I'd just crawl under a chair somewhere and die!

Erin has since found out she's having a baby boy.....whew!

Her newest passion is ballet and tap class. She loves dressing up (but only for dance) and making noise with her shoes. We have spent the last few weekends with her teaching Nana how to do ballet positions, or somersaults! Not a pretty sight at 53 years old, but she tells me I do awesome!

I love this stage of my life. I get to be young again through my grand kids, and maybe even master those dance moves I was afraid to try as a young girl.

ODE TO MY GRANDSON

I was looking back over older blog posts today, and realized just how much things/we have changed since I started blogging! Just looking at the pictures on my header make me laugh. I really need to update my pictures. Chuck and I, as well as our kids don't look much different...but oh...my grand kids have changed!
Not only physically, but they are becoming such great people!
I thought I'd do a quick update on them. Today is Jacob's day!!

I just love this guy!! If God would have asked me to make a list of what I wanted in a grandson...I would not have changed a thing about him.
In the header picture he looks so little! Kristy says the "puberty fairy" came to visit him in the past year or so, and looking at these new pictures....I believe her!

Jacob is such an "old soul". I love that about him! He is all most 15 now, and has a true love for God, his family, BMX biking, and FOOTBALL! This is his freshman year in high school, and he's playing on 3 football teams. He starts on the Freshman team, plays JV and varsity!
Needless to say, our weekends are filled with tailgating, and cheering on the Wildcats! (that's one proud Pawpaw waving in the back).
I can't believe how much he's grown!
I tease Kristy about giving him an iv infusion of miracle grow before every game!

This is Jacob's second favorite pass time! The boy can do things on a bike that I never dared try on my two feet! He spends every chance he gets with his buddies at the skate park. Those times consist mainly of who can jump the highest, or take the biggest dare! UGH.... scares me to death!

What is it about boys and dares?

With all of these activities, he still finds time for his school work,

(he's consistently on the principals list) and he always has time to spend with his Pawpaw and Nana.

He even wrote on his Facebook wall that his Grandparents rock!

I was so honored!!

And...he still has tea parties with Lyric, or plays Dora when ever she wants.

Yes, I believe the Good Lord knew what he was doing when he gave babies to young women.....

I'll take grand kids any time!

Tomorrow....Lyric

Sisters Rock!

Well, it seems I've taken a blogger break for long enough.

For years, I've tried to get my "not so tech savvy" older sister to get a Facebook account. It's been like pulling teeth, but after her visit here this summer....

SHE STARTED A FACEBOOK ACCOUNT! Woot Woot!

It seems that it's not that she didn't want to set up a page, but she was a tech nerd.

She still kept up with everything on a calender or in an actual paper notebook!

Please note....this is my older sister....the principle of a school....a teacher!

hee hee....DORK!

Before she came home, her school had furnished her with a new Mac book.

Kewl !

I so covet that laptop!

She was all excited to show it to me, until it came time to boot it up.

From my kitchen table I heard that familiar cry...."Seester, I love you past heaven and back! (uh oh...wait for it.....) Help MEEEEEE!!!! LOL

I love it!

So being the dutiful tech savvy little sister that I am (shut up Deb) I came into the kitchen to help.

AAAARRRRRRRGH....it's a Mac! Greek to me! I've never seen anything like it!

So I had to admit defeat...I hate that! Sibling rivalry still gets the best of me sometimes....

Enter Carla....one of Deb's best friends and teachers. (she loves me)

Carla manages to get the Mac booted up, and Deb begins showing us how to take pictures and put them in all kinds of cool backgrounds. I loved it! We had such fun for about 30 minutes, then our tummy's started growling. So Deb logs off the Mac and we go out for some yummy Mexican food.

When we came back, I wanted to play with the Mac and see how fast I could figure the thing out!

We turn the power on, and hmmmmmm...Deb has logged out, and can't figure out how to log back in!

Toooo funny!

Not to worry, she says. I'll just call my tech guys and get it back up.

That never happened while she was here. We got tied up in doing family stuff. I only get to see her once a year, and there's never enough time.

Well, Miss Smarty Pants not only goes home and gets her computer running, she actually works with the tech guys and sets up a Facebook page in 2 days. I'm impressed!

THEN...she learns how to post pictures and comment on peoples walls! Go Deb!

I'm getting proud here (or wondering if she's just dictating to one of her office staff and is actually a poser) :0)

Two days later she sends me a link to her blog! WHAT????

Deb is blogging? I have to check this out!

I click on the link, and laugh so hard that I'm crying! The goof is actually going to blog her way through cyber space~ Good luck with that! snicker snicker.... I'm not there to help you.....

So I started following her. I even linked you guys to her....and I have to say that I'm proud!

She's now up and running daily on Facebook, posting on 2 different blogs, and even has a Twitter account now! And the girl is good!

She and my brother Mike have always had the gift of words...I just muddle through.

She's blogging stumbling through cyber space, and blogging her daily walk with God.

Go visit her, and give her some cyber love!

I love my sisters! Both of them, and now that we're all a bit tech savvy.....we can stay in closer contact, and harass each other long distance! Not to mention the Team rivalry. Everyone knows I'm a Tennessee Titans fan, and she love the Kansas City Chiefs. ***groan** Maybe I'll work on that next!

A Lesson in Humility

My older sister has started blogging! I'm so excited! She's an educator/school director for children with disabilities.
I guess I need to get back into the blogosphere now,or I have no right to fuss at her for not keeping up!
You can read her blog here:
A Lesson in Humility

In the mean time...I'll be working on my newest post!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAYS....SPRING HAS SPRUNG

Hersheys Better Basket Blog Hop

Renee at My Special K's has passed on a virtual Easter Basket !

It's the best kind.....so cute and calorie free! Plus it helps a very worthy cause!

Hershey is partnering with the Childrens Miracle Network, and has promised a $10.00 donation in honor of each blogger that writes a post about this event.....up to $7000.00!

Since we all like to talk, and EAT CHOCOLATE....we have a winner here!

In my basket there would have to be a big chocolate bunny, Chuck's favorite Cadbury Creme Eggs (I just can't stomach them), Malted Milk Balls (yum), jelly beans, and a special Easter toy! We also used to give our kids a new cross every Easter.

I think everyone deserves a yummy Easter basket, so I'm passing this one on to each one of you!

Before you dig in, be sure to read the rules! Then go back to Hershey and link them to your post.

Hershey Better Blog Hop Rules:

Copy and paste these rules to your blog post
Create a blog post giving a virtual Easter Basket to another blogger – you can give as many Virtual Baskets as you want.
Link back to person who gave you an Easter Basket.
Let each person you are giving a Virtual Easter Basket know you have given them a Basket.
Leave your link at BetterBasket.info/BlogHop comment section. You can also find the official rules of this #betterbasket blog hop, and more information about Better Basket with Hershey’s there.
Hershey’s is donating $10 per each blog participating to the Better Basket Blog Hop to Children’s Miracle Network (up to total of $5,000 by blog posts written by April 4th, 2010).
Please note that only one blog post by each blog URL will count towards the donation.

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!!

IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL

Have you ever been in the middle of a situation and could see God shining all over it?
That happened to me over the past 2 weeks. I just had to share!

Rewind to my posts a few weeks ago. There has been major problems with my son and daughter in law for a while now. Actually, we haven't seen our daughter in law since August. You can read my rant here.

Fast forward to 2 weeks ago and bear with me....this gets really really weird!
Chuck and I received a letter from some friends, Heath and Paige Wilson, who are adopting a child from Ethiopia. They are doing a fund raiser with a ministry called Both Hands. I had never heard of this organization, so I did a bit of research. What an awesome idea!

They had chosen a local "widow" to do a project for, and we're asking for our support.
As I read the letter, I was shocked! The widow they were helping was Catherine's mother!
She is not a widow, but is disabled and really needed the help.

I didn't know what to say! There were a few concerns with this situation that may have caused Paige and Heath to loose their funding for the adoption. There were things they did not know about and I wasn't sure how to approach the situation. I did not want them to miss out on the adoption, but I also did not want to get involved because of the situation with my kids. I spoke with a mutual friend of ours, and we all decided to pray and pray about it and let God do what was in his plan! He had put this whole situation into motion and HE was in control of it!

Paige and Heath contacted Both Hands and asked for guidance. The answer came back to all of us....Go ahead with the project because Brenda (Catherine's mother) needed the help. God also opened the door for the team to witness to my children. HE knew what he was doing!
Saturday, the work began. Chuck and I decided not to work at the house because of the family dynamics. We did support them financially, however. We went on about our day as usual (grocery shopping, etc)

When we pulled up at Walmart, the first thing we saw was our kid's truck parked right in front.
Since we had not laid eyes on them (or our granddaughter) in months, I all but jumped out of the truck! I was a mom on a mission! I wanted to see my children, even if they would not speak to me. I just had to "see" them.
I went on the hunt for them, and there they were....all 3 of them, right in the front of the store! Praise be!!

I sheepishly approached them and just had to get a kiss from Lyric! They were all smiles, and spoke to me as if nothing had ever been wrong at all! They told me they were staying away from the house during all of the construction and didn't know what to do with themselves for the day. Then it happened.....they asked if they could come to our house for the day! I all most passed out!
I told them they were welcome any time they wanted to be there. AND THEY CAME!!! ALL 3 OF THEM!! They stayed all afternoon.
Not only that, but we are all spending Easter together!

Soooooo....Paige and Heath received their funding, Brenda got many, many needed repairs to help her out, and we got our family back! GOD IS GOOD!