Bless the Beasts and the Children

One year ago Mamma mia ...

2009-08-27T19:16:00.000-07:00

One year ago, August 28, 2008, we lost our Mother. We miss her so much, but we know she has been trying to tell us through so many signs that she is happy now. Last year, on the night before we brought Mother home from the hospital to spend her last days with us, our dear friends, Nancy and Charlie took me to the movies to see the movie, Mamma Mia. The same day this year Dave and I went to the Decatur Celebration where the featured bad just happened to be ABBA, whose songs the film Mamma Mia is based on. No coincidence I think. I took some video but it was too big to download, so here is a link to the song on Youtube, a picture from the celebration, and some of the song lyrics. I think Mother would like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7Aft6OTrOU

"Mamma mia, here I go again. My, my, how can I resist you? Mamma mia, does it show again? My, my, just how much I missed you. Yes, I've been brokenhearted. Blue since the day we parted. Why, why did I ever let you go? Mamma mia, now I really know. My, my, I could never let you go... Good-bye doesn't mean forever"

We'll love you forever.

Parkland Cobras Rah Rah Rah!

2009-02-21T07:26:00.000-08:00

This was our first Parkland basketball game this year. Mikayla LOVES the dancers, who are award winners this year! We always sit with the dancers when we go to games. Sweet Rachel that you see in the video took Mikayla under her wing. Mik was drooling over the pompoms whispering to me "I just want to touch one" reaching out one little finger to gently touch one strip of pompom. Then Rachel let her HOLD both of them and actually taught her how to use them. She was sooooo excited. The dancers' coach brought Mik a 2009 poster of them and Rachel had all the girls autograph it for her. The next day I framed the picture and gave it to Mik for her room. She kissed Rachel's picture and said "I love her". Awwwwwwwww...

She did actually watch a little of the basketball game and loved yelling when our team made a basket. One of the players is a CHD student and is doing a practicum in one of the classes at the Child Development Center (not in Mik's room, so she didn't know her). I don't feel bad going to the game for just the dancers and cheerleaders. Those sports are just as important and as athletic as basketball, just not so appreciated.

So long tooth, hello tooth fairy!

2009-02-13T18:51:00.000-08:00

Today Mikayla lost her first tooth. She was laying on the couch resting with Grandpa and all of a sudden yelled "Here's my tooth!" She was so excited. I think the most fun was being able to suck on a straw without even opening her teeth. So funny. I forgot what fun something as simple as that can be!

Lincoln's Valentine Birthday!

2009-02-13T18:49:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we made heart-shaped brownies with pink icing to celebrate Lincoln's Birthday! And you know how much we love our guy. Happy 200th Abe!

New Verse

2009-02-10T06:19:00.000-08:00

This verse was given to me by my friend Donna:

2 Thessalonians 1:11 (NLT)

"So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call."

You know why I chose it. Thank you Donna.

Guiding Light (daily drama that's not mine!)

2009-02-10T05:41:00.000-08:00

There has been something that has been with me for my entire life, maybe even before my little sisters, and I've let it slip in the past 15 years or so. It left two other times, but came back with tv rooms in the Illini Union and then the invention of the VCR. I tried bringing it back into my life several years ago, but a cloning issue with Reva just made it too ridiculous to consider. But now, Phillip Spaulding is back from the dead after five years away, and I may come back too. Yes, I'm talking about my soap, the Guiding Light. How have I lived without the Bauers and the Lewises and the Spauldings for so long? I showed a copied video to one of my classes last week and at the beginning of the tape was a little piece of a GL from the 80's, one of the golden ages of the show, oh the memories. Oh how I looked forward to the love between Beth and Phillip (did you know he saved her from the terrible sexual abuse of her stepfather?). Times have changed. You can even watch episodes of the show right on your computer even if you don't have DVR, which I don't. To celebrate Phillip's return, the show's website has clips available of all the past segments of Phillip's life-very fun stuff for us old people. Gosh I forgot about Dr. Marler and Jackie and Elizabeth (Phillip's real mother and the namesake of Lizzie). There was even a clip of the fight between Phillip and Beth's stepfather, the evil Bradley Raines. Yesterday, Phillip returned to the show. And I saw it. I was lucky enough to be home sick-I'm always sick now, I think I have gall bladder problems. Of course, in typical soap style, they waited until the final seconds of the show for his return. They had advertised that "the return of Phillip Spaulding" would be February 9, so all of us soap fanatics were sitting on the edges of our seats (or our bedpans) to see it. Yes, he's back, and maybe I am too. I need a little more drama in my life (yeah right).
Regarding that gall bladder thing...I went to the doc yesterday, had some tests, more today and more Friday. Until then, no milk products, no fat, and only small amounts of food at a time. In other words, don't eat anything I like. The good news is I've lost ten pounds in three weeks. I may need to stay sick for another twenty pounds worth. I may have to. It's really not fun.
Okay, one more thing, or two. Who can forget the evil Roger???? That was the best storyline of all. And do you remember that Kevin Bacon used to play TJ Werner? Just had to get that in. Sometimes it's just fun to realize that my life really isn't as bad as a soap opera!

Sometimes

2009-02-07T13:50:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, not often enough, we reflect upon the good things. And those thoughts always center around those we love. And I think about those people who mean so much to me, and for so many years have made me so very happy. And I count the times I have forgotten to say, Thank You. And just how much I love them.

We played this song for our mothers to walk in during our wedding. Mikayla and I were looking for music videos and this came up. I remembered how much we loved our mothers and wanted them to know just how much we loved them.

Listen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHokKI-_fao&NR=1

Memory verse

2009-01-23T16:01:00.000-08:00

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
"Be joyful always, pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

If you see me, ask me to recite it for you. I need some accountability and a little encouragement!

Baby, the three-legged dog

2009-01-21T15:20:00.000-08:00

"Until man extends his circle of compassion to all living things, man himself will not find peace." Dr. Albert Schweitzer

See http://www.ararebreedoflove.com/

O-BA-MA

2009-01-21T15:13:00.000-08:00

What an inspiring day! I couldn't believe that some of my students didn't seem to GET the significance of the event. And all those people at the National Mall and not one arrest. I loved Chris Matthews' (MSNBC's Hardball) comment that he had never seen so many teeth (from smiling).
Bad ending to a wonderful day-I caught the virus that Dave and Mikayla had. I haven't been so sick since I had appendicitis. It's easing off, but I still feel crummy. So glad I didn't feel like this all day yesterday. I would have missed history.

Clair de Lune

2009-01-19T13:41:00.000-08:00

Cousin Karen shared another memory of our mother with me. She told me how she listened to Debussy's Clair de Lune as performed by Iturbi over and over and over a million or more times until Karen was sick of it. When she complained, her mother told her to go to her room if she didn't want to listen, it was GOOD music. Iturbi was also a film actor as well as a musician, thus explaining how Mother probably became interested. There is now an Iturbi piano competion and a simple version of Clair de Lune is one of the first pieces learned in piano lessons (I remember our neighbor Chi Chi played it as did my son Josh when he took lessons). Click the link below to hear Iturbi playing the song on YouTube".

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSYLLK8eQyA

Doing life together

2009-01-18T20:13:00.000-08:00

This is the awesomest small group of women (next to my sisters of course!) in the world. I have never met a more sincere, God-loving, servant hearted , REAL bunch of gals in my life. We are all so different, yet so alike. They are (left to right) Donna, Denise, me (I'm not that awesome and I look like I'm posing, but really I'm trying to stand up straight and not look so dumpy!), Sue, Margaret, and our leader Joanne. I am not worthy to be a part of this group, but I am so glad I am. I love you guys.
And Tim-thanks for taking the picture! Love you too.

A Heather Harris Original

2009-01-13T20:34:00.000-08:00

This picture was done by one of my former preschoolers, Heather Harris, and has been hanging on my office walls for over 30 years. She made this portrait of me when she was just five years old. She is now an accomplished artist who does exhibitions throughout the Austin, Texas area (http://heatherharrisart.com). I recently caught up with her facebook page. I asked her how much she thought this portrait was worth now! Of course, I can tell you what I think-PRICELESS! And guess what else? Just like so many other famous artistic works, I also found another of her works on the back!

Makes me smile! Check out Heather's artwork.

Things I learned about God while cheating at cards

2009-01-13T07:27:00.000-08:00

Okay, not REALLY cheating. I like to play Spider Solitaire on the computer. My favorite moves are “undo” and “restart game”. Is it really cheating if you’re playing against yourself? Sometimes I undo back more than ten moves. Sometimes I play the same game again and again until I get it right. When I’ve re-played the same game a few times, making “all the right moves”, I try it with all the “wrong moves” and often succeed with that. I’m convinced that there is a way to win at every game. It’s weird I know, but late at night I sometimes imagine that I’m playing Solitaire with God. Can I still call it solitaire? One day it hit me that maybe He can even use my solitaire addiction to teach me a few things. Here are some things I’ve learned:

You can always win, you’ve just got to keep trying. You don’t know what’s coming next.
We have no concept of time when playing solitaire. Maybe that’s like God’s time. What may seem like a long time to us is a blink of an eye to God.
Sometimes the most unlikely or “wrong” move, like those God sometimes tells you to make, (”lean not on your own understanding”) may be the one that that is the most helpful to you or someone else.
It’s fun when someone claps for you-even the computer (God loves praise, but he also claps for us and loves us to do well).
Solitaire wastes a lot of time that could be better spent reading my Bible, serving others, praying, or doing my homework.
In the end, it’s just a game, and God still loves you.

I cooked!

2009-01-08T16:36:00.000-08:00

This is my version of baked potato soup-look good? It was. Shock of shocks.

Lionel is back AGAIN!

2009-01-06T18:57:00.000-08:00

I just had to post this pic of Lionel. I got an e-mail from Villy with an address where you can look up the song that was #1 on the day you were born. http://www.joshhosler.biz/

When I clicked on the link, there was a picture of the guy with Lionel front and center (or you could just look at it here). He has nothing to do with the site at all. It's so funny that Lionel tends to show up every time I'm having a heavy "Mother" day. I'd better be careful or my blog is going to start coming up anytime someone googles Lionel Richie. What a hoot that would be! It's fun to look up the song thing. I'd never heard of the one for my birthday "Little Things Mean Alot" by Kitty Kallen, but I did know most of the others. Lots of fun.

Message through the radio-again (another little miracle)

2009-01-06T09:23:00.001-08:00

So I just finished writing the previous blog entry about hearing about my mother through the radio. I got into the car to go to work. The first song on the radio has lines "I really just wanted to talk to you ("I'd Really Like to See You Tonight" by England Dan and John Ford Coley). The next song was "Maggie May" by Rod Stewart. Mother considered "Maggie May" her song because our neighbor in Florida, Mr. Patota, used to call her that. Funny I get a response right after I write about hearing messages about her through the radio. Coincidence? I don't think so.

The Miracles of Lionel Richie

2009-01-06T05:33:00.000-08:00

This summer Val and I were driving home from Jena's and having a deep discussion about Mother and how we so wanted to be sure she was with her parents and happy. I took this opportunity to tell her about how God often gives me messages through the radio (as I mentioned in an earlier post). Right after that, a Lionel Richie song (one of Val and Mother's favorites) came on the radio. The song "Stuck on You" included lines: Guess I'm on my way, Been a fool too long I guess it's time for me to come on home, Oh I'm leaving on that midnight train tomorrow and I know just where I'm going, I've packed up all my troubles and I've thrown them all away (love this part!), I'm coming home to stay. And the way I feel now I guess I'll be with you 'til the end, guess I'm on my way Mighty glad you stayed." When the song was over, the DJ said the song was for her parents from their daughter, Nancy. Valerie's comment: "Show off!" I loved that. God is so faithful. A few weeks later, on Halloween, I was getting ready to go home to Wellington and trying to decide if I should stop and put a Mounds bar on Mother's grave. Lionel came on the radio singing "Stuck on You" again-and he is never on the radio anymore so what's with this! I went. Then, all alone on New Year's Eve, I turned on CBS to watch the ball drop. Guess who was there? Good old Lionel. Happy New Year Mother. I'm glad you're happy.

Puppy Hugo

2009-01-02T16:15:00.001-08:00

My Raggedy

2009-01-02T14:49:00.001-08:00

One of our prompts for Journal Your Christmas is "Best Present". I've gotten a lot of best presents, but I want to write about one that is over 45 years old. Above you see a picture, captured from old film I recently had transferred to DVD, of my Raggedy Ann on the day VALERIE got her for Christmas. Yes, I said Valerie. She was not originally my doll. That Christmas I got an absolutely beautiful doll with a gorgeous bed, one I'm sure I asked Santa for. I don't know why I fell in love with Raggedy Ann. Maybe because she was so soft and loveable, or maybe because she said "I LOVE YOU" on her heart. I traded the beautiful doll for Raggedy Ann, who then slept in the gorgeous pink frou frou bed (can you just imagine it!). I still have Raggedy Ann and I still love her. She was very well loved. If you've ever read the book "The Velveteen Rabbit" (and I suggest that you do!), you will know what I mean when I say that I think she is now real. Here's a picture of her today.

You can see that she is not in good shape, as any well-loved doll would be. You might be able to see that she still has bandaids on her leg and foot. By the way she looks, I think she needed more than just bandaids! I don't know where her clothes are. Valerie and Susan probably absconded with them! Can you believe she still has her hair and both eyes! One thing I can tell you is that I still love her and she still loves me as you can see below.

I still love Raggedys and it's so cool that the annual Raggedy Ann and Andy Festival (yes, I love Andy too) is held just 30 minutes away in Arcola, Illinois where Johnny Gruelle, who wrote the Raggedy Ann stories, was born. They even have a Raggedy Ann & Andy Museum. One year we got to see Gruelle's grandchildren who signed a book for us. Gruelle wrote the Raggedy Ann and Andy stories for his daughter, Marcella, while she was very sick. She later died at age 13. I now have several Raggedy Anns and Andys, but this one was the first. I often give a Raggedy Ann or Andy as a new baby gift and I usually keep a new one around for just that purpose.

I must say I was so excited to find the picture of my Raggedy Ann on her "birthday" I just had to write about her! Did you have a doll or other stuffed animal that you really loved? Do you still have it? Don't let it go because you will feel that love forever and you may need it someday.

John Booth Monster

2009-01-01T20:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Mik drew a picture of a "monster". She told me he was a John Booth monster and he would shoot people and kill them and was very bad.

Gratitude Dance

2008-12-31T18:30:00.000-08:00

Gotta love it! Can you watch this and not feel giddy? Somehow this came to me while reading someone's blog. I did NOT search for "gratitude" because I was considering it for my "one little word" for this year. Is this a sign??? What do you think?

A Little Miracle and November

2008-12-31T16:12:00.000-08:00

A little miracle happened today. Dave decided to go ahead and change to the 2009 calendar and asked if I wanted 2008 (he doesn't know I have calendars from the last 20 years or more!). This has been a rough year for me and I looked back on the September page. The only item written for the entire month was "funeral" on September 2. But as I looked at the calendar page, something caught my eye. The picture from that month was a small country church not unlike ours, where we went after Mother's funeral. Behind the church was a rainbow-a symbol of God's promise. I do not remember this being the picture for the month and I can't believe I would not have noticed. I've been feeling kind of down lately and have been watching for a little sign of God's love. As many of you know, I definitely do get messages from God, although usually through the car radio. I think this calendar page was my sign, a prayer answered, a little miracle just for me. Some of you may also know that my "one little word" for this year was HOPE. I think it quite fitting that God gives me this huge message of HOPE on the last day of the year. I've needed it. My key verse, Jeremiah 29:11 reads:
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

To all of you/us: Don't give up. I think my little word for 2009 may be GRATITUDE. Not sure yet, but seems like a good one. There are some great verses to go with that one.

So December is almost over, as is 2008. I like the idea of choosing photos that depict the month. I plan to go back and do the other months as well. I just finished November. I've got to get better at taking pictures when I have company! I've missed a lot of photo ops lately.

Photo notes (left to right)
1. Mikayla's new computer obsession. Dress-up doll sites.
2. Mikayla and our neighbor friend, Samantha, playing with ice balls for my sabbatical video project.
3. Daddy on Shelly's old, totally rusted bicycle-the one she taught me to ride on. Can you believe he still has it? And he brought it from Florida to Illinois in about 1969! Isn't that 40 years ago!
4. Mik and a friend at school.
5. Place card Mik made for the Thanksgiving table.
6. Our snowy street. WTF-this much snow, cold and ice in November?
7. Christmas planner book. Do you think I was more organized? Maybe, but I didn't think so on December 23.
8. Santa with a giraffe statue I had sent to Mother one year and is now part of my Santa collection. When Mother opened it, everyone HATED it and it was a big joke from then on! I used it to decorate for Christmas the week after Thanksgiving.
9. Our shoebox of goodies sent to "a child with no toys".

Note to Susan and Val: Aren't you glad I posted Santa with the giraffe? He looks great at my house, no matter what you all think of him!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

JYC Layouts

2008-12-30T17:15:00.000-08:00

These two layouts are for my Journal Your Christmas project. You can click on them to see them better (I think). Karen, do you know which one's about you? I made a pocket out of Barbie doll packages for the napkin and the description cut from Karen's Christmas card. I put another line from the Christmas card that was special to me in the pocket as well. I wanted Karen's handwriting on the layout for others to see, so I cut out what you see from the card as well. I need to fix where I screwed up the date. Val and Susan called me on Christmas at 3:30 and said they were choosing a time in between Florida and Illinois time. So nutty. The tea bag in the layout is empty. I DID drink the tea! And don't you love how the cup I had matches the napkin?

What I've Always Wanted!

2008-12-26T09:29:00.000-08:00

We heard "It's what I always wanted!" so many times on Christmas morning. Had to share this little video. Mik asked Santa for a "Dancing with the Stars Barbie", but it did not exist in the real world. We told her that we didn't think Santa would be able to find one. Dave had the idea to find a doll with a lovely dancing-style dress and download a logo from the internet. When Mikayla opened the box, she exclaimed "See I told you Santa could make one!"

To my favorite sisters...

2008-12-26T08:59:00.000-08:00

"To love someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage." Lao Tzu

Digital Scrapbooking

2008-12-24T13:47:00.000-08:00

I did these two layouts last night. I think I'll go back and do a page for each month in 2008. This was a free template. Jena, how do you like these? I like doing paper scrapbooking better, but I seem to finish more this way.

Doll House

2008-12-21T07:43:00.000-08:00

I was asked about the dollhouse at the Lincoln Museum shown in a previous post. It is a replica of Lincoln's home in Springfield and the dolls inside are the Lincoln family. The picture I have here is not very good, but you get the idea. Mikayla loves doll houses and she made a beeline right to it as soon as she entered the playroom. They actually had one of these doll houses in the gift shop. Of course, when Mik saw it she said "Oh, My, Gosh! I want it!" We admired it along with her but told her that we couldn't afford it because it was $300. She said "I don't care! I WANT it!" She was very disappointed that we couldn't get it. If I'd have been rich, I think I would have taken one home. It was so cool and what a great way to learn about history.

Snowflakes Can Be Fun

2008-12-20T12:54:00.000-08:00

We've had so much fun with the "Make-a-Flake" website. It takes a few tries to figure out how to work the scissors, but it's worth it. Enjoy!

Cookin' Like Lincoln

2008-12-20T11:54:00.000-08:00

This is a video that was taken at the Lincoln Museum.

Visiting Santa

2008-12-20T07:20:00.000-08:00

Do I need to write anything here??? MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Visiting "our guy" Lincoln

2008-12-18T18:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we visited the Abraham Lincoln Museum (http://alplm.org//home.html) in Springfield. It was totally interesting to all of us. Some of you know that Mikayla has a "thing" for Lincoln and this was evident in our trip. We spent four hours going through exhibits, watching video, and playing in "Mrs. Lincoln's Attic", a hands-on 1860's playroom for children. All of it was extremely moving. When asked what she learned about Lincoln, Mikayla said that "he was sad". One display showed his son, Willie, on his deathbed in the White House and then another nearby showed his mother, Mary Todd Lincoln, sitting alone in a rocking chair, dressed in black and holding a handkerchief. She commented on the handkerchief noting that it was for her tears. While watching the video on "Lincoln's Eyes", she exclaimed "I wanna kick his butt!" when a segment on John (Wilkes) Booth was shown, complete with the vibration of gun fire. She did well with all the graphic artwork on the Civil War and enjoyed finding photos (not graphic) on a computer touchscreen.

The final leg of our visit was spent (of course) in the gift shop, where we purchased what we call a "Lincoln Barbie Doll". Don't you think she needs an inspiring doll to play with and not just "da Prince" or good old Kenn (or "Kem" as she calls him)? I'm not so sure how we'll deal with it when she takes off all of Lincoln's clothes like she does all her other dolls!

Advent Calendar

2008-12-16T18:10:00.000-08:00

Every year we get the same kind of Advent Calendar. It's so fun and so cheap-only about two bucks! Each day you open a little door and inside is a tiny piece of chocolate in a Christmas shape-a bell, a gift, Santa, etc. Mikayla looks up the next date when she opens the current door, so she'll be able to get her chocolate quickly! It's not a great photo of her, but you can see that she got her chocolate for today. It's one of those special little traditions that her dad and uncle loved when they were little.

Christmas Past

2008-12-12T20:51:00.000-08:00

Today's prompt for Journal Your Christmas is "Christmas Past". I haven't blogged for a long time and thought I'd try again for awhile to see if the girls and Daddy would enjoy reading about themselves . It's also a way to get down my thoughts until I get to doing actual scrapbook pages!

Daddy took the photo above about 1962. I was about 8, Jane 6, Valerie 4, and Susan 2. This is the only still photo I have of all four of us girls around the Christmas tree. Christmas growing up for us was wonderful. We always had a large live tree. Most of the time it was in front of the picture window, but a few times it was in a different place. In this picture, I think the tree is actually in the corner of the dining room that we were then using as a playroom. I remember always having garland and the icicles that come in a box. You can clearly see them in this photo. We only had them a few times in my own home because our cats always ate them and threw them up-yuck! But I do think they are so pretty! I remember going to Grandma and Pepaw's house on Christmas Eve with all our cousins. We got to open a present from them and Gram and Peep opened theirs from us. I don't remember ever choosing gifts for my sisters or my parents until much later-at least high school. For some reason, I do remember getting Susan an umbrella while we were living in Florida, I think. Funny that I remember that! Gram always had a small table top tree. One year it was white with pink balls. I thought it just was not a real Christmas tree.

One thing I remember most from Christmases like the one here is that I hated trying to sleep on Christmas Eve. I felt like I would never go to sleep I was so excited. The more I tried to sleep, the more I tossed and turned. When I had my own kids, we let them stay up to watch A Christmas Carol starting at 10:30 just so they wouldn't be as miserable as I was. Dave never complained because I think he had the same problem. I remember our parents telling us we had to wait until it was light to wake them up. As a parent, I could hardly wait for the boys to wake up. I don't think they ever had to beg us to get up-we were always lying awake wishing they'd hurry and wake up.

I clearly remember walking down the stairs on Christmas morning. I also remember trying to peak to make sure Santa had been there. We couldn't go down the stairs until Daddy turned on the tree lights. We always got plenty of gifts! Gifts from Santa were not wrapped, but presents from Mother and Daddy were. I remember the dolls in the picture here. We all had a new doll. My doll, I think, is Thumbelina. She actually moved like a real live baby. It 's funny, but when I think of her, I can still feel how she moved. We actually got two of those toy shelves in the picture, one for Jane and one for me. We had those for a long time. I also remember that every year, our Uncle Lloyd gave every niece and nephew $5. We thought this was the coolest thing and looked forward to it. Uncle Lloyd wasn't married and didn't have children of his own, so he celebrated by giving every one of the cousins a gift. Mostly we spent Christmas playing with our new toys. I don't remember ever going anywhere.

One time, when visiting Mother in Florida, she told us about her Christmases growing up. She said that her mother loved Christmas and she always got tons on gifts. It was a real celebration. This was all later confirmed by her cousin Karen, who also told us that Mother often got two of each gift, just so a friend coming over (more often Karen herself) would have something to play with. Karen also told us that our Grandmother was an excellent cook. Mother was too, and we always had a big Christmas dinner. Often Gram and Peep would come and usually Uncle Lloyd and our old Uncle Charles as well. I remember getting an Avon soap in the shape of a peach from Uncle Charles one year. It may have even been the year in this photo.

That's all I remember about this picture, so I'll try to write more tomorrow. Until then, don't forget to write down your memories.

Observational Drawing 2

2008-02-12T22:45:00.000-08:00

Observation drawing lesson

2008-02-12T21:31:00.000-08:00

Today we did our first observation drawing using a lesson posted by Lori on the Camp Creek Press Blog. Lori suggested that we use plain white paper and only a pencil (no eraser) to start. We chose a common object that had interesting detail. The first thing I noticed was Nemo, who was waiting to go back to school with Mikayla. Above is a photo of Nemo and a scan of Mikayla's first observation drawing. She put more detail into the drawing than I ever thought she would. We both noticed so many things about the toy that we had not before. I drew along with her and she pointed out aspects of Nemo that I had not noticed. We then pointed out various other aspects for each other as we drew. She did, however, use the eraser on her pencil once or twice. She also added a spider drawing which you can see on the top left of the page (not from observation, thankfully!), and made sure to count the legs to make sure there were eight. Her next drawing was of my Croc shoe. She was very interested in the detail of the flower jibbit on the shoe as she is very into drawing flowers. She was not particular about showing the holes. I actually think she was tired of drawing at this point. I will post pictures of this later.

2008-01-13T11:45:00.000-08:00

Happy 2008!

The last leaf standing. Mikayla looked out the front window one day and exclaimed, "Grammy, there's only one more leaf!" Don't you love how children are so observant and see the small things that we no longer notice?

The Day She Was Born

2006-10-12T13:56:00.000-07:00

On October 10, 2003 our world changed. Mikayla was born.
Mikayla Thay
Born on: October 10, 2003 at 8:23:00 PM
Weight: 6 lbs. 14 ozs.
Length: 19 inches
Delivered by: Baumstark, Jennifer, CNM

I was in Old Navy around noon when I got the call. "Mom, I think it's time." And I answered the usual "for what?" "We're having the baby!" I said excitedly "Okay, I'll be right there". I drove quickly (for me) to Urbana to their house and we drove to the hospital. Up to the floor to see the doctor. Seems like we sat there for a long time! About an hour later, V went to a labor room in a wheelchair. She must not have been in really hard labor or I don't think she would have had to wait so long. I called my friend Sue Osborne from my small group at church (Soula the Doula), and we met her in labor and delivery. The four of us spent most of V's labor together. V's mom came a little later as she was taking care of Mikayla's cousin at the time. Sue was so helpful. V did an awesome job. She progressed slowly and eventually had to have a pitocin drip. Things got going then. It was a really smooth delivery and they hadn't even taken childbirth classes because of their work schedules. They had me cut the cord-J thought it was just too gross. I watched the whole thing and even asked to see the placenta (looked good to me-nice and red and liverlike!). V's mom couldn't watch too closely. It must be difficult to watch your daughter give birth! Both Grandpas, Taylen (cousin), Uncle Josh (still in a wheelchair because of his car accident about 6 weeks earlier, he lived with J and V) and Tiffany (Josh's girlfriend) came around 10:00. I remember calling my mother after Mikayla was born to say "Happy Birthday", you have your first great granddaughter born on your birthday! What a lovely, exhausting day! Thank you Sue for all your help and support. Happy Birthday Mikayla.

First blog entry!

2006-10-09T23:20:00.000-07:00

This is my first blog entry! I plan to use this blog to get down thoughts that I can use later for scrapbooking and other journaling. Three years ago today I became a grandmother. 72 years ago today, my mother was born. One year ago today, my dog Lucy was born! And today my blog is born. I'm already so tired, I can't write anymore. Next time, I want to recount my dgd's birth.