Great Great Old Margaret

Last Saturday my Paternal Grandmother, my last grandparent left on this earth, passed quietly from this life into the next. I am sure that she had a wonderful reunion with her husband, who passed away over 30 years ago, and 2 of her children who passed before her as well. She was 93 1/2 years old.

Grandma has lived with my parents for the last 7 1/2 years. I have had the opportunity (though sometimes I did not call it that) to go and visit with her ever week and do her hair. To be honest I did not really enjoy doing it all of the time. Sometimes I felt it was more of a burden than a blessing. But, now that I won't have that opportunity it makes me a little sad. And I feel that I should have had a better attitude about doing it.

On Christmas Eve 2012 grandma suffered a heart attack and the doctors said she wouldn't pull through. Well she did. Of course she did. Grandma was stubborn. She wasn't going to let anyone else tell her that her time was up. She was going to decide that one on her own. She pulled through, but needed 24 hour care after that. So for the last month she lived in a group home a few miles away from mom & dad's house. And they took good care of her there.

All of us in the family took turns going to visit her. We each had a day. Mine was Friday- the same day I usually went to do her hair. Last Friday I was at my dad's shop (he's a carpenter) helping out. When I left I had just enough time to get home, before the kids got home from school. But I also knew (some how) that if I didn't go visit grandma, I never would see her again in this life. I went home.

I got a phone call Saturday afternoon telling me about grandma. And I cried a little. The husband said, "I thought you all would be happy. She wasn't doing well." It made me a little upset. But that's just how his brain works. And it's true anyway. I am happy. Happy that she can reunite with loved ones long passed. Happy that she doesn't have to be bogged down by an old body that isn't working so well anymore. Happy that she doesn't have to stay in the group home, because she didn't want to be there. Happy that she lived such a good life.

But sad too. And that's only natural.

Grandpa & Grandma Potter

FB

The big FB. (facebook for the lesser schooled)
I have decided I don't much care for it.
Lately most of what I read on there is either doom and gloom or just flat out complaining.
It doesn't lift my spirits.
I don't need less to lift my spirits.
The problem is, now that I have been on there I can;t just get off. I do like keeping in touch with people. And I'm nosy and like to know what's going on.
Just not all of it.

A New Year

It is another new year. And another year passed and the blog got neglected. And many family happenings never got documented. Simply because I am lazy. Well I am not going to try and catch up on the things that got left behind. And I am not going to say I will post something every day. But I have decided that it is important that I post something at least once a week. I have time for that. It is do-able. And so for this year- that is my goal for the blogging world I have built here.

Foxtail Saga

Apparently Foxtail is a kind of grass. I just think it's a weed. Don't you classify things that you don't like growing in your yard, and that spread rapidly (and take over), as a weed?  Well let me tell you- we have PLENTY. Usually when you have an excess of something you like to share with others, right? I will not be sharing. Sorry if that hurts your feelings.

We have these weeds in our yard from the time we first bought our house. But they were never anything more than a mild bother- embedding themselves in our blankets and the dog's beds. This year things are different. They are embedding themselves in the dogs!!!! I don't like this and I wonder what the use of these things is. Why were they created? Kind of the same way i feel about scorpions and cockroaches. Somethings you just don't understand why the Lord saw fit to create them.

One of our dogs (the oldest one) seems to be afflicted with them more than the others. I'm not quite sure why. But it makes me sad to see her in pain. A few days ago I had officially had enough. It was right after we pulled one out of one of the dog's eye! REALLY!!?!!! Come to find out- these things are deadly to dogs because they do burrow into the skin. However they never have before....at least at our house. Who knew this year would be any different? So the husband went outside and flamed the back yard. We have black spots all over the yard. But less weeds. He still has a couple patches to do but I already see a HUGE improvement. We have long hair dogs that bring them inside. They get tangled in their hair so easily. And I am constantly sweeping. And I didn't see any other solution than to burn them. Because once they dry and go to seed there is nothing you can do about it except wait it out....and that can last all summer. NO THANK YOU!

 Let me give you a list of places we have pulled these things from :

• eyes
• mouth
• feet- between toes
• feet- bottom between pads
• gums
• underarms

Hopefully we won't have to deal with them too much now.

Today

Today was a good day for some and not so good for others.

Around here, when the little people get sick you can hardly tell. There is no slowing down. They act pretty much the same, only cranky. And so it is not uncommon for the parents to make it through most of the day before realizing what the problem is. BUT in the uncommon occurrence that one of the children actually throws up, we kind of know. Today was one such day. I was sad for my girl to not feel well. But as the day progressed she seemed to feel better. So I didn't worry about it. I took her to ballet. She was fine. We went out to eat. She threw up again. BUMMER. So we ate and then we came home. And she did it AGAIN. Poor baby. I put her to bed. She fell asleep right away. I am convinced that she will be fine tomorrow.

As all of this was happening the boys were getting ready to go to the fathers and sons camp out. The boy was SUPER excited. He loves going camping. And he got to go with his dad AND another adult male, and a dog. He was so cooperative today in getting ready. He even let me cut his hair AND took a bath. Neither of which he wanted to do this morning when he got up.

And I have a cake to do tomorrow. I'm just happy that during getting the boys ready to go, taking care of a sick baby, and all the usual, I had time to do all of the prep work for the cake. It will make things go so much more smooth tomorrow.

Crazy Busy

Yesterday was crazy. And awesome.
As I fell in to bed last night (or this morning at 2AM) I realized I  missed Castle. The only show I actually watch on tv. But I don't care. I think, if you were in my situation, you wouldn't care either.
Now let me tell you why my day was SO awesome.....and crazy.
I woke up and texted sister7 to tell her something I thought was funny. Her response to me was the she was having contractions 7 minutes apart. WOOHOO nephew7.2 was getting ready to join the family on the outside! Then I made a phone call to schedule an appointment with the chiropractor.....Dr. Brother6. And so we all got ready and went (an hour away) to his office. YAY! It's been far too long since we have been adjusted. It was lovely. And we already have our appointments set up for next week. Happy.
While driving in to the chiro office I got a phone call from the optical center, which is closer to brother6's office than to my house. My glasses came in. So we decided to go get those while we were already in the area. But first I called sister7 to see how the labor was coming along. Not as good as we hoped. So we went and got some lunch and picked up the glasses.

I told sister7 that I would be happy to take delivery pictures, which she very much wanted, since she didn't feel she had enough of with the birth of niece7.1. So I was hoping she could have the baby while we were still close by. Well, as luck would have it, she didn't. Of course. So I headed back home. An hour back home. And I was home for about 45 minutes when I got a text from said sister letting us know that she was headed to the hospital! Of course.

I also had an appointment with sister1 to take family pictures for them. They were going to come out to me, but in light of the current situation, I suggested going in to a place closer to their house to take pictures. And then after I got done I could head over to the hospital. I met sister1 and family about a half hour later, and took some really cute family pictures!! And amazingly, it was only the oldest and the youngest that were uncooperative. YES. I said oldest. But as you can see, I got a picture of him smiling anyway. (which is not how most of the pictures looked, believe me)

After that I headed to the hospital. And waited. Apparently, once sister7 got her epidural things really slowed down. But we all had a grand ol' party. Mom & sister2 were there. And sister7's m-i-l got there the same time as me. Shortly after s-i-l5 came. Then sister3. And later s-i-l6. So that by the time nephew7.2 got there we were all there to welcome him. I missed sister1 though. Then it would  have been a complete group. I got some good pictures of the birth. We had a good time. And it was an amazing experience.

I love my family.
By the time I got home and in bed it was about 2:00AM. I am tired today. But it was all worth it! What a great day yesterday turned out to be!!

It breaks my heart

I was browsing on Pinterest last night when I came across this picture

And it caught my attention, so I looked closer. The caption underneath read something to the effect of, a boy in an orphanage drew a picture of his mother. The rest of it goes (which I found when I googled the picture)- and slept in her arms.

I cried and cried for this child last night. And for other children like him.
The fact is, I would LOVE to bring so many of them home with me.
And my dilemma is that it is so darn expensive.
I am sure that so many families and children miss out on the chance to share their lives and their love simply because of not enough funds.
And I cried about that as well.
Because, for me, a child that needs a loving family is a child that needs a loving family.
No matter where in the world they happen to be.
And I would welcome a child from another country just as quickly as I would welcome a child from the US. They all need families and love.
And it's sad that MONEY is the deciding factor. So many times.

Pageant

Last night was the pageant of the year.....at least in our little community.

The girl was a part of it. She was a "blossom". And LOVED every second of it.

Before we were even out of the parking lot last night she was saying how much she can't wait to do it again next year. 

I loved it too. I love that she was so happy. And felt so very pretty. She really was the most beautiful girl there.

The younger girls are not judged. For them it is just an opportunity to put on a pretty dress, get all dolled up, and prance across stage for all to see. They also all get a flower and a tiara. 

Because we home school, I try very hard to get my children out to places where they can interact with other children in social settings....besides church. So I thought for sure this would be a great event for the girl. And I was right! She is such a social little thing. Home school is hard for her. But she does it and doesn't complain. Much.  And last night I remembered part of why home school is so important to us. There was only one thing that dampened the evening, and that was a snotty comment made to the girl by one of the other girls. I know I can't protect my children forever, but I hope that while I have them at home, besides the school aspect, I am teaching them how to be just all around kind and good people.

Anyway, that is a little off subject I suppose.

So the girls got to walk on stage, walk to the right, do a little spin or pose, and walk to the microphone at the left and say a few things about her self. Then they would be handed a flower and go off the stage. SO cute.

My girl said her name and then that she liked playing with her cousins and going on trips with her family. I just loved watching her.

So much of my family came and watched her as well. Which I would appreciate on a regular day. But yesterday was no regular day, it was also niece 3.2's baptism day. We were all at that in the morning and then many of them came out to support the girl as well. So, with that in mind, I SUPER appreciated their effort. It made the girl feel SO AMAZINGLY special to have so many people there to see HER. {I feel bad that we didn't even tell the husband's family about it! OOPS! I didn't even think about it. How silly of me!} The girl said that it made one of her cousins, niece 1.3, happy that she said that one of her favorite things was to spend time with her cousins. I thought that was cute.

After the little girls got done with their part, then they began the competition part for the older girls, to crown the next "Cotton Queen". The children wanted to stay for it, and so we did. Even the husband, who had a huge presentation to prepare for a church meeting today. He's a good sport. And the girl was even more happy with the way the evening turned out, because the girl that she thought should win, did. 

All in all, I'd say the night was a HUGE success!

Crushed

We were in the van yesterday. The boy and I. We were picking up the girl from Activity Days, and were in a hurry to get to Scouts. The boy asked if he could get her. It was certainly fine with me. 

Now I was not watching, because this happened directly behind me, so I am not sure exactly how it happened. But here is what happened as far as I know.

We have automatic doors on the van. The children like to push the button and see how close they can get to jumping out before the door closes. It drives me crazy and I tell them all the time not to do it. They think it's a funny game. I know someone is going to get hurt. And yesterday it finally happened.

As the boy pushed the button to OPEN the door and started to get out, for some reason it decided to close again. All I hear is the boy start crying. So I try to figure out what happened. I thought it was his hand, when he starts saying, "My head, My head!" That dang door had shut on his poor little head!

While comforting him I tell him that is why I don't want him and sister playing with the door. "I wasn't!" he says. And then proceeds to apologize! Oh I should have kept my mouth shut until another time. He thought I was getting mad at him for getting hurt. I wasn't. I made it worse, and I felt SO bad.

My poor boy.

But I'm grateful it was only a little hurt and not worse.

I can't do it

After much thought- I can't combine and I can't delete. All of my blogs have their own purpose. And as much as I would like to reduce and simplify I just can't. So I suppose that this blog will just have to have it's share of posts as well. And that I need to do better on updating.  I mean, this is the blog where I post all of my random thoughts. My kitchen window blog is for me to focus more on finding one thing each day that was happy. Totally different purpose than this. So I have to keep them separate. Besides- USUALLY my posts are not long, and take little effort. So it shouldn't be something that stresses me out or takes up too much time.

WHEW! glad to have that figured out.

What to do, what. to. do?

Do you know that I have had this blog for almost 5 years? Do you know that I have an obsession with blogs?As in- creating them? This is the blog that started it all. And now I have like 12 blogs or something. That doesn't count the ones that I have deleted. But it does count the private blogs that I use as journals. I LOVE this blog. But I have so many. I have the 3 blogs that I post on ALL of the time. Lately my focus has been to post more positive things. I use my Kitchen Window blog for that. Then there's the Picture Blog. And the Crafty Blog. I haven't posted on this blog for over 3 months. And it has me wondering what I should do.  This one is being neglected. It makes me sad. And, as silly as it seems, stresses me out a bit. And I'm not sure what to do about it. I am leaning towards combining this one with the Kitchen Window Blog. But I just don't know.

*sigh* Is this the end?

Tick Tock, It's a Christmas clock

My dad is about the most amazing carpenter I know. The kind that works with wood. Not the kind with Carpenter for a name. Otherwise this post would be about the husband. Cause you know- he's a Carpenter. And most amazing.

Anyway- Like I said- my dad=AMAZING carpenter.
He can make anything!
I can't tell you all of the things he has made during my lifetime. I have even had the pleasure of helping with some of them. Beds, shelves, frames, cabinets, houses! And the list goes on.

A few years ago he made my mom a grandfather clock for Christmas. And we all Ooooo-ed and Ahhhh-ed over it. And it is an amazing piece of.....art? furniture? craftsmanship? Well, we all love it. And promptly started fighting over who would get it when mom dies. Not because we are disrespectful, it's an inside joke in our family. (there's a story in our family that, when I was 5, a repairman came to our house and I followed him around while he was working. At one point I said to him, "I am going to get my mom and dad's (water)bed when they die!" so you see my point. and also- i don't want their bed anymore, which they don't even have now. but i was asked if I wanted it before they got rid of it a couple years ago. SO thoughtful, right?)

BUT, continuing on- In our family we have a rotating list for which family gets each other presents for Christmas. This year mom & dad had us. Was dad going to make us something amazing? Who knew. I didn't ask him to. I didn't want to make him busier than he already was. So I was interested to see what mom and dad would do for us. And this is what we got

I told my mom, no offense to her, I like my clock better than hers and  I will let everyone else continue to fight over it.

And then it occurred to me- Dad has been making clocks for each of us ever since he made mom's. Sister7 was the first to get one, then s-i-l6, and s-i-l5, now me. Any one wanna guess what sister3 is getting next year??? Haha Silly that I never saw the pattern before.

All I know is- I LOVE my clock! And, you could argue with me that it is a Christmas gift for my whole family. But let's face it- the husband and children, they just don't care like I do. So really, it's mine.

Thanks again daddy!!!

Christmas Presents

The husband actually did great this year. He got me things from the list that I gave him. Usually I give him a list and he gets just whatever anyway. So I was proud of him this year.

One of the gifts he got me has to be sent back. And one of them I have already put to good use. I am so excited about it! A photo backdrop! I took pictures of the kids yesterday. And of my friend's kids. They turned out great! These are our "dance/gymnastics pictures", since we didn't do any this semester.

Family Pictures

Don't you just LOVE having family pictures taken!!!?!
I don't.
I turn in to some awful demon mom.
"Stay clean!"
"Don't touch your hair!"
"Get off of that!"
"Come back here!"
"Smile!"
"That's not a smile!"
You get the picture. (haha)

But we did get family pictures taken recently.
And I wore my most awesome shoes!
And thank heavens for talented, patient, amazing friends!
And in the end- you have a family that looks perfect.....for a moment.

Awe

At the moment I am in awe.

In awe of those women who continually do EVERYTHING for everyone else day after day. And still find time for them selves.

In awe of those women who think more of others than they do of themselves.

In awe of those women who constantly SEE the beauty in everything around them.

In awe of those women who express their feelings and thoughts so articulately. And share them with others.

In awe of those women who are amazing mothers. And have already found the joy in motherhood.

In awe of those women who share who they are, so freely, with others.

In awe of those women who I want to be just like.

They are amazing.
And it leaves a great big lump in my throat and a few tears in my eyes as I think of them. And hope. That some day I might grow to be just like them.

Just a few of the women I stand in awe of