Tagged!!!

My niece, Elisabeth, tagged me....so here goes:

8 things I'm passionate about:

*Loving my 3 (and one on the way) grandbabies
*My faith
*Making sure Evan doesn't feel abandoned EVER!
*Keeping my marriage of 30 years alive with new things
*Faithful and trustworthy friends
*Always looking great
*Eating right
*Quiet time EVERY day

8 Things that happened yesterday:
*Cooked up some delicious homemade chicken soup
*Did 3 loads of laundry
*Christmas shopped!
*Ate a yummy Honey Crisp Apple
*Enjoyed a fresh hazelnut cup of coffee and read the newspaper
*Kissed my husband
*Talked with my son on the phone for more than 30 minutes (amazing)!
*Watched my favorite Monday night show, Dancing with the Stars!

8 Things I do now:
*Make the bed EVERY morning.
*Check e-mail 3-4 times a day (I'm obsessed!)
*Read WAY TOO many blogs.
*Love to cook!
*Love being a grandmother
*Have a difficult relationship with my daughter
*Obsess about having my house clean ALL the time
*Hate getting old

8 Things I can not do:
*See ANYTHING without my glasses (it's that getting old thing!)
*Stay out late
*Love my children more than I love my grandchildren (just wait...it will happen to you!)
*Make bread like my mother
*Go a whole day without checking e-mail
*Love my daughter as Jesus would (ouch)
*Clean toilets (I hate it....)

8 Things I often say....
*Mark: What did you have for lunch?
*Mark: What do you want for supper?
*Mark: Did you have a good day? (are you seeing a pattern here?)
*Evan: You are at Nani's house, sit down to pee-pee....(Smile!)
*Evan: Do you want apple juice or chocolate milk?
*Evan: Are you ready for your bath?
*Bryan: How are the babies?
*to my mom and daddy: Can I come home and just be a kid again?

8 Favorite TV shows:
*Rachel Ray
*Dancing with the Stars
*American Idol
*Ace Cakes
*any thing on the food network
*House
*Wheel
*6:00 news

8 Favorite Foods
*Chuy's Cobb salad
*Chuy's jalapeno creamy sauce
*Jason's Deli - chicken salad
*Honey Crisp apples
*Zesta Saltine crackers and real butter
*homemade chicken noodle soup
*mom's orange/carrot cookies
*chili made with Hammett House seasoning

8 Things you may not know about me:
*I was a dancer for 13 years, then drill team all through high school and college.
*My hair is totally white, but I color it auburn so I will look younger!
*I would love to simplify life, sell everything and go with Mark and work in a State park somewhere.
*I hated school, especially math.
*I loved teaching high school business.
*I love peace and quiet.
*Evan (my 4 year old grandson) taught me more about myself and how to love than I could have ever learned from a book or class.
*Faith, Hope and Love were blessings instilled in me by my parents and I wonder every day why I wasn't able to instill those blessings in my daughter.

Wordless Wednesday

God Blessed our Camp mightily!

Lives-changed, spirits-filled, love-shared. . . . awesome!

A fire truck, a boy, a flag and a lollypop . . .

and a hometown parade! Who needs more explanation than that on this holiday! Enjoy the pictures from our hometown parade this morning. Evan enjoyed the parade sitting on his paw-paw's lap, even wore his hat for a little while (it was really hot and humid). . . his favorite thing . . .of course, the fire trucks!

Happy Fourth!!!!

Scooters, crickets, lemonade and such . . .

Summer's here . . . remember the feeling!

No more homework, sleeping late, no worries, no cares, swimming, shopping, slumber parties, church camp . . . . .oh, to be a kid again. Well, I don't want to re-live those growing up years, but it would be nice to not have any responsibilities, bills or well, you know, grown-up junk. Don't get me wrong, I love my life right now, but it would feel great to just put the brain on coast for a few weeks. I guess that's what vacations are for.

Ah, yes, vacation! Oh so fun, I despise the packing, getting ready, but I LOVE getting there, the travel, a different place, different food, the adventure of it all. I do miss sleeping in my bed though. . . doesn't everyone say that when we get in this "tween" stage. I guess our backs want that familiar night-time feeling for our rest periods. I think the older I get, the more stingy I get with my sleep particulars . . . . meaning, I love sleeping with my "white noise" machine. In fact, I can't sleep without it . . . and then I think "who in the world invented it" probably some wife whose husband snored! Oh well, such is life and our little sleep things.....

This little guy in the picture is Cooper, grandson #2. He turned 2 in this picture and is riding a scooter that we got him for his birthday. We were amazed that a 2 year old could balance and be coordinated enough to ride a scooter!!! But he was incredible on this little thing....and I snapped this picture because I love his little short legs and the "boyish" nature of it all. Don't you wish you could just get on a scooter and roll down the sidewalk and just dream of days gone by . . . and think about being a kid again. . . .this picture makes me think of my own childhood memories.

It's good to take time and think about those memories . . . so grab a lemonade, and go sit on your patio this summer, listen to the crickets and remember your own childhood . . . riding bikes, and scooters and such.

To my mom . . . my hero . . .

The greatest lady that I have ever known. . . . . a survivor of cancer, a joy-giver, an inspirational speaker, a hope-fulfiller, a hug-maker, a serving angel of God. Her energy is contagious and all around her leave with a smile and a joy-filled heart.

I'm so proud and honored to call her my mom. Happy Birthday today. God blessed me when he chose you to be my mom . . . my forever friend . . . I love you so much. . .

30 years . . .

Yesterday we celebrated thirty years. . . . . that sounds so long, but yet I could truly say that it only feels like thirty days some times. . . . our love is stronger than ever, my best friend and dream-maker . . . all my dreams came true the day I got married and I'm living the next thirty years believing in many more dreams that will come true. . . . Mark, always there for me, always caring, always . . . . . loving me.

Perfection . . . .

A little mouth, sweet nose, big brown eyes, ten toes, ten fingers. . . .and that sweet smell of fresh baby......oh so sweet, perfect in the eyes of God. Who are we to wonder who our creator is.....what a miracle this life is.

Being a grandmother (aka Nana) has changed my perspective on life. It's the little things that matter, the sweet little nothings that I forgot to see in my own children because I was too busy with "stuff". Do I regret that I missed it then, absolutely....BUT....I won't miss it now.....I have a second chance to receive every picked dandelion, read every story, put every puzzle together 5, 10, 15 times over and over again, give baths with blue colored water, eat dessert first, swing for hours.....gosh, I dont want to miss a minute of those times. I love it when those little guy's reach up for my hand, and fit their little fingers inside mine and squeeze when walking across the street. What security we give them, and what love connection is in that little touch.

My heart has learned how to love again through the eyes of a child, my grandchildren, to be exact. A softer love, a tender love, a caring love, a patient love, a happy love and an everlasting love......just like HE loves us......a warm, snuggly love.....don't you love it....I do.

A beginning......

Trying to find the "right" words to start off this newly discovered world of blogging (in the old days this was called "journaling") has been extremely difficult for me. I have been staring at the blank computer screen many times, only to just shut it down and write nothing; thinking I have nothing to share, time and time again, thinking one day, I'll have the right mind-set, attitude, and heart to start sharing my world. Well, who knew that it would take my sweet niece from Austin to give me an attitude adjustment and a swift kick "forward" to start my "blog" inspiration.

You see, she may only be 28, but she has always been there to give me inspiration when I needed it the most. Though her life has been an interesting journey, we have been there for each other and encouraged each other with positive words, loved each other when we didn't feel loved, and shared the joys and pitfalls of our families with each other when we didn't know who to turn to.....and through it all we survived. She is wise beyond her years and I love her like a daughter, actually I claim her as my Texas daughter!!!

Talking about surviving, we DO have a great role model in that category. However, I'll save that for another post. My hero, and all time most cherished woman on earth, my mom!

Ok, so back to blogging....the concept for my blog, is this: I feel like a "tweener". Now I know that's a term for kids that are too old to be called kids and too young to be called adults.....but I feel like that term can be applied to ME! I feel like I'm in between being too young to be "old" and too old to be "young". Not quite ready for retirement, but soon, not quite ready for empty nest (can't get the kid(s) to leave (smile!)), ahhhhh yes, and the symptoms of menopause are closing in, but not all of them but feeling a few of them.....so I think that life is full of joys, sorrow, laughter, love, and tears. It's balance that I'm looking for....

The aches and pains of getting older, just not ready to accept them, and fighting them every step of the way......I refuse to let those aches and pains of life suck the joy out of my life! But let's be real, life happens and we must deal with it. So, I'm going to be real....because some of my life battles must be someone else's as well.

It's a journey, I'm choosing to grab God's hand and we are gonna walk this path hand in hand.....come on, let's walk together.....it might not be pretty, but for goodness sake, if I wake up tomorrow breathing, I'm happy to have another day to say: Thank you God for letting me have another chance to do something new, to help someone today, to do something kind for someone else, to smile at that person who may be frowning, to hold the door for that elderly person at the grocery store, to wave at that little boy in the car at the stop light.....life is too precious, I don't want to miss out on those little things in life!!!!

So, thanks Elisabeth, you touched my heart this morning.....you gave your "old" auntie a reason to smile, and reflect and remember that I have worth......in the midst.......of this thing called life!