I Have a Really Good Husband

I really do.

He is not romantic.

He is not the most well groomed/stylish man around.

He sometimes smells funny.

He wipes his hands on his clothes during meals.....frequently.....even if he has a napkin.

Despite these less than stellar qualities, there are things that I wish I could tell all the young women looking for love...including my own daughters.

I wish I could tell them things like.......

Looks really don't matter.

Romantic gestures don't really matter.

Wearing the latest styles don't matter.

Having good looking feet doesn't matter.  (Sorry, honey, but you know they aren't pretty.)

Having to do a lot of spot cleaning whilst doing your laundry is not a big deal.

I wish I could tell them.....

What matters is that you have a husband who never leaves home without kissing every single one of us....no matter what time of day or night it is.

What matters is that you have a husband who does 95% of the grocery shopping, just because he knows you don't like to.

What matters is that you have a husband that doesn't think anything of flying across the country, with 5 of his 6 children.

What matters is that this trip is because his mother fell in a snowy parking lot in Chicago and broke her hip.

What matters is that he wanted to be with his mom. 

He wanted to help his mom. 

He wanted his kids to come cheer up his mom, who was feeling embarrassed and old, because she has become one of those little old ladies that fell in a parking lot.

What matters is that he didn't care that he could only be there this time, for 2 days, or about the cost of renting a mini-van and that all of the meals would be eaten out.....because none of that matters, when your mom is hurt.

(I had to show this picture, because, even when you have a broken hip and have just been released from the hospital...if your grandchildren come to visit, you must give them money!)

This last minute trip meant a few things for me.

It meant that D-man and I were left at home because now that he isn't homeschooled, he isn't as free to travel about the country, as his siblings are.

It meant that V-girl was going to take her first flight without me.

It meant that my house stayed really clean for 2 days.

It meant that my house was WAY too quiet for 2 days.

It meant that I remembered how much a person can get done in the day if they are alone.  (Really....I was amazed at the projects  - and On Demand T.V. that I was able to pack in!).

I learned that I really, really miss my kids when they aren't here. 

I got weepy during church because I was all alone in the pew.  D-man works the sound board, so I am used to seeing him from afar.  But, the other kids smile at me while I am up front singing, they try to hide from my silent admonitions that I send them - mid song, when they are acting up.  When I am done singing, they surround me in our pew....the little ones fight over my lap....they snuggle with me....they hold my hand....they play with my hair.  They whisper irrelevant questions to me during the sermon.  Honestly, it was a very lonely feeling sitting there untouched and alone.

I re-learned that I would much rather have a houseful of children than a clean, quiet house.

Before Rainman's mom fell, my weekend plans were very different.  I was supposed to fly up to Minnesota to watch the Oscars with my sisters.  But, priorities are priorities and Rainman needed to be with his mom. 

Cue D-man...that whatever he had been planning for the weekend had now changed also.

D-man took pity on me and played along with the Oscar Bingo and the Oscar Trivia that my sister, Karen, had sent (she is fun that way....she had games and prizes and even swag bags all ready for our sisters weekend!). 

He filled out a ballot....and even  tried really hard to have opinions on dresses, hairstyles and jewelry....just for me. 

I am fairly sure that if I were to fall and break my hip 40 years from now....he will fly across the country to come be with me too.

I wish I could tell all those dear young ladies.......

That is what you want in a husband. 

Really.

Crazy Days

We have had some crazy days around here lately.  I tried to fly up to Minnesota to see my mom and sisters.  The added bonus was that I would actually be present for our annual Oscar party.  I never made it.

I sat at the airport all day trying to get on as a standby (you know, one of those perks of working for the airlines).  I sat through 5 flights in about 10 hours....no luck.  My suitcase did, in fact, make it to Minnesota and took its sweet time flying back to Georgia!

I cried.

In front of strangers.

I met a nice lady who bought me ice cream.


We have had two members of our church family pass within 24 hours of each other.  Another church member has had an emergency surgery and in the ICU.  Just lots of emotion swirling around.

Rainman and I got to go see the movie Courageous at a friend's church.  Wonderful movie.  Wonderful message.

The big kids have had a few odd jobs for people - a good way for them to earn money and learn responsibility and pride in their work - but also requires me to be their driver to get them to and from....If Rainman is around, it is actually kind of nice.  At the last job D-man worked, I was able to read uninterrupted (except for a visit from a really nice lapdog) for about an hour! 

It has just seemed a bit crazier than usual around here.  Take a look for yourself.....

Her hand shows a reminder to do her homework - History in the Making.

 Nice Snuggie, huh?

Our house suffered from all of our craziness too.....

Could anyone even sit on this couch?

I managed to give D-man a hair cut.....he wanted an in between short cut, before he gets his buzz cut when it officially gets hot down here.

Such a handsome boy, isn't he?

There has been more craziness with birthday parties and company.....but that is all I have time for right now....it is crazy around here, you know?

Danger Will Robinson! Danger!

I just have to share how incredibly creative my sister, Karen, is.....

Look!  She made these....just because a co-worker's daughter wanted a robot for Christmas!



An army of robots all made out of candy!  Aren't they adorable?  Although if you stare at the picture too long, they start to look a little creepy!

If you want to learn how she did it, click here. 

She has other ideas too.  Like, how to make these


I know Christmas is over....but you could use these money origami trees for other gifts too.  I just did one for D-man's birthday.

I have wanted to do this one for Christmas for a few years.



Click here if you would like to know why these kitchen utensils are all dressed up.

And go take a look at one of her awesome treasure hunt ideas.

She has a lot of really great game ideas too.

My Dad....The Teacher

For as far back as I can remember, my Dad was always teaching.  Teaching our family....and anybody else who was interested in listening. 

Teaching people about God. Teaching people about the Bible.  Teaching people about the gift of salvation.  He started Bible study groups on his lunch hour at Honeywell.  He taught adult Sunday School classes in church.  He had family Bible study time after dinner.  He would invite Jehovah's Witnesses into the house to discuss the Bible.

I was so used to it, I didn't realize how special he was.   He dedicated much of his life to being open for opportunities to enlighten people about the beauty of what Jesus Christ did for us.

You may remember that my Dad passed away very quickly and unexpectedly a few months ago.  It was the day after his 78th birthday.  I had a great conversation with him on his birthday.  The next day was a Sunday and he was set to be a substitute preacher at my home church.

My brother, Kevin, after talking to Dad on his birthday, decided to come hear my Dad preach....since he hadn't heard him in a while.  My Dad was a great teacher....a bit long-winded for some....because he always backed everything up with scripture.  He would have you flipping back and forth all over your Bible....even if you just asked a "simple" question.  My mom would frequently remind him not to talk to long when he was teaching.  But, many times, he got so excited about what he was trying to get across to you....he couldn't stop himself.

Kevin, at the last minute, decided to grab his video camera and film my Dad.

My Dad passed away that afternoon.

My siblings and I also decided that we wanted to video tape my dad's service....partly because, at the time, everything was such a blur and we thought maybe someday when things weren't so raw, we would like to remember what was said....and who was there.

In case you are interested.....here is my Dad's last sermon on this earth.  I have not been able to watch it yet. 

His title for it was Healing Covenants.

The end of my Dad's sermon is in Part 2, below.  My brother also split my Dad's service into smaller parts....

This is me and my sisters, Karen and Kandi, singing one my Dad's favorite songs. He had actually told us for years that he wanted us to sing at his funeral....and what songs he wanted us to do.  (It starts at about 11:00 minutes) The end of this section is the start of my brother's sermon (at about 20:00 min)

This is end of Kevin preaching.... just like my Dad.  My sisters and I sing another of Dad's favorites at about 13:30 minutes in.

My sister, Kandi, and I were able to share a few memories of Dad.  They start at about 17:30 (above - Part 3)...and finish up in the last segment below (Part 4).

I would like to be able to end this post with something deep and profound....but I can't seem to come up with anything.....other than, I loved my Dad and really miss him.

I will end with what ended up being our verse/theme for Dad's service:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

He leads me beside quiet waters,

He restores my soul,

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

For you are with me,

Your rod and your staff they comfort me

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies

You anoint my head with oils,

My cup overflows,

Surely goodness and love will follow me

All the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord.....forever.

Psalms 23

Technology

I am getting old...not a grandmother...yet....but I am getting old.  So technology is starting to make me nervous.  I don't understand BluRay and how it makes you look like you could reach out and touch Buzz and Woody.  Even if we had a Wii, I am not sure I would want to be able to download movies instantly and watch them....well, I guess I would like it - but then it makes me feel like someone could be watching me all the time through my Wii.  Know what I mean?  I can text, I am just not too fast at it, I don't really like it...AND....I spell all the words the right way.  I still like to hold actually paper books and not curl up with my Kindle to read. 

I think you get my idea. 

I like technology, but I am kind of late to the table on the new, exciting stuff.

I am happy to say that the "new" technology I love is the web cam!

For those of you who are new here, or aren't related to me, we got transferred to Georgia about 18 months ago, after spending a lifetime in Minnesota.  And most of that time was spent within about 20 minutes of the grandparents farm, just like almost all of my cousins.  Moving was traumatic for me.  My sixth child was just 2 weeks old when we left.  My sisters Kandi and Karen were my best friends. 

Fast forward 18 months and I am loving Georgia.  The only bad part really is missing the people I love from Minnesota....like my sisters.

One of the things that my sisters and I started about 6 or 7 years ago, was getting together for an Oscar party.  We would eat, talk about what everyone was wearing, mute the speeches so we could talk some more, eat some more, etc.  We even have a traveling trophy for who picks the most winners!

 
The last few years, my sister, Karen has been hosting.  She is the one with all the ideas.  So as the years have gone on, our event has gotten more organized and fancy.  Although we still wore our sweats! She creates swag bags for us and we have elaborate dinners, snacks and drinks served by her husband and sons.

In theory, we thought that I would just fly up and join them every year for our annual party.  But it didn't work last year....or this year.  Last year I snuck down to the basement and called them and we stayed on the phone for the entire telecast.  I couldn't hear very well.  They would laugh and I had no idea what they were laughing about.  My brother-in-law served them a wonderful dinner while I had my popcorn and Reese's peanut butter cups.  I ended the night feeling sad....although I did win the traveling trophy!

Fast forward to this year, I had tried to figure out a way to get myself up there...without kids....with just a few kids....with the "baby" who refuses to stop nursing....rental car....where to stay....it just got complicated in a real hurry, so we all just decided that this just wasn't the year for us to be together yet.

Late last week, my friend, Debbie and I were heading to the Farmer's Market and she asked me if I had a web cam.  I said that none of my computers were new enough to have one built it and I didn't have a free standing one either, but that one day I would like one.  I explained to her how people had been telling me since we moved that I should get one so we can stay in touch with people in Minnesota easier.  My old boss kept in touch with her daughter's family when they moved to Miami this way.  They had a weekly chat, so they got to see all the missing teeth and school projects.  Sounded great, but we were on a budget, so I didn't even check into them.

Debbie said that she thought that she had one just sitting around because she had recently upgraded her computers and they all had built in ones now.  She drove over to my house special on Friday to hand me the web cam so I would have time to play around with it in the hopes of getting it up and running by Oscar time!  Have I mentioned how much I love my friend, Debbie?  Not because she gives me stuff....but because she thinks about me.

So, this is a long story to tell you all about how my sisters and I watched the Oscars together via Skype.  I heart Skype!  We had to switch the venue to Kandi's house to use her laptop webcam....so, as a bonus, I got to see my two nieces up close and personal!  Karen had sent me my swag bag earlier....so I had that with me...

Click here for Karen's GREAT sugar scrub recipe.

My kids wanted to get in on the trophy action too....so they filled out their ballots and made their own traveling trophy...

A Barbie mummified in tin foil!

We did not have the best of internet connections and I still couldn't hear every snarky comment that was made - but it was ALMOST like being there.  I had a great time.  I love them.  I love that I got to see my nieces dancing around and waving in my computer screen....even if they were just waving at themselves on their side!!!

So, I guess this old fogey is coming around....maybe I will go out and buy one of them new fangled Sony Walkmans....oh, too late, huh?  How about and Ipod then....am I too late for that craze?!?!?