Welcome number 14!!

Our 14th grandchild was born May 29th, 2006, at 11:03 PM, weighing in at 7 lbs, 8 oz. and 19 inches long. They named him "Ty Christopher". He was eagerly awaited by his big brother, Trenten(but I'm sure the eagerness will wear off as soon as he starts getting big enough to get into Trenten's things or takes up too much of Mom and Dad's time)!

I didn't post right away because I forgot to take my camera to the hospital and those who remembered said they would e-mail the pictures to me. Guess what? I'm still waiting....I think I'm going to go directly to their house now that they are home and snap a couple to show with this post.

I did go over and took this photo of Ty and Momma. The second picture is of Amber, big brother Trenten and Ty! My, they are a good looking bunch!

To go or not to go?

I am facing a decision. My nephew who lives in Denver got married last month in Belize. They are having an evening garden party reception in Denver on the 24th of June. I have some birthday money that I could put toward a round-trip ticket to Denver for the reception. I would love to go! The only drawback.....I will have to go alone, without my hubby! He has to work. I hate traveling, especially by plane, alone!

My sister who lives there with her family (nephew's Mom ~ note pic of nephew and his new wife on left side) will be more than happy to pick me up at the airport and I can stay in her home with her. My older sister will be there too. We don't often get a chance to be all together at one time. We did have a wonderful get-together at my home last summer when my sister from Denver came for a visit. Even the nearby nieces and nephews and great-nieces and great-nephews were able to come. It was like a family reunion and we had a good time and good food and were able to enjoy each others company for a short period of time. If I go, we would be able to be together for a longer period of time than just one day. I would be able to spend some time with her for five whole days and it would seem like old times. She is my younger sister, by 3 years. After our parents died, I quit college and went to work full time because she was still in high school and I needed a job to support the two of us. We are very close! My older sister was married at the time with a brand new baby and lived in another city.

I hate being gone from my immediate family for that long. The only time I have been away for that long was when I was hospitalized and that doesn't really count. I know that they are all grown up with families of their own and don't really need me here, I still have misgivings about going away for that long of a stretch. I guess I'm just a homebody!! ;)

I will have to decide soon though. If I'm going to go, I need to book a flight. What do you all think?

Baby bird update!

Okay, here is a better picture of the baby robins. It looks as if all 4 eggs hatched and there are four little birds with wide open mouths.... constantly.

When the mom and dad fly away to find worms to feed these little ones, I quickly run out to where the nest is to get a new photo, the little birds open their mouths like I am there with some food to feed them. I am always in a hurry too. It's kind of scary to be dive bombed by a couple of robins; they are really much bigger up close flying at you than they appear from a distance!

As Naive pointed out to me, I will be terribly busy trying to keep my dog, Prancer, from chasing the babies once the Momma is trying to teach them to fly. My dog is not mean, but she likes to play and she is convinced that anything and everything outside on the ground was put there just to play with and amuse her. She's very quick, but all the adult birds are fast too and she hasn't caught one yet. Luckily for me, she is quite well trained and will stop almost immediately if told to do so, and she knows the sit and stay command too. Maybe, hopefully, it won't be as hard as I am anticipating!

Baby Robins

I know this is a little blurry but these are the babies as of Sunday, May 21st. I had to hurry and take them between both Momma and Poppa flying back and forth to feed them....and also to dive bomb me! I can only see two in this picture, but will try to get a better picture very soon.

I am so glad that at least some of the eggs hatched. It is nice to see new life beginning after a long winter.

Brought to you by the letter "D"

I asked Naive if I could play and she assigned me the letter "D". I'm supposed to think of 10 words that start with the letter "D" and why they are important to me.....Piece of cake!



DREW ~ my 2nd to the youngest grandson at the moment. He is so very special to all of us. His Momma and Daddy went through so very much just to conceive and deliver him.....He is truly our miracle grandchild!


DAUGHTERS ~ I am lucky enough to have one birth daughter (Drew's Momma) one acquired daughter who lives in Kentucky, two daughter-in-laws who have brought great things to our family, and an adopted daughter, Clew, who lives in Ohio! She isn't formally adopted but we are close in heart!


DOUG ~ My middle son who just had the surgery and is coming along nicely in his recovery!


DOGS ~ My many fine 4-legged children that I have had over the years. The current one, Prancer is a sweet girl and is always happy to see me when I return. Even if I only went out to the mailbox!!


DARKNESS ~ For without the darkness, we wouldn't appreciate the light, nor would we be able to get the sleep and rest we need for the daylight hours.


DRAWING ~ Because without all the drawings from my grandchildren my house wouldn't contain as much artwork that it does. They are more valuable to me than any Picasso.


DIRT ~ Good black dirt - for growing our beautiful flowers and vegetables. I love to watch the flowers grow in my yard!


DAD'S ~ I often stand in wonder at the Dad's in my grandchildren's lives and think how lucky they are to have each other. The things the dad's can teach the little ones and the things the little ones can teach the dad's.


DRIVE ~ A nice relaxing Saturday or Sunday drive along a peaceful road with no where in particular to go or have to be.


DESSERTS ~ I probably should say "low-fat"desserts, but I'm going to include all desserts. They are yummy and should be eaten by everyone on occasion!


There it is......My list. Now I think I might just go and find me some dessert!!

Son's surgery!

Just a quick post to let you all know that my son's surgery went well. He has at least two metal plates, several pins and screws in his ankle and leg, but at least he didn't lose it. The doctor said he will have arthritis in that ankle but that is a small price to pay for not losing it and besides, we all suffer from that as we get older.

Thank all of you for the continued support and prayers. Prayers are surely what helped to sustain us in a trying time.

You guys are the "BEST"!

Mother's Day Events

Hope all the MOMS out there had a wonderful Mother's Day.

Mine started out very early. And not so pleasant as the usual granddaughter, who spent the night, developed a case of the "throw-ups" at 5:00 AM and didn't quite make it to the bathroom in time. But it did improve, thank goodness.

The above photo is of Drew sitting on the riding lawn mower in our driveway. I think he wanted to drive it without any help from me! They didn't stay too long. It was way past the time for munchkin to have his nap and no one wanted to push their luck and have him react with an attitude!

Later in the day we went to one of our sons homes for a cook-out and had a lovely time visiting with them and our 5 year old grandson and my daughter-in-laws parents and siblings. The food was delicious......probably more so since I didn't have to make any of it.

While we were visiting with family, we found a bird nest near our swing set and the robin is waiting to become a mother too. When she flew away to get some food, I took a picture of the nest. There are 4 eggs in there, but you can only see 3 of them good. The 4th one is hiding near the front left side of the nest. I can hardly wait .

Happy Mother's Day

In honor of all the Mother's in the world:


My mother taught me to appreciate a job well done.
"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside; I just finished cleaning."

My mother taught me religion.
"You better pray that will come out of the carpet!"

My mother taught me about time travel.
"If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next
week."

My mother taught me logic.
"Because I said so, that's why".

My mother taught me more logic.
"If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the
store with me."

My mother taught me foresight.
"Make sure you wear clean underwear in case you're in an accident."

My mother taught me irony.
"Keep crying and I'll give you something to cry about."

My mother taught me about osmosis.
"Shut your mouth and eat your supper."

My mother taught me contortionism.
"Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"

My mother taught me stamina.
"You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."

My mother taught me about hypocrisy.
"If I've told you once, I've told you a million times....don't exaggerate!"

My mother taught me the circle of life.
"I brought you into this world and I can take you out."

My mother taught me about behavior modification.
"Stop acting like your father."

My mother taught me about envy.
"There are millions of less fortunate kids in this world who don't have
wonderful parents like you do."

My mother taught me about anticipation.
"Just wait until we get home."

My mother taught me humor.
"When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."

My mother taught me wisdom.
"When you get to be my age, you'll understand."

And my very favorite:

My mother taught me about justice.
"One day you'll have kids and I hope they turn out just like you."

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

We're good to go!

Took my son to the doctor today and yipeee! The swelling is down enough to do the surgery. It doesn't look like he will lose his foot after all. The doctor said he will need to make three incisions - one on each side of his ankle and one behind on his calf. It is scheduled for Friday at 10:45 AM. And BONUS ~ the doctor is going to try and do it as an outpatient type surgery! That will save the kid some money since he doesn't have any insurance.

The doctor is an ex-dirt bike rider himself and told my son that he will try and fix his ankle so he can still ride dirt bikes! I told the doctor that he's as stupid as the son is! He laughed!

Thanks again for all the support and prayers, you guys are the best!!

Things are looking up!

Decided I had better find the time to enter a new post to let you all know how things are with the son. First of all, thank you all for your support and prayers on our behalf. I am convinced that is the only thing that truly helps! God Bless you all.

He went to the doctor yesterday and it is still too swollen to operate and he has huge and ugly "fracture blisters" all over his ankle and foot so the doctor put him on an anti-biotic to keep the blisters from becoming infected.

Now for the good news! He still has a strong pulse in his foot which means that the artery hasn't compressed yet. He's still not out of the woods, but the doctor was happy so we are too! He goes back to see the doctor on Tuesday and we're hoping to have a somewhat better idea of when he can do the surgery.

My "60th" birthday is tomorrow and the sons "33rd" birthday is Monday. I consider this news one of the best birthday presents either of us could receive!

When it rains it pours....

the son who was in jail and released has now been in an accident. He crashed while riding on his dirt bike Saturday. I spent all Saturday night and all of the day on Sunday at the hospital with him.

His left ankle is shattered in 3 places and they need to do some surgery to put in plates and pins. However, they can't do the surgery until the swelling goes down. They sent us home. He has a splint on his left leg from his thigh to his toes. It is so swollen that the doctors are afraid it will compress the artery and cut off the blood supply and they will have to amputate his foot. They were very honest with us about that....he has a 50% chance of losing his foot! Not very nice odds to have to face at the age of 32. If the swelling goes down enough they hope to operate next Monday....that's his 33rd birthday! Nice present, huh? This news was quite a shock to him....it is the first time in a long, long time that he asked me to hug him and hold him. I did, and we both cried; he about the odds and me about seeing one of my children have to go through this and not being able to do anything to help him. I am praying that things turn out good for him!

For those of you out there who read this blog and believe in God, I would appreciate any and all prayers on his behalf.