The New Year

Well, the new year arrived at it's usual time.  Like 'it' has any choice in the matter!  We had Amber and her friend Aubree here for New Year's Eve and Tom's Uncle John called and wanted us to go to dinner at Sam's Joint in Caledonia with him and his wife, Lisa.  When I asked the girls if they wanted to go to a movie, which we were planning on doing or go out to eat, they opted for dinner.  We all had a good time.  The girls sort of just hung out at one end of the table playing with Amber's I-Touch and ignored us for the most part.  That left us free of entertaining them and able to carry on a conversation with the adults.  We were home well before midnight and wished each other a Happy New Year as the ball hit the bottom at Times Square on TV.  We sat around and talked and laughed for another hour and then turned in.  I think the girls were awake much longer talking and tee heeing, as teen age girls will do.  Us older people just go to sleep!

Tom is still on first shift and there is talk of him having to go to second shift.  But that won't be as bad as third.  Third shift is really hard on him and trying to make the transition with the meds he must take.  If he has to go back on third, I'm pretty sure he will end up very sick and in the hospital.  But second won't be so bad, even though we both prefer first, we can deal with it if we have too.

Seems all the kids and grandkids are doing fine, well except for some who haven't gotten the best grades on report cards, but that isn't our problem anymore.  They have parents who must deal with that and we just get to enjoy them.  One of the many benefits of being a Grandparent!!

Wedding

The wedding was lovely.   The bride and groom are thrilled as are all 6 of the kids they blended into one big family..............sort of like the Brady Bunch.......only I'm sure they will have more trouble than the blended TV family..........LOL!  As you can see, it was an outdoor wedding and although the rain held off until the next day, it was pretty chilly with a temp of only about 57º!  The bridesmaids, as well as the bride, all had sundresses on and while they looked very nice, they also looked very cold.

My oldest daughter is a photographer and she took their wedding pictures as their family gift to the new couple.  She is still editing a lot of them as she works full time outside the home and has a family to take care of too.  But they will get them all (400 of them) on a disk very soon and they can look through them at their leisure and pick the ones they want!

Needless to say, I cried.  This was our last one to get married!  Although they have 6 children between them and they will have to blend it and make it work, I am confident that they can do it.  After all, my son had good teachers.  We did it too, but only with five kids!

I called them the other day to see how things were and they both sounded so much in love that I almost cried again!

So, this is the only update in a while, I will try to remember to get back her more often to read others and to write!

The plane has landed..............first in the series on Texas!

Sunday, September 30, 2007. I'm here. I gather my carry on from the overhead compartment and follow the crowd off the plane into the terminal. I walk toward the luggage carousel to claim my suitcase and there she is.........beautiful AME! I would recognize her anywhere. She looks exactly like the picture she sent.......and her smile reaches from ear to ear! We embrace, and it is like we have known each other all our lives!

The ride to her home from the airport is spent in a rush of talking and laughing. And after we arrive, her precious girls return home from their weekend visit with their dad. What absolutely beautiful, loving girls. It is apparent where they get their smiles from. And they give the best hugs! They all made me feel so welcome, so special and so loved! I was charmed by these girls and if I could have figured out a way to bring them and Ame back home with me, they would be here now. But life is what it is and I had to leave them in Texas and return alone to Michigan.

The entire time I was there was just such a joy to me. I kept asking Ame what I could do to help her and she just kept telling me nothing........spending time with the girls was a huge thing for all of them. I actually felt guilty not helping more with dishes, etc. but as a good 'mom' I always try to follow the rules of the home I am in. ;)

On Wednesday we all went to the TEXAS Sate Fair.......my very first visit to this state and I got to attend the fair! It was much larger than any fair I have ever seen.......and it was fun to watch the girls reactions. The day was hot and humid, as I found most of the days down there to be, but not unbearable. Thank goodness for air conditioning!!!

Saturday Playtime

Our two oldest boys, Brian and Doug, were here Saturday with Brian's three children and Doug's oldest daughter, Amber. Of course, Doug lives here at the present time and Amber comes almost every weekend. After lunch and Brian's one year old, Rebecca took a nap in the PAC-N-PLAY and Elijah, the three year old found some of the old Fisher Price toys to play with, Doug and Amber and Brian and his oldest, David decided to play a game of tag football. I'm not sure who one the game or if it really matters to any of them.

It was so nice to see our oldest boys 'at play' again with their own children that I feel as if I may have been the one to win! There was a long time of Doug not coming around when his brothers and sisters were here and I think it was all because of the gal he was with for so long. He's no longer with that gal and we are all happy about it. Our Doug, as we knew him before her, is back with us. And we can now enjoy him more than ever.



We weren't sure we would ever see the 'old' Doug return but a lot of prayers (and a mom never gives up hope) God has answered our prayers and showed Doug the way back to us. GOD IS GOOD!!!

The Birthday ~ March 17th, 2007

The Chocolate Mint Cake with whipped frosting....and yes it's green for St. Patrick's Day!
Amber and her Daddy!



And what's a birthday without birthday balloons!

And opening up some presents!







We had pizza and crazy bread with sauce, soda, the birthday cake and cookie dough ice cream. Her daddy bought her a Boost Mobile cell phone. We got her 3 summer outfits and she got nail polish, craft items, and money from Aunt Tammy and Uncle Scot and their kids, Telyse and Kameron, a summer outfit from Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Heidi and their boys, Trenten and Ty, and another summer outfit from Aunt Michelle and Uncle Glenn, Steve, Emily and Drew, and another summer outfit from Uncle Brian, Aunt Vanessa and David, Elijah and Rebecca, and money from Uncle Joe, Aunt Roxanne and Deb and Denise. Her mom and step-dad got her some of those new fangled shoes with wheels in the heels, called Heelies!

Some of the guests:
She says this was her 'best birthday' so far. Of course it's only her 12th one....anyway, we hope you have many more Amber, and our wish is for all of them to be happy!

One of Childhood's Joys

Remember when as a kid you were allowed to lick the bowl? That's what Amber is doing here ~ licking the bowl and spatula after she made brownies. I just had to take a picture of her before she finished licking and washed her face! This sweet 'tween' will turn 12 on St. Paddy's Day. She is going to have a slumber party here that night. But around 4:00 PM we will have her cousins and aunts and uncles over for some pizza, followed by birthday cake and ice cream.

Amber's mom informed me that they will be moving in a few months. Farther north than they live now; approximately 86 miles north. Which means we won't be seeing her as much. :( If we were to pick her up on Friday and take her back home Sunday evening we would be driving about 345 miles for two round trips. Not that she isn't worth it....she IS! It's just with the price of gas and the amount of time spent traveling we would be better off if we could get her during vacations so we could keep her longer than 2 days.

Well, I need to go and tuck this little sleeping beauty on my couch in her own bed before it gets too much later. Maybe, I'll just watch her sleep for a few more minutes before I wake her enough to walk to her bed........sleep tight, all! ZZZZZZ

Clearing the air.....

isn't always easy, but it's the best thing to do.

I chose not to attend Christmas Eve festivities at hubby's moms this year. For all my regular visitors you may recall the events of last July that set me on this course. For newer visitors suffice it to say that some things transpired causing bad feelings toward his family on my part!

In my absence Christmas Eve, my daughter-in-law was put on the spot and questioned as to why I wasn't there. In the last few months I have heard they have questioned other family members about whether or not I had some kind of problem with them and everyone chose to remain silent and pretend they didn't know anything. My daughter-in-law(DIL) decided to speak up and say something. I don't mind that she did. My thoughts are that they should have come to me directly instead of questioning people behind my back, but what's done is done. DIL knew of the problem since she and the entire rest of the family were at my home on this July day for a get-together for our daughter, Rachel, who was visiting from Kentucky.

So tonight I decided to call the sis-in-law that was doing the questioning and firmly but politely explained once and for all the reason for my distance from the family. She said how sorry she was that this incident caused hard feelings but she doesn't remember it this way and her feelings were hurt by me on this same day. I tried to explain to her that at least four other family members remember the incident exactly the way I said it happened and what she was referring to never even happened and she didn't have any reason to have hurt feelings even if what she was referring to DID happen! She thanked me for calling and explaining so at least they would know why I was staying away.

Nothing is resolved, but at least now they know that if my grandchildren are not considered part of this family, I am not part of this family either!

Although it remains an unresolved issue, at least the air has been cleared on my part and I have no feelings of guilt over missing the holiday celebration!

I'm getting too old for this 'baby' stuff....

we have our youngest son and wife's two boys here for the night. The oldest is 6 years....piece of cake to watch and keep entertained. The youngest is between 6 and 7 months old and hasn't seen a lot of us recently. As a result I think he is a little uncertain, if not a bit frightened, of us! He is also in the teething stage. Both of which are not conducive to a quiet evening.

The youngest 'screamed' for about 3 1/2 hours tonight. Never before has it happened that neither one of us was able to calm a screaming baby. Are we losing our touch, or what? The oldest said, and I quote, "I don't think he wants to be here, 'cause he never screams like that at home"! Well, thank you, I feel a whole lot better now! I think I now understand why very young parents become angry and frustrated and lose control and sometimes even become physically abusive. Maybe if all teen-agers were required to care for a fussy baby all night(while being closely observed) with observers readily available to step in before any abuse takes place it would be a great deterrent to the teen pregnancy problem.

Hubby has to work in the morning, he needs to get up at 2:30. It is now 1:00 and I finally have the baby asleep in the family room. I have no monitor. Which means I will be trying to sleep on the couch. Since he feel asleep with the TV on and the lights on the tree on, I am fearful of turning everything off in case it seems too quiet and he awakes screaming. My nerves are shot to say the least....and I need to be at Amber's church by 8:30 tomorrow morning to see her in the church Christmas program. The boys parents are supposed to be here by 7:00....I hope they're not late. The church is about 30 miles north of where I live.

I bid you good-night, while I try to sleep with the TV and lights on.....wish me luck!