Why Keep Blogging?

I've had a few folks ask if blogging is a thing of the past. Many of my fellow bloggers, who were regulars and we followed each other's blogs have stopped. I know I slowed way down due to needing to take care of personal needs within the family and then cancer hit along with a bit of old age. Then, when I tried to post one day, bammo... my blog had been taken over by bad malware. Thanks to dear Erika, she saved the day and the blog!

The last few years the girls have asked if I was going to keep it up. They certainly want me to. It is a good exercise to get things out of my mind and in writing. Many years ago people had very secret diaries. They wrote all their personal thoughts in those books under lock and key so nobody could see them until after they were gone.

I don't want to do that! I want my family to know what I think and how I feel, what I love and how I view life. I also love that we can all share our thoughts. I have a few boundaries to respect. Our sweet Sarah doesn't want photos of the children on the web due to the sad state of our world, extracting photos for ill purposes. I totally respect that, and it is why only My Mike was seen having a tea party. LOL

Our lives have changed so much. I have written about it a lot over the years, and the focus was on adopting the girls and raising them. But now, they are all on their own, all living lives that could have never been possible had thy remained in Orphanages. I'm so thankful to just be a fly on the wall of their lives, watching them embrace everything about family life, marriage, children, and Jesus. What miracles they are. What miracles our sons are, all grown and married and now OUR AGE when we started this blog! HAHA


We have 2 grandsons in the military now. We have a grand daughter that delights in being a lumberjack. We have a grand daughter in art school, one who is learning guitar and ukelele, a grandson who is interested in astro physics, a grandson who is excelling in math and science, a grand daughter who loves tea parties and was just introduced to "Toy Story 5" last might. She was carrying around a very old Jessie doll from the "Toy Story 2"and hugging her like she hugs her new baby sister. Our grandson stopped by yesterday for Pizza and fellowship. He is flourishing on his own. He looks great!

We have a grand son living on the East coast, 2 more in the south east enjoying school and a grand daughter there who is on a cometitive swim team. We have 2 more grands in elementary school on the west coast. I THINK that is everybody. Ha.

It was suggested I use a different blog for what is going on now, but I don't think so. I tried to do that a while back here, but it doesn't feel like home like I do on the family blog. I'd like to keep this one as it morphs and changes because that is how life is. We are older, and it is good to express how older folks feel about life. Our perspectives might change a bit, or while we reflect, that isn't all of life, we have much ahead of us, as far as we know. Life is lived one day at a time because tomorrow isn't guaranteed.

I want to share my heart about things not for my kids to find out about them after I'm gone, but for them to know about them now. I appreciate EACH one of our children for how they have enriched our lives and helped us to stretch and grow in ways we never knew we needed to. :) I'm thankful for our church family that loves us well and I'm thanful to the Lord for HIS lifegiving word, for His Salvation and endless kindness and mercy. He has blessed me with what I do not deserve and lavished upon me blessings that are not material and cannot be bought.

AND THAT, I will comntinue to share as I keep this blog going, and morphing. I pray it will be a testimony of the Glories of God in a simple lady's life, who happens to love Jesus, converse high tops and blogging.

Alex Krutov Is Coming!

This is a recent photo of Alex, Amy and the boys! They sure are growing! I wrote about Alex coming to our home on October 3rd, here We are so excited to host this year.

MY VERY OWN TRACTOR MAN!

We are getting ready for a dump of rain early next week! It is coming from Hurricane Polo. We just had our driveway redone and it seems the flow of water will go directly towards the house, so Mike is trying to solve that issue now!

It appears he had his own Henny Penny Tractor Partner!

BACKGAMMON ON THE PORCH! AND HER VERY OWN MUM.

It is finally cool enough for this!!!!

In the fall in Texas High Schools, Mums are a big deal for homecoming! Our sweet grand daughter Ilse, who is now 15 was given her very own MUM! She looks lovely!

IT'S FALL Y'ALL! and TEA PARTY GRAMPA

It seems that every year these decorations aren't up long enough before Christmas rolls around! So this year I decided to put our fall decorations up now. It IS after all Fall even though the afternoons scream otherwise! One can wish!

And it is always great for a Grampa to have a tea party with the little one! She is a cutie and picked out his tea party hat herself!

Good Morning and GoodNight!

What a gorgeous morning sunrise! I have heard red in morning, Sailor take warning! We have hurricane Polo headed our way as a storm with loads of rain! My guess is this beautiful sunrise is a reminder to prepare!

I took this photo last night! It almost looks fake! But it is unaltered! What a gorgeous evening to spend with family!

Bundling Sheets

I've been bundling my sheets for a long time following THIS method! It works wonders and all your pieces are together and you just take out a bundle and change your sheets.

I replaced the sheets yesterday and washed the old ones. Today when I got them out of the dryer they were naturally bundled together! Not perfectly but I thought, "Hmmmm, I could leave them just this way!" And then I remembered! I threw a table cloth in there and a set of socks.... so no. I had to take it all apart and start over. Boo!

For Such A Time As This

I have been known to love antiques, and to relish in history imagining what it would be like to live at the time of Laura Ingalls Wilder during her childhood; living in a log cabin on the Prairie. There was something about history that made me feel like I had been born at the wrong time period, and it would have been better to have lived long ago!

But over time, the Lord convicted my heart that this was a sinful attitude. I was born in HIS perfect timing, for THIS day. It is wonderfully freeing to look at life this way. I can still love history and admire things that are old, but also be thankful for the present time in which I live.

What a great opportunity is given to us to make a difference in the now! Things are certainly different than generations before, but there are so many opportunities that didn't exist long ago. There are food pantries to give to for those in need. There are missions opportunities both to be active in, and to offer support for. We have opportunities to fly anywhere in the World in a matter of hours! We have strong churches with Ministers that don't need to travel from church to church. We have beautiful schools and if we so choose, we can teach our children at home. Books are prevalent in our society at a much lower cost than ever before.

I am relatively safe in my home, which was much different than the realities of the little house on the prairie time period! Many families died during those times of todays preventable diseases and from hostile tribes who did not want westward expansion.

While many famililes never moved away from each other, many did, and it meant only letters being exchanged. Today, if people live far from each other we have cars and highways to stay in contact.We have cell phones and constant ability to take all sorts of photos to share with each other. And we can call each other and hear those wonderful familiar voices.

God chose for me to be born now, to live now, to thrive now. And what He has chosen, is good.
My satisfaction in this life is in Christ. He is my life. He is my song.

Sweet Grand Baby Woes!

I met Sarah at the ER today because sweet 2 year old Diane pulled her elbow out of socket. The Dr. said it is a very common injury and some kiddos are more prone to it than others. She was very cooperative to a degree! The Dr. came and and put it back in place pretty quickly. But to be sure, they wanted her to move it and she was very unwilling! We offered a mint to her to reach for it and she said NO! Moved it closer! NO!!! And then closer and the final NOOOOOOOOO! like a great 2 1/2 year old! LOL

The next strategy was to put a sticker on me while I was holding her. Her left arm behind me, she could only get it with her right arm. Bingo! It worked! She grabbed it and they said, You can go home now! :)

She is such a sweet baby! I'm so glad her elbow is back in place! And she wanted to come to Yaya's house! :)

The Path of Life

52 years ago, to be exact, I took a test in high school that would give me direction for my future. I lived in California at the time and we took these aptitude tests. My scores came back and while I wasn't surprised at my strengths, I WAS surprised at how strong my strengths were and HOW WEAK my weaknesses were. I scored in the 99% for engineering. All those gears and wheels made sense to me. I scored in the 5% for secretarial strengths. YES 5%! I was supposed to be an engineer. Ha!

What am I? Well, I have been the secretary in our small business for years, and I'm sure that Mike would be the second one to tell you, me being the first, that I am not the best fit. But I do try! And I would say, if I took that same test today, I would score higher, just because of all the years of practice. However, I'm not just a secretary. I am a wife, a mother, a grand mother a servant of Christ, a peer Biblical counselor, a "Sanitation Engineer". :)
Some things come easier for us than other things. And the truth is, those early tests, while helpful for deciding a career path, that is all they are really good for. They are suggestions.

A while back when I was in my 30's I watched a very funny skit about little souls getting ready to go into babies being born, (I know silly, but it was a skit) and the head angel was telling the souls what kind of baby they would be. They then told them about the kind of life they would live and most were excited except this one that began to rock back and forth, then suck her thumb and finally hide under the table. It was well done and very funny.

The truth is, God does not reveal to us our personal future and all that life will present. If he did, we would all be hiding under tables sucking our thumbs! However, in His WORD, He promises to never leave us or forsake us. He didn't prevent the children of Israel from being stuck at the Red Sea but He was there WITH THEM, and provided a way of escape right through the middle of the waters. He went with them, and guided and protected them.

I can see how over many years the Lord has been with me through all the twists and turns of this life. I never would have dreamed I'd be where I am now, sitting at this computer on a 100 plus degree day, not caring about the humidity and typing to you, my reader. But here I am.

How did I get this old? How did I go from NOTHING, abandoned with 4 little boys, to married 37 years and 8 children, including 4 girls? How did I go through some of the things we went through together that were tragic, including our son having a stroke causing Cerebral Palsy, our daughter needing her feet amputated, wrongs against us that cannot be mentioned?

BUT GOD!!

He says in Isaiah 43, "Fear Not! For I have redeemed you! I have called you by your name you are mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the waters they shall not over flow, when You pass through the fire you shall not be burned. Neither shall the flame kindle upon you, for I am the Lord your God!"

What a huge encouragement from the Lord. Of couse this is allegorical, but the implication is very real to my life. I'd be that little soul hiding under the table, but God in His wisdom only gives us the next step. And then He gives us His WHOLE WORD! Our thoughts are not his thoughts, and for those who LOVE Him, he truly does work ALL things for our good and for His good will and purpose.

There is much to learn through hardship and trial. It is best to lean on HIM and trust Him through it all. There is an old song by Andre' Crouch called "Through It All". It says, Through it all, I've learned to trust in Jesus, I've learned to trust in God, I've learned to depend upon His Word.

I am so thankful for all of my life. The Lord has been with me, with us, all along the way. I didn't like having cancer, or the surgery that followed, but He was there with me. I didn't like the betrayal, but He was with us all the way. I didn't like the long trials in my first marriage, but He was with me to lead and guide. And He is with us now. I have no idea of the future or what it holds. BUT I DO KNOW the one I can count on for all things. And I'm still a secretary! :)

Problem Solving

Have you ever thought about problem solving in life, similar to problem solving in mathematics? I used to tell my children, "If you don't have the tools for math, which are memorizing math facts, knowing times tables, memorizing Prime numbers; then it is very difficult to problem solve and you won't love math!" But if you learn the building blocks, everything will come easy and you just have to learn the proper method for solving more complex problems in algebra. Easy formulas such as parenthesis, exponents, multiplication, division, addition and subtraction, (Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally) are prerequisites for more advanced mathematics.

The same thing is true for emotions and relationships. You need the building blocks to solve relationship problems, or to learn how to discuss things properly so they don't turn into problems. Understanding your emotions and being able to identify them is important in communication. Expressing big feelings isn't enough of a definition for how another person is feeling. To identify the difference between sad, angry, disappointed, frustrated, confused, joyful, happy and satisfied, will help in developing commuication skills that are good problem solvers.


For a person to express tears of emotion and be able to say "I feel so disappointed that I did that", it can lead a parent to take that conversation to the next level and talk about the disappointment as well as how to express it without causing harm to ones self or another. A parent can come alongside in that moment and be encouraging to try again and offer solutions for what to do next. If a child is joyful, a parent can name the emotion to teach the child what it is they may be feeling.

Teaching our children what each word means and how to identify each emotion gives our children the tools they need to solve problems. We can be active in helping them identify the words and their meanings. Without the vocabulary and understanding of emotions, we may just get a lot of unwanted, misunderstood behaviors.

This isn't just for children, but for adults also and it works across the board in all situations. So be a problem solver, solution finder, encourager, and good communicator! If you do your homework in memorizing the building blocks, it will be rewarding in improving relationships!

Looking Back at 2020-2021

So much happened during the lock downs and then the following year. I came down with Covid in December of 2020. I blogged about that; something I don't even remember! I did wind up being diagnosed with long covid. I did not feel well for a long, long time and the severe brain fog continued. I remember getting into the shower to clean it in around 2022, and suddenly I felt faint. Then I remembered that I could not smell yet and I was using bleach to clean. I couldn't smell it, so I got out quickly with my nose burning, drank water and went outside for fresh air. Yikes!
Our son, Tim, worked as a special Ed teacher at a High School in Dallas, and when the covid shots came out, he was required to get a shot. It was the kind of, "you can get the shot or lose your job" volutary program. :(
The first shot made him very sick. Then came the booster. He was placed in ICU with large blood clots all over his body. One was 10 INCHES saddling between both lungs and pressing on his heart. He was sent home. They said he could die in the hospital or at home. It was a very solomn time for our family. I could not believe that the son who fought so hard to live as a baby, was now going to be taken out by an untested vaccine MRNA shot.

Everybody flew in to visit, and knowing Tim and his HUGE LAUGH, every time he would laugh people would say "BE CAREFUL". Nobody wanted to see him go.

Praise be to the Lord that our precious Tim is still with us, with his big laugh and joyful heart! He now works for an insurance company and is finally off of blood thinners.

WHY NOT!

I found this popcorn at Sam's Club, and since it contained his name, I bought it! I think he likes it! :)

A Celebration!

First things first! One my dearest friends came by to help us celebrate! Everybody was so excited to see her. She has known our famiily for over 37 years!

Keith,Albina, Sebastian and soon to be Jacoby came to help us celebrate also! It was so good to see them!!

Our son Joseph and his new bride Eden came to visit from Florida. We were so happy to see them and have a fun get together with 6 out of 8 of the kids, and grandkids were here (not pictured) also! I'm sad to see them go back home tomorrow but I know they will be back! Apparently there is this great deal with Frontier. Pay a certain amount then fly as much as you want for 6 months for around 16.00 a ticket. Sounds like a great deal for us to look into. I'm thrilled for Joseph and Eden and pray that the Lord blesses this marraige. I was so impressed with how much Joseph and Eden are alike. :) I'm blessed with a new daughter in law.