A Wonderful Surprise!

When I woke up this a.m.  I checked my emali, and to my wonderful surprise, there was a picture of Charlton and Lillian!!!!
Thank you so much Jodie!

Our sweet Lillian is such a joy.  Since they moved away to NM, there has been a big hole in my heart for all of them.
Lillian is going to be 9 years old soon.  She is just as precious as the day she was born.  She loves her daddy, our oldest son, Charlton and adores her mommy and big sister too.  What blessings!

Our grand daughter Kate is working this summer and will be a Senior in High School next year! I can hardly believe it!

Jodie and Charlton really like NM.  I don't blame them at all. I loved it when I lived there, and many times, especially during long, hot summers, think about NM and the mountains and camp sights where I would pile all the boys in the car on a whim, drive to the other side of the mountain , have lunch and take a hike .
There was this wonderful campground for the handicapped we would go to so Timothy could use his wheel chair.
I'll never forget the time he got a little too far ahead of me, hit a curb and tumbled down an embankment.  I was terrified, but all his tears were because he thought he broke his wheel chair. LOL

Yes, My gray hairs started early in life! :)

I do enjoy talking to Lilly on the phone and hope to see her sooner than later!  Oh how I wish NM wasn't so far away.

I'm Thankful For

Grand Children. :)

 Katie and Lilly

 Joey and Chris and Ilse

I

 Sam and Truman

 And Will and Charlie

and: Baby Olivia.... and her mommy Ivy too. :)

Coming Home!

Guess who's coming home for Thanksgiving!!!!!!  But there will be an extra girl to administer torture! :)

Lilly Bean!

Oh My Goodness! Our Lilly Bean is almost 7!  I haven't had a new picture in a while and MY she has changed! What a sweetie!
Ya-Ya loves you Beanie Baby!

Creating Lasting Holiday Memories

What are some of the things ya'll do every year that make new, positive and lasting memories for your children?

Many years ago, when we were very poor, we couldn't afford Christmas Ornaments, so I had this bright Idea to bake cookies with hooks in them to decorate our tree.  I had to fabulous Dutch Christmas Cookie Recipe, and hooks were cheap! 
Our tree was so pretty with all those cookies. But our baby Marcus, found out that they ornaments tasted WONDERFUL.  I caught him licking them, and  then, I saw ANTS! Apparently the ants thought they tasted good too! I think we were the only family on the block that had an ant poison jar under our tree. LOL
Over the years, we kept up that tradition, and we do it to this day, 30 plus years later.   We have always had assembly line cookie decorating day, and the cookies get put on the tree and then disappear with just hooks left. :)  It really is fun, and I have wonderful memories of this practice. 
It is something we all look forward to.

7 years ago, we started decorating Ginger Bread Houses.  It is now a tradition. Our grand girls have always come over to help, and this year, sadly (sniff) they won't be here, as they moved to Albuquerque.... but I'm sure they will do their own, and we can share pictures. :)

This year I bought two sets because the grandsons will be here to decorate.  I'm hope to have one for the girls and one for the boys.  I can't wait to see them get all messy and see those little smiles. :)

Here is a post from last year's decorating.

We love to make our own ornaments and we add to the tree each year.  For many years, most everything on our tree was home made.  Now it is a combo of purchased ornaments and home made.

The girl's tradition has been to buy a new ornament from Hobby Lobby each year. They get to pick one.  This has really, REALLY helped them in transitioning bad memories to good memories.  It is funny how little things like this done repeatedly, reboot the brain and teach us different responses over time, replacing our traumatic memory with good memories.  It does take time, but it happens!

I think keeping busy with planned activity is a good way to get through the season.  We like to sing Christmas music and the girls as well as the boys love to put on skits.  We have a big celebration at Church and this year we will all be participating. 

We try not to emphasize too much in the gift department, although we do give gifts.  We also like to do angel tree, or find a family in need and the children get to shoppe for that family.  It really is enjoyable to see them give.

Cooking is a big deal....and trying out recipes make for great bonding time in the kitchen.  This is something that is different with our girls. Our guys were great taste testers, but not that interested in Food Science. The girls however, love to cook. :)

I am really thrilled to see my girlies facing the Holiday season with excitement.  It is catchy, ya know. :)

Albuquerque or Bust!

Well, they are gone. My heart aches. But I really think that Albuquerque is a good move for our kids and grand girls. We will miss them, BUT.... There is the International Balloon Festival every year.

I LOVED living in Albuquerque before Texas. I really miss it, even over 20 years later!
Apparently Chuck does too. They will be living just down the street from where we lived before.

He has all pleasant memories in Albuquerque and Jodie's new job is turning out to be a great fit. Kate and Jodie left last week to get things set up, and they are so excited.
They have already been to Petroglyph National Monument, Santa FE, Old Town, and more.
















Be Safe dear children. We love you, and we will miss you.

Saturday Morning Funnies

Our grand daughter Lillian is staying with us for 3 weeks. She came with an enormous amount of Barbie dolls and paraphernalia.

I have never been a big barbie fan, but I know little girls love them. We kept with the Happy Family dolls for years, but our girls have outgrown those.

So we have allowed a few barbies around here. The girls like putting clothes on them.
Daddy's request was making sure they were dressed decently. So the girls make a lot of clothing for them.

Anna purchased a Ken doll earlier this year, and we were talking about making sure Ken was a good father and husband. :) No philanthroping Ken in our house.
So Anna has made sure Ken has stayed with one barbie. :)

Well, Lilly asked to play with that Ken doll, and before Anna could stop her, she had Ken kissing every barbie in the house!
"
Anna came to me and said, "Well, I can't play with Ken anymore". I asked her why? She said, because now he is an Adulterer! I don't want to play with an adulterer!
ROLF>!

Friday Night Fun

Friday nights are Pizza and Movie nights. After the movie is over, we all pile into our room and the girls sleep on cots and we listen to the music to Roan Inish to go to sleep.

Right now we only have 2 cots and 3 girls and one grand girl. So a few kids were saying, "I have the cot by mommy!" or "I have the cot by daddy!"

Erika volunteered for the blankets on the floor, and then Lillian said, "I have the Toilet!"
Everybody looked at her puzzled.
"Lillian, you can't sleep in the toilet!"

She said, "Oh, I thought we were saying what we were going to clean!"

ROFL!

Lilly Logic

Well, Jodie and Katie are in NM! Katie thought the mountains were rather scary. :)
Being a Texas girl, she is in for a lot of FIRSTS. :)

I loved living in New Mexico in the late 1980's. Apparently the town has nearly tripled in size since them. That must mean it is a great place to live! :)

Lilly is staying with us for another 3 weeks, but she has a hard time understanding what is going on.....

Today, her mamma called to say they made it safe and she asked, "Mama! Can I spend another night with Ya-Ya?"
Jodie said Yes you can.

She said, can I spend 2 nights??? Her mama said, "Yes, Lilly you can."

I told Lilly, "Ask your mama if you can spend 21 nights!"

She got all excited. "CAN I SPEND 21 NIGHTS???"

Her mama said, "YES YOU CAN!
And then she said, "OH WOW! THANK YOU MAMA! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!!!! LOL

So it is settled now. We will make the calendar so she understands how many night night times until Mommy comes back.

Leaving

Tomorrow morning, Katie and Jodie will be leaving for Albuquerque. Katie has been a huge part of our lives since she and her momma became part of the family 9 years ago.

Jodie is an awesome mother and she is a very dedicated Radio Program worker. ( I don't know the title) But she has been transferred to ALBUQUERQUE NM!

Chuck and Lillian will stay behind for 3 weeks, and then join them in Albuquerque.

I am sad, happy for them, and sorrowful at the loss of 2 grand daughters who live close by and have been such a big part of our lives. :(

I am so thankful for the time we have had! (and that stupid mouse is chewing again!)

I pray that this move will be great for all of them. We are going to miss them terribly!

Tonight, we took Kate out on the lake. She has never been in a boat. She did awesome!

My Sweet Grand Girlies

In about a week, my sweet grand girlies will be moving away to New Mexico! UGH! My heart aches for them. They have lived so close and we could see them all the time! Now, they will be 10 hours away! I know it is a good move for them, as the salary increase will make things so much easier for our son and his family, but oh, how it hurts to see them go so far. :(

I am so glad that Kate has a knack for photography! She took this picture of herself and Lillian. I am also thankful for modern day things like Facebook and Blogs and email, where we can stay in contact all the time, even if we don't live close by.

Pray for my kids as they move so far away, that they will be surrounded by good friends and a good church for them to attend.

We LOVE them so very much.

Holiday Highlights

We had the honor of Chuck, Jodie, Katie and Lillian coming over on the 4th to help celebrate. Here are a few pictures of our evening. I couldn't take pictures of the giant Mortar Shells Mike and Chuck sent off into the atmosphere! They were amazingly LOUD and Beautiful too. :)
I love living out where we can have a little pyro-fun. :)

An Afternoon at the Lake

We live about 5 minutes from the Lake. There is a wonderful beach front and swim area that we love to go to in the summer time. Today, we picked up Katie and Lilly and whisked them off to the lake with us for a fun afternoon in the sun.

Here are a few pictures of our day. :)

My Little Lilly Bean

We have always seemed to call Lilly, "Lilly Bean". Ever since we found out she was going to be, she was about the size of a bean back then, she was beany baby, and then Lilly Bean. :)

She is so funny. I am picking her up from Kindergarten right now because daddy is on the road with his band again.

Here was our conversation within the first 5 minutes after Kindergarten. :)


"Ya-Ya, I need a nap. Can I take a nap at your house? I had a long, hard day!"
"Ya-Ya, when I grow up I don't want to get married, I just want babies."
Ummmm Lilly, you have to get married before you have babies.
"Oh, then, I'll just be a vet...ranarian."Ya-Ya does this flower smell good? she smells it. "Ya-Ya, I think this is a stink flower!"

Some Pictures of our Day

Lillian

I took Katie and Lillian to the Home School Book Fair today with the other girls.
They had a great time. While Sarah was participating in the Chess tournament, Katie, Anna and Erika were busy looking at books and listening to a conference speaker.


Lillian and I were sitting down resting, and I was trying to keep her entertained. It had been a LONG two days! She asked if she could draw something. So I found a piece of paper for her to draw on, and she started to try and draw leaves and flowers.


She said, "Ya-Ya, can you draw a Tulip for me?" I said, "Sure!" So I drew her a tulip.
She looked at my finished artwork and said, "Um, Ya-Ya, that is a weed." She then proceeded to show me how to draw a Tulip.

So, I humored her and tried again. This time she said, "Ya-Ya, that is a weed again! You really need more practice." LOL

She makes me laugh all the time. She was so serious and sweet, but really was wanting to let me know that MY version of a tulip is not the same as hers.

I told her I would try harder next time. :)