Christmas Joy

Even though it is only December 5th I have already had a wonderful Christmas. The day after Thanksgiving everyone was gone but Kellie's family. The guys had gotten my tree and decorations out the night before and set up the tree. Kellie and Scott left to go shopping and the kids and I decorated the tree. It was so much fun. That afternoon the girls, Abigail and Lydia, shut ourselves in "Grandma's workshop" and they wrapped all my presents while I told them funny stories of their Mom when she was younger. We had so much fun and it was great to be able to spend time with them like that. I did find out that Lydia takes after me - she loves Bob's peppermint candy. She ate LOTS of it.

Last Monday my daughter, Marcy, called and asked if I could take a day off from work. Of course, I said yes and Wednesday night McKenzie and Madeline came to spend a couple of days with us. What fun we all had! McKenzie wanted to spend time sewing (she left her sewing machine at home and also the directions for what she was making). Luckily I have two machines and we were also able to figure out the pattern. Madeline wanted to bake and she made 5 different kinds of cookies (yummy). They got to take a walk with their granddad over to where they use to live and they enjoyed that. We ate mexican and watched "A Man Called Peter" and we all cried (or felt like it) at the end. Well, at least I cried. We had a wonderful time and I hope made good memories for all the kids. Time spent with them is very precious and we treasure every minute.

Next week we will spend a couple of days with Carrington and Clayton and then Christmas with all the gift giving, food, and the wonderful Christmas program the kids do each year.

I wish for each of you happy times and the making of wonderful memories.

Bits and Pieces

It has been a while since I posted and a lot has happened. I had a major gout attack and was down for a couple of weeks. Lost the use of my left hand. It is slowly coming back but still don't have any strength in it. Gout has just about robbed me of everything I enjoy. I did get a good report yesterday that my uric acid level had gone down. That was the first good news I had gotten since I started having problems with gout.

I am looking forward to Thanksgiving when all my girls and their children and husbands will be at our house. What fun we will have and it will be a zoo with 14 grandchildren. Everyone will bring something and I will fix the turkey and dressing. Ed may have to get in on the "fun" and help me in the kitchen.

We are in Blue Ridge GA right now. This is one of our favorite places to visit; especially Mercier's Apple Store. We will be taking apples (pink lady) back for the three girls. Yummy!!! Saturday we will go to Carrington's drama recital and Sunday we will drive to Marcy's for the girls piano recital. A very busy weekend! Nothing else we would rather be doing than spending time with our grandkids. Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WEEK MAKES

My last post was of the joyous news of the birth of our new grandson, Myles. We had rushed to the hospital with excitement. A week later we were rushing back to the same hospital with fear and dread of what we might find.

We had been to Valdosta to visit our daughter, Kellie, and her family and celebrate the birthdays of two of our granddaughters. I also had a visit with my cousin and her husband and we had had such fun. On the way back home we were going to stop at Marcy's house and leave her wheat which we had forgotten to leave when we stopped on the way down.

We pulled into the driveway and I sensed something was wrong. Her van and my other daughter, Kellie's van, were not there. (Kellie had driven up for the day to see Myles). McKenzie and her cousin, Lydia came out of the house to greet us. The news was not good. Marc, Matthew, and Malachi had been in a wreck. Malachi was in the house with scratches and a leg that was hurting (later discovered broken). Matthew and Marc were at the hospital trama center in Macon. The news was that Marc was okay and Matthew was hurt with a possible head injury.

Marcy's neighbor rode with us to the hospital to drive Kellie's car back and help us find the trama center. When we got there we went to Matthew's room. I thought I would pass out when I saw him. This person laying there with his eyes shut and not responding could not be the boy that always has such a sweet smile for his grandma. His face was cut in many places, his collar bone was cracked, he had a possible broken leg, other internal bruising, and a concusssion. The concern was his lack of response. After what seemed hours had passed, he began to come to and they moved him to a room. By the time we left the hospital, he was talking to us.

Throughout the whole ordeal, we can see God's merciful care was there. There was miracle after miracle, from a neighbor coming upon the accident and able to call his mother who called Marcy, to Kellie pulling in the driveway just in time to take Marcy to the scene of the accident to get Malachi.

Marcy and Marc are blessed with a wonderful church family and four men went immediately to the hospital to be with them. They took care of many little details and also provided a car for them to use.

Yesterday we were able to visit Marcy and her family and see for ourselves that the family is okay. Malachi has learned to move around quickly on his bottom with his cast and Matthew beat me at Scrabble.

We are thanking and praising God!

It's a boy!!!

Yesterday morning we received a call from my son in law, Marc, and he said that were at the hospital and baby # 6 was about to be born. We quickly got dressed and arrived right after he was born. He weighs 8# 12oz. and is 21 inches long. He looks like his sister Madeline but has dark hair. He is beautiful. He checked out perfect and his Mommy was busy nursing him when she noticed he was blue looking so off to the NICU. This is nothing new for them since 3 others have had breathing problems but still not pleasant. Talked with Marcy today and he is checking out fine and will soon be back in her room.

This is grandbaby number 14 and it was just as exciting as all the other births. Each child is special and unique. I got to see him but not hold him but we will visit Friday on the way to Kellie's house and I will get to love on him a little while. Then on to Kellie's to love on Lily Kate #13.

God has truly blessed us with wonderful children, great son s in law, and 14 "perfect" grandchildren. What more could you ask?

My granddaughter, Carrington, has been telling me I needed to do a new post so here goes. I have been pretty much "chair bound" because of an attack with my gout. I am tired of TV and tire of the computer. Don't have anything to read.

I had hoped to put a lot of wisdom into this blog, but I haven't done a real good job. I stay busy looking at my granddaughters and daughters blogs instead.

I few days ago my daughter, Monica, wrote on tribute to her childhood on her blog. It made me so happy to read of the memories she has and that they are good memories. She made me cry but they were good tears.

I wish every child could have good memories of their childhood. If I had to say what is most important thing you can do for your child, it would be:

1. live your faith before them

2. spend lots of time doing family fun activities

3. don't stress the little things

4. have many holiday traditions

5. time with grandparents (my kids had so much fun with my mom and dad)

6. be consistent with discipline (we were not so good with this one)

For example #4 - Bunny tracks on Easter "as he stepped in a plate of flour by the front door"

Christmas calendars (we made homemade ornaments out of scrapes of ribbon, lace, paper, etc. and put them on a poster board calendar we drew)

picking apples in the fall and going to a pumpkin farm

None of the things we did cost a lot of money. Take advantage of what is around you.

We try hard to make good memories for our grandchildren too. I love Christmas (eveything about it) and I try to make it fun for all although we are getting a little crowded. The grandkids do a play each year and last year we had to move to the church.

Family is the most important thing we have and praying for each one is very important. That's all the wisdom I have tonight. You better read this, Carrington.

Life Changes in a Flash

This has been a rough summer for our family. Several of us had a virus that lasted three weeks for me. I haven't felt real good all summer and about two weeks ago I went to the emergency room with congestive heart failure. I had gained a lot of weight and most of it was fluid. This makes it very difficult for my heart to work and it also weakens it. I spent three days in the hospital and came home feeling no better. I have lost twenty pounds of fluid and am beginning to feel better.

Last Saturday night I was watching TV when the phone rang. Ed answered it and I could tell it was not a good call. It seems about 2:00 that afternoon Mariah had been kicked in the chest by a horse. This is the second time she has been kicked. She had been taken to Macon by ambulance and was at Children's Hospital. She had a laceration to the spleen and they were watching it for bleeding. She spent three days in the hospital and now they are having to keep her quiet while it heals. This is not an easy task for any child but especially Mariah. She is busy playing outside all the time.

As I think about all that has happened, I am reminded how precious life is and how precious our families are. I feel so blessed to have so many grandchildren and wish I could spend more time with them. I enjoy telling them stories of the past and I hope they pass these stories down to their children and grandchildren. My hearts desire is to make good memories for my grandchildren. I wish the little ones could have known the active, busy grandma that the older ones remember. My goal is to try and get in better shape so I will have time with the little ones too.

I am so proud of the way our girls are raising their children. Tonight we ate out and I cringed as I watched a little baby (About 8 or 9 months) eating off his mothers plate and drinking her coke. My girls work hard to feed their kids in a healthy way. I hope they keep these habits as they get older so they can have long, healthy lives.

I do't know what the future holds but I do know Who holds the future. Each of you that reads this let your family know how much you love them. Life is short.

Pictures of Lily Kate~

About two weeks ago, we went to visit Kellie, to see Lily Kate. She is so precious! I love getting to see them for the first time!