Bee's Nest

The Sports Report

2012-01-29T20:10:00.013-06:00

The Big Man is Jacob, a basketball machine. Here is a video of him at home shooting baskets but not a typical video. Usually his routine is to chew gum and play music loudly on the boom box while shooting baskets. This week his music of choice was one of the Casting Crowns cds. Of course he must always be dressed appropriately. His field goal percentage must be somewhere around .899 or better!

Unfortunately, my second video doesn't show as much as I had hoped. I allowed Allie to use my camera to look at photos and videos and did not realize that as she pushed the buttons, she was deleting videos and pictures. I will pay more attention next time. At his game, Jacob did some cute little lay ups. The hoops are at 6 feet for his league.

Speaking of Allie, oh my! She has become such a little toddler since I saw her in November! She HAS to do everything that her brothers are doing and does not want to be left out for a minute. I cracked up at her shooting baskets like Jacob. Allie is very opinionated about clothing! She wanted to wear a "ball" shirt (Jocob's hand-me-downs) everyday.

Here are some Allie-oops with an assist from Ryan.

Ryan has improved in basketball. He guards really well, with his arms up but looking for the ball. He tries to rebound, also. It was fun to see him try to make baskets. He will soon be making his shots. He does great with the six foot hoops but the eight foot hoops are a bit of a challenge. At practice though, he made six baskets. The first video is of Ryan passing the ball inbound.

This video shows Ryan taking a shot at the basket.

You have a phenomenal team! I am a die-hard fan!

Happy Days are Here

2012-01-08T21:54:00.029-06:00

In a few days, I will go to NC and see these three sweet children.

I will surely take my camera and won’t be able to resist taking pictures because to Grandma everything they do or say is shutter worthy.

However, I have done nothing with the pictures I took on my last visit in November and lest I get too far behind in recording these special moments, I am doing another recent history post.

I am tempted to give a play by play of our entire visit but will limit myself to just reflecting on things observed, enjoyed, appreciated about the kids—characteristics that I love.

Sweet Ryan is a nurturer. For a long time, he had a special stuffed animal that he cared for—Fanny the fox. But that is no longer good enough. Ryan wants a pet—something real—something alive—something to care for. A pet is just not an option for the family right now and so I gave him an ant farm. And though the whole family did enjoy it, it required to no care and eventually the ants all died.

Later Ryan received some tadpoles and watched them develop into little frogs. That was some improvement over the ants. While I was visiting in November, it was time to release the little creatures. It could have been a traumatic except that his mama figured out how to lessen the pain by including friends and following up with the gingerbread party.

One way that Ryan expresses his nurturing is in his care of his little sister. Ryan knows how to make her smile. He plays with her and comforts her when she is sad.

He rescues her when she get stuck or needs a boost on the play equipment.

He watches over her and makes sure that she is safe.

Ryan loves Allie and it is just sweet to observe.

Ryan loves building things whether from legos, or setting up the train tracks or hot wheels. It seems to me that his joy comes from the sense of accomplishment in getting it put together right and working.

While we were visiting, the kids got flue shots. G & G promised them a treat if they were brave and both of the boys were incredibly brave with no tears. When we went to get a surprise for the boys, Ryan said, “I don’t think I really deserve a treat because it really didn’t even hurt.” That child is such a sweetie and so responsible.

Mom and Dad also gave us permission to take the kids for a haircut. Their daddy usually cuts their hair but had been busy and it is a process to get both boys done. This was their first time in a regular barber-type shop. Again, both boys were scared but very brave. Ryan was willing to go first.

Jacob makes me chuckle. Jacob plays basketball all day, every day. There is a hoop in the family room so it is handy to toss a ball and make a basket before coming to the table or quickly before putting on his shoes. He usually plays for Duke but sometimes he plays for the Bulls. He knows the players by name and even recognized one in Dunkin Donut one day.

One thing that is fun about Jacob is that he changes clothes several times per day. If he is playing basketball, he runs to put on his basketball shirt. When he plays with cars or trains, he has a need to be dressed appropriately for whatever activity he is engaged in. He loves “short pants” finding jeans and long pants too confining. He frequently asked if he could wear shirts with “short pants” also. His daddy reminded him that those are called short sleeves but I think it is so cute that I never correct him.

Jacob loves cars and trains. He has loved them since before he was two years old. He is consistent in that.

Jacob also loves music.

He was into Toby Mac in November. Jacob is the DJ. He does not read but knows the track for every song on every CD they own or have from the library so that if you have a request, he immediately chooses the correct CD and selects the track and plays it for you.

Allie is becoming more her own little independent self. She likes to do things by herself and she wants to be included in everything that her brothers are doing.

Wherever they are, she is not far behind. When their daddy is tossing the football with the boys, Allie has to have her turn running out for a pass.

If someone is wrestling, guess who is right in the mix.

I get tickled when the kids join forces. “Me and Ryan want to talk before lights out.” “Me and Ryan like McDonalds.” Recently, Andy (their daddy) posted on his facebook page a little video of Allie joining forces with Jacob. Jacob was in the bedroom with the doors closed playing with Ryan’s legos. When their daddy started to go into the bedroom to see what was going on, little Allie came and pushed on his legs to keep him from going in the room. Then she said, “Bye Bye” to Daddy and closed the bedroom door clearly protecting Jacob by being the bouncer.

Allie also loves music and dancing and can act like a singer. She knows when she is being a ham. Oh how I love these kids.

The kids have great parents that are teaching them the things that they need to know. I will end with this little bit of evidence from a recent conversation.

Andy to the kids: "We don't like commercials and advertisements because they are always wanting us to do stuff we don't need to do."

4-year-old Jacob: "Daddy, you are kind of like a commercial."

They are going to keep me busy and smiling. What a privilege!

Breaking the Rules

2012-01-05T09:47:00.013-06:00

Subtitle: Recent History Post #1

Rule #1: Blog posts must be current.

Rule #2: Do not use oxymorons such as “Recent History." It is just positively wrong.

Rule #3: Do not start a post with an apology.

Rule #4: A blog is a journal—a reflection—not a diary.

Sister Week on Hilton Head Island was superb—the weather, the beauty, the experiences and being with my sisters.

First things first, I want to mention the food—for three reasons . . . It was fabulous and secondly, if I do not record the places, I will not remember them if we ever have the opportunity to visit again. Thirdly, I am dieting—yes, again—it is January and hope springs eternal but I am thinking about food.

At Stacks Pancakes we shared these yummy entrees . . .

Crème Brûlée French Toast,
Bananas Foster French Toast
And more!
Yum! Yum! Yum!

We also ate at these incredible places!

Molly MacPherson's in Savannah, GA
Guiseppi's Pizza at Sea Pines
San Miguel's Mexican Cafe in Shelter Cove
Kingfisher Seafood and Steakhouse in Shelter Cove

Enough said. I am drooling.

Here are some memories to put my mind in a better place.

Riding bike

Walking the enormous, beautiful, perfect beach

Touring Savannah

Surprises

Beauty, beauty, everywhere!

The Coastal Museum

The sunrise

The fall color on the homeward road trip

The week was a memory treasure worthy of recording.
We were blessed!

Extraordinary Gifts

2011-12-31T11:42:00.016-06:00

I had such fun shopping for and giving some grandchildren gifts . . . Jessica’s cowgirl hat . . .

Morgan’s Harry Potter necklace . . . Allie’s dollhouse furniture . . . all ordinary gifts but fun nonetheless.

However, Bob and I were given some extraordinary gifts this year—gifts of the heart—given in love and with joy.

Bob’s son, Kevin, gave us a fabulous gift. He is perspicacious regarding what would be helpful for his dad—for us. He is observant, creative, considerate, perceptive, hard working, and generous. For Father’s Day 2011, Kevin floored part of our attic.

I have no photos of the process because Kevin and his children worked while we were gone for the week and surprised us with this practical and wonderful labor of love.

For Christmas, he gifted us again. While we were gone enjoying Christmas with our extended Gisel family, Kevin with the help of all of his children designed and installed a lift for the heavy beekeeping equipment that we use to extract honey.

He placed it above the garage door with a crank shaft so that it is easily lowered and raised as needed.

And that is not all! Our garage pull down ladder required two people and a stepladder that needed to be moved twice to pull the ladder down and pull it up again. Kevin invented and installed a system so that one person can easily get the ladder down singlehandedly with no stepladder.

See that hole in the very top step? It is an ingenious idea! You just put the pole in the hole and gently move the ladder down. Kevin made a pole and a handy place to hang it right by the pull down.

I was skeptical and wondered if it really could be that easy but I have done it now several times by myself.

It was an extraordinary gift! We are incredibly blessed! Thank you! Thank you!

Brian and Sharice, my nephew and niece by marriage, gave us a wonderful gift of time and talent and camaraderie and generosity—twice! The two of them honored us with their presence! They bring fun and laughter!

The first weekend they came, Sharice helped me decorate our master bedroom. She used a picture that I had tried to sell numerous times on Craig’s list. I like the picture but thought it was too large for our house. First we shopped together for a whole day! She listened to my likes and dislikes and came up with a plan that I love.

She also helped me buy frames for the grandchildren’s pictures, taught me about monkey hooks, mounted the photos, and hung them.

She and Brian hung a clock going down my stairway.

We even enjoyed little Coco, their sweet Chiweenie. He can make ambivalent, tolerant dog people into receptive though cautiously reserved admirers.

A few weeks later, Brian and Sharice came again.

On Saturday, we spent a little time in Chicago enjoying Christmas.

Sunday, they attended church with us and relaxed and seemed to enjoy just being together.

Then on Monday, we tackled the guest bedroom. Once again, Sharice looked at what I already had and used that for her inspiration and then we shopped—quickly this time—just two stores. We went to Kohl’s armed with my 20% off coupon and then to TJMaxx, heading straight for the clearance items.

Within a few hours, the guest room looked like House Beautiful. (I have ordered a blue drape to hang down the left side of the window that will finish the room.)

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! for your wonderful, extraordinary, immense gifts from the heart. Our hearts were touched and we are still smiling!

Slightly Altered

2011-12-30T11:15:00.000-06:00

Sometimes it is just too hard to resist . . .

I could not resist putting these young and old shepherds in a Bethlehem field.

I could not resist putting beautiful Mary and contemplative Joseph in a stable.

I could not resist putting all of the characters in one cast picture.

Votes Taken . . . Motion Carried

2011-12-28T09:57:00.009-06:00

I took up a campaign with hubby some time ago to take all of the grandkids into Chicago at the same time for a Christmas experience. I researched, put together my support team, budgeted, and strategized.

We introduced the kids to a Billy Goat Tavern and some stories about the original place.

Experienced a bit of Daley Plaza

and Christkindlmarket.

Took the Brown Line “L” to Southport

Enjoyed “The Christmas Schooner” at the Mercury Theater

Bought pizza from the Ogilvie food court and Garretts popcorn for the train ride home . . .

No one got hurt.
No one cried.
No one got lost.
At least grand, liked the food
At least grand, liked the play
At least grand, liked riding on the “L”

It is not official yet but I think there will be a 2012 Campaign.

Seize the Day!

2011-10-10T22:25:00.000-05:00

I took this picture of a few of the grandkids on Labor Day weekend. All of the grandkids are delightful!

It is fun to talk with them, be with them, hear them talk, and watch them mature! They are growing up so fast!

David will be celebrating his 14th birthday on Thursday. This boy is going places. He is in band, jazz band, on tech crew and the football team.

He seldom has a few free hours and almost never a whole free day. Today he was available!

Someday, I will no longer be able to maintain balance on a bike and have the strength to pedal for six miles but today I feel great! I wanted to do something active and outside and was glad that David was willing to accompany me on a bike tour.

I tried to breathe in all of the beauty of the day and capture a few photos.

I love it that David is adventuresome in eating! After our bike ride, we stopped at Max’s on Adam’s Street for lunch. David ate an authentic Chicago hot dog—with all of the toppings-- yellow mustard, onions, relish, a dill pickle, tomatoes, hot peppers, and celery salt on a poppy seed bun. . .

And then he had a second! It made me glad! I don’t know why? It just did.

I love it that David can walk fast and thinks a mile or so is no big deal. It was great to skip the taxi rides!

For about 4-5 years, David has requested to go to the Willis Tower Skydeck when it was still called the Sears Tower.

I have to pause first and I still stumble over the new name every time. It just doesn’t sound right.

For David, Grandma Days have seemed to fall on days when the weather was inclement.

A couple of years ago we went to check out the Skydeck twice but there was “no visibility.”

Today was gorgeous!

We enjoyed our few moments on the Ledge and got the appropriate photos.

And even though David is not genetically related to me, I was glad to discover something else that we have in common.

We made a Garrett’s stop before boarding the train back to Winfield.

Unfortunately, I remember very little from my freshman year of Latin. The older I get though, the more I recognize the wisdom in this phrase—Carpe diem!

Shadowed Reflection

2011-10-07T05:00:00.013-05:00

The views in Chicago are impressive—captivating!

I do not tire of seeing the tall buildings, the parks, the lakefront, the museums, the free performances and occasionally the not-at-all free theatrical plays and concerts. I like going to the baseball games—at both parks and remembering the Michael Jordon basketball years. I like going to Moody Bible Institute and worshipping in the services and attending sacred concerts in other Chicago churches. I like the bridges and the views from standing on them and looking down the river. I like so many of the restaurants and delicatessens and shops—both big and impressive stores and small family owned businesses. I like Navy Pier and Millennium Park. I like the flowers and the scenes from all of the different seasons.

I even like Chicago in the rain.

I like seeing Chicago from the view of a pedestrian on walking tours and from up high in the tall buildings and from a ship on the lake, on bicycle and Segway.

I like taking the train, and figuring out how to get around on foot and sometimes just getting places by taxi.

Recently I drove the car on some personal business and felt a sense of accomplishment at getting around on my own and finding a place to park the car. I liked walking and taking the escalators. I felt small and intimidated and wide eyed and thankful and relieved and glad and proud all at the same time.

Mostly though, I like going to the city with friends or family. I love experiencing things together.

Wednesday was a gorgeous day in Chicago. Six of us had participated in a You Swoop deal and were privileged to see Chicago from the river perspective in kayaks.

We loved hearing Charlie our Waterider tour guide recite poetry and tell some of the Chicago story.

Later we enjoyed the romance of the city, eating outside at Erie Park served by Erie Café.

We looked over the Chicago River that we had just kayaked observing tourist boats, more kayaks and rowing crew after rowing crew in a peaceful, delightful setting watching the sun go down with good friends.

My hubby whispered, “Does it get any better than this?”

I did so enjoy the whole experience and yet I could not let go of some of the stories told by Charlie. Unfortunately, much of Chicago’s history is sordid—stories of greed, and crime and corruption and sin. Some places on the river were foul smelling and disgustingly polluted with trash and better viewed from a distance—not all of course but some. I sadly acknowledged a different perspective of the city. I wondered how God sees Chicago—like Sodom and Gomorrah? It left me conflicted.

The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7

I’ve been reflecting on the experience for a couple of days now. What do you think?

In good company . . .

2011-09-26T11:31:00.018-05:00

I worried about attending a class reunion . . .

This is a telling photo. I think it is from our senior prom.
Yes, we all felt like losers with no dates.

But you can survive high school if you have a good friend. I was blessed. I had a good friend and a group of good friends to hang with . . . to ride the bus together, celebrate birthdays, go to church, go to ballgames and more.

And I had a tiny place to succeed.
I sang in a trio through high school.

There were others that I enjoyed spending time with as well . . . all girls. I did not have a boyfriend nor did I have boys that were friends. Somehow, I wrapped much of my self-worth around that detail. I assumed that on the “most likely class list”, I was the one most likely to never marry and never have children. I am so glad that I was wrong! I was blessed—abundantly blessed. Even so, I still got cold feet and nearly did not attend my class reunion.

But I went. I did a little self-talk . . . “This is not about you. Let others tell you their stories.”

I had a conversation the night before I left with my good friend, Carol. We both chuckled at the dialog that we never expected to have, "Okay, then I'll meet you at Ickeys."

Another conversation that made us chuckle was that we marveled over the great price of gas in Archbold. who would have thought we would be appreciating gas that was over $3.00 per gallon! We actually saw it a couple of cents lower at another station.

My three most enjoyable and heartfelt conversations at the actual reunion were with men—boys from my class that I never had one conversation with in high school and I would remember if I had. I loved hearing a piece of their stories.

But my real highlight was my dear girlfriends—staying up until
3:00 a.m., catching up and reveling in the real friendships that have spanned our lifetimes. (One of our group of six was unable to attend.)

All six of us have experienced deep grief and sadness and all of us have received unbelievable blessings and happy times. Through it all God has sustained us and held us in His hand.

After the reunion luncheon, a group of attendees discussed “doing high school again.” Some have much fonder stories than I. Some were successful athletes. One thought high school was “a blast.” We agreed that the pressures of high school are much more complex and challenging than when we attended. Our issues were simpler.

Three boys got sent home from our senior trip for attending a Yankees ballgame without permission.

Regarding high school, one man said, “Sure, I would gladly do it again if I could know all that I know now.” But in that particular group the consensus was, “Definitely not. I would not want to go back.”

As I looked around the group, I sensed camaraderie between those that were in my class—somewhat of a recognition that age was taking its toll on all of us and life experiences have had somewhat of an equalizing effect on us. Everyone has a story. I am sorry that I did not have time to hear more of their stories. I will attend my next high school reunion.

Rollin' in the Rain

2011-09-18T22:31:00.007-05:00

As we said our good-by’s today, Judy casually said, “You just have to roll with it.”

Although she could have been referring to riding a segway, she was really referring to things not always going the way that we had hoped. We had hoped for a sunny beautiful day today but it rained instead.

At Oak Park Segway, we saw a very scary introductory movie with a stick figure showing all of the things that could cause a fall on a segway. By the time it finished, we were not very confident signing the release form. After all, none of us are less than 62 years!

But the wonderful couple, Cecelia and Luke Thorton, were patient and encouraging and gave us lots of time to practice.

We immediately liked Cecilia and Luke—owners/tour guides/teachers. They spoke kindly and with terms of endearment and respect to each other. It was no surprise upon further conversation to learn that they are believers.

When the rain started falling harder, they offered us red ponchos and then offered us a rain check to come back again on another day—even offering us an upgrade if we could come back during the week instead of on a weekend.

It wasn't long until all of us were feeling quite comfortable.
This is Tim—flying like Superman!

Our friends have a sense of adventure.

This is our proud “Look Mom [or kids] no hands!” photo.

What a blessing to have friends that are willing to “Roll with it!”

# 7 The Headache Hazard

2011-09-17T12:51:00.008-05:00

We have this very nice area under our new deck—not very tall—54 inches to be exact—perfect for something—perhaps to store supers.

So, after hubby finished extracting the last of the honey today,

he stacked a few supers in said area

and then he stood up.

. . . Which is why I am wearing a bike helmet and stacking supers under the deck.

Because experience is a good teacher.

However . . .

The good report for the day is that there were no—none—not any at all—wax moths in the supers today. Yay!

Also, my eye is much better. My drops are only every four hours today instead of every half hour.

A little ibuprofen for hubby and he is feeling good.

We just had one small Oops! to add to our growing beekeeping list.

All in all a very successful harvest.

Now we are done with the extracting and almost done cleaning. Yay!

Tonight we will go to the DuPage Beekeeper's Meeting and see how our fellow beekeeper's fared. There are bound to be some good stories.

Seeing and believing

2011-09-15T21:57:00.009-05:00

This was our first honey extraction in our new garage. It worked well. We were thankful for good help. The job would not get done without Kevin. He is one of those people that see a job that needs doing and does it. In fact he sees it before most of us are aware it is going to need to be done. Bob and I think that we could do the work by ourselves but we would be at it for a very long time—probably weeks—with just the two of us.

We got a late start this year because of so many other activities that took precedence. Usually, we start on Labor Day weekend but we chose to go to a garage sale at my sister’s house instead.

Usually, we start early in the morning—this time we started in the afternoon because we went for a Suicide Prevention Walk with some other family members first.

When we did start, the kids had ballgames and practices and meets and other interests. Steven came and donated a few hours of hard work.

David showed up to be on bee patrol for a bit before his football game.

We only got in a couple hours of work on the first day. The second day we also could not start until the afternoon. Kevin graciously appeared again and then we gladly welcomed the help of Joe and Kathi and Jessica, too.

Joe did most of the uncapping and heavy lifting,

Bob ran the extractor. This is a bad picture. I did not take many pictures this year. It was at a rare moment when Kevin was sitting. Kevin barely took time for a bite to eat. He washed equipment and moved and scraped supers and mopped our ever sticky floor and did all kinds of dirty jobs.

The girls efficiently and tirelessly bottled honey.

When we quit for the day, we still had one short stack of supers to do. A few years ago, we would have worked until 10:00 pm or until the job was done but we tire more quickly now and when our help needed to go home towards late afternoon, Bob and I quit as well. We were tired.

I am paranoid about wax moths. We lost a couple of hundred pounds of honey early this season to wax moths because we brought the honey in and did not get around to extracting for a couple of weeks and the honey and frames were destroyed by wax moths. It was devastating.

I knew that Bob was going to be traveling and that we would have to let our honey sit for a week before we extracted. Being concerned about the wax moths, I brought pails, bottles and everything portable that we use to extract our honey into the house.

I covered everything else and used many very large plastic bags to cover our honey supers and seal them as tightly as possible.

Then I closed up the garage and set off a bug fogger. I saw a moth on Tuesday evening and so I set off another fogger. However just after I started it, I noticed something to bring inside. In my haste to retrieve it and get in the house, I knocked over the fogger—reached for it to set it upright and at the same time, the force of the spray turned it towards me and I got some spray in my left eye.

I went in and flushed my eye with contact solution and took out my contact and thought little else about it, figuring it would be fine in the morning—and it was—or so it appeared so I put in my contact lens and went to Bible study. At Bible study, my eye really began to seriously bother me. However, I could not take out my contact because I had not brought any reading glasses and reading is essential in a Bible study.

When I got home, I was very glad to take out my contact and wash my eye and continue with my day—particularly a hair appointment. It is too hard to reschedule and I was desperate for it. Following that, I went on to my tutoring class because they were depending on me. By the time I arrived home at 5:45, my eye looked disgusting and was hurting.

Today, I had an eye doctor appointment. I have a nasty eye infection and am putting drops in my eye every half hour. It is hard to get anything done as they sting a bit each time. I will see the eye doctor again in the morning. He says it should heal in a few days. I hope he is correct. I am very grateful to live in a place where doctors are accessible and knowledgeable. We are blessed!

The eye doctor said, my infection could be from the spray but perhaps not. He thinks it is more likely that I scratched my eye when removing my contact lens and had a mild abrasion which was a good entry point for the infection. In any case, I believe this is another beekeeping hazard. We have had many in the past so this just adds to our repertoire. Ben Franklin said, "Honey is sweet but the bee stings."

Today, I would not be a persuasive person to recruit new beekeepers to our hobby. They would take one look at me and run. But here on the blog, you can’t see me and I must say, “This fresh honey on toast is the best!”

I have been enjoying our fresh honey more than ever. It is delicious. I took some fresh honey in the comb for my tutoring kids to taste and to chew the wax. I told all of them, “You do not have to eat it. Try it, and if you don’t like it, please put it in your napkin and then in the waste can.” Every single one of them ate it—wax and all and asked for more. They asked if they could get a jar of honey for good behavior rewards on Friday. They can choose from all kinds of treats on Fridays, if they earn enough behavior points and they want honey!

I'm still a believer. Beekeeping is worth the risks.

On This Day . . .

2011-09-09T11:54:00.009-05:00

I need to put a disclaimer on this post, at the very beginning. This is one of those personal trips down memory lane written in a public forum. It does seem a bit presumptuous to post it here. I'm counting on my experience being similar to other women. When I look back, I rejoice at what God has done.

Thirty six years ago, I gave birth to a son—my firstborn. It was an incredible experience. I was taken by surprise at the overwhelming love that I felt for him. I identified with Eve—as if I were the first person to ever give birth to a son. I could not stop smiling. One of the nurses handed me a note with his statistics—his weight and height and she wrote on the note, “He’s beautiful!”

I thought, “It’s not just me. She’s seen lots of babies and she thinks he is the most beautiful baby, also!”

I was embarrassed when I took Andy to church for the first time because I could not stop smiling. I tried to look modest but I was so happy. I imagined that everyone else was jealous of me and I felt sorry for them and so blessed that I had this beautiful child.

That thought lasted for a very long time. I remember when Dale and I would go look at our boys sleeping, just before we went to bed at night, we would marvel to each other over how cute they were. I wondered, “How did God take our very ordinary [at best] genes and create these two marvelous and adorable children?”

And now both of my sons are married and fathers—wonderful fathers of five beautiful children [combined]—three delightful boys and two very special little girls! Children truly are a blessing from the Lord.

Also, on this day . . . sixteen years ago, my husband, Bob, asked me to marry him. It was after a very long day and I was very tired. I had been a wedding coordinator for a Hawaiian couple and I needed to be a delicate arbitrator for a few small details. There were lots and lots of decorations to help take down and put away. My feet ached and I was exhausted. My hubby who was not yet my hubby had helped with many details and crawled around on the platform wiring for sound and making changes as part of the tech crew. I knew that he was tired also. So when at a late dinner, he said, “Will you marry me?” I responded in somewhat of a tired exasperated way, “Yes. I already told you, yes.” After that he dug a beautiful diamond ring out of his pocket that he had been carrying around all day. I was very surprised and immediately changed my attitude. He told me how hard it had been to wait until dinner to ask me. Oh my, I am so thankful that he didn’t change his mind. We wanted to share our excitement with someone and so we went and told Paul and D’Ann, my first husband’s brother and his wife. We knew that they would be glad with us.

Here is a picture of us when we were much younger, celebrating our engagement.

I’ve been remembering my son’s birthdays . . . the cakes. . .

Cubs games. . . and lots more . . .

I am very grateful for my husband who still loves me though he knows me and my flaws so very well.

September 9th . . . On this day, I like to remember.

You just never know . . .

2011-09-04T21:18:00.008-05:00

It started out with hubby worrying about the “junk” collecting in our [old] garage.

A day or two before the closing, he was concerned so he followed me in the other car and watched in amazement as I stuffed all in one vehicle.

Later at home, he graciously asked if I would have my feelings hurt if he repacked the van.

And since there was more room following his reorganization, I brought more things—and even he added a couple of items and the van was completely full to the very tip top. I had to stuff things like underwear and sleeping attire in corners and under the seat rather than packing a regular suitcase.

Then dear hubby insisted that he drive the packed, no-visibility car for the week prior to my sister’s garage sale—well—not really her garage sale—a garage sale that she reluctantly agreed to host for her out-of-town daughters on the designated day of the mother-of-all-garage sales in the Midwestern college town—or maybe it is a village where she lives.

The car was smelling stale, like the old dusty stuff and he was just being nice—he intimated but I have a strong suspicion that he was not sure—with good reason—if I knew how to drive a car using only side mirrors.

A day or two before departure, I confidently invited hubby to go with me to said garage sale, knowing quite well that he would refuse because I knew that he planned to pull honey but it seemed a nice thing to do—invite him, that is.

And then, he said, “Yes, I think I will go!”

Following that, I began a very persuasive campaign lasting several days to dissuade him.
He had too much work to do. When would he have another opportunity to pull honey.
It was predicted to rain anyhow.

He would be bored. It would be a lot of sitting around time and he is not used to that.
“I like sitting around.”
Really?

He would feel agitated.
He would not feel agitated, he would enjoy the family. He likes my family. He loves being with them.

It would be sad for him to waste a perfectly good opportunity to set up for extracting.
Maybe we could go home a day early.
“No!”

It would complicate sleeping arrangements.
I am totally flexible and sleep fine on an air mattress anywhere but he does not.
“We can get a hotel room.”
I explained, that would negate the profit of the garage sale.
He would book the room on points.

I did not want him to go because I whole heartedly believed he would put a big damper on my fun.
I knew by then that sister Lou and sister Donna had both offered us lodging in their homes but . . .

I wanted to:
Leave when I wanted to leave and
Stay as long as I wanted to stay!

When traveling with children we frequently hear questions like, “How much longer?”

Not so with my hubby. He likes a road trip. It is when we arrive that the perpetual questions begin: "Are you about ready to leave?" "Do you know what time it is?" A couple of his favorites are: "When did I agree to this?" and "Remind me, why do we like this?" Or a question that I think reveals his age, "How can you stand all of this noise?" Finally he moves on to statements like, "I have a big day tomorrow.” And then one that always gets me, especially when it is MY family and MY friends that he is speaking about . . . “They are waiting for us to leave.” and “You go ahead and finish up; I’ll just go sit in the car and wait on you.”

So we came to an agreement and Hubby went with me to the first garage sale he has ever fully experienced—for two entire days!

I was wrong. He did not ask one of the above questions—not one!

He loved it! The whole weekend. The whole experience.

He thought it was a “Hoot!”

He loved people watching.

He particularly was amazed and tickled at all of the forms of transportation—

from mules, four wheelers, ATV’s, utility tractors, motorcycles, bikes, trailers, and more golf carts than you would see on a golf course in a summer season.

He loved the conversations, the food,

the camaraderie and the children—all of the things that I love about the event.

The children were particularly fun to watch!

Most of them motivated to earn money for a family vacation.

They were energetic, creative, tireless, and innovative in advertising and stopping cars and selling their wares.

I never heard a contentious word between them. They were a delight.

Hey relatives—don’t you adore Maddie’s new haircut? What a cutie!

All of our “good stuff” sold in the first hour and after that we continued to rake in quarters and occasional dollars.

I wonder if we intimidated some shoppers and buyers with all of our sellers and observers.

We ended up with a few things to toss, a few things to donate and even a couple of things to save but the sale was a huge success.

We were happy that the storms waited until after the last tables were returned and brought inside. It was hot, really hot but no one complained much although you can tell that by midafternoon, we all were feeling weary.

A good kind of weary.
And we had a happy ride home.

Remember? “How many people can you get in a Volkswagon?”

2011-08-29T22:12:00.001-05:00

I love how our friends stretch us, encouraging us to taste things we have not tasted, go places we have not gone, do things we have not done . . . broadening our awareness and interests.

We do things with them that we would not do on our own—things that no persuasive power could move my hubby . . . except that he, too, enjoys the company of friends. In that I am very blessed.

It is not that we do not like the band . . .
I like their name . . . Chicago,
a minor theme throughout my blog. . .
This is more of the same story but with a different twist.
It is just that the tickets were more than the usual $10 lawn tickets
and I only remembered one song by the group
and there is road construction everywhere,
especially on Lake Cook Road . . .
making the commute to Ravinia two hours instead of 45 minutes
and as we were loaded down like camels,
with chairs, coolers, tables, and blankets . . .
shuffling into the park like cattle,

attempting to hang on to each other like kindergarten children on a string . . .
my hubby whispered, “Remind me, why do we like this?”
Then he answered his own question, “The friends, the friends, the friends.”

We intended to arrive early to save some real-estate for a group of 19 people. It is a long story of why I was in charge.
We had not counted on our bumper-to-bumper, slower-than-walking travel experience.
When we arrived, the park already looked like this.

But we boldly put our tarp and blanket into a
postage stamp area . . . you can see the area right in front of the picture.
It was actually large enough for about six people.
Here is where the Volkswagen experiences of our youth came in handy. . .
As each new carload of friends joined us, we were able to get a few more into the space . . .

And then a few more

And then a few more

Finally all seventeen, one in a wheelchair--two did not make it--wiggled in place and enjoyed the concert.

And yes, we did enjoy it.
The band is really, really good.
And looks to be about the age of us.
And they look pretty good and fit . . .
Except kind of old
And they are incredibly energetic!
They played the one song that I knew
And most of the people in our group knew most of the songs.
The screen was a big hit for us.

Usually we sit on the grass and see nothing—except each other—but this time we could actually see what what those in the high money seats in the pavilion were seeing—maybe better—like when you go to a ballgame, those watching from home may actually see it better.
It was an outdoor movie-concert on a beautiful, beautiful evening.

At one point, Donna, leaned over to me and said, “Does it seem a little funny that these old men are crooning out love songs?”

It was fun, being with friends, experiencing together, remembering old times and making new memories.

Part of the fun was that the band seemed to enjoy each other and enjoyed performing—laughing and smiling among themselves. It is good to laugh.

Yay! for friends that stretch.

The Fat Lady is Singing!

2011-08-26T16:00:00.001-05:00

I just exhaled!
Hallelujah!
Yippee!
It is done!
Closed.
Sold.

We listed our house for sale one year ago.
We owned two houses for five months.
Finally, finally, finally, we own just one.
I wondered if it would ever happen but it did.
We can breathe in. We can breathe out.
God is gracious and merciful.
We are amazed and very thankful.
We are blessed.
And relieved.
Full of praise.
Singing!

Bliss

2011-08-23T05:13:00.001-05:00

I do so love Chicago.

I love that it is on Lake Michigan.

I love that someone a long time ago had the foresight to preserve the lakefront for the commoners.

A few of us had made plans for a Chicago day months ago. We had no way of knowing that it would be a perfect day.

We forgot that it was the weekend of the air show. What a bonus!

We have certainly have had our share of bad weather days but it has not dampened our love of the city.

The Groupon that we purchased was for a sail boat ride on Bliss with Leonardo from Italy. See his little flag on his boat.

In celebration of Jim’s birthday, we ate at the Yacht Club—yes at a round table right by the water.

Then we walked to Buckingham Fountain, found seats and waited for the evening show.

It was spectacular! and free and moving and thrilling.

Here is a combination of two short clips if you are interested in going . . . my hubby was singing along part of the time.

The only thing that could have been better is some Garrett’s Popcorn and Bobtail ice cream to finish our day.

We were just too full.

Yes, that full!

On the Edge of the Ledge

2011-08-22T15:22:00.020-05:00

In celebration of Kent’s 17th birthday, he and I spent a day enjoying Chicago. Last year on his 16th birthday, we were not able to get a day that worked for both of us so I wanted this Grandma Day to be special. I love talking with Kent and hearing his unique perspective on things we see and on life. We started out walking about three miles from the Ogilvie train station to Magnolia Street.

We had a beautiful day and it was great to be outside and enjoying Chicago. Our first activity was to kayak on the Chicago River.

The kayaking was fun but tiring. I was just glad to keep up with the group.

Of course, Kent did great and was out in the lead with the guide all of the time. About six times we stopped to“raft up”, holding on to others' kayaks as the guide talked. Both Kent and I enjoyed the tour and stories told by our guide.

At the Kenzie Street bridge Kent heard the story of Dave Matthews tour bus dumping waste and the Chicago Flood of 1992. They were new stories to Kent who was not born when the flood happened and was only 10 years old for the other event.

I was impressed by the story of Montgomery Ward, known best for the first mail-order catalog. He spent 20 years engaged in a battle to save the lakefront for the people of Chicago. In 1909, he granted an interview to the Chicago Tribune, the only interview he ever gave in his life, he said, Had I known in 1890 how long it would take me to preserve a park for the people against their will, I doubt I would have undertaken it. I think there is not another man in Chicago who would have spent the money I have spent in this fight with certainty that gratitude would be denied as interest…I fought for the poor people of Chicago, not the millionaires…

Our guide reminded us that Montgomery Ward stores and businesses were bankrupted some years ago. All that Ward worked for and kept for himself and his family is gone. What remains is what he gave away.

Following a quick lunch, we headed up to the Sears/Willis Skydeck. I have been up to the Skydeck several times recently but Kent had never been there. I think that anyone that claims Chicago as their city needs to see it at least one time so we went. It was a great visit with Kent because he studied the views—picking out the various buildings, looking for familiar sites. Of course, we both enjoyed “The Ledge.”

Being with Kent, helps me see things from a different perspective. As we gazed at the globe sculpture outside by the Willis Tower, Kent said something like, “That is a great visual of the massive size of the Pacific Ocean” causing me to marvel as well at how much water is on our planet earth.

Also, as we looked out of the Willis windows from 103rd floor, he mentioned that it is actually more dramatic looking at the building from the ground up than from the top down.

I agree. Is there a life lesson in that?

I bought half price tickets at Hot Tix. I am not comfortable navigating around on the “L” but we did just fine and took the purple line to go and see Blue Man Group.

BMG have been performing in Chicago since 1997, however, it was a new experience for me. We did have fun but one time was enough for me.

What a joy for me to have this opportunity to touch and experience and enjoy Chicago with Kent. I was consciously aware that I wanted to soak it all in, absorb the experience, enjoy the wonderfulness of the day. These are precious moments with my grandson on the threshold of adulthood.

Nest Building

2011-08-20T21:59:00.003-05:00

All during the nest-building process, she [the hummingbird] periodically sits in the nest and squirms about, fitting the interior to just the right size for her body. Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Robert Sargent, p. 40

We are moved to our home—okay mostly moved. We won’t be completely out of Shire until next week because I am collecting things for a garage sale in the garage of our old house.

I love our new home. I don’t want to go back to our old house but I do still miss some things.

I am still rooting around, figuring out where to put things, rearranging, deciding. It is a process.

Our first few days in our new home, I missed the birds. We had cardinals, chickadees, nuthatches, grosbeak, downy and hairy woodpeckers on Shire. They are our version of pets, requiring no care except to keep the feeders full.

So I talked my hubby into putting up a food court of sorts. (Believe it or not, this is the short story. There were numerous other singular shorter poles and posts and hooks—much more discreet—before we discovered this all-in-one very tall, very white, very conspicuous solution.) I chuckled when my DIL suggested that it would be quite easy to paint it green. Perhaps that would make it more tree-like.

I just wanted to woo some birds to our new treeless yard.

But when putting up our avian feeding station, we needed to put it farther from house than at our old house because we are on a hill—kind of. So it is pretty much right in the middle of our backyard—standing all by itself.

Even so, far as the feeders are from the window, we have birds. If you feed them, they will come.

In just a few days, we had flocks of goldfinch. Sometimes as many as fourteen at our feeders all at one time. Goldfinches know how to flock together. How we enjoy watching them!

At first we thought we would just fill three hooks with feeders. Then I remembered that birding can be highly addictive. I filled the rest of the hooks with sunflower seeds and suet one at a time. Each time hubby came home from a trip, he noticed a new feeder. However, because of my diligence, we started seeing a few cardinals, lots of chickadees and an occasional woodpecker. (It is hard to get a photo of the woodpecker but he is on the suet.)

About this time, I was particularly excited because hummingbirds started paying regular visits. I had tried in vain to attract them to our old home and was never successful but now we have hummingbirds dive bombing their own kind and other birds, too, with regularity and we are so tickled at their presence. We seem to have only female hummers but they sure are fun!

Wanting a much closer look at these tiny girls, I persuaded my hubby to put up an extension for a hummingbird feeder right on our new house. I remember some family members fretting about my Dad climbing ladders when he got older. Now perhaps some think Bob (and I?) should not climb ladders. I understand my Dad better now. Together Bob and I got the job done.

And sure enough, hummingbirds come right up to the house! I faithfully change the sugar water every two to three days.

We are so happy with our new little bird friends.

Except one night we looked out and saw a striped polecat and that did not make us happy.

And the next night, we saw four!

We soon ascertained that skunks like sunflower seeds.

So we decided to remove that venue from our food court.

Unfortunately, those black and white stripes were around again the following night.

As the result of many Google searches, I raided my pantry and refrigerator for home remedies. I happened to have a whole jar of 2003 red pepper flakes in the pantry—yes, I don’t know why I moved them to the new house but when cleaning the pantry, they made the cut. Scary, huh?

Except that was good, because I did not feel at all bad scattering the whole expired jar under our feeders.

I also found a whole bottle of lime juice—not expired—and spread that in figure eights on top of the pepper flakes.

Since I did not want to kill the grass, those were the only two home remedies that I could use on the first evening of skunk assault. And actually, I think they worked.

The skunks have stopped coming under the feeders. It is probably more because we removed their food source.

On that first night of four skunks in the backyard, in my panic, I ordered some Shake Away Fox Urine Granules. Yes, I really did. It came in the mail—Yay Amazon Prime—in two more days.

And so, since I had paid for the stuff, I sprinkled granules under the feeder. Just to let you know, they smell worse than any rotten anything you have smelled in your whole entire life! Actually, just writing the words nearly brings on a gag reflex.

I was concerned that the birds would leave but the SAFU did not seem to have any effect on them. Except, unfortunately the cardinals are not coming to the feeders as there is nothing available to eat that they fancy.

The hummingbirds keep us entertained. I think I will need therapy when they fly back to Central America in another month.

Maybe by then we will be brave enough to woo the cardinals back with sunflower seeds.

I think this is all part of my squirming about.

A Very Small Boy

2011-08-06T07:33:00.001-05:00

"It is hard to be brave," said Piglet, sniffing slightly, "when you're only a Very Small Animal."

Simple Pleasures, Simply Put . . .

2011-08-05T13:29:00.004-05:00

Sand
WaterFloaty Things
CrittersFishingCheering fans
BallgamesBirdsBlankiesBreakfastTea PartiesYummy treats!BathsBooks

Simply Wonderful!

What I know is not much

2011-08-04T20:47:00.000-05:00

But, I DO know . . .

Hale is not plagued with indecision. He likes. He does not like. There is no middle ground.
Hale likes animals and babies and birds.
He likes his DSI game and is subject to lengthy explanations of the games, characters, strategies, etc.
He is an avid and very good reader of some books.
I know that one of Hale’s love languages is gifts.
That he is concerned about healthy eating and reads labels and gives great exposés on foods but loves candy.

I can guess pretty accurately that he will not want his picture taken which explains why I have many pictures of the back of his cute head.

He loves chess which unfortunately I do not know how to play.
Hale loves his siblings and his mom very much and misses them when separated.
Hale knows a lot of facts and some are accurate but some are not quite. For example . . . “There are 8 million people in Chicago, Grandma!” I didn’t know so I checked later, out of curiosity, and I think it is closer to 3 million but 3 million or 8 million? They are both big numbers—too big for us to comprehend.
Mostly, I do know that it is always delightful to have one-on-one time with Hale
and Hale always remembers to say, “Thank you.”

But I don’t know. . .

If he will want a Grandma Day. (He did! Yay!)
What to feed him. (Lemonade, chips, Sprite Zero, Arby’s chicken strips, popcorn and “leftover” pizza for breakfast.)
What he will enjoy doing.

Here is what I learned . . .

He is very tired of swim lessons and is happy to have a reason to miss (which could perhaps explain his enthusiasm for a Grandma Day).
He is not ever going up in the Sears/Willis Tower because he has vertigo and does not like heights.
Hale liked Chicago’s Peter Pan, performed in a theater in the round with a 360 screen. I will repeat that because it is so much fun to say . . . Hale liked it!

He does not like Chicago and is not interested in seeing any more of it.
He can ride an adult bike and there is no need to borrow a smaller one.

He prefers sleeping on the floor. (I did offer three different beds, really I did.)

He shares my enthusiasm for bird watching out our breakfast window.

Among his favorites are black-capped chickadees and cardinals. He also enjoyed watching the goldfinches and an appearance of a hummingbird. However, his absolute favorite kind of bird is an owl which of course we did not see but we did visit a store on our bike ride called, The Barn Owl.

At the store we both enjoyed interacting with Joe the talking bird

Hale took home an owl souvenir to remember our day.

We both went home happy.

They keep going and going and going

2011-08-03T12:31:00.002-05:00

Jackson & Lilly came off the plane
Where they had traveled all by themselves
Full of enthusiasm
Ready for action

I quickly realized that I needed to pay attention
or I would miss the action!

They move quickly

And accomplish much!

Going farther

And faster

Higher

And higher

Over

And over

Each day was a new adventure for Grandma.

Perhaps nutrition suffered
But occasional refueling is necessary.

I loved their teamwork.

And their concentration.

Lilly's hair suffered.

There was dramatic improvement a few days later
when Mom arrived.

Jackson and Lilly define enthusiasm

And good humor

Afterwards I was a little tired.

Missing two Energizers that bring such joy.

I LOVE them

And their visits.

A Seller's Saga

2011-08-02T17:38:00.006-05:00

Unfortunately, my blog only works on Firefox--not on Internet Explorer and I cannot figure it out . . . Maybe later, I will understand.

For some time now, I have felt like I was in two drifting boats--a foot in each boat.

A very long time ago, I wrote about building a new house. I was/am embarrassed with our decision to build a house before we sold our current home. For that reason, I have been unable to approach the subject on my blog.

However, God is merciful and gives us grace though we do not deserve it. We are thankful. We have lots of reasons to rejoice.

Our new house is built.

We are mostly moved into our new house.

Our new home has been properly initiated with visiting grandchildren.

We have a buyer for our old house.

It seems as if things are moving towards an August 31 closing date.

There have been many ups and downs along the way. Life has so much drama. There is a story to everything--every person--every event. Maybe that is why some of us blog.

First there is the price of the home. Oh my, we thought it was certainly worth more but succumbed to our realtor's suggested price and then after it did not sell, we came down in price and down, and down and down.

Looking back, it doesn't seem so significant but showing after showing would raise our hopes and dash our hopes. In college, on my dorm floor, we used to express similar feelings by belting out: "Why do you build me up, buttercup baby just to let me down . . . and then worst of all . . . you never call baby when you say you will!

"They love the house . . . but have a house to sell."
"They love the house . . . but it is too big."
"They like the house but it did not 'Wow' them.
"They are going to write an offer!" Only to find out days later that they wrote a contract on another home.
"Many are moving to your area because of Navistar." Except no one from Navistar ever looked at our home.
"They love your hot tub."
"The hot tub was a real problem for the husband."
"Your house is great but the yard is too small."
"They are coming for a second showing."
"They are coming for a third showing and they want to move as soon as possible."

And then eons later after I had almost given up hope, there was an offer . . . and our realtor said, "I never get an offer better than 93% of list price so this is a great offer.

We reluctantly agreed because wife (that would be me) was desperate and signed a contract.

But then the bank appraisal came in $15,000 less than the offer so we would have to lower our price by $15,000 so our buyers could get a mortgage.

But then, there were more loopholes, some contingencies and we balked again.

Then a miracle happened! On the same weekend, we received two offers--a seller's delight--a bidding war!

But both offered lower prices for our home than we hoped. We took the better offer.

But then the buyer of our buyer's home could not get a mortgage and so our buyers would not be able to buy our home.

There were inspection issues. Like most people, we loved our home, and took care of problems and repairs as we became aware of them. We thought, "What could an inspector possibly find wrong with our house?" What were we thinking!

And so we are agreeing to credits and repairs on items that we lived with for fifteen years totally unaware of these terrible conditions.

BUT today we got good news. The buyer of our buyer has been approved for a mortgage. We have reached an agreement on inspection issues. It seems as if everything is progressing well.

We are rejoicing--guardedly. It is never done until the check clears the bank.

Meanwhile, I am posed and ready to jump in one boat with BOTH feet.

Oh, quit worrying husband of mine! I am speaking figuratively.

It's All Pretend Anyway

2011-06-06T15:35:00.015-05:00

Still in my purging mode,

I smiled when I ran across this photo.

Hmmm . . .

One of us was the Duchess Gloriana,
leader of Grand Fenwick.

One of us was a Page.

Okay, so one was chosen because of her queenly traits.

And the other because she had good legs.

PS

Here is one more for you, Rebecca.
What a special time this was for me . . .
Trio singing with you and Carol

We were blessed.

She's a MTWI Champion

2011-05-30T10:44:00.007-05:00

Hey! My sister, Donna, is a champion in lots of areas and here is one you may not know about!

A pencil or more in every glass!

And here is the proof!

She did it! Did you get it?

Yesterday's Treasures

2011-05-27T13:09:00.005-05:00

I remind myself that I have not looked at these things one time since my marriage to Bob 15 years ago.

But I did so love being a Mom!

As did my Mother . . .

As did Dale's Mom

This is tough stuff . . . growing old . . this cleaning out mandate.

Yesterdays Treasures are Tuesdays Trash

A Together Day

2011-05-22T22:54:00.002-05:00

What do you do with an anniversary of a death? A wife lost her husband, kids lost their daddy, Grandpa lost his son, and siblings lost their brother.

We packed eight of us into a seven passenger car and went to watch a ballgame. I had such a happy heart seeing Grandpa with the kids.

It was a relaxing, beautiful, splendid day.

The kids and adults enjoyed each other and cared for each other.

There was a spirit of camaraderie and joy and peace.

We ate lots of ballpark food.

There were home runs and a few fireworks and our White Sox won!

I believe that Andy would be pleased with our together day.

One of my hubby’s favorite songs came to mind today.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

A Monumental Task

2011-05-10T22:56:00.003-05:00

In anticipation of moving to a smaller home, I have been trying to give away and throw away and recycle (Yes, of course, Susan) and in any case reduce the amount of things that we have acquired.

Stored in our basement was a large box of cards that I have had for twenty-three years. Most people would say if you have not looked at it in all of those years, don’t even open it. Just get rid of it. But I couldn’t. For twenty-three years, from time to time, I have thought of that box and intended to go through the cards one more time before I toss them.

Twenty three years ago on May 4th, my first husband died at age thirty-nine. Our sons were ten and twelve years old at the time. Because my husband was young, and because it was a very public death—Dale was a social worker and murdered while at work by a disgruntled employee and also because he was a good man and very respected and left two sons, we received many cards. I do not know how many but I do know that on one day we received over 100 cards. I have a laundry basket full of cards.

At the time, I read the cards but some days I read them quickly. I always intended to go back when things were not so busy and read the cards carefully and give them the attention that they deserved. And now it has been twenty-three years.

I told my second hubby, Bob, that I would not move the box but I was going to take the time to read the cards. I am in process. It is a much longer process than I expected. Many random thoughts come to mind as I read.

Inexpressible gratitude overwhelms me. My heart is full of appreciation and love and gratefulness—to God—to Dale—to family and friends and to people that I did/do not know.

Prayer makes a difference. Many people prayed for our family. James 5:16 says, The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. My sons both love God and serve Him as do their wives and children. Thanks to all of those people—friends, family, acquaintances and strangers that prayed for us. To God be the glory!

I have regrets. I am deeply sorry for not finishing my thank you cards. I just got so far behind and discouraged that I never got them finished. And people were so very good to us. I deeply regret my neglect!

These cards were chosen with care. I started reading the cards with a resolve to read every word—to ponder the cards and appreciate the effort it takes to choose a card. I know that the cards were chosen with care. Some of the cards brought tears to my eyes. Various people underlined a word or words in the cards emphasizing hope or concern or comfort.

Names from the past keep surfacing. There were so many people that I had not thought about for years. Some of the people that sent cards have died. I received many cards from dear friends of our parents and aunts and uncles and the generation just older than me at our church. Even a few much younger than I, have died. I was amazed as I went through the cards at the number of people that are in heaven with Jesus and perhaps greeting, working with, and praising God with Dale. It was wonderful to think on them and their influence in my life, in Dale’s life and ultimately in our sons’ lives. The cards had a big ripple effect of memories.

Simple acts of kindness make big impressions. A card was signed “from Gregory, your custodian.” Many people mentioned that Dale always smiled at them. One was from the couple that sat behind us in Sunday night church for eight years and watched us as a family sitting together—from someone that enjoyed watching Dale garden and fix his car while her son, a neighbor boy, looked on. Another who said that only one time had she ever given a personal prayer request aloud in church and Dale was the one that prayed for her request.

When prompted to act, do it. There were so many letters from friends—from when Dale was a little boy and a high school friend and a friend from graduate school. There were letters from children and two younger cousins of Dale’s still in their twenties wrote notes and sent money. And there were multitudes of letters from co-workers some that knew Dale well and some that only worked with him on one case. There were personal letters from government officials—our state representatives, people impressed with Dale’s integrity and work ethic. There were letters from people that heard the story on the radio. There was a letter from a boy that wished he could have been on Dale’s baseball team because he was on Dale’s team last year and he was a nice coach. My second grade Sunday School students wrote notes and drew pictures. Some made me smile at their innocent tender expressions. One little boy drew a picture of man laying in a coffin and just simply said, “Dear Mrs. Rowell. I’m sorry. Love, Brent” Friends of friends sent cards and wrote notes. How often I have had good intentions and not followed through! Many wrote that it was hard to write a note but they did it anyhow! Some even sent more than one card.

My mother-in-law and I share a love for Dale. I needed to talk to someone during this project and called the best of all people—Mom Rowell, Dale’s mom. Oh my, she is sweet and how wonderful to still have her. I asked if she would like me to keep the cards for her to read but wisely she declined. She told me that she has stacks of cards—birthday cards, anniversary cards, sympathy cards, that she has kept and that she needs to read through and then discard. At age 95, she needs to get started. She says that every year after age 70 is a bonus year because the Bible says that generally people live to age 70 and some to age 80. (Psalm 90:10) She says, “I’ve had lots of bonus years.”

There is still sadness. I miss Dale. He was good. I loved him. He loved me. I wonder how life would be different had he lived. I wish that I could marvel over our kids and grandkids with him. We used to stand at the boys bedroom door on our way to bed and marvel at how cute and wonderful were the sons that came from our genes! God chose the best genes from both of us! And now I marvel in the same way over our grandkids. I am reminded of the blessing of being Dale’s wife. I am still amazed that he chose me. What a joy to be married to a godly man. Over and over, people commented about his easy, ready, friendly smile. His countenance reflected Jesus.

Renew a right spirit in me. I want to do a better job of “Paying it Forward.” I want to smile more and not be so preoccupied that I forget to be friendly. I want to serve more and be kinder. I want to send thank you notes and sympathy cards. I want to serve others. I want to be a better neighbor and wife. I want to live better and be more responsive and obedient to the quiet nudging of the Holy Spirit in my life. I want to reflect Jesus.

I’ll put away a few letters for my grandchildren. Maybe someday when they are older, they will want to know what Dale was like. There is a story in Joshua about the children of Israel crossing the Jordan and God instructing them to build a memorial, one stone for each tribe, serving as a reminder for future generations of what God had done for their ancestors. I will keep twelve cards. These will be “Stones of Remembrance.” I made a stack of cards that touched me with the stories of Dale. Right now, 108 cards have made the first cut.

To Dale, I would quote Philippians 1:3, I thank my God every time I remember you.

By the way, thank you to Rebecca and Donna—my two most faithful blog readers. You have been supportive for all of these years! Thank you! I found cards from both of you . . . do you want to read what you wrote?

My Mother-in-Law

2011-05-08T11:58:00.004-05:00

She is Sweet,
Kind,
Gracious,
Forgiving,
Accepting,
Praying,
Loving,
Intelligent,
Wise
and Ingenious.
She is a make-do, get it done, work hard,
don't complain, praise others,
be grateful, give God the glory person. . .

AND she gave me permission, a long time ago,
to call her Mom.

I love you!
Happy Mother's Day!

Long live the queen!

2011-05-04T22:06:00.001-05:00

Yay! Packages of another sort arrived.

The girls are here!

Hubby wanted to make sure that I shared the experience so I did install three of the packages. Unfortunately, I had another event scheduled in the afternoon and had to leave but grandson David took over and installed two packages by himself as well.

We will check this weekend and make sure that the queens survived. One took off flying as Bob was releasing her but we are hoping she returned to her attendants. It is fascinating to watch the workers care for and feed the queen right through screen covering the queen cage before she is released in the hive. I think it is so interesting that she knows just what to do to take over the leadership of the hive. She was bred apart from the others and is another type of bee. The packages are Italian bees but soon all of the hives will be Carniolans because all of our queens are California Carniolans and will lay Carniolan eggs.

The queen cage was introduced to the other bees four days earlier so the other bees have had an opportunity to get used to and accept her. Each queen has a unique smell and once she is recognized and accepted the other bees are all willing to give their lives to save her.

If our queens do well, the hives will do well.

It is kind of like . . . if mama's happy, everybody's happy.

A Care Package

2011-05-03T20:19:00.000-05:00

“Brown paper packages tied up with string, those are a few of my favorite things.”

And I received one this week.

So pretty! What fun! Unearned. Undeserved.

It was from Brenda.

I love it that she shares my name.

I like that we have birthdays in April.

She has a supportive sister and I have two of those as well.

She loves God, loves beauty, loves people! She gets great pleasure from writing, giving gifts, and reading. I do, too!

It is only fitting that I thank her publicly in a forum that we both enjoy—blogging.

Drum roll . . . here it is. A bag created by her sister, Kathy.

It is sewn with care and precision and it is even reversible.

I interrupted my hubby and asked him to take a picture as I left for my volunteer job at Puente del Pueblo. (I usually carry it with the pretty patchwork but wanted to show the reverse . . .)

Brenda says it has a Spanish feel to it.

I agree!

Con muchas gracias!

The Whole Truth of the Tooth Hole

2011-04-30T19:16:00.000-05:00

What do you think?

A future in dentristy or politics or drama?

Liquid Eyes and Long Lashes

2011-04-15T09:21:00.010-05:00

Lilly and Jackson, precious grandchildren, live a thousand miles from us. What a privilege to spend a day just talking and walking and delighting in their presence.

At the zoo, we were enchanted by the giraffes.

Their sweet faces are so appealing with their “liquid eyes and long lashes.”

I love the way they move—so smoothly and graciously.

We fed the giraffes lettuce and crackers.

Of course, we laughed when we saw their loooong tongues.

Lilly wanted to make sure that a baby giraffe received some food but was a bit tentative with mama standing above.

These pictures are deceiving as we really did not get to touch the elephants but we did enjoy watching them.

O LORD, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures.

Psalm 104:24

I chuckled that the children's second favorite after the giraffes was climbing on the benches.

I love their playful natures.

Of course, eating ice cream ranked pretty high,

As well as the carousel ride.

Later, of course, a swim in the motel pool was in order.

Each chose a small gift to remember our day. Lilly chose a shark’s tooth necklace and Jackson a small stuffed animal—a monkey—named Yi Min. The Chinese translation of Yi Min means “happy and smart.” Jackson said, “That’s a good choice for me because I am happy and smart.”

Yes! And oh that we could all be like a child. As we left, both children, with “liquid eyes and long lashes”, were sad that our trip was so short—as was I! How I love them!

It was a very short visit—but long on memories.

Children's children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children. Proverbs 17:6

Stepping it up to a higher level

2011-04-10T21:54:00.003-05:00

Bob sent a text to me on Friday. “Sowing seed 2moro. Need more hands.”

I replied. “Hmmm. Ok. You can have mine.”

And thus, in our fifteen years of marriage, and nearly as many years of being a beekeeper’s wife, yesterday was a first for me—and for my hubby.

In about three hours, using a handheld seeder, we covered six acres walking and sowing clover seed, hoping to increase our honey production.

We had the farmer’s permission, of course.

We spent about an hour doing another two acre field today.

We won’t see results this year because clover does not get flowers until the second year. Bob thinks we will sow clover again next spring if we see it coming up this year. Oh boy, oh boy!

I think our farmer may have sat inside his house and chuckled as he watched us.

Your wrist gets really tired as you hold the spreader and the trigger to keep it open and turn the crank with the other hand.

We traded off every other time down the field. When it was not our turn to walk the field we refilled the bucket with seed and provided a target so the other could walk as straight as possible.

We took a water break about half way through our farming experiment.

It gave us great pleasure to see our bees working hard and bringing in lots of pollen. (Althought this is a terrible picture and does not show much. Many, many of the bees had pollen!)

I chuckled a bit as I spotted my hubby at the end of the field holding up his hands to keep me straight.

And I followed his lead and did the same—one time. That was all that it took for me to figure out that holding up our hands was unnecessary—a bit over the top so to speak.

But while walking and holding the spreader and turning the crank and looking down the field at my hubby with his hands in the air, and waiting for my next turn to walk. I recalled the story of Aaron and Hur holding up Moses hands as recorded in Exodus 17:8-16.

Then I remembered to “hold up my hands” about some things that the Holy Spirit was placing on my heart.

And I came home to find the verse about God’s hands will guide me.

Psalm 139: 7-10
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

Moving Day

2011-04-06T06:34:00.001-05:00

But not to here. Not yet.

No, some bees got relocated, house and all, from here . . .

with a mighty heave . . .

to here . . .

For non beekeepers, I will explain . . .

Bees need to be moved in the evening. We wait until they are mostly in their hive for the day. Then they are sealed inside and moved as gently as possible.

As it gets dark, the bees are given passageways again for entering and exiting--but hopefully not until the morning. Bees return from where they leave each day. So if they are in the hive all night. Their GPS gets reoriented and they will return to the hive in its new location.

If the hives had been moved when the bees were in the field working, they would have returned to the same place they left and circled until they died. That is why the hive must be moved with all or as many of the bees inside as possible.

Then we assisted with another kind of moving project.

Young friends--children of our good friends--are beginning a new business. Their shelving units were on the truck and were delayed and delayed and delayed until the day before the city was to inspect the shelving. So a few of us went to see if we could assist with opening boxes, marking the outlets and putting the shelves on the walls.

It gave us such a sense of accomplishment and joy to see everything coming together. We are asking God to bless the business and make it profitable for this young family.

And as we left, Tim and Tiff graciously gave us VIP cards, t-shirts and some products to sample.

We were moved.

Where angels fear to tread . . .

2011-04-05T11:16:00.009-05:00

This looks like a lot of fun!

And great exercise!

Although I'd much prefer to swim in water.

Who could resist this beautiful girl's encouragement?

But I did not succomb.

The next morning, walking friend, Lois, was appalled that I took the children.

Lois: Did you see the ramps?

Me: Yes.

Lois: Did you think about the ramps?

Me: No, not really.

Lois: Do you think people in wheel chairs jump on trampolines?

Me: Uh, guess not.

Lois: Those are for stretchers! There are an average of three ER visits per day from that facility.

I walked in on two legs.
I watched on two legs.
I walked out on two legs.

And all children were in one piece as well.

I believe in angels.

Our Abba Father

2011-03-28T11:52:00.001-05:00

The steps of good men are directed by the Lord. He delights in each step they take. If they fall it isn’t fatal, for the Lord holds them with His hand. Psalm 37: 23-24

After a long winter and late spring . . .

2011-03-27T20:36:00.007-05:00

For at least four of us, the real reason that we take this annual pilgrimage is not about baseball. We did however see three baseball games and we cheered for our respective Chicago teams and sang loudly during the seventh inning stretch.

Following the game, we were hungry, having passed up the ballpark food in anticipation of steak and salad at a place we read about on the internet: Reatta Pass Steakhouse. Unfortunately hard times have hit the restaurant and so they no longer serve steak or salad. We found the menu to be much like a children’s menu—hamburgers, chicken nuggets, fries, and chili and no salads or fruits. The wait staff was friendly and happy for our business.

Right next to the restaurant was a path leading to an apparently deserted area called Greasewood Flats. We were amazed as we went down the dirt road and around a corner to begin seeing cars—lots of cars and bikes.

We were delighted with our find. Hundreds of people, mostly bikers were hanging out. . .

There was good music, fire pits and we had an opportunity to work off some of our fried dinner. It was great fun—an unusual cultural experience.

We took in a different kind of culture the next morning at the beautiful Scottsdale Art Festival before attending our second baseball game.

Aawww. what can I say . . . I married a good man.

I laughed at the eateries and their creative names. "Short Leash, A hot dog eatery . . . Keep your hunger on a leash.”

And this one—but we were waiting for some yummy food later in the day.

The ribs at the Saddle Ranch Chop House were worth the wait. They more than met all of our hopes and expectations. The desserts looked phenomenal, too, but we did not have room.

We might have had room if we had been brave enough to ride the bull. We were entertained as we watched rider after rider lose their seat.

Sunday before our ballgame, we attended church at Desert Springs Community Church in Goodyear with old friends—well not old friends—just good friends that previously lived in Illinois and attended church with us many years ago. That was a very special treat for all of us! George and Cheri introduced us to Mimi's Café. Since it was our first visit, each couple was given four beautiful, large, delicious muffins to take with us.

On Monday, we coerced our men into taking us on a hot air balloon ride.

For most of us the anticipation of the ride and doing the ride together as a group and the beauty of all of the balloons made it a special outing.

I thought that the ride would be thrilling and perhaps scary but I am glad that it was not. If you decide to do this, wait until the desert is in bloom as that would be beautiful to see. It was peaceful and pleasant.

And now we are back home. . .

I am so glad that these are not just fair weather friends.

Who makes those up?

2011-03-10T08:20:00.005-06:00

My first hubby and I liked to watch Electric Company—before we had kids. We loved Fargo North Decoder, etc.

I think of that show every time I comment on a blog. When I submit, there is usually a word verification. I am not sure how or why those work because the password is right there for you in squiggly letters. The word is not a real word but is almost-a-word.

Bringing me back to The Electric Company from lots of years ago, and this song:

You can make up a word
Just make it up out of your head
And you can decide what you want it to mean
And how, and how it is said.

You can make up a word.
Your own private personal word.
And then all you do id just say it aloud
And your word will be heard.

When you make up a word
And tell what the word’s supposed to do.
Then suddenly there’s a new word in the world
And it came out of you.

I am pretty sure there are some more verses but you have the idea.

So, yesterday, I commented on some blogs and wrote down my word verification words. Yes, these words are exactly as copied but the meanings are just a guess.

waxingie: Something menopausal women do to their chins

fervies: disgusting little brown rodents

vityllyte: Some kind of healthy diet drink

hussere: Oh dear, something not very good comes to mind

wombi: adjective, meaning dizzy, wobbly, sleepy. Ex: In the morning I take a wombi walk out to the coffeepot

aptol: This is one of those southern expressions, a contraction of sorts, meaning something just right. That’s an aptol good looking hat. (Translated: That’s a right, you all, good looking hat.)

misorin: When you ought to give more but you just don’t feel like it, you are misorin.

So who does that? Who makes up the word verification almost-a-word? Don't tell me they are random because they all have vowels and consonants in normal patterns.

I was just wondering?

Facets of Beekeeping

2011-02-20T16:53:00.014-06:00

Chuck Lorence has been promoting, educating, encouraging and protecting bees and their keepers for many years. He is creative, experimental and entrepreneurial. He has a long history of serving on boards, presiding over beekeeping clubs, and advancing the causes of beekeepers by his involvement in organizations, the state fair and politics. He is, in my opinion and I am pretty sure that I am in good company, The Master Beekeeper of Cook DuPage Counties in Illinois. In addition, he is frugal, approachable, entertaining and wise.

Chuck says that he and his wife were hippies in the 1970’s. Not the pot smoking kind of hippies but the natural food, gardener, live-off-the-land kind of hippies. He says, “You know, hippies brought us organic farming. They were the pioneers in that field.”

In 1971, Chuck read an article about beekeeping in a copy of Mother Earth News while waiting for a dentist appointment. It reminded him that his father used to keep bees when he was around the age of eight in Racine, WI.

He told a humorous story of how his father used to pull honey. With the bees swarming his father like a cloud, Chuck and his siblings and his mom watched from the safety of the screen door. He recalls his mother saying, “Do not laugh at your father.”

After reading the article on beekeeping, and seeing what it could do for the environment and our food supply, he went to the Wisconsin farm where he was raised and got his father’s old beekeeping equipment. He burned all that was beyond repair, and scraped, sanded and painted the rest and got his beekeeping start with two hives. He has been keeping bees ever since. He continued to teach graphic arts at Glenbrook South High School. However, unlike most hobbyist beekeepers, he figured out a way to make it a lucrative hobby. At his prime, he kept 150 colonies but recently downsized to 25-30 colonies.

When I heard that Chuck was going to semi retire, I jumped at the opportunity to sit under his teaching. I am so glad for this experience. Chuck is good. He is passionate. I leave class each Wednesday really wanting to become a beekeeper and believing that I can do it.

However, to be quite honest, I think that I like the idea of beekeeping better than actually doing the beekeeping. Much in the same way, I like the idea of dogs—especially Lassie-like stories. I like the idea of horses and horse stories and yes, I went through a phase of drawing horses. However, I can’t say that I really want a dog or a horse. In fact I am quite sure that if someone offered to give me a dog or a horse and pay for the expenses for one year, I would decline. I am not too optimistic that beekeeping is ever going to be much of a passionate hobby for me either.

Yet I was excited and eager to accompany my beekeeping hubby on Saturday to see if his girls had survived the winter.

He was overjoyed, ecstatic, to discover four surviving hives at this beeyard. We did not get to the other beeyards because we needed to do some other chores before attending our local beekeeper’s club meeting.

At this particular meeting, a CSI panel shared what they knew and did not know about dead-outs. (In beekeeping terms, a dead colony especially one that did not survive the winter is referred to as a “dead-out.”) One gracious beekeeper, brought an unopened winter colony—a dead-out and it was opened and dismantled and scrutinized—an autopsy of sorts. The panel and other knowledgeable beekeepers explained the forensic science of beekeeping. Several theories for this dead-out emerged. Perhaps there was too much moisture in the hive—but that theory did not make sense to me as it was wintered just like other colonies in the beeyard that survived and the dead bees were not wet. There was plenty of honey in the hive and no evidence of disease. The theory that made the most sense to me was that the queen died and the cluster became confused with no queen to protect. Thus small clusters were found in four or five areas of the hive. When they did not huddle and work together, they got cold and could not survive. Several beekeepers made suggestions as to why the queen might have died. It is important to know why colonies do not survive the winter so changes can be made for a better outcome the next year.

At first glance, you might think that beekeepers are an unusual group of people.

But here is what I discovered after attending several of these meetings each year.

Beekeepers are:

unpretentious
generous
vulnerable
sharing
kind
learned
hopeful
motivating
fascinating
hardworking

and appreciative of good desserts.

I am so glad that my hubby is a beekeeper!

Sweeter than honey

2011-02-15T17:16:00.006-06:00

After being with the grandkids for ten days, I have lots of material for blog posts but instead just did a little movie of pictures. I think this song is so sweet and of course the kids are sweeter.

Slowing down? Eat something red!

2011-02-13T13:28:00.001-06:00

Andy checked out a book from the library on Eat This Not That! for Kids!. The boys have especially latched on to the designations on pages 12-16 about what kind of Superpowers vegetables and fruits give you—depending on which color they are. Jacob uses the phrases like code words for whatever he would like on his plate at mealtimes.

Red food makes you dash like the Flash!
Orange foods give you night vision!
Yellow foods make you jump higher and play harder!
Green foods give you sharp vision and superhuman healing abilities!
Blue foods make you the smartest kid in the class!

Jacob loves his Red Fireball shirt and being on a team. In the video, he is the smallest Red Fireball. His number is three. Jakie is particularly into “dash like a flash” foods.

Apparently it works?

Y Fan

2011-02-12T21:13:00.007-06:00

I like the Durham Downtown Y

I like the zero depth pool.

I like free play in the gym and the walking path above it.

I like the staff.

I like the programs . . .

for all ages . . .

I like the families.

I like the spectators.

I like the participants.

And guess who scored in his Blue Lasers game on Saturday!

I am a fan.

This just won’t work . . .

2011-02-11T21:45:00.002-06:00

The concept of Valentine’s Day was new, a couple of days ago, to five year old Ryan. I explained that we needed to go and buy some valentines so that he could give one to each person in his class.

Ryan knows that we do not like to spend money unnecessarily and so he suggested that he could make a valentine for everyone.

I explained that would mean a lot of writing to make one for all of his classmates.

Ryan’s response made us smile. He is definitely his daddy’s son.

He said, “Well, I could just write what I want to say and then we could make a chart and everyone could make a mark on the chart by their name after they read it.”

After Ryan went to bed, we chuckled again as Amy and I related the story to his daddy, Andy.

The next morning at breakfast, Andy anxiously asked, “Oh no! Did I miss Valentine’s Day?” Amy and I laughed and assured him that he still had time to observe the day.

It seemed that he was sincere when he said, “Whew! Good! Because I really love all of my family.”

Then he paused, “Please put a check mark after your name when you have read this.”

Sea como sea

2011-01-26T17:19:00.004-06:00

We had the opportunity to go for a few days to Cancun—mostly business for Bob.

However, I usually love to do an excursion of some kind and see the area and learn or experience something new when I accompany Bob.

However, this time, I wanted to be careful not to spend any extra money because after all, we are building a new home and have not sold our current home.

However, I did want to enjoy the water and sunshine and relax and read books. I went well supplied and read four books that were just fun.

However, the weather was uncharacteristically cool and rainy with two downpour drenching rainy days and temperatures never getting above 62 degrees.

However, we did enjoy watching the coatis. I loved sitting and listening to their chirping sounds. They were quite tame and although I did not have my camera ever with me, the phone worked well enough to capture a couple of shots.

I do so wish that I could speak Spanish.

However, it was a joy to hear “Hola” and other gracious phrases every time I stepped out of our room.

Sí, gracias, I am remembering this trip con mucho gusto.

Let’s say really really early, okay?

2011-01-18T09:49:00.018-06:00

A ~~couple of people~~ one person asked me to post my recipe and tips on gingerbread house construction. This post is either really, really early for 2011 or months late for 2010.

I usually make the gingerbread houses in late October or in November.

The grandchildren come the day after Thanksgiving to decorate their houses.

The recipe, that I use, makes ten of these little gingerbread houses.

In recent years the grands enjoy experimenting with designing their own houses—if they have time. In that case, of course, the recipe does not go quite as far but it is easy to put together. It is very fun to see their creativity.

If this is your first time baking gingerbread houses, you will want need to gather your equipment and supplies a few days before you want to start.

Equipment needs include two cookie sheets (jelly roll pans) and a good mixer.

These next items are available at craft stores like Hobby Lobby or Michaels or JoAnn Fabrics. You can get some of these things from Amazon.com but be careful. Some are much more expensive from Amazon than from the craft stores.

Meringue Powder

12” disposable frosting or pastry bags

Frosting tips (Do not pay more than $.99 for them.)
I think that Wilton Decorating Tip size #4
or Wilton Decorating Tip size #5
work best for children.

8” rounds

You will need cookie cutters. I bought a three piece set from http://www.foosecookiecutters.com/. You have to look under Christmas and Holidays until you get to about the 4th page or look on the second page of Cookie Cutter Sets. I created another little piece by bending a small cookie cutter into a door shape. The cookie cutters are also available several other places as well. Yes, they are flimsy but we have used ours for about 10 years anyhow.

Here are some tips/suggestions that make the process easier.

When baking the houses, roll the dough out on the underside of a cookie sheet.

Put a damp towel under the cookie sheet so that when muscles are applied to the rolling pin, the cookie sheet stays in place.
Don’t move the cookies after they are cut because it will change the shapes.

Just peel away the extra dough and put it back into the covered bowl to roll it out again for the next batch.

The difference between a front and a back is that that we cut a door in the front pieces. We use the same cookie cutter for both pieces but press my make-shift door cutter for a front piece.

Keep a chart to make sure you bake the right number of pieces. We have ten columns across the top and then four rows. The roof pieces need two slashes per house; the sides need two slashes per house and we need one back and one front. Be sure to mark your chart each time you put a tray of cookies in the oven.

After the cookies are all baked, assemble the houses using the Meringue Powder frosting recipe. Sometimes I assemble on baking day and other times I wait until later. I never assemble them on the day that we decorate because they could collapse during decorating.

I only beat the frosting for seven minutes with my Kitchen Aid mixer. The recipe says to beat for ten minutes but I think that makes the frosting too stiff.

Do not use rubber or plastic when making the frosting or it does not get stiff enough. Just use a regular spoon for putting the frosting in bags.

Snip the ends of the bags and put a tip in each pastry bag.

Kids and adults have a difficult time with the frosting squeezing out the top of the frosting bags so I secure the bags first with a twist tie.

Then I roll the end of the bag and secure it even further with a piece of masking tape.

I wrap a just damp piece of paper towel around the tip of the frosting bags so that the frosting does not harden. I put the tubes in a gallon plastic bag and refrigerate them until we are ready to use the frosting. The frosting recipe is enough for six houses.

The frosting keeps in the refrigerator for up to a week.

When assembling the houses, start with a back and a side.

Then the next side and the front.

Construct all of the houses first and then go back and roof them all after the sides have dried for a few minutes.

It takes me two hours to make the dough from scratch and cut out and bake the pieces for ten houses. It takes me another half hour to put the houses together. When Jessica and I worked together, we made the dough and constructed eleven houses from start to finish in two hours.

Here is the recipe . . .

Gingerbread - 10 houses

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup molasses (use unsulphered--I use Grandma's original)
7 cup flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
2/3 cup water

Use a Kitchen Aid or another good mixer.

Cream butter, margarine and brown sugar
Add molasses

Mix dry ingredients and add slowly & alternately with water to creamed mixture. Mix only long enough to mix so that all ingredients are mixed together.

Keep unused portion covered at all times. Can be refrigerated--bring back to room temperature before rolling.

Oil and flour back of cookie sheet lightly.
Roll out dough and press the cookie cutters. Remove the extra dough.

Bake at 325 to 350 for 10 to 12 minutes or until cookie shapes are just beginning to brown on the edges.

Royal Icing with Meringue Powder
6 T. meringue powder
2 lbs. powdered sugar
12 T. hot tap water

Beat for for 10 minutes.
Use only grease free utensils--stainless steel spoon--no rubber spatulas
Keep covered--air tight
One recipe is more than enough for 6 houses.

If you cannot get the meringue powder, here is an alternative frosting. However, it must be used immediately after you make it. Otherwise it will separate.
3 large egg whites
1 pound powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

Now file this away for nine months and then if you have any challenges during the process, send me an email and I will give you my phone number to talk you through it.

This year, I made or helped to make around sixty little houses.

Jessica and I made 22 houses for her November birthday party.

I contributed houses for an adult Christmas party at church hosted by our small group.

and a few extras for three little girls . . .

I wanted to include my NC grands so we had another party with them and some of their friends the week before Christmas. I had temporarily misplaced my camera and got no photos of our party. That happens to me too frequently--losing my camera.

I was honored when our oldest grandchild, Kent, sixteen years old, borrowed our mixer and a few supplies and made gingerbread houses by himself for a decorating party that he hosted for some male and female friends. I contributed a few houses to that endeavor when he needed a few extra.

This photo was taken in 2001. This is a photo of my dad and stepmom, my mother-in-law, my first husband's sister-in-law and her two kids and my sister. Anne in the striped sweater now has three children of her own. I cannot look at a picture of Dad without thinking how much I miss him. But I digress . . .

I cannot resist one more old photo. Jessica was three in this photo. Now she is eleven.

This post is much, much too long. What can I say? Maybe that's the point. It is time to quick talking. Blessings my friends.

Better than a Partridge in a Pear Tree

2011-01-01T14:50:00.001-06:00

1 shining star

2 darling shepherds

3 overnighting grandkids

4 singing grandsons
(Away in a Manger with motions as part of their Christmas challenge)

5 Christmas concerts

6 cups of tea

7 swimming cousins

8 of us seniors

9 card-playing cousins

10 or 11 ?

Dozens of students

A few bonus photos

1 delightful crawling baby

A comfy caring brother

Modeling of new clothes

A very skinny snowman

A daddy that is towing

Sipping on hot chocolate

And a sapsucker on a bird feeder

Good News of Great Joy!

2010-12-25T23:26:00.011-06:00

One of God's special gifts to me is my second husband's dear family. They fill my life in many ways but especially at holidays when my two sons and their families are not with us.

This year we were so happy to have my son Andy and his dear family--Amy, Ryan, Jacob and Allie join us. Kathi's friend, Joe was also with us for the first time. The food was yummy. The kids were delighted with their gifts. There were many good conversations and a family game as well. Later the families enjoyed The Voyage of the Dawn Treader movie. It was a happy day to remember. It was particularly nice to have an expanded cast for our drama of the true Christmas story.

There were observant and nurturing shepherds

A host of glorious angels . . .

Mary was magnifcent and Joseph was outstanding

Sweet, sweet baby Jesus
No crying [he] made.

Three sagacious magi

And all the other supporting roles.

What a wonderful story!

Joy, Joy, Joy!

Our Merry Christmas Puzzle

2010-12-23T14:00:00.004-06:00

2010 was a traumatic and difficult year because of the death of Bob’s oldest son, Andrew McDonell on May 22, 2010. We grieve and miss him very much. Our family photo, taken in June without Andy M., is a sad reminder of our loss—that he is missing from our picture. Thanks for your prayers and support.

Although Andy is never far from our minds and hearts, we wanted to focus on family smiles with our Christmas greeting.

Our card was a take-off from the Life puzzle books. I rated it as Novice and you ought to be able to get thirteen of the changes in three minutes. Two of the changes are not really fair—because they are so small on the photos. You can enlarge by double clicking. The changes are in no particular order—except the first change, of course. Below the pictures is the answer key.

Yay! Baby Allie (Alice Madelyn Rowell) was born on May 6. The grandchildren count is now at thirteen, four girls and nine boys.
Morgan’s new favorite color is purple—purple clothes, purple notebooks, purple bedroom . . .
Ryan rides a two wheeler bicycle, thus the biker gloves.
Seamus is wearing a White Sox shirt. I just wanted to get that in somewhere.
Jacob still loves any toy with wheels but especially big rigs and monster trucks.
Beware there will soon be a new driver on the roads. Kent has car keys in his hand and will be licensed soon.
Jackson wrote 95 in tally marks and in Roman numerals to indicate how many birthdays we celebrated with our sweet Grandma Rowell in October.
Hale is holding up the Miracle Camp sign. We had a wonderful weekend with all of our family and my extended Gisel family.
Steven, 15 years, is really tall—taller than Grandpa and his mom and he is still growing! Perhaps the picture is a bit exaggerated.
Andy is wearing a Donald Trump toupee. I just couldn’t resist trying it on him when I saw them advertised online. Sorry Andy.
It is really hard to see but Lilly has two coins in her hands. She is six years old and minus – temporarily – her two front teeth.
Bob is holding a hammer. Bob is not actually doing the hammering on our new house—not until picture hanging time.
Kevin and Patti now have five boys and Jessica. Widianto Moestopo from Indonesia and Diancheng Yu from China are boarding students at Wheaton Academy. Kevin is holding a frame representing their school pictures.
Grif is wearing a t-shirt from the YMCA of the Rockies. The Petersan clan enjoyed a special family reunion—the first in ~~twenty years~~ lots of years—I am not sure how many. I am quite sure that Grif would not wear a t-shirt of kids singing the YMCA song but then I am pretty sure that Andy would never wear a Donald Trump toupee either.
Notice the airplane? No, Bob is not yet retired. He travels somewhere nearly every week. We are thankful for ServiceMaster.

Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. 1 Corinthians 13:12

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Hebrews 11:1

Merry Christmas
and
Happy New Year!

First There's the Village

2010-12-04T08:00:00.000-06:00

Christmas is here and I am loving it! I looked out the window this morning and saw two beautfiful cardinals sitting in snow covered trees. Sister Donna and I attended a wonderful Starstruck Christmas event for women.

I have a pattern for Christmas. First comes the gingerbread houses, the day after Thanksgiving, then the tree and decorating and then the Christmas cards. I am behind on recording so will just show you our village and the founders of it one by one. The snow this morning has me singing.

What a happy day! Merry Christmas!

It is Good

2010-12-01T12:05:00.003-06:00

Today is Amy's birthday.

About two weeks ago was her wedding day.

The wedding of Eric and Amy was beautiful, romantic, simple, and worshipful. It was a family affair.

Amy's sister, Dawn, was the matron of honor. Niece Tanyale was Amy's personal assistant. Eric's brother, Mark, was the best man. Sorry Eric and Mark but I could not find a photo of the two of you.

Eric's sister, Kelly sang a sweet love song in her lovely clear voice.

A little later, we were blessed as Amy's brother, Brian and
sister-in-law, Sharice, sang a beautiful and moving duet.

Amy's Uncle Lowell officiated the wedding. He reminded Amy and Eric and all of their guests of the importance of keeping Christ first in marriage.

Eric’s beautiful daughters Loren and Mackenzie brought such joy.

There were delightful, excited, and helpful.

Here is the groom’s cake that they made for their daddy.

How appropriate it was to have the girls participate in the sand ceremony.

They are an integral part of the family and had a part in the engagement. Eric took his two daughters with him. Neither Loren or Mackenzie or Eric could hold their excitement for long so almost as soon as Amy got out of the house, going towards the car, Eric knelt down and asked, “Will you marry us?”

Amy responded, “Yes!” at which point the youngest daughter danced around shouting, “She said, ‘Yes!’ She will marry us!”

Amy set the tone for the wedding. She was inclusive, bringing all of her family and friends into their circle of happiness.

Amy’s family is glad for Eric. He has won their hearts.

Eric’s family expressed over and over their love for and appreciation of Amy and their happiness for Eric.

Many friends and family witnessed the creation of this union.

Here is what God says about the things that He creates; "It is good!"