CAN'T WAIT!

Oh boy am I one proud mom again!!!!!

You can read all the details by clicking HERE.

Losing A Generation

I wrote a few weeks ago about a dear lady in our church who is in a nursing home...Mrs. R. Two weeks ago, her husband, Mr. R. passed away. His funeral was probably one of the saddest ones I've ever been to. I felt so sorry for Mrs. R. because I don't know if she even knew of his passing or could even comprehend it at this point. I felt so sorry for both of them because I don't even know the last time they had seen eachother. They lost the presence of one another and with that, they seemed to have lost their strength. I don't even know that they got to say goodbye to one another.

With Mr. R's passing, comes the stark reminder that an entire generation is passing away and frankly that just makes me sad. Its a generation of women named, Olive, Pearl, and Midge. Men named, Percival, Eugene, and Albert. Quickly passing are first-hand memories of WWII and rationing; full-service gas stations and the art of letter writing.

I find such comfort in older people. Gray-haired ladies who have mastered the art of cooking recipes that have been handed down for generations and men who still wear hats. People who entertain us not with the latest movie but with stories and tales of the good old days.

These are our treasures. Those who remain still have so much to offer. Remember them this holiday season.

26 Years and Counting

26 years ago, we said our vows and life began. It's been an interesting ride! God has been so good to us. He has kept us in situations where we have continually been surrounded by good friends and family who in one way or another have helped us, encouraged us, given our cars jumps, babysat, listened to us cry, pushed us to try again or to keep going.

I'm guessing I know most of you who read this blog and I just want to tell you how thankful I am for you. You are so special to Cliff & I.

After 26 years, sometimes the romance fades a bit. It's not all Cupid, flowers, and candle-lit

dinners. But thats a good thing...because in its place is a love that runs so much deeper. Something that doesn't needs words most of the time. We just know we are there for eachother. I know that he will make his coffee and pack his lunch every night, get in his truck and drive 40 minutes to drive all night to support our family. I know that he'll support our kids and be there for them anyway he can. I know he'd also do anything for my mom and dad or any member of my family.

He knows that every morning I'll get up and make sure his two kids who still live at home will be taken to school. He knows that there will be food in the fridge & coffee to put in his coffee pot. There will be clean clothes in his closet and things at home will be taken care of. He knows that his children will be well cared for and I'd do anything for his mom or any member of his family.

Comfort, Security, Trust and Love. That's what we have...and its good.

Seussical Video Two

Seussical Video 1

Sorry this is not a complete video. Didn't have time to sort through them good before posting.

Seussical The Musical

Several years ago, our family was on a vacation in GA. Right before we left for home, I came into some extra money. On a stop in Nashville in an outlet mall, I let the kids pick out two CDs for the ride home. The oldest ones, Josh & Amy, actually did the picking and we drove home, listening to the soundtracks of Grease and Seussical the Musical. Little did we know that just a few years later, Amy would be in a high school production of Grease. And we definately did not know that Jacob would be in the production of Seussical.

If you've never seen Seussical, its Dr. Seuss put to music with the main story line being, Horton Hears a Who. The music is fun and entertaining and very kid-friendly. Jacob was Horton the Elephant in this production and having never seen him in any venue like this before, we were not sure how he would handle the pressure and nerves. He did GREAT!!!!!

I wish I could put the entire musical on here but the best I can do is give you a sampling of a high school production of Seussical, where the kids had so much fun presenting it and we, the audience had fun watching.

Random Childhood Memories

It must be the all-too-quickly approaching holiday season that has me waxing nostalgic. Over the past couple days, I've been remembering some various memories from my childhood. There's no rhyme or reason to them:

• Instead of waiting to take us shoe shopping after school or on a Saturday, my mom would trace an outline of our foot on a piece of paper and take that to the store with her to buy our shoes. (Usually those white canvas tennis shoes)....maybe she didn't want the hassle of us kids in the store with her!
• Back in the day before everything was packaged in plastic, most liquids came in glass bottles. For some reason I didn't have a thermos so my mom put my kool-aid for my lunch in a small glass bottle. Of course I dropped my lunch that day and there was glass everywhere!
• Speaking of glass, my mom had a glass tea/coffee pot. One morning as I was getting ready to leave for school, I swung it around and hit the counter with it, spilling the boiling water all over my feet. I had to put my socks & white canvas tennis shoes on my burnt feet!! Somehow I managed to get to the wooden telephone booth at school and call my mom to come and get me because my feet were on fire!! She did!!
• I used to have the classic red rubber golashes and the plaid lunchbox!
• When I was a little girl of 5, we lived in a house in a small country town upstate, NY. The house had a big willow tree over the driveway that we spent hours playing under. When it rained, large puddles would form in the driveway (they seemed the size of a pond to my 5-year old imagination) and I was so disappointed to discover you cannot use a tobaggan to set sail in a pond-like puddle.