A Busy Day

This was a busy day for me...running errands for my parents and visiting with them, getting Daddy out of the nursing home and settled back into Assisted Living with my Mom.  They are happy to be back together.

Then, home to attend the birthday dinner of my fantastic son-in-law, Justin - the father of my grandbaby...

 

He is a very special man and he is so good to my daughter.  I am sure he will be a great father.  I thank God for bringing him into my daughter's life.  We enjoyed celebrating with him.

My Daddy Wants Some Peas and Cornbread

When I visited my Daddy a couple of weeks ago, he told me he is hungry for some peas and cornbread and some banana pudding.  I told him I would bring him some the next time I came up and he said that I couldn't make peas and cornbread that were as good as his.  Then he proceeded to tell me how to make the cornbread exactly like he does.

I am going to visit my Mom and Daddy tomorrow for the night and I am planning to cook him those things today along with some candied sweet potatoes which he loves.  I feel sure they won't live up to his standards, but I think he will enjoy them.

I am looking forward to seeing them both.

Second Quilt of the Year

Baby quilt for Mandy Johnson...

Same pattern as the first one, but different fabric, different border.

First Quilt This Year

Baby quilt for Kate Kyle....

Oh, No! Not Eggplant!

My grandbaby, Leah, is an eggplant this week!  I really don't like eggplant, but I guess I will have to like it this week.

Here are a couple of pictures of her new nursery and her Mommy and Daddy.  This nursery is a work in progress, but it is coming along....

 

 

Thought we would never get Papa out of the chair!

3 more months to go!  We can't wait!

Birthday Boy

My precious son just celebrated his 34th birthday!  I am just too young to have a child that old, but it is true.  He was a very special child and he has become a wonderful man.

My first baby, a daughter, died at birth, so when Ryan was born the next year, he was such a healing balm to my heart.  He was perfect and even though I was young (23) and didn't know anything about babies, we got along great!

First children are always the guinea pigs of the family.  You don't get an owner's manual when you have a baby, so you have to learn about parenting as you go with the first baby.  Parents are more protective of the first child.  Parents are harder on the first child.

When the first child drops his pacifier, the parent runs to the stove to sterilize it before the baby can have it again.  By the time the second child comes along, the parent just wipes it off and sticks it back in the baby's mouth!

I made many mistakes with Ryan, but thanks to the Lord, he turned out great anyway!  He is handsome, smart, talented, and he has a kind, loving heart.  He married a beautiful, talented woman.

Happy Birthday, Baby Boy.  You are my special angel and being your mother has been one of the great joys of my life.

What I Have Learned

Happy New Year!  As I look back on 2009, it has been bittersweet.  Lots of ups and downs.  I can't imagine that this will change in this New Year, but as I reflect on the situation with my parents, one thing stands out to me.

Enjoy every moment as you live it!

I hate it when someone says "life is short...."  That is simply not true - life is eternal - it is not short.  How we live this life will determine how and where we will spend the rest of our life after we die.  The MOST IMPORTANT thing we can do in this life is to put our trust in Jesus as our Savior.  When you boil it down, nothing else really matters.

But I am not talking about that - I am talking about this "first" life.  When we are kids, we can't wait to grow up.  When we are teenagers, we can't wait to get married.  When we get married, we can't wait to have babies.  When we have babies and we are up to our eyeballs in diapers, we can't wait until they are all in school.  When they are teenagers, we can't wait until they go to college.  Then when they are grown, we can't wait until we have grandchildren.  We "can't wait" so much that we don't enjoy the moments as we live them.

One day, if you live long enough, you will probably have to move from your home into another facility and someone is going to say to you that you can only take the necessities - you have to leave everything else behind.  All the furniture and antiques, quilts and dishes, collections and things that you spent your life collecting and that meant so much to you - left behind for someone else.

Use and enjoy your "things" now - eat off the china, cover up with the quilts, enjoy your home and invite your friends to enjoy it too.  Let your children enjoy "things" too.  If they break a dish or a glass - so what!  Things can be replaced.  You are making memories that you can take with you wherever you live.

The sum of a life is not how many "things" you collected, but how you lived your life and how you helped others as you lived your life.  Live every moment now!

"Life is not measured in the number of breaths we take, but in the number of moments that take our breath away!"