Change of Plans!

We were supposed to drive to Canton today to visit my friend Kim and her little girl Annalise.  Surprise, surprise, the relentless snow struck again.  I woke up during the night to the sound of ice softly pelting the window.  It snowed into the late morning and made driving conditions yucky.  So we will have to reschedule.

About 9 o'clock my friend, and neighbor, Laurie called.  She was taking her little girl out to play and wanted Blake and I to join.  We had so much fun!  Their family has been such a blessing and we have become good friends.  We will miss them so much when we move next month.

Just the right size snowman!

How cute are they, holding the snow man's hands?!

Don't you love my su-weet hat?

Dirty Money

Call it a tribute to President's Day.  Perhaps, it was meant to add fervor to my daily prayers for my son.  Maybe it was an attempt to spice up an otherwise routine evening.  The world may never know what was going on in this little munchkin's head when he decided to swallow a nickle and dime last night.

Needless to say, Blake gave us quite a scare with this latest antic.  I heard him gag, then rushed into the room to find him breathless.  Just as quickly, he gulped them the rest of the way down, then told us he "ate the moneys."  You ate the WHAT?

The two hour visit to the Emergency Room which followed was mostly full of waiting and more waiting.  Blake loved every second of it.  He chatted with the nurses as though they were long lost friends.   When they placed the ID bracelet on his wrist he exclaimed with a grin "It's my cast!"   Then the miniature invalid buddied up with another little girl in the waiting room, coloring pictures and explaining LOUDLY how, "There's gonna be moneys in my poop."

When we finally made our way down the long hallway to the Radiology Center, I thought the gravity of the situation would settle in.  I was prepared to console him, as this strange machine took a picture of his tummy.  Nope, he thought it was awesome.  He inspected the machine and declared it to be cool.  He asked to see the picture and smiled as the radiologist gave him this stuffed monkey.

To be honest, other than the whole swallowing two coins, he was charming and adorable, better behaved than usual.  His pure joy at it all was frustrating.  I wish I could say the nickle and dime pictured above were the culprits, but the real items have yet to "appear."  Oh, I sure do love this little boy!

Always Winter, But Never Christmas

 It's at this point, every year we've lived in Northern Ohio, that I feel as if we've stepped into Narnia circa The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.  More snow, and a lot of it, has fallen...again.

Mom and Grandma each sent Blake a Valentine's card with a little cash inside.  We stopped by the toy aisle yesterday and came home with his very first remote controlled, er, spaceship.  His two year old interest zeroed in on this and a gun that made a lot of noise.  Thankfully the Toy Story franchise won out.

 He's getting the hang of it!

After having spent hours listening to this thing whir, run into walls and then rescuing it from under the TV stand repeatedly, I am thinking maybe the toy gun would not have been so annoying after all.

Faithful

The one year anniversary of Grandma's death reminded me that I had saved some bulbs from a flower arrangement I took home after the funeral.  I had planned to plant them last fall, but then we made the decision to move.  I wanted to take them with me, so I left all of the bulbs in ziploc bags in the garage.  There they have sat, forgotten in our dark cold garage.  No soil, no water - just toxic, man-mad, plastic baggies.

Turns out leaving them alone wasn't such a bad thing.  When I finally worked up the nerve to peek at them I saw these lovely green shoots sprouting up!  I know very little about plants (obviously) so I was amazed to see life and growth in the neglected bulbs.

I talked with my dear cousin, Luoma, yesterday who explained that these plants need the winter season.  They need the months of dark, cold dormancy to prepare for a showy spring.  Year after year perennials, draw from their "root stock" to produce their beautiful blooms.  However, she also urged me to "get them in the ground right now!"

What an encouragement these tough plants are.  I know I have definitely felt forgotten before.  There have been times I have received a promise from God, only to see it accomplished on a time table that felt excruciatingly long.  Or I've quietly nourished a dream in my heart with gusto then, to be honest, I shelved it somewhere in my heart and forgot all about it.

Thank God, He does not forget.  "Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." -Philippians 1:6   His work in me is like those persistent green shoots.  From the reservoir of blessing, pain, patience and strength being created, He is growing a plan for me that He will be faithful to complete.

Rock On Larry Boy!

We love to dance around this house, but these moves you'll see below must have been inherited from Uncle Nathan.

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City Grandma, Country Grandma

Yesterday marked one year since Grandma McCleese passed away.  I thought about her quite a lot throughout the day, and was reminded of a writing assignment we did in elementary school.  I chose to give a description of my two grandmas.  Wish I could find it now!  They were both influential in my young life.

My City Grandma, Eva Mae, is still very strong and healthy.

City Grandma:  Mamaw Bowling holding my baby boy for the first time.

• My city grandma loves to buy new clothes.  The sales clerks at her favorite stores know her by name.  

• She is a cleaning machine, and asks us to take our shoes off when we enter the house.

• Grandma is the best cook I know.  She makes old and new dishes with ease that are never too dry or bland.  I loved to make oatmeal cookies with her when I was little.

• She loves to travel, and took her first trip by air this year.

• When we were young she often took us to the mall.  We would visit our favorite shops, grab lunch at Chic-fil-A and later buy a bag of chocolate covered raisins.  I loved visiting her house and being spoiled rotten!

My Country Grandma, Francis Rebecca, is now at rest in heaven.

Country Grandma:  Grandma McCleese, holding Baby Blake for the first time.

• My country grandma always wore skirts.  She had beautiful, long hair that I liked to brush when she took it down from it's platted and pinned up do.

• She loved to garden, and put up enough canned goods to feed an army.

• Grandpa had to keep his eye on her or she would give away every penny she had to someone in need, and she often took in struggling people to stay in their home.  

• She always seemed to have a vat of purple Kool Aid ready for her fifteen grandchildren.

• She gave sloppy kisses and had a beautiful smile.

Of course these two special women have a lot in common too.

• They are both stubborn as the day is long.  

• Both have a true warmth and heart of hospitality.  Neither ever seemed to know a stranger. 

• Most importantly they love and serve God.  I have seen both of them bow to pray earnestly many a time.  Each had experienced her share of trials in this life, and had met them with a gritty determination to rely on her Savior and become stronger.

I am so blessed to be the granddaughter of two such amazing women!

Valentine Sweets!

Today is such a great day for reminding the special people in your life how much they are loved! 

The candy we sent to all of the grandparents made it in time!  This recipe for "Bark" is basically saltines covered in caramel with chocolate on top.  The salty and sweet combo is a definite winner.

I am a sucker for orchids.  Well done, Steve.

 

My gift for my espresso loving man - chocolate tiramisu.  

Love my sweet Valentine!

A Bit of Stitching

We are planning to check out apartments in Columbus tomorrow.  Mom will meet us and take Blake in the morning, so we can scoot around town more easily.  Today I remembered that I had promised her I would make her a buckwheat pillow.  I had enough leftover materials from the gift I made Terry for Christmas, so I pulled them out and, voila, a pillow!

These neck pillows are great, and cost upwards of $50 on-line.  I spent about $25 on supplies and made two!  Probably could have made it cheaper, if I could have found buckwheat hulls nearby.

I used moleskin fabric, and created a pattern by tracing around half of a neck pillow.   I added 1/2" around the outline for a seam allowance.  I used a fabric pen to transfer the outline to the fabric, then flipped the pattern and lined it up for a symmetrical u-shape.

With right sides together, sew a 4/8" seam allowance around edges.  Be sure to leave a 1 & 1/2" opening so the pillow can be filled later.

Sew a second, parallel seam for reinforcement.  I kept the left side of the footer on the previous seam as my guide.

Turn pillow inside out through the gap, and prepare to fill!

Use a funnel to pour in the lovely buckwheat hulls!  I purchased mine for $3.60/lb from http://www.save-on-crafts.com/buckwheat.html.  1 & 1/2 pounds is about right for a pillow this size.

I highly recommend finding an adorable little vacuumer for the mess you are definitely going to make!

Use a tight hand stitch to sew up the hole.

Ta Da!  Just as good as the expensive ones, and maybe even better!

Catching Up

I've got a backlog of little videos sitting on deck in imovie.  Slowly but  surely I'm finishing them up so I can burn a DVD of June - December's activities.  I love having a Mac, so we can edit our home videos easily.  However, it definitely takes more time than leaving in all of the dead space and boring stuff, and entire segments shot with the cap still on.

Here's the latest memory!

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Secret Project

I've always had fun on Valentine's Day, long before I ever had a boyfriend. It began when I was just a wee little thing, and Papaw would send me a pink and red card, complete with a silly verse and a bit of money tucked inside. Once I was in elementary school, there were the usual parties and card exchange. In college, I spent two valentines hanging out with a bunch of friends and ditching the romantic side of things. Then Steve came along, and made the day even sweeter. Now I get flowers, usually tulips :)

The last two years, Blake and I have been sending a valentine surprise to the grandparents. This year's gift is edible. That's all I can say for now!

Definitely not a low cal treat!

So cute the way he sticks his tongue out when he's concentrating.

Results of licking the spoon. Looks like a little Charlie Chaplin.

The Father's Heart

At the church we visited this morning, the pastor shared a message about reconciling to the Father God. He shared a bit of his own story and his struggle to connect to the Father without fear. The lens through which he viewed God had been warped by his own dad.

As we sat there, I thought about how thankful I am that Steve and I have fathers who love us unconditionally. It must be so hard to grow up without a dad, or under the same roof as an abusive father. Thank God for this promise:

A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, Is God in His holy habitation. Psalm 68:5

Steve is such a good father. Nobody's perfect, but Blake is definitely secure in his daddy's love. When we got home they were having fun playing with race cars, and in light of today's message, it made my heart feel warm.

We made a "garage" out of an orange crate.

Vroom! Vroom!

Trying to catch him so I can get a picture.

Close Enough!

So much enjoy having my hubby home!

Kalahari!

We had a great time at Minister's Retreat this week, which just so happens to be held at the nation's largest indoor water park. Blake had so much fun and was brave enough to move on up to the big kid play area!

This of course means that we "moved on up" with him. Let me just say that it is impossible to keep your hair dry in this maze of tunnels, stairs and slides. And just in case you think you'll be the only to ever manage this feat, they add a giant bucket of water that tips at any moment without notice. Check out the picture below!

Steve did a great job handling all of the details at this retreat! It was his first Ohio Ministry Network event to oversee and I think he is glad to have it under his belt. Blake hung out with the other mini PK's in the nursery. The leaders gave us a photo to keep of the group. Can you imagine trying to get a group shot of toddlers and infants? This is the only one in which you can even see Blake's face, and/or he is not picking his nose!

Their shirts read "iamapk" I am a PK!