Dodi's Doings

Fordyce Pond Signs of Rain!

2012-02-11T18:48:00.000-08:00

Ron and I went to Fordyce to see his pond back in September. Ken Adams built the pond for his the summer of 2011. Today, Feb 2012, Ron went to Fordyce to see the pond, and the pond is full! He is hoping to draw the wildlife to his hunting woods!

California 2012

2012-02-10T19:50:00.000-08:00

I think these are sea lions! They are loud, bellowing at each other, fighting for a spot on the wharf!

Dolphins, they were so fun to watch! They jump and play and follow the boat.

A Grey Whale! The glimpse of the whales it pretty quick, first you see a spray of water, then they come up for a few minutes, maybe splash their tail, then go under for 20 minutes or so.

A pelican, thank goodness they are not afraid of people, I am not a dedicated bird watcher or a very good photographer, this one just posed for me!

California is very friendly to the plant life, I love seeing things in bloom when back in Arkansas
we are having our winter.

Ron and have traveled to California for a "National Defense Industry Association" meeting with Department of Defense officials. The meeting is organized to give information to government contractors about the future of government budgets for Tactical Wheeled Vehicles. The meetings are very informative! I am especially grateful that Ron wants to attend these meetings and they are held in such a great meeting location.

Big Cedar & Dogwood Canyon

2011-12-12T21:22:00.000-08:00

Violet and Evie feeding the fish at the Glory Hole!

Elvis! the big buffalo daddy!

One of the many elk at Dogwood Canyon. This isn't even the biggest elk.

Violet!

Evie and Fiona!

Family picture after the Elf visited the kids!

Evie and Fiona loved the rice krispy treat that the elf brought.

The kids loved the little racoon.

This trip to Big Cedar was so nice. I love this place. You do not have to leave the property to have fun, entertainment or delicious food. We went to Dogwood Canyon, which is about 20 miles from Big Cedar. I would imagine the canyon would be even more beautiful when the dogwoods and redbud trees are in bloom. It was still lovely. The highlight is the tram ride to the mountian tops where the elk, buffalo and long horn steer live. The driver feeds the animals right outside the tram ride. The kids touched the elk's antlers.

We went to Silver Dollar City for a short visit. Ron and I couldn't enjoy the visit because we both are having knee problems. Saturday night, we had a fantistic dinner, followed by a horse drawn wagon ride to see the Big Cedar lights. Then we all put on our Christmas PJs and had a visit from one of Santa's Elves! The Elf brought the kids a stocking with a cute racoon toy, candy and read the kids a story. That would be my highlight of the day! This was our Thanksgiving trip, and it made me thankful for simple pleasures experienced with our kids and grandkids!

Veronika petting the elk!

Evie touching the antlers!

Evie, Fiona, Tucker, Veronika, Wyatt, Jackson, Phoenix and Violet!

The kids are so precious!

More on my Knee

2011-12-12T18:57:00.000-08:00

I guess the good news is that Ron didn't have a torn minicus. He just has arthritis. He did get the Othrovis shot, and his knee is feeling better.
I had surgery Dec 5, a minucusectomy! It wasn't too bad. I didn't have a lot of pain from the surgery. Andrea, Kay, Paula and Amanda brought us dinner. That was a bright spot in the week. It's nice having people take care of you!
I slept the first day, read the second day, and returned to work the third day. My favorite day was the day spent reading and resting! It was a little like a vacation.
The doctor prescribed 6 physical therapy sessions. The first two were pretty easy. Today, the evil therapist made me bend my knee and straighten my knee! Ouch! My knee feels so swollen! But I have to admit, I would not be able to force the knee movements. I really do want have a functioning knee, so I will keep submitting myself to the torture.

Ouch! Journal of the Knees

2011-11-20T21:06:00.000-08:00

October 30, 2011, almost all of the family was headed to Robinson Auditorium to watch, "Shrek"!
We were about to cross the street at Markham & Broadway, I turned her heard a SNAP! And felt some extreme pain in my knee. I tried to put weight on it and carry on to the show. Amanda went back to the van and drove me to the door. I hobbled inside and asked the security people at the door if they had a wheelchair. Thankfully, they did. They were so nice, brought the chair to me, pushed me to my seat.
Sherk was fantastic! I was so thankful to be able to see the show. If I kept my knee straight, the pain was manageable. Trying to walk was outrageously painful.
Ron had a ortho appointment schedule for Monday morning, so I went with him and asked them to see me too. Unfortunately, they couldn't schedule the MRI until Friday. I would suggest anyone that has a similar incident, to go to the emergency room!
At the appointment, Ron had a shot of cortisone to help with his knee pain caused by arthritis.
That evening, Ron and I went home to load up the tractor and the straw to take the kids on a hayride. I sat in the truck while he went to the barn to load up. After what seemed a long wait, Ron called and said, we are in trouble now. He had stepped off the tractor and heard a SNAP!
I called Josh and asked him to take my crutches out to the tractor for Ron. Ron refused to go to the emergency room. I think the shot numbed his pain. He later started hurting more, so went back and was scheduled for an MRI.
My MRI showed torn cartilage or meniscus, on both sides. The doctor recommended surgery to remove the torn tissue. I have been reluctant to have the surgery, even though it is scheduled for Dec 5.
Ron finds out Tuesday the results of his MRI.
I have done research on the surgery and talked to several people that have had similar situations. The consensus seems to be the surgery prevents problems later in life, and improves mobility. I can't actually bend my knee now. My knee hurts when I try to go to sleep. When I can walk without pain, I think I can handle this without the surgery. Then I go to bed and can't even kick the covers with my bad leg.
So it's surgery for me.

Update on Ron will follow on Tuesday!

Ron's Pond and Hunting Woods

2011-09-28T10:52:00.000-07:00

Deer tracks and a butterfly

The view of the pond across from the entrance.

The pond will be pretty deep if it fills up to the dam.

Ron drove around the outer boundary of the hunting woods.This was a testament to his Toyota Tacoma. We went places a pickup truck should not go, and a place that an old lady should not have to go, it was a rough ride! We were bouncing along and all of a sudden I saw a white bushy plant covered in butterflies.
The land that was clear cut by the timber company was covered in this white weed, I believe it is a type of milkweed. People travel all over to see Monarch Butterflies! The Monarch migrates to Mexico for the winter. The monarch butterflies that travel to migrate, will not be the same to return, their children's grandchildren will return in the Spring migration. I was very excited to witness this migration! And I now have a reason to visit the deer camp!

Colorado Springs and Denver Colorado

2011-09-25T20:14:00.000-07:00

I love the trees in mountain areas, they are not like our evergreens!

We visited the Manitou Indian cliff dwellings.

The view is from the Pike's Peak Cog Railroad. The railroad takes you to Pike's Peak.

We think the view from the Pikes Peak Summit was beautiful. It was too cold and too cloudy to see anything. We ran outside took the picture and had to get back on the railroad.

I had altitude sickness, Ron couldn't breathe, we were both a little distressed.

The NARSA meetings in Denver were beneficial. And we were able to eat at Pappaduex Cajun Seafood

Restaurant twice. We had Alaskan Halibut both nights.

I would prefer a real vacation, but I am grateful to have a little bit of sightseeing when we go to business meetings.

Labor Day at Gaston's

2011-09-08T16:28:00.000-07:00

We took the kids and grandkids to Gaston's for the Labor Day weekend. Paula took this picture of Poppa and the boys. This is one I will have printed for Ron. I just shows how relaxing and peaceful the weekend was. We ate, we fished, we hiked and played games. On Saturday, we went a little stir crazy because of too much relaxing, but it was a great weekend. Steve caught his limit of trout. The kids all caught or at least brought in a trout. We ate them, they are not delicious, but still fun to catch.

Tucker's trout

Steve's trout, Violet was so brave, she stayed by the river bank all day with her Daddy, and helped him fish.

Violet helped me fish too!

Phoenix had so much fun walking down to the river bank all by himself!

This picture doesn't do justice to the huge hill that Jackson came racing down on his bike!

He has a need for SPEED!

Fiona enjoying the hill, she went up the hill, down the hill!

Andrea and Violet hiking!

Brad takes his cooking very serious! The steaks were delicious! The trout was good, but not as good at catfish, so maybe next time, we will catch and release.

Wyatt enjoyed his trip!

This is how we camp out! Lots of outdoor time, without the tent or cot to sleep on!

The Green Heron

2011-08-07T12:18:00.000-07:00

For Memorial Day weekend, we traveled to Big Cedar. On our way to breakfast, I saw this bird. I did not know what kind of bird it was. I have a iBird Explorer App for my phone, and preceded to spend most of the weekend trying to decide what bird this was. I had to get a better look to see the colors, the flight pattern, and perhaps the "field markings". I am not an experienced birder, so I have a lot to learn about bird identifications.I didn't get a good look the first morning. I had this big plan, get up early in the morning, get my coffee and take a walk down to the pond to study the bird. Morning came, and I thought no, I will not go birding this morning, I will waiting until the next day. Luckily, we saw the bird again, late morning, and was able to see the feet. The third morning, late in the morning, I had my camera ready and was able to take pictures. From the pictures, I could get a better understanding of the bird, and determined it was a Green Heron!

I learned from this experience. First, I am not a very dedicated birder. Most birders spend a lot of time in the field, in often rugged conditions. I didn't even walk down to the lake, I drove by an extra time to look for him. Early morning and late afternoon are also better birding times. I am fine with the late afternoon, but not those mornings.
I will concentrate on attracking birds to my yard. That is so much easier than hiking through the woods!

I had to crop the picture to see the feet and actually see what the bird looked like!

I am going to try and start my "Life List", more on that later.

7 Grandkids and Counting

2011-08-06T22:09:00.000-07:00

This is a picture from last spring. I have been blogging all day. It's too hot to work outside, so I have spent the day blogging, doing laundry and watching TV. Read on down for the last few months of actitvities!

Graduations and Closings

2011-08-06T21:27:00.000-07:00

Tucker graduated from SCDS Pre K

Jackson graduated from Kindergarten

Awana closing

Big Cedar

2011-08-06T20:49:00.000-07:00

We went to Big Cedar outside of Branson for Memorial Day weekend. This may be favorite place to go! There are restaurants, several swimming pools, walking trails, beautiful gardens. There were some great fireworks on Sunday night. We went to Silver Dollar City for a few hours on Sunday. We mostly just let the kids swim and play!

Jackson, Phoenix, Veronika, Violet & Tucker

Happy Birthday to You and You and You...

2011-08-06T19:46:00.000-07:00

Happy 2nd Birthday Phoenix!

Happy 3rd Birthday Violet!

Happy 1st Birthday Fiona!

Happy 9th Birthday Veronika!

Happy 5th Birthday Tucker

I have missed making blog posts for my precious grandchildren! I love celebrating with family!
We have had a movie/lunch party, Dorey's Catfish, Build A Bear, swimming, cakes, and more cake!
I am a blessed woman to be able to share in the life of these kids!

Proud Poppa and Dodi

2011-07-04T22:38:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe we have 8 grandchildren! These kids are the best thing ever. I would say that Ron and I really enjoyed our kids. But these grandkids, they are just so precious! I didn't know that I had been missing holding a baby, but I did not want to put that baby down. The funny thing is, Jackson is 6, so in these 6 1/2 years, our kids have had/gained a total of 8 kids. That is more than 1 a year! The year Tucker was born, Andrea and Steve were married, so we gained Veronika. Violet and Evie were born the same year. Phoenix, Fiona and Wyatt have there own year. Church friends have noticed that we have a baby every year about the time of Vacation Bible School, the East End Dowlers are getting a reputation! A good one though!

Sweet Wyatt, born July 3, 2011, 3:20 am. Paula was amazing, being a L/D nurse, is it so funny watching her in action. I don't really think she needs all those nurses and medical people, except maybe the anesthesiologist, she really likes her epidural. The anesthesiologist was especially useful. The doctor wasn't arriving quick enough, so this great guy stays to sure everything is going good! Wyatt arrived so quick! They are going to have a great birth story to tell about the night Wyatt was born!

I have been blessed to wittness the birth of my grandkids. Welcoming these precious souls into the world is a gift. I know I would bond with them anyway, because Ron hasn't been in the delivery room, but that man loves these babies. But getting to share in that joy is so awesome!

I can't wait to see what personality Wyatt has and am so excited to watch him grow as I have his brothers and cousins. God has blessed us by allowing us to live so close to our children that we see them regularly and watch as they learn and develop. We are blessed to watch them as they grow physically, but most important we are able to watch them grow spritually.

I know Brad and Paula are the best parents Wyatt could possibly have. They are raising their children to be kind, loving young boys. They are giving their kids the best start in life, and I don't mean the material things, but the things that matter, love, trust, respect, love of God!

Andrea posted this on Facebook while I was writing this post!

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

Violet's Birthday #3

2011-04-17T22:02:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Sweet Violet! Violet's 3rd birthday was celebrated at The Wonder Place. I love this place, imaginative fun for the kids, it feels safe for the kids. A quite space for the parents.
Violet had friends and family to celebrate with her. Her present from us didn't come in before the party, so I will have to post Violet's special transportation her later.

Easter 2011

2011-04-17T21:35:00.000-07:00

Jackson

Caleb

Jackson's Eggs

Violet

The Hunt

Violet would stop to pose, the rest would not pose for me!

Violet & Phoenix

Evie loves her candy!

Jackson & Tucker

Violet

The Eggs

Caleb

Tucker before the hunt, he was ready to get started!

Evie, Violet, Tucker, Phoenix, Violet, Jackson, Caleb

We had our Easter early because Brad and Paula will be traveling to Tusla on Easter Day. In the past few years, we have had plastic eggs, filled with candy. A friend of mine wrote about dying Easter Eggs, and they did this even when all the children were grown. I decided to have the kids dye eggs this year. I bought and boiled 10 dozen eggs. The had so much fun dying the eggs. The kids stipped down to their undies and tshirts to save their nice clothes from the dye. Good thing, it was messy. Ron actually got in on the fun, read the directions on the dye, and helped the kids dye some vibrant egg colors.
The kids dyed the eggs, then we hid the plastic eggs, that were filled with candy. Ron helped me hide the eggs, Never in all the years are kids were little, did he dye eggs, or hide eggs! I am so glad he is enjoying the grandkids so much.
I was so glad that Brady and Dawn were able to join us and bring Caleb to enjoy the fun!
Easter may be my favorite holiday. All the traditions are centered on the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. The MOPS group used Resurrection Eggs to tell the story. The first egg had a tiny donkey to teach about Jesus entering Jeruselum on a donkey, each egg told part of the story, the coins, the goblet, until the last egg is empty, like the tomb! The children love the story and what a great visual aid to teach such a powerful story.
The Church has an Easter Egg hunt and activities this Saturday. The choir performed the Easter Cantata this morning, and we still have Easter Morning to go.

Trumpeter Swans

2011-03-15T19:50:00.000-07:00

A small private lake in Heber Springs is the winter home to a flock of Trumpeter Swans. I drove up to see them a few weeks ago. The lake was full of swans, ducks, geese and many birds that I didn't even recognize. I am really enjoying bird watching! I have so much to learn about identifying the birds. I have books to help, I bought a CD of bird calls. I guess the older you get the harder it is to learn. I cannot seem to remember the sounds of the bird species. I think that is related to my musical memory, I don't have one! But I am still enjoying the effort to learn more. Now when I am working in the garden, and I hear the birds, I stop what I am doing and really listen to the bird songs. As I get older, I see me spending more time with bird watching than gardening. A serious bird watcher might go hiking to see rare birds, but you can still enjoy bird watching without a lot of physical effort. Gardening is usually pretty physically difficult, I wear myself out. I see my future as taking it a little easier, I will see how I feel after another season of blooms!

Weekend Fun

2011-02-20T20:21:00.000-08:00

This was such a beautiful weekend! The weather was so nice. I was able to do a little weeding in my flower beds. We decided to cook burgers and hot dogs for lunch Sunday. Everyone brought over the riding toys for the kids. Jackson and Tucker have a Rip Riper and EZ Rider, those things look fun. Violet and Phoenix brought their riding toys, the Radio Flyer and a 4 wheeler. Steve took the kids riding on the 4 wheeler.
Poppa restored the John Deer tractor that we bought for Jackson when he was two. They have loved riding the tractor again. The girls are trying to learn to drive it without running into the cars, trees, people...
Poppa cooked, then actually played with the kids. He often justs sits on the couch while they play around us.
Poppa pushed Phoenix in his little Radio Flyer, then helped Violet and Evie with their bubbles.
He is also working on his table for the train sets. He has been working every free minute.
Thank you Poppa!

California Dreaming 2011

2011-02-10T19:10:00.000-08:00

Ron and I went on a business trip to California. I had a room booked at a perfectly nice hotel, very rustic and old. Ron saw it, and just as I thought, he was not happy. So we went to The Post Ranch. This place is the nicest place we have ever stayed. The place looks over the Pacific Ocean, from every room, the living room, the bedroom and the bathroom. There is a soaking tub on the patio, and two infinity pools and another pool. There are hiking trails, we saw turkey, deer, hawks. The most exciting was seeing the water spray from the gray whales. We were pretty high on the mountain, so we couldn't see the whales and I could not get a picture! That was so frustrating! Ron and I both saw several spouts sprays. The gray whales migrate in January and February, south to Mexico all the way from Alaska! There migrate farther than any other mammal. In April or so, they migrate back to Alaska, with their babies.

We hiked the trails around the hotel, and saw huge redwood trees. Flowers were blooming early, we saw Monarch butterflies, which also winter at Big Sur!

We drove through Pebble Beach, which actually has several golf courses and a "17 mile drive", we saw all kinds of shorebirds and sea lions.

Clint Eastwood restored a sheep farm, Mission Ranch, we had dinner at the Ranch. They say Clint is often seen dining there, but we did not see him! It was some delicious food though. I think we had fish for every dinner, and artichokes. California has some great food, and some great scenery!

Happy Birthday Jackson

2011-01-26T20:41:00.000-08:00

Jackson turned 6 on December 28, 2010. Jackson is our first born grandchild! Veronika is older, but we didn’t have the blessing of knowing her since birth. When Jackson was born, he was the first baby in the family for so long. Ron and I were ready to be grandparents!

I will never forget the day Jackson was born. We had all had a hard Christmas. Amanda had gone to Romania, not getting home in time. We had a ice storm. I was sick. But more than that, his Mommy had been working long hours as a nurse. Jackson arrived almost 4 weeks early!

It didn’t matter if everyone was ready or not, Jackson was ready to start his life! Jackson still has that attitude. Life is exciting and he is ready to get going! He is such an energetic, positive young man! Always ready for new adventures.

This past weekend Poppa took Jackson and Tucker riding on the 4 wheeler. Jackson wanted to go faster and faster! Tucker and Poppa were too cold to keep going.

When Jackson was so little, we were babysitting, I was reading to the boys. Jackson was young enough that he was still learning to talk. Jackson told me, “I love you Dodi”! That was one of the sweetest things I have ever heard! To have a grandchild tell you they love you!

Jackson started kindergarten this year. He seems to be a very smart young boy! And he is very friendly. Jackson was chosen as the “Ambassador” for his class, the child who helps new kids adjust to school.

Jackson became a big brother at a young age, 16 months. He is such a good big brother. He loves Tucker so much. He is sweet to his cousins, actually just sweet to everyone. Now Jackson gets to be a big brother again, where he will actually be a bigger brother. He will have a new baby brother or sister this summer! He is alreay concerned about taking care of another baby! Jackson and Tucker both are going to enjoy having a baby sibling!

You can tell that Jackson is going to be successful at whatever he does. He cares so much about his abilities, whether school work or sports! He wants to do it right! Unless it involves craft work, he doesn't really care about that. I find this really funny, because his Dad didn't really care about fine motor skills either, no coloring or cutting! I am convinced that it is perfectly fine not to color within the lines!

I have taken Jackson, Tucker and Veronika to the Childrens Theater this year! I love having special activities to do with the kids. Jackson has such a great imagination. He comes up with some great stories. His Mom and Dad read novels at night, so Jackson has a very sophisticated literary background!

I love that Jackson is brought to Awana and chapel at East Union. Jackson is learning more Bible scripture than most of us adults know! He has such a sweet heart! He cares about others and he loves Jesus!

We have been blessed to enjoy these years with Jackson.

2011 Spring Schedule

2011-01-25T20:32:00.000-08:00

Last fall I posted about our schedule. We have had a great year, lots of fun, traveling and activities. We didn't make it to a couple of our destinations. I am still waiting for the trip to Mount Magazine. AND, I have added a destination, or two, Spring Pilgrimage at Natchez and Swamp Tours at Beaux Bridges!

We are not getting any younger! Ron would be happy to stay at home every night, every weekend! I feel the need to experience!

I want to visit with my sisters more! I see my grandchildren a lot! But I still want to see them more. I have not gotten to spend one on one time with any of them since last spring. That needs to be one of my goals, but I don't know when to work that in, but I will.

I am very excited about our spring schedule! I hope to add more to it!

Schedule Update 2011

January 29 Sat The Jungle Book

February 4-9 Friday-Wednesday Defense Meeting Big Sur and Monterey CA

February 25-27 Friday-Sunday Arkansas Flower & Garden Show

March 5 Saturday 34th Wedding Anniversary

March 12 Saturday Natchez Spring Pilgrimage???

March 19 Saturday Audubon Spring Pilgrimage???

March 22 Tuesday Phoenix Surgery

March 22-26 Tues-Sun ConAgg Las Vegas

March 11-27 Fri/Sat/Sun If You Give A Pig A Pancake JT&V

March 29- 31 Tues-Thurs The Aluminum Show

April 14 Thrus Fort Belvoir VA??

April 24 Sunday Easter

April Saturday Birthday ??? Violet and/or Tucker

April 29-May 15 Fri/Sat/Sun There’s A Boy In The Girls Bathroom

May 21 Saturday Wedding Clint & Harmony. Sarah & Babysitting Duty

May24- 26 Tues-Thursday Beauty and The Beast

June 4 Saturday Dance Recital Veronika

Sledding 2011!

2011-01-12T21:18:00.000-08:00

We experienced a treat this week, enough snow to go sledding! Ron braved the snowy streets to go to the hardware store to buy some sleds. The neighbors all joined in the fun! They went from house to house looking for the best hill to sled. I believe we will all remember this snow of January 2011!

More Snow 2011

2011-01-12T20:55:00.000-08:00

Thomas House

Snow, we didn't measure until the next day, I think there was more the night before!

Fiona

Wish the pool was heated!

Evie

Snow Day 2011

2011-01-09T16:30:00.000-08:00

I counted 6 cardinals in the tree at one time, in addition to all the other birds. They seemed to glow with the snow in the background!

The start of the snow, about 2 pm.

Back across the street, about 4 pm.

This isn't the most clear picture, but it shows how many birds were feeding. I will have to brave the cold in the morning for a refill!

These were all taken from inside the house, with my zoom lens. I read in my "Birds and Bloom" magazine, that you could place your lens against the glass and get some pretty good photos without having to brave the outdoors.

Great Wolf Lodge

2011-01-07T21:08:00.000-08:00

Sweets for the sweet!

Veronika, Jackson & Tucker

In front of the HUGE Fireplace

Jackson, Paula, Tucker and Brad

Poppa, Veronika and Dodi

Audrey

Lizzie

Veronika, Mac and Cheese perhaps?

"Scoops" mani/pedi

Tucker, Genevieve, Jackson and Audrey, with their magic wands!

Christmas 2010 Fun!

2011-01-07T20:36:00.000-08:00

Andrea made this for Fiona!

Ron has really enjoyed this Outhouse Santa!

Poppa's Lil Bucks! More baby names every year!

Phoenix and his new pick up truck!

These make for some quiet dinner time!

Violet enjoys her Christmas morning!

We actually made sugar cookies!

Yummy cookie!

Veronika and her "Responsibility Chart"! Yes, she wanted this!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-26T19:02:00.000-08:00

Patiently Waiting!

We have had such a nice Christmas this year. Lots of fun activities, The Nutcracker, A Christmas Story, decorating, model train exhibits, still more to come, with a visit to Great Wolf Lodge!

Christmas Eve, Andrea and Steve cooked a nice dinner for us.

Christmas morning we had casseroles and more for breakfast. All the kids and grand kids joined us after enjoying what Santa brought them.

I am sure the most fun for the kids is when we finally get to open presents! Receiving presents is fun, but giving presents may be more fun. You have the anticipation of the excitement you hope the recipient will feel. I didn't wrap presents this year, I bought large gift bags. But I did picture what the kids would think when they dug something out of their bag or their stocking.

I just love the excitement on the face of a child, when they experience the fun.

I also love sharing the Christmas story with the children. All month, in Sunday School and precubbies, we learn about the birth of Jesus. I have to remind myself of the events that lead to the birth of Jesus, the wonder of the virgin birth, the sinless life, the gift that is made available to us through his birth and his death.

I didn't think about teaching salvation through the story of his birth. But when you tell the story, the subject just leads to the message. The gifts brought by the wise men foreshadow the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. And the gift of everlasting life offered when we accept and believe in Jesus.

Sweet Babies

2010-12-12T19:45:00.000-08:00

Veronika

Violet

Phoenix

Fiona

Tucker

Evie

Jackson

Merry Christmas Sweet Babies!

2010-12-12T19:30:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas 2010

2010-12-10T21:11:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2010 has been a fun Christmas Season!
Early in November we agreed to have our house in the Christmas Tour of Homes. This is a community event fundraiser, the proceeds are used to buy gifts for local children in need. Our house and Amanda and Josh's house were on the tour. We spent the month of November getting the house ready. I paid a company to hang lights on our house. I cleaned, Andrea and Paula both cleaned on my house! I organized and decorated all month! The tour was December 4, I have never had my Christmas decorations ready that early.
The night of the tour was pretty interesting, we met people from the community, and welcomed many friends and family. I have always loved decorating for Christmas and have collected Christmas ornaments and other items for years. It was fun to share some memories that the ornaments bring to mind with others. I was also proud to show off the house remodel that we did last year. Ron was responsible for showing the pool house, he was a pretty good sport about the whole ordeal.

The Lights

The Bird Tree

The Nativity Stars

The after effect of all the hard work, is having the time in December to attend as many events as possible and not have any stress about getting ready for Christmas.

Sunday night was the preschool Christmas program. This was very special this year, Jackson, Tucker, Violet and Evie are all in the preschool choir! Evie didn't get to attend the performance because she was home sick. I may be a little prejudiced, but my Grandchildren are the cutest, most talented kids ever!

Thursday, we took a group of preschoolers to go see the school version of "The Nutcracker" Ballet. It was a little long for the toddlers, but I asked Tucker if he was bored, and he said no, he liked all of it.
Sunday, we are going back for the full version, orchestra and all. I am very excited about that. I have never seen the ballet with the orchestra. To add to the excitment, I was telling Jackson about the ballet, and he knew the story because they have learned about it in school!
Saturday, I am taking Jackson, Tucker and Veronika to see, "Junie B Jones, Jingle Bells Batman Smells!", at the Children's Theater.
The next weekend, Ron and I are seeing, "A Christmas Story"! at the Rep. This is one of my favorite movies, so I am so excited to see a live production.
We will probably work in a drive to see the lights, maybe visit the Garvan Gardens.

15 and Counting

This mantle hold the Christmas stockings that I have been collecting and adding to over the years. If you were to count them, there are 15 stockings! Next year, we get to add another stocking! Actually, I have alreay added the 16th stocking!
This truly has been a great Christmas Season!

Observations on Turkey

2010-10-27T20:46:00.000-07:00

Ron and I traveled to Istanbul, Turkey, for business. We met with manufacturers from Turkey. We are looking for manufacturers for products that we can sell to the Dept of Defense. The business meetings were productive. The Istanbul Chamber of Commerce organizes this. Southwest Radiator was the smallest business represented. We were there with GM, Bosch, Hitachi!

Besides the business, we went sightseeing in Istanbul and the surrounding areas. We traveled to Bursa, Prince’s Island and Ephesus.

The climate of Turkey is much like Arkansas. The temperature is about the same. Ron and I walked around in short sleeves. The people wear leather jackets, sweaters, and the women wear the scarves and long coats. Even the other Europeans wear cold weather clothes. These people have body odor! I wondered why people talk about Europeans. When you wear a leather jacket in 75 degree temperature, you are going to smell a little ripe!

Istanbul is a very crowded city. Fifteen million people live in Istanbul! This city is packed with traffic. The drivers are so rude! I have seen bad drivers, but this is a different level of rude. They run out in front of each other, they do not stop for pedestrians! They honk at each other. The streets are small, with fruit stands and pedestrians, and the tour buses still race by.

I would guess that the majority of the millions that live in Istanbul live in poverty. They do not allow begging, I would doubt that they have any social services. You might see the very old selling junk trinkets on the street. Oh, they also sell tissues and Kleenex. This turns out to be a useful item to purchase on the street, because the public toilets do not furnish toilet paper. And they charge you to use the public restroom. The public restroom might have a traditional toilet, but will more likely have a hole in the ground, porcelain toilet contraption. There are footrests on each side, where you place your feet, and take care of business. They are usually wet because there is water running; you are to clean the area after use. These things do not come with instructions.

In Turkey, you might find need to make use of that very uncomfortable public restroom, and then find a nice restroom with a bidet. Now, that is a great cultural difference. Those things are useful. I do not know why they are popular in European countries, but not at home.

On our previous visit to Turkey, Ron did not like the food. We thought it was the seasonings that made Ron not like the food. I think it is the smells. I noticed that the smells fill the air. I think with so many people packed in that town, with a market or a cafe on every corner, you smell food cooking everywhere. Markets are on every street corner, selling fresh fruit, vegetables and fish!

It is generally excepted that you do not drink the water in Turkey. Bottled water is served everywhere. The first night at dinner, we ordered peach tea, iced tea. It came in a tall slim glass, with a garnish of fresh apples and a cherry. It was delicious! I was so impressed that they served iced tea that was so tasty. The next night we ordered the peach tea again. They brought the tall slim glass and a can of Lipton Peach Tea!

Cats are everywhere! This is on Prince's Island, but cats are all over. In the outdoor restaurants, stores, streets. I saw a tour bus stop for a cat on the street. The tour buses barely stop for people!

Turkey is rich in history! We visited the Blue Mosque, the Hagia Sophia, the Topkapi Palace during our visit in 2007. Those places are so well known, with beautiful and interesting mosaics and frescoes.

This trip we visited Ephesus! This was the highlight of our trip. We sat in the auditorium where Paul preached. We walked in the streets where Paul walked. Ephesus is being restored, where time and earthquakes have taken a toll. They also said that only a small percentage have been excavated.

The Library of Celsus is the best preserved and most well known structure in Ephesus.

I would never have chosen Turkey as the country to visit. The business meetings are the only reason that we would visit Turkey. In 2007, we did not leave Istanbul. Traveling outside of Istanbul, allowed us to see the real beauty of this country. Istanbul is crowded, noisy and a little smelly. Getting out of the city allowed us to see how the rest of the country looks. Olive tree groves, orange trees, we saw people using their tractors as their transportation. On one street, there was a camel and a tractor at a stop light.

Considering that we live in a rural area, I suppose it would be understandable that we enjoyed the countryside of Turkey.

More Soccer and Fall Fun!

2010-10-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

Tucker and his battle scar!

Go Jackson!

Yea Tucker!

The Thomas Family

Amanda and Evie on the Cow Ride!

Poppa and Fiona!

We have had so much fun the last two weekends with the grandkids!

Soccer, the Arkansas State Fair, more soccer, and Motley's Pumpkin Patch. The pumpkin patch

has pig races, a cow ride, a large hay playground with a giant slide.

Ron and I are headed off on another business trip, so we had to get some grandkids time

to hold us over while we are gone.

Fun at the Fair and other Weekend Fun

2010-10-10T21:26:00.000-07:00

Veronika on the bungee

Violet waited patiently for a ride

Veronika and Violet on the banana ride, there are very few rides for little ones

Jackson on the bucking bronco bull ride

Tucker on the bucking bronco bull ride

This weekend we babysat Jackson and Tucker, while Brad and Paula went to the Razorback Game. Saturday morning was Jackson's and Tucker's soccer game. That was fun to watch. They are both doing really well at soccer. Tucker had to be encouraged to play at first, but then he was in the game. I took pictures for Paula, when I viewed them on the computer, I have more of the other team. I was just snapping away, so Paula could make the kids a DVD of the season.

Steve brought Veronika and Violet to the game so they could go with us to the fair, while they finished their yard sale.The orginal plan was to go to the zoo. Ron said he would go with me, so we decided on the fair. And the kids said they prefered the fair. We didn't realize how HOT it would be and how hard that would be on us old folks, well at least me. The kids had fun, but even they had red faces. Ron bought 2 large lemonades, we all sucked it down in minutes. And I had brought water bottles for all the kids. We didn't get to see the livestock or arts and crafts barn. I was sad about that. There is really too much to see, unless you have the energy to stay all day. And we stuck with our plan, eat some fair food, ride a couple of rides and leave after two hours.

In all it was a great weekend! We were able to spend time with grandkids,(Thomas kids were in Dallas) saw a soccer game, the fair, got to buy ice cream from the ice cream truck, Steve grilled us some hot dogs, then finished the weekend off with seeing Jackson, Tucker and Violet sing in the Preschool Choir!

The Wonder Place

2010-09-20T20:29:00.000-07:00

The Wonder Place is my favorite place to take kids on a Saturday afternoon. It's small enough, and open enough to see all of the areas while the kids play. This particular Saturday, Andrea, Steve, Amanda, Fiona came also. I thought I could take the five kids, the walkers and talkers, as I call them. I think maybe Evie and Violet will need to be a little older before I take 5 kids anywhere on my own. By the time they are old enough, Phoenix will want to go too! Then Fiona.......!

Jackson and Tucker

2010-09-19T20:39:00.000-07:00

Jackson and Tucker had their first Upwards Soccer game Saturday morning. East Union sponsors Upward Soccer, I don't know a lot about the program, except that it is a Christian based sports program. The teams pray before the game, there is someone giving their testimony during the half time break and they have devotion time during the practice. I am so happy that our Church provides this outreach ministry for the kids in our community.

Jackson lead the game off with a goal in the first kickoff! I didn't get a picture of that because I wasn't expecting that much excitment at the first of the game. I kept my camera out for the rest of the game.

Ron and I have to miss the next two games because of a business trip and a family trip. The business trip has been planned for several months, and I really wanted to have this fishing trip with my sisters and our husbands. While I will really enjoy the traveling, I am already sad to be missing the boys games.

I have season passes to the Children's Theater for Jackson, Tucker, Veronika and myself. Due to our traveling, this was the only weekend I could take the kids to see "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer". Veronika wasn't here this weekend, so Andrea or Steve will have to take her later, but I wanted to be able to take Jackson and Tucker to see it. Paula left their Razorback game watch party to bring the boys to Little Rock, so we could make it to the play on time. The game wasn't even over, and it was a really exciting game end, so I especially appreciated that effort.

The play was entertaining. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn were two some of my favorite books when I was young. The production was very interesting. They had the raft that Tom, Huck and their friend rode to the island when they ran away from home and they had a rope swing the boys played on when they went swimming in the creek. I think I wanted to be an adventurous boy when I was young.

Grandparents Day

2010-09-15T20:23:00.000-07:00

Jackson, Violet, Phoenix, Veronika, Fiona, Tucker and Evie

Grandparents day was Sunday! We started the celebration on Thrusday, by having breakfast with Jackson at school. Ron and I had breakfast with Jackson, toured his classroom, met his teacher and some of his classmates! We were very excited, this was our first Grandparents Day at EE.

Dodi, Jackson and Poppa

Jackson and Tucker gave me a book, "The Botany of Desire." because as Jackson said,

"It's because you like plants and stuff"! It promises to be pretty entertaining book.

Sunday, we went to lunch at El Chico. We didn't really think about it being Grandparents Day. In fact, I didn't think about it until the next day. But what happened Sunday night, really made my day.

Preschool choir started for the fall on Sunday night before the evening service. Jackson, Tucker, Evie and Violet all went to choir practice. To start the evening service the preschool choir preformed! I had 4, yes FOUR! grandchildren singing in the preschool choir. I don't remember what they sang, but it was beautiful. Veronika was sitting next to me, I was holding Fiona, Phoenix was in the pew in front of us.

Now that was a Grandparents Day Gift!

More Candy

2010-09-03T20:48:00.000-07:00

I have been corresponding with a vendor in Turkey. I finally asked him his name, because we could not determine what his name actually was from the emails. His name is Ahmet Erhan, by the way. So we send some emails back and forth about personal information, not just the usual price, delivery, shipping, etc. He asked me if I was Mr Ron wife or sister. I told him we were a family business and that I was Ron's wife and that we had 3 children and 7 grandchildren.
This is what he emailed me, unedited and without spellcheck:
"family business it is good I am always happy when I do business more sincere more warm because its family
when you ask anyone here who is more value and candy , childeren or grandchilderen many people says here grandchilderen

for you what about this sitation who are more candy for you ,your childeren or grandchilderen

I wish you and your family healty long life and your children and grandchilderen"

I love that, my grandchildren are more "CANDY"!

Busy Year for our Golden Years

2010-08-31T20:53:00.000-07:00

Andrea texted me about an October weekend that where thinking about traveling. I told her we would be in Istanbul that week! She said we were busy for our "Golden Years"!
We do have a busy fall scheduled. We have certain business trips that we take annually. And we have some additional activies and trips that I scheduled. I purchased season passes for Celebrity Attractions and the Children's Theatre.
We have always worked so many hours in the summer, it's the nature of the business. Long hours in the heat of the summer! Ron has worked especially hard this summer. Ron is a 60 year old man, back to working in the radiator shop! And in one of the hottest summers on record! He's still got it! There were mulitple days of 106 degrees plus, and a heat index of whatever! And he never complains about the hard work! or even the heat! I would melt if I had to walk across the parking lot.
This is why we have a busy schedule! After the long hot summer, Ron deserves some rest and relaxaton!
I decided to organize my schedule and print it out, so that the activities would not conflict. Also that my kids will know where we are and when we will be home!

Schedule 2010-2011

September 5 Sunday Bird Island Trip Lake Ouachita

September 6 Monday Day Trip Mount Magazine

September 11 Saturday Babysit Jackson & Tucker

September 13 Monday Diaper Dinner/Baby Shower Amanda and Fiona

September 17-Oct 3 Fri/Sat/Sun Tom Sawyer Ark Children’s Theatre

*need to go Sept 17 weekend due to travel- Jackson, Tucker and Veronika

September 19 Sunday East Union MBC Homecoming

September 22-26? Wednesday-Sunday Knoxville Business Trip

October 1-3 Friday-Sunday Gaston’s White River Resort

October 9 Saturday Babysit Jackson & Tucker

October 16-24 Week Istanbul Turkey Business Trip

October 30 Saturday Babysit Jackson &Tucker

October 31 Sunday Fall Festival - Grandkids Hayride

November 1-4 Week Las Vegas Business Trip

November 5 Friday Amanda & Josh "Wicked" Babysit Evie/Fiona

November 6 Saturday Ron & Donna "Wicked"

November 12 Friday Andrea & Steve "Wicked"

Babysit Veronika, Violet and Phoenix

November 13 Saturday Brad & Paula "Wicked" Babysit Jackson & Tucker

November 25 Thanksgiving

November 27 Saturday Babysit Jackson &Tucker

December 3-19 Fri/Sat/Sun Junie B Jones JT&V

Holidays

January 21-Feb 6 Fri/Sat/Sun The Jungle Book JT&;V

January 23 Sunday The Color Purple

March 11-27 Fri/Sat/Sun If You Give A Pig A Pancake JT&V

March 31 Thursday The A Aluminum Show

April 29-May 15 Fri/Sat/Sun There’s A Boy In The Girls Bathroom JT&V

Mixed in this schedule are birthdays, holidays, parties, dinners, play times with the grandkids. I am so excited to have such a busy year planned!

Fiona's First Church Visit

2010-08-30T20:27:00.000-07:00

Fiona Lori Thomas was brought to church for the first time last Sunday! Amanda, Josh and Evie, along with the Long family, brought their little baby girls to church. Our church presents the baby, prays for the family and for the child, that they might be taught about Jesus and his saving grace. The babies are presented their first Bible also.
Brother Paul was pretty brave to hold both of these baby girls. Fiona and Abby will be loved and cherised by their church family!
Noah, the little red headed boy, has been in my Sunday School class this year. Evie and Violet will join my class this Sunday. I am so excited about that. And in 2 short years, Fiona and Abby will be in my class, provided they still let me teach.
God is good! I cannot wait to share the Bible and the love of Jesus with these little ones.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-08-18T20:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to Me!

2010-08-12T21:31:00.000-07:00

Today, August 12, 2010, I turned 55!

I spent the day working, picked up dinner, came home, sat and the couch eating in front of the TV, just like I do most nights. I am not saying this to have a pity party!

I kind of like my boring life. I like my work. I love my house! I love a boring evening at home with my husband, even though he didn't get home from work until after 9! And besides, tomorrow night, I have a date planned with Veronika, we are going to see "Annie" at Murry's Dinner Playhouse. Saturday night, Ron will be taking me out to eat and to a movie. Sunday night, I get to have dinner with all my kids and grandkids! Life is just GRAND!

I decided a few years ago, rather than risk being disappointed about my birthday, I plan it out myself. And I usually get my own gift from Ron. This year, Ron will be buying me a "macro" lens for my camera. I love to take pictures of flowers, butterflys, and hummingbirds. I don't really know what else I will use it for, but I have so many butterflys around my garden right now, I really want to capture some on camera.

There are so many changes around me right now. A new granddaughter, Baby Fiona! Jackson will start kindergarten! Those things are so exciting. We recently found out that Phoenix has some health issues. This is pretty frightening. We will not know what exactly he has until he sees some more doctors. But we do know he is a really happy baby boy, with great parents, and a bright future ahead of him. He's smart and loving, so we know he will be fine.

Through the exciting and the frightening, I am so comforted to know that God is in control! When we worry and fret about things we cannot control, and we will do that, we are actually wasting our time. God is in control. I have to remind myself of that often!

I used to wonder about getting old. And about dying. Today, Aug 12, 2010, Dan, lost his Dad, Durphy Credeur. Ann texted me and told me she was sorry it happened on my birthday. It's ok, there are always reminders of our loved ones. And you want those reminders to be pleasant, to bring back happy memories. So they can remember his better days, when they think of my birthday.

When I am gone, I want my family to remember good times. To remember how much I loved them. But more imortantly, how much I loved the Lord. I want them to know that I cared about the spiritual relationship that they had with Christ. I feel so blessed that we can worship together! I am blessed to see my grandkids in Sunday School and Chapel. I am allowed to wittness the spiritual growth of my grandkids! Jackson has been asking questions about God. He told us about learning about heaven in Vacation Bible School! This fall, I will have Violet and Evie in my Sunday School class!
I am a blessed woman!

I am so very thankful to God for my salvation! I know where I am going! And I am loving the journey to get there!

Happy Birth Day Fiona

2010-08-09T20:18:00.000-07:00

The Thomas Family

Dodi and Fiona

Poppa and Fiona

Friday, August 6, 2010, Fiona Lori Thomas was welcomed into the world, bounding in at a respectable 9 lb, 14.4 oz! Fiona is a beautiful baby girl, thick dark hair, chubby cheeks, just precious! From early reports from Amanda, Fiona is going to be a calm, easy baby.

Being invited into the birth room of my grandchildren is one of the most exciting, precious, unbelievable experiences of my life. I am so proud of my daughter in law and daughters for how they have nurtured their babies before birth, during the birth and nurtured these precious children as they grow.

And they have all allowed me to be a part of that experience. I am truly blessed!

Flowers & Butterflys

2010-07-29T21:18:00.000-07:00

This year I planted flowers in my garden, AGAIN! I feel like I should plant vegetables, but they just don't grow good for me. The tomatoes don't really grow. If some vegetables do grow, then I forget to to pick it and cook it. The weeds take over. If weeds grow among the flowers, that's OK. I have them planted really close, and they still bloom beautifully. This year, I didn't have Ron plow my garden plot. He had mulched the leaves and dumped them on the garden bed, so I shoved the leaves aside and planted the seeds. I left the leaves as mulch between the rows.

The biggest surprise, was the 12 foot tall sunflower! This sunflower grew all by itself from seeds dropped by the previous years flowers. It just popped up in the middle of the bed, so I avoided disturbing it, and look at it's glory. I have planted a giant sunflower seed and I have planted a seed that has multiple blooms. But I have not planted a giant sunflower with multiple blooms. I think maybe I have a new cultivar! The bees and butterflies cross pollinate the flowers, so, if it is a new cultivar, I don't really get the credit. But maybe I could name it!

I plan on saving the seeds from the giant sunflower and some of the others too.

I am excited to see what will grow next year!

Happy Birthday Phoenix

2010-07-19T21:54:00.000-07:00

Phoenix turned 1 on Saturday. His Mommy and Daddy had a party for him at Dodi and Poppa’s house! We had pizza, cake, ice cream and went swimming.

Little Phoenix received his first race car, first toy tractor, a alligator backpack, along with some other cute things. I picked out his little Fisher Price Farm set, with a little tractor. When he is a little older, he will have to have a John Deere riding tractor!

What an eventful year for a little boy. Phoenix had surgery the week before his birthday and luckily he had recovered pretty well before his actual birthday.

Little Phoenix entertains his big sisters and all of us with his bright smile. Phoenix has bright blue eyes and a big smile. I love the way that Violet calls Phoenix “Buddy”! I am not known for picking out special birthday cards, I try, but I just don’t usually find anything special. This time I found a card that said Happy Birthday to a special “Buddy”! I was so excited!

Phoenix is just about ready to walk! He crawls and pulls up, but hasn’t taken that 1st step yet! That should be any day now. Go Phoenix!

Sea Doo Queens!

2010-07-13T20:47:00.000-07:00

We sisters still got it! I don't know what it is we got, but somehow, we got ourselves on the Sea Doo!

The Sea Doo wasn't running right and wouldn't gain any speed. It had NOTHING to do with the passengers! "Some" people thought it was the load it was trying to carry, but after we "gracefully" dismounted from the Sea Doo, thankfully, right next to the dock, the next rider found that the Sea Doo was misfiring or some such problem. It was sad to have waited for two years since the last outing, and have the Sea Doo not up to speed. We still had lots of fun!

4th of July Fun!

2010-07-11T21:26:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Veronika

2010-07-09T22:07:00.000-07:00

Veronika joined our family as a little girl of three. I love to hear about her being a baby and toddler, since we didn’t know her then. But we have had the pleasure of watching her grow into a little lady these years. And I believe we now officially have known her over half of her life. Veronika turned 8, June 29, 2010.

My first glimpse of her was a little girl with long blond ringlets. Now, she has shorter hair, and doesn’t look like a little girl. Veronika is tall and slender. She has a slim dancers body, and has quite the moves. We love to watch her play “Just Dance” on the Wii!

The first time Veronika tried to swim in our pool, she stood in the steps and cried. Now she swims like a little fish. She told me she always knew how to swim, even though I distinctly remember her NOT liking the water.

Veronika attends AWANA every Wednesday night, during the school year. She received an award for completing her three books in three years. I don’t really know the details of the Sparks, but completing a book is a lot of work. They learn Bible verses and complete tasks, like talking to a missionary. I am so proud of her for going to AWANA. These kids know the Bible!

Veronika is such a good big sister to Violet and Phonix. Her and Violet spent the night with me, Violet was sad and missing her Mommy and Daddy, Veronika comforted her so sweetly.

For the last two years, I have given Veronika season tickets to the Children’s Theater. We have a special time all year of attending the live play, eating out, and usually have a sleep over. This has been a special time for us to share. This year, I gave her a Wii instead. I am already missing the anticipation of our time together. So, we will probably attend the shows anyway. I really enjoy having a special event to share with her.

Happy Birthday Veronika! I love you!

Happy Birthday Evie

2010-06-26T20:51:00.000-07:00

Evelyn Joyce Thomas was born on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon, June 25, 2008. Someday, Evie will know how hard her Mom worked to get her into the world.

Evie was quite engaging at birth! And she still is. Evie is one of the most verbal toddlers ever! It’s kind of funny that she talks so well. You get a glimspe into what toddlers are thinking.

At Evie’s birthday party, Evie and Violet were eating some snacks, Violet leaned across the table and kissed Evie on the lips. It was so cute. Then Evie turned to us and said, “Violet loves Evie!”

That girl loves her kittens just like her Mommy did! It is so funny to see her carry her little kitten around like a rag doll. And the kitty seems to love it too! Max follows her around everywhere she goes.

Evie is an outdoor child through and through. After living in town for most of her first two years, she has quickly adapted to county living. Evie follows her Mommy and Daddy around the yard when they do yard work. And if Evie spies Poppa across the yard, she yells over for a tractor ride! And of course Poppa will go get his tractor and go pick her up. Evie loves to play in the dirt when she helps me plant my seeds or plants. She does not mind getting dirty.

Evie is so blessed, she has so many relatives! Parents, grandparents and great grandparents, besides all the aunts, uncles and cousins! And best of all, Evie is going to have a baby sister soon, Fiona!

Blue Hydrangeas

2010-06-06T19:14:00.000-07:00

My cousin Mary, posted a photo of her hydrangea that bloomed, finally after 3 or 4 years. Mary planted the hydrangea after it was given to Allie at Aunt Marion’s funeral. That started a series of posts about our memories of hydrangeas. My childhood home had blue hydrangeas along one side of the house. Mary remembered those blooms. Allie remembered her Meme’s neighbor that had the beautiful blue blossoms every year. Sadly, whoever now owns that house that Allie and Kim picked hydrangea from, cut them all down to the ground. No hydrangeas bloom at that house on Baseline Road this year.

I know that because my drive to work is highlighted by the various landscapes that I keep watch on, and have for the 20 plus years we have lived out here. Truthfully, the drive down Chicot doesn’t really take me by any fantastic homes or gardens, but I have to take what pleasure I can from the sporadic garden attempt of my neighbors.

One of the first plants I planted at this house were my blue hydrangeas. They bloom this time of year. They are a pale blue at first, by the time June arrives, they will reach a deeper blue. Every year, the blooms take me back to my childhood.

Our hydrangeas were on the side of the house, probably the north side. It was the shady, cool spot between our house and the next door neighbors’ house. We didn’t have a “garden spot” by the hydrangeas, there wasn’t a bench to sit at, but somehow, I must have spent a lot of time looking at them.

Hydrangeas are really easy to grow and propagate. Out of the original 6 or so plants I bought from a mail order catalog, I have gotten “babies” from them and started so many more. Really more that I want. As much as I love them, they are not really very pretty when they are not in bloom. Even still, the front of my house is lined with blue hydrangeas, which faces north. I transplanted the 1st two babies on the east side of the house. The next bunch of babies I found at the base of the plants, I moved out to the pole barn. Then I moved two more babies to the other side of the front walk. I want to name our place, “Hydrangea Heaven”! I actually saw that in a magazine.

When I have started a baby plant, they usually bloom pink the first few years. I prefer the blue, what could be prettier? I have shared the baby plants with friends and family. I love thinking about some of the plants blooming for someone else.

Soon, I will post about the 4'oclocks, they are about to bloom soon!

Happy Birthday Amanda

2010-05-26T20:04:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Amanda

Amanda was born, May 26, 1986, a Monday, Memorial Day. Somehow, all three of my children have birthdays that fall on a holiday every few years.

On that Memorial Day, I woke up feeling pretty good. I was having my Mom out for dinner. I put a roast in the oven and Ron was putting up the little above ground pool for Brad and Andrea. I decided to run up to what was then Southwest City Mall. I had been feeling light contractions, but the shopping really made them get pretty intense. I got home, opened the door, and said, OK, let’s go to the hospital. I guess I had fairly short labors.

Amanda was born in the early evening, with Ron, Brad, Andrea, Kay and my Mom all in the delivery room with us. I asked Brad and Andrea recently if they remembered Amanda’s birth. Brad remembered getting a toy, Andrea remembered Kay saying Amanda looked like a “Gremlin”. Supposedly siblings bond with the new baby when present for the birth. I do think my kids are very close and love each other, but I don’t really attribute it to the birth experience. I think we just had a lot of family fun together.

Amanda was such a sweet and easy baby, or maybe my memory tells me she was easy. I just know that nothing changed our life like having Brad did, so having another baby was never quite as traumatic as having that first one.

Amanda has always loved animals, she REALLY loved her animals. She grew up and still loves her animals. We have had a revolving door of cats, dogs, birds, guinea pigs, hamsters…I can’t even name them all. Now she even has Evie loving her animals. Their latest two little kittens allow Evie to drag them around like little rag dolls.

Amanda used to make commercials with everyday products, by herself, in front of a mirror. I would hear her talking in the bathroom, selling shampoo or a hairbrush or whatever. I suspect she still does it.

I really think Amanda enjoyed being the baby of the family. Brad and Andrea took care of her when she was little. But she made up for it, when she was older, Amanda would take care of them. Brad and Andrea would not speak up to adults, but Amanda would. We were watching a parade at Disney World and a gold coin was thrown from the parade and landed at this woman’s’ feet. Amanda looked at her and said, “Hey, that’s my brothers!” It wasn’t Brads, but the woman gave it up!

Amanda was diagnosed with a learning disability in reading while in elementary school. I could tell that reading was so difficult for her. She worked so hard in school and always made really good grades. Her IQ was actually way above average, and that was evident by her verbal knowledge. Parenting always brings challenges, and this was something we worried over, whether we were doing what was right for her. Well, when Amanda took AP classes in high school, was editor of the high school yearbook, president of the National Honor Society, played soccer, etc, I knew she was just fine!

I am so proud of Amanda, for who she is, for her emotions, her convictions, her joy. And I am so happy for her. Amanda loves her husband, Evie and the poor unnamed baby girl due in August! I love you Amanda!

PreKindergarten Graduation for Jackson

2010-05-25T21:08:00.000-07:00

Jackson graduated from pre-kindergarten from Sardis Child Development Center. He is so big! He will be starting Kindergarten this fall. I am so proud of my grandchildren and feel so blessed to be able to be a part of their lives!

My Dream Vacation

2010-05-17T20:49:00.000-07:00

http://thepioneerwoman.com/

For Ron's 60th birthday we went to Disneyworld. For my 60th birthday, or sooner if I can save some money, I want to go to Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure. I have started reading the blog, "the pioneerwoman". The woman that writes the blog just blogged about their family vacation to Orlando and the parks there. I love family vacations! I love amusement parks! And I have always wanted to go back to Universal. The Dr Suess rides and decor just look like so much fun!

I also love the pioneer woman blog because she has photography hints. She also has cooking, homeschooling, decorating and gardening hints.

I also have some other Dream Vacation plans, but that blog just reminded of wanting to go to Orlando.
I still haven't gotten to Hawaii or Alaska or snow skiing, but that is another dream.

Happy Birthday Andrea

2010-05-11T21:15:00.000-07:00

Andrea was born early in the morning of Mother’s Day, May 8, 1983. The day before she was born, I went shopping for some flowers and planted a little flower bed. I went into labor that night. I was up all night with labor. When I woke Ron up, he fiddled around getting dressed, eating cereal, until I finally said, IT’S TIME TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL!”

Andrea was a very pleasant baby. She adapted to our busy schedule, fitting in wherever we went. Brad loved having a baby sister. Brad was 3 ½ when Andrea was born, so he was really good at taking care of her. As Andrea grew, she became to one to take care of Brad and then Amanda too. I knew when she was really young that she was a caregiver, and suspected that she might become a teacher. Everywhere we went, Andrea carried a note tablet, “taking notes” on everything that we did, and this was before she could read or write, it was all scribbles.

I remember Andrea learning to read. I wrote “cat” on our white board, then added the rat, mat, sat, etc, she read it all, then went on to other similar word groups. “Pigs and Suds” was her first book to read. And she read every book she could get her hands on after that.

I also knew that she could sing at a very young age. In Sunday school they would learn a new song, I would try to sing it with the kids, of course I could not remember the tune, and Andrea would sing it for me.

Andrea was always a little intense, even as a child. Her third grade teacher questioned me about putting pressure on her to advance. I quickly told her that I tried to get Andrea to relax. I would tell Andrea to go play outside after school, before it would get dark. But Andrea was determined to do her homework before playing! I don’t think I ever had to ask her if she had completed an assignment!

Ron and Andrea were the organized ones; Brad, Amanda and I are more of the last minute schedulers. I always knew that Andrea would only be happy when she could totally control her environment. Well, you know that no one can really control all of the circumstances of life. Andrea and I often had “disagreements” about what I would call our “organizational” skills, or my lack of them.

I have always been so proud of Andrea. She is beautiful, smart, funny, a hard worker, very organized, sings like an angel, and a very caring person! I am so happy for Andrea; she has a husband that she loves, and three wonderful children that she adores.

Life has a way of working things out. Andrea has a little girl just like her! The other night, Violet scolded her Mommy for not putting the toys away properly.

I love you Andrea!

Happy Birthday Paula

2010-05-10T20:14:00.000-07:00

Paula celebrated a milestone birthday this year, her 30th. It’s hard to believe that the young college girl Brad brought home eleven years ago is a 30 year old woman. We have had the pleasure of watching Paula become the amazing woman that she is during these years

When we met Paula, we didn’t know if she was a young woman just passing through our life or if she would be here to experience life with. In 1998, we took our son to college in Fayetteville. In 2006, we brought him home with a wife and two baby boys! I would have to say that we have had the pleasure of experiencing life with Paula part of it, and with the blessings that go along with it.

As the first “in law”, Paula taught us some new traditions, and she learned some of ours. The sharing of food out of each others plates, especially desserts, was and is something that Paula had to learn to accept. And Paula bought us some of her family traditions and recipes that have now become some of our favorites. The Christmas morning breakfast casserole is my favorite new tradition. The casserole cooks while presents are being opened, what a pleasant aroma to accompany the gift giving.

Paula is beautiful, smart, caring, giving of her time and talents. I like to call her the baby whisperer, because she can sooth any baby. And with her nursing profession background, family and friends call Paula to get her medical opinion before and after calling the doctor.

Paula makes friends everywhere she goes. Her and Brad moved into a new neighborhood, and before long she had a neighborhood group organized, taking food to new moms, having block parties, bunko parties and jumping into the MOPS group full force. Paula spent her actual birthday this year volunteering at church, helping to organize meals for the tornado cleanup workers.

Paula takes such good care of her boys, Brad, Jackson and Tucker. Jackson and Tucker are two happy little boys, and their Mommy is responsible for that. She has given her boys a great start in life, good food, good play, and good friends. Paula has been bringing her boys to Awana , and worked with pre-cubbies, teaching her boys and other preschoolers about God. Paula has made her little boys into caring and affectionate little individuals. They learned that, by example, from their mommy.

I am so thankful that Brad has Paula for his wife. I know that they love each other and like each other. And if you know what I mean by liking each other, sometimes liking someone is as important as loving someone.

I also love Paula and like her too! Happy Birthday Paula!

Happy Birthday Tucker

2010-05-04T22:11:00.000-07:00

Tucker was born on a beautiful Saturday in April! His Daddy was on the golf course, ready for a great day of golf. We were planning a busy day of yard work. Gloria called us early, like at 7 am, and said, “Now don’t hurry, but Paula is in labor!” I jumped out of bed and started rushing around telling Ron, Andrea and Amanda to, “Hurry Up! Paula is in labor!” We had a 3 hour drive ahead of us, we couldn’t waste any time.

Thankfully, Tucker waited for us to welcome him into the world, on that beautiful Saturday afternoon.

April 29, 2006, my wonderful daughter in law allowed me to join them in the delivery room to witness the birth of our 2nd grandchild. I don’t think I have ever adequately thanked Paula for allowing me into the delivery room to help welcome her baby boys into the world. Watching a baby enter the world is amazing, what words can describe the excitement and joy! What a blessing to see the look on your sons face as he holds his own child for the first time.

Tucker has had such a busy life from the start. He attended two weddings, his Daddy’s graduation from law school and a move to Little Rock, just in his first month! Like most second born children, life has never slowed.

“Have you met Tucker?” is my favorite description about Tucker and his “feel strong” emotions, when I would inquire about what was wrong. Tucker went from being slightly emotional but always precious, to being such a character! Tucker has perhaps the sweetest voice ever. I knew he had a sweet voice, but didn’t know he knew how to ask for stuff by using that “sweet voice”, until we were at Disney World, and he asked for a hat or something. I am pretty sure that anyone would give Tucker whatever he asked for if he used that “sweet voice”, but he being such a sweetheart, he doesn’t ask for much!

A very blessed Mommy blogged about her MIL taking her children for her, one child, one day a week, every week. What a great idea! So I am trying to borrow that and take one grandchild out by themselves, especially around their respective birthday.

So a few weeks ago, Brad and Paula had an event, so it seemed like a good time to take one child and let them take one. So I was able to enjoy Tuckers’ company, just him. I believe it was the first time I had been with Tucker without Jackson. And I must say I really enjoy being with the boys, they are quite entertaining. Having just Tucker was really fun. He TALKED to me. We didn’t even watch a movie while driving home. I just heard that “sweet voice”, and when Tucker asked for a snow one, I was so happy to say yes, let’s get a snow cone! What a simple pleasure to share time with just Tucker!

California Flowers and Birds

2010-04-25T22:01:00.000-07:00

California is known for the poppy, so I was very excited to see lots of poppies in bloom. The pinkish flower looked like a mum. There were so many of them and several colors. We saw many beautiful flowers on the drive. After going to the NARSA meeting Saturday, we visited a botanical garden. It was a pretty nice garden, and they were having a plant sale. They had sold out of the poppy seeds, so I bought some poppy plants. We packed them in a box and carried them home on the plane. I haven't gotten them planted yet, but I hope to grow some poppies.

When we visited Turkey, I picked seeds from the 4 oclocks that were potted up in store fronts. I can't really remember which 4 oclocks came from Turkey, my sister, Ann, or Josh's Grandmother's, or were store bought. But I love having "borrowed" plants and plants that have a special memory.

California Journal

2010-04-25T21:37:00.000-07:00

Ron and I traveled to California for a business trip. We flew into Oakland, drove to Sacremento for a factory tour of a new vendor, then drove back to San Franscisco to the Golden Gate Bridge. Then drove down south along Highway 1. This is a trip that most people take a week or two to drive and enjoy the scenery. Because of our work schedule, we had two days, which was reduced to only 1 1/2 days because of the plant tour.

The Golden Gate Bridge

We finally got to the bridge about noon, we skipped by San Franscico. We really need to go back to visit San Franscisco, I hear it is a great place to spend some time. We drove until 5 pm. I was really tired and didn't know where the next town might be. We stopped at Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz is a college, surfer town. This turned out to be not the best choice. The hotel was nice, the wharf was a nice little walk from the hotel. The dinner was nice enough. But the next morning, Ron woke up with a pretty bad stomach problem. He is sure he had food posioning. He will not be eating fish for quite some time.

The Sun Rise on the Pacific Coast! I wanted a hotel with a view of the sunset, well this town is in the Monterry Bay, on a little pennisula, so we actually had a view of the sunrise instead. That was a little confusing geographically.

The surfers stayed out until the sun went down and were headed back out when the sun was coming up.

The next morning, we headed out again. I quickly found out what was south of Santa Cruz.

Strawberry fields, artichoke fields, lettuce fields! I didn't stop and take pictures, but we could see the big beautiful strawberries from the highway.

The town of Carmel and plenty of other really nice towns followed. Carmel is the town of Clint Eastwood. We should have stayed in Carmel. Ron really wished we would have stayed anywhere but where we were.

And such beautiful scenery. The town of Big Sur has some small hotels, and a thick forest of trees.

I don't know the difference between the seals and the sea lions, or mayb

e sea otters, but we first saw the mama and baby, then these beachs of beached seals, seal lions or whatever.

There were hundreds of them, just laying out resting!

We considered seeing the Hearst Castle. It sits high on the mountain top, overlooking the Pacific. It looks amazing, but it was getting late. There are a couple of lovely resort towns following this part of the drive, but we had to get on to our next meeing town, Rialto.

We flew into Oakland Wednesday night, drove to Scaremento that night, spent Thursday touring the plant, then driving until 5 pm. Friday, we woke up at 7:30 am and drove until 8 pm.

That is too much driving for one day.

By the way, if you want to drive down the Pacific Coast Highway, you might want to plan on doing that in the next few years. The highway is being washed down the mountains. There were several locations being rebuilt due to the rock slides.

Violet's Birthday

2010-04-12T22:32:00.000-07:00

Violet Anne Tripp will turn 2 on Wednesday, April 14! What a busy 2 years. I still remember so vividly Andrea calling me and telling me her water had broke, which actually happened on April 13.

This time of year brings so many emotions to my family.My brother, my parents only boy, died on April 1, 1953. My Dad died on March 29, 1986. Even though I wasn't born when my brother died, his life and death had an impact on my life. I have three sisters that I love so much. But I always missed having a brother. In 1986, when I was expecting Amanda, my Dad died unexpectedly.

We also have birthdays to celebrate during this time of year. Ron's birthday is March 30. And of course, the most beautiful holiday, Easter happens during this season. We can celebrate the gift of a risen Savior! The flowers are blooming, the birds are singing praises. It is such a beautiful time of year. The saddness of the loss are tempered by the celebrations of birth and the new life offered by the sacrafice of Jesus.

2008 comes along and my daughter is expecting a baby girl and my mother is in hospice care. Early in the morning of April 13, 2008, my mother passes. I had sat with her the previous night, watching the sun come up, not expeccting her to live another day. I think she was waiting for her girls to arrive from out of town. Ann drove in from Baton Rouge and stayed with her the last night. My mother passed away early in the morning.

My sisters and I meet at the funeral home to make the final arrangements, and Andrea calls and tells me her water has broken, she is heading to the hospital.

At first, I thought, OK, that is fine, the baby is ready, a little early, but not too bad. Then I have this panic attack, my granddaughter will be born on the day my mother passed away. My panic overtakes me in a burst of tears, fear, saddness, exhaustion, all of these emotions come pouring out.

We rushed to the hosptial expecdting to meet Violet Anne soon, knowing and praying that all will be well. And telling myself that it is perfectly acceptable for my granddaughter to have the same birthday as the death day of my mother.

Well, God in his wisdom, gave Andrea this unbelievably long labor! 33 hours!! And her dear doctor let her labor for 33 hours. No one should labor that long. And no grandmother that has been at hospice for 3 days should spend 33 hours waiting to meet a grandbaby. But it was such a sweet special time. Violet's extended family came from out of town and out of state due to the circumstances. We camped out in the waiting room with three children, Veronika, Jackson and Tucker all waiting to meet Veronika's newest little sister.

So Violet has her own day, April 14, as her birthday.

We get to celebrate Violet's birthday, enjoying the sweet girl that she is. Beautiful blue eyes, sometimes she is shy, sometimes she smiles at strangers, sharing a little happiness with them. She calls me "Dodo", instead of Dodi, and she says it so sweetly. Violet Anne is named after my sister, Violet Ann. They share a beautiful name with my grandmother, Violet Blossom.

What a wonderful God that blesses us with new life! Violet is a blessed little girl! And we are blessed to have this little girl in our life!

Happy Birthday Violet!

Spring Celebrations

2010-03-28T21:12:00.000-07:00

Ron turns 60 on March 30. We had his birthday dinner tonight, steaks, sweet potatoes,

brocoli, mushrooms, and german chocalate cake! I am still stuffed.

We celebrated Easter early also. We usually have Easter early because Brad and Paula go to Fort Smith on Easter day.

About this time of year I always think about the Easter before Jackson was born. Ron, Andrea and Amanda and I went to Church. We came home from Church, all alone. No egg hunts, no candy, no frilly dresses.

I called Brad later that day and asked about their Easter with Paula's family and all the little children, I wanted to hear about all the fun they had.

I told Brad how sad his Dad was that we didn't have any little kids in the family anymore.It just wasn't the same without some little kids to hide eggs for. Easter was April 11 that year. Jackson was born December 29. Humm, and he was 3 1/2 weeks early.

Need I say that Ron really loves his grandchildren! He even helped me stuff candy in the plastic eggs for the egg hunt.

Who would have thought that from Easter, April 11, 2004 to March 28, 2010, we would now have 6 grandchildren and another little granddaughter on the way! They are so precious to Ron and I both.

We will be picking up candy wrappers for days, I probably want be able to move from carrying those babies, but was a blessing!

The sweetest words I have ever heard, "I want to go to your house Dodi"!

Spring

2010-03-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

Spring time is my favorite time of year. The flowers are starting to bloom, the birds are going crazy at the feeders. The goldfinch are about to turn bright yellow! I can't wait to get my hands in the soil and start planting.
I am going to try onions this year. And I have my usual strawberries, basil, lavender, cilantro and peppers so far.
I have it on good authority, Ron, that I cannot plant tomatoes until after Good Friday.I haven't grown a good tomato for several years, but hope springs eternal that someday I will grow a delicious tomato.

Photography Class

2010-03-24T11:50:00.000-07:00

I have some great subjects for my new camera! I am so excited to get to learn more about it how to take great pictures though. The class will not be until May.

Happy Anniversary

2010-03-05T19:59:00.000-08:00

Here we are again, another anniversary.
I thank the Lord for another year of life, another year of being with my family and another year with my husband!
Today, about 2:00 pm, Ron turned to me and kissed me and said, "33 years ago right now we were getting married"!
That was very unusual for him to turn and kiss me in public. And it was really funny because we did not get married at 2:00 pm. I think our wedding was at 7:00 or something. When we get home, I will be looking in our wedding book to see what time we were married.
But it was still sweet! And of course I had to correct him! Why after 33 years do I feel the need to correct him?
Why indeed! Some things never change. I remember telling him, within minutes of being declared Mr and Mrs Ron Dowler, well I told him something that I don't remember, but I do remember the tone of my voice. It was not the loving voice that a new bride should speak with.
We had been discussing, kind of mocking the "Duggars" for kissing all the time on national TV, maybe that's where that kiss came from. Anyway, I liked it.
So this year, number 33, I declare I am going to speak with a loving voice(most of the time), and I am going to turn and kiss my husband, in public!
I hope our kids are not too embrassed!

Everglades

2010-03-05T19:44:00.000-08:00

Ron and I are in Miami for a business trip. We visited the Everglades today. I always thought that it would be really pretty, but this is the dry season. There were so many alligators! The are not considered dangerous if you leave them alone. They didn't have to tell me twice. At one stopping place there were 11 alligators. We saw baby gators, big gators, little gators, a humpback gator, gator beds, gator trails, .....

There were some really pretty birds too. I took probably 70 shots, the white bird is my favorite picture.

Funny thing is, Ron and I have traveled to some interesting places. We floated the Colorado river. But I thought that the Buffalo River was prettier. After seeing the Everglades, I think my backyard birds are prettier. I will always love to visit places, see wildlife, see plants, gardens, water, but it is comforting to know, that close to home is some of the most beautiful people, waters, plants, birds and wildlife.

My House

2010-03-04T20:37:00.000-08:00

My Facebook/Blogger buddy started a "Show Others Where You Live" FB page. I have been posting pictures of my house on FB.

It's been fun posting pictures of my house and visiting others houses, a virtual visit, without having to travel.

More Pictures

2010-03-04T20:07:00.000-08:00

I love my new camera! I just wish I knew more about it. The picturea of Violet and Evie, swinging, are not in focus, they are just cute. And Andrea's picture, the flash did not come on, so I edited it, still not as good as a flash. Evie jumped on that three wheeler with Veronika and hung on!!! It was so funny to watch.

Bucket List Update

2010-03-01T20:02:00.000-08:00

One of the items on my "Bucket List" was to take some frame quality photos. Saturday, Ron and I went shopping and bought a new camera. I am scheduled for my first class in May. It is actually just a basic class, but it's a start.

I will have to say, I have some beautiful subjects to practice on.

Happy Birthday Kay

2010-02-26T19:58:00.000-08:00

Kay's birthday is February 28th! To surprise Kay, Amber cooked dinner for Kay, Jim, Ron and I.

Even though we live only about 15 miles apart, Kay and I never seem to find or make the time to visit each other.

Of my 3 sisters, Kay and I are closest in age. We went to school together, at one time we worked in the same shopping center. Kay worked at Krogers, I worked next door at TG&Y(pre-WalMart) Our future husbands were roommates at one time. And, we had a double wedding!

FYI We did not have a double honeymoon!

We had our kids 11 months apart.(Kay did not cooperate and have that 3rd)

When our kids were little, we got together for play dates for the kids. Then, when our kids were older, we were going to activities for them. Next, we worked while while our kids were starting their own families.

Now when we see each other, we are usually having a family event and playing with our grandchildren. I know Kay wouldn't change a thing, and I sure wouldn't, but we have not spent time together.

My sisters are my best friends! I have decided as an addition to my "Bucket List", I will be spending some one on one time with my sisters!

I was so excited when Amber asked if we could come to dinner. That was just what I had been wanting.

So, Amber prepared a delicious meal of chicken enchiladas, mex rice, bean dip and a yummy chocalate cake. And she hosted at her house, with fresh flowers, no less, welcomed us, then her, Randy and Ethan went out. I felt like we were at a 5 star restaurant.

Thank you Amber, Randy and Ethan!

Attention Sisters! I want some more time with each one of you!

We Have Sound!

2010-02-17T18:57:00.000-08:00

Ron and I bought a big TV when we did our house remodel. I love the picture on this TV. We have seen details that we had basically never seen in our old TV. But we never have been happy with the sound. Ron wears hearing aids and even he couldn't hear half of what was said on TV. We were constantly, well, I was constantly replaying shows to try to determine what was said. Sometimes we never did know what was supposed to be so funny or so sad.

I had the Geek Squad set up our sound bar, it was supposed to give us sounds. It didn't help.

Well, I ordered these Sony headphones! It took us weeks to determine how to hook them up, I tried, Paula tried. Ron finally, in desperation, started plugging and unplugging cords and finally!

WE HAVE SOUND!

Now I am hearing things I have never heard before. I can hear background noise that I could not hear when I took the headphones off.

Now, we don't have to worry that the neighbors will be able to hear our TV because it was so loud before.

Temple Grandin and Parenting

2010-02-12T16:03:00.000-08:00

I watched the most amazing show on HBO, the biography of Temple Grandin. She is an animal science professor and an autism advocate. And she is autistic. If you know someone or love someone with autism, you probably know her name. She has written books and done studies about animal care and how it relates to her autism.
As she describes herself, "I'm not like other people. I think in pictures. And I connect them."
You can google "Temple Grandin" and get a review of the HBO bio or read about her. Claire Danes plays Temple in the bio. It's a very interesting biography.
I have a great niece with autism. I knew her before diagnosis and after. It is such a hard to understand diagnosis. The bio shed some light on how people with autism think and feel.
I had actually read one of her books about the animal studies and found it to be interesting, but didn't really understand her lack of emotion. The book was full of information and her views, but her lack of feeling about the animals was strange to me. She developed a way for cattle to be slaughtered in a more humane manner. Even if you love to eat beef, you don't really want to know about the hoof to table details.
I don't know if the bio was true to her life, I assume it was, but it opened my eyes a little.
The interesting thing was that learning about her life made me think about raising a child. You find out early in the bio that in the 1960's, children with autism were not thought to improve. But Temple's mother refused to believe that her daughter could not learn, she taught her at home, pushing, yet accepting who Temple was. Like she only ate jello and pudding! Now what mother would let her child get away with only eating jello and pudding. And Temple went to college. What mother would make a child go to college and live in a dorm, when that was obviously so painful for her.
I don't see myself letting my kids only eat jello and pudding. But then again, they loved food, so it was never an issue. But could I have really made them do something that they didn't want to do.
Well, NO!
I had a kid that was not autistic, but who was different that I was, actually, all three of my kids were different from me. And I couldn't force my way of doing things on them.
And I am glad I couldn't.
I could encourage them, but ultimately they had to make a choice.
Now, they did have to go to school, brush their teeth, go to bed, do their homework, go to church and behave in a socially acceptable manner. But in the end, they had to decide what to do in life and how they did it.
So, we encouraged, we provided the means, we made them try almost everything; music, dance, sports, reading, writing, art. We had a piano, flute, baseball, softball, batting tee, batting cage.....
I took them to lessons. I played baseball and softball, when it was obvious that I did not know how to throw a ball. Or run or even understand the game. We went to pro ball games, the opera and even the ballet. Brad doesn't believe me when I say he watched the ballet, turned to me and told me he wanted to do that. We took them to church, prayed with them, prayed for them.
All those activities took so much of our time! And money and energy! But I can't imagine how overwhelming it was for Temple's mother got her just to talk! The simple skills most kids learn without effort, walking, talking, enjoying activities, was a major ordeal for Temple and her mother. And she didn't just learn how to talk, she excelled in her field!
Somehow we parents have to learn to encourage our children to learn skills, grow, achieve and become functioning adults at whatever level they are capable of. Even when they are grown, they have gone to school, played sports, sang, danced or whatever their passion became, as parents, we still question, "Did we do it right? Did we push just enough? Did we praise enough? Are they happy? Did they reach their potential?"
I am so proud of my children for the adults they have become! I think they experienced life in positive manner. They are happy, pretty well adjusted adults, so I guess we didn't fail them.
But through all this, maybe the most important is "Did they learn to love the Lord? Do they serve God?" From the bio of Temple, you don't really know if she knew about God, when an animal died, then later her teacher, she said, "where did they go"? Good question.
Our reward for the investment in our children is to observe them parent their children, and work and have relationships! And what a glorious reward it it! And see if they can answer, "Where did they go?'

Bucket List

2010-02-11T15:56:00.001-08:00

Andrea forwarded an email about a "Bucket List", you were to check off what you had done and forward it to your friends. I thought it was very interesting. I was pleased to see that I had done many of the things on the bucket list, and very sad about some of them also. Seeing a person die was not really on my list of things I wanted to do, but sadly, I did experience that. Some of my bucket list things were not on the list. So I thought I would come up with my own "Bucket List".
These are not in order of importance.

1. travel to Hawaii
2. travel to Alaska
3. travel travel travel in the continental US!!! too many places to list
4. write a childrens book
5. learn to play the piano
6. learn to take awesome pictures worthy of framing
7. learn to watercolor, mostly flower and bird pictures
8. celebrate 50 years of marriage
9.get healthy, lose weight, blah blah blah
10.live long enough to see great grandchild
11. semi retire, so that we can travel more
12. wittnessing my grandchilden accepting the Lord as savior
13. snow ski

Hummm, so how to achieve those items on my bucket list.

1. work harder to make more money so we can travel
2. work at getting healthy so we can live long enough to travel and see great grandchildren
3.get busy taking some lessons!!! watercolor, photography, something
4. teach children Bible lessons
5.get Ron busy getting healthy too

Ok, so my goals are not that unattainable. I feel really blessed to know that so many things on that original "Bucket List" I have already done.
I have seen grandchildren.
I am able to see those grandchildren several times a week
I have seen the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico
I have been to Canada, Mexico and Turkey
I have flown
I have a double oven and big kitchen for family dinners
I actually have the life of my dreams!
Thank you Lord!

Simple Pleasures

2010-02-11T11:08:00.000-08:00

Paula and Andrea added a "Simple Pleasures" Post, so I thought I would come up with some of my own.

reading a book to one of the grandchildren that they requested by title

seeing a child smile

having a grandchild reach their little hands up for me to pick them up

finding a cute outfit for one of the grandchildren

seeing a childsize handprint on the window, even when the kids have gone home

just about anything related to my grandchildren

teaching Bible lessons, and hearing a parent tell me their child told them what the lesson was

hearing a child say their Bible verse

coffee, especially the first cup of the day

grinding coffee beans at night in the anticipation of morning coffee

birds at the feeder

the first flowers of spring

flower buds on trees in anticipation of spring

planting a tree

waking to the singing of birds

sharing a laugh with my husband

sharing a really good dessert with my husband

clean sheets

smelling dial bath soap, especially on my husband

Christmas cards, sending and receiving

decorating for Christmas

buying new ornaments

shopping

reading blogs

playing scrabble on my iphone

Happy Birthday Poppa!

2010-01-21T16:32:00.000-08:00

For Ron's 60th Birthday, we took the whole family to Disney World! All 14 1/2 of us, 8 adults, 6 kids and baby yet to be born! I just realized that you can't see Phoenix in that picture!

I have been saving up for this for quite a while. I am very proud of the fact that half of the trip was paid for with reward dollars, meaning it was free! I bought some new Christmas ornaments with my reward dollars and they were free!

We had the deluxe dinning plan, if you ever go to Disney, this a really a good bargin, you have three meals a day and a snack, and it doesn't matter if you order a cheeseburger or a prime rib dinner! We all loved that.

Seeing the characters and the rides through the eyes of our grandchildren was so exciting! I like the rides and think the characters are fun, but seeing the kids enjoy that was priceless!

The fireworks, parades, shows, I don't know what was best. We watched Beauty and The Beast, The Lion King, Nemo, a Bird Show! I loved the playgrounds, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Pooh's playground and Minnies House. At Epcot we saw Talk Time with Crush!, had German food, sang a poolka! I bought German Christmas ornaments!

It was fun despite the crying, the blisters, the sprained ankle, the stomach virus, getting up early, the aching joints of the old people! We spent too much money, they babies were too young, but when I look at the pictures, it was all worth it!

I have already starting saving for the next trip!

Violet

2010-01-21T16:21:00.000-08:00

Violet pretty much did not like those Disney characters! We watched the Animal Kingdom parade and she finally slapped the hand of one of the craziest scariest characters of all!

We don't have a picture, but Veronika is afraid of dark places and dark rides, speed is OK, but not dark and loud, like Voyage of the Little Mermaid, Usula was pretty scary. By the last night, she road Pirates of the Carribean! and wasn't afraid!

Jackson, Tucker and the Brazillian Beauties

2010-01-21T16:11:00.000-08:00

Ron and I took Jackson and Tucker on the Toy Story Mania ride, while Tucker was shopping for his Baby Woody, this woman asked me if her girls could have their picture taken with Woody and Buzz, they thought they were SO CUTE!
Well, I thought about making sure that was OK with Brad and Paula, but decided they would love it, and they did, Brad was so PROUD!
The woman said they were cheerleaders from Brazil! The picture doesn't do justice to how cute they were, the girls and the boys.

Evie and Pluto

2010-01-21T16:05:00.000-08:00

Evie kissing Pluto!

Buzz and Woody Meeting Buzz and Woody

2010-01-21T15:47:00.000-08:00

Jackson and Tucker were in full costume for meeting Buzz and Woody, I think the workers really enjoyed setting up their meeting, especially since Tucker had his baby Woody. Jackson decided on the baby Buzz later in the trip! The girls bringing the kids into the room made a big production of Jackson an Tucker surprising Buzz and Woody with their costumes.

Grumpy

2010-01-21T15:42:00.000-08:00

Ron and I have very few "good" photos together! Why does he say he loves to go to Disney World and then have a grumpy smile?

Just for the record, he had a great time, he rocked babies to sleep, fed babies and toddlers, carried them, rode the rides with them and pushed the strollers too!

Babes in Toyland "DisneyWorld"

2010-01-21T15:39:00.000-08:00

Phoenix aka "Little Steve"

Evie aka "Little Josh"

Three babies in Disney World is crazy, there was a lot of crying, diapers and napping. But the trip was still wonderful.

Disney 2010

2010-01-21T15:29:00.000-08:00

Tucker and Slinky

Mickey kissing Phoenix

Violet on the Bug at the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" playground!

Josh, Amanda and Evie at Hollywood

Jackson taking care of Evie at the airport at the beginning of the trip.

New Year

2010-01-01T20:32:00.001-08:00

A new year brings so many possibilities! A new beginning for so many goals, whatever our goals may be. And so many possibilities for new experiences.

I am so excited about the New Year! Like celebrating Ron's 60th birthday. We will be taking a family trip to celebrate!

I plan to have a portrait taken of us. This age is it, we will record this age for the future. Like the driver's license photo, I always think it's such a bad picture, until I have to get a new photo 4 years later! Uhgg. So I think it is time to record this age before we get any older.

I am excited about new gardening opportunities. I love gardening so much that I included the garden picture! And it is not even mine, I borrowed the picture from Ann's picture file. Thanks Sister! I really enjoy my gardening and bird watching. What can I say, it was the first day of the year and rather than put up my Christmas decorations, I worked on my bird feeders.

I am exited about the opportunities to share the love of Jesus with children. I was showing Jackson the kids Nativitiy scene and he started asking questions about what I was telling him. That reminded me of how important my responbilities as a Christian, a teacher at church and as a grandmother are. What a blessing to be able to share the love of Jesus!

After Christmas Fun

2010-01-01T18:11:00.000-08:00

After opening presents and eating breakfast we went outside to play for a little while. The tire swing is the same tire swing we hung up when Brad was little.

Trimming the Tree

2010-01-01T18:03:00.000-08:00

I didn't actually have the kids help me decorate the tree, I just staged these pictures. But I do think next year I want to get a better camera and actually let the grandkids help me decorate the tree. It makes for some pretty pictures!

Ron's Christmas Gift

2010-01-01T17:54:00.000-08:00

I bought Ron a train set for Christmas. Ron doesn't get excited about much, but he went right to work putting the train together to have it ready for the grandkids! He says we have Brad's train set up in the attic, but I don't remember seeing it for years! I hope we don't pack this one away and forget about it.

Merry Christmas 2009

2010-01-01T17:40:00.000-08:00

For the last few years I have bought the grandkids Christmas pajamas and taken a picture of them all together. It is really hard to get 6 kids smiling all at the same time. Next year we get to try to get 7 kids smiling all at the same time.

I did realize it doesn't matter if they all smile or look at the camera, the beauty of it all is just that they are so CUTE!

Thanksgiving in Baton Rouge

2010-01-01T17:27:00.000-08:00

Movie night for the kids and grandmothers! And Radio Flyers from Wal Mart!

Thanksgiving in Baton Rouge

2010-01-01T17:11:00.000-08:00

Ann and family hosted my family for a Thanksgiving weekend in Baton Rouge. We enjoyed the best food and the best company. Fried turkey, pumpkin bread, corn casserole, shrimp boil, boudan, and more! After feasting for three days, most of the young adults went to the LA/AR football game. I know they had a great time. Ann and I, with the help of Ron, Daniel, Chad and Stacy took care of 7 children, my 6 grandchildren and 1 of Ann's.

We played games, visited, did some crafts, mostly just had a great time.

Thank you Ann and Daniel for hosting our Thanksgiving!

Getting Old and Pickles

2009-10-23T16:28:00.001-07:00

Ron is going to turn 60 in 2010! I have been making arrangements for his celebrations, we are going to celebrate all year in fact.

Sometimes I worry about getting old!

I love the Pickles Cartoon. The old couple have been married for 50 years. They are so funny and so real!

Getting old sometimes seems really bad. I can' see very well. I have so many aches and pains. I don't know where all these wrinkles came from! And the grey hair...!

But getting old has it's rewards too. Our kids are grown and out of the house. We get to spend our money on ourselves or the grandkids, because that is really fun too. Cooking for two is easy.
The peace and quite is wonderful, no fighting!

Young parents, do not dispair, your reward will come in 20 years or so!

I love this!

2009-10-23T16:26:00.000-07:00

Snapdragon

2009-05-30T20:15:00.001-07:00

This picture doesn't really show how it works, but if squeeze the sides of the flower, it opens and closes, like a mouth, a dragon mouth.

Memories

2009-05-30T19:19:00.000-07:00

It has been over a year since my Mom died. April 13, 2008. I haven't been to the cemetary to visit her grave. Friday night I was coming home from some errands in Benton and Bryant, and decided to drive down Highway 5. It's such a peaceful drive and I can check out landscaping along the way. I guess because night comes late, the gates to Pinecrest were still open. I decided it was time to visit my mother's grave.
It may seem strange to visit a cemetary, but we were raised to visit the cemetary several times a year. Our brother had died at a young age. I guess our parents wanted us to remember him and honor his memory. He died before the three youngest of us were born. My parents had Robert and Anita, my Mom was pregnant with Ann, when they had the wreck.
It was always a big event to visit the cemetary, we took flowers to decorate the graves of my grandparents, my brother, several uncles, and cousins. Then my Dad died and we continued to take our Mother to visit. It was a part of our life.
Now my parents are not here to tell me to visit the cemetary. I went, but didn't have any flowers. I paid my respects to my family. I have had a little guilt about not going this past year.
I decided that I do not have to visit the cemetary to remember and honor my family that have gone on before me. I remember them all the time.
When I work in my garden I think about how much my father loved working in his garden. My sisters and I dug up plants out of his garden before we sold the house we grew up in. I have iris, buttercups, and 4 o'clocks that came from his garden. Some of the 4'oclocks came to me by way of Ann's house. I brought his round stepping stones from the front yard and placed them in my garden. I step on them whenever I do yard work.
My Dad built a chest when he was in the navy. I have had it in storage for years. Ron got it out for me and fixed the broke legs. I am in the process of sanding and restoring it.
My Mom, in her younger days, laid a slate rock patio. Last week I was making a rock walkway, and I thought of that patio. I guess I always loved growing things. My Mom helped me plant radishes when I was young, my garden was maybe a 2 foot square, I have vivid memories of watching them grow.
I am in the process now of helping my children and grandchildren make those memories. Monday, I had Jackson and Tucker help me plant some cosmos seeds. And they got to pick fresh blueberries from my bushes. Veronika had a dance recital tonight, I was able to pick her an orange lily from my garden.
I want the memories of my family to be full of happy times, that they will know how much I love them. And they will remember the times we spent together. I want to be at every ball game, every recital, every party and I feel so blessed to be invited and able to particiapate in these events.
Paula told me a funny story. I had taken Veronika, Jackson and Tucker to a play at the Childrens Theater. We sat in the garden waiting for the show. I picked a snapdragon and showed it to the kids. Paula said when she cut a muffin sideways, the boys said , "Oh, that looks like a snapdragon, like Dodi showed us."

MOPS

2009-05-19T15:41:00.000-07:00

The last MOPS meeting for the year was last Wednesday. The moms had a short meeting, then they had the volunteers come to the Life Center to thank them for taking care of their kids during the year. Then the MOPPETS sang. This is Brother Marks version of Deep and Wide. Jackson and Tucker think it is hilarious!

Hummingbirds

2009-05-19T15:17:00.000-07:00

This is from August 2008. We have hummingbirds, but not this many yet. They usually increase in the numbers in the heat of summer.

Getting Tagged

2009-05-06T21:19:00.000-07:00

I, of course, will goof up this getting tagged thing, but here goes.

First, 8 things I look forward to:
Having a new grandson, Phoenix.
Spending time with my grandchildren.
Growing flowers, especially sunflowers, zinnia, cosmos, morning glories, and food like, tomatoes, strawberries, blueberries, etc. and perennials.
Getting to swim this summer, especially with the grandchildren.
Getting my house finished so that we will have more room to enjoy the grandchildren and the enhanced view of the garden and birds.
Planning Ron's 60th birthday celebration.
Waking up each day, enjoying the first cup of coffee while watching birds at the feeders.

8 things I did yesterday
birdwatched(I can't hardly get dressed for watching the birds)
worked
enjoyed my coffee
went to Jackson's TBall game, sat in the van in pouring rain until it was cancelled
ate dinner at East End Cafe
remembered why I do not like dinner at East End Cafe
read the newpaper
went to bed, but couldn't sleep, so watched TV until 2:00, which actually was today, which caused me to be sluggish all day today

8 TV shows I watch
American Idol, 1st year for me and I have really enjoyed it
Scrubs
Ugly Betty
Office
30 Rock
How I Met Your Mother
Big Bang
Chuck
(when I watch TV I also read the paper, home decorating or gardening magazines and play solitare on my iphone, which would explain why I don't get ANY house work done, even though all we have right now is the pool house and bedroom.)

8 people I tag
any and everyone who might read this

Awana is over for the year!

2009-05-04T17:50:00.000-07:00

Veronika is in Sparks. She received the First Book Award. I know that Veronika worked really hard to learn her Bible verses to complete the book.

Jackson received his first year award. These kids learn the Bible at Awana! They have Bible time, devotion time, play time and snacks.

Awana stands for "Approved Workman Are Not Ashamed". This program teaches Bible scripture to kids. I have not really worked with the actual Awana program, just the Pre-Cubbies, the kids too young for Awana.

This is my 6th year teaching Awana. I still love it, but I still feel like I do not know what I am doing, it's hectic, crazy, kids everywhere. Some nights all we do is feed them, take them to the bathroom, change a diaper or two, and try to keep them from hurting each other.

Every Wednesday night I just pray they received a little bit of the love of Jesus amid the chaos! By the end of the year they amazed me with what they knew. They start the year learning to talk, by the spring, they can tell you that Jesus died for them!

This year we had 13 children! Andrea, Amanda and Paula have all helped this year, along with several other mothers of the children. Thank goodness for the help, it takes every hand available to help these little ones.

Awana Cubbies

2009-05-04T17:42:00.000-07:00

This is Jackson's Cubbie awards.

Awana

2009-05-04T17:30:00.001-07:00

This is the PreCubbies singing at the Awana closing on Sunday night.

Happy Birthday Tucker

2009-04-20T15:20:00.001-07:00

Tucker will turn 3 on April 29! He is such a sweet heart! I love hearing his voice, so soft and sweet. He has such a huge vocabulary, he can carry on quite a conversation!

I have been keeping him all by himself during Jackson's TBall practice. It has been a special time for us because we get to visit with just him.

I love seeing all the grandkids play and interact, but one on one time is pretty fun too!

Happy Birthday Violet

2009-04-17T14:51:00.000-07:00

Violet turned 1 on Tuesday. What a great year it has been. This little girl is such a joy! I have loved watching her grow this past year.

Hummingbird, first sighting April 4

2009-04-05T15:05:00.000-07:00

April 4, the first hummingbird of the year! I was sitting in the carport, rocking Evie, and I saw the first little hummer. This is always exciting for me. Spring is just the best time of the year.
I immediately tried to fill up a feeder. Well, we are in the middle of remodeling our house. So I couldn't find the box with sugar. Evie would not let me put her down. So I realized the hummingbird could wait, they certainly exist without my help. They fly to Mexico during the winter, so they could wait a few hours.
Evie and I went about our business, me walking her around the house and showing her all the different plants. Me feeding her lunch, then her playing happily on the floor for a whole hour.
When she took her nap, I rushed around, found the sugar, make some nectar, got a couple of feeders out and was still able to rest before she woke up.
Jackson and Tucker came over later, while Brad and Paula went out. They helped me fill my birdseed feeders, and of course Poppa took them for a ride on the four wheeler.
Sunday morning, I saw Violet when they were taking her to the nursery. She cried for me when Andrea and Steve took her upstairs.
I just love for my grandchildren to like me! I have the best time with them.
I have spent my Sunday afternoon in research for the MOPS Wiser Older Woman panel. I need to read me Bible everyday of course, but this is helping me in my study.
I get distracted by my little hummingbirds, and the goldfinch! The goldfinch have turned a beautiful bright yellow now. They will be leaving me soon, usually around Mothers Day. But God provides by replacing them with the lovely little ruby throated hummingbirds!

Wiser Older Woman

2009-03-19T19:12:00.000-07:00

The MOPS, (Mothers of Preschoolers), group at our church, has invited several older women to host a panel for the younger moms to ask questions about parenting, marriage and the spiritual life of their family.
Paula has been attending MOPS for several year, Andrea and Amanda started this year since they are home with preschoolers. And I have helped with the preschoolers for a couple of years also. The Moms have a meeting, the preschoolers have a Bible class and playtime.
I feel honored to be asked to be on this panel. Not that I am wise, but I have experienced many of the same situations that concern these Moms.
The Moms submitted a list of questions and concerns for the panel. I am so excited to be able to share some things that helped me when I was home with preschoolers.
This has inspired me to examine my own spiritual life, and do some intense Bible study.
Also to remember the woman I consider to be my mentor in my walk with Christ. Patsy Jackson was my children's first Sunday School teacher. Patsy taught the 2 year olds at Woodhaven. I still remember her teaching Brad "God Made The Birds That Fly In The Sky". I now have the honor of teaching my children's children and more children that song.
One of the first scriptures that I went to in my Bible study was Proverbs 31, the virtuous woman. She works from the rising sun to the setting sun, grows her own food, makes her own clothes, is kind to others, her family praises her. How can we even begin to be a virtuous woman?
Thankfully, Jesus loves us even when we are not that virtuous woman. The love that Jesus gave, unconditional love, eternal love, we need only to accept it to receive the peace that passeth understanding.
Somehow I want to share with those Moms what Jesus has given me. The gift of salvation, the love of Jesus has helped me grow and find happiness. I have been poor, I have been sad, I have yelled at my children, and husband, I have been despondent, embrassed, ashamed, I have sinned. But I know that Christ has forgiven my past, present and future sins.
Please pray for me as I prepare with prayer and Bible study for this panel, that I will be able to share and help these young Moms as they strive to be Godly women.
Also, please share with me your favorite scriptures that help you and guide you.