Catching up....

I know I haven't been a very good blogger lately so I'm going to try to catch up a bit starting with Easter. We actually had our Easter get together on Saturday since we have to work around everybody's schedules. Nothing about our Easter was very traditional. We had pork barbeque, baked beans, cole slaw and chocolate eclairs for dessert!! (I had a little of everything except dessert!) We usually do Easter dinner at my house but this year my daughter was our hostess. We all had a great time eating, hiding and hunting eggs and just enjoying our time together. And of course there were photo opportunities for me!

I took this picture of Claire explaining to Uncle Dave and Kian how to jump a big ditch, and trying to talk Kian into jumping!




When her powers of persuasion didn't work, she demonstrated...looks like she's flying!



Finally Kian got brave enough and jumped too. He looks like he's falling into the ditch but he actually made it across.



Then the adults hid the Easter eggs for the kids to hunt...



and the kids hid eggs for the adults to hunt:



While some of the adults were pushing and shoving trying to get to the same egg, Jenny was wandering off by herself finding one egg after another and won the egg hunt!



It was too windy for Josie to be outside so she napped while we played. She had her own purple and pink Easter basket and a personalized egg:



After her nap she posed for Granny to get some pictures:



She even smiled for me (actually she was smiling at Daddy):



Even Pamela posed for me with her new outfit, actually a hand-me-down that Josie outgrew!



Even if we weren't traditional, we had a great time making our own traditions and most importantly, making memories!

Goodbye, Ms. Fran

Most of you who follow Peggy's blog know by now that Ms. Fran passed away on Monday at 4:45 PM. Please go to Peggy's post here to read her account of Ms. Fran's gentle passing from death unto Life. I read a comment on Peggy's post left by S who referred to Ms. Fran's death as BITTERSWEET, which I find very fitting at this time.



Many months ago Peggy began to share Ms. Fran with us and we came to know and love her.
I looked forward to reading about her and seeing pictures of her sweet, smiling face. Peggy shared their good times together:



Even after she became ill and her body weakened, she still liked participating in the fun that Peggy could cook up:



Thank you, Peggy, for unselfishly letting us be there in Ms. Fran's last days.

As a tribute I would like to share one of my favorite poems with you. I hope you will take the
time to read and absorb what it says. We say "goodbye" to Ms. Fran for now but only for a while.

Gone From My Sight

By

Henry Van Dyke

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side,spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck

of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.

Then, someone at my side says, "There, she is gone"

Gone where?

Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast,hull and spar as she was when she left my side.And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.

Her diminished size is in me -- not in her.

And, just at the moment when someone says, "There, she is gone,"

there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices

ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!"

And that is dying...

He is Risen

"The stone was rolled away from the door, not to permit Christ to come out, but to enable the disciples to go in." - Peter Marshall

Wishing all my friends a blessed Easter.

O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. Psalms 34:3 KJV

Another Meme..

I have been tagged by Mary at Mary's Writing Nook to do a meme on 8 facts/habits of mine. Most of you already know most facts about me AND my habits so it took me a while to come up with 8 things. If I repeat myself from other memes just ignore what you've already learned! Here are the rules:

In the 8 facts about yourself, you share 8 things that your readers don’t know about you. Then at the end you tag at least 8 other bloggers to keep the fun going.

1. I am not a morning person!! I can't think well in the morning and sometimes can't remember things. My daughter says she never tells me anything important in the morning because by noon I won't remember it! Morning dementia??

2. When I was young I wanted to drive a car so much that I had recurring dreams about driving! Now I hate to drive.

3. I like to fall asleep with the tv on in our bedroom and it has to be on Nick at Nite! The reason is that I've seen all these shows so many times and don't get deeply involved in them like I would if I watched a movie or any show I've never seen.

4. It has always been hard for me to accept a compliment without undermining it in some way. For instance, if someone tells me my hair looks nice, I would say something like, "It's only because I finally washed it!" I'm trying to learn to just say, "Thank you!"

5. I am fascinated and at the same time repulsed by serial killers. I've always wondered what goes on in their minds when they commit these heinous crimes, but at the same time it would sicken me to know!

6. I love puzzles..crosswords, jigsaws...I'll work about any kind except Sudoku. I never liked math or working with numbers.

7. I like to eat green bean sandwiches! JD had confessed in a meme that he likes potato salad sandwiches. Well, I like those too! I also like buttermilk with cornbread crumbled in it! My kids never could watch me eat that because it made them sick!!

8. I am not a fanatical housekeeper and never have been. I do try to keep a "path" through the house and give it a thorough cleaning occasionally. I have always felt there are more important things to do. My theory is that all the dust bunnies will be here when I'm dead and gone!!

Here are the 8 people that I tag:

Brandy at Mommy's Quiet Spot

Jennifer at Dust Bunny Hostage

Sandra at Nora Lee's Nook

Rosie at Rosie's Whimsy

BJ at Sweet Nothings

Carolyn at Talk to Grams

Adrienne at With a Grateful Heart

Lisa at A Place to Land

I tried to pick 8 people that I though hadn't already been tagged so if you haven't then start confessing your habits!! :O)

My birthday boy...

Today my baby boy turns 35 years old. How can that be when just yesterday I was 35? :O) My how time does fly. Willie came into this world weighing 9 lbs. 11 1/2 oz. and was 22 1/2 inches long! I often tease him and say that if he had been born first he would have been an only child! It was rough carrying him especially since I'm so short and he had no room to move, but move he did!! He made up for all this discomfort by being a really good baby, so jolly and happy and always smiling...unless he was hungry, then I heard about it!

My son has grown into a fine young man and I'm very proud of him. He has been a soldier and is now a police officer. He's a good son and little brother to Jenny:




He's a good husband to Angie and father to Kian:



And as you all know, he just recently became a father again when Josie came into the world:



He has been playing drums since he was 4 years old and continues to play with a local band called Spank:



As you can see, the fruits of my "labor" have paid off!! Happy Birthday, Willie! I love you and I would do it all over again!!

God's Painting

For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth..

Stamp of Approval

Well, I finally got my stamp of approval, thanks to Betty! Check it out:



I am just tickled pink (or in this case tickled rose red) for this award! Betty, thank you so much. I'm honored to receive this.

If you still don't know Betty or haven't visited her, please go over to her blog, Betty's This and That and say hello. She is one of the sweetest ladies you will ever meet and has become a dear friend to me.

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I just wanted to tell you all that I had a much better day today. I think my medicine is starting to kick in and work for me and watching my diet hasn't hurt either. I know this has to be a life style change and not one of those quickie fad diets. I'm just concentrating on watching my carbs and sugar intake right now. I've done well with that in the past week. Thank you all for being here for me! :o)

Thankfulness

First. let me say how grateful I am to each and every one of you for your prayers and well wishes. What a wonderful and supportive group of friends I have here in Blogland and I thank God for you.

One reason I hadn't already asked for prayer is because I felt that what I'm dealing with is just a minor little thing compared to what a lot of you are going through. But I also feel that the Lord has given me a wake up call here and now it's up to me to do something about it, with His help and the prayers of those who care about me.

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Now on to cheerful things! Jennifer at dust bunny hostage gave me this award a few days ago. Even though I'm just getting around to picking it up, I appreciate it very much. I met Jen when she first started her blog and I was immediately drawn to her....probably because of that magnetic personality of hers! When I visit there I always get a blessing, a smile, or a belly laugh and sometimes all these emotions from one post! I love this girl!! Thank you so much, Jen, for acknowledging our friendship with this award.

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Many of you have asked to see new pictures of Josie. Well, today was the debut of her first studio pictures and her Mommy sent me the proofs to view. Even though they can't be enlarged you can get an idea of how she's growing and changing. My sweet baby is already 7 weeks old!

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Now I'm off to visit all of you and catch up on all I've missed the past few days.

Feeling unnessary..

I've mentioned before that my mother had a strange way with words. One thing I can remember her saying was, "I feel so unnessary!" I learned at a young age to "read" my mother but I never fully understood this statement until I was older. I realize now that she was in a state of limbo..not feeling well enough to keep going but not bad enough to sit down and quit or just go to bed. Well, that's the state I'm in right now...feeling unnessary!

I've never been one to frequent my doctor's office. I'm more of a wait and see what happens kind of person. I started having symptoms which I thought was just a virus and I'd wait it out. Then came even more symptoms until I could wait no longer. I went to my doctor on Friday and he officially pronounced me diabetic! I've been teetering on the border for several years now. He seems to think that all these symptoms stemmed from my messed up blood sugar levels. So he put me on medication which my body seems to have a problem adjusting to. He said it might take some time so I'm waiting it out again.

I told Betty in an email last night about what's going on with me. She had noticed that I wasn't online as much or blogging as much. She told me she would be praying for me, but reminded me of the wonderful prayer group we have in Blogland and that I really should ask for your prayers. So here I am, asking. Basically, I'm asking you to pray that my body will adjust to this medication soon and that I'll be able to turn around all my bad eating habits. I've been on diets off and on for many years but this is a whole new ballgame to me.

Thank you, my friends, for always being there and praying. A special thank you to Betty for giving me a nudge!

The Lighthouse

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom do I fear?
The Lord is my life's refuge; of whom am I afraid?

Psalm 27:1

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(Old Orchard Beach, Maine)