Are you a grandfather?

 On November 9th John and Marisa found out that they are having a boy.  Atticus Thomas should join us in March.  We all knew, somewhat the the baby would be a boy.  In Carl's family he is one of six children, one daughter and five sons. Each son had a son first and Carl's sister had a daughter first.  Every family has only one daughter except one.  There are 15 grandchildren-10 grandsons and 5 granddaughters.  As the great-grands are appearing, the males are out numbered 3-2 now but Atticus will make it even, but each firstborn great grand has been a boy.

I was excited, Carl was Carl.

Marisa had a blue onesie in the bag for us to see.

I almost made my facebook status on Wednesday "Today I find out if I will be a grandmother or a grandfather"  but a few weeks ago when Andrew got on my account and ranked my children some folks thought that that was really me.  Really, Really?!?  So I refrained incase that would rock their world or they would try to explain it to me but any way... a grandfather it is  :-)

For all the Mama's

I had a request to repost a blog post! Here it is -about being a mama

Enjoy!

A day in the life of the flu

My girls have the flu. Here is what yesterday looked like

I bought new toothbrushes for them and lots of hand sanitizer for them and me
I bought fun soap so we would enjoy washing our hands
They have had lots of hot tea
and halloween candy
I am pushing the fluids and drinking through a straw helps it go easier
We watched lots of this
and movies like these.
I washed lots of clothes yesterday and today I plan to be nurse Ellen and fold clothes. The girls feel very bad- headache, fever, bad cough, runny nose but we are all thankful they don't have the stomach flu! I love this time that I can love on them and serve them because they do so much for me.

There is a season

I love summer.

I love having most of my children at home with not many things required of them.

I love being able to spend from 1:30 til 10:30 watching The Gilmore Girls with Kaitlin and Marisa. We just did this one day but it was so much fun. The Gilmore Girls is definitely for girls and we try to watch when all the boys are not at home. When they are home they make comments and then we have to send them out of the room.

I love have spur -of -the moment times when we can just get up and go without having to get back at a certain time.

I love being able to sit and visit after a meal and not having someone having to rush away to get back to class.

I love all the laughing that happens when these three get tickled.

I love going to Charlotte's as many times as I can find people to go with me. I think I have been four times this summer. Charlotte's is restaurant in Keo, AR which is about 45 minutes from me. They have wonderful desserts, great hamburgers and sandwiches and in the summer only this FABULOUS fruit plate that also comes with chicken salad and two cheese biscuits. My mouth is watering. When you sit down at Charlotte's you first check the dessert board- Charlotte and her husband make them every morning and when they are gone, they are gone. I have had Italian Creme Cake and Strawberry Cake so far this summer. KimT orders her Carmel Pie when she makes our reservations so she is assured to have a piece. If you need me to go with you to Charlotte's, just let me know. I have the gift of eating at Charlotte's. I'll even teach you some Arkansas history along the way.

I love to see Marisa and Kaitlin reading books for pleasure.

I love it when we are all in the same room for longer than 10 minutes.

I love going shopping with my girls and being able to just look and look as long as we want. ( Carl , please notice that I didn't say-just buy and buy as long as we want) :)

I love the relaxed attitude at home because of the lack of dead lines.

I know that summer will be over on the 16th of August. I know that I may never have another summer with these three home. Next summer may be different with different jobs and responsibilities. So I am breathing deep and savoring and going with the flow. And I am thankful, so very thankful for this time with these great, young adults who like being with me. I am blest.

Green Grass

I have a cold, no I have a BAD COLD. I am to the point that my mama would say it is a fresh cold- fever, running nose, watering eyes, cough and then my nose gets stopped up. I had it on Friday and I rested lots in the motel in Nashville over the weekend but it came on with a vengeance once we got home.

Today Marisa restocked my supply of caffeine-free Pepsi and brought me a cherry slushy from Sonic. I am not really hungry but I know I need to keep drinking.

I read a great book yesterday that I'll blog on soon. Today I'm almost through another.

How different to be sick as a mostly empty nester. This is the first time that I can remember that I have been sick and I don't have to push myself to keep going. I remember one time that Carl had to leave on a trip when I had the flu and so did 2 of the children. You just suck it up and do what you have to do.

I've just mostly been sitting. I haven't taken anyone to soccer or ballet or had to grade papers or settle an argument... but I also haven't had a hair combing or lotion on my feet or lots of day time TLC.

How I longed for the days when I could just be sick and just take care of me. Now I'm there but what I'd really like is for Andrew to be home and put lotion on my feet, Kaitlin to not go to class but stay home and comb my hair and John to sit by me and hold my hand and say "There's healing in touch, mama "

I guess what they say about that grass is really true.

your laugh for the day

Enjoy a laugh on me today! I hope your day is great.

Hide it under a bushel, NO!

I am standing amazed at the exceedingly, abundantly, moreness of God- Eph 3:20-21.

We are listening to a series from Tim Keller in our College and Career group. I highly recommend all his messages. He gets you thinking. The message last night was on "How can there be a God with all the suffering in the World?" I'll search around and see if I can find a link for you. It was a wonderful message. It was encouraging. We do not know all the reasons that God has for what we go through but one thing we can hold on to is 'For His Glory'

When I helped Corrie in February, I did it because I love her and she needed me. Corrie brought me a note last night from her mama. Here it is

Dear Ellen and Family,
This is a little thank you for being Corrie's "Mommy" especially when she had her accident. And you should know, it was quite the testimony to various non-Christian family members, they were astonished I didn't fly right down there (I couldn't actually) and I explained that her church family was so 'on it' that one lady actually beat her to the hospital! Thank you, Ellen. The were amazed that Christians do that for each other, when Corrie has only been in Little Rock for a year. So your witness travels far...
Love in our Saviour, Debbie

And I thought I was only going to help a friend in need not give a testimony to non- believers. We never know how God can use what we are going through. May this give us courage today.

The world is watching. I am praying that I show them Jesus today.

Who makes Kaitlin scream and wrestles with John

I feel almost like today is December 26th. All the plans and looking forward to have come and gone.

I have three children. Andrew, Kaitlin and John. Kaitlin lives at home, John is home for the summer and Andrew lives with his wife, Taylor, in Georgia.

Andrew came for a visit.

Taylor had a gathering of her friends for a week in North Carolina and because of the nature of Andrew's job, it was a good time for him to take vacation too. I missed her and hope she can be here soon.

Here are some bullet points of his visit.

-Andrew was not in the house for 5 minutes before he was chasing Kaitlin through the house checking to see if she had armpits. I can recall her screaming even now. Andrew comes into a room with his eyes twinkling and looking for some one's button to push.

-We went to a Traveler's game

-We watched the National Spelling Bee.

-Andrew put his GPS in my van. He told us he has to have it to get to the substations in his service area. Sometimes he uses it even when he knows how to get somewhere because he enjoys hearing the voice pronounce things wrong. One example he gave us was he has to do work on a Memorial Highway. the GPS say- mem Mole lia.

-Andrew's friend, Chris came to visit for the weekend. We shared lots of laughs. Andrew is blessed with wonderful friends.

Andrew got to eat at Senor Tequila's twice, Purple Cow, CheeburgerCheeburger (sorry we missed you Brittany), we saw Iron Man (I highly recommend the movie, I want to see it again), He got to swim with KerryF, play basketball with John, Grant, and Jake,played racquetball with John (had to take Advil afterwards as did John). We ate at Mt Fugi with KimT and BobT. KimT even got in a jumping picture!

This is the hardest part of mothering I believe. To do my job so well that they don't need me. wow! It was a precious time with Andrew home. It was fun to hear the banter between the children and the laughter and the teasing and the remember when...

Andrew's language of love is touch. He would get up in the morning and sit by me on the sofa and we would watch Sportcenter. He has done this since we have had cable. We talked AUBURN football and the books we have been reading. And we laughed.

I am thankful I am sad because it means we are blessed with a wonderful relationship.

It is quiet here tonight without Andrew.

Who is REALLY in control?

My friend, Pam, is expecting her third baby. This is remarkable. She is a cancer survivor. She is considered a high risk so she has super special stuff done to her at each visit. During one of these tests they think they found something wrong with the baby. The baby may be attached wrong to the placenta. They don't know for sure. The next doctor visit is late next week.

I talked to her yesterday. I told her that we were praying for her. I told her that I hate the 'not knowing' or the 'waiting room'. Life goes on but wouldn't it be better if we just knew something! Pam said that times like these remind her that she really is never NOT in the 'waiting room' and that the control we feel we have is just pretend control.

Wow! I needed to hear that.

I'll keep you posted on Pam

A Storm Update

Thank you to all who prayed, commented, called, sent facebook messages or emails about my child and the storm.

Said Child has taken a few steps back from all the activities of life, spent several sleepless nights wrestling with God, has drunk deeply from the Scripture and let it bathe and soothe as only it can do. Said Child has owned some sin that had taken hold and made steps for removal.

This Mama writes this with tears streaming down her face. To God be the Glory

Being a Mama

Some days I wonder about my job description. I think after having been a mama and then a homeschool mama and now I'm back to being mama again makes me wonder. I have on my hands something new. Time. Should I get a part time job? I mean I have grown children at home and they pretty much take care of themselves. (Ok, except the part about knowing that clothes go IN the walk-in closet not on the floor becoming the walk-on closet and now that I can't bend over I just shut the door) I don't always cook supper because often because of schedules I am home alone. So what's a mama to do? I am reading more, scrapbooking more and even blogging. Just when I was pondering what I should be doing God sent me last Wednesday.

I got all my folks to work and school, stopped by the church to drop my chicken off for the meal that night, went to Physical Therapy and was walking in to eat lunch with KimT before we headed to the church to cook and my phone rang... It was Corrie. She is a friend of my from church. She is a part of the College and Career group that Carl and I are a part of. She is living here and working at her first job. She is in marketing and her territory is the whole state. She had had a car wreck. She had rear ended another vehicle and she was being transported to the hospital. Her vehicle was totaled. She was in tears and wanted to know if she could call me when she was finished at the ER and could I take her home. I told her I would meet her in the ER now.

I beat her to the ER and was asking if she had already been taken back when her ambulance arrived. Bless her heart. Her air bag had deployed and burned her inner forearms plus her neck and chest hurt ,in addition to, just being in a wreck. She let me comfort her. I hugged on her when she was cold and held her hand when she got a tetanus shot. We laughed about the handsome ER doctor and thanked God that he so gently examined her arms. I could tell her that the EKG they wanted to run would not hurt and we shuddered together as we heard the patient 3 beds down cough.

She got to the ER at 12pm and we left at 4pm. She had regained her composure when we left but knew she needed to call home. As soon as she heard her mama's voice she cried and so did I and so did her mama. Her sweet mama wanted to reach through that phone and bring comfort to that precious baby who was hurting in body and in spirit. I talked to her mama and said that Corrie was fine, shaken up , but fine and answered a few of her questions. She thanked me and we both cried again. "It was my pleasure" I said. I really meant that.

So I am back to being a mama with time on her hands and I am so glad.