Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all of my blogger friends!!
Here are a few more snapshots of our Christmas that I had wanted to post earlier.

Here's the "gingerbread house" they made from Graham Crackers.  They had a fun time working on this together.

Our tree.  I love our tree.  We always have a real tree (sniff....ahhh!) with colored lights.  Most every year, each girl has gotten a new ornament.   I have a few on there that I especially like, too, that I've collected over the years.  This year at my grandmother's house I also found a couple of old ornaments that I remember from my childhood.  Those were so fun to have this year.  Nothing fancy, just memories. We also have quite a few handmade ornaments from Guatemala. 

This is a new ornament this year.  Back in the beginning of Dec., we watched the White House Christmas special on HGTV.  It was showing how they decorated the White House this year, including interviews with Laura Bush.  They showed this Carolina Snowflake that she had ordered 250 of for a tree.  I made the comment how much I liked it.  Much to my surprise, my husband went back and watched it (it was recorded), got the name of the store where they were sold, and ordered me one.  (It's the one on the left.)

The Carolina Snowflake is handmade in Spruce Pine, NC (www.homeoftheperfectchristmastree.org).  It is handwoven, reed dyed with crushed walnut hulls, henna/madder (and green commercial dye). 
Also, remember me saying that I saw a print in a local store with my blog verse, but the frame was beat up?  James went back and got it (on top of being marked down, it was also an additional 40% off, so he got it pretty inexpensive), took it to a friend who is a framer, and had it reframed for me.  He was just full of surprises this year!

"You will show me the path of life, in your presence is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.  Psalm 16:11"
(I didn't really feel sick, even though I looked it in that picture!  We'll chalk it up to a long week and bad lighting!)
My little girls with their new Felicity dolls.
We've had a pretty quiet week.  We still have some sickness going on.  My parents did get to come for Christmas for 2 days instead of 5, but we've had several taking turns with some awful stuff--but all different, it seems.  Briana is the one sick now.  Tonight we will just hang out here, play a board game, maybe make some cider.  I made a double enchilada casserole last night, so we will have the other one tonight. 
Wishing everyone a blessed and Happy New Year's Day.

Letitia

Christmas in Our Home

Our family has been enjoying the Christmas season, although, or perhaps because, we haven't done much.  We have enjoyed having Advent together most nights.  If we have to miss a night, we catch back up the next one.  One of our other family traditions is, after Advent, we pray for the people we have received a Christmas card from that day.  A couple of nights a week, we all sit around the tree, turn out all but the tree lights, and sing Christmas carols and other Christmas favorites.  We have a fun time with that.  Sometimes we forget the words or get our verses all mixed up, and we've added motions to some of the fun songs.
    On Dec. 10, Marissa and Daniella participated in our church's children's Christmas program.  They were both so excited.  This was the first program Daniella had ever been in.  She had a short solo.  Marissa also had a solo, as well as a speaking part.  She had quite a few lines.  This was her first time with a speaking part, and she was pretty nervous, but did great.  She said singing solos is much easier than speaking!  It wouldn't be to me! 
They are the 2 to the left.  Everyone is in summer clothes because the setting was a Christmas cruise.  They were getting ready to sing their solos. 
    The next day, Ashley and Briana went with my mom and dad to Charlotte, N.C.   Ashley, Briana, and my mom volunteered at the collection center for Samaritan's Purse shoeboxes.  Their job was to open up the boxes, take out the payment and forms, check for any other money that may have been put in, and close the boxes back up.  If you've ever packed a shoebox to the rim, like we do, and spent 10 min. rearranging everything to get it to fit, then you will understand that that job was not necessarily an easy task!  I'm sure it's even harder for the group whose job is to sort through and take out the "no-no" items.  Ashley said she didn't want to see another rubber band for a long time.  Her hands were sore from being popped by them.  But, they had a blast.  In fact, they were only signed up for 4 hours, but asked if they could stay longer.  They ended up working 5 1/2 hours.  They are already planning for next year.  My mom had to stop before the 4 hours was up.  She had been sick, was feeling some better, but relapsed. 

 These are all stacks and stack of shoeboxes.  And, those are just the ones that had been processed at that particular center, THAT day, up until 1:00 !     James, Marissa, Daniella, and I went to our homeschool group's Christmas party on the 12th.  We had a nice time, eating, socializing, and doing some crafts.  I was on clean-up duty, so after that was finished, about 4 or 5 moms sat around talking for a while, while our children played outside, since it was a warm day. 
    Other than shopping, that has been about the extent of our activities--and they were all in 3 days time.  Ashley is in our church choir, and they had their program this past Sunday morning.  It was so pretty this year.    James and I went on a shopping date last Sat.  We got quite a lot of shopping finished up.  We were going to splurge and go to Texas Road House (I was craving some ribs!), but there was a minimum 1 hour wait time.  We went to Chic-Fil-A instead! 
    Every other year, my parents spend Christmas with us here.   This is supposed to be their year to come.  We are praying they will be able to.  Please pray for their (and our) health.  When my mom relapsed in Charlotte, she went steadily downhill.  She finally went to the doctor last Friday, and they told her she had a rattle in her chest.  She also has a sinus infection.  She's on antibiotics, and seemed to be getting better.  She had been 48 hours without fever, but last night started running one again and hurting in her chest.  She says she doesn't hurt this morning, so we don't know what's going on.  My dad is coughing a lot, too.  Daniella had a cold last week, but is slowly getting over it.  Then yesterday, I woke up with a stomach bug.  I was running 101.5 temp yesterday, but seem to be a lot better today.  I'm still hurting a little, and kind of weakly feeling, but much better than yesterday.  I don't seem to have fever today, either, which is good.  Ugh.  That fever, was awful.  So, this morning, Briana wakes up--kind of--really late, and feels horrible.  She had had a very restless night, probably with fever.  She was running 101.4 temp.  She has no symptoms so far.  I'm hoping she's going to do what she does lots of times.  Many, many times through the years, she would run a really high fever (104, 105).  We would struggle to keep it at 100-101 for 2 or 3 days, then she would be fine.  She would never be sick.  That's actually how our bodies are supposed to work, so I am praying that she will do the same thing this time.  She's loading up on Vit. C and Goldenseal.  Anyway, please pray, if you will, that everyone will be well enough for my mom and dad to come, and for us all to enjoy Christmas.  I don't want them to spend Christmas alone, and we want them to get to be here.
   We were all supposed to go to Dollywood yesterday to see the Christmas shows and lights.  Since I was sick, but it was warm, James took Briana, Marissa, and Daniella to ride rides for a couple of hours.  We were hoping I'd be well enough to do the shows today, but I'm not, and Briana is not.  I hope sometime before the end of the year, we'll get there.
I hope everyone is having a blessed Christmas season, and enjoying the fun and blessings of being a child of God.

Letitia

P.S.  Oh, it was so cool.  When James and I were shopping the other night, I saw a beautiful print that had my blog verse on it.  I would have asked for it for Christmas, but it was on sale because the frame was in bad shape.      
   

Marissa's Adoption

Today we celebrated the 9th anniversary of Marissa's adoption.  She loves her special day, that she prefers to call Gotcha Day--"because we're so glad we've gotcha!"  We celebrated with her yearly request of homemade ice cream sandwiches--toll house cookies with vanilla ice cream between two.  We also spent time as a family looking at her scrapbook of our trip to get her, and telling her stories again of things that happened on the trip, what we did that day, and where we were at "this" time.  Tonight, at her request, we are having the always healthy Papa John's pizza for supper.

Marissa was born on May 13, 1997, and weighed 5 lb. 4 oz.    They told us it was a 90% chance that we would have a boy, because most Guatemalan adoptions are boys.  What a surprise when they finally called us late in June to tell us of our referral, and they said we had a little girl.  Of course, we were so excited, and a girl was just fine with us.  We already had two, ages 10 and 7 at the time, so we knew what to do with them! 

It was such a long wait until we were finally able to go get her.  Everything with her adoption went smoothly, but we were new at this, were not getting enough information, didn't know anyone else who had gone through this, and if there were online groups at the time, we sure didn't know about them.  At one point they told us to tentatively plan on going the end of October.  The last week of Oct. came, and we had heard nothing.  We called, and were told, "Oh, no.  You aren't going yet.  We had to get her birth certificate authenticated at the hospital where she was born.  We put it on a "Chicken Bus", and will just have to wait until they send it back."  Oh, my.  Have you ever seen a Chicken Bus?  Plus, they were sending it up into the highlands, several hours away.  We didn't know if we'd ever see that birth certificate!  As Thanksgiving approached, and we had gotten the birth certificate, we knew the call should be coming soon.  We were just waiting on her passport and final approval by the American Embassy.  The call finally came on Monday, Dec. 1.  We were told we needed to be in Guatemala by Wed. night.  You should have seen the travel agent's mouth drop open when James told her we needed 4 tickets to Guatemala, leaving in less than 2 days.  We got up the next morning, drove to Atlanta, and spent the night.  Wednesday morning, we flew out of Atlanta to Houston, had a 4 hour layover, plus an onboard delay, and arrived in Guatemala City close to 9:00 pm.  We were in the air 6 hours.  I should mention that this was the first time I'd ever been on a plane.  I prayed a whole lot!  On top of that, I arrived (very abruptly--Guatemala City has a VERY short runway) in a country where I didn't speak their language, and was scared to death.  Our foster mother's grown son met us at the airport, and we took a wild, fast ride through the streets of Guatmala City.  Have you ever seen Mr. Toad's Wild Ride?  He took us to the foster home to get Marissa, we filled out paperwork, then he took us to the hotel, dropped us off, and said, "See you in 2 days."  That was it.  We were totally on our own, with a new baby that we knew nothing about, a hotel where no one spoke English, and we were the only guests. 

But, we had our baby girl.

Meeting Marissa for the first time.

Marissa was 6 months, 3 weeks old.  She was very tiny, and wore 3 months size clothes.  It was about 10:00 pm, but she was wide awake and playing.  We gave her a soft bear rattle, that somehow became affectionately known as "Bobby".  She loved playing with him, and watching the ceiling fan turn.  She wouldn't settle down for us, but by about 11:00, she finally fussed herself to sleep.  She was up at 4:15 crying.  I sat on the toilet and fed her a bottle, trying to let Ashley and Briana sleep!  We stayed up after that, and had to be at the American Embassy at 7:00.  That was another adventure.   After a few hours there, we walked back to the hotel and rested for a while. 

Then we looked for McDonald's.  That was the next adventure.  It was a very easy, fairly short walk from the hotel, we had a map that the lady at the Consulate's office had drawn for us, and we couldn't find that place to save our lives.  We walked for an hour in dress shoes, on streets we probably shouldn't have been on, in traffic that would run over you in a heartbeat, and tried desperately to ask people for directions before we found it, and went, "Oh, duh, there it is." 

After lunch, and resting from being hot and "famished", we did some shopping across the street.  James had to go back in the afternoon to pick up her visa, and the next morning we were back at the airport at 6:30.  Marissa did great on the flight home, and went to sleep as soon as we got in the car. 

Marissa had a lot of physical catching up to do.  At 7 months, she couldn't sit alone, could not support any weight at all with her legs (as soon as you tried to stand her up, her legs just folded under her), and could not lift her head when she was lying on her stomach.  She spent the next week, catching up quickly.  Within a few days she could sit up.  My in-laws bought her a bouncy seat that you hang in the doorway, and after teaching her how to push with her feet, within a couple of days she was a bouncing maniac! 

Marissa is a fun, adventurous, mischievious, cutie pie.  She is smart, is good at solving problems, and loves to explore new things and places.  She loves horses, pink, her cat, sparkles, mud, playing and reading outside, her sisters, the computer, and history.

We are so happy God brought her into our family.  We are all blessed.

                          

               We Love You, Marissa

         

Addition:  Tonight after we got the little ones all tucked in, Marissa called me back up.  With tears in her eyes, she hugged me super tight, and said, "I'm so glad you adopted me.  You are the best mother I could have."  Wow.  Very humbling.  I know that I am the mother God gave her, I know it was his perfect match, but I know I am not the best mother I could be.  For some reason, her statement has a whole other significance with her being adopted.  Help me, Lord, to be worthy of her title.  Help me to be the mother she needs me to be.  Thank you for the precious gift of Marissa. 

. 

Nutcracker

Briana is dancing in the Nutcracker this weekend.  Her first performance was last night.  She is in Knoxville this morning where they're perfoming the 2nd Act at Fantasy of Trees, and she has one more perfomance of the full show tonight in Gatlinburg again.  She managed to talk James into "dancing" in the party scene with her again this year.  He did it with Ashley and Briana 2 years ago.  It's not what he would choose to do for entertainment, but he's a sweet dad, who does it for them.  There are only a couple of guy dancers at this studio, so the director asks for dads or boyfriends to volunteer for the party scene.  He doesn't really do much actual dancing, except for a few steps here and there.  Mostly, he twirls her or assists her, and they "mingle" with the other party guests in the background while the children dance.  Here are a few shots from last night's performance. 

James and Briana posing before the show.

 

Entering the party with their 4 "daughters".  (Those girls have been calling them Mommy and Daddy for 2 weeks.  I got introduced as their grandma last night.  Geesh!)

Briana and James are in the center of the picture.

James built the clock you see in the background, along with the swords for the Nutcracker and the Mouse King, and the wind up key for the mechanical doll.

Briana in Snow.  You aren't seeing double.  There is another dancer directly behind her.

Briana on the right.

Waltz of the Flowers.  Briana is 3rd from the right.

Marissa presented flowers to the Dew Drop Fairy.

Daniella presented flowers to Clara, but I missed it!  Thankfully, I have another chance tonight.  You can see her a little toward the right of the picture between the 2nd and 3rd dancer, walking off the stage.When she walked out on the stage, half the audience went, "Awww." 

Letitia

How Do You Pronounce My Name?

A few months ago, one of my friends here asked me how to pronounce my name.  Still it didn't occur to me that I should tell everyone else.  I'm not sure why.  You would think after spending my whole life being called everything you can imagine, I wouldn't just assume that my friends here would know what my name is.  So for the ones of you who have never heard of the famous etiquette expert, Letitia Baldridge, I'll clue you in.  I guess phonetically, it would be----

Luh-Tisha  (any of you that know me have any better pronunciations?)  Don't drag out the "uh" sound too much though.  I'm southern, but not *that* southern, regardless of what Jen thinks!  Just run it all together.  The "i" in the Tisha part is pronounced short "i" like in "igloo".  My whole life, one of my grandmother's pronounced that "i" like "ee"  --Luh-Teesha.  Don't like that one! 

Growing up, my family and friends called me Tish or Tisha.  My family still does.  I prefer Tisha of those two, and like that name fine.  Of course, there were the weird and annoying variations like Tishee.  A few guy friends in high school decided I was Mortisha (Adams Family) in order to tease me.  And now, if you ask Jen and Gena, they've decided I am Tia.  Good name, too, right Tia? 

The name Letitia comes from the Latin laetitia, which means "joy".

So there you have it.  Now my question is--what have YOU been calling me in your head all this time as you read my comments?! 

Letitia

Camping, Crashing, and Cats (and Bears) Oh My!

Camping-Last week we went camping at Fall Creek Falls State Park.  It's about a 3 hour drive from here.  A lot of it was one of those comedy (and sometimes not-so-funny) of errors trips.  I was sick the week before we were supposed to go, so I didn't get ANY packing done until the day before we were leaving, including catching up on the wash.  Ashley and Briana were gone a lot that week, so they couldn't help me as much as usual, but did help on Sunday while we were trying to finish.  But, we had so much left to do on Sunday, that it took us forever to get out of here.  Since we had an injured Shadow, Betsy graciously offered to cat-sit for us.  She is pretty much on our way there, but we barely made it there in time for her to get to go to church.  Then I had forgotten to get some things from the grocery store, so we had to take a little longer route into Crossville to stop at WalMart.  It was 9:30 by the time we got to the campground.  Thankfully, with our walkie talkies (that Betsy found humorous) we are quite proficient at getting into a campsite in the dark.   Monday and Thursday were good days.  We had a great time--campfires, walking, biking, playing games, going to the playground.  The whole state park was almost deserted, so it was so quite and peaceful.  Remember me saying that we were keeping an eye on the weather to make sure it wasn't going to rain much before we made the decision to go?  SUNDAY MORNING, as we're getting ready to leave, they up and change the forcast!  UGH!  It rained ALL day Tues. and Wed.  My parents were camping there, too, over on a different loop.  Marissa and Daniella went over and spent a few hours with them on Tues. in their camper, because ours was getting a "little" claustrophobic with all 6 of us.  And, those two were wild that morning.  They had the sillies and were bouncing and loud, mixed in with some occasional squabbles, so it was time for grandma's (Sorry Mama!).  Anyway, we survived all the rain-played lots of card games.  Thursday was back to beautiful and sunny.  But, like as soon as the sun came out, so did the ladybugs.  By mid-morning the camper was filled with them.  That was funny.  Thankfully they left when it got dark. 

Daniella bike riding

Marissa relaxing in the hammock, enjoying a classic.

My little monkey, Daniella

Okay, you absolutely cannot roast a marshmallow well, if you don't stick your tongue out!  Notice the marshmallow already on her nose and chin! 

Okay-this pictures cracks me up.  This is my 20 year old daughter and her grandfather coloring.  I told you it rained for 2 LONG days!!!

My girls at the overlook.

Fall Creek Falls.  This was taken into the sun, so the lighting is rather poor.

Marissa and me bike riding.  She has her own bike, too, but this is a cool tandem bike that can hook onto mine.

Eating ice cream at the camp store.

Snuggled around the campfire.  It was COLD at night.

Crashes-Check out time this time of year is not until 3:00, so we were taking our time Friday morning, trying to get in some bike riding and "camping" time since it had rained for 2 days.  We had gotten back from biking over near the falls, but James, Briana, and Ashley were still out.  I'm sitting outside the camper, and I look up and see James coming in pretty fast.  Comedian that he is, I assumed he was racing and horsing around with them.  But as he kept coming, I saw that they weren't in sight, and I knew something was wrong.  Briana had wrecked over on a closed loop.  We all jumped in the truck, and drove over close to where they were.  They had actually both wrecked.  Briana's bike got out of control somehow, and she hit bad.  Ashley was right behind her, and had to slam on brakes to keep from running over her, which threw her off of her bike, too.  Briana hit her head, but thankfully had her helmet on.  She has some nasty, nasty scrapes all over the place--her right shoulder, tiny one on her right elbow, a big, bad one just below her left knee, a big, bad one on her left arm, and several small bad ones on the back of her left hand, plus some misc. others scattered around.  She has a huge bruise on her right thigh, along with both knees, and she hurt her ankle.  Ashley got a couple of minor scrapes, but her knees have continued to be achy.  I took them to the chiropractor yesterday, so I hope that will help her knees.  I am SO, SO thankful to the Lord that they didn't have any head injuries or broken bones.  I am thankful, too, that they respected my wishes and wore their helmets even though they would have preferred not to.  Now they understand why.  Briana's has a big soft spot in it, along with scrapes across the front of it where it hit the pavement. 

Ashley and James rode the bikes back home, while I got Briana into the truck and took everyone else back.  We got her doctored, but that made us very late once again.  Plus, because they were hurt, they couldn't help us get everything packed back up, so it took forever.  Then we had to stop at my mom's and dad's to pick up one of our dogs.  I think we were 9:00 getting back to Betsy's to pick up Shadow.  Told you it was a comedy of errors.  We managed to have some fun times anyway.

Briana being doctored by the park ranger. 

Cats-Today is the first day Shadow has been able to stay out of the kennel most of the day.  He's slept on the couch most of it anyway.  But, he has tried to walk around some.  The muscles in that leg will take a long time to heal and "regrow", since they had to cut a lot out.  The nerves seem to be healing well, and he seems to be able to make it go where he wants to.  He just can't put weight on it.  But, boy, the vet shocked us yesterday by saying that it will probably take 18 months for it to be fully healed.  This is an outside cat, and he's dying to get outside.  Not to mention the added loveliness of a litter box.  18 months--that's a year and a half!  That's a long time!

Bears-Well, just before we left for camping, we got quite a surprise.  Our neighbors 2 houses and 2 big yards over had a bear in their backyard.  Hello, we don't live THAT close to Gatlinburg.  We are NOT supposed to have bears in our neighborhood.  I do know they have had them not too far from here before, but we've lived here for almost 17 years and never had one, so we felt kind of immune.  BEARS!!!!   Also, the consensus seems to be, including from the vet, we think there is a high possibility that that is what happened to Shadow.  There were no tears in his wound like teeth marks.  It was just one big "swipe" all the way down his shoulder and leg, all the way to the bone.  The worst part is the Wildlife people didn't catch it with their trap, so it's still out their wandering around somewhere.  BEARS??!!  Thankfully, my little ones usually make so much noise squealing when they are outside playing, I doubt a bear would be brave enough to come close.  At least I hope not. 

Okay, this is already terribly long, but one more thing.  Ashley is going to get to go to the writer's seminar in Gatlinburg this weekend.  Gena is going to be speaking there, along with several others.  She is really excited.  She wants to write--to be published one of these days.  She is a great writer, especially inspirational and "creative non-fiction" type stories.  I feel very inadequate at helping her figure out how to be published.  I hope this weekend will be very helpful to her.  She is also taking some writing classes online through Writer's Digest.  She has gotten very good feedback there, also. 

Okay, I'll quit  my rambling now.  I'm trying to catch up on reading everyone else's blogs, so I'll be by to see you all soon.

Letitia

Marissa's Blog

My 9 year old, Marissa has her own blog now.  If you have a daughter around the 8-10 age range, please have her go by and say hello.  Marissa would love to have new friends.

Camping Plans and Video

It is amazing what technology can do to distort the truth.  If you have a preteen or teen daughter who watches much tv, movies, or looks at magazines, you'll want her to view this video.  It's incredible.  After clicking on the link, look for "Click to Play" at the top.

http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.ca/flat2.asp?id=6905

 

If you go by Ashley's blog, she has more examples of this photo retouching.

 

Marissa's cat is recooperating well.  He is doing amazingly well at being locked in a kennel all the time.  We try to take turns petting him several times a day, and James takes him out and sits with him at night for a little while, which is a hoot, since he's not particularly a cat person.  He's still not putting weight on that leg, but is using it some.  Yesterday he licked that paw, then used it to clean his ears and face.  It is a good sign that he is controlling it that way.  I feel so sorry for him, though, locked up all the time.  He looks so depressed. 

 

We are hoping to go camping soon at Fall Creek Falls State Park.  We've been there several years during the fall.  Last year was great.  We had the first 3 days to ourselves.  There are probably a couple of hundred campsites, and there were only about 5 campers.  Over the weekend it was pretty full,but the rest of the time it was so quiet, peaceful, and beautiful.  The colors were at their peak.  This is a shot from last year taken one direction from our campsite.

 

 

The trip is tentative right now as we watch the weather.  If it is too cold or raining too much we won't go.  We have a pop up that does have a toilet and shower, and is bigger than the old standard pop up, but there are still 4 adults and 2 children in a small space.  If we can't go out it gets toooooo crowded.  Besides, that's the best part of camping--campfires, walks, bike rides, outside games, sitting around the picnic table. 

My only other hesitation about going is having to board Shadow (Marissa's cat) again.  I know he's in a kennel anyway, and even though they would pet him some, it wouldn't be as much as  we would and wouldn't be familiar faces.  Am I a horrible pet owner???  (sigh.  decisions.)  The other reason I so want to go this year is that Briana will start college next year, so this is the last time we will be able to ALL do this traditional fall camping trip, at least for the next 4 years, if not forever.  (Sniff! ) 

We had such a gorgeous day here yesterday--beautiful blue skies, not a cloud, comfortable temp, and a view almost as pretty as the campground, since we live in the woods full of hardwoods.  Marissa and I did her school out at the picnic table and reading in the deck swing, surrounded by the trees.  After we finished reading, she and I sat there for the longest time, snuggled under a light blanket and looked at the trees and sky.  We heard a woodpecker and watched another bird up on the roof.  When Dad came in for lunch, we all went out and had lunch at the picnic table.  We went out again this morning, but it was cloudy and a little nippier.  She *loves* doing her work out there, and works much happier.  I dread it getting too cold to go out!  Got to come up with a winter plan!  : ) 

I'd better get busy, I suppose.  I'm still trying to dig out from under everything that came home from my grandmother's.  There were also a ton of sheets and blankets everything was wrapped in that are having to be washed.  We're also trying to get the camper ready in case.  

May the Lord bless your week with unexpected smiles!

(Okay! I have no idea why it changed fonts half way through.  It isn't like that when I'm typing.  I don't have time to try to find out why, though.  So just enjoy the variety!!) 

 

Letitia

 

Hard Times and Blessings

We got home at 12:30 this morning from a very long week in Stonewall, Mississippi.  Stonewall is a tiny little fomer mill town in East Central Miss.  My grandmother lived there her whole life until recently, and my mom was reared there, moving to nearby Meridian when she married.  My grandmother was in extremely poor physical and mental condition, and had to be placed in a nursing home last Dec.  My mom and dad took care of her in their home here in Tenn for several months, but my grandmother was literally grieving herself to death because she wanted to be home.  She would not eat, and lost down to 88.4 lbs. when she entered the nursing home, which is in Miss about 15 min from her home town.  Her sister is in the same home, and they enjoy visiting.  In the last 10 months she is now up to 123 lbs., and some of her other physical conditions are under much better control under the care of the doctors there. 

   This past week my mom, Ashley and I worked to price my grandmother's things for an estate sale that we had Friday and Sat.  The rest of my family and my sister came down on Thursday to help out.  Wow!  That was a yard sale.  There was a ton of stuff, especially since my sister and I also took down some things.  But, the Lord blessed it and we sold an amazing amount of her things.  I estimate we only had about 10 or 12 medium size boxes left, plus clothes, which is nothing compared to what we started with.   On Friday between 7 am and 6:30 pm, I think we only had one short time period (maybe 5 min.) where there were no customers.  Most of the time we were swamped and couldn't keep up, and that was with 6 of us working the sale.  In the 2 days I'd say only about 4 people left without buying something.  I am exhausted!!!!!  Oh, and I made $130 off of my junk! 

    I was able to bring home my grandmother's dining room suite that I have always loved.  Only the china cabinet is actually in my dining room.  We have a large table that we just bought in the spring, an eating bar, and a pathway to the back door, so there is not much room left in a small area.  We were able to put the buffet in my living room, and I think it is going to look really pretty there.   But, the table,   hmmmm.....  I didn't want to use it right now when we still have little ones.  This is the dining room furniture my grandmother has had at least my whole life.  I'd like to try to find out when she bought it.  So for now, the table will be in.....my bedroom?!  I may cover it and use it for a scrapbook table.  Thankfully, I have a large bedroom.  I also brought home an old, beautiful chair.  It does need recovering because I don't like the material (at all!), then I hope to use it either in my living room or in the corner of my bedroom, along with an beautiful old round side table I brought also.  It was difficult leaving her house yesterday, knowing that would be the last time I ever went there.  The house sold while we were there, and that is a good thing and a burden lifted off of my parents, but it was sad.  My mom never lived in that house, but it's the only house I ever knew my grandparents to live in, and I have a lot of memories there. 

    Last Tuesday after Ashley, Daniella, and I had already left with my mom and dad, Marissa found her 7 year old cat outside her bedroom window crying.  He had been attacked by some kind of wild animal or dog.  His front leg was ripped open to the bone about 7" long.  They rushed him to the vet.  Poor Marissa was so upset, but I think Briana did a great job of comforting her and helping her get through it.  He was in shock, which the vet said probably saved his life, b/c it kept him from bleeding to death.  He did live through it, and had surgery the next day.  The worst case scenerio is that his leg will have to be amputated, but after a week in the hospital (and you don't even want to know the bill!) they are 95% hopeful that he will regain full use of it.  For now, he has to stay in a kennel for the next 2 weeks.  We borrowed a huge dog kennel from my sister, which can hold a litter box, food/water bowl, and plenty of room for Shadow to lay down and even move around a little.  He can't quite make his leg go where he wants it to, and doesn't put it down much, but the vet says he's putting more weight on it the last 2 days and they are hopeful.  I'm sure he will have to stay inside much longer even after he is out of the kennel, even if he does fully recover.

   It gets worse, though.  When we came in early morning this morning, we found Ashley's cat had died.  This is just unbelieveable.  I guess it's just the timing that makes it that way.  She had had Pepper for 16 years, so it obviously wasn't a complete surprise, but then again you are never ready for it.  She loved that kitty so, so much, and her heart is breaking right now. 

Pepper, our sweet, old friend 

We will miss him terribly. 

I had a few things written down for Marissa to do, such as math, while I was gone, but the morning after I left was her cat's attack, and she was so upset, then had to pack that she ended up not being able to do it.  After coming in so late last night, all the trauma going on with pets, my house ransacked with all this new furniture and rearranging furniture, and pure exhaustion, I doubt we will do any bookwork this week, either.  I'm not worried about it, though, because I know we are learning all the time.  We will get some reading done probably.  She also spent some great time with James' mother while I was at my grandmother's house. ( James and the little ones slept there the 5 nights.  It's about 30 min. from my grandmother's house.)  And, she has certainly had and will continue to get an education as she has watched her kitty go through this and she cares for him. 

   I am so thankful we are all back home safely and the Lord is caring for us even in our storms.  I am also thankful that we homeschool, so that taking this trip and learning life's lessons are possible. 

Letitia

An Obedient Heart

Our pastor is doing a series on the heart of Jesus.  Yesterday's sermon was on obedience.  It was very powerful.  As I sat listening to the Lord speak, He encouraged me in an area I sometimes struggle with, and that I have been praying about.  The purpose he has given me on this earth and an obedient heart as I carry out that purpose.  Not just *being* obedient, but being glad in my heart for being able to serve Him.

    The purpose that the Lord has given me is to glorify Him through being a wife and mother and teacher to my children.  So many times I feel guilty of all the things I am not, or don't do.  "I should do this or this."  The Lord patiently shows me over and over when I condemn myself that there may be a season for those things, but for now, my purpose is to glorify Him by being a wife and mother and teacher.  The next issue is doing all he called me to do with an obedient heart.  We can be obedient in actions without being joyfully obedient.  That is not what the Lord wants.  The last 2 years the homeschooling part has been a real struggle for me for 2 reasons:  I have a resistant child (to put it mildly) I am trying to teach and I have been homeschooling for 12 years and I hit selfish.  "I want".  or "I don't want".  What I know is that it is not about what *I* want or don't want.  It is about what my purpose is at this time in my life.  If I surrender my wants to the Lord, He will give me a joyful heart.  I'm getting there.  In the past several months, He has answered my prayers to want to teach my children.  Now we just have the practicalities to continue to work on.  Some of the attitude in my litttle one has improved as I have made some changes, some of my attitude toward her when she has an attitude has improved.  As I continue to yield to the Lord, I know He will be faithful to bring blessing and endurance, and that I will find joy in glorifying him in the work He has called me to. 

I love my children, and I am so thankful to be back at the place of desiring to teach them.  Now, I continue to work on wanting to teach them, even when they don't want to be taught.  I realize that I am lazy.  I want it to be easy.  I want a sweet, compliant, eager child.  I think that that is what the Lord wants, too.  He's just teaching me a whole lot along the way! 

I am leaving town today with my mom, dad, Ashley, and Daniella.  We are going to Mississippi (7 hour drive) to prepare for an estate sale we will be having this weekend at my grandmother's house.   Please pray for us today as we travel.  We will be driving through rain all day, some heavy.  As we get further south, they expect 1-2 inches of rain, some places more locally, and 15-25 mile per hour wind.  I don't expect to have computer access until next Sunday, so hopefully I can check in then. 

I hope everyone has a terrific, healthy, safe week!

Letitia

We Survived!

I think we survived all the birthdays and parties.  It started on the 22nd with Ashley's backyard cookout with some of her friends.

Here's the firering that I had been wanting that James was able to get done for the cookout.  He dug a big hole, then lined it with the beautiful rocks.  Those rocks are very expensive, but we were able to get them for free.  What a blessing.

    On the 27th was Ashley's actual birthday.  My parents came over, and we all went bowling (that was a lot of fun) and out to eat.  Seven days later was Briana's birthday.  My parents came back over (2 hour drive), and we went to Gatlinburg, walked around and went window shopping, used their Wacky Bear gift certificates (like a Build-a-Bear), and ate supper.  Two days later, she had a slumber party with 3 friends, plus Ashley and her.  We took them back to Gatlinburg.  We ate, walked down the strip, and went to play mini-golf.  Then back to the house for cake.  The next morning I fixed them homemade waffles, with fresh ground wheat. 

2 of our 4 Wacky Bears (technically one of them was a Wacky Moose!)

The Girls in Gatlinburg

In other news:  When Marissa and I were out a couple of weeks ago sitting on the deck swing reading, she spotted this little guy.

He's the caterpillar for the Banded Tussock Moth.

And, lastly, this is tired:

She fell asleep right there on the arm of the couch with 7 others of us standing right next to her talking and laughing.  I picked her up, took her upstairs, layed her in the bed fully dressed, and she never budged.  Not typical for her.  (And, you can see why I'm shopping for a new couch.)

   My big girls just got in from Bible study.  There are some interesting things brewing, so I"m going to get caught up.

Letitia

 

Celebration

Today is the 17th birthday of my beautiful daughter, Briana.  The self described Drama Queen of our home, it mostly applies to her enjoyment of acting, although a little of the other is present, too!  : )  Briana loves acting, singing, drawing, reading, writing, dancing (ballet, modern, etc.), piano (this is her 13th year), laughing and talking with her best friend and sister, Ashley, camping, and other family activities.  Briana usually just loves life.  From the very beginning she has been the bubbly one--bubbly and bouncy.  Sometimes I call her Tigger.  

    Briana is great at giving her Mama hugs for no reason at all.  I get lots of hugs just because we're standing in the same room together!  She has a very compassionate heart, and if I'm ever down or struggling, she is the one right there beside me with a hug or to just sit with me quietly. She's been that way since she was very little. 

    I am so proud of Briana's love for the Lord.  She gave her life to Him when she was very little, and has always followed Him.  She enjoys studying the Word, and hearing good sermons.  She is very strong in her feelings against sin-in her own life and that of others. 

   Briana has been a volunteer at an assisted living center for a few years now.  She has so much fun with those elderly people.  She is always coming in with a story and talking about how much they all laughed together.  She knows just how to talk to them and make them feel special, and how to laugh with them.  As someone who has no clue, I have such an admiration for that gift. 

   Please stop by and wish Briana a Happy Birthday!

                    I Love You, My Dear Briana !  

                           Blueberry Muffins! 

                            

(To understand Blueberry Muffins requires insider information!)

Sad News and Life's Other Happenings

Admittedly, we don't watch the news very often around here.  I glance at the national headlines once or twice a day on the computer, and we read WORLD magazine, but very seldom catch the local news.  I just don't think about it at 6:00, and it doesn't come on again until 11:00.  So, I just found out last night that my eye doctor, in an attempt to committ suicide, ran his car into a tree, which then bounced off into someone's house, killing a man inside.  This man has been my eye doctor for 15 years.  We have been there frequently over the last few years since 5 out of 6 of us wear glasses or contacts.  This is a man who seemed like the last person to attempt suicide.  I am still just shocked.  It's kind of like the feeling we had on Sept. 11, 2001, when the plane crashed into the Pentagon, and we had just been driving past it 2 days earlier.  It's just an eerie feeling.  I feel outraged, sad, and horrified.  Obviously, it's horrible what has happened to an innocent family.  They are paying dearly for someone else's problem.  I hope not to offend any victims with this statement, but I also feel terrible for the doctor's family, too.  They, too, are innocent and are paying dearly.  In addition to him being our doctor, Ashley also took ballet for several years with his daughter.  Although, probably 5 years older than Ashley, she was always very sweet and accepting of her.  Then, you just think, what could have happened to make someone fall apart like that?  Even though he was a dr., I don't think they had lots of money, like we think of drs. having.  They live in a very modest house and camp in a pop-up.  Both of their children attended expensive private colleges, though.  Was money an issue?  Was there an affair?  What was so bad, that a man could no longer cope?  I am pretty sure of one thing--that he is not a Christian.  I am not defending him in any way, so please if this is sensitive for you, do not take it that way.   He should have turned to someone for help.  I pray earnestly for God to turn this family's life around, and that the rest of his life, and theirs, will be spent serving the Lord.  I also pray for the victim's family for peace and comfort, salvation-if it is not there, and a forgiving spirit.  They have expressed that they will not forgive.  This is been so heavy on my mind since I found out last night, that I hope writing about it would help some.

I don't want to end my post on this note, so I will catch up a little.  It has been an eventful few weeks.  We went to Dollywood a couple of weeks ago.  One of the many perks of homeschooling is that you can go places when everyone else is in school.  The park was full of elderly people going to the shows, and a few families with toddlers.  We had the rides almost to ourselves.  In fact we rode so many rides multiple times that by later in the afternoon, the girls were beginning to get bored!  It was a fun day, though--especially not having to stand in line! 

Next, I think, was the Smoky Mountain Blogger picnic. You can see some photos here.  Our family had loads of fun!!  And it was great weather--beautiful blue sky, and not too hot/cold, depending on who you ask.  : )

The next day was Ashley's  party with some friends from church, plus Coie.

We had a backyard cookout and campfire, so we had some work to do to get it ready.  It was still a mess, though, because we are just about to reseed the yard, which means there were a lot of bare spots.  The day before and the day of the party, it rained, and rained, and rained.  So, we had a lot of mud.  Everyone was mostly on the deck, but getting to and from the house was a mess.  This was the first time that we have ever had guys at our birthday party.  There were just two from church, neither of whom are of any romantic interest.  This deal with your daughters growing up is giving life an interesting twist, though!    The next Wednesday was her actual birthday and my parents came over.  We all went bowling and to IHOP. 

The next day I had to take Briana to Knoxville (50 min.) to a natural allergy appt. and we stopped by a couple of stores.  I found 2 tops.  I desperately need a dress or skirt and blouse, or something, but no luck yet. 

My parents are camping in town this week and going to shows at Dollywood.  After it closed last night, they came over, and we cooked out burgers (with mashed potatoes), and sat around the campfire.  Did I mention that James built us a beautiful campfire ring before the party cookout?  We had been wanting to do one.  I love it.  I'll post a picture of it soon. 

I guess that about catches us up.  This Wednesday we have another birthday, so check back to see who it is.  I also have a very busy, hectic month this October, so it, too, will be quite eventful.  Pray for my friend Maria, who is about to have her baby any moment.

Letitia

Happy Birthday!

Today is my oldest daughter's 20th birthday.  Wow!  This one is one of those that seems like a big one.  She was born at 6:34 on a Saturday night, and weighed a whopping 6 lb. 7 oz.  The night before we spent secretly timing contractions between cheering at our local high school football game.  My parents sat next to us and never knew!  Contractions has started around 10:00 that morning.  We went to the ER at about 3:30 the next morning, but at about 7 they sent me back home--told me I was probably in false labor.  Later that evening around 5:30, we went back to the hospital with contractions just a few minutes apart.  (I was so little when I was pregnant with Ashley--partially hidden by my height--that they didn't believe me when I told them I was in labor.  They asked my due date, and when I told them last week, they got hopping.)  I had not been there long with the monitors in place before panic set in.  Alarms went off, nurses started running up and down the hallway, yelling to page the dr.  They flipped me on my side, put an oxygen mask on, and I had a nurse on each side of me racing to see who could get the drip in my rolling veins first.  We had no idea what was going on.  They began to explain to us that her heart rate was dropping dangerously low, then shooting back up.  She was in what I believe they called tri-cardiac arrest, possibly caused from the stress of trying to come for so long.  I had been having contractions for 32 hours, and was still only 3 cm.  Within minutes I was being prepped for an emergency C-section.  We know God's blessing has been on Ashley since the beginning.  This had actually happened earlier that morning when we had been at the hospital, and we asked about it.  An obviously untrained nurse told us it was just the baby moving around and away from the monitor.  Praise God that He protected Ashley throughout the day until we could get back.  She came out screaming and didn't stop for about an hour.  Her cries were the talk of the nursery and ob floor!  I guess she got it all out of her system, because she has been my quiet child ever since. 

She is such a joy and a blessing.  She has a beautiful, gentle, and quiet spirit.  Her heart for serving the Lord and others is an inspiration to me.  Please go by and wish Ashley a Happy Birthday!  Check out her "What I Love" section in her sidebar to get a glimpse of my beautiful daughter. 

By the way, if we look awfully young in these baby pictures, it's because I was only 15 months older than Ashley is now!!  That's scary.

This is after 5 days in the hospital, and we're going home.

First ballet recital-4 years old

Senior ballet

      Happy Birthday Ashley