What I wanted to be when I grew up!

My whole life I have always wanted to be a Mom when I grew up! That was really what I wanted more than anything. Now I realize that many other women have or had, that same dream but never got to fulfill it yet. So when I talk about Motherhood, I am not trying to be insensitive to any of those women, my heart aches for them and I pray for them!
Still I do believe the old saying " It takes a Village to raise a child " and since we have had 4 kids, I am eternally grateful for all those women out there...who have played such a big part in our kids lives!
When a friend sent me the questions and answers (below) from 2nd Graders about Mothers... I knew I had to share it. I love to hear the funny and inspiring things kids say. Oh how I wish I would have written down more of what my kids said, but I was so busy trying to raise them that I didn't write down a lot of them. And I am sorry to say that I don't remember a lot of them now!
 Yesterday while sewing with Jenny in my Studio ( ok, don't laugh ...but Sewing Studio does sound better and bigger than a Sewing Room doesn't it? ) anyway... I was frustrated trying to figure out something from the pattern I was working on. When I said out loud " I don't know what they mean? I need to figure this out, we need to be ready to go in just another hour! " I was really just talking out loud, but Jenny answered "Don't ask me Nana, I don't even know how to read yet! " Priceless!

 
Then my grandson Kai said this to his Mother the other day... " Mom, I'm going to play you a good song. It's about church, dinosaurs, and Jesus Christ" She said "Play away buddy, I've got to hear this song!"

So I truly feel like the only way to survive and enjoy Motherhood, is to really notice the small and simple things that are going on in your lives as a family. Humor has really saved us on more than one occasion! Take for example, we had most of the kids home a few of years ago and wanted to take a family photo. Lauren was still in Idaho at school, but since she is a photographer...we thought she could just photo shop herself in the picture....look at the results!

Serious, she did it but she totally looked more dressed up and together than all of us...that was the last time we ever tried that again! :)

Anyway, read these fun answers from these kids...it was too funny to read and it does touch your heart when you hear some of the things they say. 

Good day dear friends!

WHY GOD MADE MOMS

Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:

Why did God make mothers?

1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.

2. Mostly to clean the house.

3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?

1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.

2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.

3. God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?

1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.

2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?

1. We're related.

2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's mom like me.

What kind of a little girl was your mom?

1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.

2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.

3. They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?

1. His last name.

2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?

3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?

1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my mom eats a lot.

2. She got too old to do anything else with him.

3. My grandma says that mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?

1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goof ball.

2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.

3. I guess mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms and dads?

1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.

2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.

3. Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friends.

4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?

1. Mothers don't do spare time.

2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?

1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.

2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?

1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.

2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it not me.

3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.
Read it HERE:

When is enough , enough?

Since I was a little girl, I loved watching my Grandmother Johnny sewing and crocheting. I asked her all the time when I could start sewing and crocheting myself. We started with hand sewing first and then she taught me a little bit of sewing on her Singer Treadle Machine. 

Then I think by the age of 8 -10 or so, she started to teach me how to crochet. First by thread but that was so hard for me, that finally after a lot of whining and begging...she let me start crocheting with yarn. Since then, I have been truly addicted...by that's a good thing right?
When I was babysitting Audrey the other day, she got interested in my yarn bag...let's just say, she is too young to crochet but...not too young to already have fun with yarn. Look at her face...she looks so innocent doesn't she? That is probably why I let her play with it sooooo long!

What a mess it was for me to untangle her FUN MESS! 

Maybe I am too addicted, the other day Amy and Jenny saw this fun picture on Pinterest and Jenny said..."we need to show this to Nana". Course I don't have a chicken but... of course if I did, I would have to make a styling hat for it! 

Then the other day when I was driving home, I saw this wheel cover... nice to know that there are other Crocheters out there in my neighborhood. some how it makes me feel a bit safer! :)

I think I must be addicted to crocheting because...I laughed out loud when I read this quote! Why because I know it's true!

Good Night dear friends!

Too funny!

   Life is just funny sometimes, it seems if you don’t laugh and try to have a sense of humor then … reality will just make you cry. So I would much rather laugh than cry personally.

Today was a rainy day and my youngest granddaughter Jenny had new rain boots on, but she kept complaining about them and wanting to take one of them off. When Amy finally

decided to take off the boot for her to see what in the world could be wrong with it, she found a plastic baby spoon! The whole time Jenny had been walking on that spoon, as soon

as they took the spoon off, she began to smile!

    Life is so funny and so unpredictable, you just have to smile! I hope on tough days that you will try to see the funny side of the situation

and sit down and just smile!  And if you are a Mother…smiling or laughing is the best weapon you have to survive ( trust me I know from personal experience that this is really true)!

 

“If an article is attractive, or useful, or inexpensive, they'll stop making it tomorrow; if it's all three, they stopped making it yesterday.  ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960
Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe and he'll believe you.  Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch it to be sure.”     ~Murphy's Law

“If there is something you must do and you cannot do it, you cannot do anything else.”  ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960

“How is it that our memory is good enough to retain the least triviality that happens to us, and yet not good enough to recollect how often we have told it to the same person?”  ~François Duc de La Rochefoucauld

“The odds of going to the store for a loaf of bread and coming out with only a loaf of bread are three billion to one.”  ~Erma Bombeck

Devoted Husband

I have to admit, some times I wonder how in the world Jeff and I have been married almost 29 years? We definitely have our differences, and yet I can't even imagine without him. I have said this more than once, but marriage is really hard. It helps to keep things in perspective and to realize that we are suppose to be different, we were actually made that way. We are also suppose to keep a sense of humor because sometimes you are going to cry... IF you don't just laugh about it. I have to remember how he sees things are totally different than how I do, and that can make the situation maybe a little more understandable. Yes, being married to your best friend is the greatest thing in the world and also the toughest! So we just keep working at it because in the end ...there is no one that I would rather be with ...than Jeff!

I thought instead of writing much tonight, I would just share these funny photos with you! I hope it makes you smile and I hope it helps you to remember to ENJOY THE JOURNEY!

 

I am assuming that this husband just got tired of the story she was telling? Still I don't like the look on his face! :)

Sort of brings a tear to your eye, don't it?

A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance and tenacity.  The order varies for any given year.  ~Paul Sweeney

My wife says I never listen to her.  At least I think that's what she said.  ~Author Unknown

Don't marry the person you think you can live with; marry only the individual you think you can't live without.  ~James C. Dobson

Mandy the Third!

Now I know this may sound a bit weird... but try to listen. It is important during stressful times, to try to find some humor if you can. So after my mastectomy, I realized that in order to feel or look partially normal I had to get a prosthetic. Since I didn't want to have to say Prosthetic all the time, I named it Sally. Now Sally wasn't the best fit for me, and so I had to return her and go to another store that sold prosthetics and knew more about how to fit... them so that is exactly what I did. My new prosthetic is named Mandy, I actually liked that name better for some reason. After a year of use, Mandy had some problems and so I had to return her  (and since she was under warranty) I received Mandy the Second.

These new prosthetics are actually amazing. They don't need a specialty bra with a pocket sewn in them, if you don't want to. You can use them with any bra or bathing suit. They stick to you and so they are much more convenient when you have to get up and dressed in a hurry. But of course like everything else lately, the prices have raised. They cost $500.00 can you believe that? Insurance will pay $350.00 of that, and the rest is out of pocket. How funny that something like this would cost so much, and all for a prosthetic you can use out of pocket, is going to cost quite a bit out of pocket! :)  I thought about calling all the kids, and see if they want to donate for the purchasing of Mandy the Third with me ( just kidding ) but thought I'd better not, sometimes my kids don't quite understand my humor...can you imagine that?

Truth is, I am grateful to be in remission for the past two years, I am grateful for technology that has invented a prosthetic that looks pretty normal and I am grateful that I can have a sense of humor about it all, for the first few months...I didn't even think I would smile again or go out in public. I am a far cry from that and I am so glad.

So life is hard but things could always be worse. Try to look on the bright side of your trials and learn from them...it really does help!

 

"Determination, patience and courage are the only things needed to improve any situation."  ~Unknown

"Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before."
~James Buckham

"If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it."
~Mary Engelbreit

Married for Better, Not Worse

I am reading a great book about marriage right now. Actually I am rereading it. It is called  MARRIED FOR BETTER, NOT WORSE by Gary and Joy Lundberg  It talks about 14 secrets to a happy marriage. Some of them are just common sense but I think all of us who have been married for quite some time, realize that it is easy to get into ruts and forget to keep doing the little things in our marriage to keep it happy and thriving. Anyway, it is a good reminder for me to keep checking in on Jeff and my relationship, not to take it for granted. He is an amazing man, I have always said that Jeff has been my life saver! I need to remember to always treat him right!

One of the secrets for a happy marriage is ...HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR!  Here is just a bit of their advice and then below is a joke that they had in there.

A wise man once said, " In all of living have...fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." Having a sense of humor can be a saving grace for a marriage. Like all things that are worthwhile, it takes a little effort, but it has a big payoff.

My wife claims that we're so busy, we hardly take time to actually look into each other's eyes, and so we now do that before bed. One night my wife suddenly said, " We forgot to look at each other."  Sleepily, I asked,  " Don't you think I know what you look like by now?"  "Okay," she said, "What do I look like? " "You're gorgeous, beautiful and sexy," I replied. "You looked," she said.   ~ Reader's Digest

" Remember that a successful marriage depends on two things: (1) finding the right person and (2) being the right person"  ~ Unknown

"You don't marry someone you can live with, you marry the person who you cannot live without"  ~ Unknown

Decorating Cakes

When I was in Junior High and High School, I used to decorate cakes. I mostly did it for my friends and family, but every now and then I got paid for it. One time I was asked by my boyfriend's dad, if I could decorate a cake for his company party. He was a big golfer and so that is what type of cake they wanted. I went to the store and bought all the little accessories that would go with it and then came home and got started. It turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. I have always been big about details, even when I painted and sewed...it is the detail that I like the most. Anyway, I put a lot of time and care in this cake because one...I was being paid for it and two... it was for my boyfriend's dad.

Well, the cake was finally finished, I ran upstairs and got ready and my dad said that he would drive me over and  help me bring in the cake. It was a hot summer day, so Dad went ahead of me and got in the car and put the air conditioning on so the icing wouldn't melt. (I grew up in West Virginia so... there was a lot of heat and humidity.) I told my mom good bye and carefully headed to the car with the cake. Right before I got to the car, I heard something go SPLAT!!!!!!!  I looked around and couldn't see what it was, then to my horror as I was just getting ready to get into the car, I looked down at my cake. There in the middle of my fairway a bird had pooped. I couldn't believe it, I don't think I started crying right away, but as I started walking back to the house and told my mom what had happened, she began laughing and I think that is when I began crying.

What was I to do? It had happened between the first and second hole and it was a large area of the cake that was effected. Now my mom always told me that birds were really dirty and so I was sure that some how the whole cake would be poisonous. I didn't have time to make another one, I just couldn't call and tell them I wasn't coming and what happened to the cake. I decided to scrape off all the bird poop ( I hate that word ) and decided to make a pond right in the middle of the fairway. I had some little ducks left over from another cake I had done and so after much sweat and tears it looked pretty good, no one would ever know.

However I have always had a very BIG CONSCIENCE, and so I was very concerned that I might not have gotten every each of the bird stuff off there. I even began to pray about it, I know God has way more things to worry about than a cake but to a 17 year old girl ... and this was a very BIG thing. I made a deal with Him, I promised that I would stop decorating cakes if He made sure that no one died from eating it, I just couldn't live with that on my conscience.

When we arrived, my boyfriend met me at the car to help me bring in the cake. He immediately told me how great it looked and we went in. There were a lot of people there, everyone kept praising me for the great job I did on the cake, which only made my stomach feel worse. Finally the time came for them to cut the cake, after they did his mom came up and asked me if I wanted a piece of cake. I promptly said "Oh no thanks, I never eat my cakes I am full from testing all the icing", I am not sure that was the exact words but...it was a lie and for that I felt bad too. But compared to the whole bird poop cover up, this lie was nothing.

"EXPERIENCE TEACHES SLOWLY AND AT THE COST OF MISTAKES"  ~ James A. Froude

Lessons learned... Take the extra money to buy a cake box to put it in. Never tell a lie. Never eat a cake that has been attacked by a bird. Don't offer to do things of this magnitude for your boyfriend's family at the young age of 17.

That is a story that my kids bring up a lot because they never had a beautifully decorated birthday cake for their parties. Why? Because their mom kept her promise. I was kind of hoping, that would be the thing they remembered ...but it isn't. The moral of the story is ...I changed, I kept my promise and no one died from eating my cake! ( not that I know of ? )

"MISTAKES ARE THE PART OF BEING HUMAN. APPRECIATE  YOUR MISTAKES FOR WHAT THEY ARE: PRECIOUS LIFE LESSONS THAT CAN ONLY BE LEARNED THE HARD WAY. UNLESS IT'S A FATAL MISTAKE, WHICH, AT LEAST, OTHERS CAN LEARN FROM"   ~ Al Franken

"LAUGHING AT OUR MISTAKES CAN LENGTHEN OUR OWN LIFE. LAUGHING AT SOMEONE ELSE'S CAN SHORTEN IT"  ~Cullen Hightower

HOW TO BOUNCE BACK!

I was talking to a friend the other day and they were telling me how stressed out they were, about a few different things that was going on in their life. I have to admit, lowing the stress level isn't easy to do but sooooo necessary. We receive a mailer from Boeing and many times it is about health issues, this one was particularly good and so I thought I would share it with you!

Stress is a natural part of life. Whether it's a loss of a job or an argument with a spouse, everyone faces challenges. And while you can't predict the future, you can still prepare for the adversity it may bring.

The ability to cope with stress and bounce back from problems in positive ways is called resilience! Here's how to build your resiliency reserve.

• PAY ATTENTION TO DETAIL...  "Most happy people pay greater attention to happy experiences." Practice bringing purposeful, nonjudgmental attention every experience of your life, no matter how big or small.
• FOCUS ON WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL...Accept that you can't change the past and often can't change other people. Instead, take an objective look at your experiences and interactions and learn from them. Use these lessons to control how you respond to challenges.
• PRACTICE OPTIMISM... Research shows that being positive can help you bounce back from difficult situations.
• FORGIVE... When you offer forgiveness, you release stress
• GAIN PERSPECTIVE...Decide what's most important in your life-such as relationships and spirituality- and emphasize those areas of your life.
• RELAX...Practice relaxation skills, such as deep breathing and meditation, to help you cope.
• LAUGH...A sense of humor is key to dealing with life's ups and downs. "Do not postpone joy. Despite the stress in our lives, we must preserve our sense of humor and continue to engage with life" says Dr. Sood.
• MAKE CONNECTIONS...Create a support network of friends and family. Grow your network by joining clubs, civic organizations or faith-based groups.
• VISUALIZE RESILIENCE... Imagine yourself as someone who bounces back from adversity!

"In order to succeed, people need a sense of self-efficacy, struggle together with resilience to meet the inevitable obstacles and inequities of life."   ~ Albert Bandura

"Who has not first tried to get out of a tough situation before truly dealing with it?"  ~ Mary O'Neill

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”
Confucius

I do believe that all these things really work and I also realize just when you think that you have figure them out then life will send something new and maybe even harder at you . So we need to keep these points somewhere we can look at them often.

Good night dear friends!

 

 

Humor can Heal!

I love this article that I found about humor and healing. Of course our family has never been short in the humor department and I do think it has been a life saver for us. I hope you enjoy this article and remember to try and find something to laugh about!

Ways Humor Can Heal

By  Therese J. Borchard

Of all my tools to combat stress-especially the stress of dealing with my illness or someone else's--humor is by far the most fun. Proverbs 17:22 says that "a happy heart is good medicine." I'd add that human beings and their caretakers can heal and find joy again if they learn how to laugh. Here are just a few ways a dose of humor might transform something ugly and stressful to slightly entertaining, and, well, a tad less catastrophic.

Humor Combats Fear... Humor disengages fear because it changes your perspective both on the past and the present.

Humor Comforts... There is an unspoken message hidden within a chuckle that says this: "I promise, you'll get through this." Just like the comforting hug of your mom when you were three. In fact, New York City's Big Apple Circus has used humor to console sick children since 1986, when they started sending teams of clowns into hospital rooms with "rubber chicken soup" and other fun surprises.

Humor Relaxes ...Like any exercise, laughing relaxes you and works against the chronic stress that most Americans wear on their shoulders.

Humor Reduces Pain ...Dr. Elias Shaya, chief of psychiatry at Good Samaritan Hospital in Baltimore also tries to instill the importance of laughter in his patients. In a study published in the Journal of Holistic Nursing, humor very definitely seemed to diminish pain.

Humor Boosts the Immune System ...Simply anticipating laughter boosted health-protecting hormones and chemicals.
Laughter was once again found to increase the ability to fight viruses and foreign cells.

Humor Reduces Stress ...A research team in Loma Linda, California, conducted a  study recently to see if the anticipation of laughter that was shown to boost immune systems could also reduce the levels of three stress hormones: cortisol ("the stress hormone"), epinephrine (adrenaline), and dopac, a dopamine catabolite (brain chemical which helps produce epinephrine).

Humor Spreads Happiness ...My point: laughter is contagious. That's why there are 5,000 laughter clubs around the world-where people laugh for no reason at all.

Humor Cultivates Optimism... Humor is like gratitude in that it nurtures optimism, and Dan Baker writes this in "What Happy People Know":
"[Appreciation] is the first and most fundamental happiness tool...Research now shows it is physiologically impossible to be in a state of appreciation and a state of fear at the same time. Thus, appreciation is the antidote to fear."

Joke...

I didn't know if my granddaughter had learned her colors yet, so I decided to test her. I would point out something and ask what color it was. She would tell me, and she was always correct. But it was fun for me, so I continued. At last she headed for the door, saying sagely, "Grandma, I think it's time for you to try to figure out some of these yourself!"

Laughter is the best medicine

I have to admit, if our family has learned nothing else in this life, at least we know how to laugh. It is rare not to laugh every day around here. Most of the time it is because of something funny someone said or did. I am grateful for our sense of humor, it has really been a life saver. I received this email about laughter today. I thought it was cute and a great reminder for each of us, to laugh each day!

"You know, sometimes life just gets too serious...too busy...and too complicated. We don't mean for it to happen, but we wake up one morning to discover the fun has slipped away.
A few years ago a health study determined there are 3 main reasons people can't cope in life:
They live in the past.
They have a low self-esteem.
They can't laugh at themselves.
In fact, the study indicated that we need approximately 12 laughs a day to stay healthy!

I heard a story not long ago about a guy who sent flowers to his friend who was opening a new restaurant. When he arrived at the grand opening, he looked for his flowers. Well, when he found them, he saw that he had sent a white wreath that said, "May you rest in peace." He panicked, of course, and called the florist who said, "Bob, I'm not worried about you because as we speak, there's a guy being buried who got a dozen roses that said, "Good luck in your new location!"
Ah yes...life throws us curve balls when we least expect it! And sometimes, just to stay sane, we need to sit back and laugh!"
Mac Anderson
Founder, Simple Truths

'The most wasted of all days is one without laughter."  ~e.e. cummings

"Laughter gives us distance.  It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it and then move on."            ~Bob Newhart