A decade in review, part IV

Dear Teenage Driver,
Do you know how much hardship and pain you caused my family when you barreled down the neighborhood street at breakneck speed and rammed into my husband's car, leaving it crushed like an accordion? Did you know that taking your eyes off the road for one split second to change your radio station would have such an impact on an innocent family's life and leave permanent scars?
That summer morning nearly five years ago, when my husband and children were returning home after visiting me at church as I prepared to teach Vacation Bible School, changed our lives forever. Thank goodness the children were okay, but Pete was not so lucky. Do you know what a long road of pain and misery my husband trudged? Long trips to the bigger city for steroid shots and specialists, rounds of physical therapy, treacherous tests and traction only worked for so long before Pete had to undergo long, dangerous neck surgery. Money spent and lost, not to mention pain and suffering, touched the whole family.
So teenage driver, I hope you will think twice before you TEXT, talk on the cell phone or try to change radio stations. Next time, you might just cause someone to lose their life.

A decade in review, part III

Way back when, before we had our carpet replaced and home improved, Pete and I were barely married before we became pregnant with Katie. I was 31 when we married, and by golly, "my biological clock was ticking away." So when we celebrated our first anniversary, we had our three-week-old Katie. She was such a good baby from the very start. As you can tell by the picture, Katie has always loved books. In fact she is so into the Twilight series that she reads the books over and over and would never, ever miss a trivia question. Katie is so smart and curious that she was reading a book that mentioned the Hope diamond, so she had to look it up on the Internet. I bet she now knows more about the Hope diamond than you do. Pete and I feel so blessed to have been given the chance to raise three of God's healthy, smart children.

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. ~Proverbs 22:6

The decade in review, part II

Once upon a time, Uncle Mark (Pete's oldest brother) used to visit us frequently. The kids always looked so forward to seeing him, and we all enjoyed the family together time. But now Uncle Mark's job (which has him moving all over the country), along with a girlfriend, has stolen his free time. We are left wondering when sweet Uncle Mark will come and visit us again. This picture was taken a long time ago (almost seven years). Katie adores Uncle Mark, as you can see by her cute expression. Andrew still carried his "binky," which he preferred upside-down towards the end. Baby Nicholas is oblivious to the whole thing, but happy anyway.

Last night in a phone conversation with Mark, I was remembering the time he came to visit and Andrew was just a little baby (fussy- I might add). I really did not know Mark that well yet. Pete had to leave to go to work (it was bedtime), and I had to get Katie to bed. But Andrew was very fussy due to his acid reflux and I had been walking around with him trying to soothe him. When I needed to spend time with Katie, I handed Andrew to Mark and said, "Here. Can you take care of him for a minute?" Keep in mind now, that Mark is a bachelor and has never had any children of his own; he would much rather have puppies. But the good sport took the baby and walked around the house with him. When I came out of Katie's room, I was humored to find Mark holding Andrew quite awkwardly, with a nervous expression on his face. I grabbed the baby and had Mark sit down- he looked like he could use a break. We love you Uncle Mark and hope you come and see us soon!

A decade in review, part I

My poor baby Andrew! At three-years-old, while in preschool, Andrew fell during outside playtime and broke his nose. I remember this day five years ago as if it happened yesterday. I had JUST left his class where I had celebrated with my oldest son a Mother's Day tea. My mom had kept Nicholas, who was only one, so I could give Andrew my complete attention (this is the same year Katie was in the hospital with pneumonia, I might add). I had barely made it to my mother's house to pick Nicholas up, when I got a call on my cell phone that Andrew had fallen on the playground (on a rickety bridge) and his nose might be broken. I rushed back to the school, my "high" from our special tea brought down like an elevator within seconds. When I saw my sweet son, blood and tears coming down his face, with an ice pack pressed precariously to his nose, I had a hard time keeping my composure (and the contents of my stomach down). But I stayed strong and enough adrenaline came through to keep me going. The director had already called our doctor so we went straight to his office. The most horrible part of this whole story, which may come as no surprise, is when we got home. Nicholas saw Andrew's nose, went up and poked it and the bleeding started all over again. Sigh...'tis the way it goes with children.

My awesome Christmas present

Guess what I got for Christmas? A scanner! Now I can scan old pictures and share them with you. I have always been a big picture-taker, so I have a lot of great pictures (except the ones I destroyed of old boyfriends, but then you wouldn't want to see those). I was always voted the "scrapbook person" because of all the pictures everyone knew I'd be taking anyway. Looking back, I can now see that by taking pictures all the time I could move around a lot and not get stuck with just one group of people. I have always been a free bird, and never, ever have I been cliquey, so that suited me just fine.
Okay, back to the scanner. The picture above is the first one I tried out on my new idol. It was taken during my (now deceased) maternal grandparent's 50th anniversary celebration. The picture shows my grandparents and me with my sister and our first cousins. It was 1983 and I was in high school. Hurricane Alicia had hit our town only days before and left a tree in our house, but we left everything as is to get to San Antonio for this very special event. The gala is one of my fondest memories of my grandparents before their health started failing.
So before I sign off for now, I want to leave you with a question. Please leave your answer in the comment section. Which one is me in this picture? I know- kind of easy but, hey, it's a start!

One last look at my Christmas cardinals

These beautiful cardinal cards were sent from some very dear friends; people who have struggled through some of the same difficulties I have. We share a very special bond, and it makes me feel very honored that they thought of me when sending Christmas cards this year. Thank you, my friends- you know who you are.

Here is one last "collage" of all my Christmas cardinals. As you can see, a calendar was among my gifts. It is a bird calendar, and the very first picture is this one of the male cardinal. The last picture of 2010 is a beautiful female cardinal. Ahhh...I can tell it's going to be a great year.

Christmas magic

Merry Christmas! I am sitting in my new plush computer chair, drinking fresh ground coffee from Starbucks, and listening to the kids play happily with their new "stuff."
We are going over to my sister's house shortly for Christmas dinner, so I thought I'd share with you another beautiful cardinal card I received from a VERY SPECIAL friend, Jeni. The message on the front says:

"I heard a bird sing in the dark of December- A magical thing and sweet to remember."~Oliver Hereford

Isn't that so sweet? I absolutely love this card and will cherish it forever! More cardinal cards to come...and Happy Birthday, Jesus!

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.~Isaiah 9:6

A cardinal painted just for me

I am so truly blessed to be part of an online poetry group. We met a few years ago on Robert Brewer's Poetic Asides blog and then went on to form a more exclusive, personal group where we share poetry daily and even offer each other support during life's difficulties. One of the members of our group, Michelle Hed, is not only a writer and poet, but also an artist. When she sent me this beautiful (handmade just for me) Christmas card, I asked her if I could post a picture of it on my blog. She said okay so I proceeded to ask her a few questions. Read on to find out about this magnificent lady and friend.

1. Tell us about yourself.

I am a forty-one years old and I have been married for 19 years today (Dec. 23). I have two beautiful daughters (ages 12 and 9) and two dogs. Painting, reading and writing are my three major passions, with a sprinkling of photography, knitting and sewing to keep things interesting. I’m a stay at home Mom, but I volunteer at my daughters’ schools three times a week.

2. What came first- writing or artwork?

I would have to say artwork. I’ve been drawing since I could pick up a crayon. Although while reflecting on this question I remembered that in elementary school I wrote a story on what Christmas would be like in the future ~ which I recall we would all have metallic Christmas trees ~ and this story was printed in our local newspaper. So I guess the spark for writing started pretty young as well. I didn’t start writing poetry until I was in High School. I would have to say art is very similar to writing – in that you don’t immediately paint a masterpiece, just as you don’t immediately write that best seller in a first draft. One of the animals I wanted to paint for my Christmas cards this year was the Sea Otter. No matter how I tried I couldn’t get it to look right ~ looked more like a misshapen gnome. I decided now was not the time for the Sea Otter but I will revisit him when the time is right.

3. What inspires you?

Friends and family inspire me the most. For instance when deciding which four animals to draw/paint for my annual Christmas cards, I’m always thinking of my friends and family and which animals they like or which animals mean something to them. My four animals this year are the wolf (my daughter’s favorite animal), the cardinal (special bird for you), the common house cat (my parents and so many friends have cats) and the bear (my Dad and my nephew – my dad because they get bears frequently as their house and my nephew because he is afraid of them). Also, I have found nature to be very inspiring for art, writing and photography. I just really love nature. There is so much beauty in nature to enjoy and appreciate if we just took the time to enjoy it.

4. What are your hopes and plans for the future?

I hope to one day have my poetry published. I am currently working on two different books, both of which are collaborations. I would also love to have my art recognized but I am still deciding how to approach this one. I sometimes think I should like to try illustrating, or perhaps start working craft shows starting small with cards, but haven’t as of yet decided what route I would like to go. I think I have plenty of time to decide as I continue to grow up!

5. Do you have a website, blog, or some other way to be reached?

No blogs or websites, I’m actually an extremely private person, an introvert. I took a huge leap of faith two years ago, when I joined Robert Brewer’s Poetic Asides poetry challenge. I haven’t looked back since taking that leap. I’m now on Facebook, although my privacy settings are very strict and I also have a very close group of writing friends, whom I actually have never met in person.
Thanks for interviewing me for you blog Laurie. It’s been a pleasure chatting with you! Merry Christmas everyone! – Michelle Hed

Merry Christmas to you, too, Michelle (and everyone reading this). Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to answer my questions. I will be featuring more special cardinal cards I have received in the coming days.

A sweet story

'Friends are God's way of taking care of us.'

This was written by a Metro Denver Hospice Physician:

I was driving home from a meeting this evening about 5, stuck in traffic on Colorado Blvd., and the car started to choke and splutter and die - I barely managed to coast into a gas station, glad only that I would not be blocking traffic and would have a somewhat warm spot to wait for the tow truck. It wouldn't even turn over. Before I could make the call, I saw a woman walking out of the quickie mart building, and it looked like she slipped on some ice and fell into a gas pump, so I got out to see if she was okay.

When I got there, it looked more like she had been overcome by sobs than that she had fallen; she was a young woman who looked really haggard with dark circles under her eyes. She dropped something as I helped her up, and I picked it up to give it to her. It was a nickel.

At that moment, everything came into focus for me: the crying woman, the ancient Suburban crammed full of stuff with 3 kids in the back (1 in a car seat) , and the gas pump reading $4.95.

I asked her if she was okay and if she needed help, and she just kept saying 'I don't want my kids to see me crying! So we stood on the other side of the pump from her car. She said she was driving to California and that things were very hard for her right now. I asked, 'And you were praying?' That made her back away from me a little, but I assured her I was not a crazy person and said, 'He heard you, and He sent me.'

I took out my card and swiped it through the card reader on the pump so she could fill up her car completely, and while it was fueling walked to the next door McDonald's and bought 2 big bags of food, some gift certificates for more, and a big cup of coffee. She gave the food to the kids in the car who attacked it like wolves, and we stood by the pump eating fries and talking a little.

She told me her name, and that she lived in Kansas City. Her boyfriend left two months ago, and she had not been able to make ends meet. She knew she wouldn't have the money to pay rent Jan. 1, and finally, in desperation had called her parents, with whom she had not spoken in about five years. They lived in California and said she could come live with them and try to get on her feet there.

So she packed up everything she owned in the car. She told the kids they were going to California for Christmas, but not that they were going to live there.

I gave her my gloves, a little hug and said a quick prayer with her for safety on the road. As I was walking over to my car, she said,

'So, are you like an angel or something?'

This definitely made me cry. I said, 'Sweetie, at this time of year angels are really busy, so sometimes God uses regular people.'

It was so incredible to be a part of someone else's miracle. And of course, you guessed it, when I got in my car it started right away and got me home with no problem. I'll put it in the shop tomorrow to have it checked, but I suspect the mechanic won't find anything wrong.
Sometimes the angels fly close enough to you that you can hear the flutter of their wings...

Psalms 55:22 'Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.'

Snowie's trick

The other day we were all staying in because of coughs and colds hoping to get well before Christmas. I was playing around with my camera (remember I am pretty much an electronic dummy) and discovered how to tape movies. So I tried it out on the dogs first. Keep watching and you will see Snowie perform her acrobatic trick for you- hilarious. Then when I got over to the boys, you can see they were quite enthralled in their computer. Let's hope Christmas vacation gets a wee bit better (and that my taping skills improve, too).

P.S. Please ignore the shoe mess. I don't know where it came from.

God carries us

My sweet cardinal sang to me
just the other day
and as I sat listening
I remembered to pray;
for every time I hear my friend,
I know just what to do:
stop, sit still, and listen
so God can carry me through.

Don't forget to hop on over for the Christmas event of the year. Click here for more details. Hope to "see" you there!