• Oct. 27, 2009
I Am So Proud Of You

The other day another home school mom I know was sharing how saying I am so proud of you to her daughter had just lit up her daughters face. Her daughter positively glowed after hearing those words. Well it got me to thinking and I realized she is so right when she said we need to remember to tell our children we are proud of them.

I have been doing this with McKenna concerning her reading and you know what? She is reading so much better and I think it has partly to do with the confidence boost she got from me telling her how proud I am of her! That and telling her how well she's reading and how before long she will be reading all by herself.

My dad was a man of few words when it came to telling me how proud he was of me, but I can remember one time it meant a whole lot to me and probably made me a better mother in the long run.

When my oldest dd was a baby my dad would watch me care for her and how I did things for her. Then one day he said something that made me just beam. He said Debbie, you are a really good mother. He didn't say he was proud of me, but the message was clear, He was proud of me.

He said just what I needed to hear, just at a time when I wondered if I measured up in the area of mothering and if I was doing things okay. What he said meant a lot and I still relish his words and remember them to this day.

Heartfelt praise goes a long way. It sticks. It makes a difference. It is something to draw on and lean on in the future when things get a little rough and you are unsure of yourself.

It's not hard to say. I am so proud of you.  See? Now watch for an opportunity and let your children know today that you are proud of them, then watch them light up and glow!

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• Oct. 18, 2009
Playlist

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• Oct. 6, 2009
I just got back from dropping off my son at his motel

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• Oct. 1, 2009
Empty Nest Syndrome?

Is it possible to have empty nest syndrome even before all the kids leave home? I have been feeling pretty sad the last few days thinking about Levi leaving for AIT. I can't help, but think of my youth and all the years that have passed and how I often wish lately I had all my kids at home.

McKenna is of course still at home, but I know how fast the years go and in nine short years I will face her being the last one to leave the nest. Then I get to thinking of when I am all alone living here on our farm.

It makes me wish I had grabbed onto all the lost opportunities I had for memories when the kids were younger. All the things I wanted to do or planned to do, but was too afraid or let myself be talked out of doing.

How short time really is. As a young girl I thought that time seemed to almost stand still. I thought I would never be old enough to drive a car or any number of other things. I thought the school years would never end. I thought my parents would be here for as long as I needed them.

My daddy is gone now, but I still need him here and I miss my grandparents more than ever. My grandmother who always spent time with me and told me stories, painted my fingernails, gave me perfume and talcum powder to make me feel pretty and told me often I could be a model.

I stop and think of all the years of history I have shared with people in my life. Some for a short time and others a history that spans almost half a century. That is a lot of living and time for memories to be made. My bank of memories could be fuller if I hadn't held back or been so afraid. Of what I'm not sure.

Now I find myself on the threshold of a new experience and I am sad and fearful again. I don't want to be left alone. I like being included in my kids day to day lives. Yes, I know most of my kids have left home and I still have frequent contact and yes I do have other interests and hobbies to keep me busy.

But busyness is not really a substitute for mothering. For this kind of mothering, instead of mothering from afar. My dh is leaving to go back to work today and Levi leaves Tuesday and ships out the next day. I know once he has left I'm going to feel that void that is left when one of your fledgelings has left the nest.

Not sure why I'm sharing. I guess I just need to share. It's just going to be a hard week with my dh leaving today, my ds leaving Tuesday and Gabrielle moving Monday. I always thought it would get easier with each child. Instead it gets harder. It was way easier when my oldest left home than it is now.

Big "SIGH." I don't even want to think of when my ds ships overseas. All I can say to you mom's with your babies still by your side is hang onto those years and cherish them. Because they are little now, but one day you will turn around and in their place will be a grown young man or woman where that child once stood and you'll wonder how time passed so fast.

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• Oct. 1, 2009
All Because I Wanted To See A Museum For FREE!

Did any one else go? We did and I have to say I was a little disappointed in where we chose to go. We drove for hours and hours on the never ending road all the way to Atoka to go see the only certified confederate civil war cemetery in the state.

It wasn't awful just not what I was expecting. I handed the clerk the printed admission ticket and she tells me oh honey that's great, but our museum is free anyway. WHAT! I drove almost the whole length of Oklahoma to attend a museum that is free anyway? I almost lost my mind getting here and experience the road trip from h***? If I had known it was free all the time and we could have went any ole time without cost we probably would have went elsewhere. Oh well there's always next year. Maybe.

There were graves over one hundred years old and marked, although there were many that were only marked with a piece of stone. The museum was small and didn't take us long to go through, although there was a display of Lane Frost and Reba McIntire memorabilia. Also a saddle made from a buffalo hide from the 101 ranch during it's heyday.

McKenna was tickled though because she got a slingshot from the gift store. We usually always buy something from our travels and sorry to say this time I couldn't find anything worth getting, so we bought the slingshot for her. We did bring home brochures for the scrapbook at least.

Probably the most exciting part of the trip was the drive down. We set our gps when we left home and once we got to OKC it kept telling us a way we were sure was wrong. Finally after getting gas I told my dh maybe it was recognizing a shorter route or a backway and maybe we should take it and we could see some scenery.

So we took off the way it said. At first it seemed to be fine althougb we were traveling a blacktop highway. Then all of a sudden it has us turn and we turn on a dirt road. I'm saying out loud you have to be kidding, but we go ahead because by then we've traveled twenty miles.

We travel round about with twists and turns and end up back on a blacktop eventually. We travel along for awhile and then again we are directed to dirt. Once again although louder this time I say You have to be kidding! This time it's more twisty turney, but comes back to pavement eventually.

We finally come to a descent main highway and by then we are so hopelessly confused we aren't sure we can find out way home. We are told to turn left on old hwy 3. I miss the turn and have to turn around because the road wasn't marked. We travel along until we come to Coalgate, where we stop for snacks.

Then back on the road we are told to turn onto a street that I once again miss because the street sign says something else, so I turn around and notice on the other side of the street, same side of the road is a street sign with the correct street name.

We are traveling along in literal countryside only on pavement when all of a sudden it turns to, you guessed it, DIRT. By now I say very loudly, who am I kidding, I yell YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING! We travel on dirt that switches to gravel that switches to what looks like was once pavement, that switches back to dirt all the while with twists and turns.

We actually meet traffic going in the opposite direction! All of a sudden we come up to a stop sign and low and behold there is a four lane divided highway in front of us and we are on the edge of Atoka. We travel a mile or so and our gps is silent other than saying something about staying left within so many feet for route 69.

So I stop at a gas station and ask the attendant, who obviously is foreign so I hope he knows where the place is, for directions. He says to go back North for about four blocks and it's on the right side of the road. I get back in the truck and tell my dh and wonder out loud if the guy was sure if it was blocks or miles.

Turns out he was right! Once we arrived the darn place was almost directly across the road from where we pulled off of the dirt road when we got to Atoka! Now why didn't our gps let us know?

Oh and I only heard the question are we there yet or how much further a million, bazillion times today to the point of threatening to pester my dd the same way if she didn't quit. Hey something finally worked.

So where did the rest of you go? More over how was the trip?

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• Sep. 15, 2009
Saying Goodbye

There are not many men I would equate with the greatness I reserved for my own dad, but there is one. Today we are attending the funeral of a man who wore many different uniforms. He was a farmer, friend, teacher, high school principal, football coach, mentor, custom harvester and more. He took my oldest son under his wing after my first dh died and my son will tell you if it weren't for this man he would have gotten in more trouble growing up than he did.

The man was hard, but fair. He also didn't make a mountain out of a mole hill. He knew his battles from a war. He also knew how to handle teens, especially teen boys. Not many men could take a whole crew of teenage boys  custom harvesting for the summer without having all kinds of heck brake loose, but this man did.

He let the boys call him Jim during the summer, but during the school year it was back to Mr. Slater. He didn't get easily upset over things, but if he did he let you know. Firmly without belittling. I remember he had an old antique automobile he used to get out and drive around. We always got a kick out of seeing him in that old car. Teenagers around here for years have went out to drag race on what is known as Junk Yard Road. Well Mr. Slater lives on Junk Yard Road, in fact right about where the racing line starts. I have a mustang convertible that every once and awhile I get out for a spin.

Like many who drive a car with a lot of power I was born with two lead feet, so I kind of get a kick out of a bit of speed. Not constantly, but just for a bit for the rush. Now you know one of my secrets! Anyway one day I had the car out and had taken it North of town as far as Junk Yard Road. Just before I got there Mr. Slater pulled up to the stop sign and after stopping turned onto the highway. I turned around  at the corner and stepped on the gas and with a wave of my hand went flying around Mr. Slater's car. He just laughed and waved a great big wave.

Several years later when he retired what do you think he bought for himself? A Corvette!!! We all got a kick out of seeing him driving his vette around town and once in a great while he would Get On It!

I can only imagine all the things Mr. Slater saw or heard or was told in all the years he was a teacher, coach, principal and custom harvester. All the boys he coached, taught, or took on harvest and mentored. He taught my first dh and my second dh and my oldest son. He was my high school principal, both of my dh's and my oldest children's. My first dh thought very highly of him and when we laid him to rest Mr. Slater was a pallbearer.

After sixty-five years on this earth he was called home last Friday. Today we say our goodbyes, but more than that we share our thanks and celebrate the man he was. No words will ever be enough, saying thanks cannot express enough the enfluence and esteem with which we regard you. You left a legacy and we will always remember that you were more than just talk. When many these days are afraid to act you put your convictions into action and you cared for people. You made a difference in my life and those I love. Thank you Mr. Slater, you were a Great Man. The man may be gone, but the Legacy lives on! Long live his memory.

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• Sep. 14, 2009
Let Em Eat Cake! Or The Second Dumbest Thing I've Ever Done!

I was going to just title this The Second Dumbest Thing I've Ever Done, but I didn't want anyone to misinterpret and think I regretted making the cakes. I just regret I chose to use fondant. Ewwww! That is nasty stuff. In the end it all turned out well and as I was told I'm sure in the years to come we will laugh about this experience!

 Well on this very special day once a year we have more birthday cake than we can eat. You see my two youngest children were born on the same day in September only ten years apart. Levi has always said his little sister was his birthday present. Here they are with their home made birthday cakes turning nineteen and nine. HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU TWO!



Hard to believe my youngest son is now nineteen. Where did the years go?




Okay for all you who wanted to see my red hair, the wedding cake birthday cake I made for McKenna and my kitchen here you go. You can sort of see the red in this pic. The lighting in the kitchen kind of washed it out, but trust me it's dark auburn red!  As for the wedding birthday cake don't look too close. If there was an award for ugly birthday cakes this one would win. I'm pictured here with my youngest daughter McKenna and one of my grandgirls, Breanna.

The big thing is though that my daughter was thrilled and thought it was beautiful. Oh and you want to know something? Fondant is not only hard as all get out to work with it tastes awful! Totally blecky tasting.

You can sort of see my kitchen. At least one view of it anyway. The olive green venetian plaster we put on the walls shows up and you can see the ends of the cabinets I painted black. We aren't finished by a long shot. Right now the kitchen is a work in progress, long progress.

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• Aug. 4, 2009
Happy Birthday To Me!

Well it took them awhile to remember. I left the house with nary a happy b-day said to me this morning. I had an early morning appointment. Needless to say I was in a grumpy mood.

Finally right before noon my youngest ds happened to think and called. Then when I talked to my dh on the phone he happened to be going through some stuff and realized what day it was.

When I got back home I stopped by my oldest ds house and was wished a happy b-day and while there my middle dd called say she was bringing cake and my middle ds stopped by to say hi and happy b-day. So I ate cake.

After I arrived home my youngest ds called and said to be in town in a few hours and we would go eat mexican food, so the two meetings I have will probably be missed, but he said hang the meetings anyway.

The only one who hasn't called is my oldest dd. My dh had cooked me dinner, but I got home so late and since we are going out to eat supper I hate to eat now. I'll probably just save it for tomorrows lunch. So now I will go celebrate a birthday dinner with my youngest ds, youngest dd and my dh.

I still kind of wish they had remembered this morning, but at least I wasn't totally forgotten on my b-day and it brought me out of yesterdays grand funk..

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• Aug. 3, 2009
In A Grand Funk Today

Am I the only one who has days like this. Days when I feel in a bad mood and grumpy. Days when I feel invisible and undervalued. Days when I end up feeling sorry for myself for a blitz of a second and have a good old pity party. Have I just become a load of washed laundry, or where the clean underwear are or the provider of hot food on the table?

Am I just the one in the house who cleans the toilets and makes sure our home is clean and half way picked up? The one who works hard to make our home cozy and nice and so I paint and fix up and rearrange and redo, repurpose and repair.

Is it just taken for granted that there will be clean dishes in the cupboards and the keys someone left lying on the table or in the lock in the front door will be placed where they need to be. The tossed on the chair jacket, book or wallet will be put on someones dresser or hung up.

When an appointment needs to be made or insurance rates checked or someone needs some hand holding for something they are going through and I'm there do I have a face? Do they see me. Sometimes I feel like all they see are my faults and failures and not my heart. Sometimes I wonder if they even recognize my heart.

I'm feeling a lot melancholy today and taken for granted. Tomorrow is my birthday and I know my dh doesn't remember. You know what I'd like? What would be nice is someone in this family to make me a b-day cake for once. It has been so many years since I had a b-day cake I don't even remember when I had one last.

Well thank you all for coming to my pity party. Party's over.

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• Jul. 28, 2009
I Will Not Give In To Fear

Soldier video

This video says it all and really makes you think. I know there are some things I will not look at or think about the same way after watching this. It helped put things in perspective getting a tiny glimpse of things how a soldier see's and experiences them.

A little info. Last weekend my youngest ds had weekend drill. He called home Saturday evening to tell us he had been put on a quick ship for AIT which means he could leave for Ft Leonardwood in a few days, a week or a month. First opening and a plane ticket to open up and he will ship.

Then afterward most likely will recieve training and deploy to Afghanistan. I have been feeling a bit uneasy lately about this, but was chalking it up to mama concern. When he was probably going to go to Iraq before this thing with Afghanistan started I didn't have this feeling of concern like I do now.

Tonight he confided to me that he wants to go, but he has a feeling he will return in a box. Knowing what I've been feeling  that was not something I wanted to hear. I mean what do you say when your ds says something like that, because he very well could come home in a box. I did tell him of my concern and that maybe it will be a while yet before he has to actually face going and yet I understand how he wants to go.

I've been very teary for the last few days and of course my mind has wandered and I've thought of what life would be like without him around and I have to not let myself think about it.

Is this what it's like for other mother's of ds's in the military when you know it's most likely only a short time before they will train for deployment?

I'm not sure how best to pray, how best to cover him in prayer because this is a new area for us. I was hoping we would get to share one more birthday, one more Thanks Giving, one more Christmas before he shipped overseas, but it's looking more and more likely that won't be happening.

I am so proud of him for serving his country and I will not give in to fear, but it's sure trying to gnaw at the door. Oh how I covet your prayers for peace and comfort as he stands at the threshhold of this new experience.

Here is what another hs mother shared that her father told her about when he was a young man going off to war.

Debbie, my dad has in the past year or so begun talking about his war experiences. He was in WWII. My dad is a big man and has always been strong and stoic. He confided in us that he fairly had to drag himself up the walkway to the ship, he was so terrified. And he came back safe and sound. I tell you this to remind you that fear, dread, even foreboding do not determine our lives. Only God has that job. Praying for you, sweetie.

My ds was just talking to me before I posted and told me that everything is becoming so real to him now.  Suddenly everything isn't in the far distant future. I thought to myself uh huh, I've been thinking the same thing lately.

He told me this right after he had showed me the above video. I watched it and couldn't even talk for awhile I was so choked up.

Another hs mother by  sharing what her father told her about deploying all those years ago and reminding me that fear, dread and foreboding do not determine our lives touched my heart deeply.

It's been so easy to brag about my soldier ds up to this point. Up to now there really wasn't that urgency or close sense of danger on the horizon. That was a distant thing. Thank God her father faced his fears and didn't give in to terror as a young man. I am thankful to him  for serving his country and although I'm sure he didn't want to die and would rather not have had to go, was overjoyed to return safe and sound. He put his life on the line, even for future generations that at the time weren't even born yet.

 I've asked her to let her father  please know how grateful I am that he had a sense of duty, he served and also that he gave a glimpse into what it was like for him leaving. I hope and pray my ds returns safe and sound and one day his experience and words can be shared and help comfort another mama's heart.

To those soldiers serving their country now I salute you and pray that you return home to kiss the ground once you return. More than that I pray you return home safe and sound to your loved ones. I am deeply grateful to those who choose to serve.

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• Jul. 18, 2009
We have a new graduate

Well it's happened again. One more of our brood has graduated. CONGRATULATIONS LEVI! We know you will go far. In fact maybe really far. This young man of ours is a military man and as soon as  he finishes his training he is ready to serve his country  where ever they send him. Of course this mama's heart  doesn't  want her son to have to  face the dangers of battle, but I know my prayers go with him. And God can protect him where ever he is sent.

When he graduated basic training I was surprised by getting so teary eyed. There were so many young men graduating that day. He went to Ft. Benning which is a male only training facility so there were no women graduating there. As I looked at that sea of bald, buzzed heads and those new soldiers standing ram rod straight with their military bearing I thought to myself.......they look so young! Now he has graduated high school and we are one step closer to him leaving home.
I will admit I am having a hard time with that. I used to think it would get easier as each child left home, but no, it's gotten harder. I actually broke down when I gave my speech during his graduation ceremony.

Levi, as I said in my speech on your graduation day, I do count it as a honor to have gotten to home school you. You have always been so fun to teach. It was never a job, but an honor. Well except for English! Ha! Ha!  You have amazed me with your memory for detail and facts and insight. I thank God everyday for choosing me to be your mother. It is an honor  and a privilege I cherish. We  couldn't  have chosen better for a youngest son than you if we had hand picked you ourselves.

 I know I don't hold a perfect record, I've made more than my share of mistakes, but I love you and I want you to know I take this parental stewardship very seriously  and have always tried to be the best mother to you that I knew how to be.  I am so, so, so proud of you. You are a young man now. But no matter where you go, how far you travel, what you accomplish, who you are or who you become, who you rub shoulders with or what you do in life never ever forget, no matter what.....YOU will always be my baby boy.

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• Jul. 18, 2009
Life On The Farm

We recently had some of our grandgirls out to the farm for a visit. They love coming here and venture all over. Here is a pic of one of them following one of our roosters around.



A couple of our grandgirls talked their uncle Levi into pushing them on the tire swing. Ahh the sweet rites of passage, swinging on a tire swing. It's something every child should get to enjoy.




My dil caught a picture of one of our ducks. We did have three, but one was recently dinner for a coyote we think. Anyway one of them disappeared, Quackers to be exact. This ducks name is Waddles. Our other duck not pictured, we named Ping.  Boy our farm looks so nice and green, pretty and to me interesting in these pic's. Apparently the little bit of rain we had helped green things up. Usually at this time of year things are pretty brown and the only green things are weeds. Thought I'd share a bit of what our place looks like. Next time I'll try to get our goats and horses in the pic's.

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• May. 24, 2009
If The shoe Fits Or Even If It Doesn't: Real princess Style

Have you ever wondered what a real princess does when she is trying to find something to wear? Well take a look at what my youngest daughter and three of my grandgirls or aka princesses did today. There is even a pic of them trying to put on my glass slipper. Key word TRYING! lol

Here's my dil joining the fun.


Here's one of my youngest daughter. For some reason everyone loved this hat and this pair of cat eye glasses.


My granddaughter Gracie. She also loved the hat and cat eye glasses. She also grabbed a hold of this red ball gown and fell in love with it. It's perfect for her.


My granddaughter Breanna wearing a tutu. Notice the crown of flowers in her hair to complete the outfit.


Raylee dressed up as a clown. Isn't she cute even though her outfit is on backwards?



Last is me wearing that hat the girls all favored and those cat eye glasses. Boy I almost didn't ad this pic because the camera shows my face looking more than plump! I KNOW my fat isn't that fat surely! Well a girl can wish right? I will not show my dh this first pic of me in that hat and glasses. he already sometimes thinks I flew in on a broom! Har har!!!

The last pic is of the real princess trying on the glass slipper. I think one of the step sisters snuck into the palace. There is NO WAY that slipper is going to fit, but try telling that to my sweet granddaughter who insisted I put them on.  Don't you love it?!!!

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• May. 7, 2009
Just a Little Sad Today

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• Apr. 29, 2009
Speaking of Serving Others

I have been grappling for some time on what it really means to serve others.
How I could really serve those in need. How I could find them. How I could understand them and meet them in their need.

Then I had a realization. Something I never thought of until recently. I have prayed for ages that others would not see me, but Christ in me. Now that's a nice thought and something to strive for. That I may decrease and Christ increase. Then I had a realization.

I strive for others to see Christ in me, I've prayed for others to see Christ in me, But I never have thought of seeing Christ in those I seek to help. I never looked for Christ in those faces.

When I help the least of these. Hmmm.

Just thought I'd share a few of my thoughts.

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• Apr. 21, 2009
One Of The Dumbest Things I've Ever Done!

I let my eight year old dd talk me into buying a coconut at the grocery store yesterday. Ever since then she has been driving me nuts wanting to open it. Have you ever opened one of those things? They are NOT easy to open. In fact I think you could hit one with a fast moving locomotive and it  wouldn't break open. :eek:

At least I may be able to salvage things because we have been covering plants and seeds since last week. We could examine it if we could ever get it open. In the meantime the hairy little beast of a coconut sits on my counter shedding his hairy little hairy stuff and looking pretty smug about the whole thing.

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• Apr. 21, 2009
Welcome to HooVille!

Just wanted to share a photo of my youngest grandgirl. I call all my granddaughters my grandgirls. We thought this picture was hilarious.

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• Jan. 13, 2009
The Relatives Came

If you haven't read this book you should I think. It's written by Cynthia Rylant and it is so down home. It truely reminds me of how many of my relatives are, right down to sleeping on, "Pallets," on the floor.

I also remember going to visit relatives and packing food to take along, including a cake with pink frosting. I road in my great aunt's car and the cake sat on the floor behind her seat. I couldn't wait to sample some of that cake, but I think before we had a chance to eat it one of us kids stuck our foot in it!

I love stories like this. I remember my mother telling of moving to Washington state when she was a girl of 7 or 8 back in the forties. The family moved out there for a better life and my mother's father was to be a mechanic in a relatives garage. They drove a model T I believe or some such car with running boards where their dog road.

When they got to Idaho there was a forest fire and her father and uncle stopped to help. They were traveling with her aunt and uncle who drove their own car. They also had a mattress tied on top of the car which they took down at night to sleep beside the road.

My grandmother has told me the story of how they stopped one night and the weather was pretty fair, but when they woke in the morning they were covered in a blanket of snow on that mattress!

I've been told the trip took them about two weeks to travel that far. After two years they decided to return to Oklahoma much to my mother's disappointment but my grandmother's delight.

Anyone care to share their family stories of the same nature?

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• Jan. 4, 2009
2008 In Review Part two

Okay as you can see I didn't make it back the next day for part two. But better late than never, so here goes. Now where was I at. Oh yes, Levi had left for Basic training, we had the leak in the living room etc.

July 2008 we planned a family get together on the 4th.  Didn't  happen as planned, but did happen a way. Enough said on that. Later in the month the hole in the floor is fixed, we go pick up the tile and supplies and find a guy who will lay it for a very good price. I should have been cautious, but I  wasn't  since he knew my daughter and was seeing her. He asks to be paid up front so I do that. I know, I know, BIG FOOLISH MISTAKE.

Not only does he  not finish the job  he does a poor job  and I'm left holing the bag. Guess what?! I learn to lay tile. Guess what else?! I learn I do not want to lay tile for a living! It could make you old quick. Oh my aching back!

Now I hope I've mentioned we are going to be grandparents again? If not well we are at this point and the blessed event is due to happen in December. So ever since about May of June I have gotten to go to the doctor with my daughter. It's a Girl! Or It's going to be A Girl! I guess the baby already is a girl , but...... Oh you know what I mean.

On to August. We leave for Georgia to see our son graduate basic training. The BIG day is August 14th. We haven't seen him since the second of June. Oops I am in the wrong lane in Mephis and have to vear right. Oh well we'll just go through Jackson Mississippi on our way to Ft Benning. That was the biggest mistake of the trip. We made it to Jackson just fine, but from just East of Jackson all the way to the Georgia line we drove through pelting rain. It was awful.

Apparently everyone back East slows way down and turns on their flashers when it rains like that. How were we to know. We thought it odd and it took awhile for us to figure out what was going on. Back home when it does that we just deal with it or pull over to the side of the road. No way would we keep driving at twenty something miles per hour. Oh well to each their own.

The graduation ceremony was something to behold.It was very nicely done and we loved it. We head for home as fast as we can get there because Levi is determined not to spend anymore time away from home than he has too right now. We make a stop over in Chatanooga to see the aquarium there. Awesome and spectacular! If you haven't seen it then you need to go. It's worth the trip. Aweek after we get back Levi has weekend drill.

 I get a call earlier that Sunday morning telling me I need to come to the ER. Turns out they were playing tag football and his and another guys feet got tanlged and he flipped in to the air. He came down on his shouldet and guess what?! He broke his collar bone! One week after finishing basic training. He made it all the way through basic without getting hurt and gets hurt his first drill after coming home. Figures he said!

 Our daughter starts having some trouble with the pregnancy once we are back. Oh yeah and I had a b-day eialier in the month . Let's just say I'm a bit older than I was and leave it at that.

Roll on to September. Gabrielle continuies to have problems , but although her B/P is elevated it's not really too high. She passes her glucose test. We do end up making a few visits to the OB ward for her to be checked out and each time things are okay. I think they are beginning to think she's a hypochondriac and she does too. She did have a UTI once though. I've lost count on how many times we go to the OB ward, but late afternoon on September 25th we go one more time.

This time she has B?P that is getting way up there so she is transferred to OKC by ambulance. I try to keep up, but about ten miles out of town I realize it's no use and just decide to drive a normal speed. I've lost sight of the ambulance anyway. I stop in Kingfisher at McD's for a hamburger and go on to OKC. I get to the hospital and couldn't believe it, but I got to Gabrielle's room about five minutes before she did.

The doctor decides to see if they can hold things off for awhile and hopefully at least two more weeks. I call everyone and tell them the news, letting them know it may be in two days of two weeks, but not tonight. Within minutes things change and they  decide to do the c-section right then. The room fills with what seemed like twentyfive people all at once. Finally they wheel my dd down the hall on a gurney and tell me to wait right at the end of the hall. About the time I am beginning to think they've done delivered and forgotten to come get me they call me in.

Within minutes my granddaughter is born. 2lbs 2oz of her. She is so tiny and doesn't look real. In fact it's hard to believe she is real until she moves. The nurses clean her  up, take her vital signs and then let me hold her for just a few seconds and let her mommy give her a kiss then they whisk her off to the NICU. I start to go with her, but my dd gets so sick from the anesthetic to I stay to help and be with her.
This is the beginning of a very long stay. After a week I have to go home and my dd wanting to stay right with the baby sleeps in the waiting room.

At nine days post partum she developes not one but two blood clots in her lung. Instead of going to a nurse one night very late she calls me. Itell her to tell a nurse immediately and I already suspect what turns out to be right on the money. She does get better but starts on Coumadin and seeing a cardiologist. She's dismissed once again.

October 2008 We cannot keep this pace up going back and forth to the hospital so we end up buying a camper to park behind the hospital so Gabrielle can be close to the baby and yet have a place to go rest in quiet and privacy. The baby developes a blood clot in her heart, but the doctors don't seem fazed. This Nana is very fazed! Time heals all and the clot dissolves.

November 2008. Several times they have started to send my granddaughter hime and each time there is a setback. My dd is starting to feel edgy and as is she is never coming home. Finally on November 18rh she is released. On a heart monitor but she is released. Welcome home baby McLarin!

December 2008. We have a big happy Christmas this year. A new grandbaby to share it with and lots of family too. Not a lot of eventful things happen this month. I do get a gift I'dlike to return or give back to whoever gave it to me though. I end up with stomach flu the day after Christmas. It had went through my family mildly off and on for a week before Christmas and now I guess it was my turn. This was the most awful flu I've had in ages.. I was so weak I couldn't get to the bathroom on my own steam. My dh had to help me. I don't often get the flu. Maybe once like this every ten years or so. Hopefully I never get it again though. I'm getting too old to do the flu!

I did get better and was able to attend our church's watchnight service on New Year's Eve. I even stayed awake and saw in the new year. I should say prayed in the new year. After we prayed in the New Year everyone left pretty quickly. I think we're all getting too old to stay up so late and need our beauty sleep.

So that was my year of 2008 in a nutshell. I'll try to be more attentive about blogging in 2009. I know I had to have missed alot of things that would and should have been recorded.

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• Jan. 1, 2009
2008 In Review Part One

Well I guess we can tell I am an avid blogger from my overflowing posts in 2008 can't we? I nearly passed out when I decided to update my blog and got here and noticed it's only been a bit over a year since I've done anything with this blog! A whole year! I can't let that happen again. Anyway I'll try to recap ALL that has happened to us as a family for a year in our lives in two posts.

We started the year 2008 with high hopes and expectations. The end of January our woodstove was delivered and installed that our middle ds had gifted us with for chirstmas. What a gift it was too and we love it. It's the kind of gift that keeps on giving and giving, plus we stay in shape from cutting all that wood!

The sad point of that day was that I accidentally ran over our middle dd's dog she had had for years and killed her. It was so horrible and I felt awful. It was like a member of the family had been killed. The very next week our youngest dd's pet goat got sick. We rushed Tinkerbell to the vet and he gave her some medicine, but she was already in shock and it didn't look good. The vet sent her home with us and we no more than pulled out onto the highway drove about two  or three miles and she died.

Our dd was so heartbroken as we all were. She had waited for Tinkerbell for over a year because she was insistant of having a white goat. Not any other color, not a white with spots or a caramel color or anything resembling white, but ONLY white. Well pure white goats are hard to find, but we finally did and Tinkerbell came home with us. She was our dd's shadow and followed her everywhere. Our dd would bring her into the house many times to visit! She'd always say, "Mom I brought someone for you to see!"
We miss Tinkerbell something awful. A good thing for this month was our oldest dgs turned twelve!

February was without incident. We celebrated a dgdd's fifth b-day on the fifth and then Valentine's Day and moved on to March.
March came and went without a disaster. We celebrated my oldest ds's b-day and his youngest dd's b-day  which is two days apart and later that month we had Easter at our house. It was pretty chilly and all the dgk's had to wear their coats that day, but they hunted eggs and then hunted them some more.

April came and for a change we had no b-days to celebrate. We did get a new dog and named her Boss. Our youngest ds suddenly one day or so it seemed told us he was going that day to take his asvab for the military. He had thought about this the previous November, but had decided not to pursue this route at the time back then. So with our blessing off he went for the test that evening. He PASSED! He joined the National Guard.

May came and he went to his first drill and later to his second. When he went for his physical and to be inducted into the armed forces I drove down to the MEPS center that day in OKC. I got there early just in case so I wouldn't miss his swearing in. It turned out to be a very long day as he ended up being one of the last ones done. He would have gotten done earlier but they lost his papers, partly because he was put into a new unit. A unit that didn't technically exist yet at the time, so there was a problem until they finally figured it out. Finally at  a little after 4 pm he was sworn in. Family is not allowed in the actual ceremony to take pictures because of privacy issues, but they staged a reenactment for each person who's family wanted to take pictures. Boy did I!

June came our ds left for basic training in Ft Benning home for the infantry. He is so proud that he went to Ft Benning. He told us  afterward the moment he experienced shark attack he wondered what he had gotten himself into! This is where the new trainees have been through processing and arrive at their dorm. The drill sergeants meet the bus and order everyone OFF. We witnessed a shark attach the the best way to describe a drill sergeant meeting the bus is to say they come on board...no...no  that's not it eaxactly. They........EXPLODE onto the bus! That is the word. It's all part of the process of remaking these young men into soldiers though and they do umm help the young men off the bus, but don't let your head cover become crooked or you get to experience a drill sergeant in your face barking at you like a bull dog.

June also was a disaster month for us. I accidentaly ran over Boss and killed her when she ran right across in front of the truck as I was pulling out of the drive one day. I just wanted to cry. I felt like the dog killer or something. I vowed to not get another dog to replace her either. It was just too hard. How could we go years and years and never have an animal get run over and then suddenly two within months of each other?
Later that month we had another disaster or two. There was hail damage to the house in town that our oldest ds lives in with his family and I woke up one morning early and walked into the living room and stepped on a wet patch of carpet. I thought at first someone forgot to let out the dogs and one of them peed on the floor, but another step and I found myself slogging through water. We ripped back carpet only to find water seeping through a crack in our cement slab. Yikes! We turned off the water and tried to break out the cement with a sledge hammer. Ha! Fat chance of that. We had to go rent a cement saw. Once we got an area chipped out with the saw though my dh and middle ds were able to get through with the sledge hammer. We decided to break out the slab instead of going under the slab to fix the leak because going under it was going to end up being very expensive. Thousands and thousands of dollars instead of hundreds. It didn't take us long to figure out which way to go.
We found the leak alright, but not where they started it was over a ways from where the water came up. The water just found the weakest area to escape. We ended up with about a five foot hole in the middle of the living room floor. Our youngest dd thought it a grand place to play with toy cars though. I on the other hand got very tired of having a hole in the middle of the floor and a Big mess in the house. The adjuster finally came and we got the insurance part squared away fairly. We decided we were not putting carpet back down. We were going with tile. Well I am going to tell you that was the easy part. Picking tile out is a pain in the you know where. It took forever. Then when we finally did pick out just what we wanted the dealer wasn't sure he could get enough in. He finally did though. By now we were into July and July was not looking to be an exciting month other than for trouble.

So Tomorrow stay tuned for part two of 2008 in review and find out what happened during the second half of last year for us. Can you imagine homeschooling through all this? We did. We even had some really exciting things happen that we got to experience, but alas I have few pictures. Now wonder why I was so preoccupied I didn't think very often to grab the camera? Hmmmmm.

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