Friends!!! :)

OH, I just had such a great visit with a great friend!!!

My very good friend, Rori and I were able to share a cup of tea in person!!! :)

Not only did I get to see, hug, and talk with my friend as she made a pit stop on the way home from saying goodbye to her oldest boy as he prepares to serve our country in Hawaii.  But, I also got the wonderful treat of getting to meet in person her precious little grand-baby, Piper!! :) And, I remembered to get the camera out at the last moment!  So, Piper was exhausted and ready to sleep, and we were having to say goodbye! But, I still got a couple good pictures to treasure!

Rori, Krista, and Piper (3 generations of wonderful ladies!)

sweet cutie-pie

Jason joined in this picture! He was so patient! :)

I can't tell you how wonderful it was to sit and chat and see my buddy!! Oh, I have missed her!  I am so glad that God allows a few minutes of precious time to warm my heart and keep me going!

Oh yeah, and I am now looking forward to being a grandma more than I thought I would!!  :) 

10/2/12 p.s. apparently, I need to amend this and make it clear that I am not expecting to be a grandma yet, as far as I know.  I just know that I am going to enjoy it.  Seeing this little one just confirmed that thought to me! :) 

cup of tea......

As my tea is seeping, I was just thinking about the therapeutic effects of tea.....in my opinion, of course.  I haven't done any scientific studies, however, I have had many a cup of tea!!

Tea can calm the body, mind, and soul!  In order to drink tea, you must sit still!!  It is too hot to guzzle!   I have spent many hours drinking tea with good friends!  In fact, that is the way I started enjoying the warm tea!

One of my very best friends introduced me to tea (with milk) as we would share about the activities of the day (joys and frustrations), along with homeschooling ideas and child rearing ideas and daily living ideas!  I have such sweet memories of those days around the kitchen table with kids running in and out and around and about!

We often would discuss spiritual issues, and I remember many times that I would leave her kitchen with not only my stomach being warmed, but my heart and soul was warmed also!!  

I have now moved too far away for those afternoons with this specific friend, unfortunately!  I have also taken the milk out. :) I like it plain old, plain old tea! :) But, I have continued the habit of sipping tea with friends!  I spend many mornings with a cup of tea, my Bible, and my Lord, Jesus Christ!  I enjoy that time best if I can sit outside too.....but, sometimes I need to stay inside due to the weather.  I also have a friend who is fairly close by who enjoys tea too, so we can share a cup of tea around the table and have our little talks.

Apparently, I am passing along the joy of tea time with my family too. So, one of the newer friends I have enjoyed sharing tea with is my daughter.  We have begun an evening time of just the two of us and our tea.  Sometimes we talk, sometimes we read, sometimes we are just in the same room together.....but, we always have our tea! :)

Now, you have been given a glimpse into my joy of  sipping tea, and why my tea is part of this blog!

So, off you go, get a cup of tea, and relax.........enjoy! 

So, UN-techy!!

I have just been sitting here with my very high-technical daughter, and I have learned many things about my blog posting.....along with her blogging! :)

So, I have now made my blog so much more like me!!! :)  I love it!  Now, I can enjoy writing about my happenings around this house with the blessings and a cup of tea, of course!  And, I can also enjoy re-reading it!! :) 

Ah, the simple pleasures in life!

Sit back and relax........sigh......sip.......sip............sip............sigh!

a lost art....

Today, we had a fun moment that just got me thinking........

The kids have Tae Kwon Do twice a week, and tonight is their day to go.  However, I still had not sewn the patches on the tops yet.  So, I started to get the thread and pin the patches in the proper places.  Then I started sewing.  Well, Andrew was bored.....yes......you know where this is going.... :)

So, after I started sewing, I said...."you know this is pretty easy.......just up, then down, then up, then down......" Then I said, "You can do it, Andrew!" I really wasn't sure that he would take me up with the idea....but, can I remind you that he was bored! Then I suggested Grace should sew too......well, at first she said that she wasn't too interested, but something I said encouraged her to sew! :)

We really were spending some fun time together!  First they started talking about how this was like an 1800's activity! :)  hee hee    But, what I noticed was that we were talking and enjoying time together!!!  It was fun.  Yes, it was new for Andrew.  Yes, both of them could have found something else to do....but, we sure had some fun conversations and laughs. :)

So, what is the lost art?   Is it sewing?  Well, I am not so sure about that, but there definitely is an argument for that one.....but, I think the art that is lost is the art of conversation!!! We are so bombarded with high tech stuff that it actually pulls us away from sitting across from someone and just talking! 

I was glad to have that rare moment with my kids.....it was fun, AND the patches were sewn on in record time! :)  huuummmmm......maybe we should take up a family hour each evening for hand crafts......some of us would love that......(me!)  but, I am not so sure I would have the cooperation of every member here! :) 

I will just enjoy what I had today! :)

ahhh....a beautiful day!!

Oh, it was such a glorious day outside!  I had limited abilities to spend the day out there, but.....God still gave me some absolutely gorgeous skies and temperatures!!

Charity joined me on the patio....

Now everyone can see that I was NOT over-doing it!!! HA!

So, Charity decided to enjoy the Sunday afternoon as any girl of her age would.....la, dee, da, dee, da......

Oh the sun felt so good!!!

so, she ran....... :)

and smiled.....

and walked.....

and skipped.....

and twirled!!! :)

I know this photo is of poor quality, but I love the action shot! :)

now, to be dramatic and tell me how exhausted she is..... HA!

My pretty flowers.....  ahhhhhh.....I love to look at them!

Charity posed to smell the flowers!

and again......

and again....You have to get each flower!!! :)

girls and flowers..... :)

aawwww...

then she saw a spider-web!!!  hee hee....

more twirling....

and running...

and running....

around and around and around.....

oopse....

 Then, she came back and sat with me for a short time.....oh yeah.....you might have noticed that the first few pics have Charity with white socks on.........not as pretty as these pictures look!! :)

 It was truly a day to spend some time outside!!  I am thankful for the time I had.....lots of refreshing air, cool breezes, warm sunshine, and family time! :)

Thanks for sharing with my day......see you later!

lessons from surgery

Well, I am now 11 days post op following a somewhat involved abdominal surgery.  I feel like a wimp!!!  I was sure that I would be feeling much better by now, but I am not. :(  Apparently there are some lessons that I needed to learn while "resting"!

First lesson: Don't expect to be super-woman in the healing process!!  Apparently, healing is not something you get by your will.  I have been lying around in this bed to allow my body to heal for 11 days.  I expected to fully be up and about by week one.  However, I seem to have forgotten that  I really can't have someone cut me open and then expect me to be glued back together and I should be up and about on the next day!

Second lesson: Just because I take care of people who have had the same surgery, doesn't mean that I will heal faster!!  It was helpful to know everything about the hospital stay....but the stay at home, that was something different!

Third lesson: Make sure the anesthesiologist really believes you when you say that you get sick easily with anesthesia and that you have trouble waking after anesthesia! My doctor seemed to think that he had everything under control as to how to best treat my anesthesia.  Well, after hearing that my dad has trouble waking after anesthesia and my mom has difficulty with vomiting after anesthesia......I was doomed! Yes, I managed to get both of the difficulties and surprised the anesthesiologist at the same time! :)

Fourth lesson: Do not expect your brain to be able to understand and compute anything more than what is on the back of a cereal box in the first week following surgery!  This was something I was completely unprepared for......I was in such a fog that I really couldn't read and comprehend anything in the first week!!  Thankfully, that did get better this week.  I was getting worried!

Fifth lesson: Give yourself the time to heal.  I have been told by more than one person, to think about why the doctor suggests that you take 6 weeks off from work after such a surgery!  I really thought I would have been down for about a week, but then able to move around and get on with my life.  So far, that is proving to be false.  There is a reason, and it is because I need the time to heal.  Yes, I am getting it! :)

Sixth lesson: Those meal that ladies want to bring for you after your surgery are truly a blessing!  I told one of the ladies that we had so much food, and I didn't want her going out of her way to bring us food when we had so much already.  But, I also found that just getting the leftover food out for us to eat was overwhelming and exhausting!!  So, we have taken all other offers!

Seventh lesson: You are not as independent as you like to think you are!! Unfortunately, it was 49 years into my lifetime and because of this surgery, that I am realizing that I really am not able to do EVERYTHING all by myself!!  Oh, I am so prideful! But, this surgery took the ummph out of me and left me needing other people to help me with basic living!! Oh, boy, what a mess I am!!

Most of all, I have learned to be thankful for the little things in every day life.  It has been a rough recovery so far and I hope that I am on the mend now, but certainly will still need God's help as I journey the rest of these days on this earth in this body!!  Whoa I am not able to do it alone!! I thank God that He has placed caring people and different circumstances in my life to get me to this point.  Oh, I hope that I never stop learning!! :)

LONG time.....

I have missed blogging and reading other friend's blogs!!!

I think that I have gotten caught up in the facebook thing, and really wanting to catch up on my friends and their families, and I have stopped posting on my own blog!!!  yikes!!!

I came across a blog yesterday that really spoke to my heart about raising kids who have a faith in God and want to share His love with others!!  I want to pass that down to my kids!!  I want to make an effort to instill into them the things that really count in this life!!  Does that last video game count?  Does that last meal you ate count?  Does that last grade you got in your class count? 

Now, I am not saying that these things are not important......just that they are temporal!! 

So, how do I go about instilling the love for the eternal?? 

How about reading God's Word and seeing what He sees?  How about seeing a friend in need and stopping what you are doing to reach out and help that person?  How about just spending time with the kids talking and sharing life with them?

So, often I find myself just getting too busy with the things that need to be done, and not seeing the people who are right in front of me. 

O Lord, help me to be the mom You want me to be!!  Lead me in the direction that will help my kids grow in these things!  Then, I will need Your strength to accomplish this too....please help me to have the energy that is required to teach these young minds the truth of Your word and the love of Your people.