Watching this should make us all proud...

I have for a good while been watching Eagle cams. I have caught a couple as the parents were brooding and waiting for the eggs to hatch. I have seen many hatch and there is a baby eagle of which I immediately become attached to. One nest had 3 eggs and I am especially attached to the runt. It is nature at its best. It also has it tragedies, one was lost by falling out of a not very well built nest built by new parents. The other somehow got wrapped around the mother's leg and after trying to get the chick loose, the panicky mother flew from the nest and the baby came loose. I have followed some to fledging and the cams do well to keep up with them once they leave the nest. Currently I am watching Sutton, Sidney, Norfolk Botanical Gardens and Delta.

You can see in the video how beautiful they are and why I have become, along with thousands all over the world, interested in these precious birds and the struggles they have to survive. Thanks for letting me share this with you.

God Bless!

Checking in...

I do not feel like correcting this, nor do I know why the pictures are not side by side as I had placed them so please overlook me. I will try to do better next time.

I am soooo late in putting anything on here, I am ashamed. I have had a couple comments asking about the twins. These are the most recent pictures, I got them yesterday. One smiles in one picture and the other smiles in the other. Caroline is still thrilled with her "little" brothers. Nick is on the left and Luke is on the right. She helps her mom a lot with the boys.

Nick is fighting a nasty cold and has right much congestion so hoping that will begin to clear soon. Stephanie is quite busy as you can imagine, but handles it with laughter and happiness and grabs her a nap when she can.:) She always says how blessed she is to have these three.

Mrs. Bunting is getting to a point that Jerrell is beginning to think of what is best for his mother at this time. She only does two things a week, get her hair done and go to church "if" she is not draggy and most of the time she is! She is still excellent at working a telephone. Some evenings up to 10:00 we get calls to see what day it is and if she gets her hair done tomorrow and it is only Monday or Tuesday and her appointment is on Thursday. I just tell her to look on her clock on the mantle and it will tell her what the day is. I do help by taking turns with the phone calls.

Some things are comical, but over all, it is stressing Jerrell to the hilt.

I talked with Paulette today and she has bought a house at the beach and will be moving sometime in June when she closes on the house. She is my best friend and I will miss her, but she is happy with her decision and she has good doctors down there as she had her last heart failure while she was down there and found they had as good or better facilities and machines than did the hospital at home. She can also get her defibulator checked down there and not have to drive back to Concord. Remember her in your prayers that she won't overdo it with the packing and all involved with moving. I assure you, she will still read her regular blogs, she so much enjoys them.

Didn't sleep much last night and we went looking at cemetery lots and

mausoleums today and I am literally worn out. I will try to put something up here more often than I have recently. Love you all.

God Bless!

Love, love and love...

"See, I am number 1"...

"So I am number 2"...

"I am so happy to help Mommie feed Nick and Luke"...

At this point, I do not know which one is which. Steph says when she is feeding one, she has to think "which one am I feeding"? More later.

God Bless!

Luke and Nick

I am slow. So sorry I have not gotten some pictures up sooner. The first three pictures are made in the hospital. They were born on January 5th and came home on the 7th and both are doing well, as is Steph. The last two pictures were made at home on week 2.

I will make this short. I have an appointment soon. Hope you all are doing well and I will be back soon. Love you all.


God Bless!

January 5, 2009 - Luke & Nick

The boys, Luke and Nick are here! Stephanie and the boys are all doing fine! Steph called me this morning and she was looking so forward to going to the hospital and waiting for 2:30 for the boys to arrive. She was so excited because today was the day since she has had such a painful and tiring 9 months.

David called about 30 minutes ago and told me that all went well with the surgery and Steph and both the boys are doing wonderful. He had come home to get Caroline and take her to the hospital to see her little brothers. I know the 5 of them will have some bonding time tonight. I am so happy and wanted to let you folks know that they are finally here.
Baby #1 weighed in at 7lbs. 3oz. and 20 inches long.
Baby #2 weighed in at 7lbs. 2oz. and 19 1/4 inches long

We all are thankful that things went well and both the boys are healthy and Stephanie hopefully will get some broth soon, as she was starving this morning when she called. I will of course post any pictures as I get them. Right now I am just thrilled and thankful that everything went so well. Take care all and I will be back and post when I can.

God Bless!

Oh no....

This is exactly NOT the way it showed when I wrote this and added the pictures. I think you can figure it out. I guess it has been too long, I have forgotten what little I knew. :)

Happy Holidays..

I will by no means even attempt to try to catch up on all the news. So much has happened and is still happening that just does not allow me to to blog very much. It is the time of year that family and friends are on the minds of most, therefore I wanted to come here where so many of my friends that I care deeply for come by occasionally.

As for me and Jerrell, we are doing very well and we are quite blessed and thankful for everything ,even the worries over Mrs. B, the Lord has given us the strength to give her the attention she so desperately needs at this time in her life. She is still living alone and as of this moment Jerrell does not see the need for any changes to be made which would be totally against her will. We also recognize the fact that "soon" we have spoken of is becoming more of a reality than we like to think it is.

Our sons are both doing well. Kevin will not be in this year, but fortunately Jeff lives close enough that he will be home and he does come every two weeks as well. Kevin is faithful to call us on Sunday nights to check on us and will call again on Christmas Day. He recently had an International Meeting in China for two weeks and he called us 5 times from China. I picked two of the 300+ pics that he made.

Stephanie is doing ok right now. She has had such a rough pregnancy with the boys and so much pain in her rib area. As of her doctor's visit yesterday she is going to be home for Christmas, which she so wanted to be. The tentative due date for Luke and Nick is January 8, 2009 unless she should go into labor before, then the c section would be done at that time. Caroline is so excited about her brothers and I personally think she will be a mother hen to them. Stephanie has been very concerned about me since my colitis has come out of remission and the pain and weakness it creates just makes me pretty much useless, but I do appreciate her love and concern about me.

I will post a few pictures if I can remember how...

Kevin at Tiananman Square Kevin in front of the Bird Nest

Stephanie and Caroline David and Caroline

May you all have a wonderful Christmas and all a Happy New Year.

God Bless!

minds of their own...

When you take a three year old to the Fair and the Dad wins a stuffed animal; sure you let the little one pick out the one they want, right? Well as you can see Caroline did just that as you can see in the picture on the top. The problem was what to do with it when they got it home.

Caroline had a big ouch on her face when one of the dogs she was leading got in a hurry and pulled Caroline down. A small wound is showing a little in the other picture but will tan over and never know that little eye was swollen shut. They bounce back, so unlike us old folks do.

I know you are shocked to see that I am here, but I really have been busy. I will catch you up on some of the things I think you might be interested in. Stephanie is now a few days over 6 months to the due date. I am in the baby pool and I chose Christmas Eve as it is a feasible date since she will have a C section and Christmas Eve will also be the 41st wedding anniversary for Jerrell and I. She has found that carrying twins is much different than carrying one. She will be delighted for these two boys to be here and so will Grandma Claudia.

My friend Paulette has had two bouts of heart failure and both happened while at the beach. She now has a fine team of heart doctors down there as well as at home. This last time they put in a defibulator and having just talked to her the other day, she is feeling better and getting her strength back. Please keep Paulette in your thoughts and prayers.

Mrs. B is getting somewhat worse, but is still staying at her home. She is just not to the point of coming here to stay at this time. Jerrell is still going down there three times a day, going to the grocery store for her, picking up her meds, etc. I can see that this is taking a toll on him, physically and emotionally.

Both sons are doing great. The oldest will be going to China in a week or so for a meeting and will stay for two weeks. He has to give two different talks at the stem cell meeting . The youngest son will be attending a wedding in two weeks for a couple that he introduced. However, he is not dating anyone at this time. The girl he was dating that moved to California will be in town for the wedding, but it is impossible to have a cross country relationship.

As for me, I am doing well. I do not get out except with Jerrell's help we go to the grocery store. The buggy helps support me enough that I can walk throughout the store. The last time I went shopping which was well over 6 months ago just about did me in, so as much as I have always enjoyed shopping or just looking, I am no longer able to do that so I find that ordering online works out fine for me. I also quit going weekly to get my hair done at the salon. I do it myself which is very tiring and it certainly does not look as good. I will however go for haircuts and highlites when needed. I miss the fun and laughter we all had on Thursday afternoons!

I told Steph that I thought in my prior life that I might have been a convict because of my interest and enjoyment in live trials and how our legal system works. I am currently watching the OJ Simpson trial in Las Vegas. Closing arguments should be Thursday. Also the Phil Spector trial II is going to allow cameras in the courtroom and that comes up the latter part of October. I am very involved and interested in the Caylee Anthony case in Orlando Florida. The missing 3 year old still has not been found. I do not expect a happy ending in this case.

Thanks ALL for the comments and I do still read all the blogs of all my friends. I do not always comment, but I try to do that first thing in the morning and keep up with what is going on. Grammie, congratulations on the latest addition to the family, she is another beautiful little girl. You are truly blessed!

I have much more to tell, but will save it for another post. Hope all of you are doing well and will update again real soon.

God Bless!

some great news!...

Things are going pretty well around here. We are trying to stay cool as are many others. The temperatures here have been really high and along with the humidity, it has kept me in the house.

I had a tooth to abscess a couple weeks ago and of course had to take antibiotics to clear the infection up. I got really upset with my dentist because he did not do the root canal on my next visit, instead I was scheduled for Friday the 13th and of course it abscessed again before I finally got the root canal done this past Friday.

Jerrell and his mother are both doing well. Things are going smoothly around here. Just not lots going on to blog about lately. Until.....

A couple months ago Steph told me that she and David had decided to make an addition to their family, so the IVF process began. She has been at the beach with families for two of the last three weeks and the week she was home which was week before last, she and Caroline came over and visited us for the day. She had hoped to have a songram picture for me, but the doctor changed plans to do it on Friday instead of the previous Monday. Since boys were inserted, we knew it would be a boy this time!

She was leaving the day after seeing the doctor for the beach for the week so she said it would be a late email but she would email and let me know what the doctor said. It was the first day of my second week of the throbbing tooth, so I shut down the computer early that night. The next morning I checked my email and got the news, I immediately tried calling Steph but could not reach her at home or on her cell. Later in the morning she called me from the beach. She was still thrilled and shocked as the sonogram picture that she sent to me and explained was a picture of TWO little boys!!!! So Caroline will be having two little brothers and I am very happy for Steph and David and like David, I had felt like it would be two this time! Steph is of course having lots of morning sickness and already getting a little tummy, but just thrilled and thankful.

I talked to her briefly on the phone yesterday as they had just gotten back from the beach earlier yesterday. She sent me some pictures of Caroline and I will share this one with you.

Caroline goes around saying "two boys, two boys". She is tickled about these little chaps as her Dad calls them. We are very happy for them and of course are looking forward to the arrival of the little chaps!

While I was having the tooth problems, of all things I had to fall. I fell about 5:00 one morning and hit my head so hard that for the first time in my life everything went black and I saw white dots and shooting white lines for what seemed like minutes. I hollered so loud as it hurt so bad and I had a terrible headache all day. Also my neck hurt for days I guess cause my head bopped up and down on the floor. I went to sit down down on the bed and I guess the bed moved and the next thing I knew I was on the floor. :) Getting older is not fun yet. I am still waiting for things with my health to get better but I have not gotten there yet. With all things considered I am blessed and I know I am a failure at blogging, but as I have mentioned before, most days I just do not feel like it and rarely getting out, I really do not have much to share with you folks. I am still reading blogs as I can never forget any of you and I will pop a post here as I can. I hope you all have a great day and I shall return...

God Bless!

another tired day...

I am just not a good learner apparently. After Jerrell took me shopping last week and it tired me so bad and he and I seeing just how bad my back and breathing is; nothing would do me but get Jerrell to take me back again today. We did go here in town rather than out of town this time. I had gotten some money from three different people for my birthday and I guess it was just burning a whole in my pocket! I really thought just two stores and it not being too crowded on a Monday I would fair better, but that was not the case. As before, Jerrell was better at finding my size and what I like better than me. I did find a pair of capris before I had to get home. I do not plan on doing that again. I will just have to shop online.

I had such a good time with Stephanie and Caroline when they visited last week. Caroline had grown since I had seen her last and is making complete sentences, it just fascinates me at how well she talks. She is also potty trained now and has been for a while. She is such a big girl .
Here is a recent picture of she and her dogs, Maggie and Gracie. They are big and hard to lead, so when she comes here she loves to go outside and she takes the leash and walks Roxy! She will walk her til Roxy's tongue is hanging out..







I had a telephone call while I was posting this, so I am going to make this one short today. I hope you all have a good weekend.


God Bless!

catching up...bit by bit...

I have so much to tell since I have taken a blog break that I will just have to pick up where I am now. I do have many new pictures but of course cannot post them all. I really want to figure out how to make the pictures smaller, yet viewable.

My overall health and not feeling well is and was my main reason for not posting. Many times I would come and sit down and draw a blank as I am sure many of you have, so I just decided to leave it for a while- which I did. It is certainly not that I am too busy some days or that nothing is going on in my life, exactly the opposite. We are much busier with Jerrell having retired the first of February and he has been such a help and a blessing to me. He has stuck with me for 40 years and I can truly say we are closer in our older age than ever before it seems. I try so hard not to take him for granted and thank him for all he does for me and always let him know I appreciate him.

I sometimes neglect to share my oldest son, Kevin and his family with you all and because of his job I have to be careful not to mention names, work places, etc. His name is on the internet only in professional and work related articles, book and journal entries, etc. However, I can share some things. They both do extensive travel, both in the US and other countries. They recently spent spring break in Puerto Rico, along with my daughter in law's parents. I am posting a few pictures as it is a beautiful place. They have asked and tried to get Jerrell and I to go on a cruise or visit some place, but neither of us feel like our health will permit it. Also, Jerrell just refuses to fly again and riding is one thing that I just cannot do, therefore we are even unable to vist them in Ohio.



This is my son, daughter in law, step granddaughter and my daughter in law's parents in San Juan.



This is a beautiful view of El Morro with the ocean in the background.

Speaking of pictures, somehow I found a way to break my camera. I cannot get the screen up that is "to take pictures". I think it is too complicated for me and in trying to fix it, I clicked on just too many options. I have my camera phone that my neighbor gave me a cord to use to upload them from the phone to the pc and she also loaned me the software to download to make it possible. I have decided I am just not a good picture taker. Our azaleas are just beautiful so I went outside and took a picture and had my finger over half of the "eye" and therefore only had half a picture. I will practice some more. :)

I have got to get dressed and Jerrell and I have to go to the grocery store, so I will stop for now.
I hope you all have a great day and I hope it is a pretty day where you all are as it is here today!


God Bless!

my day...sorta

I am here to share a piece that touched my heart. I received this today and it especially touched me. This being my 64th birthday I felt totally blessed anyway and after reading this I wanted to share with as many folks as I could. Thanks to Grammie I have felt inspired to post to my blog although I have been very busy this week. I had a doctor's appointment on Monday and had some bloodwork done. Yesterday the doctor's office called and told me I was dehydrated. I am constantly drinking something, usually bottled water so I was a bit surprised. I was blessed with Steph and Caroline coming over on Tuesday. We went out for lunch and came back and Caroline enjoyed walking Roxy. On Wednesday my best friend Paulette came over and took me to lunch, so I have had a wonderful but tiring week. I want to thank Marci for the pretty birthday card I received in the mail and for all she does for me and for all she means to me, I love you. Also my thought and prayers have been with Clara and I am so thankful they have her cancer under control. And to my wonder friend from Texas, Connie I appreciate your emails and prayers and I love you my friend from Texas.



Robby's Night True Story Worth Reading !!!

At the prodding of my friends, I am writing this story. My name is Mildred Hondorf. I am a former elementary school music teacher from Des Moines, Iowa. I've always supplemented my income by teaching piano lessons-something I've done for over 30 years. Over the years I found that children have many levels of musical ability.. I've never had the pleasure of having a prodigy though I have taught some talented students. However I've also had my share of what I call 'musically challenged' pupils. One such student was Robby. Robby was 11 years old when his mother (a single Mom) dropped him off for his first piano lesson. I prefer that students (especially boys!) begin at an earlier age, which I explained to Robby. But Robby said that it had always been his mother's dream to hear him play the piano. So I took him as a student. Well, Robby began with his piano lessons and from the beginning I thought it was a hopeless endeavor. As much as Robby tried, he lacked the sense of tone and basic rhythm needed to excel but he dutifully reviewed his scales and some elementary pieces that I require all my students to learn.Over the months he tried and tried while I listened and cringed and tried to encourage him. At the end of each weekly lesson he'd always say, 'My mom's going to hear me play someday.' But it seemed hopeless. He just did not have any inborn ability. I only knew his mother from a distance as she dropped Robby off or waited in her aged car to pick him up. She always waved and smiled but never stopped in.Then one day Robby stopped coming to our lessons .I thought about calling him but assumed because of his lack of ability,that he had decided to pursue something else. I also was glad that he stopped coming. He was a bad advertisement for my teaching! Several weeks later I mailed to the student's homes a flyer on the upcoming recital.. To my surprise Robby (who received a flyer) asked me if he could be in the recital.? I told him that the recital was for current pupils and because he had dropped out he really did not qualify. He said that his mother had been sick and unable to take him to piano lessons but he was still practicing 'Miss Hondorf, I've just got to play!' he insisted. I don't know what led me to allow him to play in the recital. Maybe it was his persistence or maybe it was something inside of me saying that it would be all right. The night for the recital came. The high school gymnasium was packed with parents, friends and relatives. I put Robby up last in the program before I was to come up and thank all the students and play a finishing piece. I thought that any damage he would do would come at the end of the program and I could always salvage his poor performance through my 'curtain closer.'Well, the recital went off without a hitch. The students had been practicing and it showed, then Robby came up on stage. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair looked like he'd run an eggbeater through it. 'Why didn't he dress up like the other students?' I thought. 'Why didn't his mother at least make him comb his hair for this special night?'Robby pulled out the piano bench and he began. I was surprised when he announced that he had chosen Mozart's Concerto #21 in C Major. I was not prepared for what I heard next. His fingers were light on the keys, they even danced nimbly on the ivories. He went from pianissimo to fortissimo. From allegro to virtuoso. His suspended chords that Mozart demands were magnificent! Never had I heard Mozart played so well by people his age.After six and a half minutes he ended in a grand crescendo and everyone was on their feet in wild applause.Overcome and in tears I ran up on stage and put my arms around Robby in joy. 'I've never heard you play like that Robby! How'd you do it? 'Through the microphone Robby explained: 'Well, Miss Hondorf, Remember I told you my Mom was sick? Well, actually she had cancer and passed away this morning and well. .. She was born deaf so tonight was the first time she ever heard me play. I wanted to make it special.'There wasn't a dry eye in the house that evening. As the people from Social Services led Robby from the stage to be placed into foster care, noticed that even their eyes were red and puffy and I thought to myself how much richer my life had been for taking Robby as my pupil.No, I've never had a prodigy but that night I became a prodigy . . Of Robby's. He was the teacher and I was the pupil for it is he that taught me the meaning of perseverance and love and believing in yourself and maybe even taking a chance in someone and you don't know why.Robby was killed in the senseless bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in April of 1995.

just dropping in...

We have been so busy for the last few weeks. Jerrell has been retired for 3 weeks now and you would think that with retiring things would slow down, but getting all these medicare plans and supplements and prescription plans takes some thought and some time.
He qualifies for all three, but I am unable to get a supplement until I turn 65 and I will be only 64 this April.

It sure has been nice having Jerrell at home. We seem to go more and do things together and that is good for me to get out of the house some. He is getting used to me being on the computer alot. Since he does not have any use for one, it is hard for him to relate to the amount of time that I stay on it.

Our youngest son Jeff will be home this Sunday. He missed a Sunday because he went to California for several days to see a friend he had met in Charlotte and dated for a few months before she was transferred back to her home town in California. He enjoyed the visit and got to see alot of sites. He flew into Burbank as that is where she lives, but got to see LA and other places. I am posting two pictures from his trip. I love the palm trees in the background. Reminds me of our South Carolina beaches here.

This one is Jeff and Rosalie in LA but I do not know exactly where. The one below is of Jeff.

I do not know why these pictures turned out so big; I have totally forgotten what I have learned from blogging. If you do not use, you do forget!

In reading some of my regular blogs, I have noticed that many people were giving their reasons for blogging and the reaction of those that know nothing about blogs and I found it interesting that we all seem to have the same purpose in blogging. For the friends I have made through this blog is something that will always stay with me. Many of you I email with and we have gotten to know each other that without the blog, we would never have met. I thank you all for what you mean to me. You have been here for me when I needed someone and all seem like a blog family to me.

Will have to make this one short, I have an appointment in a little while, but I did want to blog and let you all know that all is well and I am still reading your blogs, but have fallen behind in my blogging. I hope you all have a great day!

God Bless!

a nice day...

Stephanie took Caroline to the mountains to ice skate last Monday. I have missed posting Halloween and Christmas pictures. I am bad...

A comment from a dear friend and fellow blogger Marci led me to begin this blog. Thanks Marci! I do not know how far I will go or what I am going to say, but I know I have missed you all. Our home seems to be filled with burdens and our plates are full right at this time . I will also admit that I am in a real low point in my life that only time and faith that God will take this burden from us and give us grace to accept what results come about. However, I do still have the light of my life, Caroline, to bring me joy and make my heart flutter when she hugs me and tells me she loves me. She will be having a birthday February 1 and will be two years old! Oh, I must also congratulate Grammie as she is expecting another grandchild. She is to me the perfect grandmother and I wish the family the best with the upcoming new addition.

Jerrell has only 3 more days to work, then he will be officially retired. He is going to have to renew his old hobby of woodworking or he is going to be terribly bored. I have tried to get him interested in the computer and he absolutely has no desire to touch one. And you all know there is hardly anything to watch on tv anymore. Keep getting more channels added and still nothing. Which reminds me, our television bit the dust and the days of going out and buying a tv, bringing it home, plugging it up, turning it on, is over! Since we had a 35" picture tube tv, we did at least want something a little bigger. We liked our Mitsubishi so good that after looking at many, many other ones, we settled on a widescreen LCD Mitsubishi. What a lesson did I learn. We upgraded with our cable company to get the digital receiver and within less than two weeks, we had a service tech out here 7 times. I have watched them reboot and refresh that I am now qualified to be a cable tech! I do not call now, I just reboot and I even know how to do it two different ways :) We have for the past two weeks been able to enjoy watching it after what we hope is that all the kinks are removed. The main cable line into the tv was small as it was the cable line put in many years ago. The knitwit tech, instead of cutting the tv cable line, he cut my computer cable line and tore out our telephone lines, so he had two cables to replace and we had no phone service. Jerrell did run the phone line until he found where BIGFOOT must have caught his foot and pulled the wires out, so Jerrell fixed that without a service call having to be made for the phone and without Time Warner getting a bill for it!

Mrs. Bunting is still staying at her house at this time. She fairs ok so far, but calls us several times a day. If we bring her up here, she may stay an hour and she is ready to go home. She complains about having nothing to do, but will not agree to come on up here and live with us and believe me, we have some kind of action all the time. No time to be bored around here. Jerrell brought her up here Saturday night to eat fish with us and just as soon as she finished eating, she asked Jerrell to take her home. I realize there is no place like home and she will stay home just as long as she can. As her condition mentally is getting worse, it proabably will not be long until she will have to come.

Time for me to get some supper started. Hope you all are doing well. Take good care.

God Bless!

so now I know...

SPECIAL POEM

A row of bottles on my shelf
Caused me to analyze myself.
One yellow pill I have to pop
Goes to my heart so it won't stop.
A little white one that I take
Goes to my hands so they won't shake.
The blue ones that I use a lot
Tell me I'm happy when I'm not.
The purple pill goes to my brain
And tells me that I have no pain.
The capsules tell me not to wheeze
Or cough or choke or even sneeze.
The red ones, smallest of them all
Go to my blood so I won't fall.
The orange ones, very big and bright
Prevent my leg cramps in the night.
Such an array of brilliant pills
Helping to cure all kinds of ills.
But what I'd really like to know...........
Is what tells each one where to go!

There's always a lot to be thankful for if
you take time to look for it. For example
I am sitting here thinking how nice it is
that wrinkles don't hurt...

where did the year go?...

Suddenly it is December......again - and we realize that with giant strides we started in January and within a blink of an eye, 2007 is on its back!

A big 'Thank You' to each and everyone of you, for the huge impact you had on my life this year. Especially for all the support and e-mails I received.......without you, I'm sure that 2007 would have been extremely boring.

From my side I wish you all a magical Festive Season filled with Loving Wishes and Beautiful Thoughts.

May 2008 mark the beginning of a Tidal Wave of Love, Happiness and Bright Futures.

And to those who need someone special, may you find that true love.

To those who need money, may your finances overflow

To those who need caring, may you find a good heart

To those who need friends, I am still here for you .

To those who need life, may you find GOD .
Thanks for being my friend!!


God Bless!

Merry Christmas!!!

Partridge in a Pear Tree




Did you know this?







There is one Christmas Carol that has always baffled me. What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won't come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas? Today, I found out.



From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember. - The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.



-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.



-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.



-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.



-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.



-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.



-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.



-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.



-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.



-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.



-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.



-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.



So there is your history for today. This knowledge was shared with me and I found it interesting and enlightening and now I know how that strange song became a Christmas Carol...so pass it on if you wish."



Merry (Twelve Days of) Christmas Everyone.....

oh where is she?.....

I do not know why this picture is so big, nor do I know how to correct it. I am not too familiar with Photobucket. :)

I am here and I am well. Thanks to all that took the time to inquire and check on me. Things have been busy and just moving right on around here.
I flat missed posting Caroline dressed for Halloween and then came Thanksgiving and a blessed day that was. Our oldest son and his family did not make it in, but they will be here for Christmas.

Jerrell's mom is getting so much worse, I don't even know what to say. The doctor did tell Jerrell last week that she did have Alzheimer's disease and soon she will have to come stay with us. She has always been such an independant person that she just refuses to come right now. She does not want to impose on us and says she wants to go to a nursing home which makes no sense at all to me.

Stephanie, David and Caroline spent the week of Thanksgiving at Disney World. On Saturday before they left on Monday, they came by to see us. It was our first time meeting David and he is all that I expected him to be. A wonderful young man and just as nice as can be. Very, very tall and slim. We were so pleased to have him in our home and get to meet Caroline's dad. They are a precious, happy family. I am inserting one picture of them at Disney World. Caroline is growing sooooo much.

Here are my girls at Disney World...



I have not, nor will I be able to blog as often as I would like. I can only do that or stop the blog entirely and I really do not want to do that. I do still read all my regular blogs and miss blogging, but my health and other things have taken me away from blogging and until things change-- a post here and there will have to suffice.

I am looking forward to having our oldest son and family home for Christmas since it has been two years since they have been here for Christmas. At other times, just not for Christmas.

Again, thanks those that emailed or commented as to my well being. I appreciate you all.


God Bless!

i am ready...

From what I am hearing, Caroline is really enjoying the tricycle. She has the neighborhood all amazed at how well she is riding it at her young age. She also has learned to steer it, much to the delight of Steph and David. I could tell from the day she first got on it and rode short distances, that she would master it well and soon!

Here is a little video of her in action! :):)

I missed them yesterday by about 15 minutes. Steph was running late and didn't email and her phone wasn't working so I really didn't know they were coming, so I took Roxy with me to pick up some medicine and when we got home there was a note stuck in the door. I sure hate I missed seeing them, but they will be back soon. Steph said Caroline was saying "see Roxy", lol, she does love Roxy.

I do have some more pictures that I will post later. I have been on the phone with Mrs. Bunting who insist that she DID start her car yesterday, but couldn't get it to back out of her garage. If you tell her that the car will not start, she firmly believes she did start it, so I just let it go at that. We are learning to agree with her as it is a losing battle to convince her once she sets her mind on something. She is going to church tonight and it is good for her to still be able to go to church, cause that has always been a very big part of her life.

Gotta make this short, I have to scramble around and find something to cook for supper. Oh what will it be? Hope you all are having a great day!



God Bless!

tuesday...

I just came in from walking Roxy and happened to notice the car in the garage and had to just chuckle. I thought of the comment that Janet left on my last post suggesting that maybe I back my car in the garage. I cringe to think of what damage I most likely would make to the car and the garage, but Janet I appreciate the suggestion just the same. :)

My life is good, just nothing at all going on that is blog worthy. Pretty much the same, day in and day out. Our biggest attention giving is to Mrs. Bunting who is really taking a toll on Jerrell, but she just refuses to come live with us, as she does not "want to impose". It would actually be so much better for she and for us. Jerrell is running himself ragged, going down there and running her around. Also the worry of seeing his mom like she is, I can tell is really worrying and tiring him. I feel terrible for him to have to see his mom like this. We make it by- by laughing some of it off, but in reality none of it is truly funny. He is quite firm in saying he is not going to make his mother do something as long as she has mind enough to say no. I do not agree, but it is his mother and I am afraid something bad will happen before a move is made so please keep them in your prayers.

Stephanie called yesterday and she and Caroline plan to come over one day this week. It has been about two weeks since I have seen them, so I am having withdrawl. I am looking forward to my Grandma Claudia hug!

Our step granddaughter, Cynthia was playing in the yard with a friend on Sunday and according to our son, they had been playing basketball a bit rough earlier; so when they moved their play to the front yard they ran into each other and Cynthia broke her collarbone. She has her left arm in a sling and as the day went on her mom got mad at her because she cannot take her tennis lesson and cannot practice and play her piano. They now have two pianos, my goodness. They got a new one just a few years ago, but this is a Grand, whatever that is, have heard the term tho. Anyhow while I was talking on the phone with my son, he giggled and said he heard Cynthia playing her piano with one hand. I am quite sure that idea was her moms. :)

While in my blogging lull, I flat out missed posting on my youngest sons birthday on Sunday, but I had not taken an updated picture to post anyway, but I just let it slip my mind. He was home and we had a good meal and visit with him. Mrs. Bunting got him a Thank You card for his birthday which made it even more important to him and he also went by and visited her for a bit before heading back to Charlotte.

Although I have not blogged regularly, I am still reading you folks blogs. I might comment or I might not, I am a hit and miss type of person. Not that I don't always enjoy you alls post, I just enjoy reading and seeing what is going on in your lives. I enjoy all my blogging friends and I hope you all have a great day.

Thinking of a title for a post sometimes is hard for me, is it hard for ya'll?


God Bless!

back in service...

I wish I had made a before and after picture of this 36+ year- old tricycle that both of my sons rode when they were little tykes. It has been retired for a lifetime in our basement. Stephanie was looking for one for Caroline and wondered if by chance we had one. I thought we did, but since Jerrell was not here, I had to wait and ask him when he got home.

He said it is somewhere in the basement which means in our house, it is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Jerrell went straight to the basement and looked for over thirty minutes; so I asked him if he wanted me to come down with the flashlight and help him look- and he did. Our basement is made into three rooms and the middle room being the larger room. Not only is everything stored down there, Jerrell has wood, wood and more wood stacked for the wood stove in the winter.

I held on to the rail, went down the steps and we began our search anew. First we came across the hobby horse, then the porta crib, then the large crib and finally we eyed the tricycle, but getting to it was gonna be a big problem. Jerrell got together a game plan and he headed through little openings that I just knew his now slim body could never be able to get through, but believe it or not, he got to it, took off a roll of plastic wrap for packaging that was on top of it and dug out the tricycle. It had over 30 years of dust on it, but I had a mission, which turned into a happy project.

Early the next morning before it got hot, I took it outside and had my bucket of cleaning materials and I took the hose pipe and rinsed it off and the work began. With toothbrush in hand I cleaned the spokes good and gave it a good wash down. After it dried I was not happy with the rust on the handle bars, so late in the afternoon I started. I used first a screwdriver and the round of it rubbing on the rust took a lot off, but the two kinds of sand papers worked the best and I worked til I got the rust off the handlebars. I also took that tire stuff to blacken the tires and the paint job was excellent. It shined like it had been waxed.

I was not feeling well enough to make the trip to the park with Steph and Caroline on Tuesday as we had planned so they came here in the afternoon after their outting at the park. Oh my! was Caroline thrilled when her mom went in the house and came back out with the tricycle. She got on it and to mine and Steph's surprise, she pedaled that thing pretty good. I was shocked in fact.

Yes, I took pictures, but somehow the thingy got moved over to video and I had five videos that were so large I could not even send them. Therefore, I only have one picture of Caroline on the tricycle. However, Steph did take some of her in the house with Roxy. It was so much fun to see her riding that tricycle and left a joy in my heart and mind, that I will truly never forget. At one point, we were clapping for her and she just stops riding and stands up and starts clapping with us. I thought I would die with laughter when she did that and so did Steph.

So Tuesday was a great day for me. I think life is good and I have so very much to be thankful for and it just shows how love for one another can make all the difference in the world. I try to count my BIG blessings like the hours spent on Tuesday with Caroline and Steph and also the small blessings, like having to cook supper. I am thankful I have food to prepare a meal. I never want to get to an ungrateful for everything point in my life, because it would take all joy and happiness away.

Now I ain't saying that the road don't get rough at times in one way or another, cause it does. Course my latest crisis was of my own creation. Since I have had this SUV, which is larger than any vehicle I have ever owned, I hafta admit, cause I know the garage ain't got smaller. At any rate several months back as I was backing my car out, my passenger side mirror hit the side of the garage door and left some white paint on the mirror, but I didn't tell Jerrell cause it just looked like some bird doo doo unless you got up real close. Welp a couple weeks ago I was backing out and I saw I was too close on the passenger's side again, but being me, I just knew I could easer on out so I did and the mirror fell outta the arm. I was in a hurry so I got out and hurridley tried to pop it back in. I popped it all right, I broke off two thingys that hold the mirror in.... believe it or not, but the mirror itself did not break.

Later when Jerrell got home, I had no choice but suck up and tell him what happened and asked him to try to get the mirror back in. To make a long story short, the mirror is back in, but is worthless as I cannot move it with the power button or by hand. I finally broke down and called the dealer. The entire mirror, arm and all has to be replaced to a tune of $164 just for the mirror, no idea about the labor. So I go online, find one for $49.50 and after talking with our neighbor who is a Jack of all trades said for me to order the cheaper one and he would put it on. So I ordered the mirror, with power and puddle mirrors. Our neighbor Charlie is a truck driver and was leaving out on Wednesday morning, the same day the mirror was spose to get here by UPS and it did. He will put it on when he gets back in, which was a short run and will probably be this weekend. Also I might add, I was quite impressed with the service and the mirror was an exact duplicate of the factory mirror, even to the mirror images may appear smaller than they actually are or whatever it says. I will really hafta be real careful now, cause I dare not knock another mirror off. :)

I am late getting a post done I know and ice cream time is approaching so I am going to shut up for the night. I hope all you folks have a good evening and thanks to all that have visited and commented. I love all my blogging friends!!!!!


God Bless!

thank you...

I want to thank Janet for thinking of me and for giving me this award. I think getting a "Nice Matters" award is a stretch for me, it should be a "Blog Once In A While Matters" since I am so slack in doing that. However, the thought behind the award is very important to me. I do not feel I deserve it, but I do thank you Janet and I have some folks that I want to pass this on to.

I pass this on along to Grammie , Clara , Marci , ~Kristi , Livey , Sassy , k and Jan . There are so many more but I think I have my limit.


God Bless!

from the mountains to the sea and more...

I am sharing some of my many pictures. As Grandma Claudia I think I am a real, real grandmother and what a great feeling it is. I know I have not used my camera to take pictures like I probably should. As a matter of fact, just this past week when Caroline was here, I got my camera out and started to take a picture and she had stopped coloring and had moved on to something else and that moment that I wanted to catch was gone. I just cannot think fast enough!

Steph and David took Caroline to the mountains of NC and to Tweetsie Railroad in Blowing Rock, which is a highlight of the mountains for the children. I well remember taking our sons there when they were small. I got some pictures in an email from Steph this morning and also we have made plans for me to go with she and Caroline next week to Dan Nicholas Park and I am looking so forward to going. My sons both have been many times, but I have not been, so not only will I have something new to see, I will have a fun time watching Caroline see all the new things they have added and the old things too.Thank you Steph for asking me to go along!!

We are having cool temperatures here right now and I am just absolutely loving it. I talked to our son in Ohio last night and he said it was down right cold at nights there, but warm enough during the day. They are settling into their new home and are busy with hanging pictures, buying extra furniture due to the extra rooms than their prior home in Maryland. The basement has a built-in entertainment center with a big screen built in tv and surround sound so they have ordered some theater chairs, a small sofa and table to use there. The yard chairs I think are becoming a tad uncomfy. :) I am hoping to visit them next summer, no way am I going to Cleveland in the winter. We cannot go as a family because of Mrs. Bunting and Roxy. Since I love flying and Jerrell refuses to ever fly again, I am quite willing and excited about flying to Ohio next summer and spending some time with my oldest son, Silvia and our step granddaughter, Cynthia. Cynthia is so active in so many things, I will shoot for a week that she is not in a camp or something else. I was hoping she would really get into basketball as we are all big basketball fans, but her love is tennis, which ranks high for us too. She is getting private lessons from what I understand is a very good instructor, so with her given talent, I know she will do well.

Life is good. I am so thankful for all my many blessings and the top on my list is my family and friends. Without them and Roxy, my life would not be complete. I thank the Lord for all his goodness and mercies to me every day! I thank you all for being here and making my blogging all worthwhile. I hope you all have a great day!


God Bless!

good day folks...

Got lots of things on my mind today. I am winding down from a "gone by too fast" week. Must be my age, but I declare the weeks just seem to fly by for me. The week was a good one, expecially on Wednesday when I had the pleasure of a visit with Stephanie and Caroline. They had planned to come a different day, but Steph's mom was wanting her to come get her earlier if I remember correctly. At any rate when that car drives up Roxy starts a totally different bark and cry cause she knows it is CAROLINE and I just open the front door (without her leash) and she heads wide open right for Caroline. I never once worry about her going anywhere other than directly to Caroline and Steph.

After all the sugaring was over, we came in the house for a bit, but later since it is finally cooler here, we went outside so Caroline could lead Roxy. She loves to do that and she also now says Roxy instead of just Roc. She can also say Grandma Claudia pretty doggone good and will give me the crooked smile if I ask her to. I see such wonderful parenting skills in Steph, that I wish I had used when mine were Caroline's age. She and David have chosen to let her be independent and NOT have everything she wants and to be honest, when they are in a store, she looks but does not ask for anything. Of course Steph said she usually gets her something, usually a book as she loves loves books and then Caroline says 'pay' .. : ):) They just cannot come back soon enough is all I gotta say!!

I rarely give any thought to myself anymore, but I have been thinking how different I am now that I do not work and am not well. All in all I think I am a better person and have so much more patience. I am so unlike the norm that I might be odd or 'quare' as some folks say, but do I care? When I worked and for a couple years after I always and I mean always put on make up whether I was going anywhere or not. I certainly would never go out in public without it. You think I give a flying flip now. NO. As long as my legs are shaved in weather that bares my legs, why the bother to shave them since I only got a couple. I have a friend that says she doesn't shave hers so they will keep her stockings up on Sunday.

After saying all that I totally surprised myself by noticing a neighbor of mines makeup looking unusually nice when I ran upon her at the grocery store. She goes into this spill about these new beauty products she was now using. Yes. I was quite impressed so later that afternoon I go over for a beauty consulation. She brings out a basket full of goodies and explained the process and I got all excited, knowing full well that all I needed was my newly bought jar of Noxema! She kept on and I went straight the next day with each item listed in hand and bought the WHOLE nine yards! Of course for the first week, I did exactly like I was told and I still do on a hit and miss basis. BUT even at that with all the bottles of ingredients and the new makeup I honestly can tell a difference in the feel of my face and only in the looks when I muster up the energy to apply makeup and those times have been few and far between. I knew full well that it would be like most everything else I start, I never follow through on it, unless it means life or death. The moral of the story was that I was one broke woman, but pretty for a month. Uncle Sam pays me next week, thankyouUncleSam.

I hafta be honest I have given my life to nothing since April. I have watched this trial until finally it is in deliberations and I told Jerrell to smack my face IF I ever started watching another trial! Ever! I have it on the tv, on live stream on the pc and chatting in the court tv chat room, ALL at the same time. Making a situation worse, the trial is in California which is a three hour time difference so my trial day does not finish here on the east coast til 7 pm. Please tell me again that I need to get a life. My husband has forgotten me totally, as he is in the den watching tv and resting and only calls me when it is ice cream time! I enjoy our supper and ice cream time together cause that is just about the only time I have spent with him since April. I am not sure that he can handle the jolt of a verdict or not. I will let you know.

He has his mother to keep him busy. The State of NC finally pulled her license at the age of 91 due to her age and health. The biggest problem the first week, is that she cannot remember she ain't gottem, so she drove for 3 days until a watchful eye of a neighbor that Jerrell had alerted to call him if she saw her driving again called and said "she just went up the road" so Jerrell jumps in his truck so he could be there when she drove up. He hated to have to do it, but he disabled the car where it won't start. So we know she has already called Raleigh twice, like they gonna do sumpin, plus she has already forgot Jerrell made the car undrivable and although she has not said, we just know she has been to that garage a couple times trying. :) Sure we feel for her, but when she called me yesterday asking for someone's phone number and I give it to her, she turns right around and ask me whose number is that?, then I think NC did the right thing. She absolutely cannot remember nutin.

I see I have gotten carried away, but I am in such relief to be free from some worthless, time consuming stuffssssss that I feel I am about 5 months behind.

Have a great weekend ALL.


God Bless!

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