Just stuff...

For years I have had this binder hanging over my head in the closet...lol! That sounds crazy I know! This binder is filled with pages upon pages of things I have written...full pages, partial pages, one line thoughts, etc... Why is it so hard for me to share this? For years it has just been stuff...stuff from the past...stuff that didn't matter...stuff that didn't mean anything to anyone...not really even me. As I have been writing this blog I have started remembering how much I like to write. I may not be any good at it...I don't know! For some it is meaningless words upon a page and they won't bother reading...that is ok! What I hope is that someday my kids and grandkids will look back and enjoy a good laugh or just remember who momma was and smile. Here and there I may start sharing a few things I have written. I have picked one out today that was written when Dylan was probably 2 and Mason was just a baby. Why did I pick this one? Because we are STILL in this stage (for only a short while longer (sad face))...and I LOVE it!

ME

I wake up and everyone is still asleep
I don't want to sleep-I want to get up.
The suns not up...baby borther's not up
Mommy and Daddy aren't up
but what about me.
Some days it's just so hard to be me.

I don't want to put on my clothes today
Can't I just wear my pj's
I don't want to pick up my toys
You pick them up - I just want to play
Yuck, I don't like to eat green peas.
Some days it's just so hard to be me.

Mommy wants me to brush my teeth and hair
But that's not any fun and just not fair
I want to take a bath you see
Just me and my baby brother
And splash water all over the place yippee.
This is whats fun to me.

Mommy tells me the reason she wants me to do
All the things I don't want to do
Is so everyone is happy and has a good day.
So, I should stay in my bed and try to rest
Until the sun peeks in my window
Then Mommy and Daddy and baby brother and me
Aren't so tired in the morning.
Some days it's just so hard to be me.

Putting on my clothes
and brushing my teeth
Makes me feel good
then I can go out and play.
I pick up my toys because I made a mess
I eat green peas because they are good for me.
Some days its just so hard to be me.

But when my Mommy an Daddy hug me tight
And my baby brother shares with me
When Mommy lets me put on my favorite shirt
And brush my hair all by myself.
When I get to help make my very own lunch
And my friends get to come over and play
What fun this is for me.
So I guess ...some days it's not so hard to be me.

Ninety-Three...

Yes...I said 93! What a blessing it was to celebrate the life of my "Poppy" today! He has been walking this earth for 93 years...can you imagine? Well, I can't! Here he is in his new Atlanta Braves hat from Charley, Haven, Tanner & Tomas! He loves the Braves! Today was special with family and friends getting together to just enjoy a very special man. Think of everything that he has seen in 93 years! Oh, the stories he has to tell. He has been very blessed with good health, he still drives, still has a very good memory...and he loves getting together to eat! In fact, he and my dad eat breakfast EVERY morning. Monday, Wednesday, Friday they go to Made With Love in Cookeville. Tuesday and Saturday's they go to Cracker Barrell. Sundays they don't eat breakfast together but meet for lunch after church! David has often said he wished that over the years we had recorded the stories he has told about the things he has seen and the things he has lived through. For instance, in WWII he was in a tent invading an island (for the life of me can't remember which one) pretty sure it was Okinawa. He and his buddies sleeping on their cots in a tent when they heard the familiar whistle of a bomb falling...he rolls over with his cot on top of him...his life is spared when most others in his tent were not. He spent the night giving morphine shots to his buddy just to get him through the night...hoping he would not run out before morning until help arrived. The places he has gone...riding trains to California! He and my grandmother were married for sixty-six years. My grandmother "GranGran" passed away three years ago. She would have been 95 this year. Today my aunt shared something she found in a basket that GranGran had written...must have been some 30 something years ago and was just found recently. She titled it "The Things I Like". This was a five page handwritten note listing all of the thing she liked! We all cried reading it...She liked antiques, hanging baskets, and pillows...Gatlinburg, California, and her hometown...when a man shows a woman affection like reaching for the hand of the woman he married...likes it when a man looks as good in overalls and whiskers as he does when he is getting ready for a party...likes junk jewelry and polished nails...likes covered porches.... The list goes on and maybe that will be another blog. Altogether this inspired me that we should all leave something special for our children and loved ones to find one day. Gone but not forgotten...We love you GranGran!

Several years ago on their 60th Anniversary on January 25, 2002 I wrote a poem for them as a gift...I have decided to share it with you which is very unusual for me to share anything I have written. I used to write a lot but after two babies the writing slowed and eventually stopped for several years...like 7 years...but I love writing...good or bad I enjoy it and I might as well share it because I don't do it for money or fame...just because!

Without Them

Some sixty years have come and gone

But the love of two keeps livin' on.

At a time of war

There came a love

A love that changed us all.

The end of an era

Where love really lasts

Part of the few who make it past.





They are givers of much

And takers of little

Two people who love

Without much in the middle

They are Poppy and Grangran

How we know them best




Without them

Our lives would not be so blessed!

Gonna Say YES YES YES to VBS S S...

Oh my! Well I sure am behind. It has been way too long since I posted. So much has been going on for the last few weeks. After school got out it was just nice having all my boys at home together...hopefully I will still be saying that by the end of summer! No, really I love having my kids at home. So many times I hear people say they can't wait to send them somewhere or can't wait for school to start again but I absolute love having them home. I can't wait to slow down a little in a few weeks and enjoy spending some time with them.

So what has been going on...

Over the last couple of weeks my brother-in-law has had a health scare...praising God for an answer to prayer in that he is going to be fine! He will have to have surgery sometime in the near future but so far things are looking good. We will just keep praying for good reports from the doctors. So that has consumed us for a couple of weeks with him being back and forth with doctors and not knowing what was going on for sure. Glad everything is okay we are just keeping the prayers going!

So last week was prep week for VBS...the week we get the church ready. The life of a VBS director pretty much starts as soon as the current VBS is over with. You automatically start thinking about the next year. Every year I think well maybe I will turn VBS over to someone else the next year and I will take a break...and every year I am so blessed by VBS week that I just can't let it go. Last year I was pregnant (very pregnant)...and I made it! This year I have a 10 month old and a husband who got assigned to camp...on VBS week! So far we are making it pretty well! Just praying for everyone to stay health the rest of the week! All of the work, all of the hours you put into preparation is so worth it when you see those kids so excited about being there. If we can touch just one life...I would do all this work ten times over. Just one life...I pray Lord if we can just reach one child that doesn't know you, one adult, one worker...this week has totally been worth it. Well, let me tell you tonight was a night for CELEBRATION...three kids asked Jesus into their hearts tonight! WOOHOO! Thank you Jesus! Thank you teachers because you are the ones that make it all happen! Yes, I can organize it and have it prepared but you guys are the ones that MAKE IT HAPPEN! You are the ones teaching these kids and praying with them telling them about Christ's love for them! Thank you for all the hard work you have all put into VBS!

On to David leaving me on one of the busiest weeks for me...yes honey, I know it wasn't your fault! So David gets assigned to 4-H camp this week and Dylan is finally old enough for camp. He has been so excited for weeks about getting to go to camp and I am so excited that he gets to experience camp with his daddy! From what I hear and the pictures I have seen...he is having a BLAST! He is there with one of his best buds which makes it that much better! They will be coming home Friday..can't wait to see them...only to turn around on Wednesday and head out to Centri-Kid Camp in Ridgecrest, North Carolina. There are several, I would be afraid to guess, kids going from church to camp. They have the best time ever praising God and having a great time. Again, I am so thankful that David has a job that he can take off and spend this time with our kids!

Well, hopefully it won't take me so long in between posts! I will try to do better!