Out With the Old, In With the New

2015!! Who would have ever imagined we'd be living in the year 2015? It seemed so futuristic when I was younger, but nevertheless, here we are.

2014 brought some changes to my life that I hadn't expected. In-laws health issues, son-in-law health issues, getting older myself and all the aches and pains that go with life.

The best part of 2014 was being with family and friends. Watching the grandchildren grow and learn is such a blessing!

They are the light of our lives and we are anxiously looking forward to the arrival of our second granddaughter in March!

As you may have noticed, this is the first post in over a month. I've lost my blogging brain. My focus has changed and blogs/blogging are just not a driving force in my world any longer. Before, I had so many words in my head screaming to get out, so many ideas and experiences that I just had to express. Now? I can barely think of a topic, much less write about it.

Having though about it several times, and put off deciding, I have now reached the conclusion that I won't be blogging here any longer. If you don't follow my other blog, you might check it out sometime. It's where I post my sewing and crafting, and I can always just add a personal note here and there if I so choose. It's not like I'm dropping out of the blog world completely.

I hope and pray that you all have a blessed 2015. I pray the same for myself and my family. You have all been good friends and I've appreciated your comments more than I can say. Thank you. Thank you. God bless you all.

B

They Say....

Life is what happens while you are making other plans.  And I've been living that recently.

I explained in my last post back in October that our son-in-law, MK, has been critically ill. While he was "medically asleep" for 8 days, we kept our grandson so our daughter and MK's parents could be at the hospital around the clock. It was a very serious situation for a couple of days, but through God's mercy MK survived and is home. He is still very weak, even after being home for a while now, and it will take some time for him to gather strength.

SR and I had a routine of sorts before this. He did his thing and I did mine, and we had our life planned out so to speak. Continue doing what we were doing...keeping the grandchildren a couple of days a week, and I clean my mother-in-law's house for her once a week. While I was at home, I would sew and try to keep up the house, read blogs and even comment on them. The unexpected  seems to have blown our routine out of the water for the long haul. Life happened while we had other plans. And you know what?

THAT'S OK. We need to be more active in our watching the grandson, and our daughter needs a bit more help than before. That's what families do though isn't it? They take care of each other.  I read a devotional one night before going to bed and it resonated with me. I won't quote it or try to type it all out for your reading pleasure *wink* but the point was....
Take joy in the day you are living. Try not to say "I'll be happy and enjoy my life when this or that happens or goes away."  And I realized I was trying to push through the days to get to the other side, so to speak. I did what needed to be done, but without any joy or contentment. The Apostle Paul wrote that he'd learned to be content in whatsoever circumstances he found himself, and I want to be like that!

So now, instead of tolerating days, waiting for the time when I can get back to my plans and routine, I'm trying to enjoy the time spent with my babies, and just be where I am, doing what I'm doing at any given time. Family is everything and I'm blessed to have a close one.  There will be less sewing, less crafting and gardening, and less blog reading, but as I said before....THAT'S OK.

Now, I'll show you the latest picture of my two babies that are here now...remember I have another one arriving in March. HAPPY FACE!!

Having Been Absent

It's been a very long time since I posted. Life is full of grandchildren to love on, aging in-laws to help with, and sewing for the baby girl who will make her appearance late February or early March.

We have had a difficult week as our son-in-law has been critically ill with Sepsis and a blood clot in his lung.  Trips to the ICU in a neighboring city's hospital, caring for LMW almost around the clock and other demands that go with this sort of thing has us all running on empty. Fortunately, SIL seems to be improving and we hope to bring him off the vent today or tomorrow. He was admitted a week ago today in a frightening condition. We had a few  several hours of fear for his survival. We have had countless folks praying and we've felt those prayers!

It's not over, and he will be a bit recovering, but God is good and will take care of it. In the meantime, daughter must work, LMW must go to preschool, and we carry on.

When things slow down a bit, I'll post recent pics of my babies since it's been so long.

Unexpected Splendor

SR and I decided to take a little road trip today. We didn't go far, just into the Hot Springs area.  First we ate at Outback Steakhouse for the first time ever. It was good, but not any better than any other good restaurant we've patronized.

Then we browsed a HUGE flea market and antiques mall called Central Station. It's on Central Avenue of course.

There are all kinds of goodies in this place!

We only bought a couple of inexpensive items, but it's the hunt that is so fun!

We then decided to drive around and explore Lake Catherine State Park. We found some cabins on the water that we are thinking about renting for a couple of days.

On our way back, we discovered the most amazing little creek. It was just off the main road, but felt like it was deep in the forest.

Isn't it amazing? Such unexpected splendor!

Look how the water is running over huge slabs of rock.

There were little fish swimming around, but we didn't know what kind. Some of them were so colorful and iridescent, they looked tropical.
We love days like this when we can just get away and explore. And the icing on the cake is to find an unexpected gift from God. It was a wonderful day to be in His world.

Ups and Downs, Happy and Sad

Life has been quite busy of late. Between grandchildren, family demands, and life in general, I've not had time to post much. Some things have been good, some things have been bad.

First the bad.
My father-in-law has Alzheimer's. For quite some time it was a very slow progression. Not so now. He's at a point where we must begin medicating him more strongly, to protect my mother-in-law from his temper and unpredictable behavior. We know that he is miserable himself and we are hoping and praying that the medication will help. I've been talking with a very helpful and kind lady who has a lot of experience with Alzheimer patients and her insight has been invaluable.

Now the good.
My grandbabies are simply awesome!

The joy they give me is never ending! And now we have more good news!! My son and daughter-in-law are expecting another baby in March! We hope Klaire will get a little brother, but we will be happy with whatever God decides to bless us with!!!!

I've been doing some sewing and a tiny bit of painting, but mostly I've been keeping grandbabies, and helping in-laws. This is the time in life when these are the most important. Everything else will be there when I get to it.

This summer in south Arkansas has been mild to say the least. Plenty of rain,  and reasonable temperatures have made it very nice. The only downside to that, is that sometimes it's too cool for LMW to swim. We bought him a 30" 10' pool this summer.

Hopefully, I will have other interesting things to talk about another day. I'm also considering the consolidation of my two blogs to make it easier to post. I'll be making a decision on that soon. I've thought about it before, and never done anything about it. I think it might be best since I seldom post here.

I'll be back....

The Speed of Light

My life and the lives of my loved ones seem to be speeding by at an alarming rate. I can't believe I haven't posted since the middle of April!! Life is full!

Here are some pics of what's been going on....

A trip to Hot Springs to the beautiful and majestic Garvan Woodland Gardens. Three of the ladies in my Sunday morning Bible study and I made a short drive there and enjoyed a gorgeous day!

I have 80+ photos but won't try to show them all to you. Ha!

My sweet babies are growing too quickly!! LMW's 4th birthday....WHAT?!!

Klaire's first birthday...again....WHAT?!!

That's all for now. I'll check in when time permits. (big laugh here!)

One Year Old

We are finding it very difficult to accept that our Little Klaire is already a year old! She had a party to celebrate last Saturday and we all had a marvelous time.

I didn't get many good pictures because so many others were taking them, and we were just trying to enjoy the celebration.

She loved her truck!

And her cake.
LMW liked her truck too.

They decided to take turns driving each other around.

In a couple of weeks, we will celebrate LMW's FOURTH birthday. Gee Whiz my little babies are growing way too quickly!!