...across the room for introductions....

Hello friends. Tonight I would like to introduce to you a new addition to our family. This is my new grandson, Sawyer John. One minute my daughter was bent over backwards carrying him around inside of her through the malls and stores and everywhere else I managed to drag her and the next minute we were holding this little guy in our arms. Well, alright, it was a few hours!

To me, the birth of a baby is the most incredible miracle. I find myself staring at my little grandchildren in awe some days as I look at their fine delicate features and realize they are complete human beings in size small!

It's been a long day and I will post this for now and return here when I can keep my eyes open!

...across the room for my family...

As I was tidying up my kitchen this morning I wondered what I should take off the counters before Christmas to make room for all the extras that always end up on the counter during family gatherings. Then the thought hit me that "this Christmas there will be no baby bottles, formula, soothers, or the DREADED SIPPY CUPS cluttering up my kitchen counter! Our grandchildren have all been there, done that, and they are all GROWN UP! This will all change again for next Christmas (and I can't wait to have a baby around again) but for this year things will be different. I think I feel the same way about my grandchildren as I did about my children. I loved the wee baby stage. They are so adorable and make complete idiots of the adults (remember cooing at the babies to make them coo back, cheering when they poop and laughing at their garbled baby talk?). Then there's the stage when they'll sit alone in the middle of the floor and never go anywhere! There is so much freedom in the very brief stage before they crawl all over the place and end up under the couch fast asleep like one of ours did! The walking and talking stage is always a real highlight even though they wear out the adults as they walk where they shouldn't and talk endlessly, asking questions and making comments about everything in sight. Our grandbabies are ages 3, 5, 7, and 9 so there are lots of conversations on every level and lots of surprise observations from inquisitive little minds! If I had to choose one particular stage of development I just couldn't do it. I love them all. I cannot wait for my house to be filled with noises from these special little ones in my life and I can't wait for the adults to try to get in some semblance of real conversation above all the "noise"!

I'm counting the days!

....across the room to share my family......

There was at least one goofy looking person in every picture we took this weekend so I'll have to post more than one. We should know not to take pictures at the END of a long day! Next time we will get that over with closer to the beginning of the day. It was our great pleasure to finally get our family together for at least one day this weekend. These four little ones do not see each other often and yet they got along famously except for a very popular pretty pair of pink shoes that kept getting "stolen" because "I just wanted to look like a bootiful pwincess"!

During the day all the males in the family took in the Alberta Air Show and had a fantastic time while the women lunched, napped and talked our faces off like most women do when they get together after a long absence! The month for birthdays in our family is definitely July so that was our excuse to have a yummy birthday cake after a scrumptious dinner of potato salad, garden salad, and chicken and pork kabobs on the BBQ.

Later the driveway got decorated with sidewalk chalk and we were even able to get the new kites up in the air. It seems like the entire day was a buzz of activity, chatter, lots of laughter and expressions of love for one another. Considering how I can weep about anything these days I'm surprised I can see my screen right now! I feel so blessed to have such a loving and wonderful family!

...across the room to remember my Mom....

I write in green in memory of my Mom whose favourite colour was green. 

Often when I'm in my kitchen baking or cooking I think of my Mom.  As you can see, I have the word family standing big and tall inside one of the boxes above my cabinets.  It too reminds me of my Mom and how our family invariably seemed to gather in the kitchen where all that delectable food was simmering, baking, roasting or cooking.  Mom would have loved my kitchen with all the granite counter space, easy access refrigerator and all the built-in appliances.  I wish she could have seen the house we are now living in because I just know she would have loved it.

I always enjoyed cooking or baking for her as well because she so thoroughly enjoyed seeing her family learning and mastering those culinary skills.  I have to say we're all pretty good in the kitchen because of her influence.  She would be so thrilled to see how her grandchildren excel in the kitchen as well.

I'm probably missing my Mom more than ever this year.  I miss choosing a card and sending it and I miss ordering just the right bouquet of flowers for her.  Lately I've been remembering all the lunches we had together....just the two of us.  Conversation was always meaningful and most times one of us would come close to losing the coffee in our mouth because the other would make a timely comment that struck our funny bone!  I miss shopping with her for a new bottle of perfume, something we were equally crazy about.  We would sample and then run for a good whiff of the jar of coffee beans so we could continue.  She was so much fun!  I miss driving around in the city looking at houses and talking about the pros and cons of each house. Most times we would agree we would rather not live in really big houses because we would have no time for our outings together...we would be too busy cleaning!  Mom and I shared a love of country music as well as gospel.  When I went through my teen phase listening to the Beatles she would mimic them to show me how bad they sounded!  You should have heard and seen her move to "I love you yeah, yeah, yeah" and "We all live in a yellow submarine"!  She was hilarious!  (although back then I wasn't happy about her desiccating my music!). 

Mom knew how to make work fun.  I remember her gathering up dirty laundry and by the time she was on her way down the hallway to the laundry room she had "dressed" herself with towels to emulate a bride and the bouquet was among other items Dad's dirty socks!  She came bustling down the hallway humming "Here comes the bride"!  I loved her sense of humour!

I spent hours with my Mom at the kitchen table talking.  This is where I learned all about her growing up years, school experience, relationships, and how to be a good friend.  At Mom's kitchen table I learned how to be selective in life and about how every choice I made would affect my future.  She had the most gentle teaching manner of anyone I know.  It was easy to trust her and believe she knew what she was talking about.  Here she confessed some of her own mistakes although never in great detail.  She was an over comer and did not waste time dwelling on what could have, might have, or would have been "if only"!   She was positive, strong, gracious, graceful, generous with her time and her means, empathetic and completely loyal.  My friends loved, admired, and liked to be around her.  To this day there is still a huge space in my heart that belonged to her and occasionally I have to revisit that site so that it can settle down again and stop aching.  

I don't know if there is Mother's Day in heaven but if there is, I just know that my sister Jean who has recently joined our Mom up there will be blessed beyond words to celebrate together with her this year.  Happy Mother's Day Mom!  I love you!

...across the room for my daughters....

I used to chuckle to hear my Mother talk about her sons and daughters and how proud she was of each one.  She would focus in on how different we all were and in particular the traits that she loved in each of us.  More often than not she would end up saying "sometimes I feel so proud of my kids I feel like I'm going to burst"!

Well this mother is feeling a lot like that these days as well.  This post could easily turn into a manuscript so I will focus on something my daughters have in common.  They both sing beautifully.  Within the past month I have heard them both perform in front of an audience and I am so proud of them.  Growing up my girls seemed so different.  One played with dolls, the other took apart pens and toys and then tried to put them back together.  Their choice in clothing was completely different as was their choice in friends.  More recently I've noticed how very alike they are in many ways.  Like I mentioned, they both sing and they sing very well. What thrills me most is that they both simply desire more than anything for God to be the centre of their lives and therefore their music.  They choose songs with a strong message and they "belt it out" from the heart!  I have felt so blessed to listen to my girls bless God with their voices.  I used the word perform above, but really, when they sing you simply feel like they are sharing part of themselves with you.

Well, tonight was another special night where I got to experience this great pleasure of listening to my daughter sing and I just simply wanted to share the words to the song that she sang.  It seems to cover pretty well anything you might be going through and tells you where you can turn, what you can do, who you can cry out to in the valley you may be in.... (I'm sorry I don't know who wrote this song)....

To everyone who's lost someone they love long before it was their time

You feel like the days you had were not enough when you said goodbye.

And to all of the people with burdens and pains keeping you back from your life

You believe that there's nothing and there is no one who can make it right.

There is hope for the helpless; rest for the weary; love for the broken heart.

There is grace and forgiveness, mercy and healing, He'll meet you wherever you are

Cry out to Jesus, Cry out to Jesus.

For the marriage that's struggling just to hang on; they lost all of their faith in love

They've done all they can to make it right again, still it's not enough.

For the ones who can't break the addictions and chains,

You try to give up but you come back again,

Just remember that you're not alone in your shame and your suffering.

When you're lonely, and it feels like the whole world is falling on you

You just reach out, you just cry out to Jesus, cry out to Jesus.

For the widow who suffers from being alone, wiping the tears from her eyes,

For the children around the world without a home say a prayer tonight.

There is hope for the helpless, rest for the weary, love for the broken heart

There is grace and forgiveness, mercy and healing, He'll meet you wherever you are.

Cry out to Jesus.  Cry out to Jesus.  Oh, cry out to Jesus.

...across the room to celebrate....

My primary reason for a trip to Winnipeg this time of the year was not to bask in the freezing temperatures or challenge myself on the ice and snow plastered highways in my rented Ford Escort but rather to help my daughter celebrate her March birthday!  And what a celebration it was!  I think, the best ever!  

We shopped, lunched, and hung out for a few days and then enjoyed being pampered at the beautiful Ten Spa at Winnipeg's historical Hotel Fort Garry.  If you've never stood in a "mint mist" you're not done living!  The place is gorgeous, the atmosphere intoxicatingly relaxing and the treatments are second to none.  I thought of heaven when I was there and I'm not quite sure why.  Was it the thought of being on the top floor of the hotel?  the serenity?  calm?cleanliness?  white surrounding?  Or perhaps it was the feeling of being detached from the rest of the world for a few hours?  Lunching in the hotel lounge after our spa experience was the perfect topping to our mother/daughter birthday celebration.  Later at the house, I just simply couldn't keep myself from enjoying a delicious little nap!  My daughter insisted on cooking her own birthday dinner that night and made a fantastic pasta dish for twenty instead of the six people at the table.  We ate as much as we could and had no trouble making room for this yummy ice cream cake!  Happy Birthday, daughter of mine....I love you! 

...across the room for a beautiful sister...

I haven't been very faithful posting to this blog recently and thought I would just create a short blurb about what I am up to these days. This picture is of my beautiful sister Jean with my grandson Riker. At the moment Jean is in ICU and I am with her most of the time, taking turns with family to be by her side day and night. This is not an easy time for any of us, especially her three daughters and husband. When I came across this picture it simply reminded me of a time when she was not sick. She loves children of all ages and has devoted her life to raising three remarkable daughters. This week I have been reminded of so many wonderful times we have shared over the years and all the laughs we have enjoyed together. I wish I could hear her laugh again. It is what our family does best and there is often laughter coming from her hospital room. She would want it that way. I suppose it is our way of coping at a time like this. We are praying for divine intervention these days and having said that, we are also very sure that our God is sovereign, wise, all-knowing and as Jean said before she was admitted "in charge of all this"! We are resting in that thought.