Saturday, May 24, 2014

Finishing Projects

 Finishing up a few projects before planting my garden.


 Needed to up my inventory of baby boy quilts.


Now I have a large bin full of baby quilts for church babies.

Then I noticed that my selection of potholders was really low so I zipped up 14 pairs. I sell a few & give most of them away. 
So now I'll garden for a bit & then back to sewing.

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Sleep-Over

 Three grandkids came for a sleep-over & we packed a lot of activities into Friday evening & Saturday. We visited  a number of playgrounds in town.

 During our visit to Foothills Greenhouse, we followed the sound of roosters crowing & found a pen of chickens.
 And who spotted the sleeping cat amongst the pots?

 Then off to Morden Nurseries to check out the fish pond. The biggest fish in this pond is 18 years old!

 At Dairy Queen, I convinced my grandkids to try a new combo taste.

French fries dipped in ice cream - yum, yum! 
And they all liked it!
And inbetween, we watched a movie, did some crafts, had ice cream floats & got a good night's sleep!

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

The Month of May

The 9 month mark is past. Mother's Day is past. It was the worst Mother's Day of my life. It is now in the past.
 In the sadness, there were spots of joy. Son #3 taking us out of coffee Sunday morning. Son #1 coming out from Winnipeg - even though he was "on call" for the company he works for. Wonderful lunch hosted by C&C. Watching grandchildren interact with cousins.
Calling my almost 98 year old mom & hearing her say to me - "I love you."

Messages & emails from friends & family with encouragement & prayers.

At times, the clouds were very dark.

Now, I'm remembering May 14, 1971, 7:03 AM.  Had just given birth to my second son & I was so very thrilled with now having  2 boys. Didn't get to hold him until hours later. And that's just the way it was done then. Babies were brought to the moms every 4 hours, no exceptions. So I waited until my new baby was brought to me & I hugged him & kissed him & unwrapped his little body to count toes & fingers. I looked into his blue, blue eyes & touched his fuzzy blond hair. And he looked back at me, his mom.
Seems like a life time ago. So happy, so privileged that I could be his Mom for over 42 years here on earth. I am still his mom. He is still my son.

He will always be my son. I will always be his Mom.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

It is now May

May - a month I love because of all the new life around me.
The return of the songbirds,
the whirr of lawn mowers means the grass is growing,
 the smell of an evening rain shower,
the wonder of dropping seed into the moist black earth & a few days to a week later, green shoots are stretching tender leaves to the sun's warmth,
the meadowlark's trill,
the mourning dove's haunting coo.

All these things are May. A month I love.
Mother's Day - to celebrate my 3 fine sons who call me mom. The women they married whom I deeply love. My 8 grandchildren who call me Nanny.

This year it will be different. One phone call will not come. I remember Mother's Day May 2013 when Barry called me later in the evening. I now smile at the thought of that phone call. And shed a tear.

One son I will not be able to hug. I hugged him last August 8, 2013.

I will love & celebrate all my family members.

May 14, 1971, I gave birth to my second son. I remember how thrilled I was to have 2 sons.
Barry Marlin.
He was a calm baby, an exploring toddler, a happy child & a fun teenager., a hard working man.

He loved a good joke & loved playing practical jokes.

Some of the fun-loving personality had dimmed slightly for a few years due to him working hard to earn a living & provide for his family.

 In March 2013, after much hard work, he received his engineer licensee pin & stamp.  The spark was back in his eye.
The easy going laughter.
Life was good & he had worked hard to achieve a goal.

The goal was in a different direction. Now Barry is in Heaven, planning & drafting mansions for his Heavenly Father. And Zach is working right along side of his dad, a dream of his, fulfilled in a heavenly way.

And how blessed I am, first to be Barry's mom & then Zach's "Nanny". And now to keep on loving & praying for my family - my kids, my grandkids.

And how blessed we are that my husband is still with us, was spared in the accident, the reason we may never know and I will celebrate him too.