Family...

Happy Birthday, Dear Kaitlyn...

Our beautiful and sweet granddaughter, Kaitlyn Leigh Cox, celebrated her 1st birthday last week with a party attended by friends and family. Balloons, snacks, cake, party hats and tons of love filled the room.

Sandwiched in-between Kaitlyn's actual birthday and her party was oldest daughter's birthday. Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

Christopher and Abbey participated in a wonderful 'Kids Praise' production of 'Life School Musical' last Sunday. They knew their parts and songs, the music was upbeat, the message solid and the performance was heartwarming. Christopher really nailed his speaking part as 'Peter' and Abbey sang her solo like a little angel.

Our oldest son is visiting family in Florida. He's been gone a couple of weeks now and we really miss him. I sure am glad that missing loved ones is so much easier now than it used to be. Remember when we didn't have computers, Facebook, email, free long-distance, cell/camera phones etc.??? I sure do!

Tuesday was homecoming for my mother-in-law. She'd been away for some time and it's good to have her back home. We were sorry she missed Kaitlyn and Shan's birthdays as well as the performance but understand she can't be everywhere at the same time. In Florida she was able to celebrate her daughter and son-in-law's wedding anniversary along with a milestone birthday celebration for her son-in-law. We had a nice time catching-up, visiting some with my sister-in-law and niece, and eating pizza. My bad...I drank Carol's last diet Barq's Root Beer. Sorry...

Those are the highlights of the past week, but rest assured, not the only happenings in our large, busy family. For instance, I received this photo on my phone a few hours ago as part of a text message. My daughter expressed surprise that this shirt for Zach was the smallest one available but hopefully it will fit him better 9-months from now.

Oh my! Surprised, but very happy, we found out tonight that we'll be welcoming our fourth grandchild next spring. I just know Zach is going to be a phenomenal big brother!

As you can imagine with a family as spread out as ours, we stay plenty busy. Christopher has a Scout camping trip this weekend and goes before the Board of Review next week so he can advance to the rank of Tenderfoot. We're ready to start school for the '09-'10 school year. Abbey wants me to take her to some local shops in town to try and sell her glycerin soap. Darrell will have to get ready for his junior year at USC Upstate when he gets back. Our children are in very different stages in their lives and we straddle the multiple generations the best we can. After all, I've had children in the 1980's, 1990's and 2000's. Now with our grandchildren we have more joys and a few challenges. As grandparents who still have young children at home we don't always have the same time available to spend with our grandkids that more traditional grandparents do; on the other hand the g'kids get to have play-dates with their Aunt and Uncle.

The best part, of course, is the ever-growing circle of love we find ourselves part of. Our family, while sometimes complicated, is worth every bit of joy, sweat, tears and emotion that go along with it. I hope yours is, too.

Make it a point to make some great memories this weekend.

Man, It Happened Again

We had relaxed, thought the time of danger was over, but we were wrong. One of our kittens, Tyson, was attacked and later died this afternoon by a neighbor's dog. Our little girl was bitten by the cat trying to get it away from the dog. It looks fine now but we'll have to keep an eye on it.

We lost kittens like this before. This time Ken and Christopher built an area for them to be safe. At 9-weeks old we thought the threat was past; that they were old enough to be ok. All of this transpired 5 minutes before the kids had to be at rehearsal for a play they're performing this evening - they are heartbroken and now have to go and put on a happy performance. I'd have a hard time under that kind of pressure.

Anyway, just wanted to get that out. It's so sad and I can't stand to see my family hurt. My son just heard the old saying 'the show must go on.'

Just Say Thank You...

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0723092gates1.html

An officer does his duty to 'serve and protect' and next thing he knows the chief law enforcement officer of the country tells the world this officer acted 'stupidly.' I guess just saying 'Thank You' doesn't get you your 15 minutes of fame.

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Monday marks 8-years since my mother passed away. To this day I still feel anger and

a) blame myself for calling an ambulance instead of driving her to the hospital myself - maybe she would have been ok with faster treatment.

b) blame our emergency medical service - they took WAY TOO LONG to get here and WAY TOO LONG to get to the hospital - even with the attendant in the back telling the driver to hurry. AND I had to tell the driver how to get to the hospital. Then mother 'coded' in the parking lot before they could get her inside. Three days later she was gone.

I had a wonderful mother. I need to be able to just say 'Thank You' and move on. I had much to be thankful for where my mother was concerned.

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My daughter celebrated a birthday this week. We don't always see eye-to-eye and there are many times I feel bad about where we are. I need to step back and just be thankful for what I do have.

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It's not always easy to do the right thing - even when we know in our heart that it IS the right thing. We lose sight of the 'keep it simple' philosophy and complicate matters way too much. I really feel it's important, though, to not complicate things to the point we can no longer see why we should be thankful and acknowledge such.

I have countless blessings in my life and very few difficulties. It's easy to take those blessings for granted and focus on the difficulties. What I term difficult would actually be embarrassing in light of what so many others face daily. I am truly BLESSED and I pray I will always be able to see all that I have to be thankful for and FOCUS on that.

Another day comes to a close

Oh, man. Here it is - time for bed and yet another day without a blog entry. I've really been meaning to write something here. I just haven't had the ______________ (this blank can be filled in with any number of excuses).

Tonight I'm tired. Feeling deflated, defeated, disillusioned. This would not be a good time to write.

Last week we were all busy. This week the kids are busy. Busy can be a problem. It detracts from so many other things that could keep us, well, busy.

Recently...
VBS - great!

Pool party at friends' home - great!

Kids Praise daily rehearsal/summer camp - daily, but, still pretty great

Oldest son - in FL - 3 long weeks - it's nice to miss him - we get cranky when we're together a lot

M-I-L - playing phone tag a lot - will sit and chat one of these days soon

Husband - major hair buzz - easier and more comfortable for him - thinks I'm making fun of him

Granddaughter - turns 1 tomorrow - happy birthday, Kaitlyn!

Oldest daughter - rotten pain - has a birthday Friday. Yes, Happy Birthday, Shannon

Abbey - has mosquito bites - always - all summer long. Had fun bowling

Christopher - growing up so fast - too fast. Not thrilled with bowling excursion.

Zachary - So Big! - clapping hands - high 5's - ate spaghetti noodles - well, sort of

Elisa - odd conversation at nail salon with former classmate - trust me - it was the classmate that was odd - Rob and EK you're doing just fine.



That's about it today. I'm tired.

Insanity in America - A View From My Soapbox

We are a nation of people with very, very screwed up priorities. Clearly seen when you look at those we idolize, and, those we don't.

I am very sad today over the Michael Jackson debacle. Such adoration for a sad and tragic figure who's troubles in life were very much like his death...mostly of his own making.

I would put this 'entertainer' up against most regular folks I know and, in them, find far more worthy of adoration and respect.

Yes, I am sad and disgusted today with our pop culture and what our society finds fascinating and respectable. It convinces me there is indeed insanity in America. I only pray I am successful in passing on to my children those qualities in life that I find most admirable and worthy of respect; qualities I was able to see demonstrated first-hand in my parents and in-laws, husband, brothers, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and a few close mentors through the years...(listed `in no particular order) qualities like heart, loyalty, integrity, decency, honesty, hard-work, keen sense of right and wrong, helpfulness, Godliness, selflessness, dedication, perseverance, kindness, pride in a job well done.

Today is just one of those many, many days that I'm thankful Los Angeles is on the other side of the country from Greer. Although I realize the LA mentality is everywhere, there's still comfort in the thought of 'the further away the better.'

While I feel only sadness at his apparent unhappiness in life, a life spent searching but never finding -and great sympathy for the loved ones left behind, I do hope that Michael Jackson is able to truly 'rest in peace.' I believe it would be a first for him.

A Slice of Americana

For today...
I'll take a break from worrying about the future of our country and reflect instead on the 233 years that took us 'from then 'til now.'

We'll cut up the watermelon, clean and hull 5-lbs of strawberries, bbq the ribs and burgers, make corn-on-the-cob and maybe even a homemade batch of key-lime ice cream. We'll head out to see some fireworks and TIVO 'A Capitol Fourth' from Washington.

Being the good Americans that we are we'll see what sales we can find at our local retailers; particularly sporting goods stores for camping/hiking gear.

We'll thank God once again (publicly if we choose to), that we are Americans and no matter what problems we face we know we're still blessed far more than we can ever comprehend.

Yes, 'Thank You, God' AND every American who ever wore the uniform, talked the talk AND walked the walk, drew blood, shed blood, shed a tear, provided protection and ensured the freedoms we so take for granted every moment of every day.

So blessed and so thankful.

Blessed 4th of July to you and yours...