Changes

 Just traveling along the road-

 

Enjoying the scenery.  Smelling the flowers- 

 Watching & living the seasons as they come and go.

 And then there's a curve.  Sometimes unexpected.

 And then a warning sign.  Not only is the road ending, but it's means changing directions.

 

 And that means stop.

The stop sign appeared very abruptly this morning with a phone call.

"We have a house".

I really don't go out walking much. It's a shame.  I admire others who do, I know I should.

During the 2 1/2 years we've lived here I am ashamed at how few times I've found myself out walking the road.

The times that I have tho, I always have found myself intrigued by those road signs.  It seems the story of my life.  I cannot imagine growing up, living in the same house for *18* years.  It didn't happen with me.

I can't imagine living in the same house all my *married-grown-up* years.  It didn't happen with us either. 

In January this year, the road looked the same.  There was no changes in sight.

then the curve. A new job across the state.  Since then the future & distance has been pretty much obscured from sight. It has been tolerable, but very bumpy and uncertain.

Time passes.  Some days drag, but mostly the weeks fly by.

And then there's the sign.

It's means decision,

It means change.

As opinionated as I can be, decisions are not my strong point.

It can make my life pretty miserable.

Mostly for myself, but probably somewhat for others who have to listen to me too.

So how long from the warning sign to the stop sign?  Sometimes it

seems to go on for a long time.

In reality really not so long.

And sometimes the decision is taken right out of my hands

and if it's something that I've been really searching the answer for

in the right place, that is a good thing.

The stop sign is right in front of me now, it's time to let go

and move on.

 **************************************************

Then again-

how insignificant my changes seem

in light of other things that have happened this year.

Some friends lost a child.

Some lost loved ones.

Causalities.  

Shootings in the news.

Fires have been burning, it's changed peoples plans, their days,

in some cases taken their homes or livlihood.

My friend deals with cancer. A life altering experience.

And me?

Well, I get a change of scenery.

The opportunity to make new friends,

expand our horizons,

live with my husband again,

and set to work re-decorating a new house!

Paint me happy

 I'm a horrible procrastinator.
When we moved in this house we got the living room & dining room repainted.  During the time we lived here in the last 2 1/2 years we also got all 3 bedrooms repainted.
The kitchen probably needed it nearly worse than the other rooms, as it had been water damaged.  However I could never make up my mind what color I wanted it, I liked the red that it was, and I kept putting it off.  After all, there was always something else to do.

Here's what it looked like:
(Before)
 http://www.lmand12js.blogspot.com/2010/06/part-3-of-house-tour.html

Fast forward to March this year.  Husband got a new job across the state and so there is high expectation that we will be moving.  We had originally planned to wait till May, when school was out and his probationary period was up to move so we didn't spend a whole lot of time looking as we knew we couldn't be out of this place before August.
May has came and went, school is out and now June has disappeared also.  We still don't have a place to live, and our joking comments about not really wanting to move from here are closer to becoming a reality than we would like.
Mostly it's just really nerve-wracking to not know if you're moving or staying put.
Of course there's also the inconvenience of the husband living 4 hours away and only being home on weekends.

Back to my kitchen. In the middle of the whole waiting process of "moving or not, and when" .
I decided I'd go buy paint for the kitchen.   Impatient waiting calls for drastic measures.  It should solve the dilemma, right?
I mean after all, if I buy paint & paint the kitchen & porch, one of two things will happen.  Either we will get a house & move, or we won't and we will just stay here.  Right?  Makes sense to me!

Last week I bought paint. I spent my birthday weekend painting and cleaning my kitchen. You know--the cobwebs & grease that accumulate while I'm busy cleaning other people's houses.  The process was slightly delayed by  having 4 grandkids there on Saturday  while our son was working on re-roofing the house.  Life doesn't get put on hold just because I was painting.

I might have been a bit frazzled over that except for the fact that I was really treated quite royally for my birthday. 
On Friday I was treated to a lovely lunch (and company) compliments of my sister.
Saturday I was treated to a lovely breakfast out, compliments of my two sister-in-laws.
Saturday evening I was treated to a lovely dinner out compliments of my son.

It's really pathetic that I had my camera along on all three mentioned occasions & didn't get any pictures.
It's really pathetic that the only picture I have of my birthday is this one of
the beautiful bouquet of flowers that I bought myself and the totally delicious cake that I made for dessert following the delicious meal I made Sunday evening.
My family thanked me by singing happy birthday to me.  :)
This really wasn't suppose to be a post about my birthday,
It just jumped in and hi-jacked  the middle of my post.

I finally finished up the kitchen on Monday and on Tuesday I started on the porch.
My July 4th holiday was spent working. (I'm not complaining, mind you, I LOVE a free day to get my projects worked on)
 The ceiling is painted, the walls & woodwork are all washed, the Curtains washed & re-hung, floor is scrubbed & the windows are sparkly clean inside and out.


 Here's the "After"
The porch--

 Actually there was much more cleaning to be done in here than what I painted.  We all voted to leave the walls, and I only re-painted the ceiling.  It is an original porch ceiling and was painted a light blue.  Amazingly the lighter shade of paint I chose for part of the kitchen was only just a shade darker than the original ceiling paint.  I brushed a very light coat on it to try to retain the older and worn look, and still make it match the kitchen & look nice.

Around the kitchen--

 Had to paint my "chicken nests" too

 I actually have two different shades of blue in the kitchen.  It's really not as different as I had thought. You can maybe see in this picture, the wall on the right is just a little lighter than the one on the left.

 My chicken nests are the darker shade.  You can hardly tell.

I had really expected the color to be a bit more teal than it is, I didn't intend to end up with a "blue" kitchen.
I do like it tho & husband & kids have said they really like it too.

 Paint me happy, I'm done for now & off to pick up grandkids for a weeks visit.

Take 2, or 3 or 395

 Everyone loves family pictures, right?  Of course,  That is if you are the one getting to LOOK at them, rather than be IN them....or even TAKE them!

My kids have grown up with a mom who insisted on a family group picture at least once a year.  Sometimes it happened more often.  Kids all together, Occasion, Photo time.  Like it or not. I have to give them credit- there honestly wasn't generally TOO much grumbling.  Usually I did it at our summer or fall annual Church gathering because it was when we were all together & generally dressed up. The older the kids got, the more "testy" a few of them were. (or maybe that was just the SIL's that we added to the group... haha!)   Really the hardest thing was when we were away from home was to get everyone all together in the same place at the same time.  Some of the scenarios from those times are hilarious to remember.  Not so much at the time!

We have one child who shall remain nameless who always SEEMED to hear and understand the directions of time and place to gather, but for some reason when it came down to the time, he was the one missing.
It would go something like this:

To child 1-#(??) depending on the year. "Family pictures Sunday at 9 a.m. in the yard of the little house on top of the hill". Make sure you are there in plenty of time.  And please don't let the whole convention know! We don't need a huge audience.  We're enough of a spectacle as it is.
Sorry, I didn't really say that part...I just thought it....haha!
"Child X, make sure you remind child xx. Did you tell A?  make sure B knows.  YES mom...."

9 a.m. 3/4 of children are there.  look around where is ??.  "She's coming, she just has to do....."  o.k.  Where is ??  He's still getting dressed.  Does he know he's suppose to be here NOW?  Yes, but he....."
So everyone is there but Ryan.  WHERE is Ryan?  "Well, last time I saw him, he was....  Do you want me to go get him?  Yes!  off she goes, comes back.  Everyone else kind of wanders around...Later years SIL grumbles loudly. One year we finally found Ryan in a friends trailer, another year we never did find him in time for photos.  I left a space where he would have stood, later when the errant child appeared I dragged him by his ears to the spot, took a picture of him standing there & cut & pasted him in.  (Years before digital magic!)
We went thru all sorts of scenarios like getting time & place figured out, then someone decided they thought a different place would be better & told 1/2 the group. We did learn to have an non-family member go chase down missing family members because otherwise it took twice as long & there were more people missing than just the one!

Ah well, crazy funny memories.  I have a whole book of yearly (or more often) family pictures.  Some good, some bad, some hilarious but all precious.  I'm not sorry I insisted on it even if it was a pain!

So that brings me to the point of this post (I know--I could have skipped all that & cut right to the chase, right?)

Family Pictures.
Our last one was 5 years ago before Laura went oversees.  There was 19 of us.  Two SIL's & 3 grandchildren included.  A nice easy bunch to coordinate clothes & time.  Uh huh!  One child couldn't come home.  Oh well, no big deal.  Photographer daughter took a picture of him later and photo-shopped him in.  It worked.
Fast forward.  Last fall when Laura came back to the states I said "Family picture sometime this year!"
Last year was a year of new babies.  One in March, in August, in October and December.  We were all together except for Jana at Thanksgiving, and still had one more baby due soon, so we planned in the spring.
Now granted, I was totally aware that someone else could end up with a baby on the way, but it did seem kind of silly to do pictures so close to babies being born.

Plans were made for Memorial day weekend.  All 12 siblings were going to make it. This means:
2Parents+12 children+6spouses+12grandchildren=32people. A few more than last time.
The planning and shopping for clothes to try to coordinate would make a blogpost in itself. 
 Incidentally, in the meantime of waiting on the right time for this picture, grandchild #13 is on it's way!  We're not waiting on it tho.


 I was hoping to be able to have a weekend at the farm, pictures would have been fun here but that couldn't happen with Ryan's work schedule.  WAIT A MINUTE....It was RYAN messing things up again!

We all went to Sidney for the weekend.  For the first time in 10 years I had all 12 of our kids together.
I've told it before, I'll say it again.  My kids rarely fought.  They didn't this weekend either.  They are a very lovely special group of kids and they have given us 12 incredibly sweet grandchildren.  So far!  Yes, we think the spouses are pretty nice too.  Most of the time anyway!
 edit--I thought so until I saw the pictures anyway--haha!

It didn't work out to do the pictures Sat. afternoon like we'd planned, because of the weather, NOT because of a missing child--
I have to say that Ryan totally came thru.  He's redeemed himself! He lives 80 miles away from Sidney and works nights/weekends too.  He came down Sat to spend some time with us, back home to work the night shift, then back on Sun. morning so we could be together for Fellowship with ALL our kids, slept after lunch until picture time, showed up with sweet wife & baby girl, tolerated our 395 (more or less) of photos and then left to go home & back to work again.
Kids do grow up!  I think he's related to his Father actually!
Oops, guess I  named the nameless.  I won't pick on you anymore Ryan, we'll just blame it on the middle child syndrome o.k.?

In the meantime while Lynisha edit's the "395" pictures to try to get something that is not too far out there to hang on our walls I thought it would be fun to post a few outtakes along with a couple of my favorites that we already posted on facebook.

For your viewing pleasure;

 Why would you want to stand where you were asked and look at the camera while you were waiting on the photographer to get everyone "ELSE" in place?

 And if we can't get 20 adults to stay in place and all look at the camera, how on earth would you expect 12 little ones under the age of 8? Oh yeah, and when ask the others to move out of the background?  Well, surely just going further away will take care of that, right?

 So this is what happens when you say "you can do a goofy pose"--Notice the one who knows "goofy" will end up being public so is careful how she looks!  Of course then there's one of them that doesn't  care if goofy ends up being blogged, it's more the norm for her anyway!

 Yes sir, we all get along & like to spend time together--

*SMILE* for the camera!

 These were the most fun really!  Of course it may be because I got to take the picture instead of being in it! haha!

Look close--you'll see why this is another out-take.



 

April's almost over!

 I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around how fast this year is going! We've had such a nice long lovely spring, but when it started the end of February, it was hard to believe that it would really last and that we wouldn't get more storm/cold/snow weather.  Somehow March passed and now it's nearly the end of April and I feel like I've been standing on the "fast-forward" button!
Not because I'm any busier than any other time, (maybe I should be!) but probably mostly because a good portion of the early part of the year was spent in the waiting game of "not knowing".
Now we've been in the "know" and the new job & for nearly 6 weeks now and it just seems unbelievable that so much time has passed.
I'm slowly going thru things and even doing some packing.  I'm determined not to do that wicked last minute swipe into a box thing that has happened way too many times before!

One of the hardest things about packing ahead of time is needing to continue to live in your house.
Another hard thing is knowing that you're moving, but having no clue where!
It seems a pretty big step of faith to be moved to go to a particular town/area, but not have a house (yet) to move to.

I'm kind of funny when it comes to moving.  It's a HUGE pain, so much work.  But somehow there is so much anticipation about having a "new" place to make into our own.  I love that part of it.  The dreaming & planning of what, where, the possible re-modeling, the decorating....That part consumes me. 
So- with that in mind, help me out here.

I'd like to know what you like BEST about your house (or another place you've lived)  a particular kind of appliance.  Flooring.  Lighting, Kitchens-- Any room, anyTHING in your house that you particularly love.
And- then What DON'T you like--what would you do different if you could chose.
Tell me please, send me a link whatever, just give me some fodder for my obsession since I'm in the waiting game!

Today I love

 The sight of the sunrise over the fields out my living room window.
The mild coolness of an early spring morning.
The first sight of a shade of green on the tree line made me break into a big smile this morning.
The anticipation of a day at home.
The desire to head outdoors on a brisk walk before starting my work inside.
The feel, sound and sight of spring during my walk.
Even the silly dog running ahead of me.
Opening every window that I could to let spring into the house.
The sound of the birds singing.
The sound of roosters crowing.
The green shoots coming up in the flower beds.
The sound of water running in the creek across the road.
Blue Sky and Sunshine.
The ability to smile.
Seeing my youngest child's report card with another row of straight A's.
Anticipation of a new "era" while totally loving my days here and now, and hating the thought lf leaving them.
That my husband found a new job he is so happy about.

LIFE.


Did I repeat myself?
 Did I mention  I. LOVE. SPRING?!

In Tune

After we moved I had planned to get our piano tuned, but with the passing of busy days it was something that got neglected.
When our daughter came home last fall, it was one of the first things she wanted to have done.  Since she plays violin and the girls were practicing together, the piano being out of tune was an issue.
Finally after quite a bit of time and many phone calls trying to make contact with the tuner it was arranged, although I was away from home when it was done.

I came home after being gone several days and walked around my house moving little things back into place, picking up items and just generally getting a feel for my house again.
Walking into the living room my eyes fell on my piano where two little piles of "trash" were left.

Obviously left by the tuner who had removed them from somewhere on the insides of the piano
.At first glance I thought it was strange that he had left them there & not just dumped them in the garbage can.
The first pile was pretty much trash, dirt & debris.

along with the trash there was a single sheet of notes.
Some special notes, written by one of my children during a special time.
Some sweet thoughts there, but hidden & unable to be
read because they'd been lost.

The second pile obviously had a few more tangible items in it.
Taking a closer look it made me stop and think.

 What do we have inside our lives
Things we've forgotten about, things we don't see, things we refuse to see
Maybe things others don't see--or even DO see.

 Maybe something good.
Something sweet-- but unable to be seen by others or used because it is hidden.
Lost, buried under the rubbish.

Trash.  Dirt. Something that is unclean & puts a blight on everything around it.
Coins, money, pencils, hair pins, hair decorations, a diaper pin.(that are long past their useful time)
Game pieces--only a partial piece of a whole unit. "People" that only drag us down & are not beneficial in our lives. Broken items that cannot be used or repaired.
Useful, but not in the right place or order.

Buried, taking up space, contaminating other things around it and clogging our lives, keeping us from being in tune.
It was a good thought for me.
To remove things from my life that are a hindrance.
That keep me from being in tune.
And even more than that, be willing to let God touch me-
To clean out/remove things that He sees are a hindrance to my service.

And a reminder of one of my favorite songs.

"Whenever your life is out of tune-
and no melody soothes your soul,
Look to the Master whose gentle touch..
Will bless you and make you whole.
Like an old violin with so little worth,
A life may be far less than grand...,
But may be transformed in a moment you see,
By the Touch Of The Master's hand."


 

Four-in-one

 That is four months in one post.
I'm determined to finish out my neglected posting for 2011 before midnight!  I really didn't want to start a new year with the feeling of unfinished journaling.

The last quarter of this year was very full.  Not maybe anymore "busy" than any other particular time or year, but it seemed like it was one of those very full "busy's" that I just survived and pushed forward.  I didn't seem to have anything left in me to be able to blog.

Looking back on this post after I finished it I realized that really it barely touches the surface of our days.  It covers a few of the basics but in my eyes leaves much lacking.  I guess that's what happens when you don't journal the days as they go.

The end of August we very unexpectedly and on very short notice welcomed a young teenage mom and her 6 week old baby into our home.  We didn't know how long it would be for, We weren't concerned with the "how long"

As it turned out, it was only a few short months.  We hope we made a difference.

(This room qualifys for the sign that says "My room was clean yesterday--sorry you missed it".)  It really was...It's a good thing I took a picture tho because the rare times it does get cleaned back up if you blink you could miss it!!

 We'd done some painting in the girl's room when we moved in and then this summer finally got the stripes done on the wall.  I'd been wanting a double/bunk bed but had not been able to get on.  As we were preparing to add to our household, Lynisha said she was wanting to get rid of this one that she had, and it is perfect for our girl's room.  With only a 3 bedroom house, our space is so limited and a double size bunk makes our sleeping space much more suitable without taking up more room space.

3 new babies--all close in age.  Baby girl K in the middle who came to live with us, on the left is my friend's 2nd grandbaby, and on the right is our grandson, Wyatt.

I hope as she grows somehow she will remember she (and her mama) were loved, and filled a special place in our hearts the short time they were here with us.

 Meshayla's 17th birthday.  Lunch with mom & dad at a favorite sandwich spot.


The end of September I got to take both Jana and Laura up to a convention in  ND.  We were gone for a week, and got to spend some time with Dalayna and her family too.  This was the first time Laura had seen the youngest two--and Jessi was only 6 months old when Laura left for Finland!

Kara came with us also.  It's fun to have some pictures of older/youngest siblings together at this stage.
With ones grown & gone and yet having four still at home it's like having two different families.

LtoR--sisters; Laura (3rd) Dalayna (6th) Jana (2nd) and Kara (11th)
Kara and Dalayna--
Dalayna and Wade, Jessi, Barrett & Raya.
It was so sweet to have time with them.

Maybe you remember a couple years ago that I participated in a blog challenge called "mom in the picture". We were challanged to take a picture of ourselves or with someone else every week all year.  I didn't think I could do it, but I did and as much as I have always disliked pictures of myself, I learned a valuable lesson during that year.  I (along with so many others) was always behind the camera.  I have no (or very little) record of myself with my kids for many years.  Even tho I don't come close to every week, I do try to remember to hand the camera off to someone else occasionally.  (sometimes with very comical results....(*rolling eyes*....)!!

In October we spent a weekend with our kids and celebrated Miss Lyrah's 2nd birthday.  The child's plate/cup set was one that I had got for Jeanne when she turned two.  I thought it was fitting to pass it on to Lyrah for her 2nd birthday.

Sunday noon for the potluck we had, Relyssa had made some dessert.  We put candles in it and made it into her birthday "cake"  Birthdays should always be celebrated in some way!  It's hard to believe she's 20!

In an effort to make up a bit for a lack of birthday parties & some special time for the girls, we had a girls party.  Sisters, cousins, Aunties, Moms.  It was a fun time spent at one of our favorite coffee spots.

 I thought the pates were so cute!  I'd love to add some like these to my collection of fun dishes!


Our 5th Grandson, Jaith Edwards was born Oct 16, and I was happy to get to be there (along with Lynisha and Relyssa) when he arrived. I love being able to share the miracle of birth with my daughters.
This is #9--One more to arrive before the end of this year!

 Halloween evening, this crazy group of fine su'thern ladies showed up.  What a hoot they were!


 November--
 Thanksgiving time.  My favorite holiday time.  It's near & dear to my heart.  Lots of special memories and family time over the years.  This year all my kids & families were together except for Jana who was up in Canada for some visits.

 I loved Laura's blog post and pictures on it-- HERE (read from the bottom up)

 We were really happy to get to celebrate Barrett's 2nd birthday while we were all together!

And of course the required picture of everyone.  Too sunny, Too shady, and Too many faces blocked.  Oh well!  There it is--Thanksgiving, 2011.

December--

Kaela's Winter Orchestra Concert
And her D.A.R.E. graduation.
Her essay was one of the 3 picked to be read.

Another precious Grandbaby.
Another birth I got to witness and share.
Ryan and Alishia's first--Bethany Dawn, born Dec 16.

   (Alishia's parents)

Baby B was 2 weeks old when Papa Leon got to meet her for the first time.

Photography compliments of Lynisha.
***************
What a way to end the year!  10 grandbabies! (Where's my birthday chart???)

Oh wait a minute!  We're not quite done celebrating after all!
Christmas vacation brought kids home--Jana and Laura for a week, Lynisha & kids & Relyssa for a weekend.
We got in a bit of fun helping to make a special proposal.
A combination of a gift to Dawn from us, and a ring from Derek.

 On the back side were two more cups with the girl's names on them.  Alas, there were only three, so Wyatt baby only had a treat with his name tag.  I don't suppose he noticed anyway.

And she said yes--and now we are looking forward to adding another daughter-in-law to our family
along with her two sweet little girls who already call us Grammie & Papa :)

Two years ago we spent New Years eve day having a wedding.  Happy Anniversary to our kids- Relyssa and Mark!

And thus we end the year of 2011.  I like what someone said:

The years end is maybe neither an end nor a beginning, but a going on.

Like the hymn says, " Come brothers on and forward."

Our best wishes to you all for a happy and prosperous 2012 from the "J's"