Christmas 2010

Christmas season has come and gone once again. As always, it was all a fun and memorable season. We have had JC home for a few days and that is sooooooo much fun for his dad and me.


I love everything about the season. I love the hustle and bustle of the shopping, I love watching the crowds, eating out (tradition - Chinese food on Christmas shopping day!), I love buying my family gifts and wrapping. And then giving those pretty papered gifts. I enjoy it all so much.

Our Christmas season starts the day after Thanksgiving when we put up our real tree in the living room. We get up fairly early on Friday morning, go to San Angelo, buy our tree and come home and put it up. We have always done this and it is so much fun, we all look forward to it. Kalyn and BJ and Shepherd were home for Thanksgiving this year so Kalyn wanted to put the tree up. She had not gotten to help us with our tree in four years and she wanted to help this year.



JC and BJ helped.



Abby loves a fresh tree.


Dad gets to be in charge of clean-up.




Of course, my favorite part was taking time outs to take my turn holding Shepherd.


By the end of the day the tree was done.


And the stockings were hung.


A few days later, the dining room tree was decorated.


And every other room in the house had a small tree.


Christmas Eve brought in family. Bill and Paulette.



And Edwin came on Christmas Day.



So Christmas 2010 has come and gone. It was wonderful.


And now, from my family to yours - we wish you a Happy 2011!

Thanksgiving 2010

I am a little late getting this post done. Been resting and cleaning from Thanksgiving week.


Boy, what a week it was. One of the best ever in my life. Everyday of our lives we know how blessed we are, but I tend to "think" on it a little more deeply during the Thanksgiving holiday.


I feel so blessed that I have the husband, son, daughter, son-in-law and now grandson that I have. We are so close and have so much fun together. I am so happy to have the extended family that I have and so many friends that I love. We are so thankful for our good health, our homes, our employment, our vehicles that are all running at the moment! And so much more. There is just no way to list it all.


This Thanksgiving was the first time that Shepherd got to come to Mamm and Pap's house. It is a time I will never forget. We had family and friends in our home that have meant so much to us for a long time. And we had new friends to visit us for the first time in our home. All folks that we hope will visit time and time again. Many new memories for us to treasure.


We had a week of laughter, a few tears, lots of conversing, playing games, exercising, walking. Lots of cooking and eating!! Decorating the Christmas tree together the day after Thanksgiving - just like the "old days". And so much more.


And we had many hours to hold our precious baby, Shepherd. Having Shepherd is teaching me a new kind of love that I did not know. We like to just sit and stare at him, if we are not holding him. I think it is so funny how such a little fella can keep five grown-ups busy! Since I have not had a baby in the house for 25 years, I had forgotten a few things. Like covering "the plumbing" when changing a diaper or you will be washing a lot of bedding! How many diapers AND clothes they go through in one day. How cute a baby is when he pouts and then bellows out. How good they smell. How much they eat. How sweet their smile is, and their sweet little cooing. How good they feel in your arms and nestled in your neck. And so much more.


Oh, sure I remember all this - I had just forgotten the extent of all this wonderfulness. It's all come back, and I am enjoying the memories of my babies and loving making new memories with this precious grandson.


Yes, Thanksgiving 2010, one of the best.

One of the Happiest Moments of My Life

October 15, 2010 I became a grandmother.

I had no idea how this would affect me. I knew I would be extremely happy and love this child. But I had no clue. I am beyond extremely happy and I have fallen so in love with this baby. There is a sign that says "Grandchildren fill a space in your heart that you did not know was empty". There is truth in that statement.


Shepherd Joseph Gensic is precious. He is beautiful. He is sweet. He is so loved.

I cry as I write this post because I miss him. My arms ache to hold him.

But I know I will get to see him for Thanksgiving and I am counting the days!

Engorgement and My Daughter

My sisters and I have really been having fun reading Kalyn's blog during her pregnancy. Kalyn is a good writer and some of the things that happen to her really make for a fun story.

Here is a little story that happened today that I just have found so funny I can not stop laughing about it.

I had emailed a couple of my sisters and told them that Kalyn was having breastfeeding class today. I figured this would be quite an adventure just knowing how the other eight months of this pregnancy have gone. I could not wait to hear what Kalyn had to say about this class.

When I got to work this morning I had an email from one of my sisters and in her note she had a little "helpful hint" for me to pass on to Kalyn. Her note said, "Do you mind if I give one hint? Maybe you already know this, but Cabbage leaves really do help the engorgement when the milk comes in." I found this interesting as I did not know this. I have been very amazed at all the things I have learned during Kalyn's pregnancy that I did not know. I really do not know how I managed giving birth to healthy babies and getting them reared! But that is another story for another time.

Kalyn called me just before she went to her appointment, so I read her this piece of advice from her aunt. She got really quiet then she said, "I hope I have no problems with engorging, I would really feel Eve-ish."

I lost it, been laughing all day.

It's Getting Close

I was sitting in church today and all of a sudden it hit me - sorta like a light bulb moment.

Tomorrow is the 20th of September.

October 20th is just ONE month away.

In ONE month I will be a grandmother. (Good Lord willing and everything is on time, of course)

All of a sudden my eyes were filled with tears, this is going to be big. This is going to be exciting.

I am so excited. I am a little nervous.

It has been a long time since this little family of mine has had a baby. Wow, we are going to have a baby, a precious baby. Wow.

I have always loved little yellow rubber ducky's. And I have a few in one of my bathrooms. I have always thought how much fun I would have with a little grandchild at bath time playing with the rubber ducky's. And now it will not be that long until I will actually get to have this pleasure.





The other day I was in the grocery store waiting to check out and there they had the cutest little green rubber frogs - the same size as my little yellow rubber ducky's, and only 99 cents. I had to have them - what fun my grand baby and I would have with ducky's and froggy's!




The excitement is building for all of us. Every conversation is built around this child. We can't hardly wait. The mom, the dad, the grandparents, Uncle Bro, Auntie and Uncle Finch, we are waiting and ready.


Oh, and also - the ducky's and froggy's................




My prayer: A safe and healthy delivery for Kalyn and baby. (and BJ!)

Conversations With My Son

When my phone rings and it is my son I never know where the conversation will go. I do know how it will start 99.9% of the time:

Me: Hello, boy
He: Hello, ladeeeeeee
Me: Whatcha doing?
He: Talking to you on the phone, when are you going to learn that?

Then we are off and going - I just never know where we are headed.

Here are a few examples:

He: Mom, how many points in strawberry fried pie at Whataburger? (I am on Weight Watchers, so he is always wanting to know the points in something he has already eaten or is starting to eat)
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He: Mom, I have a question - I left __________ off refrigeration over night, is it still okay to eat?

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He: Mom, I have lost my keys/billfold, where do you think they are? (this happened a lot when he was in Abilene and Lubbock, not quite as much in Waco)

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He: Mom, what can I eat for supper?
Me: Go out.
He: I can't, I bought a X-box game and I can't eat out for two weeks to justify that.

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He: Mom, can you dress me? Does this shirt match these pants? (gives me colors, this is a hard question to answer, by the way, on a phone)

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He: Mom, I am taking up hiking.
Me: What? Why?

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He: Mom, you need to start buying organic eggs, milk, veggies, etc.
Me: Why, I can't afford them. ( Side note: I am now buying some)

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He: Mom, I bought some hiking boots today. I am looking at some trails in Spain and Hawaii.
Me: You can't go.

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He: Mom, give me your drivers license number and social security number, I am going to sign you up to be a bone marrow donor.
Me: What, why? Can I think about this a week?

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He: I am not even trying to be a good child to you this year. Kalyn is your favorite this year because she is giving you a grandchild and I can not beat that.
Me: Ya'll are equal, don't say that.

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He: You and Kalyn are always making the Tres Leches cake and then calling me and telling me how good it is. Neither one of you cook one for me.

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He: Mom, will you do me a favor?
Me: Sure. ( I always say yes before hearing the favor)
He: Give me $5,000 so I can go hiking in Hawaii.
Me: No, you can't go.

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He: You have made Kalyn a dozen quilts and me none.
Me: I did make you one.
He: Yes, and then you kept it to use on my bed upstairs, I did not get to take it with me.
Me: Okay, good point.


I love talking to JC on the phone. I can talk to him about any subject on earth. He is always so patient and kind and sweet. And ornery and funny and loves to joke around with us. We laugh a lot.


And, by the way, about that quilt. I did make him one. I finished it this weekend and he got to take it to Waco with him.

Love you JC.

Sisters Weekend 2010

Last weekend I had my Sisters Weekend for 2010. As always it was a lot of fun.

When you have four nuts for sisters you can't help but have a wonderful weekend.

We are five very different individuals, but we make a complete "set". Take one out of the picture and it is just not complete.

We can talk to each other about anything. There are lots of grandchildren stories, stories about growing up together, stories about our brothers, stories about our mother and daddy, stories about our spouses and our children, there are tears and there is lots and lots of laughing. Throw in a little shopping, lots of eating, some entertainment, a few games, a Sunday morning worship service and you have a pretty much perfect weekend.

Each of these women are unique in their own ways, they are wonderful ladies.

I am very blessed to have these four women as my sisters. I love them dearly.

My Yard and My Scarecrows

I enjoy working in my yard. I would have never dreamed as a child that I would have gardening as one of my hobbies in my adult years. When Mom and Dad would have us kids go out to do yard work, I would "volunteer" to do ANYTHING to get out of yard work. Most of the time this would work, but not all the time!

But as the years have gone by, I have grown to really enjoy my yard. This year has been a busy year and I have not had the pleasure of leisurely working in the yard, but I have had some beautiful caladiums and some blooming plants.

We have lived here close to 20 years and never had a deer in our yard (because we live IN town and this should not be a problem I have to face!), until last year. The deer ate my caladiums and impatients. I was so aggravated. Well, this year just as the caladiums started coming up the deer came also. I read in my "Country Woman" magazine that scarecrows would keep the deer away. So John made me eight scarecrows out of his old uniform shirts and caps. When J.C. and Kalyn came home and saw all our scarecrows, they laughed. They thought one or two might have been enough, but we wanted to make sure! And guess what, I have a beautiful yard! And so far no deer.

Here are a few pictures:

Irises:


Roses:

My wheelbarrow full of plants:

One of the front flower beds:

One of my Daddy's toolboxes full of Caladiums and a cute scarecrow:

Ooops, that is my daughter, she is not "planted" in my yard, but she is definitely "blooming":

He Is Going To Be Good

My son-in-law. BJ Gensic. Yes, he is going to be a good daddy. This Father's Day 2010 I am going to dedicate to him.

I feel very blessed to have BJ in our family. I am so thankful God lead him in a round about way to ACU just as Kalyn was getting there.

I do not hide the fact that I am very excited that I am going to be a grandmother. One of the reasons that I think I am so excited is because I know this child is being born to a very good set of parents.

I was at a funeral this past week and one of the things that was mentioned by the surviving children was how much their daddy loved them; "we knew he loved us even when we were being disciplined"; "he laid in the floor with us and watched old movies"; "he played games with us"; "he read to us";" he laughed with us"; "he provided for us". I can see BJ doing all of these things with his children, they will know they are loved by their daddy.

One of the reasons I am so sure of this is watching him with his dogs. A new dog comes into the family and he lays in the floor with them, he plays with them, gets outside and exercises them, he disciplines them, he trains them. He loves them.

I was so blessed to be invited by BJ and Kalyn to go see the sonogram that told if we were getting a boy or girl. I had no idea how this was going to affect me. I was deeply touched by this experience. After we were told it is a boy, I looked around - it was like the nurse or I was not even there. Those two were looking into each others eyes, smiling from ear to ear, so lost in their love for each other and the love for this baby boy. This child is being born into a home filled with love. He is going to have a daddy who loves his mother. A daddy who loves his Savior and will teach him to also.

Yes, I am very confident that BJ is going to be an excellent daddy.

I have told many people throughout the past four years that if my son-in-law raises my grandkids like he does his dogs, I will have the best behaved grandkids in town.

But, on a side note, I do remember what is said about preachers kids. Oh well, we will see.............

And I can't wait to watch it all unfold.

Happy Father's Day, BJ.

Being Mom

Of all the titles a woman has I love "being Mom".


I have heard different women say they liked the infant years the best or the toddler years or the teen year, etc - but I have always said I liked all the stages. Whatever stage we were in, I was loving it.


I sometimes wish I could do a few things different - just because I feel like I could have been kinder to my kids at times. I am ashamed that in some of their younger years I had a pretty bad temper. I have truly worked on that issue and feel like I have really come a long way in cooling it, but I wish I would have done that earlier.


But with a loving husband and God's help and His blessing of two very good kids all turned out just fine. And then He blessed me with a wonderful son-in-law who I love dearly and enjoy being his mom-in-law.


My happiest days are days when we are all together. And I think of my own Mother when I say that, because she was happiest when all her chicks were in her home. I believe she loved "being Mom".


This Mother's Day as I set and write this post I think of my precious Mother, I think of my sisters and sister-in-laws who are all wonderful mom's and love "being Mom" to their children.

And I think of my daughter as she is becoming a Mom and I know she will love "being Mom".


Of course this brings another subject to mind, I have been told I will love "being Grandmom" even more.


We will see.

I AM EXCITED !!

I am going to be a grandmother for the first time and I am excited. I have tried to not talk about it too much. I do not want to be obnoxious.

BUT, I have the feeling I failed at this attempt last week.

JC was home for spring break last week and as always it was a fun filled week. He had to do a lot of reading and homework and Dad and I had to work all week, but we did make time for some TV watching, game playing, walking, playing pool, eating out, talking, laughing and shopping.

On Wednesday, I took most of the day off work so JC and I could go to San Angelo for a Mother/Son day. It was a most wonderful day.

I usually do not look at the baby stuff unless I am buying a gift for someone. But every store we went into it seemed that we walked right by the baby department and now I can not help myself - I have to touch and feel how soft everything is. I did not realize the extreme point at which I was doing this until JC said, "Mom, come feel how soft this is." I turned to see and he was grinning and touching a sponge for washing a car.

I got the message.

But it did not stop me. He knew it wouldn't.

I am excited. (and so is he)


My Prayer is for a healthy baby (boy or girl).


Thank you God for this new chapter in our family's life.

New Do

I have not done a post in a while, because I have been busy doing other things - like watching reality TV shows and the Olympics.

But I told my kids that I had gotten a new hair do, so I was asked to post pics. Here they are:






Hope I can fix it myself!!


(I am laughing in the third picture because I am trying to hold up my double, third and forth chins)

Ear Wax

So, I take John upstairs to read the post I had just written on Kalyn turning 25 and I said, "Is there anything you want me to add." He thought about it and after a while slowly said, "No, not really, that sounds good. You know, she produced more ear wax than anyone I have ever known."

I cracked up.

What a memory.

My Baby is 25 Years Old

February 5, 1985 my life changed - for the better. I gave birth to a precious baby girl. My second born. It amazes me that it has been 25 years.

The years have been filled with lots of memories. Lots of good times. Some hard times. Lots of laughter. Lots of tears.

She was the perfect fit in our family. The perfect daddy's girl. The perfect sister for Bro. The perfect daughter for her mother who God knew needed a little girl.

She is so much fun to set and talk to, walk with, cook with, quilt with, shop with, buy gifts for!

She has given us sooooooooo many laughs throughout the years. How many people have "stretched Adam apples" or "chicken pops" or "taste bumps"? How many of us have been given "warming tickets" from a cop with grandma? She is so witty, it has always left us with jaws dropped at some of the things she would come up with.

She is daddy's girl through and through. No one on earth can get by with saying things to or asking things of him, like she does. If I ever "lost" her at reunions or get togethers I only needed to look for daddy's lap - that is where she always was.

How many sister's would let their brother take over her brand new doll house with G.I. Joes! They played for hours and hours. They were best friends always and still are. They were and are so much fun to watch when they are together.

Now we are getting to watch her blossom into one of the best wives we have ever seen. BJ you are a wonderful husband to our daughter and we see how much she enjoys being your wife. You two are a perfect fit also.

Kalyn and I have a great relationship also. We are prayer buddies. We ask each other to pray for things we might be embarrassed to ask some one else or just not comfortable asking others. We love to cook holiday meals together. We have made several quilts together. And we love shopping together!

One of mine and her daddy's favorite things to do is buy gifts for Kalyn. She is so appreciative and gets so excited over the smallest things. She will open a gift and look at it forever! It takes her so long to open gifts. But she wants to look at every button, snap, pocket, nook or cranny on the thing! She is so much fun to watch.


This is in no way all that I love about my 25 year old, and this is certainly not all the memories. It is just a sampling. Kalyn thank you for being the wonderful person you are, thank you for showing your crazy parents you love us every day of our lives. As Bob Hope would say "Thanks for the memories". And we are so looking forward to what the future holds.


I love you, baby. You are beautiful.


Thank God for little girls. Thank you God for Kalyn.

Recipe for the Week

I made a recipe from my WW Magazine. I could not find the dough that was called for, so I substituted a whole wheat pizza crust that I found. It was originally a Julia Child recipe that WW has made WW friendly. It was not my favorite recipe ever, but it was good. It had anchovies and that is something we had never tried, and will probably never eat again. Very salty! It is so much fun trying new foods and new recipes, I am really enjoying this challenge for myself to try something new each week. Of course this is just the third week of 2010, so I hope this continues to be fun!

Here is a picture of the dish:

Learning to Post Pictures on My Blog

I have the most patient son. He has spent much of his last day at home teaching his father how to use satellite radio and teaching his mother how to put pictures on the computer to send to Walmart and now how to put pictures on my blog.

I heard my precious niece, Brenda make a comment to her daddy while they were here visiting about "older folks trying to learn new technology"; to me this was hilarious - because she has NO idea what her cousins go through in teaching me!

The pictures I am about to post are pictures of some of the new recipes we have tried the past week.

Spinach Enchiladas

Roasted Green Beans

Maple-Flavored Acorn Squash

E.S.T.B.S.

I teased one of my sisters today by not telling her what E.S.T.B.S. stands for. I have been meaning to do a blog post on this for a while and since I have put up my goals for 2010 I have been asked several times what it means.


A while back I was asked to list 25 random things about myself and one of the things I told was that I would secretly like to have a tattoo. If I ever got a tattoo it would be E.S.T.B.S. in my wrist. I do not know if anyone has ever noticed, but a lot of the time I have this written in ink on my wrist. It is just a reminder to myself of how I want to be.


I have also posted one of my favorite hymns, "Let the Beauty of Jesus Be Seen In You," before and it is a line from that song.


In my eyes, my mother was the sweetest person I have ever known on this earth. I will never be able to achieve her sweetness, but I want to live my life trying.


When I read in the Bible and see God's love - and Christ life, He was sweet. No I will NEVER be able to accomplish His sweetness, but I want to live my life trying.


E.S.T.B.S. - "EVER STRIVE TO BE SWEET"

Real Goals for 2010

Okay, now I am serious. The last post I did I stated that I would post my real goals, so here they are.

1. Make WW Lifetime Member.
2. Monthly Craft Goal.
3. Bi-Weekly Blog Post (hope to do more)
4. Daily Bible Reading
5. Walk 3 times a week; Lift weights or do other exercises twice a week
6. Cook one new recipe a week
7. Do a Daily Christian Duty
8. Pay Off More Debts
9. E.S.T.B.S.


Wish me luck on all this, today is the third day in the new year and it is going well so far!