Nothing is as satisfying at seeing your adult children growing in love for Jesus, their Catholic faith, and wisdom. Today I want to share what my daughter, Hannah, just shared on Facebook. She is well spoken, bright, and articulate, but it's the wisdom that makes me smile. She writes: This is my daughter, Flora She is our third child and is already an absolutely delight. Right now she is just over 7 weeks old (on... Read more →
Happy birthday to our Hannah Kathleen. She was a delightful-beyond-compare child, and thinking about her childhood floods my soul with sweetness. She was - and still is - articulate, compassionate, and a thoughtful, deep thinker. She had a noticeable piety, even as a child, knowing spiritual things mattered. That awareness seemed to go dormant for a number of years, but it returned with a studiousness that is rare. Even in her childhood, I used the... Read more →
Cookies are baking. Holly and Ambrose are so sweet and polite. Good parenting shows. When Holly and Hannah wear an apron, Ambrose wants a bib on. I think it's his apron equivalent. Read more →
My sweet granddaughter, Holly, kneeling and praying. Read more →
God answers prayers, sometimes more beautifully than we imagined. For a number of years, Mother's Day was a sad day for me. I felt like I'd given my life to raising upstanding children and the effort seemed to have been futile. I wrote about it here on Mother's Day, 2012. If you read it, I think you'll sense my despair. Seven years later, I want to share the note I received from Hannah for Mother's... Read more →
Our middle daughter, Hannah, married on May 7, 2016. It was a very Hannah-and-Darian type wedding; simple, sweet, and intimate. I was delighted that they chose our backyard to marry. Not only was it beautiful, it was an easy and low-stress wedding. My sister, Stacie, came from North Carolina to supervise (plan and cook) the reception dinner of lasagna. Everyone raved about it. Gordon's mom and brother, Grant, came from Edmonton. Darian's grandmothers, uncle, aunt,... Read more →
"Thank you God for this new day and for the time to work and play. Please be with me all day long in every story game or song. May all the happy things I do, make You, my Father, happy too." That's a prayer poem by Dale Evans Rogers that was in a book of poems I used to read to Rachael and Hannah back when they were toddlers in Mill Woods. Those were the... Read more →
July's 12 in '12 This is my July 12 in '12 collage. As I wrote here, for the remainder of the year I am journaling each month in picture. This picture is loaded with signficant and meaningful stuff irrespective of how insignificant it looks. 1. St. Francis of Assisi is one of the great mentors in my life. I read something in late June that sparked a desire to re-read some of the things I've... Read more →
Hannah's first painting in a long time. Home is so calm, uneventful and quiet this week. Hannah is in detox, Deborah is at Gull Lake Camp and, of course, Rachael hasn't lived here for weeks. It's just Gordon and me. The break is welcome. I don't know if Gordon shares that viewpoint. PChAD, I think, seems radical to him. I think he thinks I'm half crazed in pursuing it. Weeks ago when I told Hannah... Read more →
2004, Hannah's first experience with the ocean, Florida Monday I went to court to get Hannah's PChAD (Protection of Children Abusing Drugs) order. I had to prove why I thought Hannah needed the protection of a court-ordered detox program. It was hard revealing these gross things to strangers who didn't know Hannah prior to drug use tainting her. The reasons I gave for the application: She was caught using pot at school. Her diary indicates... Read more →
Hannah (9 years old) and Frodo 2005 Hannah came home today. Since we’ve not known where she has been for a week, this is wonderful news. Eight days ago, Hannah left the house around 2 a.m. Things similar in nature have happened before, enough so that they don’t terrify us like they use to. But they exasperate, exhaust, and burden us. Gordon and I sat in our old Adirondack chairs sipping our tea in silence... Read more →
I sit on Stacie's porch and enjoy the quiet and beautiful North Carolina nature show. I will sorely miss this quiet-time spot when I go home in a few days. This is a foretaste of heaven. I'm so thankful for the reprieve from real life. It's Mothers' Day. I'm thankful for all the mothers who have positively influenced the way I mother. Mama! I'm thankful for the hurdles she overcame and/or at least wrestled, to... Read more →
One of the reasons I've blogged for so many years is to capture family memories, especially things my kids have done. However, try as I do to get my kids to do cute things these days, they tend to be "too cool for cute." Growl. Several weeks ago Hannah told me she missed my blogging. I was mildly blown away by this because Hannah seems so aloof and uninterested. I was touched by her desire... Read more →
For each of us, Discovery Cove was a highlight of our time in Florida. Last year we started planning this trip. Initially the main purpose in going to Florida was to see my friend Debbie. We didn't know that she would be gone by the time our trip rolled around. Several times during our time in Florida I felt melancholy remembering that the whole purpose of the trip - in its initial stage - was... Read more →
(Newborn Hannah and me, 1996. She looks kind of cute here.) I am very very behind on this. Hannah turned 14 in August. Her birthday always gets the short end of the stick around here. No matter how often I tell myself it won't happen, it does. Even her "birthday post" is weeks overdue. The poor dear. She turned 14 on August 22. These pictures are a few sweet reminders of her little life. (See... Read more →
This past weekend I had a dragon boat festival and was away from the family for Friday - Sunday. Not something I've done a lot of. The kids were on my mind often. There was a 10ish-year-old girl that reminded me so much of Hannah that she startled me every time I saw her. She had on an orange t-shirt like one Hannah used to wear way too often, she was long and thin with... Read more →
(Grandpa and the girls) Eight years ago today my father-in-law passed away. He was 67. It was a hard time for our family, but I have some sweet memories from that time that I cherish. We told the kids that Grandpa was very ill and that he would get to go to heaven soon. Deborah was nearly three. Rachael was nearly seven, Hannah was nearly six. Each of them processed it very differently. Rachael acted... Read more →
(Precious Rachael and Hannah, in 2000) Because I'm getting wiser with age, I resisted the urge to title this post, "My Kids Are Idiots." That was noble, I think. In the 80's I loved watching The Cosby Show. In one episode Dr. Huxstable comes home to find Clare seething. She hisses, "I want you to go upstairs and kill your son." More than once I've said that to Gordon. Unfortunately he never watched The Cosby... Read more →
I love Thursday Thirteen. It's a great way to catch up. 1. I've been kind of sad/contemplative/nostalgic lately. I've been busy scanning pictures from the days before digital photos. I've got a lot done, but still have a ways to go. Anyway seeing all those pictures of my little people, . . . Now they are so big. It's enough to make a mama weep. A couple are grown. A couple morphed into a different... Read more →
I sure wish I could take some credit for some of this artistic talent, but I can't. But she's fun too, and I can take credit for that gene. Read more →
Here's the finished product of Hannah's room update. As you can see, she's quite the collector. We're pleased with the outcome and looking forward to the little Hannah Banana seeing it. PS Hannah has a thing for animal calendars. There were three on her wall when I started this project and I'm betting she hangs the other two when she settles in. My little Hannah will be home tomorrow. :-) Read more →
Three of my sweet babies. I love them, don't you know? Rachael and Deborah sometimes bond through Rachael rolling Deborah's hair. No child from my womb would be lucky enough to have naturally curly hair. {Sigh.} Aren't they lovely? Read more →
Sweet little Hannah has been battling a horrible cold. Plus it's finals week. So my little babe is exhausted. The proof is in this picture. Seldom does she fall asleep in the living room. I'm well aware of how hideously she's dressed. You wouldn't believe how often she wears that get-up. They are her favorite comfy clothes, much to my chagrin. I guess no matter how old a child gets a mother finds her perfectly... Read more →
I'm sure you all well remember that I'm a basket case in my own appealing way. Which reminds me of the sitcom from the '80's called Designing Women. Once Julia went to bat for a demented woman -- I don't remember the details -- but in the end Julia got in someone's face in a polite genteel sort of way by declaring, "Here in the South, we are puh-roud of our crazy people." My family... Read more →
Isn't this cute? This is Hannah coming home from a wild and woolly quiz meet. When asked if she had a good rest, she replied, "I was just looking out the window." Here's the evidence that she wasn't "just looking out the window." What a cutie. Read more →