The Losing Made It Real

This morning my friend treated me to a massage at the local spa.  I waited for the masseuse while sipping pink grapefruit & tarragon infused water.  The robes are so soft and for about five seconds I consider sticking it in my bag and taking it home. 

I'm on the table and my masseuse, Tiffany,  tells me I can choose to relax or to talk.  For all of you who know me, quiet isn't my specialty.  We talk about lots of things.  I ask if she knows the meaning of her name, she does not.  I finally ask if she has children.  She does not, but hopes to add a bundle to her joyful marriage. 

I recall what made us decide it was time to have kids.  I was newly pregnant.  We had been married two years and HAD NOT discussed having children.  I was sitting in a rehearsal when I began to have the most horrible pains of my life.  I was doubled over in agonizing pain, but managed to complete my rehearsal and get home.  I remember sitting by the toilet because I wanted to throw up.  The bleeding followed the pain.  I called my sister, the physician, and asked her if she thought I was having a miscarriage.  She was scared for me, but acted strong.  She talked me through what I might be feeling and what was happening to me.  She told me I needed to go to the hospital if the pain was such that I needed aid. 

I was sitting in the waiting room of the emergency room losing my first child.  I had a support system, but they couldn't save the baby.  Nothing could save the baby.

Losing that child made us positive we wanted children.  We wanted to succeed at making and delivering a healthy child the moment we lost that first baby.  I'm not sure I truly understood the gravity of parenthood, but I was going to do it no matter the obstacle.

During my massage, I learned that Tiffany had the exact same experience.  She recently miscarried an unplanned pregnancy and she and her husband decided it was indeed time to start a family.   My heart broke for her as I remembered those feelings, yet my heart was joyful to look in to the smiling faces of the two healthy children who followed.  I spoke encouragement in to her life with naked Brett stories and Chloe encyclopedia stories.

I hope she doesn't mind the subject of my blog today and just in case you are reading Tiffany, your name means ”the appearance of God.”  When I read the meaning of her name my eyes filled with tears.  Someday she will see God's true appearance when she looks in to the eyes of her healthy baby.....someday.

Vacation Memories

This morning, sitting on the white sand beaches watching my children create sand pools and  inhabit them with sea critters, I'm reminded of another beach vacation.  The summer of 2006 was filled with all sorts of memories both good and bad.  I was invited to return to the Miss Connecticut Scholarship Pageant and we were spending a week in Newport, Rhode Island like a Vanderbilt(but lower budget).  My dad was still struggling with all the ugliness associated with his cancer treatment and I was living life in a fog.

Brett was ten months old and I wished to look like I did in 1997, but the additional 70 lbs made it difficult for me to look like a pageant princess and the anti depressants made me not try.  My thyroid was like a roller coaster, my hormones were raging, I was still producing more milk than a dairy cow, and I didn't care.  Life was good.

I served as a judge for the pageant and had the best time catching up with my pageant family. The new girl was spunky and full of life.  I couldn't promise she would be manageable, but she would be memorable.  Come to think of it, I'm not sure I was all that manageable. 

Next came our 4th of July vacation in Newport, Rhode Island.  This beach community boasts some of the most grand and lavish displays of wealth in the form of ”summer homes.”  These homes are worth the Newport Mansions Tour, but I'm usually left wishing it was my house!  We stayed in a 4/2, three blocks from the beach instead of the 15/15 on the beach.

The trip was complete with blueberry and raspberry picking in the area and multiple beach visits.  Brett ate his weight in sand and Chloe frolicked in the waves, but the thing I most remember is how I bought a bottle of Port to help my food digest following our delicious dinners.  The problem:  Port +anti depressants= sleepy mommy.

I spent a large portion of my vacation asleep.  I missed out on the 4th of July fireworks and plenty other activities.  I often reflect on that vacation as a reminder of my ”lost days.”   For seven years I took anti depressants and for seven years I missed life.

I eventually found a doctor who was able to adjust my hormones and make me ”normal” again.   I was robbed of valuable time.  I am not telling you to quit taking your anti depressants or that you don't need them.  I will tell you if you feel like they are not the answer and you know something is wrong and anti depressants aren't fixing the problem; seek the advice of a doctor or two.  I credit much of my healing to my faith in God, but also to the doctor who determined the major hormonal discrepancies. 

As I sit on the beach this morning, reflecting on the ”lost days,” I'm so thankful to be present in this very moment.  This is where I sign off to join my daughter in the waves.  I don't want to miss out on life again.

A little advice:  If it feels broken it probably is broken.

Innocence Lost: The Comedy

Boerne, Texas is a quaint Hill Country spot with seldom more than cattle rustling and petty crime.  Although recently a local doctor, riding his cycle, was hit and killed.  A terrible series of events, but not premeditated.
I've lived in the area for about five years and traditionally most people leave their homes and cars unlocked.  Granted I live outside the city limits and if you are dumb enough to come gallivanting on my property, you are likely to be shot by my trusty ol' 12 gauge whom we've aptly names ”Ouch.”   [Can you whom a gun? Oh where is Kris Wickerham when I need him?]
My children do not encounter thievery and certainly wouldn't be able to identify a hoodlum.  It is possible they would be able to point out a prostitute, as they did go swimsuit shopping with me (see blog entry A Perfect 10).  Once Brett tried to steal something from the store that I refused to purchase for him and I know the event was memorable enough to avoid, at least until puberty.
I know, I know, LAND THE DARN PLANE....We stayed at the Embassy Suites off IH-10 in Baton Rouge.  Arriving tired and ready to swim.  Ok, the kids were ready to swim.  I grab my homework (Sophocles-The Three Theban Plays) and the kids.  We wait fifteen minutes for an elevator (slight exaggeration), arriving at the loudest pool in all of my life.  There are children running everywhere, deafening screams, and no pool towels. 
I ask the front desk for towels about 45 minutes later.  My kids decide the noise level at the pool is too distracting(no exaggeration).  Grabbing a towel we quickly exit to the elevator and wait fifteen minutes to ride up three floors.
This morning we are walking out to breakfast and realize their shoes were left at the pool last night.  Thadd heads to  the pool.  No SHOES.  The front desk also has no shoes.  The kids are sad, hurt, betrayed.  I'm furious, mostly at myself for forgetting to check their feet last night. I also forgot our electric toothbrush and my husband's cord to his electric razor.  I'm on a roll.
The kids ask questions about why someone would take their shoes.  My vigilante, Chloe, says she will fight to the death for her shoes.  Thadd says,” ... someone obviously needed them more than you...”  I nod my head in agreement with my husband, but I'm certain if I'd left my Sophocles book it would still be sitting on the table.
The lesson my kids learned today is people steal; not everyone is good and kind.  They also learned not to leave their chanclas (flip flops) at the pool.  I learned not to lend my flip flops to my daughter, EVER!  I'm sure by tomorrow I'll change my mind. Oh wait, she is wearing ANOTHER pair of my shoes.  Oh darn.
My deepest condolences go out to the Becker family who lost a wonderful and godly man.  May Dr. Becker's life be celebrated for the great legacy he leaves behind.

Road Trip

We are packed and driving our first fifteen miles when my husband says we should take 1604 (a loop) around the city.  WHAT?  No.   Just drive straight on IH-10!! 
After about twenty minutes of  ”discussing,” Chloe says, ” Can't we all just get along? I'm trying to negotiate peace here!”  Brett chimes in, ” If you talk less we will get there faster!” Thadd adds, ”Now I remember why I usually travel at night.”  I can tell this is going to be the best fifteen hours EVER! 

This morning my chickens were in celebration mode awaiting my departure.  Vacation for me means leftover food for them.  I dumped a bunch of fruit, bread, rice and veggies on the ground.  Large portions of the food barely touched the ground and instead filled the beaks of my feathered friends.  The chickens clucked with glee as they enjoyed every last morsel.  Buster, my Schnoodle, panted furiously waiting for an opportunity to get just a taste.  No luck.

I head to the barn and feed Charles, Augusta Belle, and Pip (the stars of the youtube sensation This Pony Gives Goat Rides).  Nothing is different for them and so they eat their food unnerved; not a care in the world.

I walk back up to the house and now have Buster, Scratchy, and Kitty Fluff following me.  This is a normal posse for feeding time.  Scratchy, still a kitten, loves to run between my legs.  Caliche + Kitten +Feet=Disaster.  This time I avoid disaster, but that is not always the case.  I try to avoid hurting the cat which hurts way worse as I fumble and slip and plop spread eagle on the ground.

I make it back to the house unharmed and pack the car.  Buster is sad.  He knows what suitcases mean and so he quietly watches, with his head on his paw.  I want to take him, but not this time.

We bid farewell to our friends who are staying at the house and thank them for their time.  We are off to Summer Vacation 2012.  Come to think of it, I think this is the first summer vacation Thadd has ever been able to join us.  I'm thankful to be with my family even if the combination of navigators is explosive. 

Beware travelers on IH-10 East as  The Scientist, The Extreme Fisherman, The Queen Bee, and The Boss are on the road today.

Naked Again!

I was driving down the expressway thinking about what to post and I started laughing out loud as I remembered all the times Brett was sneaky naked.  I'm sure you don't really want to hear stories about my naked son, but bear with me there is a point to the stories.  Maybe.

I have a thousand pictures of Brett naked-ish between the ages of fifteen months and four years.  These pictures weren't collected because I like naked photos, rather he was naked for this (very long) season of his life.  I recall (many) dinners when he was fully clothed and somewhere between his first and last bite he was BUTT NAKED!  Another fun time I was talking to mom in carpool line and my son, blonde at the time, has his clothing off and was peeing in the creek in front of the school.  I denied he was mine, I'm a brunette.  How did it happen and why?? Does it really matter?
I grew up in the city, but my dad's two favorite past times were hunting and golfing.  When you go hunting you often use the bathroom in the bushes.  When you have a son and live in the country, a tree is a bathroom.  So, I have a son that is naked and pees on random trees!  I am the reason men all around the world get arrested for urinating in public as drunk adults.  Ok, not me, but mom's like me.  There is no reason to be alarmed, such is life with a son and also my parenting style.  Like it or hate it.

Now for my point...nakedness is beautiful.  Authentic vulnerability is refreshing.  If we were more like Brett, naked in our lives and transparent in our relationships, we avoid all sorts of drama.  Next time you want to hide behind something or want to tell a ”little white lie” imagine Brett running naked through your mind.  Your words and actions are so important.  Someone is always watching and likely it is your child.  I often ask my daughter to describe me is a sentence.  Sometimes the things she says hurt, but it is a great opportunity to rewrite my future.

Live life large, but keep it simple and clean.  Be transparent and naked, but please do not pee on a tree.

Am I Beautiful?: Don't Worry, I'm Not Really Asking

So many singers have songs  with the word "BEAUTIFUL" in the title.  I imagine they are trying to describe something they find beautiful, sometimes lustful, or breathtakingly disarming.  According to Dictionary.com, beautiful is defined as pleasing the senses and the mind aesthetically or of a very high standard; excellent. 

I grew up in a small border city called Laredo(insert Streets of Laredo song here), where there is an inordinately high number of aesthetically pleasing woman in residence.  I grew up surrounded by very coiffed, impeccably dressed, manicured woman with perfect skin and perfect homes.  From the outside, their lives seemed entirely perfect.

In 2006 I was visiting a dear friend in Washington D.C. and we were eating at Maggiano's.  It was my first visit to this delicious Italian spot and as we were leaving I spotted a tall, slender woman with graying blonde hair.  She was wearing a turtleneck, purple I believe, with a tan corduroy coat.  She was sitting at the bar and her long hair was thin, but fell along her face so beautifully that I was urged to approach her.  I walked up and said, "You are the most beautiful woman in this restaurant."  Her eyes filled with tears as she began to recount the memory of her past year.  She had recently finished intense treatment for her second battle with breast cancer and was feeling old, tired, and defeated.  I, too, began to cry.  What a generous gift from heaven I received at that moment, tears rolling down my face, to know the words that came out of my mouth were rebuilding what the cancer had devoured.

As woman we are too often concerned with ourselves and how good(or bad) we look and we miss an opportunity to bless the other people in our world.  When I say world, I mean WORLD!  Yesterday I was at Sam's getting tires for my big road trip and I was shopping the book department.  A hispanic couple is looking at the polo shirts directly behind me and the husband is NOT going to buy the pink shirt.  I turn around to see a dark skinned, man with a clean cut mustache and jet black hair.  Pink is perfect for him!!!  I looked at both of them and said, "I'm sorry to pry, but your husband would look very handsome in the pink shirt!"  She smiled, nodded and gave him the I-told-you face.  He promptly found his size and they hurried to the food aisles.  That man will wear his pink shirt with pride.

I am not looking for a pat on the back.  I did not do anything out of the ordinary, or did I?  Beauty is EVERYWHERE!  Let me take a jaunt out to left field for a moment(as I often do) to talk to you about diamonds.  I could drag statistics in here, but the important thing for you to know is diamonds aren't as rare as De Beers wants you to think.  There are lots and lots and lots of diamonds.  The market is very well controlled by a small number of people and therefore they keep the price high by controlling the commodity.  I'm sure there is a great business term for this, but I majored in Dance Pedagogy!  NOW for my point..... Compliments should NOT be treated like diamonds.  Finding beauty in the things and people around you everyday does not make the compliment cheaper, it makes it more valuable.

Find value in the people around you and tell them so.  I do want to clarify...You may not walk up to your boss, slap his butt and say, "You have a great smile!"  Nor do I suggest (men) that you whisper in your married co-worker's ear, "That dress is very sexy on you!"  Beauty is never naughty, it is kind, gentle, and classy(all synonyms of beautiful).  I had a man walk up to me in CVS and say, "You look very beautiful today, ma'am."  I thanked him and promptly called my husband and asked why he didn't say that to me.  He had two things to say.  "When I left the house this morning you had your Spanx on, rollers, no make-up and you hadn't brushed your teeth" and "Not everyone is married to a beauty queen!"  I corrected him and said, "scholarship winner!"

I have always dreamed of being the most beautiful princess at the ball!  Maybe you dream of that too, but you can make someone else the most beautiful prince or princess at the ball and isn't that soooooooooo much better? Yeah, I think so too.

Are You Committed to Something Valuable?

I am committing to 365 days of blogging which is a huge step for me.  I view commitment very seriously and by writing it down I am hitched.  Sometimes I consider myself to be a flake as I waffle back and forth about committing to anything, but I want to make sure I can balance my life and still deliver at 100%.

I wear so many hats in life and I loath sacrificing things unless they commit a cardinal sin.  Cardinal sins are as follows:
     1)  I cannot scream it from the rooftops
     2)  it conflicts with being a wife and mother
     3) it causes me physical pain (dramatic moment)
The most important hat I wear, besides being a Christ follower, is being a wife and mother.  Yes, in that very order do my priorities lie.  I realize the demand children place on our lives and since I only have two I do not even begin to grasp the juggling done by my cousin with five children between the ages of 1 and 9.  Children are a gift.  By gift I mean treasure, by treasure I mean very valuable, by very valuable I mean you are to take the job of being a parent VERY seriously.

Although I am serious about parenting, my style might not appeal to many of you and so I do not preach my style over another more successful style.  Not everyone approves of letting my son catch and keep snakes (Snake Protection Program by Brett) and I'm frowned upon for dying my daughter's hair blonde, well red, last summer(she was 8).  The snakes have proved to be safe since they are non venomous and the hair survived to tell the tale of "remember the time when."

The treasure of children is not my greatest job, as that title is reserved for being a wife.  You see, without my husband I wouldn't have my children.  I have placed him on the back burner and I have neglected him over the years, but as my Spirit became more inclined to precious priorities I realized the importance of this relationship.  Date nights, dinners, talking in bed, laughing, and crying(me, always me) are so vital to our relationship.  Children can muddy the waters and fuzz the line between our priorities.

A honeymoon(CHAPTER ONE) should not happen once, it should continue to happen over and over again.  Our love story should not end with the birth of our first child, but rather should be called CHAPTER TWO.   Wow, I didn't mean to write about marriage or children; I meant to write about commitment.  Do you understand now how much I value the word commitment?

If each of us took on responsibilities and treated them like we do our marriage or children they might be either wildly successful or a major fail.  I often sign up for many things in both of my children's classes to "do" and I volunteer for countless fun activities at the school where I teach, but not without valuable assessment.  How excellent are you at the task you volunteer for and will you truly be there and be stellar?  OR Will you show up and do your job without joy and for completion's sake?

I have spent a lifetime avoiding things I am bad at and focusing instead on my gifts.  I do NOT encourage you to avoid failure as it gets harder to deal with as you grow older.  Having spent so much time avoiding failure and having to deal with it as an adult I do, however, know my strengths and my gifts.  There are all sorts of tests and personality profiles you can take, but I do not need a test to tell me I LOVE RELATIONSHIP.  I love to teach, to serve, to share, to listen, to grow relationships.

Let me give you a quick view of the relationships in my home.  I have my husband, our two children, a pony(Charles), two goats(Pip and Augusta Belle), 17 chickens, 5 roosters (Brownie, S'more, Napoleon, Fighting Irish,  & Flufferdoodle Doo), 14 fish, 1 hamster(Weasel Scamper), a leopard gecko (Bitey---because he bites), 2 frogs, 2 cockatiels (yet to be named), four cats(Kitty Fluff, Kiki, Scratchy, and Marsha), and 1 dog(Buster).  If you add it all up, I maintain 51 relationships in my home.  Ok, so the fish are not all that social, but everyone else gets daily love from me.

Some people imagine my house to be a zoo, but I assure you it IS A ZOO.  I sprawl out on eight acres and have ample room for everyone to run and play.  We have a garden where we grow corn, pumpkins, squash, beets, radish, melon, watermelon, basil, stevia, mint, parsley, brussel sprouts,  tomatoes, potatoes, grapes and serrano peppers. We have a barn, a garage, a chicken coop, a garden, a guest house, and the main house.  Do I sound over-committed?

These animals allow me to love on them and also share them with people who come to meet or play with the animals.  The guest house fills with visitors who sit and rock on the patio with me for hours.  The garden produces bounty to share with friends and neighbors, thus growing relationships.  This full life also provides opportunity to share with you.  I value your time and commitment to the moments you spend reading my life adventures and my inner-most thoughts.

Prioritize your time and commit with excellence.  Be married to the things that are fiercely important to you and stand clear of those that commit any of the 3 Cardinal Sins (see list above).  Do not be afraid to fail, but use and build your gifts and talents.  Be selfish in few things, but selfless is all things.  Be you, be brave, and live life to the fullest each and every day.  I am going to leave you with something I saw on a friend's wall:

     "If you had a bank that credited your account each morning with $86,400-with no balance carried from day to day-what would you do?  Well, you do have such a bank....time.

Every morning it credits you with 86,400 seconds.  Every  night it rules off as "lost" whatever you have failed to use toward wisely.  It carries over no balances and allows no overdrafts.  You can't hoard it, save it, store it, loan it, or invest it.  You can only use it---TIME."

A Perfect 10--A Swimsuit Saga

We are going on vacation, well actually we are going to visit a friend who lives in a vacation destination.  BONUS!!  Summer vacation destinations often entail swimsuits and although my daughter's child size 10-12 swimsuit is precious, my size 10-12 is NOT as precious!

Here is a good story....I was once a size 0 and would scoff at the stores that didn't carry a small enough size 0.  Truth be told, I danced for approximately ten hours on any given day and I was in amazing shape!  The life of a dancer faded and I became a dance teacher.  I maintained a 4-6 which I thought was "average" and later quit dancing and teaching altogether to raise my two children and the sizes I wore reached almost to 20.

The lessons I learned being a stay at home mom were quite simple:
     1)  I am not a good stay at home mom.

     2)  I get very fat when I stay home all day and eat all the food my children don't eat.

I would pray to God to forgive me for being so selfish and unhappy as a full time mom.  I was certainly forgiven, but it didn't change the fact that I weighed almost 200 pounds.  Some people say I am a beautiful woman, but I promise I was not very beautiful inside or out at 200lbs.  I screamed and I ate and I screamed more because I ate more and the cycle did not cease.  I felt guilty for exercising and spending time away from my children, but the more time I spent with them the more I ate and the more I screamed.

Okay, so there was more going on than just being a stay at home mom.  My dear, kind husband really did not know what to do with the monster he married who bore him two beautiful and healthy children but breathed fire!!  So, he made me a doctor's appointment to have a full blood panel done because clearly his wife was BROKEN(Unfortunately, my spirit was not yet broken, but that is another post altogether)!!  I visited the doctor and was in fact broken.  My hormones were a disaster and I had every vitamin deficiency known to man.  Slowly, over the course of the next four years, I worked closely with a doctor to remedy the deficiency, lost fifty pounds, and got a job(or two).

Now you have a little history from Fabulous to Fat and Back Again!  So now I'm swimsuit shopping with my very beautiful and svelte nine year old daughter(who looks 13) and my six year old son who is dressed in full camouflage.  I know exactly the swimsuit I want....STRAPLESS!

We scour the racks for one piece, strapless, solid color swimsuits.  I find a beautiful bikini in magenta, orange and gold and so I grab that one and hide it in my stack.  After about fifteen minutes I find a dressing room.  Reminder: I still have two children in tow.  I try on all ten swimsuits and find two that are perfect!!  I also find one(the bikini) that makes me look like I am paid by the hour in Mexico or New Orleans....where the women are well, Reubenesque.   My daughter says, "If you want that swimsuit you need to go to the gym...EVERYDAY!"  Unfortunately the gym will not rid me of the excess baggage I developed upstairs.  To test the waters I sent a text of the bikini(with me in it) to my husband and he said something along the lines of NOT FOR PUBLIC VIEWING.  My son was very concerned that my "milkies" were falling out and that I was showing too much "boobie" and he preceded to stuff them back in the swimsuit.  I think now you understand why I seek out the perfect one piece strapless swimsuit.  I buy two swimsuits and the bikini is not one of them.


Two days later I have a birthday party at the lake.  I test out my favorite of the two suits...it is a blue, turquoise, and black watercolor-like pattern, strapless.  I throw a long black crepe sarong and head to the party.  This is the conversation I had with my husband on my way out the door....
     Him:  I think that swimsuit is too small.
     Me: No, it is new and it is NOT too small. I like strapless swimsuits to avoid tan lines(I hold the swimsuit up with the 'twins' in their spot from before I breastfed two children).  Is this BETTER?
     Him:  Yes, that looks better.
     Me:  Those cost money and they do not stay in that location without surgery.  You willing?
    Him:  That is not the solution.


I wanted to tell him he was not allowed to comment on my swimwear and how my topography has changed over the years.  I wanted to ask him why he hates plastic surgery and instead I decided I couldn't complain that my husband actually likes all my parts and he also likes me to wear clothing that accentuates my gifts and not my flaws.  I find it hard to believe after marrying a young, beautiful hard body he is happy kissing me goodnight.   For the next year or so I will use these saggy swimsuits and when I return to the swimsuit aisles I will consider the tan lines and maybe opt for going to the gym everyday and instead buy a bikini.  I'm sure they sell turtleneck bikinis, right?

What is your Legacy?

I'm not sure why today felt like a good day to start a blog.  In March I moved to a home with a very slow recharge well and last week we drilled a new well!  It has been therapeutic for my husband to be able to water our garden(food) and to keep some greenscape around our home.  Last week also had a few ups and downs.  I had a very sick kitten, a sick child, and a very loud drilling machine parked outside my door.  Today was a little different because I have two sick children and I had to put my 18year old cat to sleep.  I've had to put four cats to sleep in my lifetime and this one was, by far, the worst.  She kept moving even after her heart stopped beating and I wanted to stop the whole procedure.  Realistically, she can't eat, walk or use the litter box.  Her single kidney has gone in to failure and so euthanasia is the only solution.

Speaking of euthanasia, my mother wants me to do that for her when she is ready.  What?  Yes, you read correctly.  I'm not sure why she thinks I might have access to such powers, but such is the state of my mom!  It would be nice if we all just went to sleep to exit this world instead of some of the horrors that follow our lives.  Some die of cancer and others succumb to years of intense scrutiny and end their lives sadly and suddenly.

All this talk of death reminds me of a very recent adventure that included my husband burying both of his parents within eleven days.  As sad as the story sounds, it was an intense love story.  Two people married for nearly fifty years and facing death together.  My father in law was suffering from late stages of Parkinson's while my mother in law was losing her battle to her 20+ year fight with cancer.  Their beds were side by side so they could hold hands and exchange glances.  They prayed for the people who walked in their doors to pray for them and they never begged God to spare them the suffering, publicly.  I wonder if in their innermost thoughts they pleaded with God to take them sooner rather than later.

Following the burial of my father in law, the second to ride the chariot home, we drove by a man sitting in the cemetery.  The dirt was fresh at his feet and his lawn chair was carefully placed at the very edge of the disturbed earth.  The sun was high in the sky and he was not sheltered from its rays.  The site he was visiting fell just beyond the cover of an ash tree, but he did not seem the least bit bothered by the heat.  His eyes were fixed on the place where his love was recently laid to rest.  As we drove past him, I couldn't help but wonder what his love story entailed.  What would he tell his kids and grandkids and great grandkids about the woman whose lifeless body found solace in the earth.  Did she make great pickled beets?  Did she tell a good story?  Did she follow Christ?

The stories I tell my children about the two people known as Grandma and Grandpa are about their legacy.  They left a legacy of excellence in their work, in their giving and loving of others, in their commitment to Christ, and in their love of learning.  Whenever I seek clarification of Biblical theology I often reach for the phone to call Grandma or even just to share a funny family story.  They are gone from this earth, but never from our hearts. I am not certain what my legacy will be, but I hope and pray it can be even a fraction of what Grandma and Grandpa left behind.  Plan now and start to plant the seeds for a fruitful and abundant legacy for those who follow.

Today is a great day to start a blog!

xo, mimi

This Pony Gives Goat Rides

http://youtu.be/8sxblgsnZpY

This video will give you an example of all the fun we have at our house.