Baby Birds

Last evening, the McClelland children and their Mom were over. We had a grand time. We picked our first strawberries --- about 8 of them. (Avery sat on the step and ate 6 of them.) We went for tractor and wagon rides. Grampy made a cardboard train out of a big box. And my favorite thing--we went on a home tour! Birds' homes that is. There's a nest in one of my hanging baskets-- not sure of what-- small white eggs (5 of them). We went to Tom's lean to where a robin has made a nest inside on the ladder that's being stored (4 eggs in there). Then to the deck where another robin has some baby birds already hatched, and finally under the balcony and on top of the shed- I couldn't fit my head in that spot to see what's in the nest. What a wonderful time with my "baby birds"!

Sore Muscles!

Our weekend didn't see my list get anywhere near accomplished, but we did get some things done! I spent Friday afternoon in the hospital with my Dad who fell during the night and then couldn't get out of bed on Friday morning. He had some bruises to his ribs, but thankfully, nothing more serious. They kept him in until Saturday, and now he's moving rather gingerly, but moving nonetheless.

I also am moving rather gingerly this morning after doing too much movement of muscles I haven't used in a while. We got our mums planted Monday morning before it got too hot. And then went home and planted 3 more flats of flowers. Unfortunately our pool is still very green-- Tom worked hard to get the electricity back to the filter since it was disrupted and dug up with our well issues. It would have been wonderful to jump in cool clear water. We finally gave in and turned on our central air last night.

It was fun to meet Seth Thomas Patterson on Sunday--what a bundle of joy he's brought to his family!

Looking at pictures of my grandkids at the parade, I'm wishing I would have spent more time with them. I love you kids!

Memorial List!

On this Memorial Day Weekend, I need a memory. And so before I left for school this morning I made a list of all the things we need to try to accomplish this weekend! A few weeks ago I said our place was looking pretty spiffy--now "well" messes and lots of rain have put us way behind in our "spring" jobs. And it's mum planting time!

Lord, help us "remember" to prioritize and to put You and family and friends first!

Sophie and Ella Rose as Flowergirls

Here they are as flowergirls!

Grandparenthood!

Because this is the 4th anniversary of my grandparenthood and it looks like the beginning of Joyce's, I decided to rejoyce in being a "Grammy" this morning!

There are so many cliches about it that I could share that are all true: you get to love them, enjoy them, and send them home; you get to chuckle at the struggles that you went through with their parents and now see them go through; they are the joy of your life; the time goes sooooo fast! All of those things are true!

But the real truth of grandparenthood is that it can't adequately be described in words. I wanted to say some very profound words about it this morning--and I can't! I can just praise God for the joy and privilege of being a grandmother and get tears in my eyes thinking about each of my 5 special blessings, and look forward to the 6th! And then Heidi posts Andy's poem and I get all sappy again!

Joyce, I am so excited for Sam and Kristie, but I'm thrilled for you and Mark--that you will get to experience this thing called grandparenthood. There is absolutely no feeling like it in the world!! I hope today is the day!

By the way, has it been decided? By what grandparently names will you be called?

Where did the weekend go?

I remember looking forward to it on Friday morning, and I'm sure I saw it on my calendar, but somehow it disappeared! Here it is Monday morning again and not much was accomplished.

Oh, yea! Praise Team practice Sat. morning, drove Ella around so she could get a nap before her flower girl event--then there was the Woehlke wedding. The little flower girls looked beautiful, but suddenly got shy when it was time for them to walk down the aisle. Then the other grandma (the mother of the groom) stood in the aisle and Sophie braved running to her and finally Ella thought it was safe enough to follow her. The wedding was beautiful. We took Ella and Sophie home with us to spend the night. I didn't get much sleep between listening for their whimpers and the wind. Praise Team both services Sunday, "Spring Celebration" lunch after church--so Sunday afternoon it was naptime for me. So much for working on the mess in our yard. Tom did go out there and fill up one of the holes.

Happy Monday and blessed week everyone!

Water, Water, Everywhere ...

Still not a drop to drink...at least from our well. GOOD NEWS: The well is fine, lots of water in it yet, the pipes in it were definitely in need of replacing, we now have the right kind of pump to be up to code, the beautiful balcony built by Ron did not collapse, and most of the mud mountain is gone. Praise the Lord! The BAD NEWS: There still must be a leak somewhere and we surmise it's in the pipes deep under the house, so we still don't have our own water. (Still need your help, Lord!)The GOOD NEWS: Our repairman, another Tom, thinks it can be fixed without too much problem (we don't have to dig under our house). He's going to bypass those pipes and put some different ones coming in to the house. He's coming again this morning. Hopefully we'll have water by the end of the day (besides the rain!).

I'll be very happy when I have something to think and blog about besides our water concerns and the rain!

A Trusting Husband

Last night in our rush to get the lawn mowed before it rained again, Tom and I were both mowing. Tom actually trusted me to try out the big mower. Two years ago when we first bought our big zero-degree turning mower (whatever it's called), I got on to try it out. Not being used to the two side handle steering and acceleration whatchamacallit, I promptly ran into the clothesline pole. Dear Tom did not holler, did not scold, and has not told people about my blunder. And last night, he even trusted me to mow with it. Mind you, I was in the great big field next to our property without a clothesline or tree around, but even so he trusted me. He did however warn me not to go anywhere near the big ditch. I actually got the hang of it after a few wobbly rows and tentative turns. Nevertheless, I think I'll stick to my slow, trusty, wide turning John Deere.

Make Hay While the Sun Shines

It did come out at our house last night. Tom was gone to a meeting so I thought I'd go out and get a start on the lawn. Talk about making hay! I was still making hay while the sun was shining, but it also started raining. So there I was mowing down my hay field with a rainbow over my head! God's promise--no flood!

89 years and 1 day!

I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday on the 89th anniversary of my father's birth. So Happy Birthday Dad!

We did get to spend some time with him yesterday and reap some of the benefits of his 89 years of wisdom and learning! I asked him if he remembered his 9th birthday. He said that birthdays weren't much of a big deal with 9 children in the family, but that each birthday there would be that many pennies under his plate at the breakfast table. That was his gift! How things have changed! He said that parties were a real rarity. He also said that sometimes people celebrated their 18th birthday, but he was away at college at the time.

Well, Dad! If you join the blogging world, Happy birthday + 1! I love you!

Well Update

The wettest, coldest, yuckiest day of spring so far was spent with Tom and a kind neighbor with a bobcat building a mud mountain in our backyard. After uncovering the entire pipe, no leak was found, so the leak must be in the pipe in the well itself. A well-driller who didn't seem too interested in our business came out to work up an estimate for a new well. Then Tom called another guy that he knew from high school who thinks he can put a new pump in the existing well without having to drill a new one. He says there are no promises. We decided to give it a try. He will put in the new pump when he gets the parts he needs--either Monday or Wednesday. In the meantime we are leaving our water pump off as much as possible, limiting water use in our house. So here I go-- into my hot tub to went down my morning "bedhead" before I go off to church for Praise Team practice. I'm thankful to Emily and Bob who are letting me fix the Mother's Day-Grandpa's Birthday Dinner at their house tomorrow.

Well ..... How are you going to sleep?

Well .... It's a deep subject and a sad one this morning. Our water pump has been running far too much for no reason (that's why we had a trench in our yard- to find a suspected leak in the pipe between the well and the house). To make a long story short we weren't able to get to it - hit ground water - filled in the hole for fear our balcony would collapse. Finally called a "well" guy who told us that the kind of well we have has been outlawed as of 2005. He is coming today so that we can figure out what our options are. Needless to say, I don't think any of them will be cheap!

Meanwhile, Tom is still having issues with his sleep disorder (his cpap doesn't afford him any more sleep than his apnea) so he had to go back last night to "try" to sleep at the sleep clinic.

Well....did he get any sleep? I haven't talked to him yet. Well...we'll see what the day brings. Prayers please!

A Satisfying Day

All in all yesterday was a satisfying "Ahhh!" day.
- A good day with my students
- A good meeting with a parent
- Had my piano tuned (nothing better than getting rid of dischordant chords!)
- Spent time outside (while the tuner tuned)
- Got to go see Em and Bob's beautiful new home
- Tom golfed a 41 on his 2nd night of church league golf and got a birdie
- Solved the problem of my hot tub, filled it, and relaxed in it!

Ahhhhh!

A Slow Blogger Weekend

Not much blogging happened this weekend! Except Heidi! Like she said, the weather was just too perfect! Too nice to sit in front of a computer.

Tom and I worked outside quite a bit--also emptied, cleaned, and refilled my hot tub. Then spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out why it kept shutting itself off. Finally, very simply, it was an air lock. Fixed, and hopefully warm enough to get into tonight.

Yesterday was confirmation day--Tom went to parties while I went to a baby shower!

Sinister Minister tried hard, but, never having run that long of a race, lost all his energy at the last turn. He was 2nd in the lead until then and then fell back to 16th. Pat was very disappointed--not in how he ran, but in the whole experience. She had hoped to go in the paddock area with the other breeders and to get closer to him. In the end "I was just another tourist"--and to make matters worse she missed the marching in parade, "My Old Kentucky Home", and had a very poor view of the race. She only saw him as he went by. When she got home, she found her VCR did not get the race. She is still hoping that just getting into the Kentucky Derby will make her horse more valuable and that she'll get a good offer for her. She could use some prayers and encouraging news!

Blessings on your week!

Gamblers Anonymous?

Last night I had my second opportunity in a week to be a gambler. Do I need to join? I guess not! I passed up the second opportunity. Pat called before leaving for the Kentucky Derby. She has her traditional "derby" hat and hopes to show it off in the winner's circle! We're all excited and pulling for "Sinister Minister", but I couldn't bring myself to lay down money even though he has 12 to 1 odds. (She had asked me if I wanted her to place a bet for me.) It will be jackpot enough for me if he wins and she is able to sell his "aunt" for a really good price so she can pay off some debts and fix up her place. Is it wrong to pray for a horse race?

Weaknesses Become Strengths

In about 15 minutes I'll be meeting with my first student of the day. This is an 8th grader who deals with ADHD and depression and so it is very difficult for him to focus when he's dealing with academics. My focus for him in the next month is to get him ready to go to high school (a huge Ann Arbor high school).

Today our discussion will be on how he can be his own advocate. But it will mean telling others of his weaknesses. How comfortable will he be in doing that? How comfortable are any of us in baring our downfalls? But, I know for him, that will be how he can become a stronger person and a better learner. Pray for him, that he won't get lost in the crowd and that his weaknesses will become his strengths. A good prayer for all of us!

What Was I Thinking??

Last night, after working outside for 2 or 3 hours, I sat down to watch my favorite show, "The West Wing", and afterwards thought I would check my email and blogs. Two and a half hours later, I finally shut down my laptop and went to bed! What was I thinking?? Was it the working for 2 or 3 hours, or the staying up until midnight that made it so hard to get up this morning??

My mistake was that I decided to look up "Sinister Minister" to see if anymore had been written about him and the Kentucky Derby. Oh, my goodness-- like I said I was reading for 2 1/2 hours and there were still lots of websites I hadn't gone to yet.
He isn't the favorite, but most commentators think that he is the fastest and a force to be reckoned with. I even found Pat's picture online (she got to be in the winner's circle for the Bluegrass Stakes). It will be fun and exciting to see what happens. Pat must be jumping out of her skin with anticipation. Good luck, Sinister Minister!