Return to the Simpler Times

Though this virus has become a real thing, there were and still are many unknowns.  That said we can only do as recommend by Dept. Of Health and CDC.

For example, if you are one who bought enough toilet paper to last you months, what were you thinking? Okay maybe you weren't thinking clear at the time. Now that the rest of us can't get our hands on a roll, how about you offer it up to neighbors, friends or family that are caught with their pants down so to speak???  Nor do we need to buy up bottled water, we all have plumbing which means you have water. I prefer my favorite bottled water but I'm not about to stand in line to buy it when my faucet is in working order. Relax with the over buying for everyone's sake. When you do shop be patient and appreciative of our Food employees. They are putting themselves at risk, working longer hours because of those who have panicked. Let them catch their breath, re stock and at minimum perhaps we can return to normal shopping as needed.

Think of your neighbors who maybe elderly, or those with compromised immune systems, those going through cancer treatments etc... Bob and I are in contact with two other homes near us and we have the agreement that if we plan on a grocery run, we let the other two homes know and we pick up stuff for them. We then keep a running tab on who owes us what and we square up every two weeks. Other than a need at the market, with Buster over 70 and my bad lungs, we're pretty much staying in and sticking to family that are doing the same. That may seem over kill to some,  and I don't worry if anyone doesn't understand. I know how my lungs feel on a good day, I think I'm worth not putting myself at risk.

When thinking about what to do with all this spare time, I looked back before the world got so busy, put itself at high speed all the time.  As kids we were good playing board games, cards, dolls, reading, watching movies and as a family sharing a night time television show.  We weren't all sitting with devices in our hands,  we were actually using them to be of help, doing chores and okay maybe hitting a sibling once or twice. 🤷

We could load up in our car and take a drive like we used to, we could go to the beach and take a walk in the fresh air. Heck my Dad would take us to the airport, park on the side of the road where planes were coming in to land  right over the car. It was thrilling for us kids and it didn't cost a thing other than the gas to drive there.
We played croquet in the yard, badminton, hopscotch. Sit with your kids and look at old photo albums, review those memories. These things are not extinct we just now choose to sit in front of a television or stare into our phones. 

Maybe while things are slow,  you can bake with your kids, do crafts, prepare meals together, have an ongoing jigsaw puzzle, deep clean our homes...whatever it is that we never have time to do because we always have our foot on the gas and full calendars.  Save some money, rather than spending money spend time. I never have enough time and now I do.

I hope to do all I've mentioned and more. I want to return to letter writing, people love to receive handwritten notes. More thought than an email or a text for sure. It says, I took the time to sit  down to let you know I was thinking about you, or better yet what you mean to me, rather than including it in a eulogy you won't hear.🤔  Work on unfinished projects, go through your closets and get rid of all those clothes that haven't fit you for years and give them to people who have no more than the clothes on their back. How many sweatshirts and coats to you have/need? Blankets, an extra few tucked away in closest that you haven't pulled out for years. There are many cold people on the streets at night. Myself I have lots of books, and I'm on a reading rampage currently and trying to pass them on to others.

Do you children a favor (insert emoji for first hand experience), go through those boxes of things you store and never get into. Clean out  your garage to where you can actually use them as intended. Get rid of stuff you haven't touched in years.. After the loss of loved ones, we are in no frame of mind to go through all of it and get rid of it because you didn't. Do it now....Get your files in order purge what you don't need. I have a big three wring notebook that holds information for every appliance we have, a page for paint colors in our home should we need to repaint etc... Have important files together such as banking, property, etc that  in the event something ever happen to you, your children know right where to go to get what they need. I have a list of monthly bills and of who provides us each service. Again, they, your children don't want to go through a million files to find the two or three important ones they would need right away.

This isn't meant to be a doomsday post, its just thoughts on things we could be doing rather than accomplishing nothing in this time of staying put. I really believe much good can come from this experience if we watch for it. My hope is we realize we don't have to go at full speed all the time, our calender's don't  have to be full at all times. We can actually return to the good old days of being in the presence of our families and building even stronger bonds. 

I have started journals of my youth up to now of things my kids or grands might enjoy reading one day when I'm gone. Things they never thought to ask, or I never shared. I so often have a question only my Mom or Dad could answer, one that I wish I had thought to ask them, and now I can't. Khloe was asking me questions about my youth during a recent sleep over. She wanted to know things I did for fun as a kid, what my fears were etc... I think the more they know the more they may listen to our advice when they realize we too had fun, fears heartbreaks, we once were children too! 

We can still help restaurants during this time...buy gift cards to give as gifts or to use when things are back to normal....that word seems so useless nowadays...What exactly is normal?

I just purged a lot of thoughts.....in hope something may be helpful to you and yours💓😻 

Wash your hands often after opening your mail, packages, groceries...you don't need sanitizers, soap and water are the best way to rid yourself of unwanted germs, and sheeish, stop touching your face! I never realized how much I do that until this all started.  SMH

Stay well, follow the rules, we can do this!
This is what echos from my heart today.... 💋

Seasons

Well, I've been away from blogging for four years now. Truth is I'm not even sure of why I stopped, I suppose I allowed life to get too busy. I started to go in and read the blogs I use to follow and catch up with each, but that just became overwhelming.... So let's start again!

The grand kids are growing up and we have a new addition. Dillon Kai was born in March of 2016 and he is a pistol. He is adorable, smart, funny, bossy, demanding and loves to cuddle. I watch him four days a week and he is just the greatest joy for us. Up until last week he called me, Mommy, Mama, Nemaw and finally nailed Namaw! It does a heart good just to be called :-)

Life is forever changing  as with everyone. Celebrations, sorrows, seasons of life each one.
I'm preparing for a vacation back to Montana for a family reunion this summer. I haven't made the annual trip since the loss of my sweet Aunt Wilma in over three years ago. Just haven't been able to bring myself to deal with a visit and her not being there, strangers living in the house that was formerly my Grandmothers. Uggh... I still try and go through it mentally as to prepare myself...it's sad, yet at the same time I'm excited to see all of my family and catch up. The Herndon family is a special group of individuals who love deeply and always have each others backs.

The end of last year my cousin Bob's son Ben asked if the could stay with us for a time. He moved   in a couple days later. He was going through some struggles as we all do in life and wanted to find work, get life in order and the plan was his wife and daughter would come here to live in California.  We had some amazing conversations and I started to feel even more connected with him. It was easy  to do as he had a really beautiful heart.  His wife Adrianne did come out to spend sometime with him and they were so in love so excited and optimistic about their future. Not long after she returned to Montana. After seeing them together I didn't think he was going to make it through the holidays away from his family so he returned to Montana as well.  Sadly Ben's life was taken in a motorcycle incident on May 10th at the age of 41. I'm still trying to wrap my head around this tragedy, the family and all who knew him are at such a loss. A celebration of his life is next Friday in Butte Montana, I will be there in spirit as our family gathers. Our reunion this summer will be bitter sweet, as there will be an empty seat at the table. Benjamin will not be forgotten, but forever in our hearts.

Life can be over in an instant, why we often assume it will never be someone close to us? We should be living life fully, speaking love to those we love. What if we were to tell others what they mean and have meant to us while they are with us rather than at their service? I think it requires really being aware of doing it daily and maybe it then becomes second nature?  I am thankful for the time I had with Benjamin, he knew how much I loved him, how much hope I had for his future being bright again.

A dear friend told me, "I know he enjoyed his time with you and Bob, and the Lord brought him to you out of the blue to share His love with Ben. God knew how short his time was and knew you'd be obedient to share God with Ben."  Ben told me one night he felt as if there was an empty hole inside that he couldn't fill. I told him, "that is the hole only God can fill, and that is when that peace that surpasses all understanding takes over." His response is that is what I've been looking for!

I hope that space has been filled for each of you, it's what echos from my heart today....

Hugs!

Family Vacation ~ Awesomeness

We've just returned from three nights in the mountains with our kiddos and grand kids.

I'm exhausted but with a smile on my face and a happy heart!

We rented a home up in Julian, an hour from home.

Like most Mom's I just wanted sometime with as many of us together as I could get.

In preparation for the trip Khloe and Ellery let me help them make brownies and peanut butter cookies!

As soon as we arrived at the house we unpacked went into town for lunch and returned

to sample the baked goods...

 Then is was into the swimwear for a dip in the pool. 

These two can spend

many hours in a pool!

 

Beans trying on her new goggles :-)

Roo with her new pool toy...taste test?

 The oldest three cousins would not arrive until late the first night, 

which was not a good thing according to these two. 

They love being with their cousins!

Now for a peak at this fabulous location we found.

Back side of home

View out back...

Back porch, with screened in porch through that door..

Back porch

Loved the front porch 

Neighbors across the road :-)

Rooms above garages

Library

Screened in porch

Entry

Library

Master

Master bath

Formal dinning room

One of the guest rooms

Laundry room

Stairway down to kitchen

Formal Dinning room...

Patio area

Kitchen

~

Family Photos

( WARNING THERE WERE LOTS TO CHOOSE FROM

SO LOTS OF PHOTOS :-)   )

Ellery and Khloe

Gavin

DIL Katie

Ellery playing bean bag toss

Joseph (hard to get a photo without his eyes closed) :-)

Worn out Khloe and Daddy

Bocce ball

Daughter Jackie and Grand Aubrie

Ellery and Momma

Aubrie in search of rabbits...

Namaw and Roo

My crazy daughter in law Katie

Follow the leader

Said bunny....

An after nap hug...

New leader :-)

My oldest grand Julia and youngest Ellery

Ev and Gavin

My girl Jackie and I .

Son Mike throwing Beans in the air, regardless of that face she liked it, I didn't.........

Julia, Jackie and Ev

Julia and Ellery

Aubrie and Gavin

Ellery, Julia, Gavin

Mike and Katie

Pa and Katie

Mike, Katie and Joseph

Gavin, Ev and Aubrie

Men talk....

Aubrie and Ellery

Bob aka Buster Jackie and Joseph

Sweet Beans and Nam

Game room was a hit!

Jackie and Ev in relax mode....then came Khloe...

Where is  Roo?? Hiding behind Uncle Joseph...

Gavin and Khloe

Khloe, Ellery, Julia and Gavin

Grands minus 3

Sweet Roo

Katie

Daughter Jackie

Beans hosted her first Tea Party ~

Fell asleep on time out :-)

Maker of corn bread....

Aubrie and her tether ball :-)

Ev, Jackie and Beans

Gavin and Joseph

Beans

DIL Katie

Ellery

Gavin and Julia

Myself and the littles....

Aubrie, lead hunter of rabbits....

In search of bunny,,... found it!

Looks like she had to get out of the pool.....

Namaw and Roo

Jackie

Khloe and Daddy

Khloe and Ellery with Daddy

Mike and his Hannah Montana towel :-)

M &M bandit....

Khloe and Gavin

Pa and Khloe

 

Ev and Julia

Beans

Julia and Roo

Ev and Gavin

~

Its what happens when you take over 400 photos....

Obvious what echos from my heart today, no?

:-)