Sweet Beans Wednesday ~

Sweetest of Beans !

Khloe's Momma is now on maternity leave, so I don't

have my sweet beans Monday through Friday.

But,

I do have her every Wednesday for the day.

Here's how we spent our first "Sweet Beans Wednesday.

Banana Nut Bread 

Her job was to stir and sample.

 Below is after her first sample :-) 

She did a fine job keeping her eyes on the bread.

 We had a little lunch and watched the birds out back while we waited.

 

Gram tried a new recipe, browner than usual and low rising?

Tasted great, moist !

Khloe has made cookies with me before, this time she kept repeating,

"what a mess".

OCD perhaps? 

She's a mess and I have so much fun every minute I'm with her.

All ready looking forward to my next

Sweet Bean Wednesday !

Baking memories, it's what echos from my heart today.......

Tea Cups, Pearls and Aquamarine ~

My special delivery !

This beautiful necklace sent to me from my sweetest of sweet friends Judy

over at  http://justalittlesomethingforyou.blogspot.com/

She occasionally has a drawing for something extra special
and my name was picked!

I love the phase written on it,

Each new day is a gift

Not truer words for me .....

It has a tea cup on it...

I have sweet memories of drinking tea with 

my Mom when I was little, milk and sugar please :-)

It has a pearl on it....

A pearl that starts as something not so nice,

yet develops into something beautiful.

A reminder I'm never done growing into something better....

A beautiful aquamarine is also on it...

It happens to be Judy's birthstone,

but is a reminder of Mom's blue eyes.

Wanted Judy to see me wearing it !!!

I hope you will stop by Judy's blog, it's one of my favorites.

She is an awesome Christian Woman, Mother, Wife and Grandmother.

I believe God put her in my life just when I needed her,

for that I am so thankful. 

 I have learned so much about the woman I desire

to be, from her example.

Thank you Judy, for more than you know.....

Tea cups, Pearls and Aquamarine

the memories they stir, it's what echos form my hear today...

Lesson Re- Learned ~

So it's been a trying few months for many, many reasons......

each day feeling the weight of it,

building....

I'll jump to the point.

The day came where I thought,

I'm at my limit...

Feeling like I'd been drowning and just then realized it...

I needed a life preserver, yesterday!

A sweet friend shared an amazing devotional with me,

I felt lighter after I read it.

I was hopeful and felt some relief.

~

The next morning in the shower,

I heard myself ;

It's not about you debi.

Take the focus off you and put it back on God.

He is my life preserver.

This isn't the first time and likely won't be the last time I have

 to remind myself of this.

After my shower I couldn't wait to get to my favorite devotional, 

Jesus Calling. 

It's not by chance, this is what I read....

" I am training you to be aware of Me at all times.  Your assignment is to 

collaborate with Me in this training process......

Your mind goes off in tangents from its holy Center, time after time.  

Do not be alarmed by your inability to remain focused on Me.

Simply bring your thoughts gently back to Me each time they wander.

The quickest way to redirect your mind to me is to whisper My name."

Peace returns.

His Peace.

"Peace I leave you: my peace I give you.

I do not give to you as the world gives.

Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

John 14:27

The Peace I give is sufficient for you.

Occasionally I need to remind myself,

it's not about me.

 When I make it about me,

my peace is lost........

I so hope you were waiting to hear the same....

that hope, is what echos from my heart today.

A Letter From Fred - *OFFICIAL DOCUMENTARY* "Oh Sweet Lorraine" An Amazi...

Two for Tuesday ~

My daughter in law brought the girls by on Tuesday...

sounds odd saying the girls :-)

Just wanted to share the love with ya'll ......

Our water baby to be sure!

mid air ....just prior to the splash!!

Recycled water, smart girl...

Ellery Grace with the O mouth :-)

 

 

Myself with the little one...

So tired her little arm was just hanging in float mode...to tired to respond to the water Pa was drizzling :-)

 

Love this photo, she loves being in the spray of the hose.....

Happy, Happy, Happy.

How I spent my Tuesday afternoon is still echoing in my heart today!

Stories I Told My Sons ~ Problem Solved !

My sons are now 36 and 33, they of course know

they were just stories....

but they were for their own good!

Wet Hair

 I didn't want them going to bed with wet hair and my youngest really

didn't care for having me blow dry his hair.  He put up the biggest fuss.

My story solution,

" If you don't let me dry your hair you will permanently have hair like Cyndie Lauper"

Problem solved.

~

Cavities 

I had never had a fondness for trips to the Dentist so it was important to me 

as a Mom to help my boys prevent such trips!

Besides teaching them to brush properly I knew food and drink also had an affect.

I knew never to put a baby down with juice in a baby bottle, it sits around the rim of their teeth...

 and when they did get juice it was diluted with water.

I never bought soda when they were little, nor cookies.
We did Graham Crackers and milk :-)
A dentist told me one of the worst things on kids teeth, 

potato chips!  

When they chew them up it packs into the crevices and in between the teeth.

So of course sugar was a biggie for this Momma;

My story solution,

"There are candy bugs in all things sweet and they will eat holes in your teeth"

Imagine, the thought of bugs in their sweet little mouths,

Problem solved.

If given the option of a piece of cake or and apple,

they would take the apple every time :-)

~

Restaurant Do's and Don'ts

In an effort to teach and still have a life outside the home it was important to start taking my kids

to restaurants a an early age, high chair age in fact. Granted it was always to family restaurants until they learned and I was confident they would behave.  I never wanted my kids behavior to put a damper on someones night out to a nice restaurant away from their own children :-)

So of course we learned the basics, you sit on your chair, booster seat, high chair whatever.  You do not stand, you don't pound your silverware, you don't yell or scream...by all means do not throw a fit!!

In order to avoid a long process of teaching and frustration on every ones part....

The story solution,

" Do you see that man over there?"
(could be a manager, bus boy, no matter...just picked the biggest one ) 

 "This is his restaurant and if you misbehave he will come over and have a word
with you and may then throw you out".

From then on they always kept their little eyes peeled for the "man".

Problem solved.

~

The Step Up

As we moved up to fancy restaurants at the age of about 5 and 8 the napkins of course became cloth.

Now the focus was ordering their own food, the best of manners, use of which fork, spoon, explaining why bread it on a plate and oil on another? 

 Step one was always unfold the napkin and put it on your lap....must be in place prior to taking a bite!

Here the story deal/solution;

If you forget to do so you must step outside the restaurant door and sing your ABC's, if in a home one would step in to the adjoining room and sing their heart out for all to hear.

Once my husband forgot his napkin at a dinner we were invited to....was he embarrassed when the 

boys reminded him of the deal.
Yes, he stepped into the next room and sang so
 so all could hear.

Problem solved

~

My all time favorite was not a story, it was the rule!

Attitude Re-adjustment Rule

If you have a bad attitude you will go into your room, lay on your bed and think about changing your attitude.  If and when you choose to change your attitude to a pleasant respectful one, come on out!

Sound easy...the catch,

no t.v., no music, no books, no magazine, no toys.

Just a boy and his bed :-)

 How long was up to them, either way no bad attitude was in the family living space.

My oldest caught on fast...he was in the room not 5 minutes and was out stating he had a better attitude.

My youngest....in the room for a good hour....strong willed little guy :-)

Bad attitude, problem solved....

That's all I've got in the memory bank today ...

reflecting on some things that worked, is what echos on in my heart today...

Gary Johnson ~ His Families Loss and the Joy ~ Lost and Found

What exactly is joy?

noun: joy

a feeling of great pleasure and happiness.

"tears of joy"

Synonyms: delight, great pleasure, joyfulness, triumph, rejoicing, jubilation, happiness, 

ecstasy, bliss, glee, euphoria.

If  you know joy, as I do, it's not just happiness,

it's a step above!

When I don't have joy, I'm depressed, I've suffered some type of devastation.

The clearest this ever was to me was when my Father passed away.

For approximately 18 days I was in that beginning stage, of the funk.

The best way to describe it was the word, surreal. 

A season of deep sadness.

Your in a fog, just going through the motions with no real sense of time.

I would wander through the day in disbelief ...having to continue to say to myself,

this is real, it really happened.

Wondering how I now would live my life without him?

It's such a change.

Life goes on, the fact is it's a very different life.

For me the surreal lasted a long time...it sometimes still feels surreal,

and its been over four years.

I do recall not being able to imagine for a second that I would ever feel joy again.

~

I received the phone call.

I was in Montana and my sister called to tell me that her daughter had given birth to

 our sweet, sweet Ruby Lou.

It was like when your pregnant and feeling that first kick.

I felt the kick of joy deep in my soul.

In that moment, I knew I could and would feel joy again.

The circle of life never made more sense.

My Father no longer with us, but our Ruby Lu was just beginning her's.

My grand daughter Ellery was born last Thursday.

Approximately four hours earlier my cousin Dona very unexpectedly

 lost her precious, sweet, amazing husband. 

Her children lost an amazing Father.

Her grand children, their much loved Grand father.

The rest of us a dear friend you couldn't help but love.

I'm so thankful I was able to see Gary and their family at our 

recent family reunion in Montana, so thankful for that.

August 20th...

It was an odd day.

Here I have this beautiful healthy newborn, a sweet little baby girl to love,

I couldn't have be happier.

At the same time, my heart was so heavy for my cousin Dona and her family.

It seemed so unfair that our experiences of the day were so opposite.

Then I brought myself to some level of peace with it.

Though Gary lived a life cut way too short, and I'm sad he is gone...

Ellery's had just begun, something to celebrate!

It's often how life goes.......

Not to mention, I know my cousin Dona would want me to celebrate this new life.

She's just that special of a person.

Gary, assured a place in heaven by decisions made in life.

He is now celebrating life,

a life everlasting!

Though he will be  missed, I think none would really want him back if it meant that 

what he is experiencing now and forever more would be taken away.

He is now in a place with no tears, sorrow, pain, worry or grief.

A place where joy is permanent.

The best part is, for those of us who've made the same decisions as Gary in 

regard to our spiritual life....

We have the promise we will be reunited with him in heaven,

for eternity.

What a reunion it will be.

For my cousin Dona whom I love like a sister, 

I pray for her and her family, as they muddle through this new place they've found themselves.

I know for sure,

though the life they live has forever been changed, a new way of living will begin, 

and though they may not know it yet,

they will find joy again.

I can not share this story with out you really catching a glimpse of the 

beautiful woman of God Dona is...

the kind of woman I aspire to be....

This is her post this morning on Facebook......

Day is dawning. Light behind the silhouette of trees on the ridge above our meadow. I am watching the day begin. Today I am not despairing. My grief is not scaring me any longer. It is my friend which is reminding me there must be this time of emotional and physical transition. This is a precious time of wrenching from my heart despair and welcoming love and memories and thankfulness. It is life work and it is good. In the meantime God surrounds me with his love, He is faithful. I am leaning on my God who is caring for Gary. Our marriage of three is still thriving with God at the center. Even in our parting for a time we are connected as we are on each side of God. I am content now to wait on this side of heaven resting in the knowing that my Gary is there in heaven where he belongs because God said so. And I believe it and now I am embracing it. Life is good because God is. Yes it is. 

Yes, God.

Wishing I were near my sweet cousin during this time, is what echos from my heart today.....

I'm seriously hoping Gary is now fishing along side my Dad :-)

~