Monthly Archives: November 2015

Miller’s birthday

Miller turned four years old on November 21.  We were in Pennsylvania for Rebecca’s funeral on his actual birthday and it didn’t seem like the right time to celebrate.  So instead of one big party, he ended up with  three small ones.  Miller is so easy going and agreeable that he didn’t care one bit that he didn’t have a big party for his birthday like Wilson and Faith usually have. Honestly, small parties are all he has ever known for his birthday.   Each of my children have gotten the short end of the stick in some regard, and Miller’s just happens to be his birthday parties.  They still have the traditional cake, family and gifts, but that is it.  I remember Faith having a birthday party at the playground with her “friends” when she turned two and Wilson had his third birthday party (a combo with Faith’s) at Monkey Joe’s.  I guess that by the time the third child came, I was tired of doing birthdays (it doesn’t help that Miller’s is only a few weeks after both Wilson and Faith’s birthday).  However, a kid can’t complain about having three small parties instead of one big one!

Miller’s first “party” was at Maw-Ma and Pa’s house on Friday night.  Some cupcakes were dropped off at the house so we decided to stick a few candles in it and sing “Happy Birthday”.  Aunt Kim even brought him a soccer ball….the perfect gift!

  

Miller’s next party was at his preschool.   We brought popsicles to share with his classmates….
His third, and final party, was at my parent’s house with Gabriel and Shepherd, who were in Charlotte for Thanksgiving.   Miller was given plenty of gifts from my parents, the boys and Grandmama.  We had ice cream sundaes for dessert – Miller’s had candles in it, of course.

My baby is four-years-old.  He is still glued to my side and I carry him around as if he were still only two.  His demeanor is so calm and sweet that I don’t mind having him around me all of the time.  He likes to say, “Mommy, I love you”.  If I ask him what he wants for lunch he sometimes may respond, “Whatever you fix me is fine.”  (He says that to be sweet and agreeable even though he doesn’t really mean it.  But that is just who he is.)  He is a fabulous soccer player, loves a good sandbox, and is a fantastic cuddler.  My favorite thing about Miller are his cheeks. They are so soft and dense that I kiss them all of the time.  I also kiss him because he is my baby.  :)  I tell him to quit growing up, but I know that he can’t.  I pray daily that I will remember all of the cute, silly and sweet things that he does.  I don’t want to forget a thing!  I am truly blessed.

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving I did something totally different – I started the day off by working out at Carolina Sweat.  I thought that working out would ease my guilt from over eating and being completely gluttonous.  It did!  Doug and his boys came into town for the weekend so Doug actually came with me to the gym.  It was a fun way to start the day.

After I finally finished making my sweet potato casserole (all five pounds of it), we headed over to my parents’ house for the day.  We had another fun filled Thanksgiving with the Wilson clan and many others.  As usual, there was more food than we could all eat…but I definitely tried. We socialized, caught up on what was happening in each other’s lives, ate, rested, and watched football – the quintessential American Thanksgiving.   At one point in the day, a few hours after we had been at my mom’s, I actually said, “I don’t think I have seen my kids all day.”  They were having so much fun with their cousins and friends that I didn’t see them for hours.  I think I saw them for a total of twenty minutes during the entire day.

Amazingly, I was able to get all of the cousins together for a picture.  From left front to back: Worth, Shepherd, Miller, Manning, Wilson, Gabriel, Maddie, John, Will and Faith.

The boys spent most of the their time digging in the garden….

 

 

I was able to get most of the Wilson women in a single picture.  Claire, Lisa, Betty, Laura, Grace, Maddie, Me and Faith….  

I love Thanksgiving.  It is one of my favorite holidays of the year.  I get to see most of my aunts, uncles and cousins in one place.  The house is always loud and full of laughter.  I am thankful to be surrounded by such joyful and loving family.

Tom’s Mom

It seems like I have been going to a lot of funerals lately.  Last week I went to my Aunt Judy’s funeral, who had lost her fight against cancer.  This weekend I went to my mother-in-law’s funeral, who also lost her fight against cancer.  It seems that more and more people are losing their battle against cancer, and it is troubling. Although I could totally get on my soapbox at this point, I won’t.  This post is about Rebecca Rogers – Tom’s mother, my Mother-in-Law and my children’s Grandmother (Maw-Ma).

I cannot imagine losing a parent.  Although Tom knew that it was coming, I don’t think he, or anyone else, could ever be fully prepared for the actual event.  I am thankful that he was there with her when she went to heaven.  As a Christian, it is comforting to know that a loved one, and fellow believer in Christ, is immediately in heaven with the Lord when the heart stops beating.  We miss the person here on Earth, but we also rejoice in the new life that is given in heaven.  Rebecca is now in heaven with a new body that is no longer sick. In that, we rejoice.

I have to say that one of the hardest events of the last week was telling the kids that Maw-Ma had passed away.  The children literally cried and wailed, Wilson especially.  He was really looking forward to going up to see her again so that he could say good-bye to her. Wilson is a sweet and sensitive little boy, and although he didn’t pay Maw-Ma a lot of attention when in Pennsylvania, she was still his grandmother and he loved her.  Faith spent the most time with her;  they would color together and Maw-Ma would teach Faith about the Appalachian mountains and the Susquehanna River.  We were planning to go up to visit this past weekend, but instead of a visit with her, we went to her funeral.  It is sometimes amazing how we make plans for one thing, but end up doing another on the same day.

The funeral was a nice memorial of Rebecca.  There were many scriptures that she wanted to have read which allowed many loved ones to come up and speak.  She wanted to be remembered for her faith in Christ.  She knew who her Lord was and hoped that she had pointed to Him throughout her life.  I am sad that she is gone and I know that she will be missed.  She loved her family dearly and was committed to showing my children how much she loved them and wanted to be with them.   I know that they will miss her as well.

Here is one of my favorite pictures of Faith and Maw-Ma….

  

Thankful and Grateful

I went to bed last night, and woke up this morning, in a bad mood.  The reason I was in a bad mood was because I had started thinking about all of the things that I wish our new house had – more land, not so close to 485, room for cows, etc. (Yes, I want to have cows.)  I love the inside of our house, but deep down want a house out in the country – far away from neighbors and the city life.  Now don’t get me wrong, I really do love our new house.  The inside of it is perfect, and for where we are in life right now, it is what we need and can afford.  I don’t know why, but no matter how great life is, I think that we humans always want more….at least I do.

I was set straight this morning while at bible study.  After our lesson was over, our group leader asked a few women how things were going for them.  I was humbled to know that one woman has a grandchild with a hole in her heart and will be operated on in December.  Another woman has a daughter with a disease that keeps her from interacting with her peers.  Both women were in tears over these terrible situations that are going on in their lives.  I sat there listening to their stories feeling ashamed that I was complaining about something so trivial as a large yard and noise.  I have problems of privilege.   I immediately began to count my blessings:  I have healthy children,  a beautiful house, a great school for my kids, a loving family, food on the table, more clothes than we need, and again, healthy children.   I couldn’t want more in my life.  The fact that my family is healthy and alive is really all that I need or want.  I am blessed beyond measure.

I came home this afternoon with a brighter outlook and more joy in my heart.  Greed, jealousy and discontentment were stealing my joy, but thankfulness and gratitude for what the Lord has given me increased it ten fold.  The Lord has given me so many wonderful gifts and I need to thank Him daily for them.  I am going to choose to have a content heart, and to be thankful and grateful for everything that I have because I am truly blessed.

Faith’s birthday

Faith turned eight years old on November 1.  Like every child, she was very excited to be another year older (I think that feeling stops at age 21).  We were going to have her birthday party at the new house, but a week before her birthday I had the realization that there was no way that we could have her party at the new house.  Thankfully, I was able to book her party at the roller skating rink, Kate Skate.  Faith loves to roller skate and I was hoping that her friends would enjoy it as well.  Most of them did.   Roller rinks have not changed much in the last thirty years.  They are exactly the same as you remember them – dark corners, old carpeting, wood floors, video games, and top 40 music.  The perfect place for an eight year old birthday party.

The birthday party guests were a mixture of new Metrolina friends, friends she misses from CDS and church friends.  Left to right: Jesse Youngs, Mia Watson, Kallie, Hadley and Campbell Homan, Kelsey Nelson, and Faith.

Faith really misses her old friends from CDS.  It was nice that some of them could be at her party.  Kelsey and Faith really miss each other….

Grandmama was the first guest to arrive and one of the last to leave.  She and Faith have a sweet relationship.  Grandmama loves to watch Faith interact with her friends and have fun. (Faith is into making funny faces now, if you can’t tell.)  

For me, the best part of the party was spending time with Faith.  Even during her birthday party, with her friends around her, she still sought out my attention.  She wanted me to skate with her and to hold my hand.  I loved it!  She and I would hold hands while slinging each other forward so that we could go faster.  We even did the Hokie-Pokie together (although not my favorite dance song).
  

There has been a lot going on in our lives over the last three months.  Faith needed a special day with her friends.  She needed to do something fun and something that made her feel important and loved.  This birthday party was just what she needed.

Faith is such a sweet and caring little girl.  She is quick to console a friend that is sad or needs help.   She loves to play school and play with her dolls.  I know that switching schools has been difficult for her, but it has made her more self-assured and more confident.  She knows who she is and what she enjoys in life.  I admire her imagination and her enthusiasm for life.  My oldest baby is growing up and I am very proud of who she is and who she will be.