Neena and Papa's House

Our kids are growing....

2011-09-14T14:51:00.000-04:00

I just had to post this picture from Labor Day weekend. Breanna was so excited to see how much taller then me she is and of course C.J. had to show he is almost there. Jay'von just wanted in on the picture but it does show how tall he is going to be in just a few short (no pun intended) years.

Aren't they cute. Breanna is 10 years old. C.J. and Jay'von both have birthdays in a couple of weeks. C.J. will be 9 and Jay'von will be 4. I guess I have some tall grandchildren. Three out of four, at least.

I'll have to post some more summer pictures soon and I have some new recipes I have tried this summer I want to share. Be back soon!

She's Finished! (for now)

2011-05-16T11:55:00.001-04:00

I just want to take the time to congratulate Courtney on reaching another milestone in her career climb. She graduated this weekend with her RN and we are very proud of her accomplishment. She plans to continue school this fall for her BSN and maybe her Masters after that. She has ambition and goals and I admire her for striving and achieving those goals. She works hard and I know she can do whatever she sets her mind to. Congratulations, Courtney! We love you.

Courtney Janelle Sherron, RN

Jay'v congratulating Mama.

Quote of the day: Sonya (Courtney's friend) taught Jay'von to say Congratulations to Courtney after her pinning ceremony on Thursday night. On Friday morning Jay'v and I were driving to Morgantown to attend Sonya's ROTC officier's commissioning ceremony. Jay'v didn't want to get up early to do this. He kept saying he wanted to go back home. I told him we wanted to go to Sonya graduation. He said "I don't want to go to Sonya's gradulation and already went to Mommy's gradulation last night!"

Random thoughts.....

2011-05-07T17:49:00.001-04:00

There are lots of random thoughts running through my head right now. Some of the things I could write about; It's one of the coldest springs I remember, Easter, Breanna and Carolyn's birthday's, Mother's day, Courts upcoming graduation.... I could go on and on and on and on. I think you get the picture.

I think I will suffice it to say I will just post a couple pictures from the last couple of weeks and do a longer post next week when I have more time.

Enjoy! These are from Easter weekend which was also Carolyn's birthday. She is 29 and has never had her birthday on Easter. Someone did some research and found it has been over a hundred years since Easter was on April 24 and will be that many more before it happens again. So she enjoyed a once in a lifetime occurrence.

Carolyn, George and Zara on Carolyn's Birthday

Baby Zara having some quality time with Papa

Courtney and Jay'von

Breanna and C.J.

Breanna with her birthday cheesecake....

Well that about covers the last few weeks. I'm not sure why we don't have any pictures of Chuck and Danielle. They must have been hiding from the camera.

Have a great week! It's going to be a busy one. Mother's Day is tomorrow and Courtney graduates with her RN on Thursday night. I'll be back after it's all over.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

2011-04-22T10:22:00.002-04:00

Thirty-three years ago today I began a new chapter of my life. It was no longer "my" life but "our" life. It has been an intersting journey with many hills and valleys but definitely worth the ride.

Our day was sunny and beautiful after a snow storm the day before. I remember driving home from decorating the reception hall and crying all the way because of the "blizzard" it was right then. But it soon melted and the next day was wonderful. I think you call that typical Ohio weather.

There have been lots of changes in our life in the last thirty-three years. We have added a son and two daughters, a daughter-in-law and son-in-law, and four wonderful, precosious, beautiful grandchildren to our family. We are so blessed!

I am thankful to say I have a wonderful husband, too. He has been a union carpenter for 32 years and I have to say he is one person in a thousand who loves his work. I never have to drag him up in the morning to go to work. I feel blessed in that area because I have worked with people that were not that fortunate.

He also has made it possible for me to be home the last three years to take care of Jay'von so Courtney could go to school for her nursing degree. I realize he has sacrificed and worked extra hours so I could do that but he didn't complain. He's just that kind of guy. Our children never went to daycare (I didn't work until they were in school), and he knew I didn't want that for our grandchildren, either.

He also loves to help around the house. He is a champion cookie baker and loves to make jam and jelly. It has been so many years since I made jam I probably forget how. He is famous around here for his Hot Pepper Jelly (yes, it is made with hot peppers) that we serve on cream cheese with crackers. We have to make extra since we give away so much. And, yes, I do gladly admit that he made it instead of me. I am proud to say I have a hammer slinging, wooden spoon stirring, apron wearing (nail and kitchen) husband!

Thanks, Charlie, for being such a wonderful husband and putting up with my quirks for thirty-three years. I hope we have at least that many more. I love you!

One Thing....

2011-03-16T13:35:00.000-04:00

I have been thinking a lot about change. I'm sure we all have things in our life we want to change. Whether it be eating right, breaking a habit that we are bound to or just being more consistent in our devotions or exercise we all have things we want to do differently. I am beginning to realize the only way to change things is by taking one thing at a time.

I am a person who wants to jump in totally at once and then quickly gets discouraged.  That is not a good thing when it comes to making changes in real life. We need to start slow and make the changes one at a time. I have heard if you do something for 6 weeks it becomes a habit. So choose something you really want to change in your life and do it.....one day at a time.....for 6 weeks and see what happens. I'm ready!! See, there I go again, ready to jump right in and fall flat on my face. But that's OK. At least I have determination and for some of my issues it will take real determination.

I need to lose about 100 pounds. There, I have said it.  Yes, that is a BIG goal. But, you know, if I take one day at a time and change the way I look at it, it will happen. This will mean changing my eating (and cooking) habits and adding exercise to my already busy life.

I say my "cooking" habits because I recently decided that I show my love by cooking and baking things I know people will enjoy. I just love to get in the kitchen and create things I know people like to eat. Now tell me how to overcome that. It is really hard to make homemade cinnamon rolls from Helen Deitz recipe and not want to eat them. Any of you that knew Helen know that her rolls were wonderful. I'm not saying that mine are near as good as hers but they are good and I love to make them for people. I made a big batch for Valentine's Day and gave them away (but ate a few in the meantime).

I try to be disciplined and not eat what I make and sometimes I succeed but more likely not. So, tell me, do I quit baking and feel depressed or continue and try to be superdieter and leave it alone. I realize I should have willpower and I'm sure as I lose the weight it will feel so good I might be able to pass things up but I'm scared that won't happen.

So I have decided, with God's help, I am taking one day at a time and do whatever I have to do to get through that day. If I need to bake for some occasion I will make sure nothing is left in my kitchen for temping me the next day.  If I slip up I will be ready to pick right back up where I left off.

I am declaring today as my new start to an old problem. I will keep you updated on my progress. Let me know if you want to join me in this journey. You know the saying the more the merrier.

Thank God for our new blessing!

2011-03-15T20:58:00.000-04:00

Zara Chriselda Ann Cheriyan
Born 3/7/2011 @ 8:25 pm
6 lb 11 oz - 19" long

Little Zara is now a week old and it is time to welcome her publicly into our family. She is already such a little blessing who has wrapped her self around Neena and Papa's hearts already.

Congratulations Carolyn and George! You did good!!

RANDOM THOUGHTS.....

2011-02-28T12:31:00.000-05:00

Did you ever wonder why we have such a hard time doing something we know we should? Why not just do it? Why do we play games with ourselves knowing what the end result has to be?

I have decided that there are some things that no one can do for me and really they probably don't care anyway. I have to do them myself. I have to pull myself up by my boot straps and take control of the situation! (the bad thing is I don't wear boots....but you know what I mean). We have all been there at one time or another. A real "ah ha" moment when we realize we are responsible for our own destiny, you might say. Although God is our ultimate authority we do have to answer for ourselves.

So, I say all that to say this. I have made a HUGE commitment to myself to accomplish some things in the near future. No, this is not a New Years Resolution and it probably isn't earth shattering to anyone but me. But I am going on record as saying it is going to happen. There! As my mother-in-law used to say, "I've said it and I'm glad."

On another note, we are enjoying some spring like weather. We have all had our share of the usual gunk that is going around but thank God is hasn't been as bad as some. I attribute that to the fact that Jay'v and I pretty much just stay here all snug and warm and away from all the germs....LOL. We will get out when the weather gets real nice and the germs are gone.

We are looking forward to the newest arrival of the Sherron clan within the next couple of weeks. Carolyn and George are all ready to welcome baby Zara. She can make her entrance just any time. Her little pink room is ready and waiting for her homecoming.

It is amazing how different babies are. Carolyn was my impatient one. I had false labor from six months on. I actually spent the night in the hospital twice getting the labor to stop because she was impatient to get here. She was actually born 3 1/2 weeks early. Zara is due in 1 1/2 weeks and Carolyn hasn't felt much of anything. That doesn't mean she won't go tomorrow but she sure has been a calm baby as far as that goes. We hope that continues for Mommy and Daddy's sake.

The Sherron house is kind of in an uproar right now. Charlie is between jobs for a few weeks so we decided to remodel the master bathroom. These projects are always such a mess and always seem to run into unexpected twists and turns but the end result will be worth it. Maybe I'll post pictures after it is all done.

Does anyone need a recipe for homemade pizza crust that tastes just like frozen pizza....LOL. Seriously, I love to make things with yeast dough and usually have great success but not this time. I recently bought a new cookbook that is all baking and mostly yeast dough and even though I have a good pizza crust recipe I thought I would try this one since it looked so good. Well, the dough was so stiff even with not using all the flour that I just knew it wasn't going to rise good. (and I was right). This dough was so heavy and stiff I just rolled it out and made some cheesy bread sticks with it. Wasn't so bad that way. Then I made my old tried and true recipe and proceeded with my pizzas. A lesson learned. I don't usually make a "new" recipe when I have am having company but it worked out since they were running late and my recipe only has to rise for 15 minutes. So, remember, if you want a recipe to taste just like that old frozen pizza just let me know....I have it.

Sorry this has been kind of rambling but I did warn you. Now time to move some more stuff out of the bathroom so my own personal "Bob the Builder" can proceed with making a mess in order to make it beautiful.

"I will figure it out...."

2011-02-04T09:54:00.000-05:00

My 3 year old grandson wasn't feeling well last evening and asked me to cuddle with him. I sat down for a few minutes of cuddle time but needed to finish supper so couldn't stay as long as he wanted. When I started to get up he wanted me to stay. I told him I needed to finish Papa's supper, to which he promptly responded, "I can do it." When I asked him what he meant he said it again. Laughing I asked how he was going to do that and he said, "I don't know, but I can figure it out." Then he proceeded to put a finger to his chin and hum as if he was trying to figure it out.

About that time Charlie came in and Jay'von went running to tell him that he needed to go back to the car. Of course Charlie was very confused as he isn't used to being met at the door with a command to go back and get in his car. He wanted to know if we needed to go somewhere but Jay'v told him no, "WE*STILL*NEED*TO*COOK*YOUR*FOOD"! Of course said very slowly and adamantly, with much hand waving (doesn't get that from his Neena or anything). It was so cute.

As I was sitting thinking about this last night I realized that's what we do with God sometimes. We try to take on things he already has under control, even though we don't have any idea what we are doing. We try "to figure it out". I am so guilty of this. I need to learn that even as I had everything in the kitchen taken care of and really didn't need Jay'von's help, God has my life already planned and taken care of and doesn't need my help to make it right. If I just sit back and let him do it, it will come out right. I remember someone (I think it was Sheila Wolfe) saying to imagine we are on a tandem bike....God is in in front and doing the steering. We are in the back and just need to follow along. We have to keep pedaling and not drag our feet, and of course lean the right way in a curve, but we don't need to worry about steering the right direction. He has all that under control. Sometimes I tend to want to change places with him and get in the drivers seat. I just need to remind myself that I am the rider in this life. God is my Father and He will take me through.

This was a real important lesson for me right now. January and February are not my best months. I need lots of sunshine (and we aren't getting much). And I tend to get depressed and SAD. And when that happens I do tend to forget that God is in control of every situation. Thank God for his guidance even if he uses a very funny 3 year old.

I'M A WINNER!!!

2011-02-02T04:57:00.000-05:00

My wonderful, high speed, satellite Internet was not so wonderful yesterday. As a matter of fact, it isn't most days anymore. I'm not sure what is going on but plan on making a call today to see why my server isn't responding most of the time at least 4 days of the week. But aside from all that, I find that I am a winner in the drawing held over at ourshelteringtree.blogspot.com . If you haven't visited their blog yet you are missing something. They have a very unique situation with a mother and her two daughters blogging together. They all have great, encouraging things to say. You definitely would benefit from checking them out and add them to your list of blogs your read regularly. They have wonderful ideas about many things from decorating, to recipes, to how to live our lives pleasing to God. Of course that is the most important aspect. We all need help and encouragement in our daily walk with God and Pam and her family have lots of God given talent they are willing to share. Thanks, Pam, Melanie, Emily (and of course, Morgan) for starting your wonderful blog and for the gift. God knows when we need a lift.

Christmas Eve and Random thoughts.....

2011-01-20T20:08:00.000-05:00

I was born into a large family. We hear a lot these days about large families and that was us. No we didn't have 17 or 19 or whatever but there were 6 of us and really that is a lot. Especially since we are all now grown with families of our own. Of course we all have spouses, so that makes 12. Then add the 16 grandchildren and 13 1/2 great grandchildren for a total of 41. And we can't forget who started it all! So with just my immediate family we have a total of 43 1/2 people. Quite impressive, I think. Maybe not what the Duggers will have in a few years but still a large family. And with a group that large it is hard for all of us to get together in the winter in one house since we can't spread out outside. So, I said all that to say this....We have to rent a building for our Semi Annual Christmas Eve Fish Fry. This year we rented the Arden Community Center about 20 minutes from us. Most of the family were able to be there. There were some circumstances that hindered some from coming and I feel bad about that. I know our families are all spreading out and we have traditions of our own but I will be an advocate of this for as long as possible. Of course I am the one that has no family on the other side to spend the off year with so I do look forward to these "together" years.

So here goes.....hope your eyeballs don't pop out from all the pics but there was so much going on it is hard to pic just a few.

First of all I am posting this for my Mom. Mom has lost almost 40 pounds in the last year and complains because she can't lose the last few pounds. This first picture was taken at Carolyn and George's wedding in October of 2008. Wouldn't you agree that she has done great! These are beautiful before and after pics as far as I'm concerned.

The rest of these are in no special order, just kind of random. I will try to caption so you know who and what (sometimes that's hard to tell...lol). Hope you enjoy them.

Not sure what this is...Jeremy is acting out his story and we probably don't even want to know...LOL

We set up a craft table in the corner for the little ones. Shannon and Carolyn both brought stuff for them to work on.

This is Allie, Carrington, Austin, Devin, Kenzie, and Jay'v.

One of the chief cooks....my brother Rick. Doesn't he look great almost 60 pounds lighter. He's my inspiration!!

My sister-in-law Tonia cooking Hush Puppies. You just have to taste them to see if they're right.

My sister, Donna. She's really concentrating on all that food.

The end result.....

Uncle Curt trying to see if his belly is bigger then Carolyn's preggo one!

Girl cousins picture.....Sarah, Courtney, Carolyn and Jody.

All the women after the Chinese gift exchange...and we still loved each other!!!

All the men including Jeremy with his "man purse" that they fought over!

So there, you have it. We're kind of crazy, but a lovable bunch. As you can see, this has become a big thing attended by some friends also. We say the more, the merrier!! And we do know how to be merry....especially when you get us all together.

By the way, I am thinking of starting a food blog with recipes.....what do you think? Should I????

Coming up next....our family Christmas and Court's birthday....hopefully before 3 weeks goes by.

Church Christmas Program....

2011-01-07T23:31:00.000-05:00

If you're not me or my immediate family you will probably find this boring because these pictures are just of our kids....I've got a lot more so if your kids were in it and you want to see them, just let me know.

Our Christmas program was entitled "An Old Fashioned CHRISTmas with CHRIST in it". They actually decorated the church with pine garland and paper chains with strings of popcorn hanging from the candelabras. It was beautiful and looked so authentic. Andrea has a wonderful gift for decorating.

Jay'von saying "Happy Birthday, Jesus!"

Breanna

C.J.

The pine garland and paper chains....I didn't get the popcorn :(

This is the whole group singing at the end

Jody and Lennie singing - (this one's for Granny)

We wanted to get pictures of everyone while they were all dressed up for the program but it is hard to get them together. The following pictures will show you how hard....lol.

Finally, one that worked.....C.J. (8), Breanna (9), and Jay'von (3)

Then we tried to add Neena and Papa to the mix and had more fun. Charlie's eyes are very sensitive to the flash and he shuts them when photographed. We have tried all the usual remedies and still have many pictures through the years with his eyes shut. This time was no exception but we did get a couple that were tolerable. :)

This is a prime example.....everyone is fine, except his eyes are closed. We actually had family pictures taken once when the kids were small and he had his eyes closed in every one. The next one is the only one that worked.

I wanted to get pictures of everyone but after all that everyone was done. That was the best we could do for one night.

My extended family is quite large. I have 5 siblings plus our spouses, our children and in some cases their children. When we are all together there are sixty some of us. Every other year we all get together for Christmas, and guess what. This was the year. So my next post will have pictures of our semi annual Christmas Eve Fish Fry......coming soon!

Cookie Exchange.....

2011-01-04T19:16:00.000-05:00

I started a post for New Years about all that happened in 2010 but it just was taking to long. I think I'll just focus on a review of December in pictures. Hope you enjoy them!

The first thing that happened in December was our Second Annual Cookie Exchange. We started this last year for a fun time with our family and friends. We expected about 20 people and had over 50 attend. My little house was bursting at the seams. Andrea Poston offered her BIG family room to us this year. So we packed up all our stuff and took it next door for the party.

These pictures are just a few I had time to take during the busy evening. Sorry, somehow I neglected to get pictures of the wonderful cookies.

Kristen's snowflake sugar cookies

My niece Jody as "Grandma got run over by a reindeer"

The ladies can come dressed in Christmas attire. We actually give a prize for the favorite outfit. These are the ladies that dressed for the occasion.

These last pictures are of some of the ladies that attended the party. I wasn't able to get everyone because there was so much going on.

We had a great time and an excellent turnout even though the weather didn't cooperate. We're already looking forward to next year.

Coming up next.....Church Christmas Program.

THE JESSE TREE

2010-11-29T11:54:00.000-05:00

I have decided to do something new for advent this year. Since Jay'von is with us most of the week I wanted to some kind of Advent Calendar for him but don't like the whole Santa Claus thing you find everywhere. Just today I read another blog about starting a Jesse Tree with her kids. It needs to start today (some start on the 28 and some on the first but since I didn't get inspired until today I decided today it is). There are many ways to do it and you could google it if you want info. Basically it tells the story from creation to Jesus birth in little 2-4 minute devotions each day. They get to hang a picture (ornament) on the tree each day as you go through the story. The blog that I read actually started her kids when they were 3 so we are about right. I think Breanna and C.J. will enjoy it, too. I actually printed all the stuff for them to make their own.

Let's face it, it is all about traditions and this seemed like a good one to start. I'll post pictures after I get it started.

If you want to know where I got my info or the places I printed my stuff let me know. I'd be glad to share.

May you all know the wonder and excitement of Christmas as seen through the eyes of a little child. You might want to do this even if there isn't a child in your home.

God's Been Good

2010-11-25T11:37:00.000-05:00

I saw this on someones blog the other day and it just seemed like how I feel these days. God has been good to us. Sometimes I feel like he has been better to me then most. He just keeps blessing and blessing us. Last year someone put out a Facebook challenge to post what you are thankful for every day in the month of November. It was quite interesting to do. I'm not on Facebook this year but have tried to do that each day this month. We do have so much to be thankful for. Our family has pretty good health. Yes, we have our usual aches and pains and Carolyn has had some problems with her gallbladder while pregnant but for the most part we are healthy. When I look at some of the blogs I read daily I realize we are so blessed with good health. God has given me a wonderful family. I have a husband that provides for us so that I am able to stay home and take care of Jay'von. I have three children that now have homes of their own and are doing well. I have three and a half grandchildren that are so precocious (and of course I am not prejudiced at all). I think that was supposed to be precious...lol. I have a beautiful home that is warm in the winter and cool in the summer. We have more clothes then we need and all the food we want. Our water is good, we don't have to worry that it will make us sick. We have three vehicles sitting in our driveway that we can depend on to take us where we need.

This is just what I can write as fast as I can right off the top of my head without really thinking about it. We are so blessed and God has been so good to us. I know everybody talks about blessings at this time of year and I don't want to be thankful just because it is Thanksgiving. I want to remember to be thankful every day....all year. Thanksgiving should be a way of life.

Have a great Thanksgiving. Enjoy the day with family and friends and remember "God's Been Good"!

I LOVE FALL!!

2010-11-11T10:48:00.000-05:00

I love fall. The days are crisp and cool. The nights are long and cuddly. The colors are beautiful and the sunshine is nice and warm (not so hot you don't want to be out in it). I know many people disagree with me but it is so much more comfortable then summer.

I couple of weeks ago the kids came to spend the day and bake cupcakes and carve pumpkins. Somehow I failed to get pictures of the cupcakes but got a lot of the pumpkins. I'm only posting a few so you can get an idea of how much fun they had. It was a beautiful sunny day and they worked outside so the pics were great.

They found cleaning them out to be "yucky". :0)

I think they all had to have help with the "yucky" stuff.

It takes concentration....

They used patterns that Courtney brought.

No pattern for C.J.....he just "imaginated" it!

Yay! All done.

The finished product

Jay'v, so proud of the pumpkin his Mommy did for him

Now you see what fun they had carving Pumpkins. They really did come out well. The patterns they used were very detailed. They were beautiful when lit.

Thanks for visiting with us again. Talk to me...let me know that you think my grandkids are the best because I do....lol.

Festive Fruited White Chip Bars!

2010-11-10T12:58:00.000-05:00

Yes, cookies. They are baked and packaged to be delivered to The Post in Morgantown this afternoon. I did my best but I'm sure you know how it is....it never seems good enough. This is a picture of the finished product (well, what is left after I had already packaged 2 dozen to go). I have to say I do feel better about these then I have other years. Last years cookie was great but I was sick the day I had to do them and they just were not the best I could do. I should have made another batch but felt so bad I really didn't care. :)

It is a lot of fun and I look forward to it each year. Now all I have to do is wait.

Hope to post some more pics soon of the kids carving pumpkins. It takes to long to do right now.

Have a great day.

Busy...Busy...Busy!!

2010-10-28T13:23:00.000-04:00

Ok...so I did it again. I set myself up for chaos all the time and I have done it again. I am in the process of making Breanna a Dorothy costume for their Halloween party at school and of course this would be the week Jay'von decides to get his first ever ear infection. Fun times but he is a sweetheart and seems to be feeling better today. I also haven't got the cookie recipe decided on and sent to the Post. Then in the midst of all this a friend called needing help with a shower in TWO WEEKS and I volunteered to make the chicken salad and the cake for that. Am I crazy or what. No not crazy, just my Father's daughter. He taught me well when it comes to helping people.

What I am posting about is not all that but the guilt I felt this morning because I didn't have time to run a stethoscope to Breanna for school today. They were supposed to dress up like something they may want to be when they grow up. She decided on something in the Medical Field helping people get well. Danielle went to Goodwill and found her some scrubs and I thought the perfect prop would be a stethoscope but just could not find the time to get it to her. I actually have a couple of them and she could have used one but it just didn't happen and I feel bad. Now, tell me I am crazy and I will agree with you...LOL. The reason I couldn't is because I am finishing the outfit for her to wear tomorrow. Yeah!....I am crazy. But I also know I love my grandkids and want them to be happy. But do you know what....she probably didn't even know the difference. She probably went on to school this morning as happy as a lark because she had her little outfit and was fine. I think it might be some of the ADD perfectionism coming out in me. Not really a bad thing, I guess, but definitely something I need to deal with.

Hope you all have a great weekend. I'll post pictures of Breanna in the Dorothy dress next week.

Fall Baking...

2010-10-22T19:35:00.000-04:00

I love fall baking. I am so glad the pumpkin is back on the shelves. (Mine and the grocery store, but I really stocked up just in case...lol) I have already made pumpkin cake, pumpkin cookies and apple dumplings. I am in the process of trying to decide what cookie to enter in the Dominion Post cookie contest. I do this every year and all but one year I have been a finalist, which means I have to take cookies in to be tasted. I've never won but it is a goal that I take very seriously. I have now gone through all my tried and true recipes and am looking for something new. Tonight I am baking Pumpkin Oatmeal cookies with white chocolate chips and cranberries. They taste really good but I'm not sure the appearance is good enough for the contest. I'll have to get some other opinions before I call it the "one". I am really going to have to work on it since it must be turned in by the first of November, but I work well under pressure...lol. Actually I usually do this, don't think I have ever sent one in early.

After this last pan comes out I am going to decorate the butter cookies I baked for Kristen and Todd's wedding tomorrow. I haven't done these in a long time. Courtney usually does them for me but she has a paper to write tonight and clinicals tomorrow. So I guess they will have to get what they get from me.

It has been a wonderful week, weather wise and getting back into the routine of having Charlie home every night. I'm looking forward to a great weekend. Hope you all have one, too.

Don't forget to leave me a message! Thanks!

A Fun Afternoon!!

2010-10-21T16:24:00.000-04:00

Did you ever feel like you had created your own evil. Well, that is where I am at this afternoon. I am a rocker. I rock my babies. I could have raised hundreds of dollars in my own little rock-a-thon because I love to rock babies. The only difference here is my babies slept in their beds from day one and Jay'von didn't because of his severe reflux. He had to be held on your shoulder to sleep. Soooooo.....do you see where I'm going with this. Jay'v just turned 3 and although he sleeps in his own little bed once he is asleep he still get rocked to sleep. I still love rocking him, he is such a little cuddle bug. But it is time for him to go to sleep on his own in his bed. Hence the fun afternoon that I created for myself.

Yesterday I put him to bed and he just went right to sleep. Today was another story. (I decided to start with the naps and then the night time will follow) He didn't get up or cry he just kept asking for another good night kiss or a drink or finally just asked outright to cuddle in the chair. After 2 hours of this I really needed to get some things done so I rocked him and he went right to sleep. He said tonight he will go to "peep" in his bed. I kind of feel like I failed this test and tomorrow may be harder because of it but I also know what I needed to accomplish today and it wasn't happening....lol. I really don't remember going through this with my kids so I am a little clueless how to proceed but I guess I will just keep on being patient with him and eventually it will work.

On a positive note....lovin' the sunshine!!....lovin' having my husband come home by 6:00 every night....lovin' the baking I'm getting to do this week....lovin' having more of a routine again instead of what we have had for the last months. Life is good and getting better.... :)

Fall!!

2010-10-20T17:19:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it has been so long since I posted last. So much for keeping up with things...lol. It has been a busy fall so far but so enjoyable. The weather is absolutely fabulous. I love spring and fall weather. So mild and comfortable. I know most people love the heat but I don't. I can't imagine wanting to go to the beach and fry. Give me a nice cool fall day anytime.

Well, since I posted last we have had a few birthdays in our little family. On September 25 C.J. turned 8 years old. He has grown up so much this year. Still a little ball of energy most of the time but can sit down and have a very mature conversation with you. He loves school and is doing very well (so is his sister, by the way). I always give the birthday person the chance to choose the menu for their birthday dinner. C.J.'s was being celebrated on a Sunday so I asked him to tell me what he wanted most for dinner. He chose hot dogs and pizza with cheesecake for dessert. Since he was having a party with his friends on Saturday evening with pizza Danielle told him he should maybe choose something else. He chose Chicken Parmesan and garlic bread but still wanted cheesecake for dessert. We added a salad and had our "easy" Sunday dinner. Here are a few pictures of C.J.'s celebration.

C.J. with some friends opening gifts.

C.J.'s Sunday Birthday dinner.

We're so glad you had such a great birthday, C.J. We love you and hope you continue to have a fun filled year!

On September 29 Jay'von had his 3rd Birthday. Because of a schedule conflict and Courtney having clinicals we celebrated his birthday on October 3. Since that was after his birthday we had a challenging time of not letting him know it was his birthday because he was so excited about his "birtday humin". I took him to Fairmont after Court was done with class in the evening for her to spend some time with him. She at one point couldn't resist and said "Happy Birthday, Jay'v" and he immediately yelled "Yay, Where's my toys? Where's my cake?" We had to squelch that real quick. He knew what was coming and thought he was missing it. I don't think we will do that again. Kids birthdays MUST be celebrated either before or on the day!

Here are some pictures of Jay'von's birthday party at Courtney's house.

This shows how fascinated he was with this cake.

Before anyone could sing "Happy Birthday", Jay'von sang to himself!!

Jay'von knew what he wanted, a "wick" of that frosting!

He was so excited about his birthday "humin" for weeks and would go look out the window and say "nope, birtday not here yet". We weren't sure what he was looking for but he seemed to think he would see it out the window. Uncle George went over on the day of his party and put balloons in the driveway before Jay'v was awake. When Courtney woke him up and told him to look out the window he said matter of factly "Yep, my birthday's here!" He is such a cutie with a BIG imagination!!

My birthday is the day after Jay'von's. Chuck and Danielle took me to Cracker Barrel since Charlie was working in Pittsburgh afternoon shift. They didn't think I should stay home alone and eat my Weight Watchers meal....lol. Court met us and we had a good time but I missed having Charlie and Care and George there. Maybe next year... :)

We had our annual hayride at Donnie and Carla Scharf's house on October 2. It was a success as always. The weather was beautiful this year. We all remember last year when the drizzle was almost snow and the wind cut like a knife. I'll post some pictures from that also.

This is the 4 girl cousins....(might be 5 in this pic, don't know yet). Jody (Miller) Mayle, Carolyn (Sherron) Cheriyan, Courtney Sherron, and Sarah Mayle. Maybe at Christmas we will get a girl cousins pic with Jeannie and Kari.

One of three wagons they ran that night....The John Deere driven by Tom Johnson.

There they go....in recent years there are as many people staying to keep the home fires (and hot chocolate) going as there are ride the wagons.

Charlie has had a week or so off since he finished up a job in Pittsburgh and chose not to go to another night shift job so far from home. He has gotten a lot of things done around here that were neglected while he worked out of town. He started today on a job in Morgantown. I won't know how to act with him working close to home during the day. He has done the night shift 2 hours away for so long.

That pretty much brings us up to date. There's still a lot going on. Kristen Poston's wedding is this Saturday and I am up to my ears in cookies and cake balls this week. But of course you all know I love to bake (only can't eat them) so I am having a great time. We have revival coming up the fist part of November then Thanksgiving and before you know it Christmas....LOL. I love this time of year just not looking forward to what comes afterwards. January, February, and March....Yuck. Except we can look forward to our new little bundle of joy in March! Maybe that will keep us going and make those long, cold, dreary months go fast.

We also enjoyed spending time with Gib and Ellie when they came to visit a couple of weeks ago. It is always such a joy to have them here. Ellie gave me a book I am reading right now. "The Kneeling Christian" by an Anonymous Author. It is a wonderful book. Maybe I will write a bit more about it after I am done. I already know it is powerful and every christian should read it.

Hope you all enjoyed our little review of the last month. Talk to me. Click on the comment button and leave me a message. I know it's not facebook but I miss hearing from you all. Have a wonderful week and hopefully it will be not so long before I post again.

UNSUBSCRIBE!?

2010-09-18T11:15:00.000-04:00

I have just spent my morning "unsubscribing" to all the junk emails I acquired while doing facebook. It seems like everything you "like" has some kind of informative email they want to send you. The only problem is I never read them so they just fill up my regular email in box. It is so time consuming because you have to open each one and scroll down to the end of the page and click on unsubscribe. I know, hard stuff, huh! But time consuming, none the less. Why do we set ourselves up for this junk. There are enough junk emails out there and other things to waste our time without adding more. But now facebook is gone and I'm working on that in box. :)

Aren't you glad that God doesn't "unsubscribe" us. We send him junk mail everyday. Probably things he doesn't need to hear (he already knows, anyway)but we can still call on him with all our problems and not worry about being "unsubscribed" or "de-friended". And His messages to us everyday are always interesting and important and worth reading. I'm such a problem child but he has promised to "never leave me nor forsake me" and I can believe that and stand on it daily.

Until next time.....have a relaxing, fun filled Saturday!

Kind of Sad!

2010-09-15T17:50:00.001-04:00

I posted about my computer problems a couple of days ago. Wellllll.....I did get my money back and have gotten a computer with a big enough processor to do what I need. That makes me happy.

What makes me sad is that I (through my ignorance) have lost a relationship I had with the computer shop. They have always done great work on my computers and I have had no complaints. I have no complaints now with what they did for me. They very graciously transferred my data from my old computers and had the new one up and running for me when I picked it up. It just wasn't the same size computer I am used to. I realize now that I should have done my homework before I went in and knew exactly what I wanted. They did refund my money, but I could tell they were not happy with me. There is such a thing as a satisfaction guarantee and I was not satisfied so I don't feel bad about asking for my money and I did pay them for the work they did otherwise. The only drawback is because of the attitude shown me when I went in I don't feel like I will be welcome to continue to use their services. That makes me sad. I am a peace maker and don't like to cause problems. But because I goofed, I did and can't fix it any other way. So I go on and chalk it up as a lesson learned. I guess we are never to old for the school of hard knocks.

I am happy so far with my new Dell. I haven't gotten to do much with it yet, but already feel the difference. I'll keep you posted on how it is going.

On another note:
I know I am really behind on posting pictures. I will try to get some up real soon. The kids have grown so much this summer. Breanna is almost as tall as me (I know, that's not saying much. C.J. and Jay'von have changed a lot also. They both have birthdays "homin" as Jay'v says. So do I, but we won't talk about that one...lol.

Until next time....have a great day and leave me a comment so I know you're still out there since I have been so lax in posting. :)

I THOUGHT....

2010-09-14T00:46:00.000-04:00

I thought.... all my computer problems were taken care of....I was wrong.

I took the computer in to have the plug repaired. Seemed simple enought to me. They took a couple of days to fix it but I thought they just had a lot of work lined up. I didn't realize they were trying to get this plug to stay soldered to the mother board. I brought it home and it worked for about 6 hours and then nothing again. The only difference was this time I couldn't get it to connect at all. So back to the shop we went. This time they had it for a week. Still no luck. They priced a mother board for me but it was more then I should put into a dying computer. So they told me about one they had for sale. I thought....I was getting a good deal since they transferred my files from the old computers for free since I had paid for repair that didn't work. I thought....I was getting a computer that compared with the one I had (price wise it seemed close). I was so tired of messing with it I didn't call my resident computer geek and check. Now I have a new computer that is so slow it seems I am on dial up. This is the first time I have even been able to get signed on to my blog.

Granted there were about 16,000 (no exaggeration) pictures added from the old computers but I removed those to an external hard drive this evening and it is still slow. I checked the numbers and think I've been took...lol. So now...."I think" they had better have a plan to return my money so I can go get a computer that will work!!!

Talk to you again soon...hopefully on a NEW computer!

What a week!!

2010-09-01T09:08:00.000-04:00

Sometimes it is good to just look back over the last little bit and see where you have been. I've just done that and it is exhausting...lol. Both of the girls have moved in the last couple of weeks. My computer quit working (I'm on Courtney's today). Courtney is pretty much settled. Carolyn just moved this past weekend and has to be ready for company this weekend, so we have some work to do there still. Hopefully we will accomplish that this afternoon. I spent the last couple of days in Canton where my brother was having surgery. (more on that later)

My last post was about my ever dying computer. I was so glad to have a voice mail yesterday telling me that it is fixed (better then ever) and the bill is only $90.00. That is a lot but not as much as a new one. I have complained for a long time that the battery was not right because it wouldn't hold a charge for more then 10 to 15 minutes but batteries are expensive and I hated to go there. Now after it totally died I find it was just a loose connection in the plug. Why didn't I have it checked sooner...I'm a Miller...stubborn...it had to totally stop working first.

My brother Rick just had surgery yesterday to clear a blocked carotid artery. He had been having warning signs for a while. Tiredness, numbness in face and arm, slow thinking, etc. But he's a Miller....it had to about get him before he got checked. By then he had already had 2 strokes and was in danger of more. The artery was 98% blocked. Thank God the surgery went well and they think he may come home this evening. But this was an Aw Ha moment for me. Number 1, I really need to get more serious about my weight loss. (I know, I go to weekly meetings and am serious but I mean REALLY serious.) Number 2, I need to remember not to neglect my body and the signs that something is wrong. I can do it for a computer if I wish but we only have one body and need to take better care of it. We Millers need to learn not to be so stubborn and self sufficient. I also learned that we stick together (even after all these years. There were about 30 to 35 people there waiting yesterday. Some came and went, most stayed all day. To some people we might not seem so close but let something happen to one of us and you have all of us to deal with.

While I was in Canton Courtney called to say Jay'von was sick with a stomach bug. Jay'v never gets sick and he wanted Nuna. He didn't understand what all this strange stuff was. After throwing up a couple of times he said "need to go doker later"...then he asked "what gonna happen me?" Of course I took my parents home from our trip, ran in the house for a couple of minutes and left again to drive another hour to Morgantown to spend the night with Courtney and Jay'v. After 1 more episode during the night he has now been sleeping good (along with his Mama who had a bad night the night before). Hopefully it is all done and we can proceed with our plans for the holiday weekend.

This has really been a rambling post. I know, I am good at those (like I said, I'm a Miller). But this kind of shows you where I've been the last few weeks. Our life is still crazy with Charlie working in Pittsburgh and only home on the weekends. We are hoping that is only for a couple of weeks yet.

This weekend is Labor Day and our Homecoming Sunday at Church. It is a very busy day but one we look forward to all year. I don't know if anyone reads this (since I still don't get comments) but if you do and you are in our area we would love to have you come spend the day with us. Rev. Terry Walker from Charleston, WV is our speaker for the day.

I think I have gone on long enough. I get my computer back today so should be on a more normal (lol) schedule after this.

Another computer bites the dust....

2010-08-27T00:24:00.000-04:00

Yep, that's the story of my life. My crazy, old, slow, dinasaur Gateway that has worked forever (even with a broken screen) decided on Monday that it was tired of working. I finally took it in to the computer repair shop yesterday but as of today still haven't heard what they think the problem is.

I found it kind of funny that I blog about changing my routine a little to include blogging a little every day and my computer promptly dies...LOL. I am borrowing George's computer tonight to do this. Hopefully by next week when they will be staying in their new apartment in Morgantown I will have worked something out. I really have to have a computer... :0)

We started moving Carolyn and George's stuff today. We hope to have every thing loaded up tomorrow and drive it to Morgantown and unload on Saturday. Their apartment is very nice. They do have some interesting neighbors, though!!

I'll try to update as I get the chance and a computer!

HELLO, AGAIN!

2010-08-23T10:19:00.000-04:00

Wow...it sure had been a long time since I updated here. Sorry!

I have decided to try something a little different with this blog. I am going to try to write a little something each day to kind of journal what is going on with us. I have decided to delete my facebook. I did this for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that I spent entirely to much time at it when I should have been doing more important things. There are good things on there but it is also addicting to a people person like me and I just couldn't leave it alone. I tried to set limits but would set down for a few minutes rest and before you know it I had been there an hour. Sooooo....no facebook for me. My blog will definitely benefit.

OK...so what is going on in our life right now. We are expecting our 3rd grandchild in March. Carolyn and George found out while they were spending a month in Bahrain and India (visiting his family for the first time in 5 years) that they are expecting their first child. They were very creative and told me via skype while his Mother was with them so we got the news at the same time. (although I already suspected...lol) She is suffering from some pretty bad "morning sickness" that lasts all day, so if you think of it pray for her as she will start teaching ESL at Fairmont State on Wednesday morning. She really doesn't want to get sick in the classroom.

We are pretty excited about this new addition and the votes are still out concerning the sex of the baby with probably a 50/50 for what it should be. "I" think a girl would be nice since we have 2 boys but there are those that differ with me. God will ultimately choose and we will love it and cherish it whatever it is. Babies are such a blessing from God.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
I read this in a blog this morning. It is from The Message Bible (which I don't read but this was good)
"So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going to work and walking-around life--and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for your is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without thinking. Instead,fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out.Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to it's level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you" Romans 12:1-2

CONGRATULATIONS, CAROLYN!!!

2010-05-15T18:59:00.000-04:00

YAY!!! This day is finally here. I'm sure Carolyn's was thinking that as she got up this morning. Carolyn graduated (Cum Laude) from WVU this morning with her Masters in Secondary Education/Foreign Studies (Spanish). She also has her ESL (English as Second Language) Certification.

This was a five year Masters Program. She worked hard and we are proud of her. During this last five years she has had quite a few changes in her life. I think she has moved three times. She got married about half way through to George Cheriyan. I have blogged before about George and the fact that he is Indian and was raised in the country of Bahrain. So not only did she get married but had to deal with all the mountains of paperwork that takes months (turning into years) to get his permanent residency. We can thank God that just a few weeks ago he got that letter that said "Welcome to the United States of America".

Carolyn has also worked for a cleaning service for the past few years. (Hence the dream about the missing yellow mop she posted about on FB) So if you put all that together she worked full time, went to school full time, took care of a home and husband (although he helped her a whole lot) and was still able to graduate Cum Laude.

Another thing Carolyn had to deal with these last few years was an as yet undiagnosed problem she has had since the summer before her second year. She studied in Costa Rica the first semester of her sophomore year and as she was getting ready to leave she had a problem with her ankle and leg swelling. She was diagnosed with cellulitis and it seemed to clear up some with treatment. While in Costa Rica it returned and was treated again there. She has had trouble with this ever since. She has been to all kinds of doctors and had all kinds of tests and nothing conclusive shows up. It seems to be stress related (and switches from leg to leg), but all the Doctors say that could not be an issue. But I, being her Mom, know for a fact that any time there is a stressful time in her life her leg swells. It got so bad last winter when they were dealing with the issues with immigration that George literally drove her to Morgantown and took her from class to class so she didn't have to walk around campus...(kudos, George).

So if you wonder why we are so proud of Carolyn for what she has accomplished the last five years, well, maybe this explains it. Congratulations, Carolyn! We love you and pray for God to provide a place for you to use your talent.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

2010-05-09T00:15:00.000-04:00

I just want to take this time to say Happy Mothers Day to my Mom. I have a wonderful mother that has always been there for me. She was one of those stay at home mom's that are almost non existent now. Because of that I wanted the same thing for my kids. I did it, too. I didn't work until Courtney was in first grade and then it was at the school they attended. Now I am choosing to stay at home so Jay'von can have that same attention since Courtney isn't able to do it. All that because my Mom chose to stay home with her family.

I also want to pass along kudos to our daughter in law, Danielle and our daughter Courtney. They have given us 3 of the most intelligent, beautiful, well behaved grandchildren. You can't tell I'm prejudiced can you. Thanks, girls for being such great mothers.

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day!!

Sorry, I really wanted to post pictures of them all but it is getting late and I am tired. Maybe later because they are beautiful people.

Suprise!!

2010-04-17T08:53:00.000-04:00

I got a call yesterday afternoon that rocked my little world. My daughter-in-law called to let me know that Charlie and I were going to IHC next week for our anniversary. My wonderful children had decided we should do this and had already made the arrangements. My first thought was unbelief, then that it wouldn't happen because Charlie wouldn't be able to take off work. But Danielle assured me that she had already called Charlie and he had cleared it with his company. Soooooo.....We are going to IHC for the very first time ever.

I posted this on facebook and was surprised at the response. I guess it is kind of strange to be a conservative holiness person in this area (especially since we lived in OH until 15 years ago) and never have attended IHC. But there is a very valid reason for that. For many years Charlie would be off most of the winter and would just be getting back to work in the spring when convention rolled around. Kind of hard to take 3 days off in the middle of week right then. But now he is rarely off in the winter. As bad as our winter was he didn't miss one day because of the weather. He did have a couple of days off in between jobs but really needed the break. So he wasn't complaining. But my husband doesn't like to take off work for anything. So I didn't even ask. But my daughter-in-law did. And he said yes! (I'm sure he would have for me, too, if I would have asked).

I guess sometimes we just need an extra push to do some things. We could have done this on our own but neither of us thought it was feasible this year. Charlie does have a lot of responsibility with his job and I have Jay'von all week. But they have all of that covered, so we get a much needed break and will get to spend time with some family and friends that we don't get to see enough of.

Thanks kids for giving that push. Hopefully we will come back spiritually and emotionally refreshed. We love you a lot!!

RANDOM!!

2010-04-05T16:01:00.000-04:00

Well, Easter in over and in my book that means spring is now really officially here. The weather is beautiful and I am so glad to have the windows open and feel that spring breeze.

This is definitely an unusual Easter. For the first time ever all my kids had other plans and were not here for Easter. Chuck and Danielle spent Easter with her family in PA, Carolyn and George spent Easter in Martinsburg with friends and Courtney was at her house in Morgantown and didn't bring Jay'von until later in the day. We did get to spend time with them but not for church and dinner. I felt kind of "old" and strange. I'm sure some day when they all have families there will be other times this will happen on special occasions but this was the first.

We are a small family. Charlie's parents and aunts and uncles are all gone and he is an only child so aside from some distant cousins that he has never been close to he has no other family. So my family is now his family but my large family (there were 6 children in my family) now has families that are growing up and have plans of their own. We only had 3 children and so far 3 grandchildren so our family is still kind of small.

So this year I have learned that we really need to focus on the holiday and why we observe it and not so much on getting all of the chickens home to roost. We will all be together on Tuesday to celebrate Breanna's Birthday, though, so that will help.

Another thing that came to my mind was to reach out to someone who wouldn't have anyone to spend the day with. My Mom and Dad could have gone a couple of places but decided to spend it with us. We also invited a couple in our church that only has family out of town. They would usually go to Ohio for the holiday but since we were in revival that weekend they stayed home. We really enjoyed having Lonnie and Susan Mayle with us and would love to do it again even when our kids can be there. I hope they enjoyed it as much as we did.

God is still God even in the disappointing times. I'm so glad that God helped me to focus on that and it was an enjoyable day even without the joy of children's laughter and all the Easter basket mess. Maybe next year will be different and we will have all that. Maybe not, but that will be OK because never again will it be the first time.

We dressed Jay'von up in his clothes for pics even though he wasn't there in time for church.

Carolyn helping Jay'v decorate an egg the week before Easter.

C.J. decorating an egg.

Breanna decorating one of her eggs.

We did have the kids over on Thursday (they were on spring break) to color eggs and give them their baskets from Neena. Carolyn even hid some in the yard and they got to hunt them. Jay'v couldn't quite figure it out but with some help he did find some. I had to put these on here so I at least had some Easter pics for 2010. (lol)

Thought for the day!!

2010-03-31T09:56:00.000-04:00

Look around you and realize that you have no idea what the other person is going through. I read something like this on a blog recently and it really made me think. All of us have hurts, all of us have problems and concerns. Some of them are heartbreaking. A lot of them no one knows about. But that doesn't make it any less real.

None of us are immune to trouble. No matter how perfect your family may seem outwardly, they still have warts that are hidden. And that doesn't make me think any less of you. Really, it makes me think more because it makes you more real.

God, help me to remember this. As I go through my little troubles, there is someone out there going through the same or worse. Let it make me better, not bitter.

Jay'v quote of the day:
(after seeing a cookie that Carolyn had broken a piece off of)
"C.Shay eat morra" Then he decided to eat it instead!

A SAINT IN HEAVEN

2010-03-30T10:41:00.000-04:00

Today marks the second anniversary of the home going of my father-in-law, John Sherron. He made his heavenly landing at 3:30 am on March 30, 2008. I have blogged before about how privileged I felt to be able to take care of him in those last months and I still feel that way. He was a joy to take care of, and we miss him so much, but I wouldn't wish him back to this mess for anything. His eternal reward is so much greater than what we have here.

What has really caught my attention lately is all the ones who post about a loved one who has passed and then put R.I.P. or "rest in peace". That caught my eye the other day and I wondered what do they really mean by that. Do they really know they are resting in peace or is it just wishful thinking. It is such a joy to know that Dad is resting in the peace that we will only know in Heaven. Our earthly bodies will never know that peace until we finally make it there.

Then that brought on a whole new train of thought. What will Heaven be like? What will we see and do there? Who will we see there? WOW! What a thought! It just makes me that much more determined to do all in my power to make it.

I know I will never live up to what my father-in-law did. I know he spent many hours in study and prayer and those are hard shoes to fill. I think some people are called to be prayer warriors and I think he was one of them. Then I think "who is filling those shoes?" Is that why some things have happened since he has been gone? We miss those prayers. God help me to fill even a little bit of the hole left without his prayers.

So, I close with R.I.P. Dad....We really know you are!

SPRING THOUGHTS!

2010-03-04T07:19:00.000-05:00

Well, we have made it through a very hard winter. You would all have to agree that it is one of the worst winters we have had in many, many years. It is amazing how the weather has dominated our lives. Weather has always been a conversation starter but this year it has sometimes been the whole conversation. You talk about everything from how many days you were stuck in the house to how many "feet" of snow is on the ground and how many days we have gone without seeing the "ground". No one should be without food for thought or conversation.

I am one of the fortunate ones that did not have to go out and brave the elements to go to work every day. I am thankful for that. The older I get the more of a home body I become. It has now been 2 years since I was a member of the working class. That is actually what the substance of this blog will be about today.

I was a stay at home Mom. My Mom was a stay at home Mom. I believe in women being stay at home Moms. I did not choose to work until my youngest was in school and then for the first five years worked at the school. So I worked when they were in school and had off when they had off. It was a wonderful job. I loved the situation because my kids were still young enough that they would need a sitter or (the dreaded word) "daycare".

I am now a "stay at home Nona". I have chosen this for my life right now and it fits. I love being able to help Courtney since she does not have the option of being a stay at home Mom. But this winter I have had the opportunity to feel stereotyped as I never did when I was home with my kids. I'll say a little more about this after I tell you my story.

The company that Charlie works for now has an appreciation dinner for all it's bosses in January. It was a very nice evening. A nice restaurant and everyone was very "nice". But this "stay at home Nona" felt like a fish out of water. You know how it is at a gathering like that. You are at a table full of people that you don't know and everyone tends to ask questions and find out a little bit about each other. One of the ladies that works in the office for this company asked me if I had to work that day or had I been off. I very politely said I don't work outside the home and immediately felt a hush and about 3 or 4 sets of eyes on me like I was a freak. Charlie had left the table for a moment so I was alone and really felt "alone". Her response was just "Oh!". And for the first time in my life I felt inferior because I choose to not have a "job". I wanted to stand up and shout "I am a certified medical coder. I worked at a hospital for 10 years. If you give me a medical record, I can read it and understand it. I am not a dummy because I do not go to work everyday."

I really had a strange evening after that. I don't remember ever having that feeling when I stayed at home with my kids. I believe there are a couple of reasons for that. The first would be that at that time I did not have a trade. I had office training when I was in school and the only job I had was in classified at the newspaper. Then I started having children and did not work. No problem, that was my life. The second being that I really didn't get out much to places where I would encounter people like that. I really was a different person. More quiet and my kids were my life.

I have now had the the opportunity to live the "other" life. Yes, I did it when my kids were older and able to take care of themselves but I did it non-the-less. I had a job that fulfilled me (at the time). I actually became more confident about myself and able to go out into the world with confidence that I am a person of value. I am a contributing citizen. Lah Te Dah!!

Since that night in January I have had a lot of time to think about this situation. Do you want to know what I have decided? No, I have not decided to send out my resume and get back into the work force. Actually I really don't care if I never have to enter that rat race again. I have decided that I am contributing MORE to society than someone sitting at a desk punching numbers all day. I am training up a child to be an upright citizen who can go out into the world and face the day to day challenges of life. I am training a little mind to get him ready to learn what he will need to do that. What I am doing is as important as that doctor, or lawyer, or even medical coder because one day they were one of those little minds that needed training.

I know this is not always an option. It wouldn't be in Courtney's case if I were not doing this. So if you are a Mom that has to work please don't think I think less of you. I know that is necessary sometimes. I am just saying if you do choose to stay at home with your children you should remember you are as valuable to society as the person who doesn't. As a matter of fact I would go so far as to say maybe more so then some. The training these little minds and hearts are getting right now will shape what kind of person they will be when they grow up and what more important job can you have.

Looking back I am sorry I didn't react differently to the situation. I should not have let it bother me as I did. It was just so new to me at the time. I might react differently now that I have had time to think about it. I should have told her "No I didn't have today off. My job is 24 hours a day. I don't get days off, I have to be on my toes all the time. You mean you actually get days off, WOW!" Of course I am being sarcastic but I think you get the message.

I know if I ever have the opportunity to join the workforce again I will react differently to women choosing to stay at home. I will applaud them and try to uplift them. I would never do anything that would make them feel less then the investor that they are. The entrepreneur might be investing money but they are investing lives and that is so valuable.

2009 IN REVIEW!!

2010-01-12T10:12:00.000-05:00

WOW!! It is already January 12, 2010. Already in the second week of 2010 and I am just starting to review 2009. Just shows you how much I am behind. I never did send out Christmas cards or letters or whatever I usually decide to do. I guess that happens when you have a 2 year old to keep you busy.

I just want to look back on 2009 a little and reminisce. We had a lot of things going on and yet it was a rather ordinary year.

Last spring got us through all those "firsts" after the death of a loved one. Marking that first anniversary is so hard yet so freeing. You realize that you will never have to go through that first year again with uncertainty of not knowing how you will feel or react. There are still emotions and sometimes things hit you like you don't expect but it is totally different then the first time. We do miss Charlie's Dad tremendously and life will never be the same without his wisdom and sense of humor but we have many memories to help us through the days until we meet him again in heaven.

Another highlight of spring was our trip to NYC in April. I went very unwillingly but looking back now I really did enjoy it and am glad I went. It was great (all but the subway) and nothing like I expected (all but the subway), and I really think I would probably do it again (all but the subway). Do you get the message that I DID NOT like the subway. I really thought the thing was either going to fly apart as we were moving or hit something and we were going to die a tragic, painful death. I am not exaggerating at all. It was awful! But the city is beautiful with so much history. I just loved Greenwich Village with all the little shops. You can read all about it in my April 20, 2009 post.

Charlie and I in Times Square.

My beautiful daughters in Times Square.

Carolyn and George

Carolyn and George by a stoop in Greenwich village.

We have all had a great year. Charlie and Chuck and Courtney all made changes in their employment (Charlie's little, Chuck's big and Court's obvious).

Charlie has taken a job with a little more responsibility with a company out of PA. They really seem like a good company to work for and at this point at least have been keeping him busy. They are branching out into WV, but the last job he has been on he had to drive to Pittsburgh. He should finish up there in a day or so and hopefully will be closer to home again.

Chuck decided that although he liked carpentry work it really was not what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He has gotten a job with a medical supply company delivering supplies to hospice patients. There are a lot of perks to the job with the biggest being the feeling of fulfillment that you are doing something to help someone in their last days. He does not say he will never go back to carpenter work but for now feels this is what he should do.

Courtney graduated in June from LPN school. She had to have a hernia repair in July so did not go to work until August. She got a job with a company in Clarksburg that does home health. She works midnight shift taking care of a little boy with CP. She has also gone back to school to work on her RN. Right now she has been working on some prerequisites and hopes to actually start RN school in June. She works at night and goes to school during the day, so we have had to be creative with Jay'von's care. I have him from Sunday evening until Friday evening when she gets him for a couple days at "Mama house" (as he calls it).

Court with her flowers after graduation in May 2009.

Court and Jay'von celebrating her birthday.

As you might understand my days are full but fun. We have had to do some adjusting to what is important to accomplish in a day but have developed a routine that works for both Jay'v and myself. I have said this will either make me old or keep me young and have decided it changes from day to day. Some days I feel young and others very old. I am so glad that I have the opportunity to be able to do this. He is such a joy to take care of and most days keeps me laughing.

Chuck and Danielle, Breanna, C.J. and Charlie when we went to French Creek Game Farm for Charlie's birthday.

Chuck and Danielle made some other changes in their household this fall when they decided to send Breanna and C.J. to school. She has homeschooled them up to this point. They have both adapted well and seem to be making new friends and loving it.

Carolyn and George continue to live in Grandpa's house next door to us. She has just completed a semester of student teaching full time. She has one more semester of school then will graduate in May with her Masters in Spanish Education. It has been a long 5 years but will be worth it when she is done. George's citizenship battle is almost done. He should have his papers by the middle of March, so if you know of a job opening in Computer Engineering give him a call. Right now he has been playing househusband and supporting Carolyn in her endeavors.

Breanna, C.J. and Jay'von continue to be the joy of my life (that is the job description of a grandchild, isn't it). They have each passed major milestones this year. Breanna and C.J. going to school for the fist time, Jay'von getting potty trained then un-potty trained and now starting over, and all three of them just getting more "cute" by the day. I am prejudiced I know, but they are the best grandchildren ever.

God has blessed us with a great year of health and prosperity in 2009 and I am looking for more in 2010.

I have a few things I have decided to do in 2010 (not resolutions, just decisions) and one of them is to try to keep up my blog better. It is so much more personal then facebook. So look for more from the Sherrons.

Happy New Year, friends. Please click on comments and let me know you are out there. I am going to write whether you comment or not but it is so much nicer to know you are being read. Thanks!

MckMama Giveaway!!

2009-12-11T07:41:00.000-05:00

You all know I have posted before about Stellan and MckMama and how much I admire her blog. Well, she is now what is known as a "professional blogger" otherwise known as "compensated blogger". I know she has gotten much criticism for it. Not from me, I wish I was a "compensated blogger". I think if you can do it and stay home with the little ones, then do it. God gave her this talent and she is using it. It's a good thing she wasn't working outside the home with all that "went" on with Stellan (past tense, he is SVT free now, Thank God) what would she have done, probably lost her job.

Anyway, on to the reason for this post (hey, it got me back on here, more to come, I promise). She is having a HUGE giveaway from now until Christmas Eve for an HP Touchsmart computer. I know my chances are slim (last night after only a few hours she had over 10,000 comments. You get entered for commenting, facebooking, blogging or tweeting. So you can get 4 chances total. (well, I get 3 since I don't tweet) So here goes nothing. If you are reading this and you need a new Cadillac computer go on over to MckMama@www.MckGiveaways.blogspot.com and read all about it. And if you don't need a new computer go ahead and try anyway and you can give it to me. HaHa!! or should I say HoHo!!Best of Luck (if we believed in luck) and may the best man (or woman) win!!

Jay'v had a Birthday, too!!

2009-10-09T09:02:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry it has taken so long to post about Jay'von's birthday. I wanted to have the time to do a good post, but that will never happen, so here goes.

Jay'von turned 2 years old on September 29. We had a party for him and C.J. together at Castle Creek Park in Grafton. The kids love it because there is so much for them to do. The adults love it because we don't have to worry about them. Everything is safe and within sight of where we are. (And you don't have the mess at home.)

Jay'von after blowing out his candle. He wanted that cake.

Jay'v loves to swing and this is the perfect place to do it. How do you like that swing.

Jay'von and C.J. with all their little friends.

Jay'v is 2 going on 12. He is such a little man. We are having so much fun with him. He is with us Sunday evening through Friday afternoon because Courtney goes to school during the day and works at night. She has to sleep in between, so this works for now.

He has changed so much in the last few weeks. It is like he knew he was 2 and had to act the part. He loves to do anything Papa (or Pop Pop as he has started calling him) does and Uncle George and Uncle Chuck are his favorite people. He will go to them from anyone. He also loves his Aunties very much. He is just a loving little guy. He has started to bring me to the chair and say rock when he gets tired. He is a real cuddle bug.

He had one of his bags of goodies, he was ready to go! This is how he carries his little bag into church. He is such a cutie

We love you Jay'von and hope you have a wonder year. You keep our life cheerful and funny every day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, C.J.!!

2009-09-29T06:36:00.000-04:00

C.J. had a birthday on Friday, September 25. He was 7 years old. We had a party for him and Jay'von together at the local park.

C.J. at his 7th birthday party.

As you can see, C.J. is kind of shy and backward until he get comfortable around you. But don't mistake that shyness for not being all boy. C.J. is definitely all boy. The messier the mess he loves it. He likes playing outside, riding his bike, hunting with Daddy and he loves playing tennis with Daddy and Uncle George. I guess I should say he loves to do anything with Uncle George.

He still says he is going to grow up to fly a "yellow Cabella's plane". Mom and Neena both don't fly. He has asked Mommy if she will fly with him and she said if he becomes a pilot she will trust him to fly her. He hasn't asked me yet. I'm not sure how I will answer.

C.J. with his best friend Breanna.

C.J. teaching Jay'v how to slide.

We hope you had a Happy Birthday, C.J. We love you bunches. We enjoyed celebrating with you.

SPECIAL DAY!

2009-07-12T15:44:00.000-04:00

Every year on the last Saturday of June there is a reunion south of Charleston in a little place known as Mulberry/Robson. I believe it is Mulberry Holler in the community of Robson.

This is a community reunion started about 14 years ago by 3 or 4 men (including my Dad) who wanted to keep the memories alive. This is the community my folks grew up in. There was a one room school house there that the local children attended. A couple of years ago there were four or five elderly people at the reunion that attended this first school.

The picture below is of that school house as it looks today.

They were in a 2 room school house after that. That is the one that most of the people living today remember. I remember this building but am sorry to say that it burned down a number of years ago. For a long time before it burned it was used as a dwelling for a family. It was a beautiful old building. It had the great big tall windows and everything you would think of in an old schoolhouse. I loved it and miss it being there. I have a picture of this building but can't put my hands on it right now.

This little "holler" has so much character and lots of memories for me. My Grandma lived in a little red house about half way up the holler right next to this house.

The man that lived in this house was called "Beehead". I'm not sure why (guess that is another story), but he was somehow related to my Dad. We always went to visit him when we were in the area. I have spent hours upon hours on the swing on that front porch. I was so disappointed to find out that I actually talked to one of his daughters when I took this picture and didn't realize who she was.

To get to this house you have to cross this.

This bridge is know as a "footlog" to the local people. I have never heard that term anywhere else, but have heard it there all my life. This one is new and looks great. I wish I had a picture of the ones that used to be there. I remember crying and refusing to walk across. I would have to be carried. When I got to big someone led me across because I was scared. Usually it was 2 logs (hence the footlog, I assume) with some boards nailed across them. They were usually wobbly and none too steady, but served the purpose.

These footlogs were necessary because in this area there is a creek that flows along all the roads it seems. The road is on one side of the creek and the houses are on the other, so you need the little bridge to get to the houses. I can't imagine what it is like in the winter since I don't ever remember being there in the winter time.

I have really taken a bunny trail from what I really wanted to write about. Charlie and I go to this community reunion just about every year to help my folks. We have done it so many years now that we are just part of it. Some years some of the kids go with us and some years it is just us. Just about every year I say that I would like to ride up the "holler" with my Dad and let him point out some things to me that I'm not real sure of. It has just never been possible since we most times just go down on that morning and come home that evening. But this year we decided to stay down there on Saturday night so we had some extra time at the end of the reunion. I got in the truck with my Dad and we had our ride. I wasn't sure exactly where my grandma's house actually had been since it has been gone for many years. He reminded me of the rock that had been right outside her back door. He said he had not been to that rock in years, so we decided to visit it.

The lower edge of this rock was just a few feet from the back of the house. I think it was a special time for him to go there and I was so happy to be part of it.

This maple tree was in the front yard and he said he used to notch it out and collect sap for syrup. He actually found the marks where the notches were.

It was such a great experience to share with my dad and see how excited he was to be there. It is one of those things that he just doesn't take time to do even though he is down there often.

It made a very special memory for me and I will always be glad we took the time to do it.

Every year I preach that we need to keep our heritage alive and listen to the stories our folks have to tell. Write them down and pass them on to our children. That is what these special days are all about.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GEORGE!

2009-06-29T09:23:00.000-04:00

Carolyn and George with his cake from Coldstone

Today is my son-in-law Nideep George Cheriyan's birthday.

This post is a little harder to write since I have only known George (Nid to his family) for a few years but here goes.

George's parents are Indian but he grew up in the country of Bahrain. It is an English speaking island country in the Persian Gulf. I think I have that right. George, you will have to correct me if I am wrong. He came to the states about 6 years ago to go to WVU. He graduated in Dec of 2007 with a computer engineering degree.

Being around George has taught me a lot. I tend to live in my little box called life in the USA and don't really venture out much. I'm not saying we all need to travel to a foreign country but we are a country that is now made up of many different cultures so we need to accept that and learn from others. He probably gets tired of us constantly asking questions about his country, "Do you do this....do you have that...?" i think the funniest one was actually asked by Carolyn at Christmas while they were helping put up my tree. She asked him if they put up a real or artificial tree. He so sweetly said, "Honey, we live in the desert, there are no evergreen trees." It was hilarious. He is very understanding and never seems to get tired of it or upset with us.

George seems kind of quiet at first but has a great sense of humor and he is wonderful with the kids. C.J. and Breanna would rather be at Carolyn and George's house then mine. About the first thing they ask when they come in the door is "Are Care Care and George home?" C.J. along with Jay'v think George is their own person playmate, and he doesn't seem to mind. I'm sure if he did they wouldn't feel like that.

George likes sports, but doesn't care for football. (Good for you, George) Soccer is his passion. (His grooms cake was a soccer ball). I've never really watched a soccer game but I don't think it is 300# guys running into each other trying to knock each other down and give a concussion. All over a little pig skin! That right there would make me a soccer fan instead of football. I know there are other sports he likes, but since I am not a sports fan I'm sure to get them wrong, so I won't go there. I will probably hear I should have left well enough alone anyway.

So now you know a little bit about George.

Happy Birthday George. We are so glad you are now part of our family.

Jay'von was asleep when we had George's birthday cake yesterday. Carolyn wanted him to help George blow out candles so she put 2 in a cupcake. This was really funny, he was fascinated with the flames. I think he was still half asleep. He did eventually blow them out.

COURTNEY'S GRADUATION!!

2009-06-29T08:46:00.000-04:00

A real nurse?

This was quite an eyeopener for me. I had not seen Courtney in this uniform until we got to graduation and that was my response. "She looks like a real nurse!"

Of course I had seen her in the scrubs they wore for clinical. But this was different. My mom saw Courtney in her scrubs once and said she looked like a kid playing dress up. (And she was right)

I guess that needs some explanation. Courtney is 4'11" tall. (or should I say short). Not very big, huh. Jay'von weighed almost 9 pounds and Courtney gained a lot while she was carrying him. When she started nursing school last June she decided she was going to try to take off the extra pounds while she was in school. I would show you a before and after picture but she would kill me. They ordered their scrubs in April and she needed an extra large. By the time they finished she needed an extra small. I took them in but she kept losing and you can only do that so many times. I think she has lost around 90 pounds and looks great, but being so short she does look like a little kid. And with the scrubs being kind of big she did look "like a kid playing dress up".

Now, back to the subject. The graduation was beautiful and meaningful. I don't think I had ever read the nursing pledge. It is quite a vow. One of their teachers spoke about what they have done in the last year and how much of it is hands on. That makes it possible for them to go right into working without a problem. They are ready. I finally realized, the show is over, she is a REAL nurse. We are not talking about it anymore. She is not a nursing student. She is a nurse and needs respected as such.

I also respect her for getting through a very difficult year to get to this place in her life. Courtney made up her mind that she was going to do this and she did. She lived with us until March of this year so we could help with the baby while she studied. But in March an apartment came available in Clarksburg and she decided to try it on her own since it was close to school. I've already written about how difficult that was for us, but have to admit now it was a good decision. She came up with a routine that worked for her and her little man and she succeeded. She actually graduated with a very good average and we are proud of her accomplishment.

Courtney has not been able to get a job yet. She is scheduled for a hernia repair on Monday, July 6, (I told you Jay'v was big) so she will not be able to work until late summer. But she has started applying and I'm sure she will get the job that is right for her.

Congratulations, Courtney! You have done well and we are hoping the best for your future.

Dad, Daddy, Papa, Pap!!

2009-06-21T15:58:00.000-04:00

Sorry this is late. There are lots of excuses, but since this is my blog and probably not read much, I can post whenever. Thanks for being patient if you are reading this. LOL

This is my Dad doing what Pap's do best!

These handsome guys sure don't look like the rough and tough carpenters I write about below!!

Special days, don't you just love them. I know there are people that complain about all the days to observe everything from a food to a people group. (such as fathers) I like them because it give us a reminder, excuse, or whatever you want to call it, to recognize those special people in our lives. We as a nation are to caught up in life to take the time to tell those we love how much we appreciate them. These days give us that reason. Soooooo-------Dad, Charlie, and Chuck, we love you and appreciate all you do for us as a family.

Each of these people are unique in their own way. I'm going to kind of run down some of the unique things about each one.

I just recently posted for Dad and Charlies birthday so some of this might be the same. But that's OK because some of you might not have read those.

My Dad is amazing. He is much older then you would think to look at him. (Especially if he has a hat on. (And if the sun is shining and you don't have your sunglasses on you want him to have a hat on.) It seem like he works more now then before he retired. He does everything from build houses, to remodeling, to driveways. When he is not working his favorite place to be is on the River bank (usually somewhere around the New River) with his friend Carlos Taylor. They grew up together (I think the are somehow related) and have had a friendly competition for years about who will catch the most fish. My Dad usually goes down there a few times a year to spend some time and just relax and fish. As a matter of fact, I did not get to spend Father's Day with my dad this year because he is down south. He told me yesterday that Carlos is one up on him so he has to get busy. He also likes to hunt, but I think fishing is his real love and it has to be more relaxing then chasing a deer through the woods. :0)

Dad, I love you and appreciate all you have done and the example you have been for your family through the years.

Charlie (my husband, my children's Dad) is like the proverbial energizer bunny. While he was off work recently for a few days I posted on facebook that I could not keep up with him and if that is what retirement will be like he had better keep working. Well-----even when he retires he will keep busy, I 'm sure. I hear women say that their husbands retire and sit around the house all day and they can't get anything done. For one thing, I wouldn't mind since he is gone so much now working and I have always enjoyed him being home. For another thing, he won't sit around the house and do nothing. He never stops. He just goes and goes and goes and goes......I think you know what I mean. Most people stop working outside when it gets dark. Not Charlie, he doesn't stop, he just gets out the lights. You know those little headlight things that hunters wear, well, they were invented just for Charlie. I think he has two or three of them. They are wonderful. And he has a light mounted on a pole that he can pull out of the basement when he needs more light. I tell you I think it will light up half the hill. Thankfully we don't have neighbors close enough to bother.

He works hard at his job also. He is very rarely off work. There have been many times when he would finish up a job and make a call as he was leaving and find a job for the next day, even before he called to tell me he as off. I really appreciate how he works so hard to provide for his family. He is one of those people that love their job. He is constantly trying to mentor other carpenters who are just getting started or those trying to decide if that is what they want to do. I just wouldn't be able to say how many carpenters there are out there because Charlie worked with them and directed them to the right resources.

Charlie loves his job and he is good at it and he has passed that along to Chuck. Chuck is a carpenter also, although he learned something else from his dad. Charlie says he is a recovered workaholic who did not spend as much time with his family as he should have when they were young. I think Chuck learned from that and he does spend time with his family. He loves to build, but he really loves to do things with his family. Chuck has a lot of knowledge because he is such an avid reader. It has always been to his detriment because he would rather read the whole book then just do the part he was supposed to at that time, so he was always behind. He still loves to research things and study about anything that takes his fancy, from carpentry to reloading, to checking out something one of us wants to buy and let us know which one is the best but he has learned how to channel that in the right direction most of time.

His love of books probably came from both grandfathers. My dad loves to read and Charlie's dad had an awesome library. We are still stying to sort those books out and decide what to keep and what to give away. Chuck is having a hard time not keeping them all, but none of us has room for that. It is hard to sort them out because he starts reading one and all of a sudden the sorting is on hold. I think that is a trait he got from his mother. He is passing that love of books on to his children, also.

All three of these fathers are trying to lead their family in the right way and take them to heaven with them. Of course they have all made mistakes (we all have because none of us are perfect) but they want to do what is pleasing to God and that is the ultimate goal in life.

Thanks guys, for being such great Dad's! We love you very much. You make life great for your family and we appreciate you for it. Happy Father's Day!!

FRUSTRATION!!

2009-06-06T09:23:00.000-04:00

Have you ever done something dumb and knew the chaos it caused was your fault. This is where I am today.

If you follow me of facebook you know that I had a major computer crash this week. It was my fault totally. I wish I could say otherwise. I am a very cautious person when it comes to where I go and what I open on the Internet. I would rather err on the side of caution. I do that with a lot of things. But because I trusted the person that this item was "supposed" to be from and it seemed that she thought I had sent her something inappropriate I decided to open it. Immediately I realized I was in trouble, but thought I was covered with a "good" antivirus software so ultimately should be OK.

Well, I soon found out that I was totally wrong. My first mistake was not just leaving her a message saying I did not send her a video instead of trying to see what she thought I sent. It was a wolf in sheeps clothing. She had not sent the message at all, someone had hacked her account and used her name for bad instead of good. My second mistake was trusting my anti virus software to protect me when I made a bad judgement. (It was not sufficient for the problem) It is just like with our salvation, we need to make sure we are protected, but also need to make right decision to not sin and put ourselves in a wrong position to cause our life to crash like my computer.

Back to my computer. After being in the shop for 2 days and costing $190.00 it is now like new. But (also just like life) I now have to back up and try to put all the stuff on the computer that was there originally. I tried to save pictures and some things that I thought I could not replace. It was kind of like running out of a burning building. What do you try to save in a really short time. They said they could keep it all for a price, but I was trying to be as frugal as possible since it was costing me so much. I realize now that I should have had them keep it all because I have already ran into things that I needed. But looking back does us no good. Just go forward and hope for the best. Again, just like in life. We make mistakes, but have to suffer the consequences and keep going forward. God can fix the problems, we just have to pay the price and go on with our life.

What have I learned through this? As far as my computer of course I have learned the obvious, "Don't open things that you aren't sure about and make sure your protection is up to date." As far as my salvation, "Use good judgement and make sure what is in my heart is up to date and sufficient to carry me through all that life throws me."

Sorry I don't have a any pictures with this post. I would be crying and that is not good. Charlie realized real fast that this is not an incident to tease about. I am still beating myself up about it. Now I just need to put it behind me and get on with more important things. This has been a real "Listen Lesson" (as Sis. Vogt used to say) and hopefully I will heed what I have learned.

Sorry this post has gotten so long. They say most people do not like to read long posts, but that is OK, I just needed to get it all out. I will post something more positive and uplifting soon. Maybe some pictures of Graduation Sunday at church tomorrow. Courtney will be involved since she graduates from nursing school in 2 weeks. YEA!

Have a great weekend and stay safe.

Memorial Day!

2009-05-29T11:29:00.001-04:00

We had a great weekend for Memorial Day. Charlie and Chuck finished a job working six 12 hour days on Friday so they were ready to have some relaxing family time. Charlie and I went to French Creek Wildlife Center with Chuck and Danielle and the kids on Saturday morning.

These pictures are from French Creek.

This is Charlie, Breanna and C.J. in front of Jack, the 700 lb. black bear that died a few years ago. He is now mounted and displayed in the gift shop.

This picture is of Charlie, Chuck, Danielle, Breanna and C.J. as French Creek.

We have a tradition on holidays where we have Monday off to build a fire after church on Sunday and roast hot dogs and make smores.

Here are a few pictures of our after church fire this memorial day.

This is Breanna and C.J. with sparklers. Carolyn cannot have a fire without sparklers.

Charlie and Chuck tending the fire.

This is Jay'von ready to go with mommy to the parade.

It was a very relaxing, but busy weekend. We celebrated Charlie's birthday with the family on Sunday. Then on Monday we had a BIG picnic with family and friends at my sisters and celebrated my Dad's birthday. So between our little family doings and the extended family get togethers we were busy but had lots of fun.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!

2009-05-29T11:02:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, May 28, was my Dad's birthday. I will not say how old he is because everyone thinks he is younger and I wouldn't want to burst any bubbles. I will say that he is still working just about every day and should have quit years ago. There! Enough said about that!

My Dad has worked hard all his life both on the job and off. He taught us how to be a giving person. He probably works as much for free as he does for pay. He has always done this. I have heard him say may times he is "sending up timber" for his mansion in heaven. He also taught us that those works aren't what is going to get us there. Salvation through Jesus Christ is the only way to get to heaven. The good works are just an added bonus.

He has been a wonderful Father and a rock that never changes. Thanks, Dad, for all you do. We hope you had a Happy Birthday and look for many, many more! We love you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHARLIE!

2009-05-22T07:24:00.000-04:00

I just thought I would tell you a few things about Charlie you might not already know. Today is his 51st birthday and he would not mind me saying how old he is because he says you are only as old as you feel and he doesn't feel that old.

He is:

My husband of over 31 years.

A father of 1 boy and 2 girls, a grandfather of 1 girl and 2 boys.

A recovered workaholic. (mostly)

The best carpenter I know, and I know quite a few.

A very laid back type of person who does not like a fight, so I guess that makes him a lover not a fighter.

My best friend, I would rather spend the day with him then anyone I know.

An awesome ice skater. He one time skated down the hill of McKinley Monument in Canton without falling. (Yes, I know there are signs posted not to do this so don't try it.)

A fair weather hunter.

A loud snorer.

A morning person who has whistled in the shower at 4:00 am before.

A person not afraid to say I love you.

A goal setter.

A better shopper than I am.

An awesome chicken griller.

A great Cookie baker.

A wonderful husband, father, and grandfather.

We love you, Charlie, and hope you have a wonderful birthday. May God bless you with many, many more.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

2009-05-10T06:56:00.000-04:00

My Mother (Ginny Miller)

I just want to wish my Mother Happy Mothers Day!!

She is the mother of 6, grandmother of 16 and great-grandmother of 12 1/2 ?. (you never know for sure right now)

My mother never worked outside the home. She always was there when we got home from school. Can you believe it, we never went to daycare. I guess that is why I have such a problem with daycare. Our job is to raise our kids ourselves whenever possible. I didn't work outside the home until Courtney was in 1st grade and then it was in the school where my kids attended. I guess I learned this from my Mom.

I appreciate all my Mom has done for our family through the years. My brother Curt always jokes and says he was 10 years old before he knew he wasn't in an orphanage. We were a lot of people in a very small space (by our standards today at least) but we had a good time and there was lots of laughter. That is something kids today are sometimes lacking. I could tell you lots of stories about funny things my Mom did over the years, but she reads this and I don't want to embarrass her.

I just hope to be as good a Mother and have as good an influence on my family as my Mom has had on me.

I love you Mom. Happy Mothers Day!

Kids!

2009-05-03T18:05:00.001-04:00

My Aunt and Uncle went to Virginia Beach and all I got was this Tee shirt!! (But they loved it.)

Cool Dude Jay'v!!

These were actually a few weeks ago when Carolyn and George went to Virginia Beach while she was on spring break. Better late then never.

Have a great day!

Pray for our Friend!

2009-04-30T11:51:00.000-04:00

These are our best friends, Gib and Ellie Norris.

Gib has suffered some kind of an attack almost 2 weeks ago where he lost his memory. At first they thought it was a stroke, but at this time they have ruled that out. He has been in a Cleveland Clinic Hospital since last Friday (it happened the Sunday before) and they still can not find out what the problem is. He is going to be transferred to a rehab facility in the next couple of days.

Gib is such a big hearted fellow. He would do anything for anyone. No one knows how many people he has helped. I'm sure Ellie doesn't even know because he was just like that. He never made a big deal of it. I think he would give away the last dime he had if he thought someone needed it more then he did. They have two children of their own, but have taken many more (not sure how many) into their home and raised them when they had no place else to go or were in trouble and needed help. Most people don't want the ones that are in trouble, but Gib and Ellie were up for it and did a good job. Those kids are better people now because of the years they spent with Gib and Ellie.

I say all that to say this. Gib was there for others, now he needs others to be there for him. Let's rally and stand in the gap and fill in the hedge. Let's bombard heaven on Gib's behalf. We serve a miracle working God and Gib needs a miracle right now.

Our God is able!

I wish I could be there with them, but that is not possible, so the least I can do is pray and ask others to pray also.

Please pray:

That the doctors will be able to find out what caused the problem. It is very hard not knowing what it was and if it will happen again.

That God will help him as he goes to rehab and they try to reteach him things that he needs to know to function in everyday life. At this point he doesn't even know his family (at least not their names). Also that he does not suffer depression during this time as this is a real concern. It is very difficult for him.

Pray for Ellie and the family. As you can imagine, it is very hard to stand before your husband or father and have him not know who you are. Charlie and I went to see him Saturday and experienced this ourselves and it is not easy. Someone as vital as Gib laying there pretty helpless is hard to see. And we are just friends, not family so it would be harder on them.

Pray for special strength for Ellie as she is by his side almost constantly. Although this is where she wants to be it is still tiring emotionally and physically.

Pray that God will provide for their needs. It would be hard to go from two incomes to none (Ellie is needing to be by his side right now).

I know God's ways are best and he does everything for a reason, so I don't doubt him. Ellie said this also. She is trusting God to work things out in his time.

Thank you for remembering this family and praying for them.

Wordless Wednesday!!

2009-04-29T09:20:00.000-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAROLYN!

2009-04-27T15:03:00.000-04:00

This was taken when Carolyn and George went on a little vacation to Virginia Beach when she was on spring break. It was a break, but they about froze to death. I don't think she is celebrating becoming 27 but we can pretend.

You can see her a little better in this one. She will kill me for the first. I took pictures of her yesterday at the family birthday celebration, but my camera has disappeared. Hopefully she has it. These will have to do because I wanted to do this today.

Carolyn turned 27 years old on Friday. She said she doesn't like every year since 25 but I told her to enjoy them. She is still young.

Carolyn is finishing her 4th year in a 5 year masters program in Spanish Education at WVU. She will graduate in 2010. We are very proud of her. After a lot of starts and stops she decided what she wanted and went after it. She has done a variety of things with her life since high school. She has experience in road crew flagging. She is a dental assistant and a CNA and now works for a cleaning service in management. She studied a semester in Costa Rica, and spent a month in Venezuela. Last year she got married to George Cheriyan. George is from the country of Bahrain. His parents are from India. Bahrain is an English speaking country so he can speak very good English. That is good since Carolyn does not do well trying to speak another language (other then English or Spanish), she puts a spanish accent to everything.

Carolyn and George now live in the trailer that Charlie's Dad lived in while he was living. So she is right next door to us. She works for a company in Morgantown that does commercial and residential cleaning. She manages the residential work. So basically she goes to school full time, does student teaching 3 - 4 mornings a week and works as many hours as she can find time for. Plus taking care of George. LOL. Some days she does all of those in the same day. She is a busy girl looking forward to summer when things will slow down a little since she won't have school.

We are proud of her and look forward to seeing what the future holds for her. We love you Carolyn and hope to celebrate many more birthdays with you.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

2009-04-23T14:30:00.000-04:00

I am most blessed. I have been married to my best friend for 31 years yesterday. I should say he has put up with me for 31 years. He is a hard worker who provides well for his family who he loves dearly. He has been a great husband, father and now grandfather.

Thank you Charlie, for 31 great years. Sometimes it seems like yesterday, the years have flown so fast. Hopefully we have many, many more. I really never thought I would be married to a Papa but that's OK, I guess that means you're married to a "Neena"! I love you!

NEW YORK CITY!!

2009-04-20T17:07:00.000-04:00

I guess you could say "Sherry finally got out of her comfort zone." My daughters and son-in-law went to New York City back in the fall while on a weekend with George's brother in Philly. They loved it and Courtney came home saying we were all going when she had spring break. I have always said I wanted to see the Statue of Liberty, but did not want to go to NYC to see it. But plans proceeded and last Thursday morning I found myself on my way to New York City with Charlie, Carolyn and George, and Court and Jay'von.

We actually stayed in Manhattan right next to the United Nation and across the street from the Trump World Tower. It was an experience I will never forget. I'm not sure if I will do it again, but have to admit I am glad I went.

I had said I would not ride a subway and did not want to do the Empire State building and I did both. We used every means of transportation available (subway, taxi, city bus, and open top tour bus) except a train.

It is amazing to see and realize that what you see in movies is how these people live. The tour guide said that they stop on the way home and buy what they need for the evening meal and breakfast the next day. Then do the same tomorrow because they don't have supermarkets, just little shops. There is the bakery, the green grocer, the meat market, etc. There is only one supermarket on the island because with using public transportation you don't want to stock up on a weeks worth of groceries at a time. You couldn't get them home. It is almost like being in another world. We were sitting in a Pizza shop eating lunch by a window and I saw many people go by carrying brown paper shopping bags full of long loaves of bread. These loaves weren't wrapped in plastic and sealed with a twist tie. They were just stuck in the bag. One guy was eating on a piece that he had broken off. It was in the neighborhood of this picture.

This lady was about 4 stories up, just looking out the window at the people on the street. It just looked like something you would see in an old movie.

We did find that bakery and try some of their scones and brownies. I wanted a loaf of fresh bread, but by the time I would have gotten it home it would not have been fresh and probably would have been crushed.

This was in Greenwich Village. It is just like you would imagine. A quaint little village with row houses and those little shops I mentioned above. Courtney mentioned wanting to go to Magnolia bakery. (I guess there is something on a TV show about buying cupcakes there). We found the bakery, but also found a line around the building about 1/2 a block long. (I did say these were "little" shops) There could only be maybe 8 people in there at once and then you could hardly move around. There was a man at the door letting people in as others came out. We all bought our favorite things there. Courtney did get her cupcakes and said they were worth the wait.

We spent quite a little time in Greenwich Village. It is so unique. It is also home of John's Pizza, the place everyone told us to go for New York Pizza. Everyone loved it except Charlie. He is a deep dish man and New York Pizza is thin crust.

Carolyn, George and Courtney in front of John's Pizza in Greenwich Village.

I could go on and on about all we did, but I am not writing a book. I'll just post a few pictures of us this time and maybe next time I'll do our hotel and some of the buildings.

This is Carolyn, George, Court and Jay'v on the steps of the largest Post office in the US.

Jay'von setting on the steps looking like the little man that he is.

Carolyn and George on the observation deck of the Empire State Building.

Charlie and I on Times Square.

These are on the tour bus. They have an open top. I wasn't sure if I wanted to try it but they go pretty slow and you really could see the city well.

This one is the kids with the statue of Liberty in the background. We did not go to the island because of a 3-4 hour wait. Our time was limited.

I think I have bored you enough for now. I hope you enjoyed my little tour as much as I enjoyed giving it.

Until next time.

EASTER

2009-04-13T14:08:00.000-04:00

We had a wonderful Easter. Our services at church were such a blessing. I am so glad we serve a God that still lives. The tomb is empty, but they did not just move Him, He's still alive today. Thank God.

We celebrated Breanna's birthday with our family on Sunday also, so I will post her birthday pictures and Easter pictures.

Breanna with her Birthday cupcakes.

Breanna and C.J. all dressed up after church.

This is the best we could do for a picture of Jay'von dressed up. He was sick all weekend and just starting to feel better. He fell asleep before we left church.

Carolyn and Courtney in their Easter finery. Aren't they beautiful.

No one else wanted to be photographed, so that is it for Easter. We did have an enjoyable day and the weather was beautiful, even though a little cool.

Courtney is on spring break this week, so we will get to see them a little more. Jay'von is feeling better, but still really fussy so it is a good thing he has a few days off of daycare. Hopefully it will give his system a break from all the germs he seems to pick up there.

Now that the holiday is over, and hopefully everyone is better, I'll try to post a little more often. LOL.

Click on the comment button right below this and let me know who is visiting us. I know it is easy to just read, I do that also. But since I am blogging myself, I have started to comment on others because I now know what it is like to have 20 hits in a day and not know who is reading. Thanks. That helps my obsessive behavior that goes crazy when that happens.

Until next time.

Breanna Story

2009-04-09T07:58:00.000-04:00

Quote of the day:

"One of my ears is longer then the other. I think it is still 7 and the other one is 8. Maybe by the time I am 9 or 10 it will catch up to the other and they will be the same length again."

Said by Breanna the other day. She says this very seriously and there is no convincing her that the ears are the same.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BREANNA!

2009-04-07T10:08:00.001-04:00

Our granddaughter, Breanna, turned 8 years old last Saturday. They spent the weekend with Danielle's family in Pennsylvania (for a wedding) so we don't get to celebrate until this weekend, but I wanted to go ahead and post this so I can show it to her. I will post pictures of her with her cake later.

Breanna is such a blessing to our family. She is our mother hen. She tends to mother everyone and try to keep us all in shape. She never forgets anything and will remind you (very kindly) if you forget something. She loves her little brother and you usually never see one without the other. I had to crop this picture because I did not have one of her alone. (I'll have to remedy that)

Breanna seems at first glance to be backward, but that is just until she gets to know you. Until she had her heart surgery in August she was very laid back. Now I have a hard time keeping up with all the questions she asks and how active she is. She definitely keeps up with C.J. We just thank God every day for helping her do so well and "fixing her heart" as she says.

Breanna loves to sing and do art. She is very good at both.

Happy Birthday Breanna. We love you bunches. You're our little Princess!

WE ARE SO BLESSED!!

2009-04-01T18:17:00.000-04:00

Have you ever felt guilty for something that you knew you had no control over and really had nothing to do with you. That is exactly how I have felt this week. There are two things involved in those feelings.

First of all is Stellan, the little 4 month that I posted about earlier this week. He is still in very serious condition. If you want details use the link I posted and read all about it. But I will say that he had to have a transfusion this morning to try to saves his life. He is just very sick.

Secondly, our little guy has had the stomach bug since last Thursday. I mean he was really sick- had the whole nine yards. It was a miserable weekend. At one point as I was praying for him to get better because of course we don't like to see them suffer I thought of Stellan. You know, we are just so ungrateful for what we have. What is a little stomach bug in light of what this family is going through.

Yes, I know, a stomach bug not treated right can cause dehydration and lots of problems, but really we aren't going to let that happen. His illness was just a bump in the road compared to what so many others are going through. I just had to stop and thank God for His blessings.

We could have been going through some of those problems ourselves. In May of last year Breanna was diagnosed with a heart condition that would require open heart surgery. This condition was found while checking her for a virus. Thank God for that virus because we were told if her problem was not taken care of while she was young she would have had major problems as she got older and could have developed a condition with a life expectancy of 25 - 30 years. She had surgery in August and is a different little girl. What we thought was just being laid back was actually lack of oxygen. We are blessed.

My nephew's son, Devin, had major heart defects at birth and had to have 3 major heart surgeries before he was 3 years old. If you were to see him now you would not know there was anything wrong with him. We are blessed.

Between my siblings and I we have 16 children and 12 grandchildren. All of them are relatively healthy at this time. (We call Devin and Breanna healthy because their problems were fixed and they are both doing great.) We are blessed beyond measure.

Do I think it is wrong to pray for a child with a stomach virus? No I don't, but this week has really made me stop and count my blessing. So next time I will pray, but with a new prospective on it. I will also thank God for ONLY a stomach virus and remember to ALSO pray for those less fortunate then we because it could be any of us. We are not immune just blessed at this time.

PRAY FOR STELLAN!

2009-03-25T11:10:00.000-04:00

I have mentioned McMama before and how I admire her blog. I also mentioned her son who was diagnosed with major heart problems before birth and she was told he would not live. He was born with no heart problems AT ALL. They checked him completely and he was fine. Sunday night Stellan was having some breathing difficulties after a weekend of having a cold and they took him to the ER. He is suffering from SVT. His heart rate is between 250 and 300 and has been since Sunday night. He is in very serious condition. His heart is now enlarged and he is suffering with the same problems he had while in the womb. This is very hard on the whole family. He is only 4 months old. I am posting a link to go to her blog if you are interested. If not just pray for Stellan when you think of it. I can not imagine watching a baby go through all that he is right now.

Just click on the picture to go to her blog.

JAVY'S FINGER?

2009-03-19T19:25:00.000-04:00

I guess I didn't have any takers that wanted to guess what Javy was doing with that little finger in the picture I posted yesterday. Actually I wasn't out there when they took the picture, so I am just guessing myself, but knowing Jay'von as I do, I am sure he was either singing "This Little Light of Mine", or saying he is one year old. It might have been David's sling going around, also. He is a very active little guy and (like his Nina) likes to wave his hands around when he talks.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday!!

2009-03-18T15:13:00.001-04:00

What do you think Javy is doing with that little finger?

Happy Birthday Danielle!

2009-03-17T20:15:00.000-04:00

Danielle and Javy and her birthday cheesecake.

I just want to wish Danielle (my favorite daughter-in-law) a very Happy Birthday. Her birthday was actually on Friday (the 13th). I didn't get to post on that day because I kept the kids so she and Chuck could take a little trip for her birthday. I have to say she is the best thing that ever happened to Chuck. She takes very good care of him and don't you even try to criticize him. She will straighten you out. One of the girls got him a card that said they thought about getting her a gag gift but then they remembered she already had their brother. She didn't even want to read it out loud. We all thought it was hilarious.

She is a stay at home Mom who also home schools her children, so she is very busy lady. Thanks Danielle for all you do for Chuck, Breanna, and C.J. We love you and are glad you are part of our family.

PICTURES

2009-03-12T17:47:00.000-04:00

Everyone wants to see pictures, so I am going to post some pictures of my family. They are going to be in no certain order and not everyone at once. My camera is being repaired right now, so none are real current, but the grandchildren are coming for a "sleepover" (as C.J. calls it) tonight while Chuck takes Danielle on a little day trip tomorrow for her birthday, so maybe I can have Carolyn take some more. You can click on the image to see larger. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think. :0)

This one is Chuck & Danielle, Breanna and C.J. taken at Carolyn's wedding in October.

This of Carolyn and George and his family was taken at their wedding in October. This picture is with their traditional wedding clothes. They changed into Indian wedding clothes for the reception.

This is Breanna, George and Carolyn taken at my nephews wedding in December.

My girls and neices have a tradition of taking a "girl cousins" picture whenever they are all together. This was also at my nephews wedding in December. In front is Courtney Sherron, Kari Jodon, and Carolyn Sherron Cheriyan. In the back is Jeannie Miller Cassidy, Jody Miller Mayle, and Sarah Mayle. Aren't they beautiful?

>

This is Carolyn, George, Chuck and Danielle on Christmas morning with the truffles and sparkling grape juice I put in the guys stockings to share with their wives. :0)

This is Courtney and Jay'von on black friday before we left to shop.

I think that's enough for now. Hopefully I will be able to keep up and post pictures regularly now. Don't forget to comment and let me know what you think.

GETTING OLD!!!

2009-03-11T16:19:00.000-04:00

I got up yesterday morning just one day older then the day before, but my knee decided I should be MUCH older. Every time I bend my left knee I feel/hear and distinct grind or pop or click or whatever description you want to use. I could probably use them all at one time or another. I had a pretty easy day since I still had Javy and he wasn't feeling well, so I held him a lot. After I took him home last evening and started to straighten up I realized it was getting worse. But if you are like me you think "I'll sleep on it and it will feel better in the morning". (My husband is the opposite, he wants to get it fixed NOW.)

But low and behold, this morning it is even worse. I had a big day of cleaning planned and when I started it seems like I have my own percussion section right there in my knee. I went on line and googled "grinding knee" and found a wealth of information. I have been 50 for approximately 5 1/2 months and my knee just realized it. Someone must have said my age to loud. My symptoms fit osteoarthritis and it said it usually occurs in women over 50. What do you know about that. Pretty smart knee, huh. I'm trying to be quiet about it though, because my other knee still hasn't figured it out. I thought maybe if I'm careful I could get a few more years out of it.

Oh, well. I guess it happens to the best of us. Not that I think I'm the best, but you know what I mean. Like my Dad always says, "There's nothing wrong with growing old, it's just might inconvenient some times."

Busy Life

2009-03-11T11:26:00.000-04:00

I just really can't believe it has been a couple of weeks since I posted. I have been so busy trying to get caught up with house work, going out of town for a funeral, having Javy since he was sick and couldn't go to daycare, etc. Am I excused.

The trip for the funeral was sad, it was the mother of a good friend of mine (she leaves 10 children and a husband). I haven't seen my friend for years. It was so good to see her and get caught up a little bit. You know how it is, you think "I'm not going to let it go so long. I'm going to try to keep in touch now." I just hope I really do. There are so many good memories there. I just have to make it happen!

The trip was nice since I got to spend the day with my very best friend. Charlie took the day off to go with me and we really had a good time. The weather was great. We needed sunglasses all day! It was just wonderful to go back and drive through the old neighborhood and remember all the years we lived there. The house we lived in in Canton was the first house Charlie built for us and it is kind of sad to have someone else living in it, but I wouldn't go back there to live for anything. I really love living in the country.

I really have spent enough time on the computer this morning. I will try to not go so long without posting. I will have to get some pictures together and post for my daughter-in-law's birthday on Friday.

Enjoy Spring!! I think it's finally here!

Tough Mom?

2009-02-28T07:32:00.000-05:00

OK - I don't like being tough. I miss my little guy and I don't care who knows it. This has been a loooong week. I had to go see him two times, but it was just for a short time and I need to cuddle for a long time. That should happen today since I am going to have him while Courtney finishes unpacking her stuff.

I have been able to get a lot done this week. The border in Jay'von's room had never been put up. The bottom was sponged and the top was painted, but the border in the middle never got done. So I tackled it myself this week. It was sort of melodramatic for me. When Charlie's Dad was in that room after his stroke he talked a lot about things or people he thought he was seeing. Every day he would say those "people" were still painting that room. "They just can't seem to get done", he would say. I got in the habit of asking him what color it was each day. The room is actually green, but some days he said purple, some blue, etc. It was one of the lighter moments we experienced. (Some things he saw weren't so pleasant.) I told him one day to just have them go ahead and put up the border (I already had it) since they were so busy painting. But he told me "they only paint". Since his imaginary friends didn't get it done I decided to do it myself.

After I got the border done I decided the window needed more then the mini blinds that have been there, so I set up the sewing machine and made a valance. It does really look nice and I feel a great sense of accomplishment. Now I just need to tackle Courtney's room! Not as much to do there, though.

Working in that room and all the memories it brought back was a good thing for me since I do have some very unpleasant memories of battles fought with the devil, you might say. Dad had some very fearful times of hallucinations while he was in there and many times I was alone with him when that happened. It was not a pleasant place to be. I sometimes have felt a reluctance to spend time in there, not because of fear, but because of the memories. So, it was a good thing to actually do something enjoyable in there. Yes, I know, I said enjoyable and it sounds like work. But I really did enjoy it.

I guess I have rambled enough for now. This is Saturday and I need to run to town before everyone gets here. We have a birthday party to go to this evening and I still have to get something to go with the gift I have. I'll try to keep you posted on how my renovations go. I guess now I have to say stay dry instead of stay warm.

Sleepy Little Guy!!

2009-02-23T18:08:00.000-05:00

I talked to Courtney on the way home after picking up Javy from Daycare. They said he did real well for the first day. He seems to have adjusted well. Even gave them a kiss before he left. He just did not take a nap. That is my fault entirely. We had our little routine and I either rocked him or lay down with him. I guess I owe the daycare an apology. I am sorry it is causing him problems, but not sorry that we had that time together. He is such a cuddle bug.

Now I just have to adjust to not having him here. I knew it was not going to be forever, but this was sooner then I expected. I'm just glad he is doing so well.

LOTS OF CHANGE!

2009-02-23T10:26:00.000-05:00

My days have just become longer. Courtney and Jay'von have moved to Clarksburg so she is closer to school. She has been on a waiting list for this apartment since July and it just came available. I know it is what is best for her but I sure miss my little ball of energy. It is 10:30 am on the first day and I am already lost. I have great plans to get things caught up on my house, but today I am floundering in self pity. I miss them so much. The house even seems quiet at night when they are usually on the other end asleep and not making noise. I know I will get used to it, but that doesn't help me get through this day.

She called me this morning after she dropped him off at daycare. (His first time ever) and said he didn't even cry. He wouldn't even come hug her goodbye. I'm sure he is doing fine. I just worry about nap time and will they rock him if he won't go to sleep by himself. I haven't seen him since Saturday morning and that is a long time for me. I guess I am having withdrawal.

I will survive this and come out stronger as will Javy. He will probably do better then me, I'm sure.

The rest of the family is doing well after about 3 rounds of the bug. We all had the sinus thing that goes with spring and then had to proceed to the stomach virus that everyone has had. The only difference is we had to pass it around a few times. I finally quarantined everyone to their room and used alot of disinfectant spray. I think we are done here in our house although Chuck and Danielle are still battling it. Charlie and Chuck were the last two to get sick. I guess because they are gone all day.

I am planning to update the pictures I have promised soon. Without the baby all day I will have more time. We'll see how it goes. Bye for now. I'll try to get back sooner this time.

BLOGS OF NOTE

2009-02-07T06:49:00.000-05:00

I just noticed the term "blogs of note" as I was adding someone to my blog list. That really gave me pause to think. I had decided I was not going to post until I had something to post about besides the weather and winter blues, but this has really stopped me in my tracks.

I read many blogs. Some of them are people I know. Some of them I came across from other blogs and I really do not know them personally, but sure feel like I do because I have read so much about them and what they are going through. Of all these there are some that really stand out. I guess I would call those blogs of note.

But what really makes a blog of note. Is it because that person has 2000+ followers such as McMamma from mycharmingkids or Angie from bringtherain. Or is it that person who only has a few followers but writes from their heart about their down syndrome child standing for the first time. I can cry from that blog as easily as from McMamma when her child (diagnosed with heart failure before birth) was born healed and defect free. I have decided that any blog that is from the heart, even if it is a wordless Wednesday picture with no text, can be a "blog of note". In my book, we all have "blogs of note" every time we blog. They just might not be "noted" by so many people.

So fellow bloggers, keep up the good work. Blog to your hearts content. You might be like me, doing this for an outlet for my emotions, not caring if anyone reads it or not. Or you might be one of those that promotes followers by doing contests and such. No matter what your motive, blogging is a noteworthy cause. Our words and thoughts are now documented for anyone interested or even just curious.

By the way -- isn't this weather awesome. I am loving it!! I think it should just stay like this until about March and then warm up some.

Random Thoughts

2009-02-05T05:04:00.000-05:00

There are so many thoughts going through my head right now I just don't know where to start. I wish I were good at writing them down and getting my idea across. I am reading a book (her second, the third is on the way) by Dorcas Smucker. She is a fellow blogger from Harrisburg, OR. Her husband was a friend of Charlie's in high school. They lived in Salem, OH at the time. I heard about her books when I received a Christmas letter from her Mother-in-law. I immediately ordered them from Amazon.com. Her writings are so true to life. Actually some of the things she writes about could have happened in our house. Of course we don't live on a farm, so some of them couldn't have either. Thankfully! I have never been asked to bring a baby lamb into my kitchen. But I have friends that do. Baby calves, too. Her blog is lifeintheshoe.blogspot.com. Check it out. You won't regret it. She is really interesting.

I said all that to say this. Why can't I take an everyday happening and make it a story like she does. I guess that isn't my gift. I know we all have gifts or things we are good at but sometimes in the humdrum of life we tend to forget. I love to sew and create things. I love to decorate cakes. I could sit at the computer for hours and create an invitation or flyer to some function or other. And just give me a kitchen and some supplies and I will be in my glory cooking a meal (along with the bread and dessert, of course). I guess you could call me a jack of all trades. So I guess I should not complain about not being prolific with words, but sometimes it would be nice to be able to express myself better.

It has sure been a long week. Everyone is finally getting better. Javy was the last to get sick and is the last to recover. He is still feeling pretty rotten, so my days are spent making him comfortable. We are looking forward to getting out and doing something this weekend. Just not sure what.

This time of year is what I call the winter slump. I always get tired of winter, staying inside, cooking the same food, cleaning up the same snow & mud messes, trying to stay warm, etc, etc, etc. Maybe we should all have a cookout in the snow. I think that is why there is no slump in the summer. There is always something else going on. Cookouts, picnics, just plain old get togethers, always doing something else. Why is it that a hamburger just does not taste the same when you cook it inside. We hardly ever have hamburgers in the winter. It just isn't as good and not worth it. I would much rather have picnic fare than chili or soup. I guess that is why I get bored with winter cooking.

WOW! I really have rambled. Sorry! I want to get some more pictures on here soon. I just have to do some editing. My computer was down for a couple of days, so I am behind.

I must be careful saying random thought, I get crazy. Take care and keep warm.

The Bug has hit!

2009-02-01T19:58:00.000-05:00

WOW! Has it hit us. Everybody has the aches, head junk, and cough. Jay'von was very sick last evening and early morning, but has now started to drink some and the fever has come down. Thank God for that. I thought we were going to make a trip to Morgantown. We are very thankful for how healthy he is. This is the first time he has been sick since he was 3 months old.

I'm almost afraid to say it, but wasn't the weather today awesome. I did not even get to go outside, but the sunshine was wonderful. I'm not sure what will happen with old Mr. Groundhog tomorrow, but I'm sure in about 6 weeks we will be done with all this winter stuff no matter what.

So, Happy Groundhog Day, anyway!

Kids funny quote:

Chuck was filling out one of those surveys you get in the mail and was asking Danielle the questions. One of the questins was "Is anyone in your household expecting a baby?" C.J. was listening and chimed in with "Well I'm sure not expecting a baby. Why would I expect a baby? Mommy already has me and Beana, we don't need anymore."

Cabin Fever and Snow Days!

2009-01-29T22:15:00.000-05:00

OK Already!! It's time for the ice and snow to GO AWAY. Our driveway is nothing but a sheet of ice, or I should say a hill of ice. It has been a couple of years since it has been this bad. The snow we can handle, the ice we can't. I know, it is January, and I don't even have to go out in it. But it is nice to know I could if I wanted to. I haven't even been to Walmart for a couple of weeks. They might close up. I guess that won't happen though, last year while taking care of my father-in-law I went two times in two months. That was really a record.

Courtney's nursing program goes by Harrison County school closing, and they have had so many days off they are now going in 1/2 hour early to try to make up. She has been loving the days off, but misses the extra sleep.

Poor Carolyn has the opposite problem. She is student teaching 4 days a week, so does benefit from the school delays and closing in the morning, but all of her afternoon and evening classes are in Morgantown and WVU very rarely closes. She did have an individual class cancel one evening this week when it was really bad, but most of the time she has to go ahead and go. The education program does not leave much room for taking days off.

The kids are really enjoying all the snow. Danielle has tried to keep Breanna and C.J. from knowing about snow days (they home school) since they take off extra for holidays or any extra days they want. (Birthdays, etc.) But they are older now and heard on the radio the other night about school closing for snow and wanted to know why they had to work. So she actually gave them a snow day yesterday along with everyone else. They were really excited. Next I guess they will want a 2 hour delay.

Maybe tomorrow I can post some pictures of the snow.

I guess that is all that is going on right now. Try to keep warm. Spring will come eventually.

History in the Making!

2009-01-21T16:31:00.000-05:00

No matter which side we are on we have all been part of history in the making this week. I am so glad it is over with. Now we just have to pray for our President and our nation. I might not agree with all the President Obama stands for but I must respect him and his office. And Gods commands that we pray for our leaders.

Even though I don't agree with him, I do think it was time for a president of another race. Our country is full of all nationalities and really, who is a real American anyway. We all have roots somewhere else. All of us are created equal in Gods sight.

On another note. Don't you love this sunshine. I am just ready for spring. My bother always says, "If you get through January, February is short, and then just March right into spring." Yea!! I'm ready. This has been a long winter already. I'm ready to get this baby outside and let him play in the fresh air. OK, I admit it, I'm ready to be able to get up and down my driveway and go wherever I want. Right now, with having the baby I am pretty much home bound because of the ice, but it won't be long and we can go again.

I am having a rare day alone. Court did not have school today, so she and Javy went to Morgantown with Carolyn once the roads cleared. (WVU very rarely has snow days) I have been doing some much needed cleaning and want to get done before the family all are home again.

Stay warm and enjoy the SUNSHINE!

Emotional time of year.

2009-01-12T15:15:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting here watching my 15 month old grandson listen to Veggie Tales and dance along with the belly button song and thinking about the difference in our house from this time last year. This time last year we were concerned about how we were going to juggle bringing my father-in-law home and work at the same time. We were concerned about Jay'von's health (he suffered obstructive apnea caused from severe reflux) and what we would need to do with him when Courtney started nursing school or a job. He really could not be in daycare. There were a lot of questions and uncertainties.

Now here we are. The questions are all answered. I decided to quit work to take care of Dad. God took Dad home to heaven on March 30. Courtney started nursing school in June, and I decided to continue to stay home and take care of Javy. It has been such a blessing.

But at this time of year (the last months we spent with Dad) I can't help but remember those last days and all the joys and sorrows we went through.

I have decided to focus on the good times we had with him. He was such a cheerful person and so funny, even on some of the days when he didn't know anything. It was always fun to ask him every day what color his room was. In his imagination there were people in there painting his room all the time and it was always a different color. He told me they would do it any color I wanted. I wish it were that easy. It still needs the border done.

I think of him a lot on days like this when it is dreary. He had problems with his vision that made it difficult to see when the sun was shining. Everything looked hazy then. But on dreary days he could see clearly. So when the sun was shining he said it was foggy and when it was dreary and foggy he said it was such a clear day. People that did not know thought he was crazy. But we knew what was going on. Still on dreary days one of us will usually say "Isn't it a clear day."

I'm glad we had him right here with us for 5 years. It was such a blessing. And I'm glad we still have Jay'von with us for a while. He also is such a blessing.

I guess that is what life is all about. Making memories. Some of them good and some of them not so good. We just have to decide which of them we are going to focus on. I need to remember that this time of year I need to focus on the good times and good memories from last year. There are many of them and they outweigh the bad.

Happy Birthday, Chuck and Courtney!!

2009-01-07T22:09:00.000-05:00

Today is our son Chuck's 28 birthday. He was born in the middle of a blizzard in Canton, Ohio. I was in the hospital for 7 days and the temperature did not get above -10 the whole time. I did not get to be with him today but we have already celebrated twice. They came to our house on Sunday for dinner and birthday cake, then Monday night we took the whole family out to dinner for Chuck and Courtney's Birthday together. Her birthday was December 30. I always kept them separate when they were small, but the last few years I have combined their celebrations. They are old enough to understand.

It was always tough, having 2 birthdays within 2 weeks of Christmas. I was so careful to make sure their birthdays were not overshadowed by all the Christmas activity. I actually bought their birthday gifts before their Christmas gifts so I didn't get to birthdays and realize there was nothing left. (either money or ideas)

Chuck always felt slighted on the birthday party scene, though. What usually happens right after Christmas? That's right, flu season. I can't remember how many years we had the whole McDonalds Birthday thing scheduled, then everyone would get sick and we had to cancel. One year there was a health department quarantine. They were suggesting that no one go to public places. So no party again. Then there was always the weather to contend with. We definitely got more snow in Ohio then we get here.

One year we had Chuck a 1/2 year birthday party in June. That was fun. We actually did it outside. Something we could never do in January.

I just remembered the first winter we were in West Virginia. A blizzard hit on January 7 and we got 27 inches of snow. I don't think we have had so much since. Of course I'm not complaining about that.

Courtney was 22 on December 30. That was the year we had one on Uncle Sam. Haven't since and probably never will, but it was fun while it was happening.

It seemed like the party issue was not so bad for her. That extra week must make a difference. She missed the party at school, though, because her birthday was during Christmas break. I always tried to send something when she went back, but it just didn't seem the same.

Happy Birthday, Kids. I thank God daily for my great family. (We do have a third child, but her birthday isn't until April.)

This picture is of Courtney and my neice Sarah. They share the same birthday and try to celebrate together whenever they can. Courtney is on the right in the polka dots. I'll have to post one of Chuck when I get them from the camera. It's late now and I think I'll call it a day.

This picture is of Chuck and his children. Breanna is on the left and C.J. on the right.

Getting Started!!

2009-01-07T16:31:00.000-05:00

I know this should have been my first post, but my feelings were so strong on Dad's birthday that I just had to write about it. I confess, I am a follower of blogs. I have many that I follow daily and my family is constantly telling me that I need to do this. Sooo, here I am. I posted the first one and thought, "OK, it can set there until I decide I need to write about something again." But, would you believe it. Someone actually read it. No one knew I started it except some of my children, and someone found me and read my post. Now I feel like I have to keep going.

This is just going to be for fun. I will write about things that are important to me. They may not see important to anyone else, but that is what blogging is all about. It is just a little piece of our life that we are willing to share with the world.

I hope you enjoy my blog as well I enjoy some that I follow. I will soon be posting some pictures and listing my favorite blogs. Until next time. Stay warm and be happy!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

2009-01-03T16:07:00.000-05:00

Yesterday would have been my father-in-law's 92 birthday.

God called him home to heaven on March 30, 2007. That was one of the saddest and happiest days of our life. The saddest because we miss him so much. His humor, wisdom and spirit were so great and will never be replaced.

It was one of the happiest days because we know where he is. He had strived for amost 50 years to make it to heaven, and now he's there. He also is with all his friends and family that went on before him. So many times he would want me to read scripture about heaven and we would talk about how wonderful it would be. I just heard yesterday that one of his friends had passed away and in my mind I started to picture what might be going on in heaven right now. I'm sure they are rejoicing and praising God that another saint made it home.

His main interest in life was missions and his books. He loved to pass out tracts and write letters to missionaries. Just the other day while sorting out more of his stuff I found a whole box of tracts. He always carried them in his coat pockets to give out to anyone he met. There were some in his suit that he was burried in. We just left them there. He never went anywhere without them. (I know he won 't need them in heaven, but I just couldn't take them out.) God help us all to be so faithful.

He also loved missions. He had a list of missionaries he supported and wrote to every month. What a heritage. We lack so much living up to his example. If God provides I intend to pick up some of that vision.

This has gotten much longer then I intended, but how can you condense such a great life into just a few sentences.

Happy Birthday in Heaven, Dad! We all miss you so much. Thanks for living such a Godly example before us.