Catching up

It has been at least two weeks since I have last posted anything:

In that time, Aunt Mary Lou got married and we couldn't be happier about the union. She has been alone a long time and I for one couldn’t be more delighted with the man she picked.

Stephen is now 6 ft 4 1/8^th inches….The 1/8^th is of the utmost importance to him. He insists I add the 1/8^th. I find that so funny.....On September 7, he turned 15. All he really wanted for his birthday were shoes that fit. Size 16…..Yes 16. I had so much trouble finding them it took me several trips to several stores and several phone calls. It does not seem stores carry that size around here. Finally I found them at Academy Sports. They had two pairs, one black and one white.

The best part of the weekend was when Ann surprised us all by showing up out of the blue. What a great surprise it was to see her. I have so many warm memories of doing things with her. She always has something wonderful going on and many laughs to share.

She just showed up …….It was perfect. We made the cinnamon rolls from Pioneer Woman’s blog. We laughed; cooked, cried, and had a birthday party …..It was just great! Seeing and spending time with Ann was good medicine for the soul.

The weekend before; Uncle Joe surprised us with a visit. Uncle Joe is my dad’s brother. This was the first time I have really gotten to talk to and spend time with Uncle Joe. Let me tell you, he is a joy! I loved everything about him; the way he talked with his hands and shoulders, the way he walked, they way he told stories. He was such a character and a joy to listen to while he reminisced about the boyhood trails and tribulations of their lives running and working in the streets of South Boston at a ripe old age of 8…..Joe and his “lille bruddr” Billy……...Joe loves his little brother.

Uncle Joe reminded me of an Irish boxer…..I hope he comes back again when my father is feeling better and up to talking. Those will be some great stories.

UMMM and that brings me to the big question………….How is he doing? To answer this honestly I really don’t know what to say.

I will tell you this:

My father’s sprit is strong…….So amazingly strong. The thrush is mostly gone now so he is smiling and talking more. By now everyone knows he had received brain radiation about 3 weeks ago………The cancer has metastasized…..and the doctors are saying all type of ugly things we really don’t care to hear. What do they know anyway???…..Four years ago these very doctors gave him 3 months to live……..3 months turned into four wonderful years and we are still counting.

Anyway, the radiation is over. That alone will bring any one to their knees….It was tough…brutal is really more like. But, He did it! He also received another perseverance award from the cancer center and balloons and a home made rhubarb pie from me. ((His favorite))

So now here we are……….It is 3 A.M. and I am wide awake. I am supposed to meet Margaret at 6 to run. I wonder if I will make it.

We have started school and that is a whole different story.

Oh! Speaking of exercising I must tell you………My father is still exercising. He is strength training by just using his body. From what he describes to me he is working on his triceps by pushing himself up and down on the bed. He is doing leg lifts and holds……like 40 or 60! That just thrills me. He is so weak and sick but is still exercising……so being a little tired at 6 AM really sounds babyish doesn’t?

Drats! Now I have to get up! Maybe I just won't go back to bed.

Yay!!!

Yay!!

~Computer is back and running~

Seems like it was down forever!

I have so much to say....Hope I get to it all.

Who Eloped At Coachwoods Graceland?

Allow me to introduce...

Mr. and Mrs. James Cooney

In Attendance

Best Man and Matron of Honor

Mr. and Mrs. William F. Finnell, Sr.

Signing of the Wedding Nuptials

They took the official plunge.

September 3, 2009

Yes, Indeed it was a Very Happy Day!

Word'z' of Wi'z'dom.... by Lizzy

"? Mommy ?"

"What YOU said???"

For the Love of Graceland

I am simply amazed at the kindness of James, Matthew and Stephen. Over the past couple of years..........and mostly this summer........these three young 'men' have kept the grounds beautiful at my parents house.

~ Graceland~

Lovingly named after our mother by our father

Every weekend these three guys meet at their grandparents house. They ask what needs to be done around the area and then.........they simply do it.

They have kept the yard beautiful.

They mow the grass, keep the pool going, till the gardens and try very hard to make things grow. ~ Wonderful Willy ~

They know their grandfather is sick this summer and some days doing the simple things he loves to do like; cutting the grass, weeding the flower beds, keeping the fountain running and cleaning out the pool maybe to much of a chore for him.

I am amazed and delighted at the love and dedication they show for both my parents.

We all know they just want to show how much they love both of their Grandparents and they just want to make these..........sick days........ as easy as possible for them both.

~ My dad often says ~

"I don't go out much these days but I love to look out and see all the work being done."

Although, I admire and love the loyalty, dedication and perseverance James, Matthew and Stephen have shown through out this summer: I admire and simply love the fact they have become teachers to the other children.

I find it all so heart warming to know "THEY" understand the difference between saying I love you Nana and Grandpa and Showing the love they have for their Nana, Grandpa........ and Graceland.

The BEST Birthday EVER!!!

The month of August has been a very, very busy month for us all. There has been LOTS! going on. It just seems like there is NO time for the things that really matter in life like; posting, catching up on other blogs and up loading pictures.

I realize we all need to take a one day at a time. Enjoy the day and do what we can. I also thought, the memories and these pictures from Anthony's birthday weekend are just too great not too share. Sooo, as I often think..."Better Later then Sooner"...I am posting in my own time.

((Anthony is Joe's son, Karen's grandson and the first Great Grandchild to my parents.))

Anthony lives with his mom and has come down South to spend some of the summer with his dad. They have not seen each other in well over a year due to the accident Joe had last year.

In the summer fun, Anthony met up with Alex and Brian. They all quickly renewed the great friendship they formed years ago. Most importantly, the weekend of August 8th was Anthony's 10th birthday. We got started planning for the festivities right away.

We went shopping for food, birthday treasures and maybe one or two other things.

Joe prepared a great feast fit for Kings and Queens alike.

We were protected from birthday thiefs!

Yes!!!

The gifts and food were just that good! The BEST thing about the weekend was not the gifts, the food...

OR

the friendships and the family bonding that occurred that weekend...

It was declared...

"THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!!!"

Au'B'ery Jade Peterson is here!!!

Have you ever noticed???

~ Sometimes life just flies by ~

George is pleased to announce: His baby is a mommy.

The pround parents

((Stephanie and Brian))

of

Aubrey Jade Peterson

August 10 2009

8:00 A.M

9 pounds 3oz

21 inches long

Where did the time go???

Skin is not always good

Okay, it is the middle of swimsuit season and it was time to find my 12 year old daughter a new one.

Planning very carefully as I often do …I waited until the last minute to jump in the car and run to Target. It was 8 PM when we got there and Kathryn had a pool party to host at my mothers house the very next day.

I figured, like always, how hard could it be???

Target has suits. I have seen them and she could not have grown that much in a year. The old suit still fits her…kind of…...okay granted it is a bit baggy, saggy and worn but……..It still fits….Well ….the elastic is going but who’s looking that close?

We have only been swimming at Nana’s…..

As we walk into the store, Kathryn and I went right over to the girls department and I throw 12 maybe 16 suits into the cart and say; “let’s try these ….Yes, all of them. It will be fun.” She gives me this look of disbelief and says, “Mom, I don’t think it will take this many.” I tell her to just “get in there. We have to hurry. I am not sure what time this store closes.”

She tries the first couple on and I realize….We have moved out of the girls department. We have moved up into the Teens. My baby girl is growing up. I tell her to get dressed, we will run over to the teen department and find something there.

As I stood there looking at the suits, I looked around in disbelief and think “Oh Oooo……..this is not good.

There was NOTHING “for us” to choose from………There where one piece bathing suits with plunging necklines, sides cute out, slits at the legs up to the neck line and cleavage…boy did we see cleavage!…..There where bikinis held together with jewelry, string, ties and more cleavage….for teen girls.

Did I say Teen girls?

Yeah, I think I did.

Uggg! I think to myself…….The buyer for this store must hate girls.

Kathryn looked at me with tears in her eyes and said. “Now what Mom?” I don’t want to wear these. I don’t like these. Can I try on more of what we have???

She wanted something she could play in……NOT something to pick up a husband in. I told her to give the other suits a shot and maybe we would come up with something.

I thought

And I thought

And I thought

I went back to the dressing room asked the attendant what time they closed ~ found out with relief it was 10:30

Yay!!

Checked on Kathryn again ~ This time as she opened the door to show me the one suit she said ………… In her words……”fits perfectly….lets get this one.” Only if she rounds her shoulders, sucks in her stomach so much it is hard to talk and stands in the shape of a “C” would it fit…… It was great!

I had to think of something or she was going to be wearing the saggy, baggy suit or worse sitting on the side of the pool not swimming at her party.

I could NOT have that.

I walked the store ………….right past the workout clothes.

I thought maybe….just maybe this might work. Some of the workout tops now are made from the same material as bath suits. Maybe we could use one of those.

I went back to the teen department, found a very cute bathing suit bottom…that matched a very unacceptable and uncomfortable looking, for a growing young woman, top. I headed back over the workout department. I found a long black workout top trimmed in white to match the very cute black and white checked bottoms I held in my hand.

Hoping it would work……..I handed it all to my very unhappy and worried preteen daughter and told her to try it on.

She looked at me and declared……….”This is a workout top! I can’t wear this!”

“Just try it.” I told her…. “It is this or nothing…...”

Un-happily……She did it.

Everything fit……….She was adorable.

Yay! ME!!

On the way out ~ I got a big….”Your so smart Mom……Thank you!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The party was a success. All the girls had a wonderful time……..As I looked around most of the girls wore T-shirts or kept towels over their bathing suits. I also found out the other moms ran into this same problem.

I remember being this age and being very uncomfortable about all the changes my body was going through. I have talked to several mothers and we all feel the same way. Are there any clothes designers out there that cares about the safety and the safe mental health of our children?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, here is the question………WHAT??? Are these buyers and clothes designers thinking?

We ,girls and mothers, are having a very difficult time finding age appropriate clothing for our daughters………. never mind bathing suits.

Now, here is my statement…..WHAT???

These are little girls and young woman. These young girls are in training for womanhood not prostitution. They want to learn and play….They want to play safe without being worried about who is looking at them and what they are showing. They want to play with other children, with their pets, ride bikes and read books on hot summer days. The girls I know……..really DO NOT want to dress sexy. They want to dress pretty. They are not even used to the idea of a changing body….never mind show it off.

If we as mothers put sexy clothing on our daughters………What are we saying to them??? What are we saying to our sons? We want our young men to think of woman …. all woman...... as smart, vital beings. We want them to think of woman as the fabric of society, as respectable and reliable vital people.

We want our girls to think of themselves in the same way and as so much more..........Why are we accepting being forced to dress our children Sexy?

It seems to me…….If we as mothers put clothing held together with strings, jewels or anything other then dignity on our 12 year old daughters ….What is okay for them wear at 16?

What is an acceptable way for our boys to respond to all this skin? …..There are many confusing and mixed messages out there today for all our children.

I keep telling my kids…………..”Skin is not always good.” ……

Something Bee-ish

I went running this morning. The circles and arrows are still in the road but the rain is finally fading them. Things have settled down around here finally and people are starting to get back to a normal life.

Shuuuu, that was really creepy!

When I run, I take one of my kids I-pods with me to listen to and check up on the things they are listening to…….Today I took Kathryn’s. She had her favorite songs from the girl bands she likes and some songs Matthew and Stephen like. But, the thing that really stopped me in my tracks was the Catholic Apologists she had on there. I could not help but completely stop, turn around to see who was talking to me and then smile when I realized it was John Martignoni and Catholic Answers.

I wondered….. is that for me?? Or what??

..…I will tell you my kids know much more then I do or ever have about our Catholic faith. They teach me so much every day………Who wouldn’t be happy with this life I lead? There are many shaky moments in this very busy life but, it is good.

Don’t worry ~ my kids do have a sense of normalcy…As I sit and type Kathryn and Stephen are arguing about something silly. Matthew is at his Spanish class and is shall I say….. indignant… we can’t have his friend spend the night this weekend because of a debate workshop he really needs to go to…..

He demands to know “WHY!?!”

I really don’t have an answer for him just simply; I think he should go… I think that is good enough. I don’t expect him to be the top debater. I don’t even expect him to come in the top 20. I just think it will help him in ((gulp)) college, which is coming all to fast for me. It seems when you home school you have to prove yourself to the secular world, which makes us work harder. I have to laugh……because it is all good for us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why does it seem everything happens at once?

This weekend my cousin and her family, Jen, Charlie and the kids , are coming in from San Diego. They will be staying with Jen’s mother of course and It turns out….Auntie’s neighbor has graciously offered her deceased sister’s condo for Auntie or Jen to stay in while the family is here. This condo is right across the hall from Aunties two bedroom home. How nice of this woman to offer.…

Jim is home with his love, hanging in and progressing after the stroke. Karen, Joey and Anthony are coming down this weekend too and we have a busy weekend planned with dinner with friends, the debate work shop and the boys are digging out a ditch for Grandpa so he can lay pipes from the old well to the pool house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

According to Matthew: "there are black berries to pick for the wine, fields to clear for the grapes, pipes to lay for Grandpa, a Spanish exam to study for and Bees to tend too. He just does not have time for all this….company and worse!! Debate stuff!"

I don’t think I have told you about the Bee’s...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It turns out Stupid Rick is really not that stupid after all. Well, some days…he is really stupid and then some days He is not that stupid . Huuuu? Who knew? I don't want to give him too much credit!

He is into many things and he is including our sons into his hobbies. I just find this all so amazing. To think, he would want to be bothered with all this teaching he is doing with our sons.....A couple of weeks ago he took Matthew and Stephen to a three day seminar at Clemson University to study Bees.

The boys loved it! They where up before 6 a.m. and out the door by 6:45. The three of them could not wait to get to class. They could not wait to get there hands dirty and into their new projects. It was all so exciting to see.

We are reading and studying Bee books now. I think we will take this opportunity to study Bees as our science this year for Stephen and Kathryn. There is so much to learn when it comes to bees. It is just amazing!

Rick has been kind enough to call the boys when he will be working with the bees and always includes them when he is doing something like; finding the swarm, extracting honey or something Bee-ish.

The Present from Heaven

One day this little Barbie Bag fell from the sky. ((well, the attic really)) Mark went up into the attic to check something. This bag was where he need to be and he threw it out of his way....right down the open stairs. It fell at the feet of our soon to be , at the time, three year old daughter.

It was like a present from Heaven.

I put this bag in the attic years ago when Kathryn lost interest in it. It held...well...Kathryn's Barbies.

I remember the day I threw it up there thinking ~ one day I would sell it on E-bay.....Hmmm... well, we all know how worked out for me. I'm really glad I didn't have to pay extra to "sell" it now.

Elizabeth feel in love with this bag right away. She put it to good use immediately. She filled it with many special things. These things may change from day to day. We just never know what that maybe...after all it is a woman's prerogative they say...

Yesterday, for our visit to Grandma's Elizabeth filled her bag with;

*Big Girl pants....Not to be confused with diapers. ((Gee, you people are so judgmental))

*a Tiara ...A girl may never know when she needs one. ((She may have to prove she is really a princess.))

*Pajamas ((for the late night ride home))

*Blocks ((these are her favorite toys at the moment))

*an extra pair of shoes ((you just never know if you may need them))

* little toy bear...

~ Day or Night ~

This bag goes everywhere with us; whether it is to the store for milk, up stairs or down ((in our house)), Nana's house, a trip to the mountains, or a day at the park... This bag filled with Mary Elizabeth's prized possessions and necessities travels with us.

She loves this bag. Who knew something thrown to the side with haste would bring her so much joy?

Lilly's Little Brother

A couple of weeks ago my friend Melissa and I took our kids to the park. We wanted to have another birthday party to celebrate Mary Elizabeth turning three. ((Yes again.)) Liz’s sweet little friend Madelyn bought cup cakes, balloons, and more presents. We had a great time.

All together we had just four kids playing in the park that day. While the children played we watched over them and solved many problems around the world. ((Once again, we where brilliant that day!)) While we played with our kids, took pictures and talked, we noticed a large group coming into the park with children of all ages. The children where accompanied by three adult women.

We noticed one woman was on the phone and the other women where talking. We also noticed the woman on the phone kept calling one of the little girls to take care of her brother. We heard “Lilly, come get your little brother.” Lilly, come play with your little brother” and ”Lilly, go get your little brother.” over and over again. Lilly could not have been more then eight years old and her brother could not have been older than 18 months if he was a day.

While Melissa and I watched our children we noticed; Lilly carry her brother, swing her brother and guide her brother most of the afternoon. We noticed many of the other children in the group watched over Lilly’s little brother until they would grow tired of watching him and then call ~ “Lilly come and get your little brother.”

We also noticed Lilly grew tired of watching over, playing with and guiding her little brother and wanted to play with her friends……So she did. No one was watching Lilly’s little brother. No one except for the other parents in the park….watching the three women, not watching Lilly’s little brother ~ talking…seemingly, not watching the other children play.

Melissa and I watched Lilly’s little brother walk out of the gate to the park without anyone important to his care noticing him. When this happened I stood up; following him looking in "awww" at the woman I thought might be his mother. All women continued to talk, never noticing Lilly’s little brother was walking away out of the park, out into the parking lot as I followed him.

As he turned himself around heading back into the park, a grandmother from a different group and a different end of the park……..yelled “Hey, Is that your baby?” “He was just leaving….” The response was one that surprised us…………”No. He is not my baby. Lilly, come and get your little brother.” And Lilly’s little brother went back to the play ground by himself.

Needless to say, Melissa, and I where confused.

As we watched ALL the children play we watched Melissa’s three year old daughter, Madelyn, mother Lilly’s little brother. As the baby walked up the stairs…..not meant for his little legs or his little mind… We watched Madelyn protect this little child. Madelyn guided this baby up the stairs. She guarded the openings standing in front of each of them while Lilly's little brother walked past them not letting him fall down the slide or down the fireman's shoot.

The women whose care he seemed to be in… never noticed any of this.

They never noticed that their charge was being guided and protected by a baby herself. They never noticed the baby walked out of the park. They never noticed the baby had climbed high into a play area that was not designed for a child his age. They never noticed the other parents and grandparents watching this baby mother and protect better then they were.

When it was time for this group to leave:

These women never notice……..They had left the baby behind. And only when they where told by a very alarmed Lilly jumping up and down saying with fear “The baby!” “Don’t leave the baby!” “We have to get the baby!” Did one of these woman say…….simply......”Oh!”

After giving this much thought: I do not think the mom was at the park that day. I do not think these woman where with a daycare provider….I think they where trusted friends or relatives…Who really did not want to be bothered with Lilly’s little brother.

I wish I had the presents of mind to ask these women who they where. I wish I thought to take pictures of Lilly’s little brother and I wish I knew this mom who left her well dressed son and daughter in the care of people that didn’t want him. I wish I could tell her to be careful who she leaves her children with. I know she would be as horrified as we were to see such uncaring care given to such a sweet, innocent child.

Now this leaves me to wonder....What will I do the next time?

I hope I would ask questions....Like who's child is this? Who are you to this child? Do you know he was leaving? Do you see that he is up on this play set and it is too high for him?

It is so strange to me ~ People do not leave their wallets with anyone, hid their check books and will guard their secret pass words with their lives.

But ~ We leave our children with just anyone. Even people we really don't know or worse people that don't want to be bothered .