Thursday, November 29, 2012

Did you know...

...That Santa Claus 
is Coming to Town???  

Well according to this extremely, ridiculously
over-excited young man it is a fact!
Santa WILL be coming down a chimney near you
very soon with a bag overflowing with
guitars, babies, slinkys, whoopie cushions and PUPPIES♥

As soon as the first Christmas decorations
appear in the stores the Santa vigil begins.
Of course these days that is about mid September
so according to my calculations
that equals approximately
91 days of the following litany...

100 times a day he signs Christmas Tree.
100 times a day he points to the calendar and signs Santa.
100 times a day he marches around the house
 anxiously awaiting the Christmas Parade
on Main Street in the Christmas Capitol of Texas.
100 times a day he asks for a Christmas Party.
100 times a day he points to the chimney
and says Ho Ho Ho.

Translation...
500 times a day I have to say,
"Soon,"
or
" In a couple of weeks."
And in the true holiday spirit he responds
with a festive bang, yell or arm folding harumph.
 
What truly amazes me is that for the approximate 91 days
of his personal Santa vigil
he runs downstairs and heads straight for the tree...
hoping beyond all reason that today is the day 
that it will be filled with brightly wrapped packages.



Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/bible-verses-about-hope-20-uplifting-scripture-quotes/#ixzz2DX4ArDd9
Hope is really an amazing thing...
we all have it even in seemingly hopeless situations. 
 It is unexplainable and as my friend Gerry always said,
 "It's a God thing."
Hope is really nothing more than faith lived out.

I have made no secret of the fact that we are going through a difficult time right now with Scotty and our days can be challenging and exhausting to say the least.  One morning my husband and I had a few quiet moments before our usually irascible bear awoke from his slumber and we were able to have a conversation that wasn't punctuated by growls and snarls from our feisty little cub.  My first cup of coffee in my hand fortifying myself for the day I said to him, "How is it possible that I wake up every single day with renewed hope that today will be a better day...that today will be the day our life that has temporarily deviated from its once manageable course will once again right itself?"

"How is it that I perpetually hope against 
all hope that today will be the day?"
There is only one answer...
It is a God thing.

So each morning Scotty and I will run down the stairs, 
my beautiful boy will be hoping for Santa...
As for me, I will be hoping beyond all hope
 that today is the day...


Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, 
the conviction of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1 
This is one of my all time favorite pictures.
 1987




Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/bible-verses-about-hope-20-uplifting-scripture-quotes/#ixzz2DX4ArDd9
Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/bible-verses-about-hope-20-uplifting-scripture-quotes/#ixzz2DX4ArDd9

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

In All Things Give Thanks


Thanksgiving is time to pause...a time for counting blessings.  Blessings are gifts which I have in great abundance.  Blessings that if counted would fill the pages of a very lengthy book, but all blessings are small and insignificant when compared to these.
♥I am so thankful for this man and the life we share...
...And for these beautiful souls that take my breath away♥








...And I am so very thankful for our Babs♥




I am thankful for our family.
Those that are still with us...


















                                            

...And those that have left us behind.
















I am thankful for our friends who hold us up 
and hold onto us when times are difficult.
They are our safe places,
they are our happy places,
and they are the cornerstones of
normalcy in our very abnormal life.

I am especially thankful for this noisy,
exhausting, impossible life we have been given.
I am thankful for the chaos that marks our days,
because inside the pandemonium we have been
witnesses to  thousands of tiny miracles. 
Moments that seem commonplace to most
are for us instances of something extraordinary.

Today my whirling, twirling, rambunctious, chair throwing
son sat quietly with me for an hour
and played cards and looked at books.
To most mothers...just a Tuesday afternoon.
To this mother...a miracle.

Every single day I am overcome with thankfulness
for any small moment of something extraordinary.
I am humbled that I have
been chosen as a witness to these miracles.
I am humbled that I have been chosen to be Scotty's mom.



 The child must know that he is a miracle,
that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been,
and until the end of the world there will not be,
another child like him.
-Pablo Casals-
 
Happy Thanksgiving


P.S. Stevi and Sarah Rose...I love you both so very much and I hate that we are apart, but I am so thankful that the two of you are together and sharing a "Sistersgiving".
Take lots of "good times" pics for me...and promise me you will go easy on the Arbor Mist!

 Happy Thanksgiving baby girls♥♥♥Moo



Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Ch-ch-ch-ch Changes...

For everything there is a season,
And a time for every purpose under heaven.  
Ecclesiastes 3:1

Fall is a season of change, the leaves change, the temperatures change, and even we change into creatures who want nothing more than to curl up and hibernate for a few months. Fall is also a time for waiting.  We wait for the first snow...we wait for all our children to be under our roof again...and we wait for the old year to end and the new one to begin. 

 "The only thing constant in life is change."  True in an ironic/idiotic sort of way and both of my girls will confirm that I am not a fan of change, especially when it comes to the two of them.  As children they were always pushing forward  as they reached out with both hands towards all of their "growing up" milestones.  I on the other hand  always seemed to be pulling backwards and our days were often spent in an awkward game of tug of war.  Each new milestone was a turning point that took them one step farther away from me.  I do not like change.

"Certain things, 
they should stay the way they are.
You ought to be able to stick them in one of
those big glass cases and just leave them alone."
J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye   

Recently I came across an email that one of my oldest and dearest friends from college forwarded to me when I started my blog. The following is part of a "catching up" email that I  sent to her in 2001, and it describes our life with Scotty...and email that could have been written today...an email that even if written today would use the exact same words.  I am profoundly struck by the fact that very little has changed since 2001...very little.  Below is a small part of the original email. 
1988

 2011

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:  Lynnae
Date: Tue, May 1, 2012 at 2:28 PM
Subject: Scotty...memories


Jo, Okay...So...I never throw important things away and that includes emails from dear friends that maybe some day will remind me of my past which is necessary more and more these days.  Take a look at the date, it was just yesterday.  I think you need to buy a zoo.  Miss you, Lynnae

October 7, 2001
Lynnae,


.......Scotty is like having a a 125 pound toddler, and all that goes with it...the tantrums, the stubbornness, and the exhausting, endless energy....add in the teenage hormones and look out baby....talk about the worst of both worlds.  


However, hopefully this will pass, but right now is really challenging, but we also get a snuggler, an endless supply of hugs and kisses, someone who still wants to sit on our laps..someone who still needs us to "watch" him do everything and clap. He will always get excited about Santa and Halloween and lots of other things that most kids grow out of.  
And hopefully he will keep us young.

He can't read or write or even draw a square for that matter.  He still loves Barney
and the Three Stooges and the Crocodile Hunter is his hero!
 
Hopefully he will be able to hold some type of job.  His passion is animals. Our golden retriever is getting ready to have puppies so he will be in dog heaven!  Steve and I have even thought of getting some property and opening a kennel and he could care for the animals.
Who knows.  We really just want him to have a reason to get up in the morning after he is done with school...Love, Jo

Hmmm...There is something in every single sentence of this that makes me cry.  Twelve years later we are still here...standing still...not moving...not changing...and waiting...and I can't seem to put my finger on what we are waiting for.  

Perhaps it is our season to stand still.
Perhaps it is our season to wait.
Perhaps, for now, this is our purpose under heaven. 
Our time for change will come,
In God's time.
Only then will it be our season to move forward.


Maybe Lynnae is right...Maybe we do need to buy a zoo.

May 2001

October 2012

You know, sometimes all you need is 
twenty seconds of insane courage. 
Just literally twenty seconds 
of just embarrassing bravery. 
And I promise you, 
 something great will come of it. 
Benjamin Mee
We Bought A Zoo


Wednesday, November 7, 2012

It's All About Me


As a mom those are words that very rarely, if ever, are true.  As Scotty's mom that statement is well... take your pick...at no time, don't hold your breath, forget it, nevermore, no way, not at all, not ever, not in any way, not in the least, not on your life, not under any condition a true statement.

Except for one week every October when my brother and I run away from home to a little cabin in the woods in the mountains of Pennsylvania.

For one week I get to nap.
I linger over my coffee.
I sleep when I want, 
eat when I want, 
and read when I want. 
 I get to do absolutely nothing.


I take deep breaths...long, healing breaths.
 I listen to a silence so quiet 
that it feels heavy in my ears. 
 I see rainbows.
 I see beauty. 
 I see God.

We spend our days reading, laughing, reading, driving around, reading, sitting on the porch, reading, drinking wine, reading and debating whose turn it is to lay on the couch to read.



My brother says he reads my blog...doubtful...he probably skims it at best so.................

Every year we pick one card game to play for the Championship of the Universe.  This year we played Monopoly, the card game, and kept a running tally for the week and well you guessed it....

 Once again the Universe is mine to champion!
 Poor guy has never won...not once...EVER!








So for one whole week it really is all about me and I am so very grateful for the time away.  I am so unbelievably appreciative of my incredible husband and this gift he gives to me once a year.  Even in his exhausted and frustrated state he never complains or whines or tells me how hard it is to manage all alone. 

I get to come home to a squeaky clean house...well except for dusting, because he doesn't dust...or toilets, because he thinks that for the last 29 years they have magically cleaned themselves...or freshly mopped floors, because he vacuumed so why do you need to mop??? 

Basically, he vacuums and puts clean sheets on the bed...both a HUGE deal in my book.

I get to come home to a husband, who already participates 150% in caring for Scotty telling me he needs to help me more.

I get to come home to my own little whirling dervish who loves with the same intensity that he exhausts.

I get to come home...to a place filled with memories and filled with people who love me. No matter how many times I go away, home is the only place I really want to be.

So for one week every year I have time to step back and take a good look at my life that often times seems overwhelming.  When I step back I can see past the noise and the chaos and see a family that is committed and loving.  I see a family who is willing to sacrifice all that they have and all that they are for each other.  

I also know that the same God that sent that beautiful rainbow in the mountains is the very same God who is in my living room every single moment of every single day performing acts of great beauty and great love.


I gained some much needed perspective 
and my spirit is refreshed and renewed.  
I am so very, very blessed.



"I love people. I love my family, my children . . . 
but inside myself is a place where I live all alone 
and that's where you renew your springs that never dry up."  
~Pearl S. Buck