YaYa's Little Helper

Grandchildren make you remember the absolute joy of "little ones". 

Unfortunately, when you are a "momma" and in the midst of raising babies, caring for them, protecting them, teaching them, feeding them, not sleeping because of their schedule......you sometimes forget to just ENJOY! I raised 4 babies and I remember pure exhaustion much of the time! But God provided generations for us and the beauty of of grandparenthood is that you get to savor those special times, spoil as needed, relish those small details, and seldom say "NO".

I count my blessings daily....God, Jesus Christ, the Bible, my husband, my 4 wonderful children, my 2 son in laws, my precious granddaughter, my precious grandson to be, my home, my job, my friends, my parents, health.....and on and on and on. I'm sure you do the same and your list is similar. 

Age has made me slow down and enjoy more. I'm not succumbing to OLD yet but just finding more calm and peaceful moments.  At many times, my house does NOT seem calm and peaceful! Perhaps loud and chaotic would best describe it. I just turn the Christmas music up louder and keep on Keeping ON!

In this holiday season, I hope you can enjoy those precious simple moments!

Today I'm home with Lily-Jo.....she is on the mend from RSV and doing great....I'm loving this day!

 

Merry Christmas from the Maddens!

Wishing you and your loved ones peace, health, happiness and prosperity this holiday season and in the coming New Year.
Love and blessings,
Rodney, Tanya, Zach, Lacey, Blake, Lily-Jo, Haley, Cody, Baby Boy, and Darbey

 

Has it really been 2 months?

I cannot believe it has been 2 months + since I've blogged. How does that much time go by? I honestly can't keep up anymore! Age? Perhaps! I think I had a birthday in there somewhere too! So in a nutshell...here is a 2 month update!
July - Haley and Cody got married, Rodney and I took a trip to Las Vegas which we had never been to, celebrated our 28th anniversary (wait....did we even go out to eat?), spending time with my mom at the nursing home.

August - High school Football started for my husband, moved Darb as she left for college at KSU and joined a sorority (YEA...how about those KSU Wildcats! Yes....Rodney and I both went to KU and he even played football there but KSU is getting our money right now and we love those Wildcats and Bill Snyder!), school started.....wow....Momma switched grade levels after 20 years....I'm now a 1st grade teacher.....I tie shoes, zip pants, hand out kleenexs, put coats on......and am teaching a whole new curriculum! YIKES! I have probably been working 50+ hours a week to keep my head above water! To all you teachers out there...does Common Core, MTSS, State Standards ring a bell????????? I am finally finally beginning to feel like I have a grasp on things!I feel like my head is peeking above the water level and I'm breathing!  It's a wonder I have not suffocated my husband in laminating plastic as I lay in bed every night cutting out 6-8 foot sheets of "stuff"! He said to me last night, "Where do you PUT all this stuff? You can't have enough room on your walls!"

September/October - Football games, college visits, traveling to Iowa a couple of times to watch my son's horse races, church activities, and most of all.......... PLAYED, CUDDLED, KISSED, SPOILED my granddaughter Lily-Jo. That has been the most fun! Life just kind of stops when she comes to YaYa's house! 

And my best news of all...................I'm going to be a YaYa again! My newlyweds surprised all of us with the wonderful news that they are expecting in late April! Coach and I can't wait! Grandparenthood is the best....nothing like it! 

I thought I was going to be so depressed and lonely and sad and miserable when my baby Darb left for college and God had this plan: 

 for me to teach 1st grade and be busy,
 to enjoy and spend time with Lily-Jo,
 to bless us with another grandbaby, 
to watch Darb grow and flourish in her new venture of college! 

Empty Nesters??????? Not hardly! We haven't felt that yet! And we are so grateful!

God's plan is always the best! He knows what we need, He provides what we need! I worry too much and wonder how will this work out? Will it be okay? When all I need to do is pray, turn it over to God, and let Him handle it. 

Take your burdens to the Lord and leave them there!

So anyway, that is 2 months in a nutshell! I'm going to try to do better! I will get around and visit and check up on all of you! 
I pray all is well with all of you! 

I'll work on pictures for next post! Trust me....they will be random!

Wedding - Part 2

 

 

Part 2.....

 

 

 

 Please notice my "blingy" shoes! I just loved them and was so excited about them....Story to come later about them!

 This was one silly fun group!

Lily-Jo was about pictured out...and the wedding had not started!

I'm so grateful for my girls! They are my rocks!

 My wonderful son who is still Mommy's little guy!

Lily-Jo got almost as many ooohhhh and aaahhhhs as the bride! The groomsman with Lace said they were all for him! :0)

Bittersweet.....giving his little girl away!

Someone got a bribe....a candy necklace when you get down the aisle!

Mr. and Mrs. Shaver

She Said "I DO" and They Live Happily Ever After

I have been absent from blogging as far as my own...but I love keeping up with all of you! We made it through the wedding and it was just perfect! I really can't think of one thing that went wrong! Oops...maybe my necklace broke and my daughter's new mother in law had an extra one I got to borrow and I loved it even more! I'm just going to attach a random group of pictures. We had 3 photographers (one was little Ms. Darbey of Baby Rhea Photography) so these are just from one of the other gals. 
This was a beautiful day with lots of joyful tears and happy smiles!

Part 1 !!

 Haley chose Gerber daisies and roses for flowers.

 These were the sweetest and most helpful bridesmaids!

Auntie Haley and cutie pie Lily-Jo!

 These two are BFF's!  Lots of kissing! My niece is just crazy about Lily-Jo (BeBe!)

 My mom was able to come! The nursing home got her all ready and brought her and she did wonderful and loved it! She loves her granddaughters!

Part 2 to come!

Wedding week is here! We are hard at work! Everything is calm and peaceful so far! We are working off the "checklist" and ticking right along! And afternoons are spent relaxing in the little pool! We are also getting in late night (10 or 11 p.m.) "wedding walks" as we call them! Exercise clears the mind and relaxes the body! Miss Haley is such a calm little bride to be! I can't believe it's been only 2 short years since my little Lacey was my sweet little bride! My baby girls are growing up!

God is watching over us and lots of prayers for guidance!

The Swing!

Grandma and Grandpa have a new toy on their porch! The Swing! Lily-Jo loves it and it puts her in a totally hypnotic state! Puts her to sleep...no pacificer needed!

YaYa is pretty happy tonight! Someone is staying all night for the first time alone!