Happy 75th Birthday Mom and Thinking of Grandpa Nelson

Today is my Mom's 75th birthday!! We bought a cake and candles and a balloon and hung a Happy Birthday sign in her room. We had cake and ice cream and then took her for a ride to one of her favorite places.....the Golf Course. Just as we got her in the car, a huge thunderstorm and lightning bolts came up. We enjoyed hearing the rain and thunder. We took her by where she spent so many hours golfing. She was an awesome golfer and I think some men were even intimidated by having to play against her sometimes! It was a good day and although Alzheimer's tends to rob the person of a lot of communication and giving feedback....we knew she enjoyed herself. I think we tuckered her out.  Though she is not the Momma or the Grandma she was a few years ago, we still know her and she knows us and what's in her heart and her eyes and that's all that matters.

We are beginning to get our feet under us and find daily life again without tears and so much pain at the loss of Grandpa Nelson. Our hearts still ache not having him here, we miss him terribly, we long for one more hug and kiss, and one more conversation.....BUT....he is in God's hands now and he is being carefully loved and cared for by God and his Son. What could be better than that? We are joyous for that. He is not suffering, he is not sad, he is not having to spend his days at the nursing home. He is HOME!  We cling to that and that gives us hope. It will just take time to make this adjustment here on this Earth without him. I just wanted to share some pics.

 Grandpa watching Haley ride her horse in the parade....Chief is the spotted one.

 Some of the grands and great grands!

 This is my one of my favorite pictures of Grandpa. Haley took this of Gpa at church. What better way to sum up Grandpa than to see him in prayer and with his songbooks and Bible right near him. He was a Godly man who believed in his Savior Jesus Christ.

And his pride and joys...his 13 grandchildren!

Here are the grandkids and wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfriends, and 2 of his great grandkids. 
(Missing one granddaughter in law and great granddaughter!)
We love you Grandpa Nelson!


We are continuing to pray for Grandma Sharon and for Grandma Ruth as she adjusts to life without her sweetheart.

Romans 8:28

King James Version (KJV)

 ²⁸And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

A Time of Sorrow

I write with a very sad and heavy heart tonight. I will write more at a later time.
My father in law, Nelson Madden, 87, has passed away and we are grieving. He has gone to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and for that we are joyous and praising God. It is our earthly pain and loss that is so hard. He was taken by ambulance on Thursday, August 18th and in ICU with pneumonia, kidney failure, low blood pressure, staff infection, and was very septic. He was placed on life support on Friday, August 19th. The doctors informed the family that medically there was no more to be done and all life support was removed on Sunday, August 21 at 5:00 p.m. He passed away peacefully on August 22 at 2:00 a.m. There were 9 of us with him out of his 29 immediate children and grandchildren. We are deeply hurting and feeling such a huge loss for a beautiful, Christian, humble man.  If you will, please pray for our family. I can't tell you how much I appreciate all of you as my friends. I will be back soon to visit more. Thank you again....
You can view his obituary at www.penwellgabelosawatomie.com
With love and a grateful heart,

Welcome Back to School

Whew! I made it!
Today was "students" first day back in our district! This is my 20th year teaching and I think I can say it went very well and was one of my better starts to a year! It was an awesome day! I have 20 energetic 3rd graders (12 boys and 8 girls). They were a great group TODAY...I'll let you know how I'm doing by the end of the week! HA! I wish I could show you their pictures as they are pretty cute! I have one little girl who is extremely tiny (we had to lower her desk waaayyyy down and get her a 1st grade chair) and she wanted to hold my hand all day. When I needed to use my hand, she latched on to my leg or my waist! So cute! She was not upset or scared, just loving and physical!  She also has lost her 2 front teeth!  Just priceless adorable!

I pray that I can be a positive influence on them. I hope that I can teach them academic skills to help them succeed in life, but also some character values, morals, and knowing right from wrong. I would love to teach them about Jesus and God and sing songs we sing at church. I know that I would probably lose my job if that took place, but whenever whenever whenever THEY bring up church or God or Jesus, I love it and I encourage them. I wish when we finished the Pledge of Allegiance we could have a prayer. We can't! But I will pray for these little people!

Darb started her S_ _ _ _ _ year (12th) at school. I told her not to say that word in the house...Momma can't handle her baby being that old. 

Here she is this a.m.....she wasn't ready for school (notice the bare feet!) but I had to leave for school and needed the annual pic. 

Daddy started today too. He left at 6:00 a.m. for football practice. They both have volleyball and football practices after school. They will be exhausted! Tonight for supper is Stuffed Green Peppers (Thanks Carrie at Farming on Faith!), oven potatoes, and Texas toast.  They never care what's for supper....they are too tired and zombied out and just so happy Momma has supper ready.
Speaking of which, do you say Supper or Dinner for your evening meal???? Just curious!


We got a little rain today which was nice. It greened up outside! We did get a break and got to go out for recess! HALLELUJAH!


My neck, my feet, my back are killing me!  That's the truth! I will go for my daily walk tonight and then I will beg for a neck massage tonight! HA!

My daughter, Lacey, who is expecting February 13, is gearing up for her first day of teaching Kindergarten on Thursday. She has 20 of them! Last year was her first year of teaching and she was a ESL teacher/coordinator for K-12. I just know she is going to love it! I also think she is going to be worn out Thursday night! I can't wait to hear the stories she has to tell!

Hoping all of you that have kiddos heading back to school will have a great start to the school year. How is your routine coming? Getting kids to bed, getting kids out of bed, breakfast, buses, drop offs, pick ups, running here, running there....how do we do it?
Summer is on it's last leg and we are in a new phase of the year. Ahhhh Fall is on it's way! I love Fall but I sure hate to say Bye Bye to those lazy fun days of Summer.


Can't wait to hear about your "Back to School"!

Here and There...This and That

July 28th was our 27th Anniversary....It was an uneventful day as far as celebrating anniversaries go! We worked around home all day! To be honest, we sweated all day outside!

But.................. July 31st, we got to celebrate with dinner at Cheesecake Factory and tickets to Kenny Chesney/Uncle Kracker/Billy Currington/Zac Brown Band concert!! Tickets were courtesy of our 4 thoughtful kiddos who gave them to their Daddy for Christmas! We have been waiting 7 months for it! Of course dinner at Cheesecake is ALWAYS so good...definitely one of our favorites! We dined outside on the patio....perfect weather! Then headed to the concert...we ended up being there a total of 8 hours! WOW...that's a long time for the old folks! Great seats and great time! 
(pictures taken off the web!)

July 23rd was my parent's auction. If you have ever had to go through that, you have my sympathy and thoughts. It is NOT an easy thing to do. It is NOT a fun thing to do. We have been getting mentally ready for it for a year and physically working on it for months. The 2 weeks before were pure physical work and emotional stress. It's one of those things you HAVE to do at some point but not easy. My husband, kids and I have been going through personal stuff for a while. We have been keeping those cherished things that have very sentimental meaning. We have boxed up and saved so many things. My Dad was a "project man". He did leather work/metal work/machine work/wood work .... you name it. My Mom has always jokingly told my husband and I that this day would come. His basement and his garage were full in a very organized way. He didn't have ONE of ANYTHING! He had multiples of everything. Pictures don't do justice! We had an awesome auction and we were extremely grateful for the auctioneer and his crew. They are friends of ours and they made this process so bearable. There were over 300 people that day. Everything sold very well and we were very pleased. People were there at 6:00 a.m. and the auction did not begin until 10:00 a.m. We went home that night at 8:00 p.m. truly drained! This past week we have continued to do the "aftermath" of the auction. Meeting people to let them pick up items bought/clean up/finish up paperwork/etc.


AND......


My husband and I had a epiphany (a sudden realization of great truth!) during this whole process! We have GOT to declutter/purge/organize/throw away/simplify!!!!!!!!! So this past week we have ATTACKED our home/sheds/garage/basement! We have hauled out more trashcans full than we can count. We have organized like professionals!! We feel so good! And we are not done....oh no.....there is still work to do! And I love it!  I think that the whole process of having to have an auction and go through "stuff" has made me so aware that it really is just "stuff".  I'm definitely a sentimental person and can't throw away MEMORIES easily so I do save those types of things.... but if it hasn't been used in weeks/months.....then it's history.  I bought the DVD by Peter Walsh "It's All Too Much" and it got me very motivated!
Here are pictures of BEFORE the auction ..... "stuff" had not be set out on trailors or in yard!  (Just so you know...this post will also serve as a small "photo" album to look back on...so please scroll fast if you so choose!)

 

Here are pictures the DAY of the sale....Darbey was the "official" photographer and she actually took hundreds. I will spare you the pain and just share a few!!

 What an exhausting and hot day (month) it was! There were 4 auctioneers working with a crew of helpers. I'm so grateful to all of them. We sold EVERYTHING including 2 vehicles. We were unable to sell the house on auction so it remains with the real estate agency. I am also deeply grateful to my hardworking husband, 4 kids, 1 son in law and 1 boyfriend. They are my rocks and I couldn't do anything without them! Thank You and I love you!

Something Old, Something New, Something Bought, Something.....PINK???????

My family thinks I'm losing my mind! I had a vision.....
I have been wanting some of those old metal chairs...the kind like my grandparents had sitting out back on the farm! Well, a friend of ours had a couple and I requested to buy them. She said that they had sentimental value as they reminded her of her grandma (See I'm not the only one!) so she didn't want to part with them....but I could have a double seater one that she picked up along the road side a while back! I saw it and LOVED it even more than the single chairs! I couldn't just take it so I paid her $20.


My vision and my novelty way fell to thoughts of PINK FLAMINGOS! Love them!  And so....I went with the Bubble Gum Pink theme! 


Though the fam thinks I'm nuts, they are growing on them.....Here at Madden's, we have a new place called "Flamingo Cove"!

Happy 4th of July

"God Bless America!" Kate Smith belted those Irving Berlin words out many years ago and today is a day to let yourself shout if out as well. (I did my own rendition on my deck today and got lots of glaring looks from my family!)

Today's younger generations may not be familiar with the origin and history of the song Irving Berlin considered his most important composition.  It was written during the First World War, for an army camp show where Berlin was stationed: Camp Yaphank on Long Island.  The show's producers rejected it as too jingoistic, so Berlin placed it in a trunk of rejected manuscripts.

There it lay for twenty years, until Ted Collins, manager of popular singer Kate Smith, approached Irving Berlin for a new patriotic song for Kate to introduce to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War I. Berlin had recently returned from a trip to England, during which he was saddened to see signs of another war in the making.  He was more thankful than ever to come back to his peaceful adopted homeland (his family had come to America from Russia when Irving was a small boy), so he was motivated to answer Collins' request, on Kate's behalf.

After several days of futile attempts to write a new patriotic song, Berlin remembered the one he had written in 1918.  He asked his secretary to retrieve it from the trunk, and he made a few changes to the lyrics.  One was from "Stand beside her and guide her/ To the right with a light from above" to through the night," since "right wing" and "left wing" had taken on political connotations in the interim.  The line "From the mountains to the prairies/To the oceans white with foam" had originally been "From the green fields of Virginia to the gold fields out in Nome", a decided improvement!

Now Kate Smith was the No. I popular songstress in America in 1938, and her weekly Kate Smith Hour was heard by many millions of radio listeners that Thursday, November 10.  The shy composer was invited to attend the show, but he declined, opting to listen with a few friends in his office at his music publishing company in New York.  Kate sang it as her closing number, after which Berlin's phone began to ring, as people began to ask, 'Where can we get that song that Kate Smith just sang.?" Berlin was so touched by those calls that he decided to attend the rebroadcast three hours later for the west coast audience.  At the conclusion of the broadcast, Kate called Irving to the stage and gave him a bearhug that swept him off his feet! 

Wishing your family a very blessed holiday! What a wonderful country we get to call HOME. Think about all the choices you make every day and you are FREE to make those choices. 

From our house to yours,

Happy Independence Day!

 

Tonight we are having Hobos on the grill (steak, chicken, potatoes, corn, green peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, salt pepper, seasonings all wrapped in individual aluminum foil packets) and Hawaiian bread. It's a family favorite! And of course, homemade ice cream with toppings using Daddy's new ice cream machine and chilled watermelon! Then the show can begin! Fireworks! We have so enjoyed sitting on the deck in the evenings watching all the neighbor's fireworks displays for about a week. Hasn't cost US a dime! HA!

July 4th will probably always be a hard holiday for me now. It has always been one of my favorites. But this has been a tough few days for our family. My Dad passed away last July 3. We have been recalling the pain and anguish we felt last year at this time. There were no fireworks or cooking out or yard games or laughter or smiles in our home. God provides TIME to help us heal.....it never takes goes away and it is always there and we always remember and reflect....TIME only eases the pain and makes it bearable. I am so thankful to have my family to help me smile again.