Jelly Belly Factory

When our members of our family had traveled to

see the Sikes up in Chicago - often a trip to the Jelly

Belly factory was part of the itinerary. When we planned

our trip to Chicago - it was on my list too. Since we had

driven straight through we had extra time before

Jordan's Graduation, so to Wisconsin we drove.

It was a fun, relaxing morning

for Brian and I.

He's In The Navy Now

In September, Jordan was sworn into the Navy and left for Recruit Training in Great Lakes, IL. It was a proud day for his Dad and I. We were a little nervous, but excited too.

Then in November Brian and I drove to Chicago to see Jordan's graduation. Again, a proud day for his Dad and I. It was pretty awesome to watch the recruits and exciting to finally get to hug Jordan. It was soooo good to see him - he seemed like he had grown 4 or 5 inches. He said it was just that he stood tall now. Isn't he handsome in his uniform?

Jordan is still in Great Lakes, attending A School. He is doing well and is schedule to finish those classes sometime in April.

We are proud of Jordan and this path he has chosen to walk.

Memories

This morning, I was going through some old photos and I came across these sweet ones of Amanda and Jordan. And I remembered Brian asking me yesterday if when our kids were little if they were as busy as our grands.

They were. I remember how Amanda and Jordan would go full speed about their day - playing, reading, bickering at times and sweetly loving one another as brothers and sisters do. I remember them (with the help of their Daddy) placing a wading pool at the bottom of their swingset slide for added pool fun. I remember Mandie being a little Mommy to Jordan. I remember finding them in our first backyard dumping pails of dirt on top of one another. They loved that backyard! Memories that make me smile.

Bonus: Now I get to see glimpses of our children in our precious grandsons!
The memories are good and I am blessed.

It's Been a While . . .

WOW - I have been so neglectful of my blog! I decided while my activity is limited by my knee, I need to get back to blogging. My entries will be all over the map I am sure, but hopefully, with time, I will get my blog updated.

Where shall I begin? I guess with what's on my mind now. A day with our Grands!

Daughter and Son-in-Law took an out of town trip to an ACS (something -Chemist-something else) seminar in Fort Worth and to spend some time together without the little ones. Prior to the knee surgery, Bunny and Immie were scheduled to get the little ones all three days. We were so excited - first full nite we would get to have Mr. Liam. (We are pros at getting to have Casen - The Big Boy for full nites)

Enter hurt knee, surgery and Bunny who has an all day class on Saturday and doesn't trust Immie to behave while watching Grands by herself! (i.e. getting on floor to play cars, playing hide and seek with a bit of chase thrown in - while on crutches, you get the idea.) Enter Son-in-Law's folks. They agree to cover 2 days and Bunny and Immie get to keep Friday.

Bunny packs the car for our trip over to their house (about 1/2 mile from our new home/their old home to their new home - another blessing, another story). Funny, we didn't have to pack a playpen or diapers or formula or toys, yet it looked like we were going for a week! We arrive to find Daughter, Son-in-Law and our Grands all meeting us at the door. Daughter and Son-in-Law were happy to be getting a little adventure yet a little sad at leaving their babies. Grands, Bunny and Immie were just happy to see each other.

We had a fun day. We played Casen - The Big Boy's new fav - Hi Ho Cherry O. The guys played with the legos, trains, cars and balls while Immie got some great pictures. We laughed and laughed at how Mr. Liam just barrels his way across a room and in/out of the play house. We shared fun mealtimes and were amazed at how much both boys ate today. I laughed when Brian asked me if our kids were this busy when they were little. I loved getting to read to the boys, being able to sing to Mr. Liam as I rocked him at bedtime and listening to Casen - The Big Boy talk with Bunny.


It was a good day, a good day with Bunny and our Boys.

Mother's Day

For the past 8 or so years Mother's Day has been a rough day for me. This year that has changed. This year for the first time in about the same number of years, I spent at least part of the day with each of my children. May 1999 was the last Mother's day I had with Amanda and two years later in 2001 was my last one with Jordan. Living states away from each of them, their schooling and jobs - all these things have prevented me from getting to spend this day with them. Throw in the "Mother's Day Sermons" I have sat through and Mother's day became something that left me feeling lonely for my kids and hurting over every mistake I made as a Mom.

God's grace, peace, mercy and love changed that this year.

Jordan's and our relationship is healing. He lives here in Oklahoma with us now and will until he leaves for basic in September. What a blessing this time with him has been for us and for him. I admit, I was scared of having an adult child move home and feared we would just keep messing up our relationship with each other. God's promises and his timing are doing what needs to be done. It is a work in progress - as all things are. I am trying to remember that and keep my hands off of what I have entrusted to his care. Sharing a special supper with Jordan and Brian this evening (which my Honey prepared) was such a precious closing of this Mother's day.

God has also kept his hand on us in our move. The blessings of that move keep on flowing, like the one above. A special blessing from living here: the opportunity to worship with Amanda and her family today. I haven't done that for a long time on Mother's Day and it was nice to be able to share such a special time with her and her family.

I appreciated the sermon we heard today. For the first time in a long time the "Mother's Day" service didn't leave me bruised and hurting. Instead I left reminded of the fact that God knows my heart. He feels my sorrow for the times I have messed up as a Mom. He hurts with me. He cries with me. He rejoices with me. He listens to my prayers for and about my children. He continually shows me the way to loving my children as he loves me. The most important thing I was reminded of today is the fact that He loves my children and has plans for them.

God is good and I am blessed.

Oklahoma City Memorial Run

Today Brian and I went into the heart of this city and watched the OKC Memorial Marathon. It was a first for Brian and I and we loved it! One person's shirt said, "Running to Remember." I liked that. We saw all ages, all different abilities and all nationalities. It did my heart good. I loved that a runner would flash a smile or thumbs up to us as we clapped and encouraged them. Our added nephew - Jared joined Brian and I so he could cheer on the runners - especially his wife - Annie.

I'm proud of the runners (especially OUR RUNNERS!). They trained and reached their goals. They ran to Remember a sad day in our nation's history, some ran to remember loved ones they have lost, some ran to show their disabilities don't hinder them from obtaining their goals, some ran because they wanted to push themselves to a new level and some ran because they love to run. Whatever their motivation I was proud to watch and cheer them on and witness their accomplishments today.


Our added son - Josh (ran a 1/2 Marathon), our daughter - Amanda(ran a 5K), our niece - Annie (ran a 1/2 Marathon) and people we know through the kids were all part of the 22,ooo who participated in the run. We were able to see Josh, Annie and our kids' friend - Pam (who also ran a 1/2 Marathon) and cheered them on. One confusion today meant that we missed Amanda's leg of her relay. (that made me sad, but we will be at the right place next year!) They all ran on Team OC. Here are few pictures of our day.

Brian and I Waiting For the Marathon to Begin

The Run

Josh and Annie


At the Finish Line

Celebration Brunch at Jimmy's Egg

Our Runners with Their Signs

A Children's Book

Green Eggs and Ham ~ One of my favorite childhood books. Last year around St. Patrick's Day I had an idea: to share this book with Casen and for us to make and eat "green eggs and ham."

This past Friday and Saturday we made memories. Casen came to stay the night. Before bed we read Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Suess. We giggled as I read the familiar rhyming words while Casen took pretend bites from the drawings.

Casen was not happy that the egg shells were white,

he asked, "Green Eggs?" told him that we had to

break them out of the shell and then color them.

Immie thought, "What a sweet face!"

Casen enjoyed cooking our green eggs and setting the tray for our breakfast picnic -

Dr. Suess style.

Casen loves Green Eggs -

but Immie did NOT!

Immie loves ham -

but Casen did NOT!

I drew our breakfast and Casen colored the picture. I think he enjoyed his

Casen had a few more pretend bites from his copy of "Green Eggs and Ham."

What a fun time we had. I am so very thankful God has blessed my life with this sweet little boy! Mandie suggested I find some other books and do an activity suggested by their story. I'm already thinking . . .

Any suggestions?

Oh, I have no pictures of me because Brian is in Oregon for his Mom's surgery and extended arm photo taking isn't one of my talents!