Stuff!

So, I am SO tired of cold, dreary weather! We were in Tupelo over the weekend and Saturday was actually a beautiful day with the sun shining. Bill, Jeremy and Will went down to Starkville to a baseball game and came back with tanned faces! I guess God gives us a glipse of Spring every once in a while during January and February to remind that winter WILL soon be over. Back to reality though, the forecast is saying we may have MORE snow tomorrow night. I just do not function well in cold weather. I just want to stay inside in my warm bed or by my warm fire and do absolutely nothing!  We did enjoy playing in the snow Friday before last once we got to Mendenhall and had Skyler and Mylie to enjoy it with!  It's lots more fun when there are children around.  We had a good visit with Syd and her family that weekend... watched Skyler play basketball, went out to eat some great catfish and just enjoyed being with them. 

Back to being in Tupelo over the weekend... we had a great visit with Sarah, Jeremy and those other 3 precious grandbabies. They are growing up so fast! I got some cute pictures that I will post. Most of them are of Macy and Wesley since Will was at MS State Saturday afternoon. Sarah and I took Macy and Wesley to the Tupelo mall where they have a wonderful playground for kids. There is so much to do in Tupelo and such good shopping.. but gosh I miss them and wish there lived closer to home.

Before we went to Tupelo on Friday we spend Thursday night at Sunny and Bud's. Baby Silas' arrival is probably less than two weeks away!! We worked on finishing touches in his room and I washed and dryed about 5 loads of "baby things." We are so excited and so grateful to God for adding another precious baby to our family. Sunny and Bud are nervous, as I think all first time parents are. Please pray for a safe, normal delivery and a healthy baby!  I cannot believe that this will be grandchild number SIX for Bill and I!  We are so blessed to be here and be fairly young(as grandparents go) and  healthy and able to enjoy them so very much! Our cup runneth over.. thank you Lord! 

Okay....time for bed... I imagine my next post will be just before or just after Silas' birth.. so y'all be watching!!

Finally!

Well, I finally got my blog to look at least half way decent so I guess it's time for a new post. Wow, it's already February in 2010. I never really got in the habit of writing 2009 on my checks.. not sure why..so I thought I would be glad to go to 2010 but now I find myself writing 2009. Guess that's just the way it is. Change is hard for me...even something as insignificant as writing the year on checks. Accepting the fact that I am the mother of grown children, that I am about to have 6 grandbabies, that I am the "matriarch" of our family...well, it's just hard to deal with! Sydney called last Thursday morning in terrible pain with a kidney stone and ended up in the hospital. As soon as I find out they were keeping her I left work, ran home to pack, and was about to hit the road. Bill came in for lunch and even though I had told him the circumstances on the phone, he said "now why do you need to go?" He said "she is in the hospital, Tony is there, I am not sure why you need to go." With tears welling up in my eyes I said, "because I know what it feels like when you want your mama." I know men don't understand that or at least most of them don't. Anyway, on the way to Jackson I was thinking how there are so many times when I just want my mama or my daddy for that matter! And I do not like it that I cannot run to either one of them! It's hard to accept that, after 55 years of being able to get in daddy's lap or talk to mama on the phone and feel like everything was going to be fine.

Becky and I have still been going through mama and daddy's house,it looks like it is going to take us a year to finish. We found some precious letters that daddy wrote to mama in 1947, 48 and up until their wedding in Sept of 49. He wrote to her just about everyday begging her to marry him, declaring his undying love for her and just sharing what was going on in his life. Mother's parents were totally against her marrying my daddy.. I don't think they wanted her to marry anybody. Over the course of the 2 1/2 years that he wrote the letters mama would tell him yes and then change her mind...I think she must of done that several times. It is a miracle they ever married! Of course her family came to know very quickly what a jewel mama had married and they loved my daddy very much. After reading the letters it was very obvious to me why mama and daddy were so quick to agree for Bill and I to marry at age 19. They would never have said no after what they had been through!

I just looked back and my last real post was before Christmas. We had a wonderful Christmas with all the kids here, but I will be honest, it was hard for me without my daddy. I knew it was going to be sad but I didn't realize how much it would effect me. I went through a few days of a mini depression. Having the kids here helped tremendously but I missed my daddy. The kids(big and small) had a ball and as always had way too many gifts! Every year I say I am cutting back but this year.. I mean it!! Guess we will have to wait til December and see if I follow through.

Well.. guess that's about it.. except SuperBowl Sunday is just a few days away and the New Orleans Saints are finally there!!! GEAUX SAINTS!!!

Help!!

Okay.. you people who read my blog and have blogs of your own.. I have been trying to learn more about designing my blog..and am very frustrated....HELP!! I want to rearrange the different elements on my blog.. do I HAVE to use one of the templates on here? Post on here, email me or Facebook me and help me out please!!! As soon as I can figure all this out.. I will make a new post!!!

Rambling

Well, November sure did fly by and now here we are two weeks from Christmas!! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving week. Had Sarah and her family at our house the first part of the week and then Bill and I spent Thanksgiving at Syd's with their family and headed to Destin Thanksgiving afternoon. This was the first time EVER I have been to Destin and not had my toes in the sand at least once. I spent all of the time either shopping or sleeping, plus it was really cold! Edith, Carolyn and I started shopping Thanksgiving night at 10pm!! I lasted til 6am and had to crash.. they stayed up for over 36 straight hours! It was lots of fun and we did get some great deals.

This week has been the week of Christmas parties at my house. We had the choir party Sunday night after our musical and then the Sunday School department party on Tuesday night. Both went very well... I love having a houseful of people! The musical Sunday afternoon was a wonderful worship experience. I, once again, was feeling that we were not prepared and nowhere near ready to present this program. But man, God showed out and showed up big time!! He really blessed our efforts and it turned out to be one of the best that we have ever done, according to many people who were there. There will be a dvd available at Parkway if any of you would like to see it. This Sunday we will leave after church and go to Mendenhall to be at Sydney's musical. She has a solo and Skyler and Mylie will also be participating. I LOVE that my children are involved at their churches and are serving the Lord! It's the best feeling in the world!!

Sarah called this morning and they had a terrible night. All three of the kids are sick. Wesley was up all night, very congested and coughing. Will woke up at 5am throwing up and hasn't stopped yet. Macy is better today, but threw up yesterday. I know that they love Tupelo and are supposed to be there.. but gosh I hate that they are so far away and I can't help her! She and I were both spoiled the 3 years they lived here and had both sets of grandparents in town to help! She is taking all 3 to the doctor this afternoon.

Today would have been my sweet cousin, Ava Carlisle Roach's 62nd birthday. Ava had breast cancer and died at the young age of 43 in 1992. I can't begin to tell you what a kind, caring, loving, wonderful person she was. Becky and I were blessed to grow up knowing and loving our cousins, aunts and uncles. We got together at my grandparents every chance we had and we were all very close. Ava was 7 years old when I was born and she became "my Ava." She carried me around all the time and made me feel very special! I was devastated when she announced that she was getting married at age 17!! I did not like Corbie at all and it had nothing to do with what kind of guy he was ... he was taking "my Ava" away...or so I thought at 10 years old. Of course, she made it all better when she told me that I was going to be the Junior Bridesmaid in her wedding! Corbie turned out to be a nice guy and he fit right into our family and we all grew to love him. We lost him to cancer also several years after Ava. They left a beautiful legacy in their three daughters! I know both of them are very proud of Shainna, Alainna, and Jessica. I am thankful again, for memories!

Mama's 82nd birthday was last Saturday. I went to see her and love on her although she had no idea it was her birthday, or who I was. It is getting more and more difficult to see her in the condition she is in. She MAY weigh 90 lbs and she is mostly drawn up in a fetal position. She is totally unable to communicate and the only sounds she can make are garbled mumbling. I am praying for God to release her beautiful spirit that I know is still in there and to take her on home to heaven to be with Him and my daddy! I miss daddy everyday but am very thankful he did not suffer long nor go through what my mama has been through and is still enduring. And, yet again... I am thankful for memories!




Bill and I are excited once again that we will have all of our children under our roof on Christmas Day and a few days after that! Sarah, Jeremy and their three will actually be here a week from tomorrow and stay through Christmas, so Santa Claus will visit Will, Macy and Wesley at our house.. what fun!!! Sunny and Bud will arrive a day or two before Christmas and Syd, Tony, Skyler and Mylie will be here Christmas morning! How very blessed we are!!! We are also blessed to have Becky and Kevin and their brood with us on Christmas Day! It will be wild and crazy and wonderful!!

Remember to take the time to thank God for all the blessings that you have and even if you are having problems, trials, sickness, loneliness..thank Him for loving us so very much that He sent His Son to take our place on the cross, to pay the debt for ALL our sin, so that we may have abundant life now and forever...just BELIEVE!!!!

Readers, I am sorry for this very rambling post! My family and I want to wish you and yours a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a wonderful 2010!!!

With love,
Martha

November!

Wow.. time does fly doesn't it? Here we are in November, October is done, Thanksgiving and Christmas are just ahead. I do love the Holidays! I love all the hustle and bustle..... shopping, decorating my house, parties... but most of all I love being with my precious family and friends as we celebrate God's goodness to us and the birth of His son!!

It has been a busy Fall. After my "girls trip" to Orange Beach, Bill and I went to Destin with our close friends, John and Edith for a few days the last of October. It was great to get away and of course as far as I am concerned, that is MY beach! I was able to relax on it for several hours while we were there. Then last weekend I met Edith and some of her friends and headed to New Orleans for my first ever experience at "Market." WOW! The convention center was full of booths of retailers selling their wares at wholesale prices(well some of them were wholesale, some seemed expensive to me.) It is quite an adventure! I had a great time with Edith, Helen and Beverly and got some Christmas shopping done. I left New Orleans Sunday at noon and headed north to Brandon. Met Sarah, Will, Macy and Wesley at Sunny's for the night and Monday. Syd decided to drive up with Skyler and Mylie for a little while Sunday evening, so I had all 3 of my girls and all of my babies(Skyler will be 12 in March..guess I should stop calling him a baby..) together for a few hours... I was in heaven! Spent the day with Sarah and the kids Monday having their Christmas picts made and running errands. I got home Monday night around
6:30. Bill and I are headed to Madison Friday night for the Madison Central-Starkville playoff game. Our good friends, Mike and Jeanna Crowder's son Josh is a Senior... wow, again..where did the time go?? We got to watch him play a game earlier this season and are glad it is working out for us to see him again. Saturday morning we will head to Tupelo and be there to celebrate Will's 5th birthday at his party Sunday afternoon. November is a big birthday month for our family... Sunny's was the 10th, Jessie's is the 15th and Will's is the 17th. Bill and I will head home last Sunday afternoon. Then the weekend before Thanksgiving, November 21 and 22 we will have the joy of celebrating a 90th birthday with our sweet friend, Mrs. Gertha Burgess and then celebrating the marriage of her daughter and our dear friend, Debbie Redfield to our dear friend, Glenn Mizell the next day! We will head to Sydney's on Wednesday for Thanksgiving and then back to Destin on Thanksgiving afternoon for a weekend of shopping for me and relaxing for Bill! That will get us through November and then I actually think we will be at home for the entire month of December!!! Which is really good since I am having two Christmas parties at my house and then my entire family for Christmas Day!

Becky and I went last week and ordered daddy's headstone. Actually it's a double one for he and mama. Not a fun thing to do but we are pleased with the way it will look. We miss him everyday and guess we will for the rest of our lives. Today is Veteran's Day, so been thinking about him a lot. Thanking God for my daddy and all the other men and women who have served and continue to serve our country to keep us free!!

Memories

Guess it's about time for a new post. Been thinking a lot lately about memories. Aren't you thankful that God gave our minds the ability to recall things that have already happened? I realize all too well that disease and age can rob us of our memories, but for the most part it is an awesome ability. We can just sit down and remember things that we want to replay in our mind. Most of us would rather remember just the happy, wonderful events in our life but remembering the not so good and even bad things is important as well.. hopefully we learn from them. I spent the past 5 days with some very dear long time(notice I did not say old!!) friends and a good bit of the time we spent together we were remembering! The 5 of us were all members at Parkway when our children were very young, one by one each family, except mine, moved away from Natchez. We have kept up through the years and seen one another at weddings and funerals but until this past week never taken the time to actually get together and enjoy being with each other again. We had a wonderful time and have all agreed to make it an annual event. Back to memories though....it was interesting how some of the memories we discussed were remembered by all of us and then some things only one or two of us would remember but after hearing it described could also at least vaguely remember the event. Then there were things that one or two remembered and the rest have absolutely no memory of that event at all. Interesting....

Memories have always been important to me but with daddy being gone they are now even more precious. I am so very thankful that I have the ability to "hear" his voice and to "feel" his hug. I am thankful to be able to relive in my mind the day of my wedding and those three wonderful days that my girls came into this world. I am thankful to be able to remember my mama's laugh and the delicious food that she cooked. I am thankful to remember just ordinary days that now seem extra-ordinary. Days when one of my children or now my grandchildren do or say something sweet or kind or funny. Like the night Skyler was lying beside me about to go to sleep and he looked up at me and said, "Mimi, I love you so much I could eat you up!" or having kept Will one day and him saying, "it's been a really good day, Mimi!"

Oh my, I have so many wonderful memories that God gives me the ability to recall. And there are the ones that are painful, yet helpful to remember, and some that are just painful. Like hearing my mama say she had not talked to me in 3 days when I had talked to her everyone of those days and knowing now that was the beginning of her Alzheimer's. And hearing a voice on the phone say, "Sydney has been in a wreck." and Sarah say, "Mama, I lost the baby." And most recently, hearing the doctor say, "we are fairly sure your daddy has cancer that has already spread." I thank God that He has given me many more wonderful, happy memories than the sad, painful ones. I know that more of each kind are in my future and the good thing about that is... I know Who holds the future!!!

As far as the past few days with my good friends....Beth, Jean, Kathy, and Melinda...I am so thankful for all our "old" memories and for the new ones we made over then last few days!!! Can't wait to do it again!

Here we are......20 years ago



And here are a few picts of us this past week!

Life without my daddy

Well, I have now lived 3 weeks without my precious daddy....it's very strange.

My last post was on August 20th and daddy died on September 2nd. We found out about the cancer on August 5th and buried him on September 5th. Yes, I said buried... I know in my previous post that I said we would have him cremated but after more thought and remembering other conservations with daddy we changed our minds. We had a beautiful service at Parkway and buried him in McComb where mama will be buried beside him. We have been overwhelmed by the number of people who brought food, sent cards, sent plants or flowers, came to the visitation and/or the service, loved us and prayed for us over the last few weeks. We can never thank you all enough!!

I miss daddy every day... I miss him calling me numerous times a day... I miss him being the first person I called every morning and the last one I called every night. I miss him pulling up in my driveway and blowing the horn so I would come out, pull up a lawn chair and visit with him for awhile. I miss him coming by with his left over supper, usually fried fish, to see if Bill wanted it. I miss him asking me questions about all my girls and their families, wanting to be sure they were okay, safe and happy. I miss knowing that up until the last few months he would be seeing mama and taking her a shake everyday. I know there are going to be many hard times missing him... already thinking about Christmas and how strange it will be to not have him there. Although... he really will be there, won't he? He will be there in the Christmas memories in each of our minds, he will be there in the smiles and laughter as we gather to open gifts, he will be there as we remember how much he loved to eat all the delicious food we will share, most importantly he will be there in the love that we show to one another because he taught us so much about how to love each other and everybody we come in contact with in this ole world. Yep...he will be there!