Happy Birthday to my very first grandchild! Happy Birthday Gavin, oh you who totally TRANSFORMED my life! Happy Birthday, little red-headed Kelley kid! Happy happy day to one of the most joyful, exhuberant people I have ever known!
Last week Gavin made his school prep visit to the pediatrician to update his shots and fill out the proper paperwork for getting him enrolled in school. Stephanie said the doctor sort of quizzed and tested him to make sure he was “ready,” checking his reading skills and numbers intelligence and I am happy to say he “passed” with flying colors. I was glad I didn’t know about the “test” ahead of time because I’d have been a nervous wreck! You see, I have been Gavin’s pre-school teacher for the past year.
For ever and always, I will cherish the time Gavin and I have spent in “the classroom” together! There was reading and writing and counting and colors and shapes and concepts and painting and rhyming and online computer games (which I watched him learn, conquer and outgrow) on www.sproutonline.com. There were days when school lasted 15 minutes and days when it went for hours. We’ve read Dr. Seuss’ ABCs a hundred times or more and much of Gavin’s bookworm “growth” was reading the Bible, something we both love! Intense learning times were followed by an episode of SpongeBob with some popcorn and Diet Pepsi. It is hard to say who has learned the most, Gavin or his Nonna?
I love you, Gavin-ators! I love that people at Wal-Mart say, “Oh you have red hair just like your grandma,” and I accept the comment knowing it is really from the OTHER grandma, and in reality, I am trying to have red hair just like YOU! I love that you told people, “Nonna is a good teacher,” and I have no idea where you’d get something like that except that I hope it was mirroring me telling you, “Gavin, you are such a great learner,” which you truly are! I love that you love learning and safety scissors and glue sticks and discovery.
You had a Transformers birthday party which was so apprpriate because, little boy-YOU have TRANSFORMED my life! You ARE a Transformer!
I love you, Gavin, forever and always and I’ll miss you when you go to Kindergarten!…Nonna
NOTE TO SELF: When I told Gavin that his going to school would leave a huge void, he advised me, “You can have me over for dinner.” Do that! Often!!
pictured: Gavin loves his sisters! Gavin (2) with Guini; Gavin (almost 4) with Gemma; Gavin as a dinosaur last fall; Gavin at “pre-school”
Gavin wanted a Transformers Birthday Party. All I really know about Transformers is the song, “Transformers, more than meets the eye!” and that the “characters” are twistable and change from thing to another. So, when I heard he wanted Optimus Prime and I did a Google search, I saw the images above: one a cartoon rendering from the original show (so I am told) and the other a plastic toy version. I knew I wanted the cake to stand up and I was secretly hoping it would have moveable parts and actually transform, but alas…
Ultimately – I decided on Rice Krispie Treats instead of cake. Hard to believe, but true: this “cake” contains the better part of 9 pounds of Rice Krispie treats, 6 pounds of buttercream (to make the fondant stick), and almost 12 pounds of my newly discovered marshmallow fondant, all on a plywood base “black-topped” with fondant.
I planned. I toiled. I tried to get a grip on this Optimus Prime guy, whom I had never actually seen, and just couldn’t. But still, I charted out a plan, came up with a design and prayed for the best. Meanwhile, as i was talking to my parents on the phone, Dave just started building, piling the fat-free cereal treats, gluing them with buttercream and sculpting on the fondant. Optimus got bigger and bigger and way out of my control. Dave took over. He was building a model, in essence.
On Saturday morning Dave did allow Stephanie and I to add a few accessories and buttons and whistles to his figure, but it was mostly Dave. When he needed more fondant, it was all me, but this cake is Dave’s deal for Gavin!
Yikes! Let us get back to basics, people!…Jeanie
NOTE TO SELF: Get a grip on my limitations, for the love of Pete! Simple, simple, s-i-m-p-l-e!
pictured: Optimus cartoon; Optimus toy; Dave’s Cake, Gavin with his birthday cake
No, no. Not a cake for the birds. But a bird cake for Gemma’s first birthday, which was bird-themed. Steph chose an invitation and we used it as inspiration. It was 2 tiers, the bottom being lemon-poppyseed filled with the traditional and oh-so-delicious lemon curd (sort of my trademark flavor), and the top tier was butter chocolate with fudge filling.
I didn’t get the background color exactly like I wanted it, but here is what I tried this time that I have never done before: homemade-marshmallow fondant (MMF)! I HATE that Wilton fondant (it smells and tastes like kerosene), but this fondant tastes ok (like marshmallows and powdered sugar), is easy to use and really was easy to make.
It worked great for rolling out the shapes, which I “glued” on with a conservative brushing of almond extract (makes everything smell wondrous and evaporates quickly) and Gemma seemed pleased with it at her party at the park over the weekend. She picked off and ate the small dots.
Gavin and Hunter preferred the fondant to the cake, which is good because Gavin’s cake is going to have lots of it this weekend!
Oddly enough, this is not the finished cake Image (above right). I actually went back and piped twirls and swirls and polka-dots onto the leaves. Oh well.
Gem-gem-jareee! How is it possible that you were born a year ago today? We waited anxiously for you back then…and waited…and waited…and when finally you arrived, well after your “due date,” we saw you were worth it!
Right away you drew us in with your tiny, delicate features and little halo of fine, wispy red hair. What a good-natured and joyful little girl you have been. Weren’t you just a newborn yesterday? Didn’t you just start holding your head up during tummy-time? Didn’t I only recently get thrilled to watch you sitting up to play with no support? It was only moments ago, wasn’t it, that you started climbing my stairs and making me lose my breath!? My main and most-treasured memory of you this past year is the ready smile and twinkling eyes I have enjoyed every single time I have seen you. You’re a smile bringer, Gemma May!
Recently, though, just after you first became mobile as a speed-crawler and have now started toddling on those two tiny feet, oh the little girl I see emerging!!! Wowzer! I see ornery behind those clear blue eyes. I see a little trickster getting ready to delight us all with her antics. You are strong and sassy, you are easily pleased and opinionated under that thickening garland of red.
Every new tooth (with that happy, wide-open smile) brings a few new words and makes the joy bells of my heart ring madly!
My favorite Gemma game is kiss-kiss. And sweet baby girl, you have let me smother your cheeks with kisses, snuggling close and graced me with thousands of your sugar-sweet pecks over the past year. I am looking to a lifetime more. I hope we’ll always get to be partners in crime and that you’ll let me tag along on your mischievious adventures to come!
I love you, baby girl…Nonna
NOTE TO SELF: Put everything waaaay up high again, as a new little Kelley kid can reach everything!
O-MY-GOODNESS! I got the most wonderful Mother’s Day present from my kids Monday night.
OK-yes, Mother’s Day is over, but almost everyone was out of town the weekend of Mother’s Day (see why here) and life is so busy and hectic as my family grows and travels and does what they do. So, last night was our first opportunity to get together to celebrate Mother’s Day for me, Tara, Steph and Jovan and to celebrate both Tara’s birthday (May 9) and Steph’s birthday (May 21) as a family!
We do this thing where we pick movie clips that remind us of the birthday-honorees and tell why. That is always a time of laughter and tears, lightheartedness and rich, prophetic meaning.
So, as we gathered after a wonderful laughter-and-chatter-filled meal, the kids said, “Before we start the birthday movie clips, we have one for Mother’s Day for you.” And…..
THEY COVERED MY FAVORITE PARTRIDGE FAMILY SONG OF ALL TIME!!! They got together, did rehearsals, learned parts and did, “It’s One of Those Nights (Yes, Love)”! Can you believe it?!!?
Here is what I know: Tredessa got the idea to do this when she came over and I was playing the song over and over and telling her how much I really love it a few months back.
Tristan and Rocky put together the music and arrangment and got everyone going;
Dave and Rocky added guitar and vocals; the girls learned the back-up singer’s harmony (and my beautiful niece, Elise, babysat for 3 hours one morning while the vocal recording was being done);
Dan Wakefield added the groovy 70’s piano (though Jovan “played it” on the video);
Stormie did the bass for real (and tried to act like Danny Partridge as she played on video); Tris played the drums (much better than Chris Partridge).
They recorded the track (except for Rocky’s vocals) and then got together early on a Saturday morning to lip-sync to what they had recorded, using various camera angles. Rocky, who also “mastered” the final soundtrack, really hams it up, as his vocals weren’t there yet, but were recorded later.
They said it got harder to smile the more times they went through it, but they are adorable – Tredessa parted her hair down the middle for the 70’s effect and Dave unbuttoned his shirt, as everyone dressed in their own 70’s interpretation because Stormie and Steph didn’t have time to put together whole Partridge family outfits for all! The boys pretty much dress like that all the time, though, don’t they? Ha!
Then the amazing Tristan, producer extraordinaire, took all the pieces and cut and edited them into place and you have a video for me of my kids singing “It’s One of Those Nights!”
I LOVE IT!! Can you tell? Oh-I mean, they all got me other gifts – thoughtful and wonderful as always, but this – THIS is amazing!
You’ll notice that Stephanie is holding Gemma throughout the taping, and Rocky has Averi, and here and there, you’ll see Gavin and Guini and Hunter running around, so they are all there: my family, doing something time-consuming and sweet and over-the-top!
I can tell you this – I do not deserve this kind of work and love, but, wow, I am so honored! Thank-you, sweet Elise and Mr. Dan Wakefield (prince among men) for helping the kiddos do this for me!
And thank-you my sweet children for one of the funniest and most unique gifts I have ever received!
Happy Birthday, sweet Stephanie, amazing mommy, faithful wife and thoughtful daughter. Happy Birthday, gentle spirit, sometimes hidden, but always breaking through in brilliant rainbow-colored prisms of light. Happy happy days to you, my second-born who came to us so fragile, but stands on her own two feet now as a woman of faith and strength and patience and contentment. The favor force of God's grace and healing power rest on you, Stephanie. You are surrounded in His blessing by your husband (and his heart can safely trust in you) and the 3 precious gifts straight from God: Gavin, Guini and Gemma and the rest of your family who loves you.
When you were born too early all those years ago and they whisked you away to another city for the intensive care you would need and I didn't get to hold you before you left, but could only touch your tiny hand through a small opening in an aparatus full of tubing and wires, I wish I'd known so much more, wish I'd been bolder. How I wish I'd have had the voice to say, "Give me my baby to hold – it will help her." They know so much more now, that the holding is key, but in their effort to keep you free of germs and to help you breathe, we were kept apart: me in one hospital, you in another. We lost some very important days. And so maybe in the deep places of your heart you may still wonder, "Will my mom be there for me?" And maybe because of that early experience you'll sometimes wonder if you are all alone in the world and where I am and if you really can count on anyone? And I hope you will know you can. Because I really know that sometimes I have been absent and busy and unreachable, but you have stuck it out and I want to be faithful to you in being a mom you can count on, because you are such a joy and so worth my full attention.
And so these are the gifts I am praying you will unwrap this year:
Ability to receive the hugs and touches and holding you didn't get your first few days of life now. You are sweet and sassy; you are gifted and independent, not given to emotional outburst, but steady and dependable. But inside your big, generous heart deep, loving waters flow, yet sometimes I sense your trepidation in being on the receiving end. But girl, I have the strong need to make up for lost time and the days I didn't get to hold you. I hope you can receive it now and know that I am holding your heart with great care and I see the tender, tiny baby girl inside you still and I am watching out for her in prayer and no one can tear me away now! I am so glad I am your mom.
Courage to sing again. Those little undeveloped lungs from May 21, 1982 – wow! They have changed. They have been filled with the life-breath of God and from your earliest days, the song of the Lord! And so, you've had a break from the public singing (the babies needed you), but I hear the song rising in you again. Even last night, the sound of the prophetic song came from inside you and filled the air and the anointing and call of God on you was again so apparent. And in that moment, I was just so proud of you – for spending time in the secret place, just you and God so that when the time is right, your heart is full and ready to minister. So sing, Stephie. It is for the Lord. You were born to sing for Him. But I love the sound of your song, too.
The rewards of your faithfulness. You were a teen-age bride. I could not believe you married at 19 and I would not recommend it to anyone else, but you married so well. And you have walked faithfully in that role. You and Tris are mature beyond your years, working hard, serving God, ministering hand-in-hand, raising those babies for God. You make good, sound choices and decisions. You are steady and faithful. And God sees what is done in secret. He is watching you live your life well and true before Him. And He will reward you openly.
A glimpse of the miraculousness of your life. I believe that the enemy tried to stop you at your birth, like he tries to wipe out all miracles at the very beginning (think Moses, think Jesus – death decrees made, but they were saved). So I believe the fact that you fought to live and thrived and defied the odds says something of yor character, but also that God has great things in mind for you. Your life is a miracle, every single day. And you were born to make an impact. You already have, but I also look forward to what is in store! I am so glad to get to be near you as your part in God's story unfolds!
I am so proud of the woman you are, Stephanie. You are light-years beyond where I was at your age. You are an amazing wife, mother, daughter, sister. We're only just beginning to grasp what a gift you are! I bless the day you were born, scary as it was at the time, I should have known it would bring so much good!
I am pleased with the way you have turned out. I am so blessed to be your mom, my little preemie…MOM
NOTE TO SELF: Follow Steph's example of gentleness, patience.
Happy Birthday to my firstborn daughter. Happy Birthday, infectuous and joyful daughter of the King! Happy happy days for you, anointed psalmist and voice for your generation, truth exhorter and encourager to so many. Happy celebration of your birth, sweet Tara. You've been light and life to me since the day you were born. I couldn't have fathomed, at 19, what on earth I was getting in to – becoming a mommy. I didn't have a clue what to do or how to do it, but they put me in a wheelchair as I was dismissed from the hospital, placed you in my arms (along with a bill for seventeen-hundred and some odd dollars – you were such a bargain!) and we left together: a clueless woman and a trusting baby, nuzzling close, breathing new life into my heart. And in all the years that have been and in all the years we have ahead, for this I am grateful: You are a good daughter. I am so pleased with you. In spite of me, and maybe, I hope, just a little bit because of me, you have turned out so well!
I think of the poem, which I will only partly include here, that Lord Byron once wrote about his cousin (do you remember when I painted some of this poem on your bedroom wall, because these effortless, flowing words, though written 150 years before your time, so fittingly described the woman I knew you were becoming?):
She walks in beauty like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes…
And on that cheek and o'er that brow
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent
The smiles that win, the tints that glow
But tell of days in goodness spent
A mind at peace with all below
A heart whose love is innocent!
I am praying for you and these are the gifts I hope you will open today:
An understanding of your pivotol role in God's great story on earth. I hope you'll come to really grasp that fact that you are not living out some individual plan for your life and hoping God will let you in on His stuff, but that He actually created you to be in HIS life, HIS plan. He knit you in my womb, writing the days of your life in HIS book before you were even one day old. You are a woman in the ongoing redemptive story who has been called to be a voice in your generation. Get bold. Speak up and speak out. His words are in your mouth. And when you sing, oh my, anointed woman – the whole wide world is waiting..so take your mark on His stage…
Time in the Presence and that you may be filled with all the fullness of God! As you get to drink in the anointed preaching and teaching and worship in Dallas this weekend, as you get to spend time with others who have your heart and and same raw passion for the things of God, as you spend time seeking God's next steps for your life, may iron sharpen iron, may the deep call to your deep. I pray that the mighty, powerful and intensified Presence of God will fill you up, from the inside out. I am calling out to God to fill you with ALL His fullness (Eph. 3.19), even though as Anne Ortlund pondered around the time you were born, "How do you put the ocean in a teacup?" I have no idea, honey, but I am praying it for you, anyway! Will I even be able to look at you when you get back? Or will your face be like Moses' after getting a glimpse of God? Ha!
The praise of your husband, who has found a good wife. As DC Talk told us, "Love is a verb" and you're a good lover. Dave's heart can safely trust you. I know he knows you were God's best for him and vice versa. Who could have guessed what God had in store? I am so thankful, I'll tell you, for the wonderful husband God gave you, the perfect man for you. I am praying you'll be able to hear, experience and receive the love he offers you and know it is true and real, always.
Grace to be the mommy Hunter needs. You were God's best choice for this little boy – this amazing, smart, funny, ornery, raspy-voiced, hugely-vocabularied little boy. You and Dave have created a talker/thinker/worshipper. And that little man loves his mommy. You are his safe place to fall. You are home to Hunter. You are his shelter and hiding place. And that is a big job, but I know and God knows, you are equal to it. So I pray you'll always mother him with the same force of favor and love with which God has fathered you.
Gentle warrior-friends to protect your innocent and giving heart. It can be easy to take for granted a person who is so open and forgiving and tender-hearted and I pray as your mom, I never will. And I pray that your family will always see and respect and receive your gifts. And I ask God today to send you people who will stand with you, stand in the gap for you, surround you in prayer and provide shelter when you need a quiet place to be restored. I pray that in the many ways you have provided that for others, it will come back to you.
I am so pleased with you, baby girl, I bless the day you were born…Mom
NOTE TO SELF: Spend more time with this woman – she is amazing!
pictured: Tara with the men in her life; at age 3 with her daddy; 2 shots of Tara with the love of her life, Dave; and Tara with her son, Hunter (who is 3)
Happy Birthday, baby-girl and grown-up woman of God. Happy Birthday gentle spirit, humble and true. Happy Days always for you, beloved baby-of-the-family, but great caretaker and servant-of-all. You walk in the shadows and are a mystery to some, but not to your mommy. I see the big things. I see the heart. I see the blessing you have poured out and poured out to so many. I watch for the harvest because after casting so much bread upon the waters – in not many days, it will come rushing back in a free-fall of overwhelming-Niagara-sized blessing over you! This is God’s promise. I am watching for it.
Every day of your life you have been a gift to me. When I think about the way you choose to carry our burdens at times and how you silently work behind the scenes to lighten loads, through the large lump in my throat, I thank God for you, again and again. I couldn’t find what I really want to give you at Target or Wal-Mart, but I have some things in mind.
These are the gifts I hope you will open today:
the great grace of God for your life, my Stormie! You were born into a powerful force of favor and have been gifted and enabled to to do what God has called you to do and to be what he has called you to be. Grace is raining over you. Let it reign over you, too. Receive it. Splash in it. Be graced! It will be your unending sufficiency.
beauty for ashes. I know you have already felt pain so deep you could barely breathe. I know you know the sting of loss. I wish I could give you the gift of never being ripped apart, but I can’t. I wish I could save you from any and every pain and broken relationship, but I can’t. But can I remind you there is a Balm in Gilead, an oil of healing and the promise of God to exchange the things of pain for the things of life and joy and abundancy?? So, go ahead – put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Praise looks good on you, Stormkins!
the unending love of your family. You are so very well loved in the family, Stormie. Your role is so important I cannot fathom us without you. Your nieces and nephews all know that “Aunt Stormie” is a special one indeed. Please let us love you back with the same measure you show your love to us, day in and day out – because that will be enough love to fill your life always.
the hope of a lavish and extravagant love relationship. “He” is out there. We may not know him yet, but I look forward with you to the day that you’ll be loved and cherished by the man of God’s dreams for you. I wait with you for the moment we know that there is one who would not only lay down his life for you and love you with the same passionate, sacrificial love with which Jesus so loved the Church, but that this man will live to love you. From once upon a time to happily ever after; from everlasting to everlasting, the one God has planned for you. I am praying for him, even today, before he has even discovered you.
the song of the Lord. I pray that His song (via your beautiful voice) will burst onto the scene very soon. I see your eyes light up and I hear your spirit rejoicing in the music and worship of the God of the Universe. Even when there is no apparent sound, your heart rising in worship is loud and anointed and undeniable. I am still waiting for you to go public with the song that is rising. Sing, O Daughter of the Living God. Lead the people in the song of the Lord for His delight, His acclaim.
your true self as you see your reflection in His eyes as you walk ever-so-closely to Jesus. In Christ is the deepest and truest of you. May he captivate you and hold you prisoner in the freedom of His indescribable love and mercy. Who is Stormie that God is mindful of her, that He cares for her. You have made her a little lower than the angels and crowned her with glory and honor. (Ps. 8.4-5 paraphrased)
Open these today, my Stormkins and have a happy, happy birthday!…Mom
NOTE TO SELF: Bless the day she was born. Bless that icy-windy-stormy day in Sioux City, Iowa when this priceless gift to the world was born!
pictured: Stormie in 1st grade; Stormie with her little orphans in Venezuela
Stormie designed it, I baked it. Stormie cut the shapes, I iced, filled and decorated the big one in the middle (roughly 12" x 12"), a white cake with cherry filling. I iced the little ones, swiss chocolate, but freaked out when I discovered that each one had its own design. So Stormie did those. This apparently represents some kind of Dharma Initiative symbol-thingy-something-or-another from the TV show, LOST! , which I obviously, unlike others in my family, do not follow. Whatever. Stormie also painted Dave an apron to match.
The cake was a fun idea, but we only went through 2 of the small chocolate cakes and about a fourth of the big cake. Now what?????
Then we have the mini-crosses I did for the kids for Easter. Years ago, I was involved in making giant ones with Three Muskateers for an annual Ladies Ministries fundraiser. Crazy days! Now-I just made a few, but they were very small, made with the new mint-flavored Three Muskateers which are teeny-tiny.
This last cake was my dad's birthday cake, a 3-layer white cake with buttercream filling as he requested, topped with cherry pie filling. Rocky kept eating the cherries before we served it, confident the red sauce would create a diversion. It was the easiest cake we have ever done.
Who in the world needs this much sugar and flour in their lives?…Jeanie
NOTE TO SELF: Time to start using foam for creating elaborate cakes we will never eat.
On March 23, 1959, a young girl gave birth to “baby boy Bigham” in Topeka, Kansas and gifted him to a large family where, at 5 days old, he was adopted and became “David Allen Rhoades.”
I hadn’t been born yet, but I am so thankful to God for the twists and turns and dead ends and interstate highways that brought him into my life so many years ago. With all my heart I believe God designed us for each other.
Yesterday I told him I couldn’t imagine my life without him. I think I would be just like Mary in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” who, when George Bailey had been granted the wish, via an angel, of seeing what life would have been like had he not been born – saw that the wife he’d known as beautiful and vibrant and loving and playful, without him was an old-maid-librarian, afraid of her shadow, afraid of him as he tried to approach her. So much of who I am is tied up in the love Dave has freely given me all our years.
So-I thank God for His wonderful plan, for including you in my life. But also, honey, I thank-you for choosing me above all others and for the times you have seen the best of the real me and coaxed it out of me. I am grateful you let me be the mother of your beautiful children and that you trusted me with your heart. You are ever and always my best friend, my lover, the one I desire. As we enter the second half of this marriage, your birthdays will continue to be “happy birthdays to me!”
I love you, Dave…Jeanie
NOTE TO SELF: Love him, cherish him, stay in his corner.
pictured: My oh-so-adorable husband as a baby; Dave at Bible College, where we fell in love; Dave-my-lover more recently.
