All things family-related. My husband and me, the children we made, the grandbebes that thrill us now. Our whole great big, loud, messy family. Love! *sigh…
My firstborn, Tara, posted an awesome blog this past week. She is not only a great and honoring daughter, but she is a loving and in-love wife and an amazingly creative mommy-making sure to imprint Hunter's life powerfully for his good.
1. When I was a kid and my parents, who were pastors, moved us around a lot (from saving troubled churches to planting churches to church-interventions and back), each time we arrived at our new, but temporary home, I was like an Etch-a-Sketch that had been recently shaken like the dickens. It took all of 15 minutes to set up the bed and put our underwear-filled drawers in place. But books? Toys? Prized schoolwork? Gone, all gone – wiped clean, left behind, a history erased.
Now some may say this was a good way for a fresh start, but it affected me in ways I am only recently coming to understand. When we left Des Moines when I was 10 and my dad (whose space can never be messy because there is nothing to be messy, AND he is known to have a garage floor you could operate on) threw away my Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch, a treasured book from my grandma, it seemed lost forever. Imagine my delight when, in my early marriage I discovered a copy of the exact printing of it at a garage sale for a quarter. I bought it! Retrieved history, right? The problem is I now have 7 copies as I ever search for the best one. You can see this is a sickness.
It affected me this way with my kids: I have wanted to save every stinking doodle they ever made, every gift they ever received, every story they ever wrote. I never wanted them to feel they'd lost something important, so I have spent a good many years organizing and filling neatly stacked and labeled totes. My husband indulged this because he didn't want our kids to feel the uprootedness I had often experienced. (I've written before about keeping my children's "treasures.")
2. But my husband Dave was raised by depression-era parents. They'd married during WWII and had their 4 kids and were finished, but adopted my husband when their "baby" was 8 1/2 years old. They saved everything, and I mean everything, in preparation, it almost seemed for another depression. Nearly crumbling boxes filled with newspaper-wrapped and rubber-banded items were stuffed in to and falling out of every closet and garage and basement nook and cranny. "You just might need it someday," was the unwritten motto.
This translates into our garage – anything you might possibly need for absolutely anything – there is a 99.987% chance Dave has it.
3. Then the two of us, with these odd and polar-opposite experiences came together and received, as a wedding present, a cross-stitch pattern (which I never made, BTW) that said, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without," and as if we had our very own slogan, 2 new "frugals" were born. We relished a deal and being imaginative and using things for something other than they were originally intended. We were lauded for our artistic creativity, we relished our ingenius (if we do say so ourselves) style.
The new problem:
I am sick of it all. I hate totes and organizers arethe devil. They don't really organize stuff, they just make you think they do.
But now- I have grandkids doodling, for crying out loud! Whatever will I do!?!
God, show me what is worth saving and leaving for some one else to have to deal with! Ha!…Jeanie
NOTE TO SELF: Spend more time making new memories and less organizing the old.
"Ah! There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort." -Jane Austin
"Home – the abiding place of affections." – who said this?
"Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name…" -lyrics to the Cheers theme song
"For me, home is the coming together of my past memories and experiences, of my love for my children, husband and friends; my optimism tangibly expressed in life-enhancing ways – room by room – and of the tender appreciation that no matter how much of myself I put into this home, I, like everyone on earth, am a temporary guest." – Alexandra Stoddard
This almost makes me reconsider the major paint job on which I am about to embark…Jeanie
NOTE TO SELF: Keep cultivating home-happiness.
pictured: the whole fam in front of our house last April (Gemma and Averi are missing – time for a new picture!)
My Valentine from Stormie was a mounted 8 x 10 she put together of the grandbabies. The other night at a family dinner, she and the kiddies disappeared for about 15 minutes (where I am told they were swathed in white fabric and photographed) and this is how the whole thing re-appeared. Stormie loves having fun with Photoshop: changing colors, cropping, cutting and pasting. Do you see the word "love" 5 times in it?
They were supposed to be cupids, but kind of look like little forest faeries. Nonetheless – this is my Garden of Love!
Thanks, Stormkins, for always surprising us and cracking us up!…Mom
NOTE TO SELF: Find the perfect frame…
pictured top: Hunter, Guini, Gavin; bottom: Averi (only 8 days old when taken) and Gemma (8 months)
February 2008. I just found this in my waiting-to-be-finished blog drafts. I always have about 20 things "in progress" and since my parents were just here, it caught my eye. I know I am waaaaaaaaaaay late posting it, but here are a few rememberences of the hottest, most humid week ever at Big Lake State Park in northwest Missouri, but a wonderful time, nonetheless.
We are so grateful that the whole Ross & Norma Moslander family got to attend the reunion this past summer! The attenders were Ross the Boss, Mrs Moss and all the little Landers, the original 5: Jeanie, Joey, Timmy, Tami, and Danny, along with their spouses (also all "original! ha!) and the 15 grandchildren (plus the 3 "new" spouses so far) that we have given to them, AND 4 great-grandchildren! (the 5th was on the way in these pictures)
We laughed and cried and feasted and danced and swam and fished and paddled around on a little boat and ate and remembered and honored and shared and prayed and encouraged and ate some more and antiqued and sang and worshiped and got caught in a most awesome and fierce thunderstorm and played and ate again.
Joe's wife, my beautiful sister-in-law, Robin, made rich coffee and from-scratch cinnamon rolls early one morning for all of us grown women and led us in studying the Word together and praying for each other – the "older" women of the family praying with and encouraging the "younger." One night we all gathered in close to worship and pray together and Dad Moslander preached a little and Dave P. led us all in the most amazing and beautiful harmonies, if I do say so myself, just singing praise to God.
Our "party" night in the special events center to honor our parent's long marriage (50 golden years!) and ministry included lots of photo sharing and video and special music and twirling to romantic music before Aunt Tami brought out the funky stuff and showed us how to really get a groove on, while wearing my mother's rose-patterned wedding dress.
The days went too fast. It was a blessed time. How I adore all of these people.
Whether they are blood or by your choosing, I hope you will surround yourself with family and enjoy them all your days!…Jeanie
NOTE TO SELF: Stay in better touch like I promised I would. This is my family. This is my lifeblood.
My Aunt Diane (my mom's sister) died of a brain tumor a few days ago, only having known about it a few months. Today, on the day of her funeral, my husband's brother, Garry, a Vietnam vet, died, after battling pneumonia and bronchitus in his agent-orange-damaged lungs. They were both 60 and too young to die.
In the midst, we are celebrating the new life of our little Averi, fully aware of how fleeting, how quickly the years go.
It was a long labor, but Averi Jadyn Rhoades made a grand entrance for her happy parents, Rocky and Jovan, last night.
She arrived at 11 pm on February 3 (just one hour before her due date), weighing in at 7 pounds, 8 ounces and 20" long, with a generous amount of black hair and some extremely kissable cheeks – to a large assortment of cheering aunts and uncles and grandparents and cousins.
From a scripture Rocky adapted for his life when he was just 13 or 14: "Praise the LORD! [Hallelujah!] Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight [cherishing and relishing] in His commmands. His children will be mighty [robust, successful] in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed." Psalm 112. 1,2 NIV, with a bit of "amplification"
She is grand-baby number 5 for us and it just keeps getting better. I wholeheartedly recommend giving it a try!…Jeanie
NOTE TO SELF: Keep her name constant in prayer before the Lord.
pictured: Averi looking at her pretty mommy about an hour or so after her birth; the family first thing the next morming; Grandpa and Nonna with our little beauty
Dave and Tara used a clip from “Minority Report,” with Tom Cruise as the scene that most reminded them of my dad, their ‘Grandpa Moslander,’ as we honored him on his birthday. It was when the girl with “the gift” of seeing the future (Agatha) was helping the Tom Cruise character (Jon) run from people who were trying to frame him for murder. She’d been kept in a semi-comatose state in a pool so she had no muscle tone as they were trying to escape and he was kind of dragging her along, attempting to look normal, as she told him what to do and when to do it.
As they entered a busy mall and passed a kiosk, she tells him, “Take the umbrella!” He was going forward quickly because he is running for his life, but then he hesitates and listens to her as she orders him again, “Take it!” He grabs it now hauling her body along on one side, clutching the umbrella.
As they are weaving throughout the shopping center with a veritable army on their heels, he learns to trust her “gift” even when it seems ludicrous. Once she has him just stop dead still and as he sees the “bad guys” approaching, she is telling him, “wait….wait…wait…” and of course, as he does, he is miraculously covered from their view buy a big bouquet of balloons as a little girl’s mom buys one from a mall clown for her.
When they finally exit the mall, seemingly surrounded and having been spotted by the agents who were attempting to frame him, they walk outside smack into rain and Jon (Tom Cruise) is amazed as understanding comes to him and he opens the umbrella to cover the two of them – among all the other people already covered from view by umbrellas. Ah – now we understand her command, “Take the umbrella!”
Dave and Tara were telling their grandpa, with commanding motion picture imagery, that they are thankful he followed the leading of the Holy Spirit and trusting God in his life even when it didn’t make sense and outward circumstances may have seemed to contradict the direction he received. We all teared up at the powerful scene depicting so beautifully, that spiritual premise: Trust God. Follow where he leads.
Is it any wonder I cannot get the song, “Umbrella” a haunting blue-grass song by the Isaacs, out of my mind? “Your love, like an umbrella, covers me…” I can’t quit singing it, can’t escape the symbolism and the impact it is having on me. (see them sing it on youtube)
On Friday I got the neatest card of encouragement from my sister, Tami, who lives oh-so-far-away in Kentucky, but is always in my heart. Here is what it said:
“THE FIELDS were parched and brown;
the crops lay wilting from thirst.
Local ministers
called for an hour of PRAYER
on the town square,
asking everyone to bring an object
of FAITH FOR INSPIRATION.
The townspeople filled the square
with anxious faces
and HOPEFUL HEARTS,
a variety of objects clutched
in prayerful hands-
holy books, crosses, rosaries.
When the hour ended,
as if on magical command,
a SOFT RAIN began to fall.
Cheers swept the crowd
as they held their
treasured objects high
in GRATITUDE AND PRAISE.
One faith symbol seemed
to OVERSHADOW all the others:
A 9-year-old child
had brought an
UMBRELLA.” *
The Bible promises “showers of blessing.” The other night, right here in Denver as a light snow fell, there was thunder and lightening – a somewhat rare combination. Maybe it is God saying, “Take the umbrella – even though it’s winter – take it!”
I smell rain…Jeanie
NOTE TO SELF: Have faith in God.
*The words on the card were by Laverne W. Hall, adapted from Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul page 198
My parents just stopped by to see me for a few days on their way to Phoenix where, for the second time, they are attempting to embark into retirement. They retired a couple of years ago…for about a month or two, then they went straight back into ministry.
We got to celebrate my dad's 69th birthday with all of our kids and grandkids. We selected movie clips that reminded us of him. All were about him being a man of prayer (He prays for us all every single day) except Rocky, who brought the comic relief for the night, showing a scene from "Nacho Libre" where Jack Black was trying to impress the "Sister" by contracting his buttocks in white pants and Rock said he imagines that was Grandpa – back in the day-trying to woo Grandma.
My dad reported a conversation they had recently that he felt summed up many of their conversations. It went like this:
Mom: They say if you play games like Yahtzee, it will help your memory stay sharp. Do you want to play a game?
Dad: Yes.
Mom: I forgot where I put the Yahtzee game.
Mom and dad will spend a month in Phoenix asking God for His next assignment. When I write them, as always, I will attempt to find creative greetings instead of the usual "Dear mom and dad…" Some of my past favorites:
Dear Mater & Pater…Dear Mamala and Papala…Dear Mummy & Puppy…Dear Mo & Po…Dear Mama Mia and Diarhea…Dear Matriarch & Patriarch…Dear Madre & Padre…Dear Mere et Pere…
But my all-time favorite, the one that cracked me up as I wrote it and them as they read it: Dear Mammogram & Pap Smear!!!
Thanks for coming by to spend time with me, Marigold and Peony. It was wonderful! I love you!!…Jeanie
NOTE TO SELF: Thank God every day for my heritage. Honor mom and dad (this is the 5th commandment with a promise: "…that it may go well with you…"). Keep up the correspondance!
Just updated the FYI-about Jeanie page, too. I am sure that it is more than you ever wanted to know about me…but I told you anyway. Questions?
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
And by the way, we are eagerly awaiting our next granddaughter (this will make it 2 boys, 3 girls) any day now. Jovan and Rocky had us all make guesses about her name, day of birth, weight, length, etc for the baby book. So far I am still in the running with my guesses:
I selected the name Abigail because it means "the father's joy" and I think the obvious tie-in to the famous street in London: Abbey Road, along with the Beatles album would be a cute conversation starter (her father is, after all, Rocky Rhoades). I hope they choose it!! I hope we have an "Abbey Rhoades" soon.
I chose Jan. 27 as the brithdate because that is my dad's birthday and it would make a great gift ( a new great-granddaughter – get it?). And I chose the time to be 10:08 pm for my birthdate, Oct. 8. I predicted her to weigh 8 pounds and 4 ounces in honor of her daddy and to be about 20 1/2 inches long, a nice little bundle of joy! Pink is in the air!
We'll see how it goes…Jeanie
NOTE TO SELF: Get bag packed for hospital waiting room – a good book, camera, snacks…what else?…
