Category Archives: Stuff I Actually Think
Keep the Garden
Gen. 2.15 Then the LORD God
took the man
and put him in the garden
of Eden
to tend
and
keep it.
I did not keep the broccoli well. I may have forgotten to water it. Ever. Half of it is going to flower already – meaning trying to seed itself for posterity. Must brush up on my keeping skills.
But it is raining this perfectly fine Sunday afternoon. So, it will have to wait – the keeping, I mean.
Happy Birthday, Gemma May!
Gem Gem is two. She is veeeeery good at it!
I have a glimpse of who Gemma is becoming everytime I see a Fancy Nancy book or outfit: naturally curly red hair, sparkly and feathery and delightful! She ornery and sweet, sneaky and a little lamb. She holds her own, takes dominion over Sandy-the-dog and tells us, when she wants to be held, “I scared.” She is the baby of her family in all the glory that place brings.
My favorite of our current conversations:
Me: I love you, Gemma
Gemma: I love you Nonna
Me: I love you more
Gemma: I love you more
Which she will keep up as long as I do. Very affirming! She is two and I cannot remember life before Gemma!
Happy Birthday, Gem-Gem-jor-eeee! Nonna loves you!
pictured: Gemma in April at Stormie’s Twilight party – eating the apple prop; Gemma with her Aunt Tara last week at Mazatlan. Gemma on Mother’s Day, seated on her/my new black breakfast bar stool.
Happy Birthday, Stephanie
Happy 27th Birthday, Stephanie May – as in May-Day-baskets-of-lilacs-and-tulips-and-dancing-around-with-streamers-in-celebration-and-rejoicing!
(picture taken by Tredessa at church on Easter Sunday…Guini-almost 4, Gavin almost-6, Gemma-almost 2, parents-still twenty-somethings)
A full 5-weeks early in your arrival, who could have known, as they pronounced a mere 30% chance of survival on you and your severely underdeveloped lungs – that you’d be home in 12 days? That you’d defy the odds and in answer to our heart’s cries and the mercy of the Lord, you’d breathe in and out until you were whole?
We named you for one of my Biblical heroes (Stephen – a man of wisdom and grace, full of the Holy Spirit) and because three of our favorite TV actresses back in the day had the name (Stepfanie Kramer aka Detective Sgt. Dee Dee McCall in “Hunter”; Stefanie Powers aka Jennifer Hart on “Hart to Hart”; Stephanie Zimbalist aka Laura Holt in “Remington Steele”). I am sure I read in the baby name book at the time that your name meant “crown, or garland, festooning” yet I couldn’t have comprehended then how true that would be about you. We added “May” in the middle in celebration of the beautiful spring month in which you were born. You were our tiniest baby with a big, long name.
Then you grew. And you were funny and a singer and had a helpful heart. And you developed a very unique sense of style and you played basketball and now guitar and you worship and you married Tristan and produced these 3 adorable kids. And you amaze me constantly. I did not know what an incredible wife and mommy you’d be. I didn’t know how much I’d learn from you about following Christ and serving my family. You are the Proverbs 31 woman, Stephanie! In every way – you are!
“Many women have done wonderful things, but you’ve outclassed them all…The woman to be admired and praised is the woman who lives in the Fear-of-God. Give her everything she deserves! Festoon her life with praises!” Proverbs 31, The Message
Twenty-seven wishes for Stephanie on her 27th Birthday~
- I wish for you to be rewarded for the wonderful and wife and mommy you are – to receive the fruit of the seeds you have planted into your family’s lives.
- I want you to get the needed time to develop your May-Dae biz with Stormie.
- May the creativity flow in full force for all you put your hand to as you remain o-so-close to the Creative One.
- I wish and pray for the smile of the Lord to be on your life.
- I am asking the Lord to make you aware of how He sings and delights and dances over you, crowning you with His goodness.
- I pray those 3 children will receive everything you have to place in their hearts as their mommy.
- I pray Tristan will always be blessed by you, always ravished by your beauty, both inside and out. And may the wild romance blossom profusely and continuously.
- May the song of the Lord pour from your heart and mouth and please Him.
- May the Holy Spirit instruct you in the song of the Lord (1 Chronicles 25.7) and may you become a highly skillful musician for His glory!
- I wish for this next year to be full of the joy of the Lord (your strength) and for it to start with the best summer you have ever enjoyed – fun times with the people you love.
- I wish for you to discover new abilities and skills as you Exec. Direct a whole “Pod’s” worth of people! What an impact you are having!
- For all the times the Lord has miraculously healed you in both body and mind, I pray that you will lay hands on the sick and that they will recover and that your fervent and effective prayers will produce wonderful results and many healings!
- I wish for you to have peace on all sides, to have favor with both God and man.
- I wish friendships for you that were long-ago planned by God, to enrich you and bring encouragement.
- The new “old” house of your dreams – I am wishing that for you! And all the antique-and-funky stuff to fill it you could ever desire (including the music studio!!).
- Songs – the ones you write…when do we get to hear some?
- I want your lilac bushes to bloom profusely! Because they so remind me of you – all purple and deliciously-scented. So they should..profusely…bloom!
- I wish for you to know your value in our family – that you are a crown to us.
- I pray that you will understand what a blessed representation of our love you were to us, that to guard your life and cherish it was a symbol of all that was to come.
- I want you to know how much I love you and admire you and how proud I am of you, not only for the woman you have become, for the person you have always been.
- I am praying you can receive the praises and festooning we are bestowing upon you on the occasion of the celebration of your birth because you deserve them, you do.
- Be courageous. Don’t be afraid.
- Be bold. Don’t hold things in.
- Be you. That is a gift to us all.
- I wish you laughter daily and tears when you need a good cry.
- I wish for all your dreams (the ones we know and especially the ones we don’t) to come true.
- And I pray you will take your place – the one God had in mind for you before you were even one day old (Psalm 139), take the place, the ministry, the arena, the position – God has called you to and don’t ever let self-doubt or man’s opinion stop you. You are the crown. You are the garland that celebrates and decorates the Head.
I festoon you with my love. I festoon you with my praises. Twenty-seven years ago today, I got to touch a miracle – and you remind me of God’s faithfulness everyday of your love-filled life.
Happy Birthday, Stephanie… Mom
NOTE TO SELF: Am I blessed or what? This girl is one of the most interesting, multi-faceted and surprising human beings on earth, the spice of my life.
Big Brother
It is increasingly aggravating how much of our privacy is just disappearing everyday. I know I tell “almost” all here, but one thing I DON’T want everyone seeing? My Driver’s License! Omygosh!
Thank-goodness my brother, Joe, just sent me the information on the National Driver’s License website – where they post your actual license – by state, photo and all! I couldn’t believe it! But you can request to have it closed to the public, only open to law enforcement. Just click here and look your name up.
Regain your privacy!
For Keeps
psalm 121
I lift up my eyes to the hills –
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to slip or be moved.
He who KEEPS you will not slumber.
{He who watches over}
He who KEEPS [His people] will not sleep.
The LORD is your KEEPER.
{the LORD watches over you}
The LORD is your shade on the right hand (the side not carrying a shield).
The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night.
The LORD will KEEP you from all evil.
{the LORD will keep you, guard you from all harm}
He will KEEP {watch over} your life.
The LORD will KEEP {watch over/guard} your coming and going
from now until forevermore {for always…}.
The question: What does it mean to be “kept”?
In awe of the Keeper…Jeanie
NOTE TO SELF: I can see He is not sleeping – so I can! Peacefully. He is at work on my behalf. Makes me start singing: You dance over me while I am unaware…He is KEEPING me…
So Much of a Good Thing
Family is awesome (and sometimes scary) .
Sometimes I look at Dave across the room and wonder if he is feeling as overwhelmed with awe and wonder as I am. There is noise and mess and laughter and teasing and general uproariousness – and we did this – on purpose. Dave and I created this crazy, wonderful mess. This is the fruit of hot passion and true love. This is the grace of God.
(pictured above, l to r: Stormie’s thoughtfully-wrapped gift for Tara; Averi pretending to be drawing on the chalkboard so she can get a taste of the chalk; deep fried pickles! Yes. Deep-fried pickles…and some homemade onion rings)
Bowling for Tara.
Saturday: Tara is not a birthday-cake-and-ice-cream-and-let’s-open-presents kind of birthday girl. No, no. She wants activity. Physical activity. And if there can be competition in there, all the better. Her birthday dreams are made of beach-ball volleyball tournaments or tetherball challenges or something with tennis racquets.
Because the forecast said “rain,” (which, btw – God, seeing on His calendar “Tara’s birthday,” sent a brilliantly dazzling and sunny day – the rain came after dark very beautifully), we opted to bowl for Tara’s birthday. We gathered for an early lunch. We bowled a couple of games. I found out Gemma (almost 2) is a better bowler than me and Hunter-the-informative (4), gave me tips to bowling better, along with a demonstration of how I was turning my wrist all wrong.
We came back to the house for strawberry shortcake and presents and blessings. Dave and I read our love letters to Tara out loud and we cried. That is hard to do, but it is good for your children to hear your love straight from your own mouth. It will keep them long after we are gone.
It was hours and hours of love and celebration. In the evening, DP pulled out the romance ticket and whisked Tara off to the Melting Pot where he had flowers delivered to the same booth they sat in 6 years ago on her birthday as they were madly falling in love. One of the gifts he is giving her is time in a recording studio to do some of their songs. Then, while we hung out with Hunter, they went to the new Star Trek movie (a must-see in our family!).
A couple of months ago I was worried about Tara turning 30 because she seemed so alarmed by it. But she ended up actually enjoying it. She felt honored and loved. She is THE most gorgeous (inside and out) 30-year old I know!
5 kids + their 3 loves + 5 grandkids (throw in a niece and nephew) = a blessed Mother’s Day!
Sunday evening: I had these 2 bamboo/cane stools for the breakfast bar we bought at Gordman’s when we moved in almost 7 years ago. The grand-bebes love sitting there during big family meals. But we have 5 of bebes now. We have been using an extra stool we have had for years, but still-it has become a scramble to see who will get to sit where. A few weeks ago I spotted some sturdy wooden stools at a very-very nice reduced price* at Target. I tossed the idea out to Dave and Stormie: Hmmm…maybe we should get these and just paint them black? They were very nonchalent and less-than-enthusiastic about the response. “Oh, yeah. Maybe.”
After the kids had fixed a great big BLT (the lettuce is welcome to come along, but the stars are the bacon and the Tomatoes…swine flu be darned!), fruit and veggies-with-dip meal for me, I was asked to leave the room momentarily. I came back in to my 5 little grand-bebes seated, with big, colorful bows atop their heads, on 5 matching (recently painted black) breakfast-bar stools. Oh yes! Less work for me! More space for my joys. I LOVE it!
I have now been informed that there is plenty of room for one more stool there should I get a 2010 grand-bebe, but after that I will have to move to have a bigger breakfast bar.
There was some very crazy card-playing (Pitch) where Rocky aggressively won by bull-crapping his entire way through. How we have not broken the Rocky code all these years, I do not know. He keeps us laughing!
SIDE NOTE: I stopped by youtube to re-watch my Mother’s Day present from last year (my kids singing my favorite Patridge Family song) and it seems the public wants more. There are comments saying they should sing and post some more and one person even suggested getting in on a family singing contest on an early morning news show where David Cassidy himself is one of the judges! Haha! Just in case you missed it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpDzazacUEw
Weekend over. Heart Full.
Stormie painted me a representation of the original 5 who made me a mom (and wow-three of those have brought me amazing “new” kids!). It is hard to see in the photo, but all of their names are on there with 3-d lettering. Stephanie bought me a gorgeous “little black dress” and the house, thanks to all the kiddos (including niece-Elise), looks like a flower shop – for all the flowers they brought me and each other to celebrate mommyhood. Loving the fragrant lilacs!
We are real people. We do NOT do everything right. We’re not even always that nice. In fact, we struggle, and fail and do it wrong at times, crying out to God for mercy, just like any other family…But we are a zealous bunch. We are loud. We are committed. And there is love. And you can’t get too much of that.
Until next time…Jeanie
NOTE TO SELF: I am so glad Dave chose me to be the mother of his children and that he is the father of mine. It is working for us.
*$15.89 each…told you it was a nice price!
Bright sunny yellow
Rocky Mountain Tip:
It is a good thing to have a bright, sunny day when you are in the mountains (where I am currently, Estes Park actually). But it is not a good thing while you are in the mountains on a bright sunny day to have anything related to your bodily functions described as being “bright, sunny yellow.”
Should that happen, attend to it immediately.
Idolatry
The night sky shines less brightly for me now, stars seem to have been obscured. American Idol finale? Who cares?
Danny Gokey is gone. Danny! Gokey!
Daaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeyyyyyy……whyyyyyyyy?
Plus I am sick of the judges acting like infants. They stink. And America has let me down. Way down.
Peter Cottontail just better watch it!
I hope I am not accusing wrongly.
I hope this is not the work of the neighbor’s 2 cats (and btw-why is it OK for people’s cats to hang out in my yard, leaving their poo-poo and harassing my obviously “fraidy-cat” of a dog??). Why should my carefully prepared garden soil be an invitation for kitty-frolic? People, I implore you!
But for the past several mornings, my garden has been in disarray.
The onions have been pulled out (which I am able to plop back in: they are a hardy bulb plant and seem none-the-wiser that they have been messed with). And my 1″ high radish seedlings are half gone. Gone! Now the itty bitty tiny carrot seedlings were pulled out and of course, died in the sun (I am starting over), but half of my radish seedlings are gone without a trace. Not a leaf left lying. Some lettuce and mesclun, too. And I am blaming Bugs (as in Bunny)!
I have seen the little bunnies. Our neighborhood is full of them. Full! They apparently did not get the notice that this is no longer open farmland and that to stay will require a vote by the HOA.
You’d think our mangy Lady-in-the-Water*-looking dog would scare them away, but they still sneak back here – to my Eden, my little farm-in-the-dell, my back 40 (feet).
Peter had just better watch out…Mrs McGregor, aka Old Jeanie MacDonald
NOTE TO SELF: I will have veggies! God as my witness, I will have veggies!
*Referencing the “Lady in the Water” movie which was one of the lamest storylines ever from one of my favorite storytellers, M. Night Shyamalan (a bit of indulgence for the writer himself, I fear), but I still watched again recently because the characters are great and the setting is superb. Just a crappy story (but some great visual appeal), with a grass-mange dog-thing of some sort.
pictured: google image