Williams Family

Holiday Quiz! Tag..You're it!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? A mix is nice but I prefer to have something to unwrap!
2. Real or artificial tree? Fake and prelit. Ask Kevin if I will EVER have a real tree again! TWO vacuums!
3. When do you put up the tree? Day AFTER Thanksgiving!
4. When do you take the tree down? Day AFTER Christmas
5. Do you like eggnog? Love it!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? The pink dress with butterfly sleeves! Still have it 28 years later!
7. Do you have a nativity scene? yes but I still covet the one my mom handpainted when we were kids! Love the Wise man painted in the watermelon color!
8. Hardest person to buy for? Father in law
9. Easiest person to buy for? Mom and friends, Sandi was easy to buy for too!
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? The fake cabbage patch kid! I may have nightmares tonight just thinking about it!
11. Mail or email Christmas cards? I prefer mail but don't send them anymore so I guess I can't be picky!
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Is it awful if my favorite is Scrooged? "It's a TOASTER!"
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Start thinking about it a long time before I can afford it!
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Who me?
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Turkey and Dressing. or Peanut butter balls, basically any of my mother in law's holiday baking!
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Both but it can change by year! My prelit can do either or both!
17. Favorite Christmas Song? Hard to choose, I love them all!
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We go back and forth, we change yearly!
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes I can.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Christmas morning
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? People who worry about those that don't celebrate Christmas.I don't celebrate Hanukkah but I don't care if someone wants to listen to songs about dreidel's!
23. Do you decorate your tree in any specific theme? Kid and cat friendly!
24. What do/did you leave for Santa? Cookies and eggnog and carrots for the reindeer!

What is wrong with this picture?

That's right, HE IS!
WOO HOO!
MIZZOU is #1 BABY!

One game between the National Championship game and Missouri!

Go Tigers!

Things to be thankful for this holiday season...

As we celebrated Thanksgiving this past Thursday I was sick, so sick that I think I slept through most of it. I didn't get to help with the cooking or the planning of the meal or any part of it other than to help Kevin decide that it would be a good idea to visit his parents instead of sitting home since he would probably not be able to see them for Christmas this year. I was glad that we got to go, we got to see many of Kevin's family members and I was told that they played rousing rounds of Guitar Hero III and scrabble while I slept in a drug induced coma for most of it.

We got to go to Mike's to see Logan and Lauren, although by the time we got there most of the food had been consumed and everyone was in turkey induced laziness. It was just not the same to have the holiday that meant so much to Sandi and our family without her there, especially in her house. I was terrified to go there if I am to be honest with you. I was afraid that Mike would
have made sweeping changes to the house and I wouldn't be able to see her anywhere but those fears were unfounded. Mike has kept things very nicely and the kids seem to be thriving in their own way. It was a difficult day and brought back many memories of happier times.


We did visit the cemetery on Thursday. They have placed her marker and planted the tree for her. It looks amazing in that horrible macabre way that you don't want to see but can't seem to not stop to look.


We came home on Friday and Mom and Dad came with us. We had all done other things for what is traditionally a Creighton family event so we decided to come back to our house to do the holiday some Creighton family justice! Mom and I woke early begin the turkey and dressing. We cooked all of the traditional things. We invited our friends and neighbors (all of whom we are most thankful for. Without them I would not have made it through the past six months. I love you guys more than you know!) over to celebrate and watch football (GO MIZZOU) and play hand and foot! Really guys, I would have made that much food just for my family of five! While we played cards and joked with each other we cheered Mizzou to victory over the KU Jayhawks and called it a great night! I am most thankful for good friends and close family. That is what it is really all about!

Happy Turkeygiving

I realize (Tiffany) that it has been a long time since I posted. Sadly I am not able to post from school computers and since I have been working most days it has been more difficult to get online to post. I know that is a lousy excuse but at least I have been knitting! I am making a pair of convertible mittens out of sock yarn. I will try to post pictures soon. Until then, Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

OK Jo and Tiffany...

I am posting!

I would say that there isn't much to post about but that wouldn't be entirely honest. I think the problem is that there has been so much going on that it is overwhelming to try to post it.

I have been busy taking care of PTO details at the middle school. One of the problems with being good friends with the staff at the school where your child works is the fact that it is hard to fly under the radar and not help out. Someday ask me how I ended up being the president of the pto...AGAIN! Actually, those of you that know me already know the answer to that, I'm Kristi, things just happen that way to me!

I have been busy helping out with Girl Scouts. We have taken our girls to Blanchard springs cave and camping at Petit Jean mountain and are getting ready to go to a Zoo Snooze at the Memphis Zoo a week or so from now. The girls are having a great time and you can see the pics on my picasa web albums. I will link to them on the sidebar as soon as I get done with the posting thing!

As if that isn't enough I am also busy trying to Substitute as much as I can. That isn't very difficult, I tend to sub everyday actually. I love it, I don't think I would want to be in the classroom every day and have to be responsible for the lesson plans and all of the grading but it is fun none the less! Every time I teach in a writing class it makes me feel closer to Sandi too.

The subbing came into play because my other job responsibility as the Youth Ministry Director for our church is currently a non paying position. That means simply that while I have a paid staff position, there isn't any money in a new church start to pay all of the staff! I don't really mind, I doubt you get into the ministry for the money anyway! Especially when you only have 10 or so kids, talk to me again when we have grown and we are at 100 kids!

I guess I need to go get some housework done, my Mother in law and father in law will be here tomorrow to pick the girls up after trick or treating to take them back to Missouri for a 4 day weekend. Jo and I are going to be "walking" for 4 days this weekend. I will try to post more frequently!

Tagged

Two names you go by:

1. Kristi
2. Kris (not too often anymore, just mom now that Sandi is gone)

Two things you are wearing right now:

1. Todd Agnew tshirt

2. St Pat's Pj pants

Two of your favorite things to do:

1. Computers/Technology

2. Knit (though you might not think it to see my blog lately!)

Two things you want very badly at the moment:

1. A Maid

2. A Margarita!

Two favorite pets you have had/have:

1. Max (the best cat ever)

2. Kirby (my Dalmatian)

Two people who will fill this out:

1. I have tagged you
2. and you

Two things you ate today:

1. Buffalo Chicken Pizza from Larry's

2. Lean Cuisine from Stacey at school

Two people you last talked to:

1. Mom

2. Aunt Betty (they are sitting in my living room)

Two things you're doing tomorrow:

1. Helping with grandparent's day at middle school

2. Going grocery shopping

Two longest car rides:

1. Oregon to Missouri via Arizona and Texas.

2. Back home, same three kids, same week!

Two favorite holidays:

1. Thanksgiving

2. Christmas

Two favorite beverages:

1. Diet Coke

2. Diet Coke

3. Diet Coke

It's a Girl!

For years Katie has told me that she doesn't like my curly hair and she was glad that she didn't have it! Yesterday we were fixing her hair (note the appropriate use of "fixing" all ya'll from arkansas!) and we noticed that there was a lot of curl and wave starting to happen! Since my curl didn't show up until I was in my late teens I had to burst her bubble! She was happy though, I think that she likes the wave and is ready to encourage the curl! YEAH!

It's like the first day of school all over again!

Katie was so nervous today that she could hardly stand it. She made herself so sick last night she actually threw up. I felt so bad for her but this is what she wanted. Her goal was to attend school with her best friends, and when her school was overcrowded this year she got the chance to change to middle school north! When we moved here we sent the kids to Eastside elementary which was a terrific school but it was the odd school, the students from there had to split between the two middle schools and junior high schools before reuniting in High school five years later. Sadly most of Katie's friends were sent to Middle school north last year and Katie was sent to south with only one of her group of friends who was put on a different team and never got to see her.

Katie woke up this morning and decided that she did want to go to school even though her stomach had been upset in the middle of the night. She was still nervous, the first person we saw was Jill Weir, Mrs. Weir is the librarian and was Katie's third grade GT teacher in that same school. She also attends church with us and led the Mission Maniacs at CUMC. The second person Katie saw was her 4th grade teacher Mrs. Brockinton who was very excited to see Katie again and I think that went both ways! Mrs. Brockinton was "that" teacher for Katie. She helped her blossom as a student and Katie really missed her last year. As Katie was talking to Mrs. Brockinton she was spotted by Amanda, Taylor and Darla who came running and screaming down the hall. We were then greeted by Stacey (Amanda's mom) and Danita (Taylor's mom) and Judy (judy crocker from VBS) who all work there! Suffice it to say that Katie will be well watched at CMSN and will have lots of people to run to if there are any problems! She gets to see her friends before school and at lunch each day and after school. While she wanted to be on the same team with her friends she is probably better off being in class by herself or at least without amanda and taylor. She is much more likely to go to the GT classroom and get her time in if she doesn't have her best friends distracting her in her regular classes!

It makes you feel so great to see your kids truly happy! Now I am even more jealous that I don't work for the school district, it seems to be the place to be! Guess I will have to consider the PTO president thing more carefully!

WOW...She knit something!

Can you tell that the kids are truly back in school? I actually found time yesterday to cast on a new project! I bought the yarn for this sweater over a year ago and never had the time to make it. It is a Jo Sharp project out of one of her contemporary knitting books. I love it! I love the color, I love the yarn, I love that I got to sit and watch movies yesterday while I got going on it! Now I just have to make sure I don't have a reoccurrence of "startitis" and forget about it when it begins to get a bit cooler and I decide to cast on something else, esp holiday gifts! Think of this as a Christmas gift for Kristi! Maybe that will do it!

Darn, now I brought up the idea of knitted gifts so now my brain is thinking about what I need to knit! Guess I will have to start a list! If you have any requests let me know now instead of in November! :O)

Girlfriends

This was taken the weekend before Tiffany and her family left us to move to Japan. Jo and Tiffany and I (and a bunch of others from our church) spent the evening at an Emmaus event that served as a farewell meeting too. It is harder to be on the side where you have to say goodbye and be left behind I think, we are used to being the ones that do the leaving. Tiffany gets to go off to another country and see and do all those exciting first time things. A part of me is jealous but there is the part of me that is beginning to think about putting down roots here also! Shhhh....Don't tell the railroad that I said that or they will think about moving us!

Tiffany, we just want you to know that we miss you! Disciple just won't be the same without you and keep the blog entries coming, we love getting a feel for Japan through you, even if you have cheaper yarn! In your honor, I will cast on something new tomorrow! Or maybe finish a sock!

Happy Birthday

I told myself that today wasn't going to be that bad, it is just a day after all. The thing is that we always used to make a big deal out of birthdays. Sandi and I were so close in age that we made a big deal about that month and 6 days between our birthdays. I was always excited to be two years older for that month and six days and she (as we got older) was excited to be two years younger. I never really gave any thought to the fact that now she gets to stay 33 forever! The thought vaguely crossed my mind on my birthday but my girlfriends took such good care of me that day that it didn't really have the time to dwell on it.

It doesn't help that Mom and dad and Jami and Courtney and Carol are getting together for lunch today and I am five hours away. Then they are all going out to dinner with mike and the kids. I talked to Mike earlier in the week and he said that things are OK there. The kids started school yesterday and it is the little things that I wonder if he will remember. I am sure that he does the things like pencils and paper and lunch boxes but does he remember the little things like taking a first day of school picture and making sure the ribbon in Lauren's hair matches her new outfit? I know this is hard for all of us, I keep thinking of the next hard thing that will come along, when does it get easier?

The Last Hurrah....

If I had thought ahead I would have probably posted this blog entry prior to the Back to School one but hey, That was the moment we were waiting for, I got distracted!

Last Wednesday the girls and I were over at my friend Stacey's house and as we were lazing around the pool and floating in rafts she began to lament the return of school and the fact that she was going to have to go back to work. She really wanted to have a chance to go to her family's lake house one last time before school started but she wanted to be back for church on Sunday because she had missed a bunch over the summer.

As we sat there, she got that look in her eye and asked me if I could back the boat into the water. Being me, I said, "Of course!" The plan began to take form in our minds and we decided to call some other friends to join us. Sadly Tammie had important doctors appointments scheduled and was unable to join us but Jo jumped at the opportunity to bail on work and join us and we invited Desiree, who is the wife of our new Music director at church. Funny side note here...turns out I was on the Mothers of multiples club board with Desiree's sister Angie for two years before Angie moved to Germany! How strange is that!

Thursday morning we got things together and got ready to head up to Greer's Ferry Lake where the Davis family has their lake house and we got our belongings stowed. Stacey and I decide to try to get the boat out and get ready to go swim.

Now...bear in mind that I was thinking something small, like a ski boat or such. Stacey was thinking Party Barge! That thing was massive! Maybe it wasn't that big in reality but when I saw what I had so boldly stated I could manage, I have to admit, I got a bit nervous! After much preparation and some phone calls to Don, we finally head over to the boat ramp where I am proud to say, I got the boat in the water and Stacey got it started! The first time was almost a comedy of errors and questions and learning curve but we managed! All of us learned a great deal about boat maintenance and care and we had a great time. Stacey complimented me on getting the boat in the water and I laughed and said that I was surprised at how easy it was considering I had never done it before! I thought she was going to pass out, she had thought I knew how and I just had confidence in my ability to learn how!

Katie of course had to show us her pouty side, I swear it is PMS starting! Poor Kevin, he doesn't even know what is coming, his sister was older than he was so he probably missed the puberty stage with her!

We had a great time. We had 4 women, 6 girls age 7-11 and two boys ages 2 and 3. We put the boat back in on Friday and got some more sun and fun before we had to head back for naps. Jo's husband Marty and Stacey's husband Don came up Friday night and played cards with us before we all headed back home Saturday morning!

Can't wait for next summer! Only 284 days to go!

WOOO HOOOO!

That was for Christine! Be sure that I did the arm motions to go with it just after I typed it AND I expect that everyone who knows her will do them when they read this!

Today is.......

Drum roll please....

THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

The twins will be in second grade at our new elementary school which is close by and Katie will be in 6th grade, her last year in MIDDLE SCHOOL! Next year my baby will be in Junior High. Is that really possible? We are looking for a transfer to happen in the next week so Katie can attend the other middle school in town, the one she is in is WAAAAYYY overcrowded and she is on the list for the transfer, pray for this if you wouldn't mind!


While this is a REALLY and I do mean REALLY happy day because my kids will all be in school again leaving me time to actually accomplish something for almost 9 hours each weekday, It is also sad in that so many of my friends have had time to play this summer because they either shortened their schedules this summer or they work for the school district and work the same schedule as the kids! Now I am finding that I am almost jealous that they are going back to work and realize that I wouldn't mind going back to work. I just don't seem to be the suzy homemaker type, I accomplish so much more when I am busy and if I could get on with the school district at least my schedule would mostly match the kids! Pray for an opening that I qualify for, I am!

Well, the buses were supposed to be here a minute ago so I am going to go check on the girls and make sure they got on their way correctly, then it is off to the gym for some much needed exercise!

Proof that I am certifiable......

I took a job yesterday that will probably run me ragged and keep me busy and the best part is that I won't even get paid to do it! I am however very excited to be the new Youth Director at Christ UMC in Cabot, AR.

I get to work with the junior high through college age kids and create events for them and teach sunday school for them! What a change from kindergarten two years ago!

That said, we are in need of lots of friends and families to come and join us! We are a start up church and have not even celebrated our one year anniversary yet and we are growing strong! We meet for sunday school and church at Magness Creek Elementary school on Sunday mornings at 9:15 and 10:30 respectively! Come join us!

Even So, It Is Well With My Soul

Sandi loved that song and that was the way she lived her life! No matter what came at her, she would say, that must be God's will and that she would learn to be ok with it. I used to call her Pollyanna because she could always find the silver lining! That said, I am trying to do better in seeing the good instead of the negative. Walk to Emmaus helped with that, my friends and church family help with that too. One of the things I have found that I have trouble with is forgiveness.

Here goes...

Dear rude obnoxious person that stole my Blackberry,

(see, it still creeps out there) I hope that you are enjoying my, oops, your new phone. Please know that I am positive that you needed it more than I do. I am sure that you wouldn't have opened my car door even knowing that I left it unlocked unless you had an emergency and needed a phone right that very second. I am sure you thought that borrowing my phone was easier than waking up the people in the house you stood outside to use their phone was the kind thing to do! I hope that you realize that it is not the money that bothers me, material things can be replaced no matter how much money was spent on ring tones or graphics or the personal information that was kept on there and how many numbers and addresses were lost to me, those I can replace. What bothers me most is the fact that the last pictures of my sister while she was living are on that phone. You will look at those pictures and think how terribly emaciated and ill that person looks and why would you have those pictures on there but only I know that those were the last days my beloved sister breathed life on this earth. I know that she is probably happy those pictures are gone and that she would tell me to get over it. I am trying to do that. I will forgive you for stealing my phone because that is what God would want me to do and I will pray for you and hope that you will find a way to change your life and use your God given talents for good, not evil.
So, enjoy your new phone, even though my husband secretly thinks that I gave it away in the hopes of acquiring a new iPhone. I will replace my phone and my memories of my sister will not fade or be stolen, you have to live with what you have done! God bless you!

Sincerely,
The owner of the red blackberry pearl~

What have I been knitting lately?

Mei recently posted and wanted to know what I had been knitting lately...

While I would like to say that I have knocked out Rogue this summer(which of course the yarn is present and paid for and waiting patiently), or that great cabled sweater by Jo Sharp that I have the yarn for, I haven't seemed to have the bandwidth to sit down and do anything complicated!


Apparently all I can manage right now is Dishcloths! (ok, I have three socks on the needles too but those are doing nothing for me right now!) I have knit I don't know how many of the Mason-Dixon washcloth this summer, I am addicted! Maybe someone needs to gently but firmly remove my circulars from my hands and hand me something other than dishcloth cotton. It has been so long since I was in a yarn shop that I have almost forgotten what wool feels like! I even placed an order with elsmore-pisgah for cones of cool colors of dishcloth cotton so that I didn't have to run to buy more all the time! YIKES!

I vow that as soon as I take this current washcloth off the needles I will cast on something less functional and more FUNctional!

Wow, I really need to post more...

Sometimes they card you and sometimes they are surprised that you are "only" 35! Just Kidding!

Not much has gone on lately, I think it is time for the back to school countdown!

The kids have been back from Grandma's and camp and have had friends over each day since then so we really haven't slowed down at all! I feel like all I do is run all summer so I am really looking forward to settling back into the routine that is the school year! Of course things really don't slow down much the kids are just gone 9 hours a day so I have some time to myself!

I might just have to find something to do this year since I managed to wiggle out of having a girl scout troop of my own and moving to a new school means that I am not on the PTO board again! YIPPPEEEEE~!

So the official countdown begins.... 14 days, 9 hours, 31 minutes and 19 seconds as of this minute!

Check out my Slide Show!

Birthday's and Girlfriend's

I wouldn't say that I would like to have one every day but I Love birthday's. I know there are some out there that don't like to get older but I like to think that I get wiser each year too. I look back over the past year and think of how much has changed since my last birthday. I thought that perhaps this would be a sad birthday with Sandi gone but what I realized is that even though she is not with us today, God has placed so many wonderful women in my life that I now have more sister's than I ever could have dreamed of. They can't ever replace her in my heart but I do know that my heart is big enough to handle all of them. My girlfriends have gone out of their way to make today a special day for me. They had a cake at VBS for me today and took me out tonight to dinner and one even left a gift in the mailbox so I can have coffee in the morning! Thank you Tiffany! I love that I have the kind of friends that help you through those trying times and help you celebrate the good ones!

Rooster-itis

Last thursday, Courtney and I went to have lunch at Sandi's favorite restaurant, Spring Creek Tea House. This is a beautiful tea house set inside a fun and deceptively large antique shop in Ozark, Missouri. It is a fun place, Sandi and I never managed to eat there because they are only open five days a week for four hours a day and it never seemed to fit into our busy schedule.

One of the fun parts is that there is always a wait. What to do while you wait? Why, Shop of course! Stalls and stalls of antiques and old junk! Talk about a great way to redo your kitchen when you decide that you want to use roosters instead of the nothing that you had before! I have in the past used apples and sunflowers and much to my suprise, they both found a place in the new decor!



Much of the stuff was inexpensive which will allow me to be able to afford the dishes and rugs and other things to go in the kitchen too!

Time for me to go help Kevin get the garage cleaned out but I just had to show off the roosters!

DeColores!

Cute Kids

Hard to believe that this was taken after Sandi's funeral. The kids look happy and loved. Sandi would have been so proud of them! Megan and Abby are in the pink and blue dresses respectively and Katie is the tall one! Logan and Lauren are destined not to be giants I think! Can you believe that he is 15 months OLDER than Katie!

I know those of you reading this who are not family are probably tired of hearing about the kids and Sandi and want me to get on with the knitting but after spending a few days with the kids this week and becoming more a part of their lives I can't help but talk about them. I can't tell you how happy it made me to have Logan and Lauren come running to me when we walked in the door to get hugs. Logan and Katie have always been close and I knew him better than Lauren but while Sandi was hospitalized we got to know them so much better. I am so proud to help raise them the way Sandi would have wanted! I need to be involved in that!

We spent half of Thursday and a lot of Friday going through Sandi's closet. She had made notes of who was to do what for her if she did not beat this thing, and at the top of the list was "Kristi cleans out my closet!" It was not an easy job, emotionally or physically. I can't tell you how happy I was to do it! For those of you who do not know Mike, he is a neat freak. He likes to have his house "showcase ready" at a moments notice. Sandi and I grew up together, we kept house basically the same way until we each got married. You scheduled a day a week to clean and you did the whole thing that day. The rest of the week was just clutter control occasionally and dishes. Mike would vaccuum twice a day if he could. I say this in the kindest way possible of course, this always drove me insane! Anyway, Sandi had begun over the past 13 years or so to keep house like Mike and that was her way of appeasing him.

THEN THERE WAS THE CLOSET! I can't say anything, mine is exactly the same. While for Mike and Logan and Lauren the closet has that smell that was Sandi and they can see the clothes she wore everyday, for me the closet represented the fact that I really didn't lose that part of her that was the Sandi I remembered growing up. She kept her clutter and mess hidden from public view but she really hadn't changed all that much. Just like me, she needed that space to call her own and she did. Aside from all of the clothes and shoes that were too small for me to wear (Jami made out like a bandit though) I found the memories. They weren't wrapped up in the items themselves, just in the fact that I got to see the REAL Sandi in that closet! I won't tell you how many purses there were in there that had all of her reciepts (dating back to 2002 and before) and lipsticks, anyone who knew her knew about her lipstick addiction. Ok, I will tell you about the lipstick, there were 9, NINE, yes...NINE Raisinberry lipsticks and 5 Suede lipsticks in those purses, not to mention a slew of chapsticks and burts bee's lip colors. That was the Sandi I knew and loved. While she may have just wanted me to be the one to do that job to help Mike not have a coronary, I like to think that she knew how much I needed that. Thank you Sandi!

Life Goes On

Wasn't there a TV show with that title once? It is true however. This was our first big holiday since we lost Sandi and it was not as bad as you might think. The 4th of July was always big for us. Even as kids we used to celebrate Christmas in July with family friends and made a big deal out of a summer celebration. We tried to get together each year, sometimes it worked, other times it didn't. Sandi and I used to park cars for the Rolla Lions Club Carnival. We loved it, it was hot and tiring but the money was good and we got to see everyone that was there and had spending money.

Today I went in to town with Dad to do his radio show with him and then we came home to get ready to barbecue for dinner. I made five batches of ice cream for dessert and we all spent a fun afternoon just hanging out. Gene and Sarah (Mike's dad and his wife) and Bert and her son and his two girls came out to join Mom and Dad and Kevin and I and the girls and Mike and the kids. We had an early dinner and Mike took Katie and Logan and Lauren to the carnival for a while. My ankle is still swollen and sore from last weekends sprain so I decided to sit this year out.

Before they left we did manage to plant a tree at mom and dad's for Sandi. Dad has always planted trees for important people in his life, Sandi and I each have a tree in the front yard, as do all of the kids and certain deceased pets. We decided that we needed to plant a pretty flowering tree for Sandi so we decided on a Pink flowering dogwood.

I think I am going to go enjoy a slice of my birthday cake that Mom and Katie made for me. It is my favorite and I need to have some before everyone else gets some and there is none left for me!

More to come...

One Month

It dawned on me sometime yesterday afternoon that it was the one month anniversary of Sandi's death. How fitting that we decided to get together with some of her old friends that were in town. I don't know if it was the fact that it was a holiday eve or the fact that it was a Tuesday night but there were not many of us there. Those of us that were had a good time though. Mike was there with Kevin and I and we also met Maggie, Tina, Tanya and Chris. We closed down the place and had fun sharing memories of all things Rolla.

Earlier in the day I went to see yet another friend from home. Sue, or Susan as she goes by now had her first book signing for her new book, "The Lifter of My Head." She is an amazing woman who I have known since the 6th grade and she wrote this book that is a christian perspective on dealing with postpartum depression. She is one of those rare women, like my sister, who can take a terrible experience and allow God to use her to help others. Rather than hanging her head and trying to hide the fact that she suffered through what can be a very debilitating and isolating condition, she has gathered strength and decided to help others that are going through the same situation or even someone who has a loved one that has PPD. My heart breaks for her that she had to go through this but I see what a strong woman she has become and it is inspiring.

Well, I am off to be on Dad's radio show this morning. I will post pictures of our 4th of July fun tomorrow. Have a happy and safe 4th!

There are days...

We all have them, the days that the memories are bigger and stronger than our ability to control the emotions that come with them. Sometimes it is pictures that set them off. Mom and I went through a bunch of pictures this weekend and that wasn't too bad. We each had someone else there to share those memories with that made it a bit easier. Other times it is brought on by something you want to share with her. I ran across something the other day and my first instinct was to pick up the phone and tell Sandi.

Then there are the times someone who doesn't even realize it will say something that brings on such a wave of grief that you fear it will knock you over with the strength of it. I don't ever want my friends to feel that they have to walk on eggshells around me and not mention their sister's or other things that might bring up memories, much of the time those memories are good and even if they make me sad they are manageable. Funny how one unintentional mention of a sister who was hard to get off of the phone with totally changed my day. All of a sudden I wanted more than anything to spend just a few minutes on the phone with Sandi, to share my joys with her. She saw things the same way I did and found the same things funny and would see the irony in things that make me roll my eyes. I have been sitting here having a sad day, I figure I am allowed once in a while. After all, it has only been three weeks, three days and about two hours.

As I sat here having a teary moment (which I have to say is much less of a relief than it usually is when you have three kids around to witness it) Katie came in to my room to tell me that there was someone at the door. As I had been singing out loud to songs on my Ipod only moments before I asked her quietly if that person was standing in the entry or if they were still outside! Luckily it was not someone that she knew so they were outside. God must have known that I needed a boost today because the beautiful plant above was delivered from my hand bell choir at church. I can't tell you how much I needed that pick me up today! Thank you ladies!

I am going to go back to having my sad day, but with a bit more feeling that I am loved even if I have this huge hole in my heart. I am sure tomorrow I will be back to my cheery self.

What happens at small group stays at small group!

Besides, we would have just had to do dishes if we had used plates! Plans were made for the summer small group womens retreat in July and talk even was made about forming a small group ladies group for golf! And Kevin thought we would be boring! I think after last night BORING is definitely NOT a word that Kevin would use to describe us!


Thank you Jo for hosting such a great evening. Better stock up on Sprite!

Garden Fairies

We finally arrived home today after being gone for what seems like months on end, (oh, wait...it was). Sandi's funeral is finally over leaving us with nothing to do but face the fact that she is truly gone. She passed away one week ago today and the past week seems like such a blur. We were all so happy to be helping with the details because it kept us busy and let us honor her memory. I was not looking forward to coming home with three overtired and cranky kids and when we got here the girls and I were making a mad rush for the bathrooms so I totally missed what had happened right in my front yard.

Apparently while we were gone the Garden Fairy made a visit and weeded and mulched and put in some beautiful flowers. There is also a very pretty statue of an angel with a bird on her hand that just seems so appropriate. I cried when I saw it, and I was so proud of myself for making it all the way to three in the afternoon without crying about anything too!


All I can say is thank you Garden Fairies, I love it. What an amazing tribute to my sister, that is unless it was just your way of telling me that it was time to weed and mulch because you could no longer see the forest for the trees!

Trying to blog more

It has been a crazy spring and we didn't want it to end this way but unfortunately my sister passed away this past Sunday. She fought colon cancer for a little over 4 years but it would seem that God needed her more than we did. I think there are a lot of us here that would disagree but she was so very uncomfortable in what her body had become that I think in many ways she is happier where she is now. We love and miss her dearly.

Because of Sandi and the way that she has handled her illness, many of us find ourselves changed in many ways. I always gave her grief about the fact that she always sounded like Pollyanna. In everything she did or anything that happened to her she always saw the silver lining. I find myself being the same way these days. I mention that it is unfortunate that she died but didn't it work out well that she didn't die two days earlier on my twins birthday. It is unfortunate that we had to cancel our family vacation and not stay at the beach this summer like we had looked forward to but then I realize that it would have meant cancelling anyway and we would not have been with her when she died because we were supposed to have checked in to the rental the day before. I guess this is one of those things that will alwyas stay with me about Sandi. She was the eternal optimist even when she was sick and confined to a bed for the last three months of her life. I know that is part of what she meant by God using her to reach others.

Ok, enough sad for this post, I have a funeral to go to this afternoon so I will get all the sad I need later today! I am going to try to post more now that I no longer need to maintain two blogs. I have gotten pretty good at blogging on a fairly regular basis, it just hasn't been here. I will try to do better!

What's been going on....

It has been a busy busy busy month. I am sorry that I have not been so good at updating the blog here but for some reason after I finish updating Sandi's blog it seems like I am out of things to say. Ok, those of you who know me know that is certainly not true but I do get distracted easily! We have done the Relay for life and then spent last Saturday with Jo and the Girl Scouts helping to build a commemorative butterfly garden.

It was a lot of hard work but with so much help the first phase was done pretty quickly and since it rained all night Friday night we actually got some sleep instead of being up all night at the Relay! The kids had a lot of fun, even my nephew who got stuck helping against his will! He did get to use a sledgehammer and a power saw so it seemed to make it all worthwhile!

Sunday we spent Mother's day going to church and then headed off to go to a baseball game. The Springfield Cardinals were in town playing the Arkansas Travelers and Kevin and I noticed that there weren't many people in our section cheering for the Cards! Kevin's office has great seats in the new stadium. We were sitting in the second row up behind home plate although I don't think there was a bad seat in the stadium. We had great weather and the girls seemed to enjoy the game and didn't ruin our fun which was a big change from the last time we tried to take the kids to a ballgame! Maybe we will have to give them another chance with flying someday too!

Katie got to bring her friend Katie to the game and they enjoyed a bit of freedom that comes from being so much older than your sisters! She did get tired of Mom constantly calling her cell phone though, just to make sure she was listening for it in case I REALLY needed to get in touch with her!
The game was fun and the cardinals beat the trav's so it was a good afternoon all around!Since then I have been back in Missouri with Sandi and ...here is where the knitting comes in!
I have been knitting a baby blanket for a friend who is in the process of adopting a beautiful baby girl (Bobi, don't read ahead if you don't want a spoiler!) Mom has been helping me because it keeps us both busy as we sit here with Sandi and it is knit in squares so we can crochet it all together at the end. We did run into a few snags though. Turns out that gauge really DOES MATTER! Mom it seems, knits quite a bit looser than I do and the first squares we each knit were off by a few inches! Mom had to go down a needle size and I went up a needle size and we still were off! These were the colors and squares that we began with...

The colors were pretty and the yarn was yummy soft and it was only going to take one ball of each yarn so I was not going to have to take out a second mortgage for this beautiful girl to have a soft pretty blanket but as we got to working on it I just wasn't very happy with the way it was turning out! We kept plunging forward and it turns out the yarn was so yummy soft that it was difficult to distinguish the stitch pattern on the squares. The patterns just blended together and made all that work for nothing. Mom doesn't know it yet but these are the new colors and the new yarn....

This yarn is so soft and is cotton with a hint of wool so it will be washable and is more springy so it holds the stitch pattern much nicer! Bobi will also appreciate that the yarn is Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece from right in her home state of Nebraska!

We Relay, do you Relay?

We tried at least! While the Relay for Life for Cabot raised over $43,000 we did more moving of stuff than actually walking! We got the ok from the committee to set up on the football field at 1pm so Kevin and I made a few trips over with tents and chairs and coolers and such and went back at 5:30 with dinner and the cookies to get started in earnest. With all of us there we had a great tent set up next to the churches youth tent so we were all set to have a good time.

Just as we went through the starting ceremonies and did the survivor lap then the caregivers led off the beginning of the event and we walked one lap, they told us to move everyone to the field house for a short while to stay out of the lightning that had just come up with a storm that was north of us. We got the kids to the field house and the wind started kicking up so Kevin and I stayed behind to try to batten down the hatches just as Jo and Marty's screen house started to blow away.

We spent a while breaking everything down so that we could throw it all inside the tent and hold it down with the coolers. We all ran up the hill to the field house to wait out the storm and get back to business. We waited and waited for the rain and the committee decided that we needed to just stay put so we all ran back down to the field to bring everything up the hill before it began to rain. After a bunch of trips back and forth to the cars and the building we got everything set up. Notice I haven't said yet that we had even felt a raindrop! It did finally rain a bit but not the kind of rain the event committee was expecting.

The event finally got going and people finally began walking inside but the mood was kind of lost when we had to relocate so as soon as the entertainment was over it was pretty much done and we all packed up again and went home! We were all home by midnight and got a better nights sleep than we counted on in the first place.

We had fun, the kids had a blast and our team raised $1500 and won the trophy for most money raised online. Does that really surprise anyone that knows me? Thanks to everyone that helped or walked with us or donated! We even got a survivor t-shirt for Sandi!