My "angel" Grandma

Grandmothers are amazing! They have such an impact on their grandchildren. I had 2 wonderful biological grandmothers... Maw maw Corbin and Maw maw Marlow. We visited them regularly but did not live close to them. God saw fit to bless me with a Grandma though. I can't remember exactly how she came to be a part of our family, I just remember she was always there. Her name was Lucille Panhorst. To me, she was my Grandma... to others, she may have been a bit much to deal with :) She was opinionated, strict, didn't mind telling on the kids she saw "misbehav'n". Grandma worked in the cafeteria and lived on the property there where my parents worked and we went to school so I saw her every day. Most of the time I would even go by and see her after school. She lived in a one room little apartment that was always a total mess. There were things everywhere, but I loved it. I didn't have to worry about messing anything up :) There was always a puzzle out on the table, her big black Bible and her stack of cards and letters she was currently writing. She had the gift of writing. She loved sending cards for any occasion. I think of her often! She was a BIG part of my growing up life. A few years after Jeff and I were married Jeff lovingly called Grandma Panhorst my "angel". She was my Grandma at our wedding. Yesterday, I found out my "angel" Grandma went home to be with her Jesus. I know she is enjoying Heaven SO MUCH!!! So my mind is filled with so many memories. I'm so blessed that my parents opened our home to her, I know she had to give them a hard time ha ha. She was also VERY appreciative of all their care. My mom would roll her hair and "set" it on Saturdays. My dad kept her car serviced. I remember that car well, she would come pick me up and we would go paint the town. Actually, we would drive far out in to the country or to the nursing home to visit her friends. Many times she would take me to see my friend. I looked forward to our times together. I talked as much as she did so we would just talk away. I loved her hugs. She always smelled like bleach. She would clean the cafeteria with bleach and her hands would be dry and very clean. Typically Grandma would come over every Sunday, or at least go to lunch with us. It was just understood, I don't even remember anyone asking her... although that could have happened because I lived in my own little world most of time, and she was ok with that. In November of 2008 I was blessed to get to know another Grandma... Grandma Joan. What I didn't know was that as I was saying goodbye to Grandma Joan this past January, Grandma Panhorst was also getting ready to leave this earthly home. Heaven is a sweeter place. Maybe all my Grandmas are sit'n there having a feast!

A little glimpse of our day

Today began a little rough, similar to other days. Although yesterday morning was great and gave me a boost for sure. Jeff made it out the door to work with a last minute raid of the change jar but... he said he would pay it back :) Micah is usually up and moving before me unless I can throw myself out of bed at 6 (rare occasion). Can you tell I'm not a morning person??? Actually I like mornings, new start, love the singing birds and sunshine but somehow they don't like me. Nate is like me, I have to drag him out of bed, unless he smells a big breakfast. This morning was Nate's day to take Joe (our big black lab) out. After breakfast, showers, teeth brushed, all that good stuff, we get school going. Bible reading was Mark 8 today. Awesome passage!!! We move on to language. We are going over writing strategies. Today it was about trying not to use cliches. We read different usages and some alternatives. Then they had to do their assignment ~ give the definition of the cliche then rewrite in their own words. First cliche ~ plain as the nose on your face.
Nate ~ simple, clear
Micah ~ you can't see the nose on your face (ok... so are getting a glimpse of a little bit here...)

So, after hiding my dying laughing insides I have to tell my very literal child "look at my face, can you see my nose?" After explaining he always does this "oooohhhhhhhh" thing. I LOVE my boys!!!! LOVE their differences!!!! LOVE having these moments with them. It makes every frustration worth it :)

It got me to thinking about how differently people see things. One may see it as being very complicated, this is what Micah originally thought. Then after I explained it to him, it was very simple and clear. Do we take the time to see if we are making things more difficult than they really are??? ok... ME... do I take the time to make sure I'm not complicating matters???

Back to the K.I.S.S. method

"Let us be Thankful" by Bama Bob

I mentioned in the last post how we met Bama Bob. This is one of the poems he gave us and I thought it would be fitting to share. This is Granny and Grandpa in this pic. I do not have a pic of Bama Bob but I can tell you he looked just Grandpa... maybe a few years younger.

First - let us be thankful they landed here;
after sailing 'cross the sea.
Here - they felt His presence was near;
and so their lives could be free.

Secondly - let's be thankful for hardships;
like those the Pilgrims came through;
Each one helps us - to better "come to grips";
so each makes us strong too.

But don't just wait for Thanksgiving Day -
to be thankful for ALL that come your way.

Think - now, what are we thankful for?
there's more than any will know.
But some seem to think - there should be more;
like - anything they say goes.

But let us be thankful in living;
'n just knowing daily pleasures.
If that's our lot - EVERY DAY'S Thanksgiving;
and EVERYTHING'S a treasure.

So don't just wait for Thanksgiving day -
to be thankful for ALL that comes your way.

We saw God today!

Sometimes the journey is sad. This week has been one of those times for us. This past Tuesday my cousin Perry had a massive heart attack and died. It was such a shock to us all. He was 52, only 7 yrs younger than my mom. My aunt and uncle have been so strong even through the tears and total uncertainty. My mom is just amazing! She has been there for my aunt every step of the way! She is my hero. Yesterday was the viewing and we met so many people who gave us story after story of how Perry impacted their life. It was truly amazing! While we were at the viewing we saw a gentleman who looked so much like great grandpa. Jeff's grandfather had cerebral palsy, he passed away about 2 yrs ago. The boys and I were talking about how much he reminded us of Great Grandpa. His name is Bama Bob ~ can you tell what team he cheers for??? :) I did not have the pleasure of meeting him at the viewing but couldn't help but smile at the sweet memories that flooded my mind. Today we had the memorial service for Perry. It was a bit chaotic in getting there, I had my own little break down this morning. May I just say... I have an AMAZING husband. When I was mad at him for absolutely nothing, he let me cry, ironed the boys clothes, straightened up, most of all he held me. When we did arrive, mom, cindy and I rehearsed our song and that caused us to be a wee bit late. The family had already been seated and we had no clue where to sit or when we were singing.... We attempted in a respectful way to find out what in the world we were doing. Thankfully Jeff and Jacob were able to get in their position to be a pallbearer, and we were immediately called on to sing. Even though Cindy has a cold she did a marvelous job. I was super blessed to sing with them again. The service was beautiful! After the service Bama Bob came up and gave me a hug and told me how much he enjoyed the song that I sang (In the Garden). He was JUST like grandpa! We did not get to have a memorial service for Grandpa and I find myself still thinking he is here on this earth with us. Bama Bob looked like Grandpa, he had the same glasses, the same voice, the same hands, the same hug... the resemblance was amazing. He walked away and I looked at Jeff and saw the same look in his eyes. I did shed quite a few tears at that moment. I was so grateful for that little piece of heaven... but it didn't end there. When we were leaving we ran in to him again and with slurred speech he told me that he attempted to write poetry. Jeff and I went to his car and he pulled out 2 poems he wanted us to read. They were beautiful and well written. He gave these to us to have. Again, I remembered how Grandpa did the same thing, he gave me a special piece of paper that had time and date written on it when he said "God, whatever you want". It was such a special time right in the middle of the grieving and the pain of losing Perry God chose to encourage our hearts.

This afternoon I felt as though I could not go on any further but I really wanted to go with the family to my cousin's basketball game. I'm so glad we did go. It was just the right ending to today. My mom, aunt and uncle, cousin and his wife were all there. Even though I wanted the world to just stop for a minute... it didn't... life just keeps on going. Soak in every moment, don't waste it, treasure those around you and tell them so!!!!!!

Minty Rich hot cocoa

We made our first batch of hot cocoa mix for fall/winter season. I love making this for the boys to have easy access to a nice warm drink. Today is such a drizzly fall day, perfect for hot cocoa or hot tea. Micah chose a pear white tea and Nate is drinking hot cocoa. The whistle of my tea pot is music to my ears, it makes me smile :) Nate is sitting on the couch sipping his cocoa and doing his math. Micah is reading at the table drinking his tea. I have my coffee in hand, doing my normal list making, budget, menus... etc. Here is the mix recipe that I used.








1 1/2 cups powdered nondairy creamer
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
6 tbls unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 granulated sugar (can use raw sugar and reduce)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
16 peppermint sticks, coarsely crushed
1 cup milk chocolate chips

place 1/4 cup cocoa mix into cup. Add 3/4 cup boiling water. Stir and ENJOY!!!

I wanna bake something

Something about baking that is a stress reliever for me. NOT the cleaning part... the baking. That's why I had boys so I could "train" them to wash dishes :) There are so many life lessons in baking. I don't really think about them when I bake but now that I have a blog I have to come up with something to talk about and right now this is all I've got.
Take each ingredient and taste them separately, not so good huh. Micah is my taster, when he was younger he wanted to taste everything. It didn't matter if I told him it was yucky, he still wanted to try it. The cocoa smelled so good to him, in his mind there was NO way it would be bitter.

Life lesson ~ it takes a few yucky, bitter things to make a wonderful smelling, delicious tasting cake!

Now, is that cake just done immediately? I remember when I first got married I couldn't seem to bake to save my life. I told my mom one time "I have no clue what I'm doing, I do the same thing you do, I follow the recipe exactly, I don't get it". She said "You're in to much of a hurry, you just want to get it done, slow down"

Life lesson ~ the good stuff is worth waiting on.

What happens when you wait on something that smells SO good and it turns out to be terrible? Not that I've done this... well, ok, maybe once. My in-laws were driving in from Florida last year and I was going to be the good daughter-in-law and have a fresh baked cake for them. It turned out terrible. It literally fell apart. I lovingly named it my earthquake cake. I learned NOT to bang on the pans when the cake sticks like glue to the pan. They ate it anyway... actually with a spoon :) We made a pot of coffee and enjoyed each other's company.

Life lesson ~ Things don't always turn out like you plan. Sometimes they fall apart. Learn what you can, grab a spoon and some coffee, it's all good :)

Beginning a journey

Yes, I know we have been on this journey but we are beginning a new phase. I love the fact that God gives us new starts. New days, new weeks, new years, a fresh start to begin again. I've heard so many times "today is the first day of the rest of your life". I love that! If you begin this journey with us now, I want to be upfront with you and make a few confessions... I can promise you ~ I will have words spelled wrong, I will have terrible grammar, I will be a bit confusing, I may or may not make sense. I can also promise you ~ I will do this with all my heart, I will enjoy every minute of blogging, I will LOVE your comments and support! One thing that has kept me from blogging is my God given ability to be a bit "out there" in my thoughts. I'm on course and just think I'm doing so well then BAM "look... shiny". I'm not blonde but often accused of being one. So, now that all that is out of the way, I look forward to sharing some of the awesome things God has shown us. It's an exciting ride. So with hands up in the air screaming at the top of my lungs (not literally of course, my boys told me not to do that any more) here... we.... ggggooooooo.......