Grandma Violet

My great-grandma is 96 years-old.  She is made of the stuff that settled the wild west in days gone by.  She has dabbled in every imaginable craft, held numerous jobs, a difficult first marriage followed by a good second and third (my grandpa was adopted by her second husband, Barney).  She has buried all three of her children, two tragically.  She is incredibly stable, always optimistic, has an incredible memory, and is deeply interested in every aspect of our lives.  She lives alone in Campo, a small town, down a dirt road, alone.

Three weeks ago she fell.

My grandma calls her every evening.  Grandma Violet fell at 10:00.  No one knew until the next afternoon at around 3:00.  Well, grandma Violet says that she didn't fall but that she was changing and didn't have the strength to keep standing, so she sat down.  On the floor.  She couldn't get back up.  That must be what happened because Grandma and Aunt Laura rushed her to the hospital and there were no broken bones, she was only dehydrated.  The doctor's wanted her to stay a few days to watch her.  She insisted on leaving.  She "needed to get home". 

She had to go to Grandma's until she could walk well enough to live on her own.A few days later a terrible cough set in.  Doctor's confirmed that it was a strain of "hospital induced pneumonia". I sat with her and she chaffed about not getting to go home.  Small complaints about "Barb, (my Grandma), doesn't know all that needs to happen at her house.  The propane will run out.  Who will water the plants? etc. etc..."  She had so much color and zest.  Only she couldn't really walk because of the fall.  So many thoughts about the children.  "How is Thomas?  He is so serious.  He will be a judge someday."  "Jonathan looks like he has so much mischief in him..."

Now Grandma Violet is on hospice, in a hospital bed, on oxygen.  She is still as sharp as a tack and as interested as ever in our family.  Only now she can't move one leg at all.  I sat with her last night for and hour and a half and she told me stories about her growing up, things about my grandpa as a boy. She wanted to know about Joe and the children.  She played peek-a-boo with Elizabeth and laughed about Tommy playing with Grandma.  So interested and loving. 

Every so often when we'd be talking she would try to get comfortable.  She said the bed had a hole beneath where she was sitting.  It is a movable mattress so the legs can lift and the back can recline or sit up.  She is only sitting up because she can't breath while she is laying down.  She only spoke once about going home.  She said "My propane will run out and the Wet-backs will steal my water..."  They will too.  Once my Aunt took Grandma Violet home and two illegals ran out of the water shed and water was pouring out of the tank.  I told her Rosie would take care of it.  She said that she didn't think Rosie could see very well. My dear Grandma Violet, she won't take care of the place like you always did.  You, who always loved a beautiful garden, roses, geraniums, bulbs.  You have fought the gophers, the rattlers, and the woodpeckers.  Your garden always glowed and bloomed because of your care. 

I wish I could change positions for her.  I wish I could cough that deep cough she doesn't have the strength for.  Praise God for a woman of strength, perseverence and love.  A woman who can remember her ba-zillion grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren's birthdays--and their spouses!  A woman who is in need of our deepest care and love at this time.

Priorities and routines

When I was growing up I watched my dad and mom have times that they would evaluate their priorities. How was their time really being spent? What "good things" were swallowing up the "best things"? Joe and I have followed their example and every few months find ourselves asking what we are doing with our time, are we making eternal investments or just getting the next thing done? With our children it seems that we tend to run from one situation to the next and if we don't have a goal in sight we don't get anything done in spite of being extremely busy. It is so freeing to wake up and know what the purpose for the day is and that there are certain "big rocks" that we want to make sure get done and there are some "medium sized rocks" that would add extra zest to the day if we are able to get to them.

With our family's "big rocks" we have specific routines that allow us to fit important things in. For example, we want to have morning Bible reading, we want the children (and us!) to learn hymns, we want to memorize Bible passages as well as historic documents, we want to work on Greek and Latin vocabulary. How do we make sure these miscellaneous tasks get done? Our breakfast routine. We sit down to breakfast and hear about every one's adventurous dreams from the night before, what kind of animal they are that day, whatever our topic of conversation may be...

Then when I am through eating we start our memorization. Thomas is always first and he works on one new verse a week and the two previous weeks verses. I have every one's verses printed out on a board at the table. Tom can memorize very easily so we go over his new verse about three times and then I give the reference for his old verses and away he goes. Abbie and Jonathan are both in AWANA so their verses are from their AWANA books. Abbie always has one new verse and three previous verses. Jonathan works on three verses and a poem or historic document. I love having everyone at the table because then they are all exposed to each other's memorizing.

Next we do Bible reading and what the children call the "Lady bug book" which is an etiquette book. We read and talk about the various things, I try not to rush their thoughts. We then go through a stack of flash cards with various Greek and Latin roots. Lastly we sing a hymn, which I print out a copy for each person at the table and even Elizabeth will look at her bright yellow paper and "sing"! :)

It is little routines like this that let us get different activities done in the day. The children enjoy the predictability and I enjoy knowing that valuable moments have already happened before the breakfast dishes are even washed!

Iceburg

I have always been intrigued by iceburgs. These massive pieces of ice that only a tenth to a third are above the surface of the ocean, the rest being unknown.

I am married to a man that I often think of as an iceburg. Joe has so much that is seen above the surface, but the more that I know him, the more that I feel like I am getting just a taste of who he is. I am honored and thankful to be his bride, to get to walk by Joe's side enjoying the depths of who he is.

A very happy birthday to my Beloved!!!

Elizabeth Noelle turned one!!!

I have been so blessed and thankful this past year by a beautiful peaches and cream daughter who adds special sparkle and zest to our life. I am awed and thankful that God chose Joe and me to parent Elizabeth Noelle. It is a task that will send us to our knees in praise and thankfulness as well as in petition for guidance and wisdom. A whole eternal being is in our charge to help nurture and guide through the perils of childhood. This is a challenge that is greater than us, but one that we embrace.

Our daughter Elizabeth has been created to know and praise her Redeemer. Echos of Eden, you can almost hear them as you look into the eyes of our Elizabeth. God has formed her features so delicately, she is an example of excellent craftsmanship. Her little hands work so well--they are so quick I sometimes wonder if there is velcro on them as they attach to things so quickly! :) Her strong legs learning to walk, I look at her little frame and wonder how she stands alone, she seems so young but she is already becoming independent.

Elizabeth Noelle, we are thankful that our lives have been graced with yours. May you ever know that you were created for One greater than yourself. Redemption, belonging, purpose, these are all things that you have been created for. Dear Daughter, there are many things that will try to grip your heart, to shade your vision, from the One who knows you like no other. May you daily know His presence and His filling as you grow in His grace. Sweet Daughter, may you give your heart, your life, your being to His Lordship. I love you. Happy First Birthday!!!

Winter break project...

Joe has had two delightful weeks off and we have packed them full of work and fun. We have our front yard project that we have been working on since early summer and we have been having fun doing even more to the front.

Our youngest daughter is particularly aware of her world and loves to participate in every way she can. She even likes to participate in ways she can't yet. One example of Elizabeth's acute sense of how things work: the other evening I was finishing the kitchen and I had a washcloth at the kitchen door to take to the laundry when I was through in the kitchen. I turned around and there was Lizzie wiping the floor with the cloth! So cute!

Here is another example of Elizabeth's initiative and competance. A friend of ours put in a wonderful paver walkway leading up to the front door. Joe assisted and learned how to do the paver walkway and then tried his hand at a 4'x4' section on the south side of the driveway. We hadn't realized it, but Elizabeth Noelle was also watching and here she is applying her newly gained skills:

Christmas Day

We had a delightful Christmas Eve celebration with Grandpa and Mutti and Uncle Fritz and Aunt Christy and the boys. The celebration was complete with a delicious Christmas Tea, caroling to neighbors, acting out the Christmas Carol (with our 7 children 6 and under!), lots of special stories, and jammies from Santa.

After we got home and had the children in bed we got the house ready for Christmas Day: we put baby Jesus in the manger, filled the stockings, just got everything ready for the day. Crawled into bed around 12:00 or 1:00. At 2:30 Thomas wakes up screaming, which is very uncharacteristic of him, and he told us his ear hurt. Tom had had a cold for about two weeks and he did feel quite warm so I heated some olive oil and garlic for him. We have only had one other ear infection, which was with Abigail, and she was in horrible pain for three days until we started her on an antibiotic. So, I thought I would stay ahead of the game and call the doctor and see if he could call a prescription in right then and we could start Thomas on it. So I call. I got through to the doctor. Mother that I am, I hadn't thought about it being Christmas Eve, and around 3:00 am. I apologize profusely when I hear his voice and then I tell him the symptoms, extended cold and a sudden fever. He asks me what the temperature was. I hadn't even thought to check. I had a sobbing boy and I thought we could give him medicine and wake up better. The doctor said to take him to Children's Emergency. I put little sick Thomas James in the bath with me, his little body relaxed and we slipped him in our bed where he slept until morning.

Abbie was the first one awake on Christmas morning with all the twinkles and zest due the day. It was 6:00. Precious Daddy put festive music on and started a cozy fire while I got dressed and put lots of make up on! ;) Hmmm, I see now that we didn't do a very good job of capturing the day on film for future generations. Anyway, these are what we have. The first picture is kind-of funny because our batteries were VERY low and the camera kept shutting off. Well, it finally took and then I couldn't get it on again. The picture of Grandma Barnes is thanks to Abbie

Christmas Fun

Here is Rudolph and Rudolphina! (aka, Jon Joe and Abbie) :)


Every year we enjoy going down to the Hotel del Coronado and enjoying their Christmas flair. This year we enjoyed a yummy dinner across the street at La Salsa before heading over to the "Del".

Here you can see a brother and sister enjoying each other's company as they await their quesadilla and taco dinner.


Our family in front of the larger-than-life Christmas tree.


Here is Abbie's version of the Hotel del's Christmas tree. ;)