Refocusing

Well, I've spent the last 24 hours in a fog, crying off and on. I didn't sleep well, and my mind has been a bit hazy. So thankful that my sisters and parents were all here last night.

I have a fantastic family.

Can you tell Vu got cold last night? I keep my thermostat on 68 usually, and my poor family froze.

Yes, I did turn it up eventually!

Mimi has been her usual self: cheerful, the glass is always "half-full," and "we're taking one day at a time." I still have so much to learn from her.

When I was on the phone with my Dad earlier, again on the verge of tears, I told him how much I've been struggling with directing my thoughts. He reminded me of Ecclesiastes 3.
There Is A Time for Everything
1 For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.
2 A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.

Right now is my time to rejoice that I have TIME; that I can go and see my Mimi; that we can build even more memories; that I can hug her and see her and enjoy her laugh. It is not my time to grieve. Mimi is here. And I have to believe that she will be here longer. I have to believe that God has a mighty purpose He will bring about because of this. Already He is teaching me new things.

And, instead, of being scared of leaving on my last day, I will look forward to our next visit (hopefully in May, if she feels up to it.)

Anyway, I'm just processing a tad of this "out loud." The rest I will hold in right now.

My mom posted pictures of our last visit with Mimi and Papaw. I posted a couple of them, too, and you can click on over to view the rest.

This little man will be coming with me. :-) He can always make me smile.

I'm Broken tonight

I really don't even know what to write. I'm tired from crying. I'm just not okay tonight. But who cares? About me, that is. I'm not what matters. I love my Mimi.

Mimi, I love you so much.Friends, I'm asking you to continue to pray. Pray for healing. Pray for peace. Pray for support. And for protection while I travel. And for my family while I'm gone. But especially for peace.

Psalm 29: 11 The LORD gives strength to his people;
the LORD blesses his people with peace.

From my Papaw:
Well, brethren, the news is not good tonight. And a lot of you have already heard by telephone or word-of-mouth that we got the results this afternoon of Minnie's PET Scan. The pancreatic cancer has returned and this time it is not operable. We will discuss her options with the radiologist on Tuesday. Radiology will not cure cancer; it may delay it and make some of the symptoms more endurable. When I asked the oncologist this afternoon how much longer she has, he told me there was no way to know. It could spread very rapidly or if it is more localized, the radiology might slow it down and a year from now see what we are faced with. She is so thankful for this past year the Lord gave her since finishing chemo last January. She was able to see both Cheryl & Jeannine's family in Arkansas in May including all 8 of the great-grandchildren. Timothy and Jon both visited her at home and she got to see her family in Texas in November. Minnie is thankful she was able to finish quilts for all of the great-grandchildren, including the three who will be born this spring. That's a total of 11 great-grandchildren and how blessed we are--and she made two more baby quilts for the next two that we believe the Lord will give us.

Minnie has the Lord's peace in her heart and she has told many people that the Lord "doeth all things well." He has His reasons for what He does and she looks forward to seeing our Lord and her parents and sister who are already in heaven ahead of her. But it is so painful for her to leave the large family here and friends and so many who love her so much. "To depart and be with Christ is far better," but the pain of separation requires special grace from the Lord. But "He gives us more grace" and has promised, "My grace is sufficient for you." I am reminded of Job's words, "Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?" Job 2:10 HCSB

So we live one day at a time and thank God for it and say, "This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it." There may be many more days ahead than we think and for that we will be thankful.

Trusting in our Lord to work all things together for good,

Bill & Minnie Burnside

Random decorating happiness

Sometimes I just need to do something crafty for fast therapy. You know, those days when everything kinda goes wrong, and you just need a pick-me-up in the evening, instead of doing the pile of laundry. So, I decided to recover all of my light switches and outlet plates, starting in the kitchen and living room.

Before (plain, blah... the wall color is off too.)

After (happy swirliness)

Kitchen covers

The polka dot, below, was my first attempt at fabric covering, and I think it turned out pretty nice... and the coating on top makes it wipe-able.

What do you think? It's not perfect by any means. And, yes, I realize that my switch plates probably need a good scrubbin'... but the point is that it makes me smile. And I like things that make me smile. :-)

Coal, we will miss you

Coal

It is with deep sadness that I announce the death of my parents' beloved dog, Coal,
a Black Lab, son of champions and friend to anyone he met.
Avid runner& hiker, strong and beautiful.
He adored his best friend, Sally. She stayed with him until the end.

You will be deeply missed but never forgotten.
Love, Wendy

Okay, I know this doesn't sounds like me. I'm not a big "animal person."
I don't love the smell, hair on my clothes, barking...
but I still have a soft heart towards them, even if I don't own one.
Sally and Coal were great together.
They were fun, energetic,
great for my kids,
running partners for my folks.
I felt better knowing that my Mom was out with her big dogs, not all alone.

Proof that dogs are good for the soul

But let me back up. I'm just going to copy in an email I wrote to a friend, to make this faster and easier:
On Saturday my parents' dogs disappeared. The gate was shut, and there were no clues.

This morning my parents checked the animal shelter and the lab rescue, but no luck. Then we had a tip from a friend this afternoon, but it didn't pan out either. The dogs were not my mom's. While my mom was checking out that lead, another friend stopped by here and said that he had spotted two dogs (one that was down.) I went to check it out myself, because I didn't want my mom to find one of her dogs dead. Sure enough, it was them. :-(
Sally was okay-- just tired, cold, hungry....she wouldn't leave her sidekick Coal, who must have been hit. I didn't get too close. I had all four kids with me, and it was difficult to hold on to one large black lab, and call my mom on the cell phone. My poor mom. This has been a rough day on her. She got Sally home and then went back to make sure that Coal was not suffering. He wasn't. She was able to say her good-byes....came back sobbing. I feel so sad for her.

This is on the heels of an already emotional day.

gun fights and laundry rescues keep us warm

Before it got bitterly cold, we had some playdates. Here's my gun-toting Artist chasing some guys down with a tractor.
Then they had a shootout at a friend's house. Only Dash survived.


El Toro and I went on a double date last Friday. Our friends bestowed us with a gift card/date for Christmas! (He didn't wear that GAME ON shirt to the restaurant. Heh.)
My little lad is very thankful for all the extra food. When I get cold, I cook like crazy.
Don't his eyes look dark in the pictures?? Weird. He has very blue eyes.

Yesterday we made homemade chicken pot pie, cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls, and chocolate chip cookies after school (or you can call it home ec/ extra math!)

He loves to wear this broken half of a fireman's hat on his head. It makes him look like a baby Frankenstein.
It pays to help Mommy cook!
We've been doing quite a bit of costume play, too. These brave little dudes are on their way to put out a fire.
And I reinstated "station time." They need some structured activities to keep us all from going crazy when we can't get outside. I love to watch my batman baby do lacing shapes!! His fine motor skills amaze me. He'll be put to work making me jewelry pretty soon!!
Nature Man balked yesterday when I asked for his spelling book. Can't say I blame him. It's just not his cup of tea... so I had the boys do word puzzles and letter squares instead. I'm such a book learner, like the Artist, and it's tough sometimes for me to remember the more hands-on stuff that the boys love.

What do you do on these ridiculously cold days?? I can't stand being cold. I mean, I reeeeaaaalllly do NOT like the cold. Not even a tiny bit.

However, I'm learning to appreciate my time at home more. I've also been crafting A LOT in the evenings. The Artist helps me design things, and the boys help me paint on modge podge. It's a family affair.

desk makeover

I'm cheap. I can admit that. I do not like to buy things new. I L-O-V-E deals.

And free is even better.

During fall clean-up week, the kids and I were out walking and we came across this discarded kid's desk. Sure, it doesn't look like much....but I saw potential: sturdy, real wood, flip-top, compartments on top...

The kids walked home, and I brought this baby back in the red wagon.

BEFORE

Nothing a little paint and decoupage can't cure.

AFTER

Yeah, I found this in the fall and just got around to pretty-ing it up. Too many projects, too much to do and so little time. I'd love to tell you about my "secret laundry ingredient," but it will have to wait. I'm being kicked off the computer.

(This post can also be found here on Family Crafts)

The lettuce addict

This baby looooves salad. He steals it off of his siblings' plates (and they look the other way.) He went a little berserk when he ran out of Olive Garden Caesar the other day. Wow.

Look at him chow down...

"Oh, Mom, you are totally embarrassing me!!"

"Red Lobster biscuits" :-)

Ingredients

Biscuits

• 2 1/2 cups Bisquick mix (or 1 cup flour + 1 1/2 tsp baking powder + 1/2 tsp salt + 1 Tbsp shortening)
• 1 cup finely grated cheddar cheese
• 3/4 cup white wine (or milk, if you don't have wine on hand...and everyone should have wine on hand! ...just for cooking, of course!)

Garlic Butter

• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 pinch salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine garlic butter ingredients, mixing well.

Next, Combine biscuit ingredients in a medium bowl.

Mix until well blended.

Drop approximately 1-2 Tablespoon portions of the dough onto an ungreased nonstick cookie sheet.

Brush a little bit of garlic butter on top before baking.

Bake for 14-16 minutes or until the tops of the biscuits begin to turn light brown.

Brush more garlic butter on top before serving.

Very unhealthy and super yummy! No wonder I've gained 10 lbs since Thanksgiving!

No joke there.

I always put that much on around the holidays and then take it back off as the weather warms up.
I just hate being cold and baking seems to be great therapy for my S.A.D.

What's Cookin'?

My little Nature Man loves to cook and bake. Let me tell you, this boy is gonna be a real catch someday (many, many, many years down the road.)

My dear Mimi just made and sent this awesome chef's hat with matching apron and pot holder!! Woo-hoo!! Now the little man has another incentive to get busy in the kitchen with me! Last night we made "Red Lobster biscuits," homemade pizza, and rolls!

Thank you, Mimi!

Wet kisses

Last night, before bed...

Dash, in a sing-song voice as he was tucked in: "Mommy, I'm missing something."

"What are you missing?"

Dash: "A good night kiss!"

Okay, this shocked me. If you recall, this child has an aversion to kisses. I can hug him, but kisses are just "icky."

Then he pointed to my cheek, so I leaned in for the much-anticipated smooch.

I'm a sucker.

He stuck out his wet tongue and licked my cheek from top to bottom, leaving a preschooler snail trail on my face!

I'd like to think it's a sign of wisdom. His name does mean Prudent after all!