Grandma Bragging Time...

Well, my laptop is still in getting repaired (it needed to have a part sent for I guess?)... so I haven't been posting much on my blog.. my old dial-up connection is the pits for places like here and Facebook..arrghh! Takes forever..but I decided to bite the bullet and try to post some pictures from last week here. Granddaughter Jorden came to visit (along with her mom and dad) for a few days and we all finally got to hold the precious baby!

So here are family pics of some of us (after waiting half an hour to load them...ughh!!)...Grandpa John and Gramma (ro)Berta
And Papa (great grandpa) and Nana (great gramma).


Please continue prayers for Jorden (and Kaine and Erin too)... she had some more tests on her liver to see if things are okay, she had a blood test on Monday and some other tests today on her liver (results back next week sometime), because her coloring isn't looking so good I guess? But they say she is sleeping and eating well, and doing good other than the color, so hopefully the doctor is just being extra cautious and making sure things are okay.

Thanks for the prayers.. we ALL appreciate them!

Hopefully I'll get my laptop back soon (oh how I yearn for my wireless connections from it!) and then I'll be able to post more art things, and other random stuff. *S*

Busy Week, Glad for the Weekend!!

Whatta week it's been! Busy with bookkeeping, vestry meeting, family, prayer sponsor dinner, family, bookkeeping, family, family, family and the best part of it was FAMILY!

New granddaughter Jorden was finally discharged from the hospital on Monday, and on Wed. night the kids came with her to visit for a few days. We FINALLY got to hold her...what a sweetheart, soooo small, and light like a feather!
We took a ton of pictures, but alas, without my laptop here (it's in the shop being fixed - I hope?), I can't post the pictures here yet...my old computer doesn't have the ports to be able to get my camera card into it to retrieve the pics...but once I am able to, there will be some here to show off! *S*

We had a family dinner on Thursday and all the kids were home to see the newest addition to the family...fun times!

So now the kids have left, and it's just us old empty-nesters again here... but, it looks like the weekend (except for Sunday morning) is clear to be able to work on my cheesebox altering....yay!!

More to come later....

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Today is my Dad's 77th birthday! Not bad for someone, who told me long ago, he never thought he'd live past 55 years old!

My Dad is someone I look up to and admire (my Mom is too, but this is Dad's birthday, so this is about him), and when people tell me that I am a lot like my Dad, I consider that a wonderful compliment... but one that would be difficult to live up to. Dad is a wonderful guy, a loving husband, a great father, a loving example of a Godly man. I hope my own son's and grandsons (as well as my daughter & granddaughter) will grow up to be like my Dad.


My Dad has a wonderful sense of humor... he's a good joke teller and story teller (some of those jokes I wouldn't DARE repeat here, but believe me, they'd make you laugh and blush at the same time! *L*)

I once wrote a piece for a magazine publication that asked people to write in about their fathers or father figures. Mine was published, and in it I told of how my Dad could fly! Or at least I thought he could when I was little... he could make his ears wiggle, and suddenly he'd be on his tiptoes, almost ready to fly off, if he hadn't stopped himself! *G* And my Dad was stronger than any other Dad in the neighborhood - at least that's what I told the neighborhood kids when we'd get into "My Dad's Better Than Your Dad" contests! *L*


I always have a problem thinking up something really, really great to give either of my parents on their birthdays or Mother's or Father's Day... but I think for part of Dad's gift today, I will make a copy of this blog entry when I get home, and include with our gift, a small token of our love, which can never really show Dad just how MUCH he IS loved and appreciated, and just how glad I am that God gave me THIS father!!

Happy Birthday Dad!! I love you!!
xoxoxoxox

Grandson Friday - AAACCKK

Today is Friday... Grandson Day.. and most Friday's it's a welcome event.. it started out good this morning when the son dropped them off at 7:00 a.m.....

I had a lot to do today however,... getting ready for a conference workshop tomorrow in Madison, and making soup for the Saturday luncheon were some of the things I figured I could do while the grandsons were here.

Sooo, we had some fun time with blocks and cuddling, then they wanted treats, so they helped me make popcorn.. Yum! We sat and ate some, then I went into the kitchen to start making chicken soup... tossing the chicken into the pot to simmer, etc.

How much trouble can an almost 4 year old and almost 2 year old get into? They had popcorn, sippy cups, blocks and toys to keep them busy for a few minutes while I was just in the next room, in the kitchen.....

*screaming sound* aaaaaaaccccccckkkkkkkkkkkk... HERE is what they CAN do, in a matter of minutes!

Josh tried to blame the mess on the Popcorn Ninja... yeah, uh huh..*L* So, here is a lesson for others... Never, I repeat NEVER, get your grandson's one of those Popcorn Ninjas!!!

Okay... the mess is cleaned up, Gramma Berta has calmed down....but I am seeing another lesson in the making... I should rethink giving them a deck of cards to play with....arrrgghhhh!!!!

Cheese Box - Call for Artists - What do you expect...it IS Wisconsin ya know!

Our town has an annual event called Jazz in the Park, and the city's Friends of the Visual & Performing Arts is having an art auction during the event. The last two years they had artists decorate park benches and then they auctioned them. This year there are 16" diameter x 13" high round wooden veneer cheese boxes to decorate, alter, paint, or whatever one wants to do to it.. there is no category we have to follow, we can think outside the box (pun intended)..or even inside the box.

So, I decided to try my hand at decorating, or altering one... This is the box prior to any work... I have about 5 weeks to complete it and give it back, and then on June 7th it will be auctioned off and the money will go to help the Friends of Visual & Performing Arts and the Jazz in the Park event.

Should be fun... and interesting to see all the others too!

EDITED POST: Check out my May 9th blog post for the finished cheese boxes I did!

On This Date 36 Years Ago, We Were Married! Where Oh Where Does the Time Go??

April 8, 1972 was a cold day, and there were still piles of snow here and there... so I guess it was a lot like today almost... who says global warming is worse, eh?? *L*

Today is our 36th Wedding Anniversary... I just can NOT believe it's been THAT long... I feel like it must be someone else and not us celebrating that many years of marriage. I was a child bride, don'tcha know? *L* Actually, I was 18 1/2, a year out of high school, and John was 20 (2 years out of high school - yes, he robbed the
cradle! *L*).. back then it seemed lots of people were married young... I recall going to at least 10 weddings the summer after we were married, of high school friends.

Yes, those are yellow ruffled shirts the groom and groomsmen are wearing!! Back then we thought that was cool...*L*

So anyway... now I am an old married woman, with three grown children and 4 grandchildren... funny how I don't feel like I am as old as my parents were when they were my age...*L* (shhhh, don't tell mom and dad I said THAT - hee hee).

So, it's off to domestic chores for me before we head out to have a dinner together to celebrate.
Thank you Lord for my husband, and for our years together, strengthen our union and help us to love one another more and more in the years ahead... in Jesus Name I pray... Amen!

Portrait of the Self Exhibition at ECVA

Yippee! My entry to the Call to Artists for Portrait of the Self at the Episcopal Church & Visual Arts online exhibition site is here ---> www.ecva.org

There are 40 wonderful entries... check them all out by clicking on the thumbnail provided, it gives the artist statement and then a link to their artist registry information too.

I'm excited to be part of it and loved reading and viewing all the other wonderful portraits of the self featured.

Check it out... you'll be glad you did!

Here is one of the pictures of my entry...
Because of space limitations my whole artist statement explaning the entry wasn't printed at ECVA, but if you scroll down to my blog entry here dated February 26, 2008 you can read the whole thing.

Finally able to hold baby Jorden...

Grandbaby Jorden has been weaned a bit off the oxygen and so today, for the first time, Erin & Kaine were able to FINALLY hold her. Hopefully in a few more days the grandparents can hold her too. *S*



Jorden even looks likes she's smiling in one of the pictures! *S* And Grandpa John shown with Kaine and Jorden was the proud gramps too! Jorden still needs to have a few days of treatment for jaundice and more weaning off the oxygen, and needs to see if she can eat normally instead of thru a tube, so it may not be Tuesday when she gets to come home... but we are thankful for how well she is doing. Thank you to everyone for the continued prayers...please pray for Erin and Kaine too.

More Jorden pictures....

More pictures of our new dear granddaughter, Jorden... The hand in the picture is daddy Kaine.

A prayer for those we love...(from the BCP)
Almighty God, we entrust all who are dear to us to thy never-failing care and love, for this life and the life to come, knowing that thou art doing for them better things than we can desire or pray for; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.