Brrr...Oklahoma Weather

Only in Oklahoma. We were in the 60s yesterday and today it's in the 20s with freezing rain. Crazy. The weathermen says it only going to get worse today and tomorrow. Ice and snow, with the possibility of power outages. Ugh! After spending a couple hours yesterday cleaning out the garage and the backyard (I hadn't done anything to the backyard since we moved into this house in Dec.) today is going to spent in doors. I'm so thankful to be in a place where I can do just that--hibernate in my little den!

One of the things I did yesterday was mend Curt's khaki pants. The process reminded me of a couple things my Mom taught me that I am very grateful for. One, my Mom taught me how to do some basic sewing on (and off) the sewing machine. Over the years it has been so useful to know how to do some basic fixes. Not only can I mend Curt's pants but I have been able to alter my pants and shirts. I've taken in seams, notched the waist in, hemmed, etc. Granted, they have been very simple fixes but I've been able to do them because my Momma taught me to sew.

The second thing that yesterday's mending reminded me about was/is the way my Mom has taught me to take good care of my things. She never verbally said this but she exhibited this in her day-to-day activities. Point in case: The last one to use my sewing machine was Mom. She hemmed some pants while she and Dad stayed with our family the past couple of weeks. When she put the machine away she had the cord wrapped up so nicely. That's just what she does. It seems like a silly thing, but Mom has always been very neat with cords. (Family, do you remember the velcro tie things she got for our cords a couple years ago in our Christmas stocking?) It's not just cords, though. I have watched Mom work hard to keep her carpets spot-cleaned, junk drawers neat, and even paint supplies well-cleaned. Seriously, why toss paint rollers when just a little bit of elbow-grease makes them useable again. And paint trays--there's really no reason there should be leftover paint from last year's project dried on it. Just a little elbow grease and there you go.

I don't mean to leave Dad out of this musing. Dad has similar traits. My Dad has always worked hard to keep the garage tidied and taken good care of his lawn equipment, cars, and homes. It's the same type of thing. Thanks Mom and Dad for consistently showing me how to be a good steward of the things God has so graciously provided for me. I hope that one day my children can same the same thing about me.

Cousins Day

Today Jace spent the day with Molly and me. After a lazy morning we took at trip to Target then back to the house for Molly's nap while Jace played games on PBSkids.org. It worked out great. I was able to get some work done and the kids were nicely occupied for a little while. Later in the afternoon we went to the park even though it is cool outside--at least the wind died down a bit.

The park is great for both kids. I tried to get a picture of the two of them playing together but it was nearly impossible. Finally, in the car I was able to get a decent pic.

Jace is 4 1/2 and Molly is 17 months (today, actually). They are great playmates together but I have been trying to figure out how to keep any eye on two very active kiddos. Makes me wonder how well I'll do with two of my own. I'm very thankful that I get to grow into the second one. The car sure is going to be full with another little one!

Tonight we're going over to G'Mother and Papa's for dinner. The Bs, the Danes and the Browns will be there which means Molly will get to have a fun time tonight with her cousins there too. It's such a nice thing to have cousins the same age that play so well together. Molly loves her cousin Charis and sidles up to her every chance she gets.

A New Chapter Begins

Yes, a new chapter has begun in our family. My parents have moved to Taiwan for the next 3 years. We sent them off on a jet plane Saturday at 1:00 pm and they just now (Sunday evening, 9:30 pm) arrived in Taiwan. That's a LONG time to be traveling.

Now we will be communicating with them in a slightly different fashion than we have. It's been 15 years since they lived overseas (Africa, then) and I have become very spoiled to having them physically here. It's no wonder that airports still make me melancholy. Airports have been the location for many goodbyes. I've said goodbye to grandparents and then later to my parents and siblings as I left for boarding school, then said the same goodbye when they left me at college. Now they leave me, a grown woman with a husband, daughter, and pregnant with another little one.

Fifteen years ago communicating with anyone in Africa was a letter that took 2 weeks to get delivered, or a phone call costing about $1/minute (and even then it wasn't guaranteed to get connected). The use of email had just begun but wasn't used regularly. How things have changed since then! Now we have rampant internet and email use, not to mention Skype, Blogging, Vonage and Facebook. Isn't technology great?!!! My daughter will keep up with her Baba and Amai much better than I kept up with Meme and Papaw 20 years ago!

Hopefully Mom and Dad, Molly, and Baby G2.0 will benefit from this blog. My desire is to keep Mom and Dad in the loop with the daily things that occur in our family. We'll have to wait and see how successful I am at the endeavor.