Make-Believe

I remember when I was a kid and it was safe to run the neighborhood all day long without so much as a "Hi Mom, I am playing at so and so's house." I remember taking myself 2 blocks away to play at the park all day. I remember making up games with all the neighborhood kids and playing them every night. To this day I still have good memories of playing with brooms at night, not really remembering what the game was called or how we played it, just that we did and had so much fun.

I think in this highly multi-media world our children are losing touch with that part of the brain. The part that makes things up, the part where life is fun and new. They are much more interested in letting a TV keep them busy, or playing video games till their eyes are cross-eyed. Yet one more reason I love to camp. There is no multi-media. We have a TV, with no cable, we have movies, but they really don't get turned on unless it is raining or we are chillin for the evening inside away from bugs. Camping is a place that forces little minds to come up with new possibilities. It is a place where new worlds become exciting adventures. Sticks become best friends, tree limbs become ropes that you swing on through the jungles of the Amazon. It is a place I know well, it is a place that I grew up in.

My sister and I would lay in bed making up stories until our eyes gave way to sleep. When we traveled we would go into the back of the van and pretend all the bridges were waves in the ocean and we would have to dive under their crashing white foam. Who needed video games, we had our imagination! Even now when I can't sleep I slip away to the world that horses run free and I race along the meadows on their backs.

So when I peeked out the door of our trailer to see two of my children very caught up in a made up game, I was thrilled. Entering into this world of make believe is sometimes hard for Micah, but when he gets there, it is full throttle. He will build games to play, remake games with new rules so that we can play differently, or use a game and add things to it to make it a whole new game.

On this particular day, he used a game (Sorry) and used his army guys with it. I am not exactly sure what the rules were, but Jilli did, and she was holding her own. They had so much fun playing it. It kept them both busy for a few hours until it was time to head back up to the pool for a final swim.

I know they can't have the same freedoms I had growing up, but camping is a way for us to give them a piece of that life. Get them in touch with that very real world of make-believe.

Blessings!!

Knight in Shining Armor

He hears a distress call, he looks around... scanning for the victims. He spots them, they have huge eyes, scared faces, and a turtle. Here comes Kevin to the rescue!

He really must work on his game face, one little whimper from a higher pitched voice and he is putty in their hands. We will be in BIG trouble if he can't get this under control soon. The only problem is that I can't get him to jump and do my bidding the way little girls can. I specifically remember a time when I had climbed up into our garage to get something for Kevin and got caught up there. I was yelling and banging on the wall in hopes that he or his brother who was here at the time, would come running to save me. May I also mention that it was winter and FREEZING in the garage, alas, no one came running for like 20 minutes, and then it was "why are you making all that noise." The sympathy was just dripping from them as they start to laugh at me.... mean, just plain mean.... where did chivalry go?

Back to the story...

In the hands of the distressed, was a turtle (with big claws) and a hook that went in his mouth and out his neck. Very sad to see, I have to admit, but really what are we going to do about it??

Nothing to Fear When Kevin is Here (and you are under the age of 15)... He will save your poor turtle! He just happened to have all the tools a surgeon would need to remove the hook and his assistant, that really didn't want to be his assistant in this situation.

All I got to say is watch out for those nasty claws! Thankfully the grateful young lady had no issues holding his legs away from the hands that were trying to save it.

I think we worked on this turtle for 20 minutes, it felt like forever. He kept trying to pull his head into his shell. He was not very grateful for the life saving work we were bestowing on him.

In the end, we were successful, we were able to remove the hook and the girls had huge smiles on their faces and a big "thank you" for their knight in shining armor.

After battling with this turtle (and winning) our friend (and camping neighbor) came over to our site and told us that we really didn't need to remove the hook. Apparently, turtles have some kind of acid in their saliva that within the week would have eaten through the hook and it would have fallen out. Now he tells us... after watching us struggling with this creature. I know he was sitting at his table in his trailer laughing at the heroics that were taking place. I honestly don't think though, that Kevin would have stopped had he known, the big eyes of scared girls have a way with him and he would have continued his work until the results were satisfactory with the little girls.

I really must work on my high pitched cries for help, I will be a student of Jilli Joy, she has used the cry, she has worked the cry, she has mastered the cry, and her Daddy comes running...

I will let you know how my cry is coming, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Blessings!!

Back to Camping in July

Ok, so we had a pretty much perfect camping season this year. Although it's ending before I really want it to. Sadly, I think our season is now over. I really wanted to get in one more trip up to Ludington with our friends, but the calendar is running out of time, the weather is turning colder and our unit is in the shop getting things fix. So.... blogging about the camping trips this summer will have to hold me over until I get to start out all over again come spring (which in my book, could be early March weather permitting).

These next pictures are of our camping trip back in July. It was a beautiful Saturday evening and we got some visitors for supper. Nothing says summer like camping, hotdogs, hamburgs, smores, hot fire, laying back in the chairs dreaming the evening away, and if you are lucky a game or two.

As an added bonus, our new niece brought her parents out to see us. I look at these pictures and can hardly believe Lorelei was that little. She has grown so much in the last few months.
The king of all marshmallow roasters...Kevin. Our family likes them big, brown and gooey, if they have black on them, toss them into the fire and start over again. This summer we were introduced to a new way of making smores. I call them smores on steroids. They are soooooo gooooood. I will have to share with you the secret ingredient, if I am feeling extra kind.
Baby Girl taking her nap on Ama....
Game time! Watch out, I have some mean playing machines.
Yup, Micah has his game face on and he is ready to roll..
Don't let the innocent face of Tyler fool you, he will get you when you least expect it.
Man, even looking back on the pictures... how I love camping and all that goes with it. There are times when it feels like a lot of work, but it is all worth it, the memories we are creating with our kids are priceless. There are not many families who take camping as seriously as we do (except our friends the V.W's **wink,wink**), and there are people that might call us crazy, but I think it makes all the sense in the world.

Blessings!!

Beauty

I am going to be trying hard to bring this blog up to date. I have so much from this summer I would love to share, so if for some insane reason I have extra time on my hands, I might be posting more than once a day. Grand expectations....

So I love having a daughter and there are times that my daughter.... well take right now for instance, she just stomped her feet all the way up the stares, and made the poker lips scowl face this Peters' family is so famous for, and yelled at Tyler for leaving her all alone in the basement, then plopped her little self on the couch, crossed her arms (continuing to scowl) and made this little humph sound. All attitude (that she didn't get from me), and she probably had an eye roll in there for extra measure (that, she did get from me). As I was saying, I love having a daughter (minus the attitude) and all the things that come with little girls.

I love doing her hair (on the days that I force her to have her hair done). I love dressing her up in dresses (on the Sundays that I put my foot down that she can't wear her sweatpants), but the one thing that I never have to force her to do is wear make-up. As a side note, she is not allowed to wear it unless she is dancing on stage or staying home (neither happens very often).

There was one day however, while we were camping that she decided to put make-up on. It was so cute that I couldn't tell her to stop, it was a perfect photo-op just calling my name. When she was finished I was quite impressed with her abilities, for a 5 yr old she did great!

After she was finished, I sat her down and asked her what makes her really beautiful. She said "Jesus in my heart".

I have the awesome responsibility of training my little girl to look at her image the way God sees her and not the way the world sees her. I think it's quite obvious that she is beautiful on the outside (I am not bias, not one little bit), but more importantly she needs to be beautiful on the inside. I am battling an up hill battle. The world will tell her one view of beauty, but I have to show her the Godly view of beauty.

There are days that I can't wrap my mind around the fact that I am a Momma, and not just that but a Momma of a little spirited girl, that someday will be a spirited young women. My knees are shaking, because I just can't comprehend that I am really cut out for this incredible responsibility. But I guess it's good that my knees are shaking because it forces me to get back to where God wants me, on my shaking knees, praying for wisdom and guidance as we blaze new trails into womanhood.

Lots to say, but think it's best not to say anything...

What a day...

I keep typing and then erasing it all...

Thinking that I will just post a picture and call it a night...

Goodnight...

I got Nothin...

I got nothin. No grand words or funny stories, nothing deep or inspirational, nothing I really want to share. But since it has almost been a week and I have not posted anything, I figured while I have 5 minutes I should write something.... something.... still got nothin.

Sooooo, I will share a picture from last week. Kevin came home early from work and asked if we wanted to go to the lake to see the big waves. We had a "storm system" move through that is the closest we get to a hurricane in this part of the US. It was pretty big news around here and there was a lot of excitement. We haven't had a storm like this in a very long time. Although, it really didn't storm in the typical sense. We had some rain and wind and that was it. But the waves were big and so that always is exciting.

At the time that I took this picture, I had no idea that the couple standing closest to the pier (tan jacket) was Kevin's Aunt and Uncle. They had come out to see the waves too.

That's all I got... maybe something will hit me later, but I am not counting on it.

Blessings!!

Grandma's Treasures

Every now and then, you get these little surprises in your inbox that just puts a smile on your face and a small tear in your eye.

You know you were loved when after 30 years your pictures and letters were still kept in Grandma's treasure box.

Kevin, you were one of Grandma's treasures!!!

I just have one question... Kevin look how beautiful your handwriting was.... what happened???

Thank you Kerri, for sharing what you found!

Blessings!!

The Picture

Here it is, this is the picture I blogged about on my last post. Thanks to my Mother-In-Law, I have a few more for you to enjoy too.

This last picture makes me smile. Grandma was smiling at Jilli who was smiling at Ama who was taking her picture.

Blessings!!

Kids and Questions

One of the great things about kids is that they are pretty vocal about their grief. There really is no questioning what they are thinking, because they just say it. I think as adults we internalize everything, we are not really open about how our hearts are hurting. We don't express our thoughts and feelings like children.

In this past week I have had to deal with some funny and some sad questions that my kids have asked about death, dying, and living. By far Jilli is my most vocal about Grandma and how she misses her. She wants pictures and she wants to talk about Grandma all the time. She will be random and just blurt out that she misses Grandma and starts crying. Some of the questions I have fielded are....

Is Grandma all sandy now? This came shortly after visiting the grave. The dirt/sand was covering the hole but there was no grass yet. The boys just ask if there is grass over Grandma yet, whenever we drive by the cemetery.

Do you think Grandma is playing with Simba, Nala, and Annie? Jilli had asked when Grandma was still living if when she got to Heaven if she would take care of our puppies that have died. Now she wants to make sure that she is following through with that :-)

Was Grandma your out-law? Micah asked me this before the funeral on Monday. I just had to laugh, I then explained that she was my In-Law and that as far as I knew, I didn't know any out-laws.

Why did Jesus need to take Grandma home to Heaven? Makes me cry every time one of them asks this one.

When praying with Jilli the other night, I didn't pray for Grandpa. She was very quick to say that I needed to pray to Jesus that "Grandpa would be able to have good sleep because he no longer had Grandma to keep him warm."

Do you think Grandma still remembers us? This one came last night and is by far the one that has tugged my heart the most. Of course Jilli was the one who asked this. Glad Kevin was home to help answer this question....

Wednesday night Micah was asked what his favorite memory of Grandma was. His answer.....

Everything.

I was talking, this morning, to the friend that asked him that question and she told me how she thought Micah's answer was so great. I was kind of reflecting on that and then said to her that Grandma wasn't just this old person that you went and saw every now and then. She cultivated a relationship with you. She remembered things and then asked you about them. She couldn't play with the kids, or even go walking with them. But that really didn't seem to matter to them or her. She loved them the very best she could and they knew it.

There is a picture of Jilli when she was younger sitting next to Grandma on the couch at the cottage. Grandma was telling her a story and Jilli was very intent on listening. I wish I could show you that picture, because I think it sums up how Grandma, in her limited physical state, could make you feel like you were the only one in the room. That you were the most important person to her in that moment.

She was very special...

It Is Well...

It's already been a week... and... it's only been a week since we lost Grandma. It's hard to wrap my mind around that. It is easy for me to kind of ignore the emotions, because Grandma wasn't part of our daily life. I can teach the kids, clean the house, make supper and live in ignorance. But Grandpa walks into his condo, and looks at her empty bed. Grandpa can sit next to that bed, but there is no hand to hold, no arm to rub. He doesn't have to try and get her to eat, he can't listen to her quietly breath as she sleeps, the quietness is deafening.

Most of us are not immune to heartache. All of us have experienced pain and trials in our life. Some pain we saw coming, like Grandma's death, and some pain blindsides us. It is how we live through those trials and pain that intrigue me.

Some of us walk gracefully though life's trials, like Grandma. Grandma has been in pain for years, and I honestly don't remember a time that she complained about it. She has been pretty much in bed or laying on the couch for the last several years, but I never heard her say that she wished she could get up and walk on her own again. She lost a lot of her eyesight and I did hear her say she wished she could see again, but that was when she was trying to see one of her great-grandchildren. She had a faith that no matter what came her way she would say "it is well with my soul."

A faith like that is a gift from God. Some of us can really struggle to see God's hand in the hard times of life. Some of us have a harder time being at peace when storms are ripping your life apart. But even though Grandma would struggle with those storms it was easier for her to go from... I don't understand this God, to, I will trust you even in this. It was a beautiful gift to have.

There was another man who had this great gift. His name was Horatio Spafford. He was a lawyer in Chicago. He had 4 daughters and a son. His son died. He invested heavily in real estate along the lakeshore in Chicago. Then the great fire of 1871 happened and he lost most of his holdings. Two years later he, his wife, and 4 daughters were going to take a trip to Europe. Last minute business dealings kept him in town, but he sent his wife and daughters on without him. He would travel a few days later and meet up with them. The ship his family was on was struck by and English vessel and it sunk within minutes of the crash. He received a cable from his wife, "saved alone." He boarded a ship on his way to where his beloved four daughters had drowned, as he neared the spot, the Holy Spirit impressed on him to pen his grief, he started to write... "When sorrows like sea billows roll..." Thus the hymn "It is Well with My Soul" was born.

We sang it at Grandma's funeral. I should say others sang it at Grandma's funeral. I had a hard time squeaking out anything that even remotely sounded like music. Like Horatio, Grandma didn't choose to dwell on the sorrow of life, but said...

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, thou has taught me to say, It is well, It is well, With my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, let this blest assurance control, That Christ has regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed his own blood for my soul.

My sin oh, the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part but the whole, Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight, The clouds be rolled back as a scroll; The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, Even so it is well with my soul.

amen...