Rockin' in my little World

Today I got to rock my Lil T-Man in my rocking chair. I was babysitting and it was time for morning nap. And time just stood still... for me and for him. I could have sat there all day and it was a heavenly place to be! Sitting there with some soft music on and rocking him was a treasure from God. As his eyes got heavier and heavier and he fought sleep, he looked up at me and said, "Hi!" and smiled his sweet smile looking into my eyes. I can't begin to describe the love I felt back for him! What a blessing to be called "Grammy"...what a blessing to be allowed by God to see my children's children. I cannot thank Him enough for bringing me through this life and giving me such a treasure. Such a gift of service to Him to be able to be there for my grandchildren and my children.

Time Flies

Although I can't say I've been having fun. As you all know, our little friend has been so sick. I've spent all my computer time allowed me writing on the General Assembly Forum just trying to keep the Brethren up to date on how our sleeping beauty has been. Slow goes the tide here, but it seems to have turned. For the better I mean!

I've spent every minute I could getting ready for Christmas. Got the shopping done and the presents wrapped and the stockings are waiting to be stuffed tomorrow night. Miss L and I spent the afternoon today cooking together for our Church Christmas Party which is tonight at 6:00 pm. I've made some appetizer size Runsas. These are small little buns filled with beef, cabbage and cheese. Very simple, but yummy! Miss L. has made up a speciality! She fried little tiny tortillas and is filling them with taco salad mixture. What a great idea, Sweetie! She also is making a special hot cocoa mix sent to her by Daughter in Law #3. I've found a chai tea mix made with rooibos tea so it's non caffeinated.

Us girls revealed our Secret Sisters this afternoon. Sad that it's over! My secret sis was Miss Brittany and for her gifts I was following Proverbs 31. I got all the way to "she strengtheneth her hands" and the gift was two little pink 1 lb. weights and I lost heart. I just could not bring myself to give her that gift. Today I gave her some really soft sheets and told her in her card that when she is better, I will finish with her Virtuous Woman gifts! I am not going to cry!

Raw Milk Sensitivity

Here it is folks! The Dad's solution to Raw Milk Sensitivity!

Now, mind you, we all love our Raw Milk here in the Pelkey House...okay, so a few are still holding out for DariMart Milk...but most of the kids (that includes Bro. D and Sis. K of course!) love our Raw Milk. Earlier in the year, the Lord heard my prayers and sent me a source of Raw Milk for my family. I really feels like it is healthiest for you, despite the government's laws against it. Milk, just the way the Lord made it! You can't even buy it at stores in most states...but here in Oregon, farmers can have one or two cows and sell the milk privately. It's hard to find anyone still doing it, but one day a sweet Mennonite lady called and said she'd heard I was looking for Raw Milk. She only charges $2.00 a gallon! So, since we have had access to this delicous milk, it's been a challenge to know where to put it! They sell it in gallon glass jars. This makes it really hard to pour the milk into a drinking glass and I really don't like to put a spoon into the giant jar each time to stir it because that feels like I'm introducing germs that might be on that spoon! So we've been looking for a solution. Raw Milk has to be stirred or shaken before you pour it each time because it's not homogenized...it separates with the cream on top. For a while I was using a tea bottle that we just bleached out after each week, but it had a handle and I worried that I wasn't getting the milk up in that handle cleaned out good. So, The Dad and I went shopping one night for the perfect solution! We came up with two half gallon juice containers that we could wash/bleach out. But after the first week, The Dad came home and found the juice/milk container had been recycled! That kind of frosted his hide so to speak, so he came up with another perfect solution which you can see in these pictures. I came out to fix breakfast the other morning and found these two empty containers on the counter with some writing on it. Intrigued, I filled them up with the Raw Milk from the gallon glass jar. As the white milk filled the jars, you could read what my dear husband wrote on them! It made me laugh...he's so sensitive about his milk!

This Lady Understands Hospitality!

After Sunday, when we heard a little bit about hospitality, this blog post really warmed my heart! http://ebeth.typepad.com/reallearning/2007/12/from-the-archiv.html

Why Women Cry

A very special friend from OKC sent this to me today in an email...thought I would share! Hi Shonna! Love and Miss ya! Kinda sappy, but hey! I feel kinda sappy today!

A little boy asked his mother, "Why are you crying?"
"Because I'm a woman," she told him.

"I don't understand," he said. His Mom just hugged him
and said, "And you never will."

Later the little boy asked his father, "Why does mother
seem to cry for no reason?"

"All women cry for no reason," was all his dad could
say.

The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering
why women cry.

Finally he put in a call to God. When God got on the
phone, he asked, "God, why do women cry so easily?"

God said:

"When I made the woman she had to be special.

I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight
of the world,

yet gentle enough to give comfort

I gave her an inner strength to endure childbirth and
the rejection that many times comes from her children.

I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going when
everyone else gives up, and take care of her family through sickness and
fatigue with out complaining.

I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under
any and all circumstances, even when her child has hurt her very badly.

I gave her strength to carry her husband through his
faults and fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart.

I gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never
hurts his wife, but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to
stand beside him unfalteringly.

And finally, I gave her a tear to shed. This is hers
exclusively to use whenever it is needed."

"You see my son," said God, "the beauty of a woman is
not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way
she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman must be seen in her eyes, because
that is the doorway to her heart - the place where love resides."

From Spurgeon's Daily Devotional

Bro. Rocky D. lent us his copy of a bible computer thing that has this really sweet old devotional in it. Now, I am not a fan of devotionals, I think they ring of platitudes and the like, but for some reason Charles Spurgeon's rings true in an old time way. Here's today's message:

November 29th AM

"Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people . . . Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him."
Leviticus 19:16, Leviticus 19:17

Tale-bearing emits a threefold poison; for it injures the teller, the hearer, and the person concerning whom the tale is told. Whether the report be true or false, we are by this precept of God's Word forbidden to spread it. The reputations of the Lord's people should be very precious in our sight, and we should count it shame to help the devil to dishonour the Church and the name of the Lord. Some tongues need a bridle rather than a spur. Many glory in pulling down their brethren, as if thereby they raised themselves. Noah's wise sons cast a mantle over their father, and he who exposed him earned a fearful curse. We may ourselves one of these dark days need forbearance and silence from our brethren, let us render it cheerfully to those who require it now. Be this our family rule, and our personal bond--SPEAK EVIL OF NO MAN.

The Holy Spirit, however, permits us to censure sin, and prescribes the way in which we are to do it. It must be done by rebuking our brother to his face, not by railing behind his back. This course is manly, brotherly, Christlike, and under God's blessing will be useful. Does the flesh shrink from it? Then we must lay the greater stress upon our conscience, and keep ourselves to the work, lest by suffering sin upon our friend we become ourselves partakers of it. Hundreds have been saved from gross sins by the timely, wise, affectionate warnings of faithful ministers and brethren. Our Lord Jesus has set us a gracious example of how to deal with erring friends in His warning given to Peter, the prayer with which He preceded it, and the gentle way in which He bore with Peter's boastful denial that he needed

Let's Babysit!

Today we get to babysit Baby T. He just happens to be our 2nd grandson and is the son of our #2 son and #2 daughter in law! Anyway, we are having lots of fun following him around with a camera. He's down for a nap right now...he's a busy little guy so I am getting house stuff done while he sleeps. But I thought how much fun it would be to blog about our day. So far we've given him his bath and fed him lunch and he's followed all the kids around being cute and goofy. He got sleepy around 12:30 and so he got his blankie and him and I sat down to play a little Spider Solitaire together. He got sleepier and sleepier (mmm...so did I!) while we played. Finally he just keeled over and I went and laid him down in his bed. I love sleepy, snuggly, cozy babies in my arms...oh and if you're wondering why his teeth are green...he's eating some dried snap pea crisps!
PS That's #5 son in the background texting his favorite girl in OKC!

Thanksgiving Day Fun

Doesn't Miss L look like she's having fun peeling potatoes? She looks like she got roped into the yucky job! She actually volunteered to do the mashed potatoes this year; it's one of her special specialities! This girl knows how to make a mean batch of garlic mashed goodness...we're lucky to have her! Next is little Miss A with Papa giving the turkey lurkey his bath before he goes into the oven. Don't think she connected that this was an actual Turkey! That's probably for the best. And then finally there is #4 son with little Miss A playing after dinner. They made a fort under the dining room table and I caught their fun with my camera. Finally a picture of little Miss A not trying to force a smile! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Hope you all did too!

Peek A Boo!

Here's little Miss A with her quilt on her 3rd Birthday! I'm going to be very busy this year making quilts for everyone on their birthdays. First two down...only 14 more to go! I'm having lots of fun picking out the material for everyone's quilts...this quilt is actually very easy. I'm using the pattern for the quilts that are being made for Operation Quilts http://coburgquiltshow.org/_wsn/page11.html
I got the idea this summer when us girls were making an Operation Quilt for a soldier. My kids all said they would LOVE a quilt like that for their own. That got me thinking...I could make them all one for Christmas! I counted up the weeks before Christmas and it was exactly 16 weeks...that meant I had to make one quilt a week up until Christmas. Too much pressure! BUT...I could swing a quilt for each of their birthdays if I work real hard. Do-able! So, here are the first two quilts!

Birthday Girls and Their Quilts

Here's our girls on their birthdays! Little Miss A is so funny when asked to take a picture! She gets this funny forced look...or she squints her eyes all up. Thankfully Daughter in Law #3 knows how to take a great picture! Happy Birthday Girls! Love you both!

Stop, Drop and Roll...for Coffee?

Isn't he cute? He's supposed to be moving. Not sure if he will once I post this message. Reminded me of of my coffee loving Sis. D who I have not seen much of lately because Sis. B is not feeling well these days. My life most days is an endless round of Stop, Drop and Roll. I stop, because the next phase of a trial will hit me or I get a call that Sis. B is at the next phase of pain, I drop to my knees and pray over and over that God will just please help me and the ones I love so much that are hurting, and then I roll on to the next thing and start all over again. There is no end to this cycle at this time in my life. Maybe that's how it's supposed to be? Mmm...think I'll ponder this as I lift my cup of coffee for a sip and smile like this little guy!

Richest Woman on Earth

Would you consider yourself to be the richest woman on earth if you lived in this cabin? Maybe not. But what if you considered that the Lord had given you everything you needed? A roof over your head, the kids all fed, the man you loved most lying close beside you in your bed. What else would you need? Would you pray that the Lord would give you eyes to see exactly what these things were worth? Would you then consider yourself to be the richest woman on earth?

Today I am remembering back when we were raising our little ones and God gave me this song that you can hear playing right now. What a gift this song was to my heart! The words filled me to the brim with knowing just where my heart should be before the Lord and thanking him so much for my dear husband and children. I would play this album while the kids were little around my feet, as I worked at being a mommy. Paul Overstreet has some beautiful songs about families. If you ever get a chance to hear some of his work, take some time to listen and meditate. Want to know something I think is really cute? After raising my kids on Paul Overstreet...whose music do you think they still love to hear? Yep! Those sweet songs still call out to them today! Son #1 came over last night to get one of my Paul Overstreet CDs to listen to on the way to the Young People's Visit.

Gotta Love Those Waltons!

Did you watch the TV show, "The Walton's", when you were growing up? I did! I loved that family. Probably because it seemed such a perfect world. Ma and Pa loved each other and who couldn't resist such a grumpy Grandma with a sweet old Grandpa? They all ate at the dinner table together for meals too. I LOVED that dinner table! Those benches are right where the action happened for their family. Unfortunately, my family dinner table while growing up was very sorrowful. And that also was where the action happened. Bad action and bad memories for me. But I could escape to watch the Walton's perfect world and wish that I could be part of such a family. Now, skip ahead to when I turned 16 and met a family very much like the Waltons of my dreams. The Pelkey Family. Those words say a monumental mouthful. There was Sis. Janet, who was Ma, and Bro. Al, who was Pa and all 11 kids around the dinner table. God called me to the faith and led me to this family. I even got to marry one of them! We started our own little Walton's family! Now we have the seven children of such a storybook example and we have our own dinner table where our own sweet memories have been made and are still being made each time we sit down. My Pa and I are heading into our Grandpa and Grammy years now. Our table gets larger and larger with more happy faces round about it. And I thank God everyday for my blessings; that he called me to such a miraculous thing and saved me from such a sorrowful table that was shared in my childhood.

Skippyjon Jones is my Hero!

On Monday night the whole family came over to celebrate my birthday, since son #1 and wife had gone on a trip for the weekend and were now back safe and sound. My daughter and daughter in law #2 made the bestest ever homemade calzones. They were so yummy and I had two pieces! I had brought home a book called "What Do Parents Do? (When You're Not Home)" to read to the whole family. So after dinner, I announced that I had a book to read to everyone. First thing you know, Granddaughter #1 had grabbed a seat in front of me and was anxiously waiting for storytime to begin! It was the most darling thing I have ever seen. She comes to my storytimes at the library each week and so she knows how this story thing works! So I read the book and she is just enraptured of course but when the story ended she started looking for the other books I should be reading. I told her that this was the only one I had brought to read. And she told me, "Grammy there are two more stories in your room!" That was so cute. She knows where I keep my special storytime books in the bookcase in my room. When I opened my presents, I found the latest Skippyjon Jones book! Yeah! Skippyjon is my hero! And his latest escapade is wonderfully fun. Mama Junebug Jones calls him Mr. Pickle Pants this time. I love how his mama calls him all kinds of fun nicknames throughout the books. I wish I could have taken a picture of Granddaughter's face as I read Skippyjon to everyone. It will be an image I keep in my memory for the rest of my life. She absolutely adores stories and I think Skippyjon is her hero too!

Update on Tecumseh

You are not going to believe this! A ranger found Tecumseh! He is in Corvallis today and we'll have to get him

Farewell Tecumseh

Our friend is gone. My heart is sad. The Lord gave us our dear dog 14 years ago. He was just a puppy and the boys were out riding bikes in the neighborhood and this cute puppy came running out of a field toward them. They brought him home and begged to keep him. What could we say? He was darling. He was beautiful. So we tried to find his owner. Even the police tried for us. So, in the end, he was ours. Now, in the same way the Lord gave him to us, he took him away. Yesterday, the Dad and #5 son were out hiking and Tecumseh just couldn't go on. Lately, he has gotten more and more deaf and blind. So he couldn't see the men calling him or see where they were. So off he went, regardless of where they were. He never came back. That is so sad. But maybe that is best for all of us, including him. He loved the outdoors, he loved to go exploring and trying for that elusive squirrel or rabbit he knew was just over that ridge. So, farewell our dear friend. You were dear while the Lord lent you to us. We couldn't have asked for a better dog. We'll all miss you...

Older Posts from my Previous Blog

FirstBornFamily October 26, 2007 My Birthday Leads me to Rediscover my Blog Okay, so I really did have a blog last year! I've been thinking recently;as my birthday approached, that I would start a blog. Wait a minute! I did have a blog! But heaven knew I didn't know where I had put it...how could you lose a blog? I did! So, I decided to start a year of blogging since it's my birthday and it's a good starting point. I went to my favorite blogging site and started one. It said I could not have that user name I wanted because it already existed! Ha! So on a whim I asked it to resend me the password and voila! I am in! Wow, I even had a name for my blog... I'm not sure if I still like this name. Maybe I'll rename it! Anyway, I am now seriously middle aged. It's a veritable fact. It cannot be ignored. Do I care? Mmmnn.... Not really! In fact, since becoming a Grammy, I am very happy about being middle aged. The gray hair is not bothering me, not many wrinkles yet, I'm not feeling old, so who cares? I've got the sweetest family ever and they all love me. My dear husband still calls me his best friend and that's not about to change until the day we both die. So I'll thank the Lord for each day and walk on. Happy Birthday to me! February 11, 2006 Service to my Family is for the Lord All my men went paintballing this morning as a celebration for Danny's upcoming marriage to our first daughter'n'laws sister. It's their version of a "bachlor" party! So I told all the men that I would get up and make them breakfast of biscuits n gravy and eggs. #4 son said that he wasn't going to "require" that of his wife someday. I asked him why he thought I was doing it as "required"? He said he didn't know what he meant except that everything our family does revolves around food. "Big food" he said. I told him that I cooked for everyone because I wanted to and that I felt that it was a way I served the Lord...by serving my family. The things that I do...cooking, sewing, cleaning, talking, teaching...they are the biggest thing I do for the Lord. I see the bigger picture now that my children are getting older. I used to just live for the day when the kids' ages would be 24, 23, 22, 21, 18, 16, 14...or even 12, 11, 10, 9, 6, 4, 2! I couldn't wait for that next step in their lives. Now I see that each day...whatever I can do for them...is something I do for the Lord. Six of our seven children have given their hand to the Lord now. That is so sweet to me to see because I know that I have raised them to be servants of God. Servants for God. That is my service. Our youngest is 13 going on 14 soon. We have a granddaughter and expecting our second grandchild in Oct. What a wonderful life of service I have ahead of me! But today...today I made biscuits and gravy with all my heart for my family and loved ones. February 7, 2006 Our 25th Wedding Anniversary! February 7, 2006 Blogging Friends out there? Where are you? February 3, 2006 It's Friday!!! Okay, so here I am again...still trying to figure out why I would want this blog and what in the world I am going to write in it?! It is Friday...one of my favorite days because tomorrow and Sunday my sweet "daddy" gets to stay home with us! Also, my older children living at home get to be home too. I am a small town branch libray clerk and I work 25 hrs a week. Thursday is my "Friday", I get to have a three day weekend. On Monday's I have just a few hours to work...so that makes my weekend really long. It has worked reasonably well for me and my family for me to have this job...it is my first job after raising the kids. Since we homeschool, the three youngest have always gone with me on Tuesdays and Thursdays to the library where I can keep track of the schooling part. Now that my daughter has graduated from homeschooling, it is only the two younger boys coming with me and soon the older of those two will graduate also. How sad...my family is growing up... Of our seven children, four are still living at home. Soon however, our oldest is coming back for a while. He will be saving up to get a place with our 4th oldest son, who hasn't ever had his own place yet. So I will be really happy for a while to have 5 at home and then really sad after that to only have three. My nest is emptying...not sure how I feel about that! So here is a question for any who read my blog... Why are you blogging? And how do you see it helping you? (oops that's 2 questions!) February 2, 2006 Continuing Education? Just learning how to do this blog thing! I don't know if I will have much to add yet...but at least I am trying to learn a new thing. I think it is good for my children to see me try and learn a new thing too!