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!