Summer Dresses

As I have been staying with the grandchildren while their parents are away I got out the sewing machine and got busy. I brought the fabric and pattern with me. Simple little dresses that look like a bowl of rainbow sherbert. Four of them from sizes 2-10 for four little blondes that are ready for summer fun.

As I was cutting the dresses out, trying to match the stripes, my daughter asked if I could also make head scarfs for the girls. Then she mentioned curtain dresses and a singing family from Austria. I guess we are a close neighbor since we are in Germany--any way I hope they will be fun summer play dresses.

As I was finishing them up I realized they would need a slip under them and the girls did not have slips. I was here without transportation or resources--only my imagination. I remember one time when we were traveling and the children were small. One of my daughters forgot her slip and a slip was needed for the dress she was wearing. I took a pillowcase, undid the top seam and pinned two pieces of ribbon to hold it up--got the job done. As I thought I remembered some extra plain white sheets that were here when they arrived, before their own things showed up. One small sheet should be enough for 4 little slips.

As the girls dressed for church today they looked so sweet--almost delicious walking along in their simple summer dresses. We wouldn't want their brother to feel left out so he put on his orange tie to match their dresses. When we got home the girls put on their scarfs and Max donned his new orange t shirt.

Shawna returns home tonight from a few days R&R with her sweetheart. The grand children and I have had a wonderful time. I need to pack my bag again for my return trip on Tuesday. I will miss being here but I know each time the girls put on their summer dresses they will remember the fun time we had making them and that their grandma loves them.

Is a Tub just a Tub?

After ten years I am blessed to have a bath tub once again. It is not a super whirlpool with lights like my friend Phyllis just had put into her home, but it is a 5 foot garden tub with with a ceiling light on a dimmer. My sweetheart calls it the focal point of the bathroom. After 10 years of waiting for our bathroom remodel, I am thankful to have my own bathtub.

The best tub was the one in our last home. It was a 6 foot whirlpool with a nice window. I had two doors between me and the children. It was my late afternoon retreat after a crazy day.

I have been enjoying the tub at my daughters home this last week. Her home in Germany sports a European tub, 6 feet long and slim. As I put my 5'7" body into the tub I have to stretch to keep my head above water.

My mother is a tiny thing at just 5'1" when she was at her tallest. She is planning to use her first ever passport to come visit her granddaughter in Germany. I think of mom's excitement as her dreams are fulfilled and she gets her passport stamped for the first time. After the long flight I know she will want to take a bath and I laugh as I picture how she will slip and slide while she tries not to drown in the longest tub she will ever bathe in.

I ran water this evening and put the two youngest into the tub. They played and giggled as the dirt of the day washed off. I dried them off and dressed them in their jammies while I made a mental picture of their sweet smiles.

A tub for bathing can be a simple bowl of water while camping or a jetted spa with chasing lights. Dirt and grime from everyday living is washed away. When the stress of the day becomes overwhelming, a fresh perspective can be achieved after just 5 quiet minutes of peaceful bliss with warm bubbles jetting around you.

Is a tub just a tub or is it an opportunity for a fresh, clean start?

Communication

Communication is a wonderful gift.

I am visiting my daughter in Germany. My husband was stationed here while serving in the Air Force 40 years ago. For the 38 years of our marriage he has promised to bring me to Germany-- and here we are.

I have visited other countries where I did not know the language, but I usually had someone with me who was a guide and translator. Not this trip. Shawna has only been here for a few months and spends her days taking care of her family of young children. The three year old is becoming quite fluent in the language, soon her mother will be also, but not yet.

When we go out I can hear people talking, but cannot understand a word of what is said.

When we need to ask a question at a store, we hope we eventually find someone who speaks english. Until then we are on our own.

We went to the German twin of Home Depot to purchase a piece of wood. We needed to have it cut into 3 pieces. Shawna wrote the length and number of boards on a piece of paper. She did a pantomime and smiled. The man nodded, crossed out her dash and put an X in its place, then took the board behind a partition. We shrugged and waited.

What we needed was 2 pieces of wood about 40+ inches long with a little left over. What we got were 3 boards about 4" wide and about 8' long--nothing close to what we thought we were asking for.

To be unable to communicate is a difficult situation to be in.

Today we went to church. We were the ones with the head sets. Unfortunately it is difficult to take care of little children and listen to the meeting through a headset. I looked at the ladies in Relief Society and tried to understand the lesson--Mary and Martha. I followed the scriptures and thought of their story, not understanding the comments, but noticing through body language, voice inflections and emotions the impact of women meeting together.

And then we sang--As Sisters in Zion-- I did not recognize the words, but the melody rang loud in my mind and I realized we were all women who love the Lord. We may speak different languages, but the desire of our hearts are the same. We are women who love our families. Women who love the Lord. Women who struggle to make good choices and be good examples.

We may not be able to communicate by speaking to each other, but just being in the same room with the same purpose is a method of communication.


I had a friend that lived in South America for a while. When she returned home she had such a strong conviction that you should be able to go to church and listen in your own language. I agree.

Church today was a very spiritual experience and I did not understand a word that was spoken.

Every week Shawna dresses her 5 children and takes them to meetings where they can't communicate. She understands the necessity of teaching her children the consistency of going to church, even if you do not understand a word of what is said. I pray for her strength.

One week is a privilege--3 years is a struggle. The ability to communicate is a great gift.

Sean

This week we celebrate Sean's birthday.

Sean married my oldest and has given me 5 beautiful grandchildren. He is a wonderful provider for my daughter and he loves her very much.

You've heard all the jokes and horror stories about getting along with your mother in law--well I must admit that Sean needed some time to figure me out, but this year we spent 4 months together and did quite well--thank you Sean.

Sean is an intelligent man. The way his brain works is always amazing to me. He will admit that sometimes there is so much going on in his head that he is like the absent minded professor, but that is some of what is endearing about him. Shawna lovingly pulls him back to life in the fast lane with 5 children at home and he jumps in and gets going.

I love listening to him read. He can keep up with the story line and have a different voice for each character so well. It is an entertaining evening when Sean has a book to share.

Sean and Shawna offer opportunities for us to travel and it is so much fun to do this with them. We have tickets to go visit later this winter, I am looking forward to the trip.

Sean is proud of his wife and family. I am proud to call Sean my son in law.

Happy Birthday, Sean

Katerina Elizabeth

Welcome to Birthday Week in December.

Today we recognize Katerina Elizabeth also known as Katya.

Katya is one of my royal grand children with a name almost as big as she is.

Katya makes me smile. She is the little mother making sure everyone in her family is doing what she thinks they are supposed to be doing...

This summer, when we were in a hotel room together, she was worried that her brother was playing with the safe in the closet and would get hurt. She came and told her mother in her 2 year old way that Max was in danger and mom told her not to worry, but Katya was still worried. She told Max what she thought about his dangerous activities again in her two year old way, but he continued with his 4 year old intrigue with the safe. Finally, Katya could take no more so she took the safe door and slammed it on his hand to show him how he could get hurt!! There, now everyone would listen!!!

This week Katya decided that she needed to be taller so she turned a glass upside down and stood on it. As you can imagine, the glass tipped over and her foot landed on the resulting broken shards causing the need for stitches and unwanted stress in my daughters life. How do you keep a 3 year old quiet and off her feet for 10 days to 2 weeks??

Happy Birthday, Katya. Grandma loves you

Beautiful

Last year at this time my daughter and her family were here awaiting the birth of her fifth child and fourth daughter.

Isabella Rose was born on October 7th, at the hospital. Not at the U2 concert, or in the car. Her daddy was here, thank goodness. Shawna had been here for a month with the children by herself. She managed like a trooper and I was so proud of her. We were all happy when Sean arrived.

As Bella and I spent time together this summer I truly enjoyed her company. The two of us spent many hours walking--or rather I walked and she came along in her rolling throne, better known as a stroller.

I could get her attention by calling out "Beautiful Baby!!" and she would light up and smile from ear to ear. Then I would smile from ear to ear.

Bella is a lucky girl to have 3 sisters and a handsome brother. She is now living in Berlin, Germany--many hours away from here and I miss her greatly. I miss her smile. I miss the opportunity to walk with her every day.

In her short year of life Bella has lived in Azerbaijan, and Germany. She has had lengthy stays in NC and UT. She has been to Disney twice, once in California, once in Europe and to Busch Gardens in Virginia. She is definately a world traveler.

Bella looks just like her mommy did, a beautiful round faced Gerber baby. I look at her and the years melt away. I love you Beautiful Baby. I miss you Beautiful Baby. I am glad you are mine.

Victoria Lee

The second celebration in Birthday Week of August is for Victoria who celebrates her 9th birthday.

This is a big week in her life. Not only is she celebrating another year older, she starts another school year in a new school and moves into her new home in her new country. After spending the summer with us here in the states we put her family on the plane headed for Germany yesterday.

Victoria is an intelligent little girl with a creative outlook. While her parents were away for the weekend celebrating their anniversary she spent the time composing a song, writing poetry and drawing a family tree. She encouraged her siblings and cousins to join in the fun and soon grandma's kitchen table was a sea of paper scraps and markers.

Victoria loves to read with her father and do math games on the computer. She does not enjoy homework, but, who does?? Last fall we took her to Williamsburg to celebrate her baptism and 8th birthday. We had a great time together. She really enjoyed the interactive roleplaying in the streets of town. She got to wear a period costume and fit right into the 18th century we were visiting.

Victoria is a blonde hair, blue eyed beauty with a unique sense of fashion. She is 9 going on 16 and promises to make her teen years memorable. I know she will make the best of her years in Germany. She makes friends easily and adapts quickly. I love her smile and am so glad I got to have her visit for the whole summer.

Happy Birthday Victoria!!

Love

Oliver Wendell Holmes had this to say about love:

Love is the master key that opens the gates of happiness

Today our daughter and her husband celebrate their 12th wedding anniversary. They are the parents of 5 beautiful children. They are happy--that makes us happy.

Congratulations Sean and Shawna

Motherhood

When I was a young girl I dreamed of the day when I would be married and together my sweetheart and I would raise a loving family of beautiful children. Now, not to disillusion my children, I must admit that I do have a loving family with beautiful children-- but living the life was not what I envisioned.

Meals three times a day took up 75 percent of my time, planning, shopping for, preparing, serving, cleaning up after-- just to start again a short while later, not to mention the ever present whine of "can we have a treat?" between meals.

Then there was the mountain of dirty clothes that need to be washed. The dirty faces and bottoms that needed to be cleaned. Add to all of that the kid droppings from room to room and you have a young mothers day. The joy of my day was to rock and sing my little one to sleep. It was a quiet interlude of joy.

Last night I walked in on my daughter at 10 pm rocking her baby in the dark while humming quietly hymns of peace. My daughters life is filled with limbo and chaos at the moment--a family displaced. To see her find calm with a hymn of peace while rocking her little one shows me that even in turmoil and total chaos, a beautiful loving family is made by stringing moments of pure joy together.

Motherhood is wonderful joy--getting there not how we planned, but wonderful joy none the less.

A to Z

This week we celebrate the miracle in our family we call Sasha. She was born on the bridge over the Haw River on 15-501 as her parents were hurrying toward the hospital. My grandmother thought she should be named Bridgette because she was born on the bridge or Mitzi because the car she made her debut in was a Mitsubishi. But her parents chose the name Alexandra Zhenya.

She is an amazing little girl who thrills me with her sweetness. She and her cousin Cooper have a very tender relationship that makes me happy. She sings all day long as she goes about her 'work'. She loves order, everything must be in a certain order according to Sash. I walked into the playroom a while back to see all of the kitchen play foods and dishes arranged just right in a circle as she sat in the middle grinning from ear to ear.

Next week she is coming with her family to visit for a month. I am so excited for this adventure. I am hoping for lots of opportunities to make happy memories while they are here. I know Alexandra will give me many moments to smile and giggle at her antics as she goes about discovering the world in her own Sasha way. The family and her friends call her Sasha, but to me she is Alexandra, a little queen in her own right.

Happy Birthday Alexandra. Grandma loves you.

Maximus

If you haven't noticed, special days in our family are all clumped together. This week we celebrate Mr. Max's birthday just after Michaels. Number four for the big guy. He is growing up so fast.

He is in a unique position in his family. Son number one and only placed right smack dab in the middle of four sisters--two older and two younger. His sisters all have royal names like Victoria, Alexandra, Katerina and Isabella. Not wanting Max to be left out but with his father determined that he was to be named Max they settled on Maximus--after the gladiator!!

His favorite color is green, though occasionally he tolerates some blue as well (he is broadening his horizons with that new choice). He is particular how is cute blond hair is combed, though truth be told, with his short cut it is hard to mess it up.

I am really excited because we get to go see him next week. Now we made a goal a few years back to do our best to visit our children and grandchildren close to their birthday's. Unfortunately it has gotten harder to do as our children move farther away. This trip will take us 24 hours--traveling by jet. So he is the lucky one in his family this year, and so it should be for the kid in the middle surrounded by all those women.

Happy Birthday Max--I love you