Thursday, April 23, 2009

I've Returned

Do you ever sit down to write and have no idea about where to begin? This is where I am finding myself right now. It is hard to catch up on almost two months of blogging in one post.

A few days after my last post on March 2nd my life became very busy. My mother was readmitted to the hospital for several weeks because the infection within her hip flared up again. Most of my days were spent with her as that was what was important at that time. When she was discharged she came to stay with us while her treatments continued. At the time of discharge she was still receiving IV antibiotics three times a day. Since I am a R.N. I was allowed to give them to her. Needless to say, that consumed most of our day as each IV infused over a three hour period. Last week they finally discontinued the IV antibiotics and have placed her on oral ones. Although still somewhat weakened by the whole ordeal over the last six months, she did return to her home this week. She has been such a trooper throughout and a real inspiration to all who have come in contact with her. She remains our hero in every way.




Shortly after she got out of the hospital my uncle (her brother) and my cousin came out from Iowa to spend a few days. We had such a delightful time with them. My cousin had never been here before and it had been eight years since my mother and her brother had seen each other. We hated to see them leave.


Don't you see a strong family resemblance?

My brother, cousin, hubby, uncle, son and BIL prepping the pizza oven.



Spring has sprung in my time away and so have a few bones in the grandchildren. We had three broken arms at the same time - two on trampoline accidents and one a klutzy move of an active two year old. The last one required surgery to put pins in the elbow. Life is never dull around here.




Awaiting the application of a light blue cast.


John Dee*re green cast on little on in cart, light blue cast on passenger at wheel.



Easter was delightful at our son and DIL's home. The chocolate fountain was a HUGE hit and the messy children could tell the story through pictures alone.


Our children from left to right...#3, #2, #1, me, hubby, #5 and #4........on a breezy hair day.



All the grandchildren together for the photo op.

YUM!!!!


YUK!!!! Good thing the hose was close by and it was warm outside.






On Easter it was announced that this little guy is going to be a big brother in October. All are thrilled and we will be so happy to welcome our 21st grandchild on October 21st! Our 20th was also due to arrive on the 20th. I feel a pattern emerging here.






I haven't had a lot of time in my sewing room, but I did manage to get two Easter dresses made. My DIL wanted all five girls dressed in yellow dresses for Easter and was unable to find acceptable ones for two of the girls. I love sewing for children.




I'd like this in my size.



I loved the princess neckline on this little dress.






As well I have finished two of my swap puzzle pieces. The other two are WIPs and should be done soon.





I am going to leave you with a heartwarming story. Two of our sons own a small chain of Italian restaurants. We also have a Naval base close to us and the restaurants are frequented by military men and women. One of the restaurant's more frequent customers approached my son a few months ago with a request. He wanted to pay for the meal of several servicemen who were eating dinner at the same time that he and his wife were. The gesture was greatly appreciated. It did not stop there. As he left he requested that free meals be given to each service man or woman who came in for time unknown at his expense. My son warned him that the "word" may get out and his bill could skyrocket. That made no difference to him. For the last several months each free meal is accompanied with a note of thanks for their service to our country and....the best news......it has not been abused. No one is told the name of the donor by request, but the notes of thanks have poured into the restaurant. He and his wife did, however, join us for Easter and we were able to tell him what a thrill it is to see the gratitude on the faces of those after hearing that their meals are complimentary. Humble as he is, he said that he was just grateful for all that they do for us.




I appreciate all of you who have e-mailed me and continued to hang in there while I was away. I apologize for my lack of getting to follow your posts and will, hopefully, be able to catch up on what has been going on in blogville. I have missed it so much.

Everyone must also check out this wonderful Giveaway. Talk about doing up your birthday in a BIG way!!!!

15 comments:

  1. You life sounds very busy! I really can see the family resemblance between your Mom and her brother. Such good news that she feels well enough to live on her own.
    Three broken arms? Goodness! Thankfully young bones heal fairly quickly.
    What great news that you'll have another grandbaby. I think four is it for us..
    You did a beautiful job on those dresses for Easter and the chocolate fountain was obviously a real hit (looks delish!)
    The story about the man treating the servicemen to their meals is so heartwarming. He must have the most generous heart.
    So glad to see you back blogging again. It's hard to catch up, so just jump in from now and don't even worry about it. Everyone will totally understand.
    xoxo

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  2. I am glad your mother is doing better now. I enjoyed your post with all its nice stories and photos. And God bless that customer at your sons' restaurant near the Naval base....what a kind man and it's nice to know people appreciate the service of our wonderful military people.

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  3. What a great story about the generous customer. I love stories like that. Not with military people, but a lot of people have been "paying forward" meals in our town lately, based on the calls to the newspaper. Very neat.

    I love that first dress - it is just perfect and summery. Both are darling, but that one is my fave.

    Three broken arms at once! That's quite a trick. It doesn't look like it has hampered their fun at all.

    We had one of those chocolate fountains at our latest ladies' tea at church - really delicious, and we did manage to keep the chocolate off our clothes! But it looks like they had lots more fun.

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  4. Welcome back! You have really been busy. And I just thought I was tired tonight! Ha! You are so blessed to have a family like that. And oh how blessed your mother is to have a daughter like you. May God bless you and your family. I am so anxious to see more posts now that you are back.

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  5. What a wonderful post! I have enjoyed reading every word. I, too, have been out of the blogging world because of my illness, but just had to come over here and see you. What a great thing the donor is doing for the service men. Many times they are overlooked in this world now, and I appreciated reading about this.
    Oh, my the yellow dresses are wonderful!
    I am glad your Mom is better. I know she is glad to be home, although she was in the best of care at your home.
    Great great pictures of the family!
    Alice Grace

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  6. We have missed you too!!!!
    Such a wonderful post and welcome back!!!

    Loved all the photos and your dresses leave me speechless!
    I too want those dresses! I would especially love the 2nd one too!!! aaaahhhhh....

    the chocolate fountain indeed was a hit!

    broken arms and such! wow!!!! we got rid of our trampoline when my oldest was jumping on it with the neighbor kid and he knocked my sons adult tooth out! thats then end of that story! we had so many problems with that darn tooth too!

    thats a great heartwarming story about the servicemen!

    your family all look GREAT!!!! Happy to hear your moms doing better!

    Congrats on another grandbaby!

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  7. Welcome back! You've been busy and you were missed. Have your loved ones take more calcium!

    I love the Pay It Forward story about the donor paying for meals of service people.

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  8. So glad to see you back!!
    The dresses for the girls were just beautiful.
    So glad to hear that your mom is doing better, and that her brother came to visit.
    Your family pictures are beautiful.Thanks for sharing with us.
    We are going to have a new grandchild #8 in Oct also. I am so excited. It has been 11 yrs since we have had a little one.
    Take care and have a blessed weekend.

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  9. Welcome back, my friend - you have been missed indeed, but we all understand that family always comes first!
    I am so glad to hear your Mum is getting better, and what beautiful photos you have posted today! I love the one of you and your family and the one of your grandchildren in particular! What a delight to be welcoming #21 this year!
    The puzzle pieces look stunning. I used to do a graphics project at school using puzzle pieces.....now you ahve got me thinking of what I could do with fabric too!And those dresses are so lovely.
    Have a wonderful weekend. You are back!

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  10. your family is so beautiful! i love the John Deere photo. :)

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  11. How sweet to have the family together. And I LOVE those quilt puzzle pieces. Thanks for stopping by and saying hello. Have a wonderful blessed weekend!

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  12. Wow! You have been super busy. You have a grand looking family. I question if I can survive 2 twin grandbabies !HHA seeing all of your gives me hope!!! HA!!!!

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  13. What a heartwarming story about the generosity of people.
    Oh, and I love the dresses, too cute!

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  14. Welcome back, dear Mary:-)

    As you can see, I'm also behind in visiting! lol My goodness, it's no wonder you didn't have time for blogging, your life has been so busy! I was so sorry to hear that your mom had ended up having more problems with her hip but then God that is feeling better as each day goes by. How wonderful it must have been for her to get together with her brother after all these years!!

    Oh no, all those broken bones, poor children! I swear, those trampolines scare me to death, all I ever hear is people getting hurt on them!!

    Congratulations on learning that you'll become grandparents once again:-) A new baby in the family is certainly something to look forward to!! Each one precious to you, I know:-)

    I had to giggle when I saw that picture of the little one with chocolate all over him...goes to show how much he enjoyed that chocolate fountain! lol So adorable. You really have had some lovely company and I loved seeing all the group pictures.

    Those dresses you made are simply delightful. Your sewing talent always leaves me in awe!! I'm still waiting for Lily to grow into those bibs you made for her...she's so tiny, the bibs are still too big for her! lol

    That story of the customer paying for all the servicemens' meals that eat at your sons' restaurant is truly heartwarming. If only there were more people like him in this world!! xoxo

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  15. This post didn't pop up on my updated blog site...oh well. You have a lovely family, one to be very proud of. I hope your mother's surgery goes well and will recover soon. My son is in the military and he has had people pay for his food, hand him money, hug him....really heart warming compared to the Vietnam Vets. So glad you are back!!

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