9/11 =Hope

Not only is September 11th the day America was attacked by evil.  It is the day(9 years later) my beautiful granddaughter Evangeline was born.

"So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord" (Psalm 31 NLT)

I feel a sense of hope today as I write this post.  I watched some of the coverage of the 9/11 remembrances and was moved especially by the recounting of flight 93.

The terrorists had taken over the plane and turned it around and were heading back to DC to  either hit the Capital or the White House.  Brave men and women on that plane called their loved ones and said their prayers and goodbyes.  Then took on the terrorists in order to save many people who would have been killed by that 4th plane.

I hope I would be able to be that courageous.

Happy Birthday Sweet Evangeline.  We will never forget your birthday.  You are a beautiful gift from God, and a reminder of how wonderful his blessings are.

Family

I love my family.

Fun times with Caleb and Meredith!

We had such a great time with C and M on Saturday despite some very rainy conditions.

We started off with grandma's french toast and scrambled eggs.  Then it was time to go to The Wild West Town and The Illinois Railway Museum in Union, IL.

It was raining pretty hard when we got to the museum so we spent about 1/2 hour inside looking at the old west museum.  The kids were not that interested, but their grandpa was.  Grandpa was a big cowboy/indian fan as a kid.

It stopped raining so we went outside and rode the little canoe ride, the carousel, and attempted to go to the outdoor wild west show, but as soon as the "cowboy" shot a gun in the air M started screaming.  Poor thing the noise was so loud it scared her.  We decided it was best to leave the show and head to lunch.

When we got out from lunch the sun was shining and the temps had picked up so it was very warm.  We headed over to the Railway Museum to catch a ride with "Thomas The Tank Engine"

We had a 2:30 ticket so we had about an hour or more to walk around.  We rode a trolley car and some ice cream.  M was getting tired but Caleb was so excited to ride the train.

We finally got on the train and Thomas pulled us around for about 10 minutes and then pushed us back.  He sure must be tired at all of the work he does.

Both kids were exhausted and so were there grandparents.  We love having time to spend with the grandkids and hope they remember the special times with Grandma and Grandpa(minus the loud gun sounds):)

34 years and still going strong

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband Mick.

Thank you for being patient and kind,
a great father and role model for our children,
supportive and faithful,
God loving and truthful.

I love you more than the day we were married.  Thanks for the past 34 years and I hope we have many more together.

Love you!

I'm Home

After spending almost 2 weeks in Tucson to visit Kirsten, Jon, Evangeline and sweet baby Zachary.  I am finally home.

I hope I was a little help to Kirsten considering I was getting over a bad sinus infection.

I loved every minute I got to hold Zachary.  He is so precious.  Evangeline is very sweet to her new baby brother, but I bet she is wondering where he came from and when does he leave!

Mick, Meghan and Shane were able to spend a few days in Tucson too.   Jan and Art came down from Phoenix to visit for lunch on Saturday.  It is always great to visit with them.

I am home now and still recuperating hopefully I will be 100% in no time.

Cubby was very happy to see me, but I think he liked the city life with Warren and Katie. They took him to dog parks, Old Town Art Fair, Outdoor Cafes.  Country Dog had fun in the city, but he layed on the driveway today and barked at the lawnmower and fell back into his country dog life.  Thanks Katie and Warren for taking care of him.

Just some pictures from my visit!

Surviving the Arizona Heat

Here I am in sunny Arizona.  It is almost the middle of June and the temps are over 100.

You can survive the heat when you have lots to drink, stay in the air conditioning and have 2 little precious ones to visit.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WARREN -May 31st, 1987

Happy 24th birthday to Warren.  What a fun time it has been having you as a son.  I enjoyed so much all the time we have spent together over the last 24 years.

Here is one of my favorite pictures of you and Dad when we went to Hayward many years ago.

Love you and have a great  year!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIRSTEN

30 years ago today Kirsten Lauren was born at 10:01 a.m.  What a blessing to our family.

Kirsten has grown into a beautiful woman, wife and mother.  We are so thankful to have her as a daughter.

Hugs and kisses to our "little one".  

New Life

Tuesday May 24 a sweet little baby boy was born. His name is Zachary Jonathan Phillips and he is loved so much.

He just so happens to be my new grandson and I can not wait to hold and snuggle with him.

Thank you God for bringing this little bundle of joy to our family.

Crazy Legs Johnson

Last night I got to go to Caleb's Pre-School Prom. Meghan, Caleb,Meredith,Shane and I went and the kids had a lot of fun dancing and running around!


Here is a video of Caleb doing what he calls his "crazy legs dance"

Way to go Caleb! You remind me of Uncle Warren!

Mother's Day or Mothers Day?

I did a little research on the internet and apparently there is controversy over which one to use.  So I say use either one!!

What a blessing to be a mother to 3 great children and grandmother to 4 with one on the way.

The old saying a mother's work is never done is so true.  Even when your children are grown and do not live with you you still are a mother.  

The thing that is great about having raised your children and being a grandmother is there is no pressure to have the cleanest house or the cleanest kids or home cooked meals on the table every night.  It is just a lot more fun but still so rewarding.

The most rewarding part is to see your children become great mothers.  I think it is a reflection of how I mothered or at least I hope it is.

So the best Mothers Day gift I could get is to see my children become great adults and let me tell you that is what I have gotten.  Three of the best adult children any mother could ask for.

Thank you Meghan, Kirsten and Warren for bringing me so much joy and pride any mother could ask for.

My little Easter Peeps....

As you probably know the little Peeps that you eat are really sweet and full of sugar.

Just  like my little "peeps".

I love them so much.

Caleb

Meredith

Shane

Evangeline

Meredith.....

Mick and I had the pleasure of having Meredith for a couple of  days.

We had so much fun with her.  We found a use for our pool table!! Mick and Meredith go downstairs and she sits on the pool table and rolls the balls into the pockets.  It is a special game she plays with grandpa!

We took Meredith to Bounce A Rama.  They had a special bouncy area for toddlers so Meredith had fun running around.

It is fun to have special times with each of the grandkids.  Which one is next?

CNDI MAC

I took the Mustang out today and had it washed and then put it back in the garage.  While I was driving to the car wash I remembered the day I brought it home.  (Sounds like I am talking about a baby.)  It was April 15, 2003.  So my baby is about 8 years old!

I remember the day very well because it was about 80 degrees and I could drive home with the top down.  Then I probably had to wait a month or more for more nice days but it was well worth the wait.

I think I appreciate this car so much because I waited a long time to get the car of my "dreams".  After driving a minivan and SUV with kids in the back all the time I finally had a car of my own!

Eight years is a long time.  This is what has happened in our family since 2003:

  Meghan got her Masters Degree, got married and has had 3 children.

  Kirsten graduated from college and grad school, got married and will have her     second baby in about 7 weeks.

  Warren graduated high school, college and is in law school.

Got our dog,  Cubby!

Cubs still have not won the world series!

I can't wait for some more warm weather so I can drive around town in my favorite toy!

I do love my Mustang!

  

Fun Times in San Diego!

Mick and I traveled to San Diego this past week and we had a great time.

The weather was a little chilly, but it was great for golf.  We golfed 3 days and enjoyed the beautiful scenery

The last day there we had  dinner on the USS Midway aircraft carrier.  That was  a good time and I know Mick really enjoyed being on the ship.  

Here are a few pictures from our trip.  I love hotel rooms so I posted some of those too!

Cindy

Home Again

I am home and I already miss sweet Evangeline.  We had so much fun while her mommy and daddy had a little getaway.  Here are a few pictures from our time together.

Cindy

Sunny Arizona

Arizona is quite sunny, but the most sunshine I am seeing is from sweet Evangeline.

She is a ray of sunshine that I am enjoying amongst all the turmoil in the world right now.

Since Kirsten and Jon do not have any tv I have not been able to fully grasp the devastation in Japan.  I have seen images on the internet, but tv really brings things to life.

For me, a news junkie, this is a nice change of pace.  I will just see the beauty and innocence that only a child can have.

Enjoying the sunshine!

Cindy

Date Night

Mick and I went to see a movie last night.  It was the new Matt Damon movie "Adjustment Bureau".  We compromised on this movie because it has a love story and some suspense/sci-fi/have to figure things out kind of movie.  (I would prefer just the love story, but marriage is about compromise.)

We got to the show about a half hour early.  That is just like us.  We are usually early.  We had to wait until just before the movie started to get our popcorn (minus the butter/oil) or else it would have been gone before the movie started.

As I was sitting there I was thinking about some of the first movies we had seen in our early years of dating/marriage.  The first one we saw, Mick picked out and I can not even remember the name. (I think it was a war movie.   I do not think he scored any points on that date, but I was already smitten so the movie was not important.) We saw it at a theatre in Palatine that is closed now.

The movie I remember the most after we first were married was the original Halloween with Jamie Lee Curtis.  I was scared to death.  Mick used to make fun of me because I would keep my eyes covered  through all of the scary parts.  Needless to say I did not see much of that movie.  We saw that movie at the theatre in downtown Libertyville.  I think it cost $1.  We went with our close friends Jeff and Dawn Schad.   We went to Baker's Square afterwards for pie.  Oh those were the days when you could eat a bucket of popcorn and have pie in one night!

We do not go to many movies, but it is fun to have a "date night" with my husband.  It's fun to stroll down memory lane and realize I am so blessed to still be madly in love with Mick after so many years.

Cindy

Remembering Sundays Past

Today we started to get the Chicago Tribune delivered to our house 4 days a week.  It includes the Sunday paper.  I have not read the Tribune since we moved out to the Rockford area 21 years ago.

We cancelled the local Rockford paper, because we didn't really read it.  Without kids in sports anymore we didn't need it.  We got a good deal on The Chicago Trib so we thought we would give a try for a change.

This morning was our first paper and all the memories came flooding back.

Late 70's when Mick and I lived in Round Lake we would go into town (near Ace Hardware) pick up a Sunday Trib and Swedish Flop Coffee Cake.  There was a bakery next to Ace Hardware (I can not remember the name of the bakery) and we would pick up this amazing coffee cake.

We would go home put on the coffee, have the Swedish Flop and read the Tribune.

I am reading the Tribune this morning with my coffee, but I can not find the Swedish Flop.  It was a coffee cake with a streusell topping and a cream filling.  Would love to try it again and see if it is as good as I remember or is it one of those times when you think things were better than they really were.

I sure would like to try!!  But my waistline says stay away from the Swedish Flop.

Cindy


PS  We go to church on Saturday afternoon.  Just in case you were wondering.  We love that our church has a 4p.m. and 6p.m. service on Saturdays.

Learning....

During my class this morning "Discerning The Voice of God"  at Heartland Community Church.  Once again I felt like the speaker (Priscilla Shirer) was speaking right to me.

I had trouble sleeping last night worrying about things (As only a mom can do).  I feel a little helpless not knowing how to help with things going on in my family.  I feel like I have been praying and God is not hearing me or answering me.

The message today was that when the Spirit reveals God's plans to us, it might not be the whole plan at once.  We have to wait to find out the rest of His plans.

John 16:12(NIV): I have much more to say to you, more than you can now hear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.  He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

So the Spirit will tell you what God wants you to know and it might be a slow process and not all at once.

I feel like we need to know answers ASAP about the future, but God is revealing small pieces even though He knows the ultimate outcome.

Just writing down my thoughts so hopefully it makes sense!


Cindy

Grand Parenting .....

Mick and I had the pleasure of having Caleb and Meredith for a couple of days, just to give Meghan and Kris a couple of days off.  They still had Shane, but as long as he is fed and diapered he is not to much work.

Thursday while Meredith napped Caleb played outside for a little while and then we came in and watched Toy Story 2 finishing up after dinner with Grandpa.  We made our own pizzas for dinner and Caleb got his little frozen fruit juice bar for dessert.

Today, we had our usual breakfast of French Toast. (It's requested when Caleb comes to grandmas). We took a trip to WalMart.  I mean there is not a lot to do in Roscoe.  WalMart is the big outing.  We picked up some more bananas and milk.  We picked out a new DVD, Finding Nemo.  We came home had a lunch "picnic" in the family room and started to watch Finding Nemo.  We got a little bit into the movie and Caleb was a little scared of the Shark.  He did not want to watch anymore so we settled on Toy Story 2 again.

Meredith took an afternoon nap, but Caleb tried and tried but could not fall asleep so he came down and rested on the couch for awhile.

Our big outing came when we met Grandpa at Peak Sports Center.  We belong to the health club there and they have an indoor pool with a little slide.

Meredith loved it from the get go, but Caleb was a little hesitant at first.  After Caleb went down the little slide for the first time he was hooked and did not want to come out.  Mick and I fun with them and we were as exhausted as they were when we got home.

Grandpa picked up Culvers for dinner!  Then it was time for bed.  We have not heard a peep out of either one of them.  

I will give them back to their parents tomorrow morning.  Grandpa and I had so much fun, but I think we need a vacation!!

Valentine's Day 2011

What a blessing it is to celebrate Valentine's Day with Mick for the 34th time! Wow that is alot of Valentine's Days.  I can remember the first one like it was yesterday!  Mick is the love of my life and am I thankful everyday that we are together.


Instead of going out this year I decided to make a special Valentine Dinner.  I tried my hand at individual Beel Wellingtons.  They were delicious.  We had some Pinot Noir and I dipped strawberries in chocolate for dessert.


Thank you to my hubby for the roses.  Happy Valentines Day.  I love you!

Beef Wellington

Cindy