So Blessed

I was thinking the other day about what a blessing my two beautiful children are to me. I am so very thankful to be their mom. I am amazed at God's blessings everyday, but my children, He went above and beyond my dreams.

You see I was never supposed to have children. When I was eighteen years old I had endometriosis so badly that I had to have surgery. In that surgery I had my left ovary, tube and anything else that was on the left side, removed. Along with a tumor that the doctor said was the size of a "grapefruit"!  The doctor told my mom that I would probably never be able to have children, but there was a chance if I had some procedures done to get pregnant. Well I was eighteen, no boyfriend, no thought of marriage, so I was okay with all of that, but it did upset my mom.

Fast forward to when I was 24 and in love with the love of my life, Jeffery. I knew that I had to be very open and honest with him about myself. So I told him about everything. I had the last 6 years to think all of this through and I knew without a doubt I wanted to be a mommy when I was married. So I told him regardless of how I became a mommy, be it through adoption, procedures, whatever- I WAS going to be a mommy. It took him some time to think it over, but he came around to the idea that he could be okay with those options too.

Fast forward to when I was 27 and had been married for 3 years. I had been on birth control for 9 years after my surgery to help control the endometriosis, so I knew in order for any pregnancy to happen I had to be off of that. So Jeffery and I talked about it and decided to stop "the pill" and see what happens. Wow!!! What a great decision that was! Five months later, we did a home pregnancy test and could NOT believe the results. We actually thought "these things are a rip off" this can NOT be accurate. So we didn't tell anyone- until we went to a doctor. The day after we went to the doctor I called the doctor's office from my school. I still remember what the nurse said- "Mrs. Smith- your test was positive"  and I remember what I said too- "what does that mean?" and she said "your going to have a baby"! The most beautiful words I have ever heard. I immediately called Jeffery still having a hard time believing what I was telling him!

I had  amazing pregnancies, labors, and deliveries. The easiest of anyone I have ever heard from. Both times I was pregnant, I felt better than I ever had in my life!

So to say that my children are a blessing to me is really such an understatement. I guess I really don't have words to describe what it means to me to be a mom. I know God knows my heart and I know that He knows what it means to me. He loved me so much that He sent His only Son to be my Savior, so I know He knows. Until I was a mom, I don't think I could even imagine how much He loves me. I think that is why it was important to Him for me to be a mom. I am so glad He wanted that for me too!

Margaret

I have a great-aunt Margaret. She is my "Pop's"(my late grandfather's) sister.  She is such an inspiration to me, and has ALWAYS been one my whole life. Her beautiful smile is something that I always associate with her.

Margaret's life has been spent learning, teaching, educating, traveling, writing, encouraging and serving her Lord and Savior- Jesus Christ. When I was young she was a curriculum director for the Beaumont ISD. She would bring me sample books, teacher editions, and I would have "class" in my room with my dolls-chalkboard (that she gave me) and all!  She is a HUGE reason I became a teacher. She brought me Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? when I was about 4 years old. I LOVED that book because it made me "think" I could read! She would come home to Bloomburg about once a month, and boy would I get excited! I knew that when she got there I would probably have some kind of a surprise, and the best part was she would spend time with me. I loved going to her house there in Bloomburg too. We would play games, barrel of monkeys, cards, dominoes, chinese checkers and Parcheese (sp?) my favorite! Somehow I won a lot of those games too! :) She loved riddles, and she always had songs, and poetry to share. She would  decorate her Christmas tree while she was home for Thanksgiving and that was always a high light of Thanksgiving for me. I would know that Christmas was just around the corner when I was helping her decorate her tree!

When I grew up, I always enjoyed visiting her in her home in Beaumont. She was the "hostess with the mostest". We would look through all of her photo albums and I enjoyed hearing all of the stories that went with the photos. She had a lovely home there and had so many beautiful knick-knacks from all of her travels. Sadly her home was destroyed from the effects of hurricane Rita. So she returned to her home in Bloomburg still with her beautiful smile! During her time back in Bloomburg she has a book of poetry that was published .She has enjoyed giving those away to continue  encouraging others. Her poems are so thoughtful and some are very funny. They are a treasure to all of us that love her.

Last year she suffered a heart attack and a  massive stroke, that has left her paralized on one side and unable to speak.  She has had to move into a nursing home. Yet through ALL of this tradegy she remains the sweetest, happiest, most joyful person in the nursing home. When I go to see her, it is just like when I was little. The smile that lights her face up is as beautiful as ever! Her one arm that she is able to move, is stretched out for a welcoming hug, and I know she is trying to tell me how "good it is to see" me.

Anyday that I am complaing about my work, my problems, my ache or pains- if I will stop long enough to think of my sweet Margaret, my problems seem to fade away. I picture her beautiful smile, and ... I smile too.

Thanksgiving

I do have so much to be thankful for. I am blessed beyond words. Today was a great day spent with the people I love most. Thank you Lord for my precious family.

Teacher gifts continued...

November 22, 2011 at 10:07am.




MY FAVORITE!!! A paper clip with a ribbon tied on it. I love how very detailed the directions are too. I might could do this one by myself.

YAY! More empty 2 liter bottles!

Just wanted to add to my last note a little. Again ALL of these are VERY cute- BUT...(see previous note)

Just had to share these last few "gift" ideas I found. It got me thinking though- have you ever been in a Doctor's office and seen their initials outlined in empty syringes, a Dentist's office with picture frames made out of teeth, or a dog catcher with a wreath made out of.... well you get the point.






More crayons!!! YAY!

EVEN More pencils!!! You can never have too many of these!

And at last... MORE of EVERYTHING!!!! that we already have drawers full of... not that we wouldn't appreciate it though.

.

Teachers Are Peolple Too

Sunday, November 13, 2011 at 1:18pm.

I love Pinterest! I have really become addicted to looking at all of the great ideas on there. HOWEVER- I am not that fond of all of the ideas that say "make great teacher gifts". It seems as though if it doesn't cost anything, something that is lying around your house in the bottom of a drawer, is recycled trash, you can make 1000 of them for pennies, or it can be bought for $1 or under it would make a "great teacher gift". Please don't get me wrong- I love all of the sweet gifts that I get from my students. The ones that they make themselves are precious. I know when I get these that they were thinking of me on their own and that means a lot to me. I'm not talking about those gifts at all. I am talking about those people out there that must think "teacher's don't make much money so they will like ANYTHING we give them". They are close to being right- but not quite. We also like gift cards from Sonic, candles, snack items, candy, cute pens and paper, even gift cards to the TEACHER store. These don't cost a lot either. But really... we see plenty of broken crayons everyday, we really don't need a wreath, picture frame, candle holder, pencil cup, room sign, or ANYTHING made out of them. That also goes for apple shapes, pencils, scissors, glue sticks, and glue bottle- CRApFTS. I know everyone is trying to save money these days and you still want to show you are being thoughtful- help your child write a thank you note to their teacher. That is as thoughtful as you can get- plus I'm sure they have some picture frame made out of pencil shavings laying around somewhere, so they can even frame it. :)

Summer Vaca-ncy

Originally written Summer 2011-
Okay- so I thought since everyone else is writing about their beautiful, awesome, amazing, unbelievable vacations, I would just write about mine too. I'm NOT jealous or anything... so... here goes... - First we wrote the most beautiful check to MSU to pay off our wonderful "get a- way" spot. I wish I had taken a picture - it was just beautiful. After that we went to the sandy beach of Wills Automotive to get the air conditioner fixed in the van. It has the best cold breeze you have ever felt. Such a homey feel in the van. Then we had some friends over from S&H contractors. They enjoyed coming to fix our home air conditioner too. It was so much fun that we had them to come back again for a second visit! We just love relaxing under our ceiling fans that are blowing that nice cool air on us. Too much fun! After that company left we went back to the beautiful shores of Wills Automotive again. This time we got to get a lovely new transmission. They have this really cool lift- our van just loves going there. Oh and the fumes from the garage-... in a word- wonderful! Then we moseyed on over to the breathtaking views of Wally World to get a new microwave since ours exploded. Again I wish I had pictures to share- just awesome! Oh yeah - I do www.peopleofwalmart.com- I almost forgot. After that little trip- the next place on our itinerary is visiting the magnificient Carman Tree Service- the breeze from his chainsaw will be amazing. I'm really looking forward to it! He will be taking two of our trees out - since one of them has taken out our neighbor's fence. (Sorry Kristi & Jay Roy) I just don't know what we will do next. Just one awesome thing after another. Hopefully school will start soon and I can take a break from all of this "fun-filled" summer vacation. I just don't know if I can affor- I mean stand much more "fun" this summer!

My Daddy

Yesterday was Father's Day. It is still a special day to me for a lot of reasons. I am so thankful that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me more than I can even imagine. I trust in Him completely and I couldn't ever make it a day without Him. He has blessed me more than I have words for.

Next, I think about my sweet husband of nearly 21 years. He is a very sweet dad, and loves our children so much. That really blesses my heart to see him with them. From when they were little, until now (teenagers!) I still love to see them together, just visiting or hanging out.

But when I really stop to think about Father's Day, I think of my daddy. His name is Olan Ray Lundy. He lives in Heaven now. He went to be with my Heavenly Father on July 4, 1994. I miss him everyday. There have been so many times that I have thought " if I could just talk to daddy about this I would feel better". I know that is why God gave me such an amazing brother, Lance, because he thinks things out so much like daddy did.

Daddy was a very calm, quiet, level headed person. He was very wise and thought everything through before he spoke. He was not quick to judge, or get angry. He was an extremely hard working man, and did whatever he could to help his family have what they needed and wanted. I am so thankful that I had such a wonderful Christian daddy. He made God his first priority. He led our family by example every day. I can close my eyes and still see him laying in his bed, reading his Bible, before he went to sleep every night. In all of my life I never EVER heard him say a bad word. He rarely ever talked about anyone, if he did he usually ended it with an excuse for them. If I ever smell Old Spice I am instantly imagining my daddy in front of his bathroom mirror. If I ever smell Old Spice mixed with the smell of roast cooking, it is Sunday morning, mom is in the kitchen, daddy is getting ready to get to church early and I am in my bedroom in Bloomburg wishing I didn't have to get up and get ready for Sunday School. (lol)

One time I wrecked (totaled) my parents car. I was so upset that I had caused this. Daddy said something to me that was the best thing an upset 16 year old could have ever heard. He said "honey I can replace that car, but I can't replace you". At the time I was still very upset, but I remember thinking, "wow, my daddy sure does love me". I think of that time so very often, and hope if I am ever faced with something like that I will be able to put my priorities in order, and say something so loving to my children.

I am so thankful for the "daddies" in my life. I am especially thankful for the memories of my earthly daddy that God blessed me with, he was a wonderful man.