4th of July

Happy 4th of July! I know I am writing this with just 45 minutes left in the day, but happy 4th anyway! We had a great day at church and at God and Country Day, although A had a little bug (like a sick bug not an insect bug) and she had to stay home, well with Autumn. I didn't take pictures. These pictures are from last year. Actually, I took over 300 pictures, but they were for the church, not of my kiddos. But they wore the same dresses they have on in the picture, except there were 3 not 4 of them.

After God and Country Day, we were cleaning up dishes and such in the church kitchen, and one of the men started talking about how memorable his 4th of July was in 1970. Hmmm.........what in the world made that so memorable? Well, he started talking about where he was.....war.....and the fireworks he saw that day killed a bunch of men. He told it in detail, but I was in such awe just trying to imagine this day for him that I didn't remember any details of it. I am always thankful for the men and women that served and now serve our country, but this story and the way he told it just made me appreciate their service in a whole new way.

So I got home and I was telling the girls and Autumn about this story. I told them that Gary was telling of his 4th of July in 1970 when he was in the war and they got attacked and a bunch of men around him died.

H says: Did he die?

Me: H, did he die? If I was talking to him do you think he died?

I really anticipated a quick response, but it took a minute............................Oh! Yep, there's the light bulb. There we go.

We were still kind of chuckling thinking of me talking to the man who died when we got the next question. This time from M: YOU got attacked from a bomb?

Oh dear. I rolled my eyes, smiled and didn't even answer that one.

Actually, I should probable answer that one and clarify for everyone that I was NOT attacked by a bomb and I do NOT talk to dead men!

Again.......I am so thankful for those who fight for our freedom! Happy 4th!!!!!!!

My mother--part 5

S picked this rocking chair. I LOOOOOOOOVE this rocking chair!!!!!!

When I was a baby, my feet turned completely inward. So my mom had to put these special shoes on me when I went to bed. The shoes were connected by a bar........this kept my feet straight and solved the problem.

Solved that problem anyway........the other problem was, that my mom rocked me with that brace on, which made marks on the wooden rocking chair.

My dad would "get mad" (not really mad, maybe just irritated) because it was scuffing up the rocker. Well those scuffs made that rocker a million times more special to me AND my dad......AND the girls!

They love that story. I love that story! It makes us all feel connected to her. I love that!

My mother--part 4

A has just learned to read and her favorite book is Dick and Jane. But she calles it Dick and James.
My mom was a teacher, so of course she loved books. We love books. We have a TON of books!

I love these old books. I love them because I like the old pictures and such and also because they remind me of my mom. A likes them for the same reasons.

She was a happy camper because they don't get to get these books down all the time.

This picture below was her idea: like she fell asleep while reading!

Sounds like a good idea to me........good book, nap on the blanket with the sun shining....not a bad idea!

Dick and James!

I feel connected to my mom when I look at these books. She feels connected to my mom when she looks at these books.

I lov that!

My mother--part 3

H likes to create. She is very creative. She has a good eye. She loves scrap booking. We think she would love to sew, but Autumn and I don't sew, so we don't know who can teach her!
My mom didn't sew a lot, but she did some. In looking through her sewing box, we found lots of scraps of material.

We have found some projects that were started and never finished....not because she died, but because she was always ambitious to start a project, but ran out of time to finish it!

Now I know where I get that!

H loved looking through all of the sewing stuff. She loved wondering what projects my mom made.

She felt connected to her. I love that!

My mother--part 2

Sister 1, M, chose this jewelry box. Apparently she had been wondering and wondering about what this box was and what was in it for a LONG time. Why didn't she just ask us? I don't know. But a couple of months ago, she asked about it, and we got it out, looked in it, and told the story just as we remembered it being told to us.
As the story goes, or how I remember it, when my mom and dad were dating (maybe engaged), my dad was making this jewelry box. My mother saw it, and wanted it. I don't know if she accidentally saw it or if he showed it to her. But she saw it being made. She wanted it. If you notice on the door there is a "JT" painted on it.

My dad told her the JT stood for Jan Tinsley, my aunt, when in reality, it was for my mom, Judy soon to be Tinsley. Of course she was surprised. I loved this story growing up. The girls love this story too. You can see in these close-up pictures the charm with my mom, dad, and Bethany on it.

She loves looking at tall the treasures and hearing the stories about them. Some are my moms cheap trinkets, others are more valuable, like her class ring you can see in some of the photos.

She found a charm that had '72 on it. She asked, What does 72 mean? Me: That's the year she graduated college. M: Is that 1872 or 1972?

She ooooooooos and awwwwwwwwws over the lovely craftsmanship. She just can't believe her grandpa could make that!

She feels connected to my mom when she looks at the jewelry and the box.

I love it!

My mother--part 1

So I had a brilliant idea.......surprised? These don't happen often, but this one was good, really. My mom passed away almost 18 years ago....I was 13. The girls love "grandma Judy". They grieve her death. They grieve not knowing her. They feel close to her. They love her. They will be doing something and say.......I wish your mom was here. Or they will say......I'm sorry your mom died. When they hear of people that die, they talk about how that person gets to see Judy in heaven. I love it that they feel connected with her without ever actually meeting her. Thank you Lord! There are SO many times when I wish I could call her for advice or when I wish I could call her and tell her the FUNNY things that the girls say......she would totally laugh so hard with me! But, the fact is that we can't call her, but we CAN still be connected with her and have the girls feel connected with her.
Anyway.......back to my brilliant idea.......I always want pictures with my girls and my mom. I don't have my mom here to do that, but I DO have some of her things. So, each girl picked something that was special to my mom, or that makes them think of her, and we did a little photo shoot. I will do a post for each girl and her stuff so it won't be another forever long post!

morning

Getting ready in the mornings is ALWAYS an adventure with 6 girls living in one house. We have a routine....for the most part, but then add in emotional, dramatic girls, and you just never know what you are going to get! The routine is supposed to pretty much go as follows in the summer:

• I get up and get in the shower


• When I get out of the shower, usually one or more girl has gotten up


• I wake all of the girls up and tell them to get breakfast (When I say "I", I might mean me OR I might mean Autumn, so remember that when you are reading this.)
  
• They get cereal or toast or whatever for breakfast
• They clean up from breakfast then get their clothes on
• Brush teeth
• Do their assigned chores (while they are doing this I get ready)
• I call for hair--if you aren't in the "beauty shop" by the time I am done with the other sister's hair, too bad for you........you go messy Jessie the rest of the day
• IF you get things done, you can watch tv. Oh, and you get paid for your chore ($0.25)
• Get shoes...........head out the door.

Simple routine right? Not so hard right? Well, some mornings it is more like this (remember that "I" means Autumn or me):

• I get up, get in the shower.
• When I get out of the shower, more than one girl is up and I know this because I hear bickering.......pause to go resolve the fight
• The girls are up because they hear whoever was screaming....they go get breakfast
• I pause putting on my makeup to solve the mystery and extremely important problem of who got more cereal, or whatever the cereal crisis might be that particular day.
• I pass a girl in the hallway and ask the questions: Are your teeth brushed? clothes on? chores done? shoes on? The answer is more like a blank stare and the girl goes on
• Another fit...............maybe we resolve it, maybe we ignore it
• repeat the last two steps over and over
• Someone is not happy with their clothes.
• I call for hair........I call for hair.......I call for hair...........I CALL FOR HAIR.........there they come!
• Someone else isn't happy with their clothes, or shoes.
• Maybe chores get done, maybe not.......
• I send them to the car and then get my stuff together
• As I approach the car I hear screaming because one sister OBVIOUSLY looked at another sister in a VERY some kind of wrong way!
• Nobody has their seat belts on.......of course they don't..........

Ok, so this exact scenario doesn't happen every day to THAT extent, and it isn't THAT bad.....well, yeah a few days that is the EXACT day, but most of the time, it is not quite that bad.

Today, however, the day went like this:

• I get up and get in the shower.
• I get out of the shower and start to get ready.........M is already saying unkind words to her sisters........we talk it out........well, I tell her that if she doesn't start talking nicely to her sisters, a nap is in her afternoon future. She gets kind quick.
• I continue getting ready........I see different sisters in and out of the room.....every time I see them, they are a step further in the getting ready process! What? I didn't even tell them!
• Every girl I see I ask......."Are your teeth brushed?" yes, yes, yes, yes are the answers I hear. Really? wow! Nice!
• I look around.........all girls have the right clothes on.......listen.......that is the sound of NO COMPLAINING of clothes!
• I go to get my breakfast........what is this I see? EVERY girl doing their chore.........with a smile! Wait......yep......1,2,3,4........all 4 girls!
• I keep getting ready........uh-oh......A is quiet....where is she? Oh no........there she is.......still trying to find her shoes, but the beauty is, even spending 10 min. trying to find the right shoes, she isn't crying about it! She isn't complaining about it!
• Hair time............1,2,3,4............all 4 girls!
• Time to go..........let's go! They all go out to the car.......I get my stuff.......what???? They aren't fighting!!!!!! They are all sitting.......WITH seat belts on! On the way to where we went.......no fighting! Just talking and a little giggling!

Really, morning times can sometimes get stressful, but we are thankful for every morning, stressful or not that we have together. Have a happy day!