Mother's Day Digest

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The video says it all. My kids love me. It's been quite a day. (Thanks for the video, Ben. We know you'd never exaggerate...)

Mother's Day wasn't high on my list of potential happy occasions this year. Losing Jeremiah still weighs heavily on me, and the thought of my daughter-in-law having her first childless Mother's Day, one that should have been celebrated with a baby ready to turn six months old, took most of the steam from my sails.

None of our three sons would be here in Colorado for the day, and I won't get to see my Mom for two more weeks. I knew that there would be phone calls but other than that—a regular Sunday.

It's been said before: Oh, ye of little faith. It was still dark outside, and John was in the shower when I walked through the living room toward the coffee maker. The oversized square envelope on my recliner startled me. A card from my husband? He just doesn't do that on Mother's Day. John has always assured me, "You're not my mother." I sat and read one of the most touching cards I've ever received.

We arrived at church a little more than two hours early. That sounds hard to do, but once a month our church combines services, skipping our regular early service to meet at the late service. Today it ended up taking almost twice as long. It was moving, and we enjoy it, but came out starving. John and I went to lunch, forgetting that we'd wait in long lines on Mother's Day. So we left for church at 7:30 and got home at 3:30, eight hours later.

I do have to add one little thing from Ruth, my daughter-in-law in The Netherlands. Today on her blog she entertained us all with another funny story about her 4-year old daughter. Now that Ruth and Ben are the proud parents of three little ones, with a 2 year old daughter and 2 month old son, we get a lot of funny stories. Today Ruth wrote:

Ashley just said she wants me to have another boy again when my body heals. We asked if she likes boys better. She said, "No. Because girl, girl, boy, boy. And then girl, girl, boy, boy again until Mommy's an old lady!"

So now I'll either be up late doing the homework I had planned to catch up on for my online class, or I'll be up in the wee hours doing it. Does it matter? From John's card, to the calls from all three boys, and the unexpected email from Tighe with the book store gift card in it (he knows me so well) this has been a Mother's Day to write about. I wasn't expecting that.

Making Pottery Gifts with Elisha

Elisha's first day of maternity leave was yesterday, and we enjoyed it together while Jeremy was at work and John made his way through his "Daddy Do" list.

Actually, John did amazingly well, installing security lights, extra door locks, changing furnace filters and light bulbs on really high ceilings. Then he managed to change a vehicle light bulb that the service stations were going to charge the kids an hour of labor to "figure out," because their car is a Prius, and nobody knows how to work on them. They opened the compartment to change the bulb during an oil change and said the bulbs couldn't be reached. Oh, yeah. The mighty John figured it out and had it done in ten minutes.

Elisha took me to her favorite gift-making place. It's called Arts on Fire, and is a pottery shop here in Shreveport, where you paint the unfired pottery and then they fire it for you. Of course, it looks very dull and bland before it's fired, so it's hard to tell what color you're really painting, but she said that you get used to that. I think I still prefer plaster craft, which is basically the same thing, but it's done on pre-fired pottery where what you see is what you get.

Still, we had a great day. Elisha picked a gift for my mom's 90th birthday next month, and I painted a piggy bank for their baby. I wish I had thought to take more photos of the pig once I had finished painting it, but I forgot. It looks pretty boring the way it is now, but I added some little animal stencils and JTH, the baby's initials. He'll be the third JTH, by the way, following John Thomas and Jeremy Thomas. I love the name Jeremiah True.

I actually tried to talk John into Jeremiah when Jeremy was born, but John preferred the name Jeremy, and now I'm glad he did, since my first grandson will get the name I've always loved so much.

It was a wonderful day, full of painting and laughing. The owner is an interesting woman named Quincy. She gives just the right amount of help—whatever you need without telling you how she thinks it should be done. She's warm and friendly and handled the table full of pre-teen giggling girls having their first-time painting experience with only one mom to watch them with such ease I thought she'd been doing it for years.

Elisha filled me in. Quincy had never painted before, when the shop owner decided to sell out. One of her twin daughters loved to paint there, so she and her husband decided to buy the place. And that's how history is written, I guess. Our children introduce us to the some of the best paths in our lives.

Shreveport is having a Blues and Jazz Festival today, and we're going to try to get to that, as long as Elisha is feeling up to it. She's still sleeping right now, since with only 3-4 days left until the baby's delivery date, she's up and down all night visiting the euphemism down the hall. As all good babies know, it's important to find mama's bladder and rest there as soon as she gets to sleep. (Thanks for that, Jeremiah True... You're getting her prepared for the ups and downs of nighttime feedings.)

Laughing and Waiting in Shreveport

After five days in Dallas visiting John's cousins, we traveled on to Shreveport, Louisiana to see Jeremy and Elisha. Their son, Jeremiah True, our first grandson and third grandchild, is due on the 17th of this month. We've been having so much fun visiting and laughing together.

There are too many things parents have to buy when they're expecting a child—especially their first. People have been very generous, sending them gifts for this baby, but there were still many additional expenses for them, of course. I finally had to explain that the fun part of being Grandparents is that we don't have to buy anything. Whatever we get is the fun stuff that we decide we simply want to buy. Today we found nine Dr. Seuss books at Sam's Club. I had already checked prices on them at Amazon, and these came three for eleven something. The ones at Amazon would have been nearly triple that. What fun to fill a grandchild's book shelf. (Well, he still needs the shelf...)

Jeremy has to work tomorrow, so Elisha and I plan to go to her favorite craft store where they do ceramic painting. We're going to do a piggy bank for Jeremiah. I have a feeling John will stay at their house, working on his "Daddy Do" list. He's really been going through a bunch of fix-up projects for them. What a hero.

This has been a wonderful trip. Their home is warm and welcoming, and they're so cute in their excitement. I just love being here.

Paperback Swap Club—I Love It

Jeremy and Elisha called tonight, and were very excited about their first prenatal ultra sound. This grandma was pretty excited as well, of course. They're both working hard and pinching pennies. Any expectant parents who aren't are just irresponsible.

While we were talking, I mentioned John putting up a bigger mailbox

for me, to hold all the wonderful audio books I was getting through PBS, the Paperback Swap Club that's been saving my own budget so much by allowing me to trade books instead of buying them. Jeremy said he was getting ready to buy an audio book himself. I asked him what it was, and he said "Rich Dad, Poor Dad."

"Well, let me check the club listings." Within two minutes I had the audio book on its way to him, at no cost to either of us, from a helpful club member who had it on her shelf and no longer needed it. She'll pay the postage to mail it directly to him. I'll give her two credits, earned from mailing an audio book to someone else who wanted one of mine. The club keeps all the records so I don't have to do any of that. List price for the audio is $24.98.

Just then Elisha chimed in. "Find out if they've got Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth About Pregnancy and Childbirth." I asked if she wanted paperback, hardback or audio. She wanted paperback so she could throw it in her purse and carry it around easily. Again, within two minutes PBS came through for me. Another member had it on her shelf, and it was ordered for Elisha. Since it's a book, it cost one credit, and the member will mail it directly to Elisha for me. The list price for this book is $12.95.

That means they just saved about $38—if they could find them in one place. They could beat that price on Amazon, of course, but not get them free. Then there's shipping and handling charges, too, unless they're Amazon Prime members. I don't believe they are.

What a great way to share books, save money and make friends. It's amazing to me that I've met some really great people through the club. You find people with similar reading tastes and put them on your buddy list. Messages go back and forth almost as often as books. What a blessing this club has been for me. And the new mail box looks terrific. I hadn't realized how dented and old the other one was. Our mail carrier even called out to John and told him what a nice box it was. I think she was just relieved at the size. Some days I get seven or more audio books. They fit much better in the new big box.

A Lot of Love

Eventually there will be a slide show on the blog, but even that won't really convey just how special this late afternoon wedding was. I don't think I've ever seen a bride and groom so relaxed and just contented to be together enjoying each moment and every guest. The reception was handled the same way, and was just perfect. I'm still more than a little overwhelmed by the whole experience of watching my son get married. It was an amazing experience. Since I haven't yet processed all the feelings, I'll let some photos speak for me. The first two are professional shots. The rest are mine.

Those of you who prayed that they would make the trip safely, and worried when there were so many problems on their trip, I thank you for helping keep the faith that it would work out. For Tighe, Stacey, Uncle Ken, Aunt Kay and Uncle Joe, Uncle Pat and Aunt Betty, and those from Elisha's family who traveled so far to be with them on this special day, I want to say thank you for helping make this beginning so special for them.

Bride and groom with parents.

Jeremy's brother Tighe (best man) with his dad John.

Jeremy with his dad and brother Tighe, who was the best man.

Me and John, parents of the groom, before the ceremony.

Bride Elisha and Jeremy getting ready to enter the chapel.

The decorated car.

Elisha with her maids.

Jeremy—he's as proud and happy as he appears.

After the ceremony, before going to the reception, we drove to the Las Vegas sign for a few photos.

Pat and Betty at the reception. They're always fun...

One of Elisha's nephews fell asleep before the food was ready.

Not a traditional wedding cake, but we all enjoyed it...

And they fed each other with dignity and style.

If you'd like to see the videotape of the actual wedding ceremony, you can look online and enter the groom's name as Harrell, the bride's name as Fierro, and the wedding date as Dec. 27, 2009. Please note that we all obviously thought the cameras were turned off long before they were... Oh, well. We are what we are.

Congratulations, Jeremy and Elisha.