Nanas Thoughts

Ron got his mother something for Mother’s Day….

  Who would have thought it?

I hope Maw Maw doesn’t disown him…..

Last night our precious grand daughter was dedicated.  My husband says this is actually a dedication of the parents as they make a commitment to teach their child about Jesus and to train their child to honor Yahweh.   

How wonderful it is when a family is blessed with the gift of a child.  This gift comes with great responsibilities and parents need the direction, guidance and wisdom of Almighty God…and the strength that only He can give.  It is the wise parent that asks for His help!!

Here are a few pictures from the service.  The Kid’s Rock children added some entertainment to the program.  Reagan was not happy to be on the stage and he told me later that “there were too many people”!!

    

Rylee and Abigail

A big group of families were also dedicating their children. 

Don,Abigail,Reagan,Rylee

After the service we put Rylee and her friend William West on the steps for a photo op….what hams!!

  These life events are often accompanied by a lot of work to prepare all the details, but almost always worth it.  This event required a lot of work by many people….I believe it was well worth it!!!

Over 40 years ago my mother made a beautiful wedding gown for my wedding.  Mother was pregnant with my baby sister and struggling with morning sickness.  But, she did not tell anyone about the baby until after the wedding!  I cannot imagine making a wedding gown while pregnant at 42 years old…!

Now, 40 years later, I tackled the task of taking the gown apart to make a dedication gown for my grand daughter, Rylee Lyric Printy.  Thankfully, I for sure am not pregnant!!!!

This was a huge undertaking for me since I have not been sewing for over 30 years.  Remembering how to lay out the pattern (I combined three patterns) and knowing that I had to get it right the first time was a scary undertaking for me.  These are pictures of the pattern layout/cutting day:

This is my 40 year old sewing machine.  I had to get reacquainted with it…..

Finally, I was finishing the hemming and hand stitching….

And, here is our beautiful Rylee Lyric Printy in her vintage wedding dress turned dedication dress.

Well, I hugged, kissed and cuddled baby Rylee one too many times.  Now I have her yucky cold!!!  I am propped up in the bed watching an old Judy Garland movie and feeling miserable.  Good thing this will go away soon.

On a day when I didn’t want anyone to see my awful looking face, the owner of our lawn maintenance crew knocked on the door to leave his bill.  Then, the repairman came again to work on my stove.  Man, did they get an eye full.  I even scare myself when I pass the mirror!

Oh, well…I’ll be better tomorrow….sniff, cough, moan….

This has been a truly historic day that was long overdue.  While I do not agree with several of President Obama’s political views, I rejoice that our nation has finally ended the legacy of only white presidents.  I can only imagine what millions of African Americans felt today when Mr. Obama raised his hand, recited the pledge that previously had only been made by white men and became the first African American president.  

I have watched several presidents take the oath of office, but this is the first time that I stood when the crowd was instructed to do so.  It was a small expression but I needed to do something…..

It snowed today in Wilmington.  Our daughter came to our house with two of our grandchildren.  Reagan is three and he asked so many questions about what was happening as we watched the inauguration.  When the canons fired after the oath was taken, Reagan was so concerned.  ”Why are they doing that?” he asked.  We explained that it was part of the celebration.  He said, “bullets flying are not a celebration!”

Here are some pictures that Abbye took of the snow play.

Me and Reagan playing in the snow.

Reagan making a snow angel

Tasting the snow!

It is so fun to experience something through a child’s eyes!

We are in Panama City, FL, visiting with Ron’s parents.  Ron has taken his dad to get a haircut and visit the podiatrist.  I am at their home smelling Maw Maw’s cooking–butter beans, tomato dumplings, oven fried chicken and a made from scratch pie.  

This is Helen’s favorite thing to do…cooking for family, friends or for competition.  She has won many 1st place ribbons at the Bay County Fair, several 1st place awards for the annual newspaper competition and many accolades from all of us!!!

Don’t you wish you were here to enjoy this lunch with us?

    

Helping Reagan decorate the tree.

Grandchildren have a unique way of decorating--a Bible next to the Santa suit!!

                Our grandchildren help us decorate our tree every year.  When our first grandchild, Gabriel, was two years old we started this tradition.  Each grandchild joined the fun when they were about that age.  Noah then Adam then Reagan and in a year or two Rylee will join us.  

                It is always so interesting to see where they put the ornaments.  Sometimes they want to put all the bells together, sometimes all the angels together or all the red balls.  And, they know if we move them!

               I love family traditions.  I love the wonder in a child’s eyes as they see the tree become beautiful with the “special” ornaments.  They remember year to year the ornaments and take care not to break them.

              This year Papa and I have a present for each grandchild that is our way of “giving” to our community.  I think they will really like our special gift.  Maybe it will be a new tradition.

              More later…….

WOW–I have a grandson who is a teenager!  I don’t feel that old but the mirror says that I am…

Gabriel Drew McGee turned 13 on October 30th.  He is an amazing young man who has brought so much joy into our life.  This is our awesome teen grand……

                                                                                                                  Isn’t he a handsome fellow?

Gabriel had a “Solve the Mystery” party with a house full of young people.  

                       His parents dressed as the butler and the maid.

We gave Gabriel “13″ gifts–including a bundle of 13 long switches.  Papa gave him the traditional birthday paddling.  That’s probably the last one he’ll get from Papa!!

We have so much fun as a family.  Thank you God for letting our children live near us.

Have a great weekend everyone.

It has been such a long time since I have posted a blog.  So much has been happening in my life–many things that I could not bring myself to write about.  But, thru all that has been happening my grandchildren have given me such joy.  The four boys have been joined by a wonderful grand daughter-Rylee Lyric Printy.

                               Isn’t she beautiful–even with the pacificer!!!!

I also had a birthday and celebrated with the family including my four grandsons.  They helped me open my birthday presents.  Gabriel is almost 13 (wow!), Noah is 10, Adam is 7 and Reagan is 3.

                                     I love my grands!!!!!

So, I’ll try to write more often.  Maybe write about the past few months….

Life is good, hard, exciting, trying, rewarding, painful, demanding, fun, joyful, surprising….

……..what did I leave out?