honor's mother

business

2007-12-23T15:51:00.001-08:00

perspective is something we hold dear from years of hospital visits.
for there has has never been a time when the bed next door was
not occupied by someone in greater need of medical and emotional
attention.
in icu, the boy next to us was on 24/7 asthma treatments
-honor's are every 3 hours-his, round the clock.
the tiny 3 yr old girl across was just in a fire with her whole family. her sister
is next door and her mom was in the hospital, but died a few weeks ago.
and she doesn't know yet.

At every transfusion, a child next to ezra had cancer or thallesemia
and the life expectancy is 45 yrs. for that blood disorder.....
so
perspective and knowledge of the Lord's grace.

the need is what resonates the most to me...
the boy next to us, tv on 24/7
-mom right there will him on couch
exhausted herself with 6 kids at home-but no interaction really.
talked a bit, but mostly, tv.
he needed to play games, cards and be read
to.....when she left to go home for a few days,
i turned off his tv and gave him our books (jesus storybook bible etc)
he 'read' them (he is 5) and spoke outloud and pretended for an hour.
the girl who lost her mom cries out for her mommy to
hold her every night. .
her community are coming in and holding her and praying
for her which is beautiful to see.
but so many are alone. the need is great there
-to be talked to and played with.....

I read a Christmas Carol every Winter.
and it rings true, like the clanging of a church bell on Christmas Day,
that my big heart for mercy
is merely wasted emotion without big, bold action to strike forward towards.....
and small, sacrificial, time consuming steps to spend time and physically give to others in need...
but it is my business, isn't it?
"But you were always a good man of business,Jacob," faltered Scrooge.
"Business!" cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. "Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance,and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!"

my favorite store

2007-12-22T20:07:00.000-08:00

so, to give my husband the afternoon off,
the kids and I strolled down to 79th st.
got a brownie and a cup of tea, earl grey-yuck
server's mistake,
bought shampoo, albuterol for the asthmatics
of the abode and passed my favorite store.
Not that I have ever shopped here~
i could have in the spring when nearing goal
weight-but I am nowhere near that now.
and the prices are silly. 80.00 for a kid's
Beatle teeshirt. so see, I actually couldn't.
(it's kids and mommy clothes
in one small store)
but, just if there is a special occasion, sometime
down the road, I decide to log it in my boy's strong memory.
"Buddy, just in case you wanna tell Papa? this is my favorite store."
He looks in the window, trying to make out a name.
"Sale? that's the name?" (I actually think he said Sally)
"No, it's up there. See, CPW"
he pauses.
"Spew? that's the name of the store, Mommy, Spew?"
brilliant.

and as my wise friend Dana said,
honestly, even if we could spend that kinda money on clothes,
would we dress much different than our current frocks
of tee shirts, sweaters and jeans?

do you want that gift wrapped?

2007-12-22T19:54:00.000-08:00

so, since our apartment is so, how shall we say....cozy?
I have found it impossible to wrap the gifts this year.
someone is in one room
and
someone is invariably, in the,
how shall we say....
other room.
my solution?

yup, martha and I
outside
wrapping on the hood of the car...
in the hood.
some passersby guffawed,
some said, Now I've seen everything,
some said they would coming out to wrap their gifts on their hoods.
Martha and I have started a holiday trend on 92nd st.

Better

2007-12-20T18:42:00.000-08:00

she's better!
perky, hating breathing treatments, and throwing things.
all better.
now the rest of us are withering.....
hoping to get to Mass. for Christmas~
we will see....

HOME ?

2007-12-19T11:23:00.000-08:00

well, she is sicker.
(is that a word?)
can you believe it?
Dr. Ward thinks perhaps she caught the
stomach flu at hospital?
I dunno. she looks awful-way worse
than before. pale, thin, listless.
gotta wait to see if she goes back to hospital,
dr. ward says. and Dr. Karen, who came with me to
Dr. Ward's.

love to have you all over for dinner this weekend to thank you-but hey, that ain't gonna happen. perhaps I will send out the 125 christmas cards I have had sitting here since 2 days before thanksgiving.
or just wash alot of throwup sheets and clothes.

HOME

2007-12-18T05:46:00.000-08:00

the bell of the ball of the ICU is home!
home today with many drugs and so happy to see her puppies and brother!

we are thankful to all of you.
tom w. was at the er almost before the ambulance for heaven's sake,
matty B and Webb stopped by to pray over her,
steve and cade did the same-
victor has called every day-
Tim took over for scott sunday night at church so he could take
home the kid sprawled out asleep in the pews-
so lovely our wonderful Elders and pastoral staff-a sincere thanks.
special 'much obliged to ya' goes to Laran, Pecks, Lindsells, Clementes, Charis, Melissa, Kay and
dog whisperer extrodinare Ellie!
we are so so so so so thankful to you!!!!

(last year/this year)

boy, does she say it better than I

2007-12-18T05:36:00.000-08:00

from my beautiful friend laran to
my mom's group yesterday:

Girls
Please forgive the tardiness of this news.
On Thursday night Honor Crosby (Anne Marie's
2 year old daughter) was taken to the
ER for a severe asthma attack by ambulance.
She was placed in ICU in order for them to keep her
hooked up to oxygen and closely monitor.
There have been high hopes that she would
be able to come day after day but they are
unable to keep oxygen intake at a satisfactory
level. They gave her new antibiotic today in
hopes that it will kick the struggle. She is in
a regular room but they are repeatedly requesting
a more child friendly facility as it is impossible for
her sleep therefore very hard to keep her calm
and then that sets the whole breathing issue
back into play. She must stay in the hospital
a full 24 hours after her oxygen is removed.
Please pray that they will be able to take her off
tomorrow and then they will return home on Wednesday.

As for now pray for a very good nights sleep for ALL, no
oxygen tomorrow and stamina for Anne Marie and Scott
to be a wise advocates.

Laran

and from scott last night:
After several hours of laps around 6 North, oxygen tank in tow, Honor finally drifted off around 10:30PM this evening. She's resting peacefully. We have a nurse named Hunter who rocks. We've been moved to a (currently) private room and it is towards the back corner of the floor - not much noise and lights are nice and low. Thank you for your prayers. Please, keep 'em up!

hacking

2007-12-16T22:50:00.000-08:00

ok, was allowed computer time here at hospital at 2 am. feel like a hacker! was able to figure out passwords to get in.
honor's counts still drop at night.
I thought for sure she would be home thursday night and she is still here. and let me tell you-we could not have gotten through that night without the amazing, sacrificial love of Ellie Hoch and Karen Clemente-they were both incredible-scott was in philly and ellie stayed the night with ez, walked dogs, got him up ready for Geneva and to the bus by 7:30! and Karen stayed by my side till 1:30-I cry when I think of both of them. Now there's some serving the body of Christ eh? humbling for me.
Honors ox levels fall at night making her dependant on oxygen. she is getting prednisone, breathing treatments and today, finally, more antibiotics, which will help. all normal for pneumonia and asthma (which they say she has) but it is taking a while to stabilize her.
now that they have moved us out of quiet, peaceful, cozy, river view icu where I shared her bed and put her breathing tube back in and the nurse did treatments all night long for her to
motel 6,
girl, we ain't sleepin' and her counts keep dropping.
she is in those big ole cribs and keeps taking out her tubing which sets the nurse a running.
the lady next to us has had her newborn in the room for a while.
she is entertaining guests with TV blaring at 2 am.
no joke.
ah, but I complain.
phil 2:14.
her counts have to stay stable, without oxygen, for 24 hours, before she can go home. either scott or I stay with her round the clock and the other handles ez, ironing, and dog whispering.

love to all.

the holly and the ivy

2007-12-03T11:57:00.000-08:00

ellie hoch and I put the lights in the garden this afternoon.
well see how it looks tonight!
ready? are you a good witch or a bad witch-The Difference between the East and the West.
79th and bway-"sir, how much for the evergreen?"
"Oh, you can have that bunch for a 1.00"
78th and Lex-"sir, how much for the evergreen?"
"That's 6.00 dollars a bunch, sweetheart."
sweetheart?
I'm taking the saw and heading to central park.

check

2007-12-02T20:35:00.000-08:00

my friend kj did a december check list and asked her readers for their lists.
so i thought i would put my check list here.

:bring in herbs and repot them in terracotta pots from Moby and Kate's wedding.check
:plant paperwhites in mason jars and old pottery and put in kitchen window. check
:go to yankee candle factory in deerfield with Trisha, girls, mom and kids-(its literally a winter wonderland, santa's workshop, Bavarian village, chocolate delight! check
:clean up garden and plant tulips for spring with ezra-check
:find fallen birch tree branches driving down Mass. turnpike, take off bark, then wrap around vases or candles (see pix) yes, I actually did this, check
:take poinsettia plant out of hibernation in basement and put in lobby to see if it will bloom, check
:begin decorating lobby, check
:put lights in garden out front, check
:put up tree with antique ornaments from Destiny-check
:listen to Pandora.com -bing crosby holiday station all day long (since sept.) check
:watch Holiday Inn each week-check
:sing carols -check
:do advent calendar-check
:read A Christmas Carol-
go to train show in Pittsburgh,
:watch Scrooge with Albert Finney-
:watch it's a wonderful life-check
: go to Red Lion Inn in stockbridge mass around New Years with kids, mom, aggie, trish and girls,

more to follow-it's 11:54am and scott wants me to take the dogs out for a walk..........

I love this town

2007-12-02T20:27:00.000-08:00

upon frolicking in our first snowfall of the season
ezra declared "I love this town!"
snow with sam and martha is an absolute blast
-martha, our sweet 9 1/2 yr old,
becomes a frisky puppy, biting the snow, swishing her tail, chasing ezra on the sled. sam will actually body sled down hills on his back-a hoot to watch.
we had an incredible day at Jesus' Birthday Party saturday too~what an amazing job Tracy, Carolyn and crew did!
could this blog be more grammatically wrong? and doesn't honor look happy at the party?

lovely rita

2007-11-21T13:01:00.001-08:00

do you see the resemblance? this is amusing us lately-Honor is dressing like Rita from Arrested Development-our new favorite show. ok, it takes a while, but it's very funny. have Kevin watch it with you for the first time-
he giggles like a school girl.

Happy New York Thanksgiving! the balloons are already filled and ready to go for tomorrow's parade! Shrek pix for uncle christopher and uncle kevin. uncle kevin-who giggles like a school girl at arrested development...and quite a few other things too.

blonde vs. God, part 3

2007-11-20T08:58:00.000-08:00

ezra, upon seeing his school pix for the first time:

"I love me."

(pix by scott devore-sorry scott, pix of a pix)

blonde vs. God, part 2

2007-11-20T08:36:00.000-08:00

this morning's reading from the Vox bible was
Samson!
samson falls for a Philistine woman who gets him in a big stew.
ezra listens.
I go to get more tea.
"that woman was a trap", says Ezra.
(our family bible lesson 6 weeks ago was about traps of the heart)
from the tea making area-"Yup"
"the pig tailed girl in my class is my trap."
?-me envisioning calls from the teacher.....
"No, she is a lovely girl from a wonderful family-she is not your ...trap."

pause

ok, then chocolate and tv, those are my traps....."
ah, aren't they for everyone, sweet boy

Blonde vs. God, part I

2007-11-04T19:51:00.000-08:00

for those checking....and those calling me a sissy....

Ezra in a conversation tonight with sunday school teacher.
(the scene-ezra, staring off into space)
teach: Ezra, what are you doing?
ez: trying to not look at that girl.
teach: Why, Ezra?
ez: because, she is so pretty, I am afraid I will love her more than God.

murby-you may not use this in any play. ever.

Over easy

2007-10-27T07:10:00.000-07:00

hey folks, this is the last of it~
I mean, my husband's not even reading it~
and sassy and haggard is honestly just plain very very haggard lately~
merle and all.
live long and prosper.
am

saturday, which felt like a saturday in 1995

2007-10-14T19:47:00.000-07:00

for the girl who normally eats the kids left over mac and cheese, and then 3 peanut butter sandwiches-obviously- I had a great night out with dear husband an dear friend and it felt like 12 years ago, a bit. besides for the cracking in the knees and loss of memory and exhaustion and the additional 40 lbs I carry around.
and that's just anxiety.
well, perhaps I had that then too, eh fellas?

my day started here:

W New York - Union Square

doing makeup. 20th floor. beautiful.

my evening started here with moby and scott on either side:

but they were booked so we walked to union square

then, 10 other places, then went to:
ate here, outside

Tisserie I got pastry here mmmmmm!

then we went here for drinks and more dessert to meet more friends at an adorable place:

Crema Restaurante

yumm!

so good to be with friends.
so tired didn't feel the 40 lbs.

Yee Haw

2007-10-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

these are the in thing for any 0-3 year old on the upper west side right now.
along with a pink striped denim overhaul dress
-all the cool girls have 'um-
-and hip Grandma in Chicopee knew this somehow and
surprised Honor with her pair of boots today!!
~Mama kj or trisha
(I'm getting confused with which wardrobe person gave us what!)
supplied the dress and now Honor is way stylin' and matchin' with
all her gal pals!!!!
how perfect for us-for we watch Elmo's hootin' tootin' hollerin' country jamboree daily now.
thanks Grandma~We Love Them!
not that my mother will ever read this blog-although it pops right up when she turns on the computer. she just never does that.

'preciate it

2007-09-27T18:34:00.000-07:00

we are all thankful. for family, home, friends, work. today I felt exceptionally thankful for many, many things, a very big list ~here is a quick short list

~this tea, over there to the right. 5:30 each morning. 3 cups.

~Tim Keller's head and heart understanding of the gospel
~for our dear Donnalyn, who loves my kids and my dogs equally
~our Altima, smelling of pipe (we can talk about that later) taking scott back and forth to Philly 6 x's a week

~Redeemer Presbyterian church
~that these two men are actually in seminary (please click on the pix)
~that my dogs love my children
~That when someone in our community sends up a smoke signal, 50 people respond almost immediately

~for this lady right here-who told us this week it was a privilege to be our dr. ...it's truly the other way round.

~the dinner table scene in talladega nights
~for The Geneva School of Manhattan
~for Martha
~for Molly
~for honey bear Sam or Samuh as honor says
~that Karen actually takes my calls and listens

~that this little boy is well

~for Oxford Insurance -Naomi F and Vanessa H
~and Duke children's hospital

~for friends in Nashville that we miss very much
~that Trisha now thinks Elvis is cute
~That the Hansen's have a beautiful baby boy
~that the coombe's do too

~for London and friends there
~ that friends send tea
~that friends who send tea read blogs
~that friends who send tea and read blogs have a better sense of humor than I
~the tea

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

2007-09-24T13:24:00.000-07:00

the other one of you who reads this, asked me why I am not blogging.
I am blogging, often, actually.
but all in my head.
and they are wonderful, I am sorry you are missing them.
I seem to be busier than ever. and actually, every mom I know is busier than ever-every single mom.
and I am tuckered. if you can believe it,
I fell asleep walking down the street with my children-twice-this week. closed my eyes, stroller veered, dreams began-so odd.
and I pee'd my pants while walking with the kids, but I guess I should keep that private, right?

but here are a few of the blogs I have written/ with pix/ that you have missed.

1. JP is really a carpenter in St. Louie
- aka-Vacation bible School @ Redeemer with uncle kevin with his hand up a penguin puppet

2. Mass. girls NOT malled by pit bull, news at 11
-my nieces came to stay with us for a week this summer and fell in love with -Molly. and she loved them too

3. Absolutely, I'm great with kids
-babysitting the beautiful Wolma children this summer and all our excursions

4. my favorite place ever
-cape cod at miss nancy's house this aug with mum and dad

5. are we really this loud all the time?
-our wonderful family labor day picnic in Maine at Mike's house.

6. you wanna paint the ceiling blue as well? to save you time? ah....
-having the apt painted this summer by the landlord's painter

7. That was yummy cake! Not!
-the camping trip with the Lehmann's and Wolf's that never happened.

8. the backyard
the many, many dinners in our backyard garden with friends and cousins this summer

9. Conversion @ Graceland
watching and listening to Trisha realize just how handsome Elvis was @ our Graceland visit 10 years ago this Oct.

10. Honey, does this sequined Manuel outfit make me look fat?
asking the supreme Elvis expert (even on 20/20 show) just how much elvis weighed when he died and watching the middle aged, over weight, elvis loving housewives (my, that describes me now) move away from Trish and I and banish us to the back of the Elvis line.

is it just me?

2007-09-06T10:17:00.000-07:00

I have a terrible time 'connecting' with blogger aka blogspot when posting-anyone else?
this is why I rarely blog.
wrote blog, attempted to add pix and 'link' with blogspot could not be reached, over and over-I can post words, but the pix thing has taken over an hour and still-nada-hence this post instead.
how is wordpress miss harris from kansas?

bull terrier alert

2007-08-31T11:31:00.000-07:00

ok, with all the dog fighting stuff in the news........I am going to leave Elvis to the side for a sec-wait till I tell ya about Elvis and my cousin Trisha-

anyhoo, scott went to Costco in NJ today, a hot, hot, muggy day. too hot to bring 3 canines and leave them in the car, and yet, he did just that.
I asked "you did not bring them to Jersey, did you?"
"Of course I did"
"You left them in the car as you went into Costco?"
"Yes. windows up and all. "
"WHAT??!!"
"I left the air conditioning on and the car unlocked. Who is gonna take our car with 3 dogs in it and Molly in the driver's seat? I had no worries at all. None."

ok. Peace of the Lord? Peace of Cesar Milan? Piece of whoever tries to get in our car?

Graceland

2007-08-22T09:45:00.000-07:00

ahhhh,
Graceland.
now say it a bit faster.
good.
now say it in one syllable.
even better.
now leave off the d.
well done.
now make the A of land an (i) like in inchworm.
that's it.
Gracelin.

a trip to remember...
I will fill, the two of you reading this, in tomorrow.

The King.

2007-08-20T11:21:00.000-07:00

Elvis presley ( thats alright mama ) edited djf

This is a video response to Elvis Presley (love me tender) edited djf

I remember exactly where I was when I found out.
Great moments in history and time are forever saved in peoples memories aren't they?
...where they were when Pearl Harbor was attacked, JFK in Dallas, space shuttle....
and for me-it is the day Elvis died.
I did not even like Elvis then.
I was obsessed with the Beatles, having been given the red and blue albums by my mother
-thus starting another life long obsession
~we can talk about my fasting and fainting when John Lennon died another time.....but i digress.
on Aug. 16th '77
I was leaving the carlisle swim club with my friend.
The day before had been my birthday,
I was in a good jolly mood.
her mother came to pick us up-
yes, they dropped us off and left us there (at 11 years of age)
and as we walked through the parking lot
she mentioned that Elvis had died.
Her daughter then began to make wisecracks
about him and the warm air
was replaced by a cool and bitter yet reverent chill.
Her mother had stopped in her tracks.
Mrs. Coffman began to berate us about
showing respect to the dead and
especially to the King. the King.
that week a boy in school already had a 'tribute to Elvis' tee shirt on
-red I believe.
He lived in the trailer park on the other side of town,
had long stringy hair and a strong PA accent.
I did not know much about him. I lived on the other side of the tracks,
so to speak.
and my parents were drinking Manhattans and
listening to the Sting on their deck in the evening.
This kids parents were not doing that on their porch.
someone in class commented on his shirt in school.
That same air of reverence came over the
entire classroom and he said
"don't make fun of the King. My family loves Elvis, Elvis is the King"
as I grew up, I began to listen to those early recordings from
Sun Records-we are talking '54. just listen. they are amazing.
he is silly young, combining gospel and country into
the new born rock and roll.
he is raw, fresh and honestly, just plain talented.
Like listening to Frank Sinatra-you cannot deny his talent and star quality. Elvis had that too~ some
talented people have a charisma that draws you towards them. This young man had it.
no one was singing like that,
looking like that,
or moving like that (in public)
and he is having a grand ole time doing it too.
and he was definitely not from the Manhattans
on the deck crowd, but
he had 'it'.
and everybody knew it.
and in a very short time from the release of these records he had a major recording contract and began to appear on The Milton Berle Show and The Steve Allen Show,
and not to be beat or miss the boat-Ed Sullivan had him on the show too.
so now i want a tribute to Elvis tee shirt myself.
and I got to marry another boy from a trailer park-I do so love the wrong side of the tracks.
if the film isn't working above-click this

Thank you, thankyouverymuch.

2007-08-16T07:16:00.000-07:00

sorry to the two of you who do read this~ we have been on vacation in cape cod with no computer access-and are going away agin this weekend.

just wanted to prepare you-Elvis week, although officially this week, will begin next week right here~
today is the 30th anniv. of his passing.....by the by.
perhaps rent viva las vegas to prepare? or this is Elvis?
see you next week.

oscar madison

2007-08-02T11:39:00.000-07:00

can you all see this?
remind you of anything!?
Quincy it ain't.
and I cannot promise that there is not food in there as well....from the kids and possibly-Sam.

sort of a Who Done it~
can you tell me:
1. what is it?
1. who is it?
2. about what time might this be?
signed,

Felix

thus far this summer~july 4th

2007-08-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

4th of july at auntie chris's and uncle jim's with the McNerney's-mom's side.

gambling, bar, beer and cotton candy, pool and family-what could be better?

Babble, not the tower

2007-07-26T13:50:00.000-07:00

both kids are in this week's online edition of
BABBLE
check out ezra......
see, M and S-I am Mrs. Weasley.

and a very belated birthday to
auntie Kelley and auntie Kara.
in June.

fixed?

2007-07-25T19:46:00.000-07:00

I think I fixed this so that anyone can post.
me thinks.

chix

2007-07-24T07:32:00.000-07:00

thank you uncle kevin.
for your visit.
for your humor.
for your hard work.
for washing the dishes (that's right, folks-you heard right)
and for sitting and watching this for the hundredth time with us-
Kj told us to watch it years ago and we never got around to it
and now i am so glad we waited to watch it with you.
we adore you and realize how much we miss you when you are here.
and I am sorry I remind you of Liza. I remind myself of Liza most days as well.
auntie caroline and auntie andrea would be great to watch this with too
...cause they giggle.
we are laughing till we cannot breathe and I have to run for my inhaler for a hit.
this show is brilliant-but you all know that, don't you?

wand making 101

2007-07-20T20:22:00.000-07:00

a big thanks to KJ, for telling us about Scholastic's big Harry Potter bash! They turned a Soho Street into a Diagon Alley-just great! the Crosby's, minus dogs, got out of the uws and headed down to their ole stomping grounds, with an additional 10 yrs and 130 lbs to them...80=kids, the rest=you guessed it. we had such a great time-and no, I cannot get the underlining to go away....
stop 1-cool ice cream at emack and bolio's
stop 2-cool iced coffee @ aroma (little piece of chocolate with coffee
stop 3- in line with new friends harry and girl and Tonks and Lupin waiting to get in
stop 4-honor was photographed by nicole from Babble for their next fashion segment~thanks to whomever handed down the cute dress-kj? Trish?
stop 5-wand making, fire eaters, magicians (no duh?) news crews, pensieves, face painting, trivia questions- stop 6-thumb wrestling on the way home.
stop 7-waiting for scott to get home so I can go get my BOOK!!!!

being prepared

2007-07-18T15:36:00.000-07:00

I really must be prepared. Really.
I need to mentally get ready for all the options.
I have been thinking I know what will happen. Been going off of something Stac told me years ago-some predictions she and Miss C had... but those predictions could be wrong. So I need to be really ready.
I need to prepare my heart that Ron could die. or Hermione. or Ginny. or Mrs. Weasley even. or even Harry. I need to be ready that Snape really is a bad guy and not a hero in disguise like I'm a hopin'....and don't we all just love Alan Rickman? Scott and I fell in lurv with him in college seeing Truly Madly, Deeply. But anyhoo, I have been thinking that 'what' he did at the end of book 6 makes Harry stronger-like some Obi Wan/Luke thing. But if I don't walk down each path in my head by Friday @ 12am when I arrive at Barnes and Noble, I will be quite distraught next week..... if my hopes are wrong.

yup

2007-07-06T19:42:00.000-07:00

Beauty @ the Leeper Flea Market

2007-07-05T09:31:00.000-07:00

one of my favorite, favorite things to do at deer meadow campground is head on over to the leeper flea market on a Saturday morning. Many a thing in my home has been purchased there including my red porch chairs (which are now on the deck of my sweet friend Andrea Sullivan's in Nashville-at least they'd better be) (similar to the rusty metal chair Tuck had in their livingroom) I only brought 12 dollars with me-no atm or gas in this one horse town to my dismay, with a gas tank on E and much purchasing to do.
and yet, I walked away with 8 purchases, two pieces of fudge and a full meal for honor and I, and change. plate-o-fries, hot dog and iced tea if your wondering. fudge was of course....peanut butter. and Cookie was not skinny. and Honor and I did make it home-on fumes,windows down-air off.
in the same light-please be looking for A Week of The King in august at this very blog site. Elvis that is.

Dear Deer Meadow

2007-07-05T07:18:00.000-07:00

pix-learning to swim, grandma and honor, walk in woods,
patty and honor at dance, what are they up to?,honor and mama, ezra still life, 2x happy dawgs, harmonica, happy martha, honor and grandad, honor down the road with patty, content papa and molly, grandad and honor, ezra cheating with grandma at uno-and getting caught, ezra and grandad-the campsite

just got back from a wonderful, relaxing trip to visit Scott's family at their summer trailer. They have had a campsite for 25 years at a wonderful campgound deep in Cook Forest, PA www.deermeadow.com
scott and I used to go each year in our single days with Martha. it was a bit of Leave it to Beaver land.....ezra would take off on his bike, all by himself, yes, all by himself.....to go to the playground, zoom by us asking for a quarter to go to the general store to get something out of the gumball machine, spent hours upon hours in the pool...
7am-Mom, is the pool open yet?
11 Babe, opens at 11.
7:08 mom, is it open yet?
long, dog whispering walks for the puppies and Papa through the deep woods, peanut butter and toast and tea in the am on the porch, rainstorms, sleeping in a tent-could do without that at 40 yrs, hours spent chasing honor down the gravel road as she went off to visit other trailer sites, canoeing in the Clarion River, horseback riding, no bake peanut butter cookies from the general store, gardening galore for me, grilling out, a saturday night dance, volleyball for ezra at 10pm with the big kids, sparklers, and lots and lots of fun times with the Great Grandparents and aunt Patty.
No tv, no dvds, no computer or phone-we were all much better for it
~and I teared when we left-could have used 2 more weeks, or, the whole summer.

Anne the Grub

2007-06-22T12:23:00.001-07:00

So everyday while walking home from the bus in 7th grade, I had the pleasure of being serenaded, by Kevin Cavanaugh. Kevin was in 8th grade and loved Blue Oyster Cult....need I go on? anyway, he walked on his tip toes, wore concert teeshirts, brought a boom box on the bus and was slightly popular in my neighborhood. And while walking home he clapped and he chanted: "Anne The Grub! Anne The Grub!, Anne The Grub!" this went on everyday. others occasionally joined in the chorus, but mostly, it was Kevin.
Therapy anyone?
which, actually, did start in 7th grade.
which brings me to gardening.
God has given me a beautiful gift this season of being able to garden in new york city. our landlord has given me the go ahead and the funds to tend the gardens at our building
~so I have been a working out there everyday since early may-weeding, digging, planting, watering....dealing with slugs, grubs and aphids...oh my.
tried to accidently kill all the neighborhood dogs by putting down an insecticide.
I also have two window boxes cascading down filled with basil, oregano, chocolate mint, rosemary and assorted flowers.
Been giving sweet Elena homeschooling gardening lessons this summer as well.
lesson 1: planting herbs
lesson 2: creepy crawlies
lesson 3: pruning and mulching
also found a beautiful outdoor teak table and chairs on the street
and now we have a lovely sitting area in the back of the building
with a new garden and potted plants
- it's such a great place to have tea in the am or lemonade in the afternoon
and we had our first dinner party out there!
Kay B. and Scott cooked up a Thai feast and we had 10 in the backyard for dinner!
it has been a very rejuvenating gift this summer
-despite flashbacks of Kevin.

james and a jack hammer

2007-06-19T12:16:00.001-07:00

We had the lovely opportunity to spend the morning with C. Belle ~ what a delight she is-can see both mama and papa when I look at her. she kept saying:
"I need to be trapped."
What sweetie?
"Trapped."
You need to be trapped? I need to be set free.
"what do you mean, sweetie?"
"So I don't fly outta the stroller-TRAPPED!" Ah...trapped.

speaking of being set free
Been reading James this week-ok, listening...scott bought me
The Bible Experience on cd and no, I don't wanna hear anything from any of you. I really love it. Go Blair Underwood.

and we have been listening to a jackhammer directly outside our window-for three weeks. need to set free of that, too.

Happy Bday JT in TX!

ps- paul potts from my very first post won the contest-he's a gonna fix those teeth with the loot. listen to him again if you can-that's being set free too.

a funny thing happened on the way to the forum

2007-06-16T10:08:00.000-07:00

honor's mother....kinda like destiny's child~
ok, not really.

a dear friend keeps encouraging me to join her in blogland.
a blog page-great forum for
expressing whimsies,
updating dear friends far away about our
life in ny ministry central, and
life with ezra, honor, martha, molly and sam and scott.
so, a small, yet worthy entry. wait till you see this clip.

just beautiful