My Gram! **reposted**

My sweet, sweet grandmother finally went "home" early Sunday morning.  She is now with her heavenly Father, and reunited with the love of her life.  I'm sure there was a BIG celebration yesterday, and for that I am truly happy.   Those of us left here, we are relieved that she is no longer suffering and happy that she went peacefully, but it doesn't make things easier.  For our own selfish reasons, we want her here with us, the way it used to be.  But life doesn't work that way and we must move on.  Thankfully, we have been blessed with so many great memories.  Memories that we will cherish for always! 

(Look at that sweet face, how adorable is she!)

 

Here is a blog post that I wrote just a few shorts weeks ago (June 14, 2012)

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Both my grandparents were a huge part of my childhood and I'm so grateful for that.  

Here are just a handful of those memories:

Gram ALWAYS had dill pickles on the dinner table (in a cute little dish with a glass lid)

Speaking of dinner....we ate dinner at their house at least once or twice a week....fried chicken and milk gravy was my favorite.  Roast was my least favorite...but I grew to like it!  (Kinda!)

Before they remodeled their kitchen, they had a booth....I loved that booth as a kid.  Thought it was so cool to have one in a house! 

On the wall, next to that booth was a little chalkboard with beads on it.  We always wrote notes to Gram on that chalkboard.  

I spent a lot of weekend nights there.  We always had ice cream AND popcorn.  We also always watched Dallas, Falcon Crest, Love Boat and Dynasty.  I don't remember if they were in that order...but we were faithful viewers.  

I remember Gram ALWAYS singing.  She lead the singing at church for a LOT of years...and even outside of church she was singing.  She would sing while she cooked, she would sing as she cleaned.  

Speaking of cleaning, she was constantly on her hands and knees with a little waste can picking up lent from the floor.  Of course, she'd be singing at the same time...I remember asking once, what she was doing, she said it was easier than getting out the vacuum. 

Gram always made silver-dollar pancakes on Saturday mornings!  (remember I spent a lot of Friday nights there!)  These weren't just any pancakes either, they were the perfect size for a kid, and thin and crispy on the edges.  I can almost taste them now!  So yummy!

She always taught us about Jesus.  Making sure we went to Sunday School, VBS, and she even taught us a Sunday School lessons while we were on vacation.  Her love for the Lord continues to this day as she is anxiously waiting for her time to be with Him. 

The Lord is the only one who knows the plan, I'm just so thankful for the many many years of memories I've gotten to share with this sweet lady!  

And for that, I feel truly blessed!

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 The Lord knew the plan, even when the timing didn't work out the way we wanted it to. All that matters now is that she is home!

My Gram!

My Grandma, she's one of the sweetest people I know. 

She's been in the hospital this week (we still don't know exactly what's going on) and when I go visit her, the memories just flood my mind.  

Both my grandparents were a huge part of my childhood and I'm so grateful for that.  

Here are just a handful of those memories:

Gram ALWAYS had dill pickles on the dinner table (in a cute little dish with a glass lid)

Speaking of dinner....we ate dinner at their house at least once or twice a week....fried chicken and milk gravy was my favorite.  Roast was my least favorite...but I grew to like it!  (Kinda!)

Before they remodeled their kitchen, they had a booth....I loved that booth as a kid.  Thought it was so cool to have one in a house! 

On the wall, next to that booth was a little chalkboard with beads on it.  We always wrote notes to Gram on that chalkboard.  

I spent a lot of weekend nights there.  We always had ice cream AND popcorn.  We also always watched Dallas, Falcon Crest, Love Boat and Dynasty.  I don't remember if they were in that order...but we were faithful viewers.  

I remember Gram ALWAYS singing.  She lead the singing at church for a LOT of years...and even outside of church she was singing.  She would sing while she cooked, she would sing as she cleaned.  

Speaking of cleaning, she was constantly on her hands and knees with a little waste can picking up lent from the floor.  Of course, she'd be singing at the same time...I remember asking once, what she was doing, she said it was easier than getting out the vacuum. 

Gram always made silver-dollar pancakes on Saturday mornings!  (remember I spent a lot of Friday nights there!)  These weren't just any pancakes either, they were the perfect size for a kid, and thin and crispy on the edges.  I can almost taste them now!  So yummy!

She always taught us about Jesus.  Making sure we went to Sunday School, VBS, and she even taught us a Sunday School lessons while we were on vacation.  Her love for the Lord continues to this day as she is anxiously waiting for her time to be with Him. 

The Lord is the only one who knows the plan, I'm just so thankful for the many many years of memories I've gotten to share with this sweet lady!  

And for that, I feel truly blessed!

Four Generations!

This picture was taken last Sunday at Fairview Farms restaurant. My grandma, my mom, Maggie and myself....four generations.

The amazing part (in my opinion) is that my grandma was able to be there. She had two surgeries on her back last week, but she was able to come. And look fabulous to top it off.

She is a very special person to me, and I'm so grateful to have her as my Gram!

Who? What? When? Where? Why? & How?

A little order to my randomness!

Who?
My wonderful Grandma. She has always been a very special person to me. My memories of growing up and spending a lot of time with her is priceless. Those small things that seem so simple are the memories I hold closest to my heart. She always had fat dill pickles on the table with dinner and they were always in the same glass-topped dish with little flowers on the side. Oh, and she never ran out of them. Those pickles were always there. She also always made silver-dollar pancakes for breakfast if we had stayed over the night before. And let me just tell you, the women can make some milk gravy. Even though she has tried to teach me many times, it never turns out as good as hers.

Now I know these are all food related memories, but my memories go far deeper than food.

Her love for the Lord inspires me. She has never been shy or afraid to share that love with others. Her years of service in her church is amazing, and her beautiful singing voice...well, how could you not be inspired by that. God has given her so many gifts and she has used those gifts to serve Him. Just the way it should be.

I am so thankful to have been blessed with such a wonderful Grandmother. And I plan to take full advantage of the precious time I have left with her, however long that may be. I plan on creating new memories with her, ones that hopefully my children will remember when they grow up.

I love you Gram!


What?
What do you do for "mom" time or "you" time in the summer? Last summer I hired one of our favorite babysitters to come over one morning a week, just so I could run errands by myself. It was the best money I spent all summer. Just having a few hours to myself made it easier to tackle the craziness of summer. Think we're going to the same thing again this summer!


When?
When do your kids get out of school for the summer? Today? Next Week? Into June? We are out next Friday here in our neck of the woods! (Gotta love Al Roker!)


Where?
Where have all my comments gone? I know my material hasn't been the best lately, but have I lost all my readers? If you are a faithful reader and have never left a comment, please do so. Maybe you want to, but don't know how? If that's the case, here is a very quick lesson. It's super easy. You can do it.

1. Click on "Friendly Feedback" under my name at the bottom of the post. A box will pop up showing you how many comments have been left (the past few days has been zero, zippo, zilch)

2. Scroll down the the "Leave your comment" box.

3. Type your comment. Please remember how much I love hearing from you. I think I like reading comments even more than when Tim, my UPS guy, shows up at my door.

4. Now this is the part that I think freaks people out. If you have a google account/blogger account, you can use that. If not, mark the "Anonymous" box. Now this next part is the hardest thing that you will have to remember. Remember to sign your name with your comment if you are listed as "Anonymous!" If you have a google/blogger account, than I am able to track you. I can see who left the comment. If you are listed as "Anonymous" I can't track you. Therefore, if you forget to leave your name, I don't know who you are, and that means I can't love you to pieces for leaving me a comment. Go on, try it, go out on a limb and expand your computer knowledge. It's super easy, I promise.


Why?
If you are in my bible study, I've already warned you about this blog post. So sorry that you have to hear this again.
Why, oh why, is it that my new summer haircut which looked super cute when I walked out of the salon last week is giving me fits. I have been struggling all week to get it to look the way she had it. Even after I had my stylist show me exactly how she styled it and I made sure that I was using the same exact product she used, it still doesn't look the same. I know they have a special talent (those darn stylist) but why can't I just have cute hair? Why????


How?
How do you make a cool summer time drink? Either the kid friendly kind or my favorite, the mom friendly kind? Have any good recipes?


Okay, that was a lot of questions, so I hope there is a least one or two things you want to comment about. You can do it! Try it, it's fun!

Happy Friday my Friends!

100 Memories!

So this is my 100th post. This is a huge milestone for me. I never in a million years would have thought I would keep this blog thing going. But it is fun and an easy way for me to keep track of the funny little things my people do and say. So many bloggers do fun and exciting things in honor of their 100th post. It's a big deal. I, on the other hand, don't have any thing fun to "giveaway" and I can't even come up with 10 new things about me (I've read 100 things about people) and they are very clever. So this is just another, everyday post. To me, that is why I started this blog in the first place. As selfish as it sounds, this blog is for me! I'm not out to get a huge number of readers and/or comments, although I love hearing from you. This blog was created as a journal for my family. To keep out-of-town family and friends updated on our lives. There are so many fabulous blogs out there, wonderful writers, who are creative, inspirational and down right funny. While I'm none of those things, this blog is mine and is for me and my people and that is what I have to remember.

So here it is, my 100th post, 100 memories that I will be able to look back on! I'm very excited!


Yesterday was a cool and rainyish day and I thought it would be a great day to go to a movie. I phoned my mom and then Gram to see if they were both up for an afternoon movie. They were up for it, so I told Maggie the plan. We would pick up Grandma Lovell (my Gram) and then meet Grandma & Paca at the movie theater. Paca would take Max back to his house (Max totally can't sit though a movie yet!) and just the girls would go see "Kit Kittredge, An American Girl" movie. It was a great time. I try to always carry my camera in my purse for times like this. After we found our seats, I had the couple in front of us take our picture. Now, it may sound crazy to have your picture taken in a movie theater, but there we were, 4 generations, sitting there getting ready to watch a movie that ALL of us could enjoy. It was a moment that I wanted to remember. And now I can:


The movie was fabulous! A great movie for any age. It's so nice to be able to go to the movies and not be afraid that a word or two may be heard, or a scene viewed that you're not ready to explain to your child. This is just a very nice movie. I totally give it five stars!


So there it is, my 100th memory shared on this blog. I'm looking forward to sharing 100 more of our family memories with you!

My Gram!

The kids and I spent most of the day yesterday at my grandmother's house. We are trying to help her clear out some stuff. She is not moving, she is almost 82 and still living on her own, driving the few blocks to church or to see friends, getting out and about, enjoying life!

So the going-through-stuff had to be done. Just think of all the goods you have accumulated over the last ten or so years of marriage. It's amazing. Now imagine 62 years of stuff. It's totally crazy. So I'm having a garage sale in a few weeks and I thought, "no better time like NOW" to go through and clear out.

Now, I must tell you how much I LOVE to do this! No, I'm not kidding, I really do love it. I would love to be a professional organizer some day! ~Tidy Up with Traci!~ Doesn't that sound cute.

So, I got a few boxes and just started in. I started in the basement, in the closet under the steps. I found some cool and lot more not-so-cool stuff in that closet. Here's some of what I found: a bedside toilet, 3 pressure cookers, equipment to make juice (they always made tomato juice from the garden tomatoes), a walker, 2 baby gates(the old kind), lots of glass vases, a fondue pot, grandpa's old lunchbox and LOTS of artificial flowers - yikes! and the bugs that were living in those flowers, totally grossed me out. There was a lot more stuff and I wish I had taken a before & after picture. But it was fun and I totally caught myself saying, "I remember this....!" and "oh, do your remember when...?" It was neat! After I got the stuff out and the closet itself cleaned, swept and debugged. I put stuff back into that little closet, stuff that should go into a storage closet like that. It looks a lot better. I have a stack of stuff for the garage sale too. Maybe I can get her a little cash out of the deal!

While I was going thru stuff, I found pictures and newspaper clippings. Gram saved everything! I took her up a box of stuff to go thru and she had a blast. She loved looking back and trying to remember who was in the picture(when she remembered who it was, I had her write on the back) or why she had saved such-n-such. She even found some old handmade Mother's Day cards from her kids. Maggie and Max thought it was pretty neat to see a handmade card from their grandma. Gram loved showing my kids who the people were in the pictures and she would say, "Now this is your great-great grandmother...." It was a special moment they shared, probably more for me and Gram than for the kids, but it was fun!

I'm going to try to go over there once a week, work on it little by little, and try to really enjoy hearing the stories, seeing the pictures and spending time with my Gram!