An Announcement and an Anniversary::September 9

This makes my 957th post on this blog. Very cool! So, probably before next year at this time, I will be writing my 1000th post. Amazing! I'll have to have a give-away when that post comes up. What to give away?.....


Anyway, aside from that, I have some more excellent news: I am going to have another grandchild! Karen is pregnant with #2 and is due March 29. I am so excited!! I really hope it is a girl... but I will be happy with a little boy too. I just hope that whatever it is it is a happy and healthy little baby.

Let's review for a moment: Aiden was born in December of 2009. This baby is going to be born close to March 29th 2013. Aiden will be 3 years and 3 months old when the baby is born.

Josh was born in December of 90, and Jared was born March of 94 (the new baby is actually due the day before Jared's birthday). Aiden and the new baby will have almost the exact age difference as Josh and Jared. It tripped me out when I heard that at the doctor's office. Crazy!! I hope that Aiden and the new baby will be as great of friends as their dad and uncle are.

Oh my heck!! I have to start working on a quilt for the new baby. I totally spaced that until just this second! Hey April, want to go fabric shopping w/ me soon? Maybe I have a little time, because I would like to know if it is a girl or boy first.... but then on the other hand, I've had babies that the docs thought were one sex on the ultrasound and then the baby came out it and was really the other sex.... Maybe I'll make the quilt more generic... but then, I just remembered that I have material for a baby girl quilt because I had convinced myself Aiden was really a girl.... Hmmmm.... I'll have to ponder this. (And, you just got to see firsthand how my brain thinks. It is a crazy place in there! ;)

Anyhow, I really needed this baby at this moment. It will keep me looking to the future in excitement.

And one more thing.... Today marks the 17th anniversary of when Steve & I first met. Wow there is a lot of water under that bridge! I'm very glad to be with him... even though at times I think he should take the teenagers far away and live in a separate house with them until they move out. Then he can move back in with me and we'll live happily ever after. I told Jared of that plan when the crap hit the fan earlier this week. His reply was, "But do you think he'll wait for you? I mean w/o finding someone else?" Huh. I hadn't ever stopped and considered that before. I guess I'm too egotistical to think that he'd ever want to leave me for good. Maybe I'll have to endure the teenagers after all.

Seriously though, I cannot imagine life w/o him. We have our differences, but it is like Yin and Yang. I might get frustrated at him for not being like me, and I'm pretty sure he feels the same way, but I'm wondering if those differences lend themselves to a good balance in our relationship.

This past year has been a tricky one. It hasn't been what I thought riding off in the sunset with my Prince Charming would be. A lot of crap has been thrown in our path that we didn't choose, which is what life with other people in it is just naturally like. The children have always added a twist that keeps us on our toes; teenagers bowl us over quite regularly. Through it, occasionally I'm ready to become a Buddhist Monk (I'd rather be a monk than a nun....I think they might let me be a monk if I begged enough....). Far away. Like in Tibet. Or maybe just be a cowboy like Toby Keith sings about.

It's just when I planned out family life, I didn't consider all of the rough terrain that comes with it. I just thought of cute babies that are warm and pink and smell good and that you can snuggle with. But the babies grow up. And have their own minds. And make choices that make me crazy. And I want to run away from home, but certainly NOT with the kids.

Long ago, Steve and I made a pact that if ever one of us wanted to run away from home we had to take the kids with us. It certainly keeps me from running away, because 99% of the time, it is the kids, *not* Steve, that I would be running from.

Heaven help us through the next few years until they are all grown up.

And yet, I encourage my children to have their own little bundles of joy.... maybe misery loves company? ;)

In any case, I certainly am glad that I met him. I'm glad that he cut his hair that morning and that we both went dancing that Saturday night back in 1994. He is just what I needed. And what I still need. This song is the themesong for that night:

Beautiful Blogger Award::September 7

GlowWorm, from over at Marvelous Pigs in Satin, gave me an award yesterday. (I am so excited! I haven't gotten an award in years, and can I tell you how much I love those things?!)

On her blog she wrote, "I’d like to pass the Beautiful Blogger Award to Melody because her blog is beautiful (she takes great pictures) and she puts so much of her loving heart into each post." Awww! Thanks GlowWorm! You've made my year!! (I also love to read her blog! I love the cool things that she creates, from her felt Nativity to altering her own clothes. And... her family is adorable. :)

And this is the Award itself:
I'm not sure how many people I'm supposed to give this award to, but I'm going assume 7, so here goes:

Carlie from The Evans Express

Katie-bo-batie from Dear Goodness

Maren from Stay at Home Mom Sisters

Stephanie from Ordinary Life Magic

Amanda from SouleMama

Heather from beauty that moves

Jodi from Che and Fidel

**As a side note, I have other bloggy friends that I love to read their blogs but 1) either they haven't been blogging lately or 2) they don't like awards. Just so you know, I think about you anyway :)

So, to accept this award, I am supposed to tell 7 things about myself, so here goes:

1) I love gardening. You already know that, but I'll tell you a story that I don't think you've heard before. We'll call it "The Reason Why I Garden" or alternately "How My Husband Tricked Me Into Gardening". Okay, maybe it wasn't a trick, but it was definitely a magical happening.

So, Steve grew up with a garden, I mean it *is* what Mormons do: grow vegetables, bottle vegetables, cook meals using bottled vegetables. I, on the other hand, did not. I grew up with my mom having lots and lots and lots of house plants. When I grew up and married, she, being sweet to me, gave me a lot of her plants under one condition: Don't kill'em. How hard could it be? A-hem. Well, the whole lot died, and thus started my career as a serial plant killer.

Enter Steve. Setting: Monday evening on a 120 acre farm in South Central Kentucky. He thought it would be a great idea to plant a garden. So, being the supportive wife I am, or at least once was, I gathered the children, the rake, the hoe, the shovel, some spades, and set out for the wilderness (AKA: the garden plot). Steve brought the seeds. Steve was happy, the children were happy, I was there.... Steve planted, the children planted, and all turned to me. It was my turn: I declined. After all, how could I plant a seed I knew I would ultimately kill? Steve wouldn't take no for an answer. I protested, but to no avail. So, kicking and screaming (at least in my mind), I dropped the pea in the hole Steve had dug, and he smiled and covered it up. Sure, he could be happy; he had no idea what I was capable of.

The next week, he made us go and see the garden plot. The children laughed and hooted. Success! Their pea seed had grown into a little plant! I admired everyone's plant, and then we went to see mine. It had grown too! Wahoo!! A Gardener was born that day. (Thanks, Steve :)

2) I still struggle with my place in my birth family. I was born to be the baby in the family with a 10 year gap between my sister and me, who is the closest in age to me. My two brothers were 12 & 14, or close to) when I was born. Everyone moved out by the time I was 8. Then I was "the only", or at least it felt that way.

Siblings would come to visit, but mostly visited with my mom. My brother in law would play games with me instead of hanging out with my sister and mom; I loved that!

After my parents divorce, my dad remarried and had the sister I'd asked for for my Christmas present when I was 4.... he was a bit late since I was 13 and my mom and I had moved before she was born.

When I look into the birth order thing, I'm unsure whether I'm the baby or the only. (Sorry, Charla - In my head, I'm still "the baby", but I love you! ;) I have similarities and differences to both.

You know the place in the family that has me the most confused though? The middle kids. Those are the ones I'm raising right now. Those people are totally different from the babies, the onlys, and the oldests.

Which brings me to another thought: Do oldests, babies, and onlys ever hook up with middles? If you are one who has, PLEASE comment and tell me - it's something I've wondered a lot about & I'd love to know! ...

3) ...because I have only dated/been interested in the oldest of the family. They might be #2, second only to a sister, but then, see, they are still the oldest BOY in the family.

It is an interesting conundrum.

4) I'm not a girly girl. Nor have I raised my daughters to be girly girls. I much prefer the kick butt herione. In my book of life, there is no need for a manicure: how would I pull weeds, shovel manure, open bales of hay with long nails? And let's face it, they wouldn't last long anyway.

So the only nails I paint are on my toes. Because I don't *do* anything with those digits.

Tino, my son-in-law, saw the preview for Brave and told Amber, "I think that was your mom as a little girl." Very flattering!

I've felt sorry for Steve that I'm not more of a girly girl, but then brought it to his attention that it was his own darn fault that he liked me. After all, throughout his lifetime, the girls he liked in movies were Princess Lei and Jessica from The Man from Snowy River. He prefers Katharine Hepburn to her sister Audrey. I guess he brought it all on himself.

5) I prefer TV episodes to movies. They are shorter, for one, but mostly the characters become friends I enjoy hanging out with... in a stalker kind of way. And when I am feeling down or life has thrown me a curve ball, I don't want to watch anything new; I prefer my old friends best.

6) This is the longest post I've written in years!

7) I really appreciate that you stuck with me this long! You are awesome!! You should *seriously* be given a prize. Tell you what, if you've read this, leave a comment & tell me. Then email me privately (merriemelody39atgmaildotcom) w/ your address and I'll send you a 4x6 print/postcard.

Thanks again, GlowWorm, this has been fun! :)

Labor Day Weekend Camping::September 4

It is a tradition for our family to go camping on Labor Day. I started it several years ago and told the kids to always plan for it even when they were older and moved away. It is our family reunion of sorts.

This year, everyone but Josh made it, and even Josh was with us for a little while on Saturday.

On Sunday, we all took a drive to Devil's Kitchen, which is something that I like to do and the family humors me by going along. Every year when we are there, I have a pic of us taken. This year was no different; there was a couple there, and I asked the lady to take a pic for us, so this year even I'm in the picture! :)

The trip was cold and rainy and there were lots and lots of caterpillars everywhere. Karen, Emily, Michael, Aiden, and I were at home about as much as we camped, I think. We went back and forth between camp and home, drying off and warming up. Sunday warmed up and stopped raining... mostly. We hiked to a cave, went for a walk to see a beautiful vista, sat and ate and visited and played, and then went to Devil's Kitchen.

I'm finding that the older I get, the more I want comfort. I'm seriously thinking that we need a travel trailer! The old grey mare just ain't what she used to be!

We chose Labor Day for our reunion to celebrate Steve's and my first meeting on September 9, 1995. We will have been together for 17 years in just 6 days. We had a whirlwind meeting/courtship/marriage. Met on Sept 9th. 1st date on Sept 16th. Engaged Oct. 20th. Married Nov. 22nd. Crazy!! We both knew that the Lord had brought us together and felt certain that we were supposed to stay together. How could we argue w/ God?? So, here we are 17 years later. Our house is getting emptier bit by bit. Remember, I had 3 kids from a previous marriage, so those kids, except Jared, are all grown up, married, and moved out. Soon, we'll be back down to just 3 kids at home, just like when we were first married. ;)

Today is a doctor day for Bill. It is time to visit the liver doc and see what he has to say.

I hope that you have a wonderful day today!