Hope's Focus: January 2011

The only picture Gran was really interested in keeping.

This picture hung next to her bed in the nursing home during her stay there.

Thursday, January 27, 2011, "Gran" (husband's grandmother), closed her eyes for the last time and grew her wings. This is one of those, as terrible as this may sound to some people, that we rejoice in the fact that she was ready to go home at the ripe ol' age of 88. Gran lived a long life full of family and friends. Gran outlived her beloved husband and one of her sons. She was ready to go home to her Lord, whom she loved so much.

Gran will be missed. As a family, we will not let the world she held inside her die with her physical body. No, we celebrate her, who she was, and what she taught us.

_____________________________________________________

Death is nothing at all

Henry Scott Holland (1847-1918)

Death is nothing at all,
I have only slipped away

into the next room.

I am I,

and you are you;

whatever we were to each other,

that, we still are.

Call me by my old familiar name,

speak to me in the easy way

which you always used,

put no difference in your tone,

wear no forced air

of solemnity or sorrow.

Laugh as we always laughed

at the little jokes we shared together.

Let my name ever be

the household word that it always was.

Let it be spoken without effect,

without the trace of a shadow on it.

Life means all

that it ever meant.

It is the same as it ever was.

There is unbroken continuity.

Why should I be out of mind

because I am out of sight?

I am waiting for you,

for an interval,

somewhere very near,

just around the corner.

All is well.

Together again.

Click here for our last visit with Gran.

{This posts tune: "I can only imagine" by MercyMe}

How did this happen so fast? My son... is one.

How have 365 days passed by when it seems I was just folding tiny little blue blankets and tucking away itty bitty socks into drawers getting ready for your arrival? One year ago today (1/24) I was welcoming your precious soul into this world with "I love you"s and kissing your wrinkled newborn skin while breathing you in. How is it possible we have made it through a year already? Witnessing so many firsts....first holidays, first crawl/walk, first words, first foods, etc. We have already gotten rid of some of the "baby" items in the house (e.g. - swing, bouncy seats, baby bathtubs, etc), it is bittersweet. I love watching you grow and develope your personality, yet at the same time if I could only figure out a way to freeze time and slow it down. I want you to keep that delicious baby smell, ultra soft plump cheeks and sweet innocence for just a bit longer.

So 1st birthday it is then. Yes, time to celebrate the little guy who has docked ship in our sea of life and stolen our hearts like a tiny little pirate. So exciting!

Ahoy there me hearties... Pirate Josh set sail Saturday, January 22nd, on a swashbuckling birthday adventure. Shipmates mom and dad swabbed the decks and gathered up booty to get the ship in order and fit fer Captain Josh's special day...

Sweet grub cooked up by land lubber mom.... okay, fine... in non-pirate terms, they're cupcakes. Cute heh? I found an old childhood candy, "Sixlets" (little malted chocolate tasting pea sized balls), now come in bags of solid "designer" colors. I found some silver ones that kind of looked like pearls... pair that with some gold gel decorator icing, and me gold booty... errrr, some plastic gold pirate coins, and voila' you have cupcakes fit for a tiny pirate boy's birthday.

The captains special cupcake... (Note, the tiny plastic pirate - I dug through a box of them at the party store to find the perfect one. Leave it to me, as usual, to find one that had no price tag when I got to the register. The young man's face at the register told me he wasnt keen on the idea of having to price check this seemingly insignificant little piece of plastic. He said "Ma'am, I really want to give you this little man, but I do not want to get into trouble." Meaning, "I am trying to be nice here, but I really do not want to have to walk across the store to price check this". I said "I am not leaving the store without that little rubber man." ....and I didnt. Thats right, mom on a mission.)

Opening gifts...

Poor Middle Little, I felt bad because she kept saying "It's my birthday too!" when we would talk about what we were going to do for Josh's special day. I didnt want her to feel like he was being treated special or more important... she just does not understand at two, that everyone gets their own special day when its time. So I did what any good ~~sucker~~ momma would do, and I bought her a couple gifts to open for doing so good at potty training. ;-)

Apparently I was not the only sucker either, cause Grandma did the same thing and bought her a toy camera to open. Which she used to assist me in taking pics of brother's birthday. As you can see, she is still in training mode. She loves the bathtub tea set I found... heck, if your going to drink the tub water anyways (yuck!), why not do it in style eh?

Check out his solid gold couch... big pimpin'! Okay, not really... but he had a blast with it before he even got it opened.

Two tired Littles. Opening gifts is a lot of work.

Didnt take him long to figure out what to do with the couch. I can picture a remote in his hand already. My little couch ~~potatoe~~ tater tot.

Me lil' bucaneer beauty...

Stripped down to a diaper and pirate hat, ready for cake...

It's at this moment I want to cry. The lighting of the 1st birthday candle. This is it, no going back, no re-doing. He is growing up. Now officially counting the years.

He was not sure why we were all looking at him and singing...

And that little rubber man, the one I refused to leave the store without... he loves him. (He ate most of his cupcake by dipping the pirates legs into it and eating it off the pirate.)