Mother's Bible

This month I have been really working on spring cleaning and organizing around the house. One morning I decided to go through an old cedar chest that was my mother's and I discovered one of mom's Bibles. Judy and I had given it to her in 1962. It really tugged at my heart to see her handwriting and some notes that she had stuck in the Bible to save. For instance:

I asked for strength that I might achieve; He made me weak that I might obey.
I asked for health that I might do greater things; I was given grace that I might do better things.
I asked for riches that I might be happy; I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praises of men; I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life; I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I received nothing that I asked for, all that I hoped for, my prayer was answered.
--Author unknown to us but not to God.

I also found this:

Back in the 60's we had a Billy Graham crusade here in Houston at the Astrodome. Although I was young at the time, I can still remember the glory of that crusade...the sounds of thousands of voices raised in praise of the Father, the simple message of grace, and the rivers of people that flowed down the aisles to make commitments to Him. My mother was a second grade Sunday School teacher for as long as I can remember and during the crusade she, along with my dad, was a counselor for those who made decisions for Christ. She had a copy of one of the informational slips of paper that corresponded with an 8 year old girl she counseled tucked away in her Bible.

Mama went to be with her Lord and Savior when I was 34. What a legacy she left behind.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone that believes. Romans 1:16

It’s never too early…

Today I was at a high school in our district observing some world geography classes and on one of my breaks I stopped by one of the college information centers that the school has scattered around the building. (It's a high school with 3,500 students and we want them to have every opportunity to learn more about the benefits of a college degree.) Naturally, I picked up The University of Texas 2010-2011 What Starts Here Changes the World Viewbook for Katie and Hannah. It's never too early to plan for the future! Ha!

These are some statistics that they provided in the Viewbook. Texas is second only to Harvard in the number of national merit scholars. The average SAT scores for entering UT Austin freshmen are: Critical reading-597; Mathematics-628; Writing-588. The National averages are: Critical reading-502; Mathematics-515; Writing-494. The average ACT score for UT freshmen is 26 as compared to the national average of 21. 93.5% of the freshmen graduated in the top quarter of their senior class.

The average cost per year for a student living on campus is $21,470-$25,284.

Forget Gymboree…I think Katie needs to move on from her ABC’s to Baby Einstein Algebra and Geometry. Ha! She also needs a bigger piggy bank!

Longhorn fans click on: Put your horns up!

A Grandmother's Prayer

I found this prayer in a book as I was cleaning today and thought it most appropriate.

Bless My Grandchildren


Thank you God for each of my dear little grandchildren that I may love without great burden, watch with delight, receive their tiny loving responses.


Help me to enjoy being a secondary character in the lives of my grandchildren, not first, but still very cherished.


Give my children wisdom to bring them up in a way that will open them to You.


Helen Ross

Adventures in Grammy-hood

Lots of pictures! Can’t help myself.
This has been a week of which memories are made. Dan and I have had Katie staying with us since the night before Hannah’s birth. We celebrated Hannah’s birthday on Saturday morning with pancakes made from a Kerbey Lane mix that I buy at HEB. Can you tell that it’s a favorite?
We visited Mommy and Hannah Saturday in the hospital. I guess we were checking out the cleanliness of the floors here. (It could have been improved upon!)

We checked on “baby.”
Some of us held her… We did a lot of celebratory eating out…Erin always has to visit her favorite places to eat when she comes to town. Escalantes is one of our favorites. Katie thought their queso was really good…
 
along with Grammy’s empanadas and Grandpa’s burrito. I wonder what the hospital was serving???

Aunt Erin was also enjoying her Tex Mex fix.

Sunday we were back at the hospital. We brought Sunday dinner from Cleburne’s Cafeteria. We thought Amy needed some fresh vegetables and they make some of the best squash casserole ever.

We just can’t get enough of this sweet face!

Katie went to sleep on daddy’s sleeping bag in the hospital room. This should have been a harbinger of things to come…

because Sunday night Katie started running a fever and Monday I had to take her to the pediatrician where she was diagnosed with the croup. This could be a commercial for cold medicine, don’t you think? I found out that croup is a virus that is contagious for babies and young children, so no more visiting mommy and Hannah.
Did I mention that Katie was sleeping in Grammy’s bedroom? Guess how much sleep Grammy was getting? Did you know that Grammy’s require more than 1 hour of sleep at night to be functional the next morning? Caffeine helps a lot.

On Tuesday Katie started feeling a little better so we continued our tour of Tex Mex restaurants. This time we went to Chuy’s, another import from Austin. Guess what? Katie looooves chil con queso. She’s not so crazy about the chips, she just likes to lick the queso off.

Grammy, are you leaving any for me?

Dad and Erin laughing at some of Katie’s antics.
While we were at Chuy’s, Amy called and asked for some help with the baby. She had come home from the hospital that afternoon and, unfortunately, Chris had to work this week because the baby came earlier than expected and he had not asked for this week off. He's going to be off the next two weeks. To make a long story short, Amy and Hannah also came to stay at our house through Friday night.

Memaw and Pepaw were able to come and visit their new great-granddaughter.
Grandpa is a great bottle washer.

Hannah was content.

Aunt Erin was always good for a laugh or to teach Katie how to do the “Chicken Dance.” Katie is “smiling pretty.” Ha!

We spent a lot of time in our jammies. Who had time to dress when you could hold Hannah.





Thursday we, of course, had to take Katie to her most favorite restaurant – Cheeburger, Cheeburger before we sent her back home.
 
Let’s see, summing up our week…
Eating out/ordering takeout for breakfast, lunch, and dinner $$$
A zillion (more or less) trips to Walgreens or Target             $$$
One or two trips to Chic Baby (girls have to have something to wear)                                                                                       $$$
2 - 4 hours of sleep at night
A house that let’s just say will take a while to clean
Spending precious time with all of my girls           Priceless

Welcome, Hannah Joy!

Yesterday we were blessed to welcome a new little granddaughter into our hearts. Hannah arrived at 10:37 a.m. She weighed in at 6 lbs. 4 oz. and is 19 inches long. Mom and Hannah are both doing well. As you can tell, she is beautiful!

We (Dan, Erin, Katie, Aunt Judy, and myself) arrived at the hospital yesterday morning around 8:30 and were able to spend a little time with Amy and Chris before they took Amy to surgery.

Katie practiced being a “big sister.” It was 4:00 p.m. before we got to go to Amy’s room and see the baby, so it was a looooong day. Katie was terrific, although a little overwhelmed by the hospital and what was going on.

She and Grandpa passed the time until we had news by walking around and looking out the windows.

I don’t know what is going on here, and I’m not sure I like it.

We have a new baby! Notice the “big sister” sticker on Katie. She was more interested in Grammy’s watch.

Aunt Judy took her picture with her IPhone (repeatedly…this is quite the game between Katie and Aunt Judy). Katie then perused her “portfolio” over and over and over… It did pass the time.

Katie hamming it up for the camera. This is what she does when you tell her to “smile pretty.” Of course, we all laugh so she continues to do it.

Finally…at about 4:00 we got to see our new little girl. There was the biggest mix-up with the baby. Amy had a c-section at 10:37. They then took her to recovery on the 5th floor where she stayed until almost 4:00. They took the baby to the 6th floor nursery (where they kept the blinds closed and wouldn’t let the grandparents see in even though we asked politely). So we have no pictures of her being weighed and measured, etc. Grammy was not such a happy camper. When Amy got to her room we all went in to see her and they still did not bring the baby. Every minute that passed I was getting less and less happy. We were all tired and did not want to leave without seeing Hannah. Chris finally went to the nursery and told them that he wanted his baby. She was worth the wait!

The proud grandparents…

Who are these women and what are they doing to me? Give me a break…

 

Mommy and daughter doing well…

Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children. Proverbs 17:6