March 31, 2013

6People12Times...March 2013...

It's been a while since our last 6People12Times post...I hope to keep it up throughout the coming months.

This is a self timer picture taken after church yesterday...before everyone changed out of their "uncomfortable" church clothes (which I think is hilarious...these boys have no idea how easy they have it)!


 

March 27, 2013

I Remember...

Me and Mom Mom.... #flashback

the way she smelled.

That she lovingly called me "Jenny Brooke."

I remember how she would ask me if I needed to "tinkle."

How bedtime was always a little more special at her house because the sheets were always fresh and she took her time tucking me in.

I remember she was always awake before me in the morning at the kitchen table with coffee and a crossword puzzle.

I remember how she would hum as if she were "somewhere else."

I remember her handwriting full of loops and curls that pulled you in close to read the heartfelt words she penned.

I remember how much she loved Ocean City and the "Birds."  I remember her listening to the Orioles game via the radio in the evenings.

I remember that she was a thoughtful gift giver...at Christmas time she gave gifts to her 7 children, their spouses and her 18 grandchildren.

I remember playing rounds and rounds of Skip Bo at her kitchen table.

I remember her dreams of being a writer.

I remember reading through her stories beautifully illustrated in watercolor by my Aunt Patti.

I remember the rejection letters she received but I also remember that she kept on writing.

I remember thinking that she had a great sense of style...what other teenager could raid their grandmothers closet and still have fashions that fit the day?

I remember the devastating story of the death of her first husband, William Penn in a construction accident.

I remember how much she loved the whole family being together.

I remember the way she used to throw her head back in laughter as her kids shared stories from their childhood (some that she was hearing for the first time). 

I remember her encouraging me to marry my best friend.

I remember that even though my grandfather loved me and treated me well...he didn't do the same for her and some of their kids (one of whom was my mom).

I remember my grandfather grilling her about where each penny was spent as he meticously recorded it in his big yellow legal pad.

I remember writing her a note after she went to bed one night telling her that God never intended for her to have to live like this...with someone that treated her so poorly.  I left it on the kitchen table where I knew she would be early the next morning with her coffee and her crossword puzzle.  I remember waking that morning finding a note next to my bed that she had written in response.   

I remembered spending time with her after my grandfathers death.  Helping her look for any money he may have hid since he left her none in his will.  We opened up the safe to find nothing but Sweet and Low packets.  Then we looked all through the sides of waterbed mattress and the dresser drawers still hoping she would find something but instead we found nothingShe voiced her pain, disappointment and frustration.

I remember that she loved Wes the first time she set eyes on him.  She used to say that he must have been born on the 4th of July because God knew he was going to be a firecracker.


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I remember that Wes used to stay at her house when we were dating and he would come to visit and they would play cards late into the night and eat dessert for breakfast.


I remember that she loved babies (she had 7 herself) and said there was nothing better than the precious life of a child.

I remember her excitement over being at the hospital for Micaiah and Joshua's birth and the beautiful letters she wrote to them upon their entrance into this world.  She had such a way with words.

And the beautiful blanket that she handknit for Micaiah...such a labor of love.


I also remember her encouraging me through the terrible twos...saying "You know why God made 2 year olds so cute right?  So you wouldn’t kill them!”

I still remember the note she wrote to me on my birthday that said "God brought you into our lives and you brought God into ours.  Thank you Jen!"

I remember the hope she found in Christ.

I remember that she was never really the same after the death of Kels...it was the beginning of her decline.

I remember going to the appointment at JHH with my mom and aunts when the doctor confirmed what we knew to be true...she was in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.

I remember hearing stories through the years of the house she used to live on near the Pimlico racetrack...”the only house on Only Rd.” 

I remember making it my mission to take her to that house with my uncle a few years ago...watching my uncle knock on the door and explain to the owners that his mom had very fond memories of her childhood home and wanted to see it if they would allow her.



Just newly diagnosed with Alzheimers I remember how a flood of stories came back from places deep within...stories we had never heard as she walked through her childhood home.  My favorite that day...the story of the creaking floorboard by her parents bed and how she and her sisters knew that their dad (my Pop Brunson) was getting out of bed when they heard it...how he used to tease them by stepping on that board so he could hear them run back to their beds giggling.  I remember her going over to the place in the house where her parents bed used to be and checking for that floorboard...I also remember her delight when she heard that familiar creak.


I remember thanking the lovely couple over and over again for them allowing her to come in and look around...I remember explaining to them that she was newly diagnosed with Alzheimers and most of the stories that she could recall at this point were from her childhood so this was such a blessing to us.




I remember slowly watching even those memories fade away and her communication with the ones she loved make less and less sense.  At the beginning there was visible frustration when the words came out differently than she intended.  As time passed it seemed she tried to communicate less and less.

I remember when she forgot my name... 

But does she remember ME now?  Is the warm smile I receive when I visit a sign that she remembers that I am the little girl she used to dress up and stand on her coffee table and tell me that she loved having me and she was never going to take me back home?  



Now when I visit her in the nursing home I find myself trying to find ways for her to "remember" things that were so special to her.  It's one of the reasons I wanted her so badly to see the snow the last time we visited...I remember how she always loved the snow.

March 25, 2013

Spring Snow...

We weren't planning on snow in the middle of March.  Snow this winter had been a bust (4 inches total for the winter months).  So what happens when you pack up all the winter gear into boxes and move it to storage?

You wake up to a beautiful "spring snow" that is begging for you to come and play...

So by 8:30am we had what we needed out of the storage unit and by 9:00am we were sledding on our favorite sledding hill... 

The next few hours were filled with what winter is all about...running up and down the sledding hill...building snow jumps...setting up shields for a "snowball fight"... building a snow man...and warming up with some hot chocolate...
 
Springsnow 2

...so thankful for one last chance to experience all that winter has to offer even if it did come in the middle of March...that's OK, we all get a little mixed up sometimes...

My creation


March 24, 2013

Multitude Monday #3922 - #3950 ...

"Thank Me for the glorious gift of My Spirit.  This is like priming the pump of a well.  As you bring Me the sacrifice of thanksgiving, regardless of your feelings, My Spirit is able to work more freely within you.  This produces more thankfulness and more freedom, until you are overflowing with gratitude." 
Sarah Young

Today along with the Gratitude Community I choose to bring Him the sacrifice of thanksgiving...


...Will's natural curiosity and wonder...


...whispers in the dark...

...singing Set Free LOUD with the boys over and over again...



...as we dance through the house singing Set Free...they decide to try and stay away from the "Mominator" so she won't catch them and kiss them...

...how Eli and Will make "hot chocolate" that will kill the bad guys in the backyard digging area...

...a friends encouragement in some of the difficult things of parenting...

...Will asking (after we finish a bedtime story) "Mommy, will you lay with me for one minute?"...

...and when I say "yes!"...the way he snuggles close...

...Eli's smile...


...Wes' worship filling the house as he sings plays the piano...

...an afternoon at the Pumpkin Theatre 
enjoying the Wizard of Oz...a gift to Wes for his 15 years of service at Kelly...snuggling on the couch with my big boy...an amazing sky...

iPhone 3/25


...rubbing his back at night...

...midday text from Wes...

...Eli's note that he wrote during church today while his daddy was leading worship

Eli's note that he wrote in church today...while his daddy was leading worship. #thiskidloveshisdaddy

...at a "Batman" themed birthday party for a friend...Eli asks...
"Why is everything Batman?"
"Because Ian really likes Batman so he wanted to have a Batman birthday party.  Eli if you had a birthday party right now what would you want on your cake?"
"DAD!"   (see this boy really loves his daddy)...

 ...watching our 10 year old worship the Lord in song...



...an impromptu Sunday morning discussion with the boys about heaven...



...seeing progress...

...organizing and packing...

...seeing this in the distance...



...Josh and Goldie...



...Kelly's Senior Leadership team having fun with the Harlem Shake
(Wes is "Storm Trooper in the back right)...

...the boys response to daddy's video...




...walk through before settlement on Wednesday is complete...
 

  




March 19, 2013

Multitude Monday #3904 - #3921...

"Come and listen, come to the water's edge  
All you who know and fear the Lord  
Come and listen, come to the water's edge 
All you who are thirsty, come
Let me tell you what He has done for me..."




 Today along with the Gratitude Community...I invite you to come and listen to what He's done...

...listening to Come and Listen over and over again until it becomes a song of praise from deep within...

...morning road race...
He may not be allowed to have his license until he's 21...Morning road race...
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...homeschooling support from a lead math teacher at the Jemicy School

...Will's love and support when Eli is sad...

Will trying to comfort sad Eli...


...an afternoon at the park...




...a game of baseball...




...help with the kids for a weekend...

...that we were able to pray and talk through his anxiety...

...that he went into his room for the weekend and asked Jesus to be with Him so he wouldn't be afraid... 

...a weekend to pack...

Our new reality...#moving


...Wes' multiple trips to fill up our storage bin...

...a free afternoon...

...participating in a Giant commercial filming (to air in April)...



Saturday night date...

...prayers answered...

...these boys becoming fast friends...







...Micaiah home on Spring Break...

...help in the kitchen...



...this collage of cookie dough eating boys...


  




March 12, 2013

Multitude Monday #3879 - #3903...

"We must stand not with self-made strength but always leaning upon Him.  And our stand must exhibit a trust that would never dare to take even one step alone.  This will teach us to trust more."
Streams in the Desert



Today along with the Gratitude Community... I will praise Him for His gifts this past week so that in days to come I can look back and REMEMBER to trust the one who is the same yesterday...today and forever...

...an unexpected "snow" day...

...all the boys home...

...participating in a writing group with a wonderful group of women that challenge and encourage me to move toward healing...

...Micaiah playing drums in the morning...

...Wes playing the piano at night... 

...Saturday morning breakfast getting to know a sweet sister in Christ...

...dinner with close friends...

...conversation that soothes the soul...

...taking time to help Eli "fly" on the front swing...

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...nothing major came up on the inspection of our new house...

...thinking on this..."Trust God's word and His power more than you trust your own feelings and experiences.  Remember, your Rock is Christ, and it is the sea that ebbs and flows with the tides, not Him...spread your sails toward the storm and trust in Him who rules the raging seas."...

...my husbands diligent work on the paperwork for buying our new home and selling our current home...

...my brother and sister in law that aren't phased when I call at the last minute to see if Micaiah could come stay for the weekend to "kick off" his spring break...

...our front swing...

...a night out with Wes...to talk long over dinner...

...his excitement over Beni's letter (one of our Compassion Kids in Indonesia)

Joshua's letter from his friend Beni in Indonesia! #compassioninternational

 ...our housechurch...and the willingness of friends to admit when they are not fine...

...reading this today...after reflecting on this very thought after housechurch last night...
"Jesus is in the business of making all things new...admitting our failures doesn’t make us immune. Or cancel the loss. Or restore the missing.
But sometimes saying it out loud is an invitation to the God who already knows to lay Himself down in our rips and tears and hold us together – often through the arms of our friends. The people who’ve heard us whisper, un-fine.
It’s time to be brave now.
It’s time."
lisa-jo baker

...warmer weather...

...afternoon at the park... 

...time of prayer for friends and their family... 

...finding this gem of me and my grandmother in the 80's...makes me realize how much I hate Alzheimers!

Me and Mom Mom.... #flashback


...brothers part 2...

...daylight after dinner...

...baseballs and bats...a sure sign spring is on it's way...



  




March 7, 2013

Brothers Part 2...


Last week I posted pictures of the three younger brothers together while Micaiah was at school...here are a few updated pictures of all of the boys being goofy.






March 6, 2013

Our Front Swing...

...Will swinging with Daddy...




March 4, 2013

Multitude Monday #3860 - #3878...

Today along with the Gratitude Community... I will praise Him for His gifts this past week...

...first day of March!!!...
It's March!!!


...coming across this quote and feeling encouraged...
"There is no such thing as the quick or perfect fix. But a slow accumulation of days with different choices."...
lisa jo baker

...his little craft about Zaccheus and how he tells me the story of how he was mean and then after he had dinner with Jesus he gave back the money...

...watching friends choose reconciliation...absolutely beautiful and only because of our Father...

...fun with math and geoboards...

...josh's gentle way...

...a friends email with Proverbs 31 link...

...Josh's CBS lesson fitting right in line just a couple of hours later...
"6 He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you." Luke 17:6
...a friends text of prayer...

...tears as I read emails that confirms what the Lord had been telling us... 

...reading this...oh how it resonated with me and where we have been these last few months...
"I could go with the wind. I can accept not knowing where I am going because I’m accepted.
Embrace the unknown, because I am embraced...It’s not the knowing where you’re headed that matters — but that you are known and He has your hand. You don’t have to know where you are flying to — only Who you are flying into."
 Ann Voskamp

...dancing in the kitchen with Will...

...boys singing the same song from different parts of the house...


...him and the speed bumps...
Speed bumps...


...how we prayed and felt the Lord nudging us to take a step of faith and make an offer on a house we kept coming back to and the seller accepted our initial offer...

...friends watching the boys while I run to the grocery store...

...josh's horse lesson...
Joshua, Ms. Nicole and "Goldie"...


 ...brothers...


...this video below in the early morning...