Visiting Mom in the Hospital and Forever Love

 Well darn it, my Mom ended up in the hospital on Thursday.  She had a cough that got worse, so my Dad took her to the doctor and she ended up getting admitted.  They thought it was pneumonia, but luckily it wasn't.  She did have a high heart rate, so they moved her to the cardiac unit to monitor her.  I had already made plans to come to their house with Nathan on Thursday evening so we could watch the Royal Wedding together on Friday morning.  We would still be able to see her, just not at their house.  Dad & I got up at 4:30am to watch it - so beautiful!  When Charles and Diana were married all those years ago, I was actually in Britain visiting with my godparents at the time.  I would have loved to have been there for this one too!
  

For those of you not on facebook, this was the buzz going on -  

 Use your royal wedding guest name. Start with either Lord or Lady. First name: one of your grandparents' names. Surname: the name of your first pet. Then "of" and the name of the street you grew up on. 

Please refer to me as... Lady Gwynneth Tigerlilly of Wembrough

We went to visit Mom in the afternoon, where we were entertained by Nathan showing us his Tae Kwon Do, high block!


 

 

Saying goodbye to Oma, praying she sleeps better tonight - it's been a rough week for her.



 
   


On the way home from the hosptial, we stopped at the Fruit Bowl so I could get a few goodies for Nathan.  We had followed a train through Cumberland and here's Nathan watching it go by while waiting for me.

Here's my latest finished Oakhaven SAL.  Perfect for my next comment - While in the hospital, the elderly woman in the other bed was sleeping when we got there.  Her family came in later, but we had closed the curtains so didn't see them with her.  A priest came to pray with them and we heard that they have been married for 65 years!  About that time, Nathan was tired of watching his movies and decided it was time to roam the halls.  So from going in and out of the door, I saw them together - her in bed and him sitting by her side holding her hand.  It was so precious and touching to see the love that they still have after all these years.  What a picture that would have made and had even thought about asking if my Dad could take one, but didn't want to seem crazy intrude on them.  I figured Nathan was enough, but she did seem to enjoy watching him run about.

A blessed Easter

Peaking through the trees, is my Mother's chapel.  She has rheumatoid arthritis and basically has no immune system.  So my Dad had this chapel built for her to enjoy without the worries of going out and getting sick. 

This means The Little Chapel and my Mother's name is Ulrike. 

She spends up to two hours every day there.

 

 

My Dad gave this to my Mother today for Easter - it's hanging on the outside of the chapel, on the side.

 

This is the alter of the chapel.  Dad can't seem to stop giving her angels.  You can never have enough!

And here we are in the chapel, just before heading out to the lake.

Have a blessed Easter!

"For Easter is more than a beautiful story, it's the promise of life and eternal glory" Helen Steiner Rice

Buzz Inn at Deep Creek Lake

 

Welcome to Buzz Inn, named for Paul's college mascot, Buzz, from Georgia Tech.

 

Paul's Mom bought this house the second year we were dating, way back in 1991.  Since then, it's been painted at least once and the deck stained once - but the wood has been rotting away and needed some kind of facelift.

One weekend last September, we packed up the house and moved everything out into two storage pods that were placed on the driveway. 

 So here we have the removal of the old wooden siding.  I think it only took a couple of days to take it all off.  It looks so naked!

The roof was raised and three rooms and one bathroom were added to the upstairs.  The boys have their own bedroom now - it has two double bunk beds!  The middle room/great room will be for games and more relaxing.  I'm hoping to accomplish a lot of stitching in that room - maybe even this weekend after the furniture is moved in!




This is the finished house, they are just working on finishing up the deck and adding the stairs.  We are here with the extended family to enjoy a blessed Easter together, even my parents will join us on Sunday.

Spring, Games & family

Here we have our bunny flag out, I'm so glad the weeping cherry cooperated!









I made this little hatched bunny for my parents, way back in 1989.  My Dad found it in a drawer somewhere in the house.. I wonder what else is hidden that I've forgotten about??

The boys are on Easter break this week, so yesterday afternoon we headed over to Oma & Opa's house to spend some time with them before heading to the lake later in the week.  

 When Nathan was "playing" Monopoly with Oma, she kept landing in jail and he thought it was funny!  To avoid Nathan landing in jail, she suggested that he pray not to get a number that would land him there.  So he did, and God said no at least once!  But you must know, this is also the little boy who reminds us when we haven't said our prayers at dinner. 

 

Here they are playing a matching memory game, no praying needed for this one.  He was pretty good today considering it was raining heavy at times and we were stuck inside - so much for collecting wood for a fire outside.  Tomorrow is supposed to be nicer with only a 40% chance of rain, so I might be getting some marshmallows yet!

  If you haven't noticed by now, my Dad loves to take pictures!  Even though we grumble, it is always nice to see them later.  We're just missing Paul in this one, he had to stay home to work, but will join us later in the week at the lake.






I don't know which one is the naughtiest of the three, they all have their moments!  But we'll keep 'em, they're cute!

  

Yellow Stripe Belts

 Tae Kwon Do / Hapkido

 So here's Nathan on the left after receiving his yellow stripe belt at almost 4 1/2 and Griffin & Garrett on right after receiving their yellow stripe belts at age 5.

Look at those blondies!  And oh boy, do they look like their Dad... when he had hair!

 

Now we're off to watch the gmen play arena football, only the rough stuff for them now!

SAL and an 88th Birthday!

I finally started the monthly Oakhaven SAL, just a little late.  I kept seeing it on other blogs and decided to join in since they were so cute!  I've finished January and have started working on February.  It shouldn't take me long to catch up, although I am behind on my Margaret Sherry Culinary Cats. 

Nana's birthday was on Sunday, she is an amazing 88 years young!  She came to the boys arena football game on Saturday (they won) and then joined us Sunday to listen to the boys play in their school band festival.  Here's what the band teacher had to say on the performance, 
 "The Symphonic Band sounded very polished on their pieces…especially the slow sections.  The slow sections are the hardest to make sound pretty and musical and they did very well.
Both bands received a rating of Superior which is the highest rating a band can receive.  This is our 14th consecutive year of receiving this top rating at the Baltimore festival."  Great job, guys!

We wanted to take Nana out to dinner for her birthday, but she insisted on making it instead - chicken and dumplings.

As soon as Nathan saw her starting to make something, he was right there.  Although he thought she was making cookies since she had the mat and rolling pin out!  

So here she is, teaching Nathan how to make dumplings.  He was having fun, until he saw Gammy decorating Nana's cake!

But sadly, the dumplings didn't turn out the way she had hoped - she thinks it was the chicken broth in a can that she added.  Good think I had noodles on hand.  But she did end up making cinnamon/sugar roll with the leftover dough!

And here she is with her helpers to blow out the candles.

I had already made her a birthday card and the boys each made one, but I thought this one might put a smile on her face!  I can only wonder what she'll be dreaming about tonight!
Happy Birthday Nana, you are an amazing woman and we love you dearly.

Easter Swap Goodies!

 

Wow, I received my Easter swap goodies from Sherry @ Blessings From Our Nest and they are wonderful!  A big soft pillow, a sachet that has lavender in it from her garden, an adorable chick postcard wall hanging, a music note nest w/eggs, 2 candles, orange/chocolate eggs, peanut butter/chocolate "pie", and of course, a cute little chick!  Thank you so much, Sherry, I love everything you sent.

Here are my goodies, set up in the dining room.  This is where we eat all our meals, so it's nice to be able to see it every day - and it smells good too!  I have behaved so far and have only had one orange/chocolate egg - but need to watch the rest or a little one who shall remain nameless Nathan, will get his little fingers on them!  BTW, the egg was so good, I hope the Easter Bunny leaves me a few more!

Even the box my goodies came in was a hit, Ming liked sitting in there with the paper and she now smells amazing! 

If you’d like to see what I gave Mollye, check it out @ Fruit of the Spirit BUT, she may not get it until tomorrow.  I was so picky on what I wanted to stitch and then had to figure out how to finish it, that I ended up sending it a little late.  I did let her know and hopefully she will forgive me!  

Thanks again for hosting this Parsley, what fun!

The Gmen have a Birthday! *new pic*

 Thanks for the birthday wishes!  Here's their "official" birthday picture.  Griffin (L) can be a grump when having his picture taken and Garrett (R) has his moments!  The Cheesecake Factory was a hit - leftovers were brought home and even some cheesecake.  I don't have to make their actual birthday cakes until they celebrate it during the summer with some friends.

 No way can these two cute little blond boys be 13 years old today!  That's Garrett in the back and Griffin up front.  I love this picture of them, especially since their Dad is a "rocket scientist"!  
What am I going to do with two teenagers in the house - not that the attitude hasn't already begun.  Their voices have started to change and Nathan has asked them why they have fuzzy hair on their upper lip!  I'm taking him to the store today so he can pick out birthday presents for his brothers and he says he wants to get them Legos.  Never to old for that!
I'll be taking a birthday picture of them later today, and I'm sure they'll be complaining about it too.  Hard to believe that they were born six weeks early and are now taller than me, and eat, eat, eat!  Looks like we're headed to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner tonight to celebrate, yum... cheesecake.

New Moon TUSAL for April

Wow, is it really April?!  Are those really blossoms from our Weeping Cherry Tree?  Yeah baby!


My dragon glass is growing and that's what happens when I stop playing games on the computer and actually stitch!

 My friend, Nina, had services for her Mother today.  If only it wasn't so far away, I would have gone.  But the family was in my thoughts and prayers.

 2011 New Moon Dates: January 4th, February 3rd, March 4th, April 3rd, May 3rd, June 1st, July 1st, July 30th, August 29th, September 27th, October 26, November 25th, December 24th

Prayers, please! *3rd Update*

Late 3/31 Per Nina - Just an update, my mom was an organ donor, so we are now waiting for a surgeon to come in and harvest her kidneys and her corneas. This will take place tomorrow morning at 11:30. My aunt is here, she was able to see mom this evening. Hug the ones you love and remember to tell them. Thanks for the prayers, please keep them coming.

3/31 Per Nina - We have a very difficult day ahead of us, decisions have been made to terminate my mother's life support. Due to the stroke she has suffered severe brain damage. She would never return the fabulous, glitzy woman she was, thank you all for your prayers . Please keep them coming the next few days are going to be hard.

3/30, This is from Nina this morning - My mom is not doing good! They have taken her off sedation and she is not responsive. We need a miracle. They will be doing an EEG and a second cat scan, will update you all later! Please keep praying. 
It will be at least 48 hours before we will know if she is going to wake up, I'm so blessed to have such great friends and family to keep our spirits up.
 
After arriving here at 5:45 this morning, we are at the hotel. going to have dinner and get some rest. We are awating the results of some tests. But so far my mom is not responsive to any kind of stimulation. Keep the prayers coming..

Please pray for GBusy, she had a stroke today and is now on life support.  This is my girlfriend Nina's mother and she lives in North Carolina.  Nina and family are traveling there tonight, it's about a 7-8 hour drive - please pray for their safe journey and that they can make it there to say goodbye if that's what's meant to be.

She came to the boys "Superbowl" football game in the fall and she was as rowdy as everyone else!  She's got a lot more BUSY in her, please Lord, let her show it! 

Amish and More Quilts

Amish farming is hard work!

This is still in Lancaster, but taken at our last girls weekend.  I think the open buggies with children in them are the best, but this one went right by the house we were staying in.

 Here are some more of HJ's quilts, I think this one might just be my favorite.  I love the colours of fall and the leaves on this quilt are only sewn down the middle so they "flap"!  Love it!











How cute are her jars of fruits and veggies?  Although I'm thinking they may be better filled with chocolate and candy for my house!

  

Looking back, I really should have written down the the type of quilts they were when she was telling us.  So, if you're interested, I'll find out.

This is only a portion of what HJ has made, many have been given away and I didn't take pictures of every one she had there.  


HJ helped me finish a gift for my BFF while we were there, but I still need to get the hanging supplies before I give it to her and show it.  She did a fantastic job and even though she asked if I wanted to do it, I was lacking in confidence.  It sure looked easy, but we'll see how it looks when I try it!

 

Another fabulous weekend and we are already planning our next one!  I think some antique shopping is in our future too.

Quilts and a finished SAL!

After the quilt show, after lunch at Good 'N Plenty, after shopping at the Amish and/or Mennonite quilt shops, after spending the night in Lancaster, after shopping at some of the outlet stores, and finally, after another quilt shop and then lunch... we finally headed back to HJ's!  
HJ retired in December and moved to Pennsylvania from Virginia.  She moved next to her son and his family, into the nicest little house which has a HUGE craft/quilting room.  
She might be in the middle of nowhere, but she's in her own world here!

Here she is, showing her stuff.  She has made some beautiful quilts and I'll show you more on my next post.  Bet you didn't know that animals love shoes too!

 

I met DJ & Marie today to do some stitching and finally finished my first Margaret Sherry cat! I think my problem was that I was trying to make it look more like Max and couldn't quite get it right. Although it looks like there is a stain to the left of the cake, there is something wrong with the camera, not the fabric! 

I'm not sure if Max really cares for it, or maybe he's just interested in the cake!