Faith, Family and Friends

I Will Be a Better Mother~

There are women that become mothers without effort, without thought, without patience or loss and though they are good mothers and love their children, I know that I will be better.

I will be better not because of genetics, or money or that I have read more books but because I have struggled and toiled for this child.

I have longed and waited. I have cried and prayed. I have endured and planned over and over again. Like most things in life, the people who truly have appreciation are those who have struggled to attain their dreams.

I will notice everything about this child. I will take time to watch my child sleep, explore, and discover. I will marvel at this miracle every day for the rest of my life.

I will be happy when I awake in the middle of the night to the sound of my child, knowing that I can comfort, hold and feed him and that I am not waking to take another temperature, pop another pill, take another shot, or cry tears of a broken dream. My dream will be crying for me.

I count myself in this sense; that God has given me this insight, this special vision with which I will look upon my child that my friends will not see. Whether I parent a child I actually give birth to or a child that God leads me to, I will not be careless with my love. I will be a better mother for all that I have endured.

I am a better wife, a better aunt, a better daughter, neighbor, friend and sister because I have known pain. I know disillusionment as I have been betrayed by my own body. I have been tried by fire and hell many never face, yet given time, I stood tall. I have prevailed. I have succeeded. I have won.

So now when others hurt around me, I do not run from their pain in order to save myself discomfort. I see it, mourn it, and join them in theirs. I listen. And even though I cannot make it better, I can make it less lonely. I have learned the immense power of another hand holding tight to mine, of other eyes that moisten as they learn to accept the harsh truth and when life is beyond hard.

I have learned a compassion that only comes with walking in those shoes. I have learned to appreciate life. Yes, I will be a wonderful mother. ~Author Unknown

Thank you, Shawna, for posting this tonight on your site. My heartfelt prayers are with you and Daniel as you travel this path. I have been there, and it is not an easy one. My Jenny was the only child I was able to carry to term, and it took five years to become pregnant with her.

Johnny and I suffered a miscarriage during the fall of '88. {We were to suffer one more, a total of four, but I carried this child the longest.} Our child would have been twenty this month. I think on this each spring and wonder what he or she would have looked like, what dreams they would have held in their heart. I have always, always hated the words "we lost the baby", for we don't lose them. We know where they are, where they have returned. They are simply gone from us but for a while. We will see them again, if we live a worthy life. And I so intend to live that life, to see those children that are mine, and to be reunited once more.

The Little Girl and The Wolf
by James Thurber
One afternoon a big wolf waited in a dark forest
for a little girl to come along
carrying a basket of food to her grandmother.
Finally a little girl did come along
and she was carrying a basket of food.
"Are you carrying that basket to your grandmother?" asked the wolf.
The little girl said yes, she was.
So the wolf asked her where her grandmother lived
and the little girl told him
and he disappeared into the wood.
When the little girl opened the door of her grandmother's house
she saw that there was somebody in bed
with a nightcap and nightgown on.
She had approached no nearer than twenty-five feet from the bed
when she saw that it was not her grandmother
but the wolf, for even in a nightcap a wolf does not look
any more like your grandmother
than the Metro-Goldwyn lion looks like Calvin Coolidge.
So the little girl took an automatic out of her basket
and shot the wolf dead.

Moral ~ It is not so easy to fool little girls nowadays as it used to be.

A big 'thank you' to Michael Erfman tonight for the second biggest laugh of my day! The following post will clue in to why Michael is the second~

I Laughed And Laughed!

If you read Jenny's blog, then you've already seen this.

But for those of you that haven't, I just have to share!

John always seems to be the first one to tell me

that Jenny has a new post on their family site.

Tonight, he couldn't wait for me to get there.

And yes, I laughed.

And laughed.

First, there was this snapshot of Ian and his crush.

I laughed, but thought 'The Look' was too cute~

And then I got to this snapshot.

Ian is giving his 'fans' a thumbs up.

Oh yes, he loves watching the crowd~

I laughed. I really laughed this time.

And then, I scrolled to this picture.

And totally lost it. Truly, I lost it.

Apparently he is 'stretching' before the kick.

Whatever, it still rocked my soul.

Do you think kids have any idea how funny they are?!!

I recently asked my friend's little girl what she wanted to be when she grew up. She said she wanted to be President some day. Both of her parents, liberal Democrats, were standing there, so I asked her, 'If you were President, what would be the first thing you would do?'

She replied, 'I'd give food and houses to all the homeless people.' Her parents beamed. 'Wow...what a worthy goal.' I told her, 'But you don't have to wait until you're President to do that. You can come over to my house and mow the lawn, pull weeds, and sweep my yard, and I'll pay you $50. Then I'll take you over to the grocery store where the homeless guy hangs out, and you can give him the $50 to use toward food and a new house.'

She thought that over for a few seconds, then she looked me straight in the eye and asked, 'Why doesn't the homeless guygo over

and do the work, and you can just pay him the $50?'

I said, 'Welcome to the Republican Party.'

Her parents still aren't speaking to me.

[Thanks to Deborah Aldridge for the laugh today!}

Here's come Petter CottonTail,

hoppin' down the bunny trail.

Hippity, hoppity, Easter's on its' way~

Heather Thomas Houston, mother of Audrey Kay,

daughter of Kay Dozier Thomas, and . . .

prior student aide of Nancy McClain Hood!

She was the best, and went on to become

a first rate second grade teacher!!!

We have become best friends~

Thanks for stopping by downtown to see me

and allowing Audrey Kay to show off her cuteness!!

Come back to see me!!!

Joke Gone Bad ~

Hope yours has been a funny one!

Let's Help Jerry's Kids~

May 7th, I will be 'locked up' for Jerry's kids.

Those of you that I have an email address for have already been sent a note asking for your help. I will be "arrested, escorted by police to a local holding area, given a bite to eat, and held under house arrest until bond has been reached". Please help by sending a donation to this awesome cause.

Here are some statistics ~

**MDA is a national voluntary health agency working to defeat neuromuscular diseases through programs of worldwide research,

comprehensive services, and far-reaching professional & public health education.

**MDA has been recognized with a Lifetime Achievement Award for "significant and lasting contributions to the health and welfare of humanity".

**Tens of thousands of people affected by neuromuscular diseases visit MDA's 225 hospital-affiliated clinics and 37 ALS/MDA centers every year.

**MDA dedicates 77 cents of every dollar it spends directly to services.

**MDA sent more than 4,200 kids with neuromuscular diseases to MDA summer camps in 2008, at a cost to MDA of $800 per camper. There is no charge to campers' families.

MDA provide vital services such as:
**MDA Summer Camp - A magical week of fun
**Outpatient Clinics- Families see the top specialists for their disease
**Medical Equipment - Providing mobility and independence through communication devices, wheelchairs and leg braces
**Support Groups - Families and the people MDA serve sharing and caring together
**Research - Hope for the future

The one having me arrested chose to remain anonymous, however I am proud to do what I can to help this worthy cause. Please help me help Jerry's kids by clicking on the above picture. This will take you to my website where you can donate with a listed amount or one of your choosing. May we all take time to acknowledge our many blessings and the One that makes everything possible~

with love,

Nancy

Red Envelope Day~

There is an email traveling across the nation.

The idea is to send an empty red envelope

to President Obama representing all

the aborted babies with the following

written on the outside of the envelope:

"This envelope represents one child who died in abortion.

It is empty because that life was unable to offer anything

to the world. Responsibility begins with conception."

The President’s address is:
President Barack Obama

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.

Washington , D.C. 20500

Put your return address on the envelope.

Without a return address, the post office

will not deliver to the White House.

Seal and mail the empty envelope.

Mail this Tuesday, March 31.

Why stop it there? Why not send red envelopes

to your elected officials?! If red envelopes are hard to find,

they can be made from red cardstock. Click here

to be directed to a link that will give you a template.

It already has the wording on it.All you need do

is copy it on red paper, cut it out,

paste the tabs and address.

I feel strongly about this and will send out

my red envelope in the morning.

I wish you would, too. Together,

we CAN make a difference~

This Is My Baby~

and God brought this man into her life,

into our lives~

and they have gifted us with,

two precious grandsons~

one a bit sillier than the other~

but they bring such joy each time
we can all be together,
which is normally on Sunday afternoons~

I hope your Sunday was as much fun

and filled with as much laughter,

as ours was this weekend.

So, this is Noah.

He is our third grandson,

our fourth grandchild.

He is a funny child.

A very affectionate child,

a let-me-see-if-I-can-irritate-Ian child,

but also a silly, funny, happy child.

Jenny said he put this costume together

all by himself. I can believe that.

Now that the storms are past,

and we didn't get blown away,

I thought we'd celebrate

with something to laugh about.

So here's Noah~

And if you aren't smiling,

then you seriously need some meds.

strong storms

low 64 degrees F

precip: 100%

tornado watch until 5 am

saturday, march 28th

So, this is what I saw tonight

when I looked up our weather forcast.

Meridian, MS is being pounded

as I write this. We spoke with Leslie,

earlier, and there was much damage

in a small town where friends live.

It will be interesting to see

how many times the sirens go off

tonight and through tomorrow.

This small town of ours

still becomes fearful when storms

roar through ~ making national news

wasn't fun for east Prattville in '08.

Now John & I reside in east Prattville.

Just might be an interesting time~

On a funnier note!

Ian came into Jenny's room this morning, asking her to help 'untangle him'. She posted these snapshots on their blog tonight and I laughed out loud when I saw them. Don't you just love kids?! Apparently, he got to playing with his Mardi Gras beads and couldn't decide how to get them off.

Yeah, he's tangled up pretty good.