A Christmas Letter to My Grandchildren

Sea BreezesDear Henley, Lander, Paisley, Kennedy, Whit,
You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, MeMe is telling you why; Santa Claus is coming to town!

MeMe knows because I saw Santa Claus at school today, and he told me is coming down your chimney very, very soon.

Santa stopped by my classroom, and we had our picture taken together. He said to tell you all that you need to be good boys and girls, leave cookies and milk out on Christmas Eve, jump into your jammies and go to bed early.

Merry Christmas darlings. I love you more than snowmen.

Love,

MeMe



L

Still Giving Thanks

Sea BreezesOkay, Thanksgiving is over, but this MeMe is still giving thanks. I think it is going to be a permanent condition for me. I am still thankful for our family. I am so thankful that our Christmas cards feature our oh so cute family of 10 kids. Here are some memories of our Giving of Thanks week. First of all, we have the thankful parents/grandparents who are the perfect age and shape for grandparenting,

Little Lambs and Thanksgivings

Sea BreezesThanksgiving at our home was...well....thankful. For the past few days our home has been full, loud, chaotic, messy, busy. For the last few days this MeMe has been thankful, deliriously happy, cooking, kitchen cleaning, baby holding, baby rocking, book reading, book reading, grand baby hugging, grand baby hand holding, children admiring, grandchildren admiring, story telling, story repeating telling, listening to grandchildren, searching for "My Mommies" and towel washing. I have participated in porch cat hunting, lizard hunting, frog hunting, grand dog hunting, and wagon pulls. We have managed to throw in front porch sitting, after kids have gone to bed grown up drinking binges, uncontrolled laughter, raccoon meeting, nonstop kitchen cleaning, three runs to the grocery store on Turkey Day, neighborhood walks, family photos at the neighborhood dock on the marsh, sand gnat attacks on children, throw up pans, a couple of time out threats, only one spanking threat and tree climbing children. We threw in a 22 pound turkey eat, six eaten pies, a completely gone strawberry cake, and a honey baked ham that looks ready to feed to the bears. We had time for cartoon marathons, family slide show pictures on the big TV and a dinner out in town. Life does not get any better for this MeMe and Pops. Cousins sat at the children's table together and on grown up laps. Tears were wiped as well as noses. Bottoms were thrown up and changed and babies were bathed, rocked and nursed. Loud was the adjective for four plus days. Tired grandparents who sat to take a break were handed books and up stretched arms were accompanied by tiny voices that demanded "READ book." Little lambs roamed the chaos bleating "I want my mommy." Somehow amid the clutter, the little lambs found the right ewe mommies. That is the image from this Thanksgiving 2008 that will stay with me always.
Thank you, loving Father,for my precious family. I bow my head to your love in awe that you would bless this lowly servant with such riches of a beautiful precious and loving family.Each child is unique and lovely. With the giving of thanks, we love you all.

Thanksgiving For Our TEN Children!!

Sea BreezesI am so thankful. Besides grandchildren growing, children are growing older. Youngest child Patrick turned 22 in October. When did that happen? Katie is 30. Blake is 34. I am so glad we have our children. They are my joy and my reason to love life. Thanks guys, for all the years of your childhoods and for giving us our beautiful son and daughter- in- love and five precious grandchildren. The whole gang is coming for Thanksgiving. This MeMe is so full of thanks, she needs the sky to hold all the thanks.We are going to have a blast. Enjoy the picture of Patrick enjoying his post-birthday dinner at Skipper's on our beautiful Darien River.

Growing Grandchildren

Sea BreezesLittle grandchildren are growing. We recently drove up to Maryville to see the three Tennessee grandbabies. When did they get so big? We had a blast. Tonya and Blake and kids were in the process of moving back into their newly refurbished home. They had been staying in a friend's condo for two months. We moved stuff, celebrated Paisley's third birthday at their church, went to Lander's soccer game, entertained sick with a virus Henley and helped where we could. The new house is fabulous and we were so glad to see the Tennessee gang and the "new" home. The mountains were full of color and fall. I have a lot of posting to catch up on as my computer has been ill for several weeks. Enjoy the pics of our trip to The Smokies and our Tennesee family.

The Continued Tail of the Porch Cat

Sea BreezesThis is the continued "tail" of the porch cat, Sappy. From our bedroom window, this is what I saw as I peeped out to take a look at Saturday morning.Sappy was already at work, keeping a watch on the porch and greeting anything that came her way, including the early morning sun. I started thinking about how her talent at porch catting showed up soon after we adopted her from the humane shelter. Remember, I went to get us a mouser/moler for the moles that have taken residence in our yard. Her sweet meow and gook looks drew me to her and home with me she came. After a couple of weeks, she spent her first day outside on the front porch, off the screened porch, where she still sleeps at night. Screened porch catting is for another blog. Right away, her talent for front porch catting became apparent. When I left for work, she was sitting under the ceiling fan, perched on a comfy chair, a slight breeze stirring her fur, with half closed eyes and switching tail. When I came home I found her on the front porch, sitting under the ceiling fan, perched on a comfy chair, a slight breezed stirring her fur, with half closed eyes and switching tail. There were several dead bugs laying around and a dead frog, proof that she had multi-tasked. But there she was, held tight to her job of porch catting. Every day that goes by, we see what a natural she is for the job. Steamy heat, hurricane winds, sea breezy summer days, drippy weekends, she is still on the job. Porch cat she is. As far as her talent for mousing/moling..well, we aren't sure yet. Sappy has been too busy catting the front porch. If I had to write a job description for a professional front porch cat, it might read like this:
Front porch cat wanted. No experience required. Will train on the job. Requirements: must be able to work in all weather conditions, must have excellent communication skills, love people, hate insects, birds and dogs and love porches, sitting and nothing doing. Room and board included as salary and all medical needs provided. Living space includes screened porch and indoor (liter box) plumbing. All utilities included and also cable, Internet and unlimited love. Please inquire on the front porch.
Sappy got the job, and she and we couldn't be happier. She is an excellent porch cat. If you don't believe it, drive by our house anytime of any day, and there she will be. On the porch, on the chair, porch catting.

Party Like A Little Girl!

Sea Breezes Dear Readers, I last left you with an underwater post, underwater in my teaching job! We are beginning to surface! I spent Saturday with some of my colleagues at a pool party. We played like little girls. All of us teachers took the day off and played at Christy's lovely pool. The day was hot, humid and blue skied...the perfect day for a pool party. Thank you Christy. We had a blast. Working is fun, but resting with friends is fun too. The start of the school year is always busy and takes all our combined effort to get things moving forward for the kids. We had our first 4 1/2 week grade report due last Friday on our new software program that presented glitch after glitch, but we did it! I am reminded of how important it is to take time from our jobs and play every once in a while. My play continued into Sunday. Harold and I put the top down on the convertible, loaded the beach chairs and went to St. Simons to sit and watch the tide roll in. We had lunch a favorite beach side barbecue shack, and for the next three hours, we watched sail boats slide by in the ocean breezes and sunk out toes into the sand. A playful weekend for me. Monday will come soon enough. Take a little time this week and play! Enjoy some party shots.

I am So Thankful I Can Swim!

Sea BreezesI am so thankful I can swim! These first few days of school, all of us teachers have been treading water. We are so slammed this year with meeting after meeting, paperwork on top of paperwork, reports due, email overload and a new systemwide computer program to learn, complete with a new live online gradebook. Did I mention lesson plans, department meetings, curriculum team meetings and uh.....teaching? We are living day by day, and we all know we will survive. But, we love our jobs! I am just glad I can swim, so I will tread a few more days and then the storm will be over. Storm thoughts...Hurricane Fay is on her way here. We are all waiting to see if school will be canceled and if we will have a hurricane day. Please pray for us all as she rolls through the next few hours. Our little community is already reeling from the Mother's Day toranado which did major damage to businesses and many local boats. A sign down the road from us reads "Pray for Fay to go away."

Girlfriends Are The Best Friends

Sea BreezesI am so blessed in so many ways. Today was one of those days I really appreciate my blessings. I spent the day with my "collegues", the wonderful beach babes I work with at school. What a great group of precious friends. We managed to meet at the beach and stayed there ALL day. We come from all parts of the country, all backgrounds, and we are the best of friends.....and we get to work and play together and live in this beautiful place. We stayed so long the tide went out and I do declare was on its way back in when we all packed up to go home. Some live on the island, others not, but we are all within a 20-30 minute drive of our favorite St. Simons beach. We even made plans to go visit the beach together after school this year. What fun! We talked about everything under the sun, laughed, solved each other's problems, answered questions and shared teaching tips. Kate whistled at a passing dolphin who turned her head toward us, amazing! We watched big ships come and go and sailboats dancing in the wind. All of this under a blue cloud dotted sky and a soothing sea breeze tickling our hair. We found sand dollars and bobbed in the waves. A fun day. I will go to school in the morning and work on my room, but I think I will sneak back to the beach. Don't tell! Enjoy some shots of the precious beach babes of Brunswick High.

What I Am Doing For The Rest of the Summer

Sea Breezes"What are you doing the rest of the summer?" I went over to school today to find out the current status of my room and was asked this question. I am posting pictures to show what I am doing with the precious few days left of my summer and where I can be found before the school bells ring again. As for the status of my room at school, a mess. I changed rooms and all of my stuff plus the other teacher's stuff who was in there before me, well, her stuff has not been moved to her new room. So, I can't work at school, so tomorrow I am heading to blue water. Anybody wants me, call the pool or the beach. I'll be the one doing the least at either place. Happy summer!

Please Welcome Whitfield Daniel Olliff

Sea BreezesOur new grandson, Whitfield Daniel Olliff was born on Thursday, July 17, 2008. He weighed a hefty 8 pounds and 5 ounces. Whit, as he will be called, is beautiful. His "big sister", Kennedy, loves him and is being very gentle with him. He is having a bit of a jaundice problem, and of this writing, he is back in the hospital under bili lights to bring his levels down to normal. His Mommy and Daddy are doing a wonderful job parenting and handling this setback. MeMe is home with big sister and the other grandparents and Aunt Wookie are at the hospital, so this little family has lots of support. Please lift baby Whit and his family in your prayers for a quick and speedy recovery and to come home and be a family together really soon. Enjoy some pictures of this precious new life and his family. Welcome to the world Whit! You are loved!

The Tale of the Porch Cat

Sea Breezes Every country porch needs a porch cat. There is something nostalgic about walking up on a big open porch and spotting a country kitty lounging away a summer day on a breezy porch. Our country porch has a porch kitty. She is supposed to be a moler, but she is busy being a porch cat and that job takes all her time. Sappy our new cat has taken to her porch cat job with gusto. Every morning she heads for the woods to do a little hunting. With hunting out of the way, she gets down to the serious job of porch catting. Porch catting involves several important skills. The ability to stare down squirrels and birds is a must. Hissing at a 14 year old plus dauschund invading your space is another important skill. The ability to turn your head into the afternoon sea breeze that kicks up every afternoon to sway the hanging ferns and tickle your fur is very important. Porch catting is not for the faint of heart. The only harder job happening on the porch is the person watching the porch cat do the porch catting. I am pretty good at porch cat watching. I check to make sure Sappy is doing her job. I am a porch sitter. I will save the rules for porch sitting for another blog. Enjoy the picture of Sappy, the porch kitty, at work.

Baby Brother Is Coming!

Sea Breezes Baby Brother is coming....Thursday! Our lovely grandaughter, Kennedy, is going to be a big sister. She loves babies. Her Mommy and Daddy love her so much that they decided to give her a real baby. Real baby brother is coming....Thursday! Precious grandchildren, Henley, Lander and Paisley are getting a new boy cousin...Thursday! This MeMe and Pops are getting a new grandson.....Thursday! SuSu and Poppa are getting a new grandson...Thursday! Wookie, Tonya, Blake and Patrick are getting a new nephew....Thursday! Best of all, Katie and Greg are getting a new son...Thursday! So what is special about Thursday? A new baby is coming, that's what is so special! A new life is coming into this lovely world and everyone's world will be richer, fresher and more filled with wonder as we greet this new baby boy and shower him with love. God bless you dear daughter as you become, again, a mother. May your journey be filled with all the joy and love and laughter you have brought to your father and I since we first gazed into your newborn eyes. Love, Mother and Dad

God Bless Our America and Our Family

Sea BreezesLord God Almighty, in whose Name the founders of this country won liberty for themselves and for us, and lit the torch of freedom for themselves and for nations then unborn: Grant that we and all the people of this land may have grace to maintain our liberties in righteousness and peace through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen

In my dreams, my grand babies all live next door to us. We can babysit, anytime, have them over for dinner, anytime, visit them anytime, play with them, anytime, anytime we want. On this Fourth of July, we celebrate freedom, all sorts. One of the most precious freedoms is Family Freedom. Yes, I know it is not an official freedom, but today I have been contemplating the word freedom. As Christians, we have freedom in Christ, freedom from having to suffer for our own sins. Wow! With that kind of freedom, what do we do with our lives? Since the price of our sin has been paid by the precious Lamb of God, we are worry free! That is true freedom. We are free to move forward and do as He commanded, love one another. We are free to love the precious gift of our family. Hence, Family Freedom. To all of you whom we call family, we love you. Blake, Tonya, Henley, Lander, Paisley, Greg, Katie, Kennedy, not born yet "Henry", Patrick, you are all our children, our hearts, and we celebrate the freedom today to love you and hold you in our hearts and prayers. We celebrate our "you live next door to us love", and we remind you today that you live in the greatest country in the world. Men and women have traveled before you, risked and given their lives so we can be free. Freedom is not free, Christ paid our ultimate price. We thank Him for you all. May God continue to bless our America and our family.

Happy Anniversary We Didn't Start Out As Grandparents!

Sea Breezes Happy Anniversary Pops! We aren't just growing old together, we are just growing! Grand baby number five will be here soon. We started out with just the two of us, and after 36 years of marriage, we have nine kids, soon to be ten! That is some growth! We are rich with blessings! Pops is in a bit of trouble. We kept Kennedy this weekend while Mommy and Daddy went to a family wedding and well......Pops and K had a GREAT time. Maybe too great. When K woke up from her morning nap, we both went to see the precious grand baby standing in the crib holding her baby doll. Pops showed her how to make baby "fly." K roared with laughter. Pops would make baby fly, Kennedy would make baby fly. All one has to do to make a doll fly is toss it out of the crib in the air and watch it land. They both laughed so hard, you could hear them next door, I was sure. They played flying baby most of the weekend. When the parents got back and the grandparents left, the grand baby still played flying baby tossing dolls in the air around the house. Oops! Pops forgot to tell K "What happens while parents are away and grandparents are in charge of grandchildren stays with the folks with grand in front of their names." Shh.....Did I mention MeMe's cookas? I made K sugar cookies, she calls one of them a cooka. Pops was caught giving K a cooka for snack, "right after breakfast?"...only because she asked for a cooka. So Pops is in a bit of trouble. Does that mean we will behave next time the parents put us in charge? Do you think we will play in the bathtub too long, ride the wagon in the front yard in our jammies, or go swimming in the wading pool, after dinner, chase each other through the house, or feed the ducks more than once a day.......again?? Probably, but we won't let the parents know. Enjoy our shots of our secret fun. K and Pops both have Crocs! Happy Anniversary dear! If we hadn't had all our own kids, we wouldn't have gotten all these beautiful grandchildren. That is another reason to have kids, they give you grandchildren. They don't call it grand for nothing!