Happy Birthday, Dear Hubs!!!

If you would like to join other bloggers on this Wednesday walk, visit Lynnette's site for all the details.

Today we are celebrating his birthday for the 23rd time together!!! WOW!!! That makes us sound a little bit old, huh??? YIKES!!!

Today's memory is of that very first shared birthday...his 18th! Man, we thought we were hot stuff! I also don't have too many memories of that evening.
I, unfortunately, don't have any pics of that birthday...this one is pretty close to it when we went to Six Flags that summer.


We went to dinner that evening with his parents and Grandmother to a restaurant off of Stemmons Frwy...Mother Tucker's. Does anyone remember this one? The food was really good....that I do remember well!!!

We had only been dating a few months but already realized we were falling in love, and those around us knew it! Just a couple of months after this, we literally began talking about our future...together!

My gift to him that evening? Why 18 kisses, of course! Too bad he hasn't let me continue that tradition for many years - something about how it would take too long!

I love birthdays and my desire is that everyone notice and make a big to-do on my special day! However, oppisites do attract and his desire is for the day to pass quietly and shared by only those closest to him. So today, that is what I am trying to do...this is my big to-do for the day!!!

To my dear hubs...I love you. You are such a precious part of me and I am privileged to be your wife and share in your daily life. I pray today that you will be blessed and that in the year ahead, you will continue to seek God's will for your life, family and business.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow....like my wonderful 41 yr old husband!!!

God's girl, Pamela

Illness and Mommyhood

UPDATE: Finally able to eat something substantial this morn!!! My whole upper body aches, though. I am able to take the day off, thank you, Lord!!! Now, the rest of you, BETTER NOT GET SICK!!! Love ya!

So if you are a Facebook friend, you have seen both of these subjects take a front seat in my life this week. I have been somewhat surprised by both, even in the midst of knowing that God is not.

Tuesday evening, the girls came home from VBS; Bunny talking about all that had happened in the 4 yr old class and CD being very quiet. She answered the question of what did she do at VBS, then disappeared to her room upstairs. We were not surprised since she is a perfectionist and packing on Tuesday when you leave on Saturday is so the right thing to do. Then, not half an hour later, she came down telling us she was not feeling well and had not been since having Goldfish at VBS. As her parents, we figured she was beginning to stress about the trip ahead and encouraged her to settle her spirit before going to bed.

She did go back upstairs...and back down within ten minutes!!! She had gotten physically ill! No fever, just an upset tummy - for the next six hours!!! I finally crawled in my bed about 6:15 Wed morn and slept a few hours before Miss PD made her entrance for the day. I did what I should have done...told Miss PD's Mom but since there was no fever and extenuating circumstances of stress surrounding the trip, I really thought we were fine.

WRONG!!!

Miss PD's Mom called me Friday morn, little Miss had started getting physically ill around 10 pm the night before and had finally drifted off to sleep around 5AM. I went to their home that day to watch Miss PD for just a couple of hours, getting lots of texts from my CD of all that she was remembering she needed to get before leaving early Saturday morn. We had also planned a dinner party for family that night so they could say their goodbyes and prayers over her...somehow, I know with God's help, we pulled it all off!!!

The alarm went off, very rudely, at 2:25 AM so we could get luggage and people to the van and to the church by 3:15 AM, with the final destination of the airport by 4! We watched our oldest walk through the airport security for the first time without us! Very surreal...trust me!!!

We then headed for some breakfast at Whataburger...Bunny loves their taquitos! We came straight home and all crawled back in bed for just a bit more sleep. Needless to say, being up for a portion of the night re-arranged our whole day and even on a Saturday, not much housework got done...oops!!!

I was first up, no surprise, by about 9:30 and checking Facebook and Twitter to make sure they had made it to the Miami airport! Her youth pastor, Doug, had uploaded some pics of her and friends and I surprisingly found that did my heart some good!

For a little bit, anyway!!! (This is at the hotel in Colombia!)

Then, I noticed just how quiet the house was while the other half of my family continued to sleep...and it began to drive me nuts!!! All of a sudden, I could not pull away from the computer for fear I might miss something new pertaining to CD! I found myself leaving this status on FB, " I know y'all are gonna be sick of me, but....I did not realize I would miss CD this much!!! And she is still in Miami!!! She is my early riser and I am lonely while the other two still sleep!!!!"

I have been trying to 'let go' little by little, but I am now convinced that cannot be done...I just have to at some point let go!! I see the difference in my relationship with the girls - Bunny is my buddy, CD has become my friend!

So, to wrap this up, I come downstairs last evening and see hubs eating and I was overcome by a wave of nausea. Within the hour, I was sicker than a dog!!! However, unlike CD and Miss PD, I am now 16 hours into this and still can't see the end! Please pray for my dear hubs as he tries to keep up with me! As I said earlier, I know that God is not surprised by this. I am praying that the Colombia team that we spent about forty-five minutes with, will not come down with it over there!

I really wish my Mom were here to take care of me! However, I know that my Father is always near...especially when I'm ill.

Moms, stay healthy, okay???

Praise God from whom all blessings flow....

God's girl, Pamela

I Remember When....

If you would like to join other bloggers on this Wednesday walk, visit Lynnette's site for all the details.

Can we play a game today??? Well, I suppose since it is my blog you really don't get a say in that, now do you!!!
Yes, I'm feeling a bit snarky....thanks for noticing!!!

Somewhat still on the subject of letting go, what are some of your favorite memories from your babies...ya know, when they were still babies??? And because it is my blog, that means I get to go first! Yippee!!!

I remember when....

...She would not go to sleep when it was bedtime!!! The first approx. 6 wks of CD's life and about 8 wks of Bunny's, they simply REFUSED to go to sleep before 2 AM!!! They would do so well during the day, not always taking really long naps and waking around 7 pm to nurse, get a diaper change and hopefully interact with us! By the time 11 pm rolled around, I was getting tired but my girls were just getting going good!!! At around midnight, they would begin to get fussy - didn't want to nurse, had clean diaper, nothing was poking them, they would just get fussy! Closer to 1 AM, they were no longer fussy...they were all out crying!!! For up to two hours!!! Screaming at the top of their little bitty lungs!!! They refused to nurse, did not want a pacifier, just wanted a little lung work out apparently!!!

Finally, at close to two months, both of them learned to go to sleep somewhere between 9 and 10 pm. Other Moms would tell me this was normal behaviour but I was really never sure about that!!! Man, am I ever thankful they finally started sleeping at a decent hour!!!

I remember when...

...I woke up one morning, shortly after having Bunny, listening to a baby cry and wondering why in the world my Mom did not get the baby!!! I even went so far as to look out the front window to see if there was a car out front before I came to the full realization that this was my home, my baby and my job to go get her!!! I must have been really tired...ya know, that whole staying up half the night thing!

I remember when....

...CD would play with her sippy cup by shaking it violently up and down and having fun watching all the liquid splash out!!! Yes, this was long before the no-drip sippy cups!!! It didn't take long, though, for her to realize that the only sippy cup she could truly play with was one filled with water. So, in order to get 10 min. of peace to clean the kitchen, I would put water in a sippy, snap on the lid, put her in the middle of the kitchen floor with the cup and say, 'Play'! I do believe between the ages of 12 and 18 months, that was her favorite thing to do!

I remember when...

...Bunny would go outside, just inside the gate to the backyard and scoop up dirt by her fingernail and put it in her mouth!!! She loved to eat dirt!!!

I remember when....

...Bunny was just figuring out how to go downstairs and the girls wanted to go out and play, having to go down two stairs to get out the door. Hubs had recently changed the oil in the vehicle and left it standing in the large round container right by the stairs! By now, I'm sure you have guessed that Bunny made it from the first to the second step but when trying to maneuver down to the ground, she fell head first into the oil!!! Poor baby, we laughed so hard and she was screaming!!!

I remember when....

...It was 114 degrees on CD's 4th birthday!!! El Paso can get hot, y'all!!!
...They loved to sit on the patio and finger paint!
...They would want to play in the water but drink more from the sprinkler than went on the lawn!
...They wanted to sleep together in the same bed...and it only lasted about an hour!

I remember when....

...Barney was the first thing we watched on TV. But their favorite show was Lambchop!
...Life seemed simpler! I knew where my babies were...right under my feet no matter what I was doing! It was hard, I do remember that, but I knew where they were!

Okay, now it is your turn!!!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow....like my beautiful daughters

God's girl, Pamela

She Still Calls Me Daddy

by Robert Wolgemuth

I will have to be honest: I was kind of in a hurry the day I chose this book for my next review and didn't really take the time to read what it was about! I am so far out of the prime demographic - Dads that have recently given their daughters in marriage or those with a daughter's impending marriage on the horizon - but truly found so much practical advice for now and in the future, when our two girls do make that walk down the aisle!

If you have read my blog at all over the last few months, you have noticed that 'letting go' has been heavy on my mind for our oldest daughter! While I realize that we do not yet fully let go (she is still under our physical, spiritual and emotional protection) there is some breaking away that needs to be done so that in just a few years, when she does find the man God has set aside for her, we will be gracious in doing just that - let her go!

One thing that caught my attention was how the author parallels letting go with how we raised our daughters in our home. The chapter on protection will be re-read a few times around here, I'm sure! When they are small, it is our job as parents to protect our children in so many ways; touching a hot stove, crossing the street, talking to strangers. When we give them away in marriage, it becomes our job to protect their marriage....even if that means from us! Protecting their marriage means we give them respect as a family and let them grow together, and not expecting our children to always be available to meet our needs.

I really enjoyed how the author, Robert Wolgemuth, made the book personal by using stories, good and bad, of letting his own two daughters go. His story of purchasing a dining table for his daughter is a reminder that none of us are immune to doing the wrong thing in regards to our grown children. I have relayed several stories from the book to my daughters in hopes that we will remember to put into use what was learned from this book - several years from now!!!

I would certainly recommend She Still Calls Me Daddy to anyone - Mom, Dad, Grandma - who is realizing just how fast the children in our lives are growing up and are beginning to see a need to simply let go.

My favorite part is when he acknowledges that the young man at the end of the aisle does not deserve our daughter, but that she was first a gift to us and we are simply re-gifting this precious young lady! Did we deserve the gift God gave us twenty or so years ago??? Do we deserve the gift of His Son???

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.....

God's girl, Pamela