TRELLIS TIME

One year ago I asked for suggestions on FB for how to add some visual balance to the empty space on the left of the chimney. I decided I wanted to install a trellis and came up with a tentative plan, but just haven't gotten around to doing it. 

Last Friday we were in Medford and I shared my plan with Dad to get his input. He suggested an alternative plan that would be lighter and more stable, then offered to come up and do it for me. There's no way I'd turn down that offer! 

He e-mailed me that night with a list of measurements he needed, but we were out of town until Saturday night. I was mostly unplugged on Sunday and was away from home when I read his message, so I didn't get numbers to him until Monday. He built the trellis on Tuesday, then drove up yesterday to install it. Wasn't that kind of him?

Dad had Naomi and Tyler crunch some numbers with him soon after arriving, then we headed outside. 

We were mostly there for moral support and to pretend like we're useful, but we did hand him things as he needed them.

Here's what the finished job looks like today with some baby vines planted underneath. 

The kids and I had to leave for a while yesterday, so Dad finished installing the trellis while we were gone. It was a little jarring to come back and see something attached to the house. It's just so big. I'd given measurements that synced up with the window on the opposite side of the chimney, but didn't think about how the trellis would appear bigger because it's extended from the siding. It may take a little while to get used to, but I love it. I can't wait to see the wood weather a bit and become covered with beautiful flowers. I'll have to share a picture later in the summer when it's filled in and the roses on the opposite side have gotten bigger. As for now, I already have another wall that I'm thinking of adding a trellis to. 

A BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Mom would often have candy in her purse, whatever kind she happened to be into at the moment. As a kid, I was annoyed that she had that little stash all to herself. As an adult and mom with a candy stash of my own, I get it. 

Today would have been her seventieth birthday, a milestone year. I decided to mark the day by pulling out a picture from her last birthday, eating the types of candy she stashed in her purse, and listening to her memorial service. I'm so thankful for that recording and that Dad took the time many years ago to create a slide show for it. 

HALLOWEEN - 2022

Naomi, Tyler, and I headed to Lee Farms for our church's Hootenanny on Thursday. We had to get proof we were all there before we went our separate ways. 

We met up with some of Natie's family and I found this crew jumping together at one point.

Naomi stayed busy volunteering at one of the activity stations. That blue tongue of hers makes me think she did some quality control on the candy she was giving out. 

It's such a blessing to be friends with the mom of the person your kid marries. Alicia and I haven't hung out in quite a while, so it was fantastic to have some time to visit.

These two were so happy to see each other! Once upon a time, quite a while ago, Flo used to hold Naomi in the nursery at church. Those days are long gone, but now that former baby got to hook the former nursery worker up with some candy.

Some friends came over for pumpkin carving on Friday evening. You could tell they were concentrating on the task because this normally chatty group was really quiet for a while. Snacks, jack-o-lanterns, laughter, and moms chatting in another room made for a fun time.

Woodburn had their second annual trunk or treat downtown. We didn't go last year, but I asked Tyler if he was interested this time around. He was. It was quick, fun, and he came home with candy. Bonus points for seeing friends arriving about the same time we did. The boys tried to take a picture together, which was comical because they couldn't get their arms around each other.

Three consecutive days of Halloween fun, but we'll probably lay low on the actual holiday. 

MY BRACELET

My great-grandma had a gold bracelet. She died when my grandma was three and eventually my grandma wore it. My grandma passed it to my mom when my mom turned eighteen. My mom died when I was fifteen and I started wearing it sometime after that, although I don't remember exactly when. I quit wearing it for a few years in early adulthood because it was reacting to my body chemistry, lotion, or something by leaving a green mark on my skin. I tried again later and didn't have any problem. I didn't take it off for over twenty years. 

I was reading in bed one night in March and felt my sleeve get caught on the bracelet. Strange, since the bracelet is perfectly smooth. I looked down and discovered it had split. What in the world?! It's lasted over a century, my mom wore it constantly for two decades, I've worn it constantly for more than two decades, and it broke while I was sedentary at the end of the day.

It took a while, but I finally got around to having Sherrie's Jewelry Box look at it. The repair was going to be easy because it was on the seam, which is why it was perfect break, but there was another problem. 

The inside of the bracelet had names engraved in it. A mom's first name, hyphen, her daughter's first and last (maiden) name, from my great-grandma to my mom. The cool thing was that it was hand engraved. The bummer was the engraving had been done right over the seam. I had a choice to make. Leave the original engraving as is, with one name permanently ruined, or have the engraving redone, not by hand and starting just after the seam so the problem couldn't happen again. I chose the latter. I also had the name combinations dropped to make room for more generations, so it's just each woman's first and last name. I also had my own name added, which makes me get a little choked up sometimes. 

Not only have I always had old lady hands with all their wrinkles, but I've also always had man hands that are really wide. (Hmmm ... maybe I have old man hands. Whatever. I don't care. My hands look how they look and do what they need to do.) Because my hands are wide, I never take the bracelet off. It's simply too difficult and painful. However, I haven't put the bracelet on in over twenty years and had forgotten that it's easy to move it that direction. I slipped the bracelet that's been part of my family for over a hundred years back on my wrist today and smiled. I love it. 

OUR 2022 HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE

Devon quietly finished high school two months ago, but we hadn't done anything to celebrate yet. He didn't care about having a party and a family dinner was challenging to coordinate with four different work schedules, one of which is for a person living out of town most of the time. So it just didn't happen. 

Last night we had a bit of a texting frenzy to figure something out and we were able to all meet up for dinner at Olive Garden this evening. Success! Plenty of food, conversation, and laughter as our family marked this milestone in Devon's life.

This boy of ours is smart as a whip and hates formal schooling, so he's weighing options for long-term career goals that don't require a college degree and working in the meantime. I'm excited to see what's in store for him!

TYLER'S SPRING BREAK FUN

My sister suggested sharing our sons with each other for part of spring break. Brilliant. Two nights for Tyler with her family and two nights for Neo with mine. 

They swam.

Soaked in a hot tub.

Ate pizza in bed while watching shows. 

Jumped on a trampoline.

Went to OMSI.

Enjoyed a 70 degree day.

Living on the same continent, in the same state, sure has its perks! I'm so glad they were able to spend a bunch of time together this week. 

SPRING CLOTHING EXCHANGE - 2022

I've been attending clothing exchanges twice a year since around the time Naomi was born. A long time! It's crazy to me that she's old enough to join me and that her oldest brother, who was only five when I started, is now married to a wife who meets Naomi and I at the exchange. It's so fun hanging out with these two gals! 

Natie suggested taking this picture at last night's exchange, which I loved because I'm one of those people who's always snapping pictures of everything. 

Naomi and I tried on all our clothes once we got home and these two scenes made me laugh. I had an organized collection of clothes in solid blue, green, and gray. Naomi had a disorganized mount of clothes in all sorts of patterns and colors. 

We're so predictable! 

 

FAMILY NIGHT

All seven of us were able to get together for family night, which was a scheduling miracle. We ate a delicious dinner at home, left to bowl a couple games, then came back to our place and hung out for a couple more hours. So fun to spend time with all the Ws!

THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Tom and Linda got married. Their blended family welcomed teenage Tim into their home for a season a couple years later. They've considered him (then later his wife, kids, and daughter-in-law) family ever since. Today we helped celebrate their thirtieth anniversary. My bonus in-laws are a blessing.

THIRTY YEARS

Thirty years ago today, about five weeks shy of her thirty-ninth birthday, Mom took her last breath. I'm fine emotionally on this milestone day, but it just boggles my mind that it's been three whole decades. That's crazy.

This picture is one I found at some point after she died, just a random shot she'd taken of some sunflowers on the roadside when she was nineteen. I don't have any idea where it was taken, but it makes me smile. I've used it as a bookmark in my Bible for many years.

About ten years ago, out of the kindness of their hearts, some men from church took a cassette tape recording I had of her memorial service and converted it to more modern formats for me. Then Dad surprised me by taking the audio and adding a slide show to it, a video which he then loaded to YouTube. Tonight, as I work on a puzzle and hang out with the Ws who are home, I'm going to play that video.

If you knew Mom and would like to listen as it plays in the background while you go about your business or want to sit down and watch the slideshow as you remember her, or even if you didn't know her and just want a little glimpse of who she was, here's a link to the video.

In order of appearance, here are the talents and voices you'll hear.

* Nancy Myer - friend & pianist
* Michelle Ostendorf - friend & pianist
* David Shankle - our pastor at the time
* Harold Keech - song leader from our church
* Rick Stevens - a radio DJ we'd gotten to know & whose staff prayed for us regularly, singing "Welcome Home"
* Kathy Ward -friend & co-worker
* Judy Zelmer Smith -friend & boss
* Sandi Heitz - friend
* John Dean - college friend who, along with his wife, were friends with my parents
* Shirley Rettke - friend
* Faye Jurisich - college friend
* Dona (Shankle at the time) Hamilton - friend who had been in the Sunday School class my mom taught, singing "Home Free"

TYLER'S BIRTHDAY - 2021

This guy's another year older! 

Tyler had some friends come over for a few hours on Sunday and they all decided to play Uno with college rules for a while. 

After dinner they made oobleck and had lots of fun playing with it. Well, they tried to make it in the individual bowls I gave them, but that quickly proved to be impractical. Devon and Naomi swooped in and saved the day. They dumped each boy's oobleck into a larger bowl, added a bunch more cornstarch and water, mixed it all up, then refilled each boy's bowl with their own portion of oobleck. I was thankful for their help!

One of Tyler's friends happens to be one of Natie's brothers, so the two siblings were able to spend a little time together at the party. I snapped a picture for their mom's benefit, but it's cute and I'm including it here. 

I asked them to all strike a pose after Tyler opened cards and gifts they'd brought. One smiling. 

And one silly, of course.

Next up was an indoor snowball fight, which was a huge hit. No pun intended. They pelted each other for an hour, right up until they left for home. 

It was a fun time with tons of laughter!

Today was about celebrating with family. (The exception being reading all sorts of birthday messages posted on my Facebook page and getting a text from a man at church he's friends with.) He got a text from an aunt, started a birthday greeting text exchange with a cousin who was born on the same date a decade earlier, answered a video call from some bonus Ws, talked on the phone with grandparents in two states, ate the dinner of his choice with me and the sibs, was taken to pick up his free birthday drink at Dutch by a brother and sister-in-law, and spent time opening gifts and cards from various relatives with the Ws.

This is how Silas hauled Tyler out to the car when they left for a birthday drink. There are some things that only big brothers do. This is one of them. 

Tim had to unexpectedly work late, which made a whole family picture unattainable, but I made sure to get one of all the sibs. They have their share of conflict and they drive me crazy at times, but they also laugh together a lot and put thought into gifts they choose for each other. I love that.

 And that was that. The end of birthday fun for Tyler.

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THANKSGIVING - 2021

It's been a while since we took a group picture with our Thanksgiving crew of bonus in-laws. I asked for one this year and everyone played along. There are two kids and a spouse from my generation that weren't at the gathering, but I'm grateful for this whole family. So many years of Thanksgiving memories, including yesterday! 

PUMPKINS, PIZZA, & PIE

Natie recently suggested we all get together for some pumpkin fun, so she and Silas came over yesterday. Tim and Devon were at work, but the rest of us headed to Al's for some $.99 pumpkins. We got busy as soon as we came home - carving up various designs, eating salad and pizza, then finishing off the night with some pumpkin pie and whipped cream. 

Naomi carved Charlie Brown. 

Silas wrote the word "home".

Natie created Snoopy and Woodstock.

Tyler designed the Mandalorian.

I made a W.

Devon and Tim both got home from work in time to visit with Silas and Natie for a bit before they went home, which was great. Tim opted not to carve this year, but Devon cut Elmo into his pumpkin after Silas and Natie left. 

We lined up the first five and lit them for a picture, but we had to do it inside because it was too windy outside. 

 Such a fun way to spend an evening!