One Month ago....

One month ago today, my great grandmother passed away. I have been handling it fairly well. (Yay, me!) I did however have a few ‘moments’ that I couldn’t fight back the tears.

Moment #1: I had a dream about great grandma. It wasn’t set in a recent environment, It was sometime in the past. It was a very short dream. We were sitting on the couch and she turned to me and said “Be a good wife, mother and friend. Love your family and be happy.” and that was it. I woke up completely frazzled. I was a mess. But what she said in that dream has stuck with me ever since.

Moment #2: My grandma Ruth gave Zoe great grandma’s twin bed and bedding. Well, the other day I got the bedding out to wash it and I was completely overwhelmed with the fragrance of great grandma. I stood in the garage, frozen. I looked at Nick and said “it smells like Great Grandma.” Instant tears. Needless to say the bedding didn’t get washed that night, and has yet to be washed. I will however wash it before we used it… Just not yet.
Moment #3: I was uploading my pictures from Great Grandma’s viewing and funeral to my computer, and Zoe came over to sit in my lap, as she normally does when I’m on the ‘puter.’ We were looking through some of the pictures (mostly family and flower pics) and we came across this picture: Zoe said “That’s Great Great Grammy” and I said “yes, ma’am it is.” A few seconds past and she said “Where is she??”… I froze. (What am I supposed to say? How do I explain this to her??! Please God, give me the knowledge to explain this to her?!?) She asked again “Where is Great Great Grammy? Is she at her house?” Here’s what I said “No baby, Great Great Grammy is not at home. She is in Heaven with God.” Zoe said “Heaven?!, That is where the rain comes from. Is she playing in the rain?!” (Let the tears begin.) “Yes, baby. She is playing in the rain” Then she dropped it. She hasn’t brought it up since. Wow, that was easy.

I miss her and think about her everyday. It’s hard to not think about her. Like I said in a previous blog, there’s not a memory I have that doesn’t have her in it. She is forever in my heart. I love you MaaMaw!!

I hope everyone has a good day!

Stefanie

Story Time with Zoe

Everynight before Zoe goes to bed, we either read a book or tell bedtime stories. Well, last night was a bedtime story night. I tell my story and she tells me how much she liked the story then says "Ok, I tell you a stowy now." and she tells me a story quite similar to the one I told her. So here is my little reinactment of the story telling time.

My story:
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess who was turing 3 in October. (Zoe buts in to say "Just Like me!! Same, Same!!") She had pretty brown hair and eyes. (Zoe said "Just Like me!! Same, Same!!") She also had two parents that love her VERY much, they are the King and the Queen of the castle. The princess was growing to be such a BIG girl! (Zoe said "I'm a Big Girl too!!") She was completely potty trained and didn't pee-pee in her panties at night. (Zoe said "Uh Oh... I pee-peed the odder night, not Same, Same.") The Princess was very smart and was learning everything she could at school. She really liked school. (Zoe said "I love school") The princess loved to read and tell stories at bedtime and never gave her mother, the queen, any trouble when it was time to go to bed. (Zoe said "B End") (my story ended there)

Zoe's story:

(during story time Zoe is holding her little hands together like a book and opening and closing them.)

Once a time, there was a witch, with a green face, and pink hair, with lots of sprinkles, and glass slippers. (I then asked "is this a witch or a princess?") Ohh, this is a princess. She loved her mommy and daddy berry much and was a big girl and she pee-peed on the potty. B End.


Hilarious. She is sooo cute!! I got most of this on camera and will post the video another day. I love story time with Zoe. I don't feel like my night is complete if I don't put her to bed and tell stories.

SAVE THE DATE!

Quotes:

I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge -- myth is more potent than history -- dreams are more powerful than facts -- hope always triumphs over experience -- laughter is the cure for grief -- love is stronger than death. ~ Robert Fulghum




For everything there is a season, And a time for every matter under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to seek, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to throw away;
A time to tear, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
A time for war, and a time for peace.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

So, yesterday was a hard day. My Great Grandma Lucille Boatwright, we called her Maa-Maw, passed away yesterday morning. She lived a wonderful happy life. She has been on 3 Cruises, gone to Branson Missouiri about 4 times to see the shows, Eurika Springs Arkansas for the Passion Play severel times, Little Rock Ark, Oklahoma, New Jersey, The Amish Country in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Florida, Delaware, New York City, where she walked down Wall Street (which was one of her dreams) and went to 34th & Broadway, Times Square & the Theater District. She also went to Washington DC, Virginia, Atlanta, California, and Biloxi Mississippi. She was a busy woman.

She was the glue that kept our huge family together. She loved to cook and eat desert first. She gave me a copy of her cookbook as a wedding gift. She knew I was going to marry Nick, before I knew. She called Nick 'her boyfriend'. She was very talented with a sewing machine. She quilted Zoe a huge quilt for a baby shower gift. She also wanted to have a grandkid named Rebecca. I bought her house when she moved in with Grandma Ruth. She left me little kitchen things (her cooking timer, her drink pitcher and the matching glasses, her broom, etc.) when she moved out. She was wonderful. I don't think I have a memory that doesn't include her in some way, shape or form.

She was 28 in this one and 90 something in this one. She was such a beautiful person, inside and out.

She had four children, 10 grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren and 5 great-great grandchildren. All who are very blessed to have, had her in their lives. She was 94 years old and completed five generations.

Five Generations of Boatwright women, May 2008. She was soo proud that she had five generations.

Back to yesterday, My mom called me early yesterday, around 8 am, which is odd, so I new something was wrong. When she told me Maa-maw had passed my heart sank. I knew that Maa-maw wasn't going to last forever, after having two hip replacements in two years and the fact that she was 94! But the possibilty of her not being here never crossed my mind, until yesterday. I was a mess. I would cry then I would dry up then I would cry, typical me. I left work at noon and immediately went to my Grandma Ruth's, Maa-maw lived with her. You could tell that everyone was numb. I went into 'What can I do' mode, I cooked lunch and cleaned the kitchen. I helped my mom find pictures for the slide show for the visitation on Wednesday. I wanted to fix it, then realized I couldn't. She was gone and there was nothing I could do. I couldn't bring her back. That's a sucky feeling. I miss her.

(Insert subject change, so I don't cry)

On a more positive note, I did find some pictures of Maa-maw that I had never seen before. I think I'm going to do a scrapbook for my family of Maa-Maw and maybe journal some memories that I have. (Thanks Meli for the idea)

Odd Fact: I didn't know that Lucille isn't Maa-maw's name. Her full name is Edith Lucille Boatwright. Edith, Who knew? Apparently, not me!

This is Maa-Maw at her 90th birthday, January 24, 2004 and Maa-Maw and I at my wedding October 23, 2004.

This is my absolute favorite picture. Zoe was about 6 months old and teething. Maa-maw took her tea spoon out of her drink and gave it to Zoe to chew on and wouldn't you know it... Zoe cut two front teeth before dinner was over. I think I'm going to have this picture framed for Zoe.

Well, I better quit rambling on and try to get something done today! I love you Maa-Maw. You will be missed dearly.

Take Care,

Stefanie

Airhogs!

Did you know that Grand Prairie now has a minor league baseball team? Well, they do. The Grand Prairie Airhogs. I know, The Airhogs?! What kind of name is that? But it is G.P., did you expect anything less?

Well, We went on 8/5/08 to see them play the Pensicola Penguins. Nicks family was in town, so we had a good size group. (Nick, Me, Isaiah, Zoe, Grammy Hammie (my grandma), Grandma Lyla (Nicks mom), Nathan and JD (our nephews)) Before the game we had the traditional baseball meal; Hamburgers, hotdogs, chips and PIE! (Thanks to Grammy Hammie, it was good!) After dinner, we all piled into my car and headed to the stadium. Zoe was soo excited to see the game. The tickets were cheap and the seats were good. I don't think there is a bad seat in the stadium. It wasn't a full house or too hot, so that was good! The game was good and the Airhogs WON. They are number 2 in the Southern Division, the Fort Worth Cats are number 1. Here are some pictures from the game, of the stadium and such.

Look how beautiful the day was!

These are my two favorite pictures.

See the rainbow? and my pretty little girl?

Both sooooo beautiful!

I hope everyone has a great week. I will post another soon!

Stefanie

Summer Days

So yesterday I was in the mddle of cooking dinner, Taco/Tostadas/Nacho Night! When I noticed the house had suddenly fallen silent. My house hasn't been this silent in 3 years!!! So, I checked the whole house & Nick, Isaiah and Zoe were nowhere to be found. Then I noticed the front door was open, (which I should have noticed sooner, as I had to walk by it to get to the rest of the house, but that's besides the point) Those little stinkers snuck out and decided to ride bikes with out me!!! So you know what I did?!? I got my camera and shot a few pics of them in action:

This is the standard Isaiah face for pictures... But Look how big he is!

Zoe got this bike for her b-day last year and couldn't ride it without help... But look at her now...

Then Nick had to get in on the riding action and do tricks for the kids...

She's prissy even when it's 100 degrees....
Just wanted to share a little bit of our summer.

Have a great weekend!

Stefanie