Sometimes, it can take me two or three days to complete a post. I have many distractions, so there'll be no rhyme or reason to this one. I simply wanted to share several random things that have made me smile and maybe even cry HAPPY tears this past month.
My precious friend, Cassy (whom I met many years ago through our blogs and have been the best of friends since), had an artist paint a photo of Darrell, for the kids and I. The artist reached out to me with a nearly finished version of the painting, she'd been working on, of him. She's done a lovely job at capturing him in water color and on canvas. I'm so very thankful for such a precious gift. The kid's reaction was priceless. Thank you, sweet sweet Cassy, for such a lovely and thoughtful gift.
For those of you whom are interested in finding out more about the artist who painted this piece, her name is Maggie and you can see her work on her Instagram page at Maggie_Card_Co or visit her website at MaggieCardCo .Jacob's recently been invited to join the reach program at his school, and has made it on the All A honor roll, two semesters in a row, so I had much faith knowing that he'd do great on a test that he was really stressed out about. But, he's been through a tough year and lacks confidence in himself, understandably. His goal was to get a 600 but he surpassed that goal by FIFTY-EIGHT points!!! His teacher, who has gone ABOVE and BEYOND her call of duty as a teacher (as far as I'm concerned), congratulated him with a message that
brought he and I both to tears as he read it aloud.
And, in an e-mail to me after, "From mother to mother, I'm really happy for you." God bless that sweet lady.
Another very precious lady, in our life, volunteered her services to make teddy bears, out of some of Darrell's work shirts, for the kids. They turned out absolutely adorable!
We've been completely blessed by the most loving people. My gratitude is abounding and eternal.That same sweet lady sent me a message, today, that made me cry happy, grateful tears.
Words aren't enough to sufficiently express my gratitude. He would have LOVED this!
I took Ella and Jacob to the bowling alley, this past weekend. It took my breath away to see Jacob walk out of his room wearing one of his dad's work shirts. He's never worn one before and, for the most part, has attempted to pretend as though his dad is simply at work, I believe. I didn't bring attention to the fact that this was not lost on me, because I knew he wouldn't like that. My little boy...he has a long road of processing this loss. We all do, I suppose. We are doing superbly though, I think, given the circumstances. I'm proud of my little team and I.
My Ella had a little bit of a breakthrough in her world of communication. She reached out to one of her teachers, via chat, to ask a question. If you don't understand Selective Mutism, this is probably no big deal to you. But, to me and for her, this is HUGE! Her teacher told her that she was so very proud of her for advocating for herself...mom is pretty darn proud, too.
Recently, we've spotted a great deal of two things in our yard. Deer (as most of you know is the norm for our little patch of Heaven in the South) and four leaf clovers. Spotting each always make us smile. Spring has sprung, y'all!
This child has the BEST sense of humor. I brought us home lunch, from Chic-fil-la, after a recent doctors appointment that I had. I bought myself a kids meal with a sweet tea. Now you folks, here in the South, know how absolutely vile it is to think you're about to get yourself a nice cold sip of sweet tea (also known as liquid gold) but it's actually unsweetened tea, and bitter to boot. Blech!!! I had a gag reaction and made a joke about how they deceived me with liquid Hades in styrofoam cup and he said, "Either Chic-fil-a gave you alcohol or unsweetened tea! Right, mama?!?" hahaha
Gabriel has a good bit of new songs, written, that he's planning on laying down, soon. One, of which, he wrote for his mama as a Christmas gift. Such an endearing gift to receive from my boy. Like his younger siblings, he's had such a tough year. When Darrell and I were in the hospital last year, Gabriel and Lindsey instantly took on the role of parenting/looking after the younger two kids. The trauma of not knowing whether or not his mama would ever come home or not and, then losing Darrell, caused him to put what he loves to do on hold for far too long. I'm thrilled to see him getting back to it. He should have some new stuff posted soon. In other news, homeboy bought himself a new car. Hard work pays off!
Some nights, the weather has tethered on the edge of being just cool enough for a bonfire. Roasted hotdogs and marshmallows, on sticks, with the ones I love most...far better than the finest cuisines.
My Lindsey girl, with an incredibly infectious laugh and a smile that brightens a dark world. She was a bridesmaid, for the very first time, in her best friend's wedding. How am I already old enough for this?!? Ack! I was her age, yesterday, it seems!
Getting a package delivered to your home, addressed to your late husband, many months after his passing and being able to make a joke about it instead of crying. It was something he ordered only God knows when. It finally made it's way here from China. And...I have no idea what it's supposed to be for. Ha. Some part for the riding lawnmower possibly?!
Speaking of self care...Typically, these days, I'm a mess, ya'll. Hair's a mess. Bed's a mess. Life's a mess. But I'm living. I make the choice to get out of bed every single morning (no matter the amount of sleep I get) and greet my babies with a grateful smile and warm hug. We learn together. We play outside. We play board games and have family dinners at our table each night. We explore trails and greet our neighbors. We are laughing again and enjoying what we've been given. We are makin it through this grief muck and we're going to come out of this experience so much stronger.
Christy
