Summertime

Some pictures of flowers in our yard! I just love this time of the year!

"A something in a summer's Day"

As slow her flambeaux burn away
Which solemnizes me.
A something in a summer's noon --
A depth -- an Azure -- a perfume --
Transcending ecstasy.
And still within a summer's night
A something so transporting bright
I clap my hands to see --
Then veil my too inspecting face
Lets such a subtle -- shimmering grace
Flutter too far for me --
The wizard fingers never rest --
The purple brook within the breast
Still chafes it narrow bed --
Still rears the East her amber Flag --
Guides still the sun along the Crag
His Caravan of Red --
So looking on -- the night -- the morn
Conclude the wonder gay --
And I meet, coming thro' the dews
Another summer's Day!"
- Emily Dickinson, A Something in a Summer's Day

Today we were changed!

"For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

 My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,..."~Psalm 139:13-15

Today we had the privilege to attend an ultrasound with our daughter and son-in-law!  What a life changing experience!  Besides the tears that filled my eyes and at times, rolled down my cheeks, throughout the whole experience (we call those tears Happy Tears in our home),we were able to see God's handiwork in motion!

Never before have I experienced anything like this!  We saw a little hands and even got a wave!  We saw not only the bones of the arms, legs, thigh, back, brain, neck, shoulder, feet, hands, but at some areas how they were joined together.  We witness the flowing of the blood through the little body and the heart pumping strong with a regular steady beat, as well as the flow of blood through the organs, including two healthy kidneys!  We witness turning and rolling, and then we saw the spine, ears, eyes, and even nostril wholes! We saw measurements being taken and all measures are in normal, or as they said "boring" aka-no problems levels!  We also were confidently told that we our first grandchild will be a BOY without any doubts :-D

We were witness to God's miracle of life today!  Our miracle of life through our daughter and our son-in-law's love and their commitment to God and each other.  All of this detail and our grandson is only 10oz in weight!  10oz...that is the closest miracle that I will ever witness.  Thank you Lord for this experience!!

We look forward to seeing our grandson, grow and grow over the next several months with anticipation of holding him in late October!  We have already fallen deeply in love with this little precious one and my heart is almost bursting already with love for him.

One of God's greatest gift on earth is the witnessing of seeing a child mature and grow and bond with his mother and father even before he is born!  I am so thankful for this opportunity today to witness and being introduced to our 1st grandson! 

The scripture above came to my mind as I was in the parking lot getting ready to leave the appointment today!  Happy Tears have been flowing alot for me today.  I'm so humbled, so eager, so ready for this next stage in our lives.This has been one of the best "livingrlives" day-to-day event yet!  Thank you Lord for your blessings of daily happenings and life changing moments.

~Tina (aka Mimi)  a very blessed woman

Father's Day gifts

"Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope."~Bill Cosby

I was suppose to give suggestions about different gifts for Father's Day on the Mom-tage site that I have the privilege to be a member.  I'm not sure these are very original, but they sure made great memories for us when we were raising our children.  I thought I'd share them with my blog friends and feel free to share some of your children's (any age) creative gifts for Father's Day! Here are my suggestions and thoughts:

Over the years, there was the famous "soap on a rope"! Then the creative sides "kicked in" and there were homemade frames with a picture of each of the children, as well as cross-stitch bookmarks (I LOVE DAD), or even "homemade coupons" such as "I will take out the trash without being asked!", or I'll make my bed and place my laundry in the basket rather than beside the basket." You get the idea!



When we had our children, we decided to make a "date time" with each of the children on a one-to-one time together, this is something that we still do and have incorporated our son-in-law as well. We don't do it near as often as we all would like.

I shared that to share the next Father's day gift: Now that they are adult children, they sometimes will place a picture of what they want to do on their one-on-one time with their dad and it is now "their treat" to him! It can be something as simple as a walk in the park, or shooting basketball together or hitting a bucket of golf balls, to dinner and movie, the list is endless! Just being together and listening and sharing.

It is a tradition that will seem to carry-on in our family. We plan to continue the tradition with our grandchildren. Our 1st grandchild that is coming in October will hopefully love the time with Mimi and Grumps!

~Tina