Crafting with hubby

That title is hilarious. You see, my husband doesn't craft. He doesn't stamp, he doesn't sew, he doesn't even call stickers by their rightful name. The only time he's painted would have been to "trick out" a dirt bike WAY back in the old days. Anything resembling a sticker would be called a "decal." Tonight, though, I sat on the floor assembling cards while he sat on the couch with foam, scissors and glue. Oh, yes, one more thing: his motorcycle helmet! Bwahahahaha! He was trying to make it more cushioned or something. When I told him we had been crafting together, he said, and I quote, "Huh?" I repeated my words. He said, "This is NOT crafting." Oh, well, you take what you can get I guess!

I just thought this was a funny thing to share about my computer geeky, motorcycle riding, formerly airplane pilot husband, who does NOT craft. He doesn't cook either. In case you wondered. tee-hee!

A few little pictures

Just a few pics from Bethany's 13th birthday shindig on Saturday. More details later. Not to worry about the hippy look. We've had discussions about that movement not being the role model types. Also, my girls might be tired of me saying when I hear "Peace Out" that we like "Peace In," the kind Jesus gives us! The rest of the story later, but for now here are some of our friends ranging from 5 to 15!






P.S. I actually was prepared to teach them a 70's dance but doggonit ran out of time. We talked a lot about how the 70's ran the gamet from hippies to the Hustle.

Are we done yet?

I THINK we are done celebrating Bethany's birthday. We have spent a few weeks preparing for the various celebrations for this passing of age into teenhood and this mama has had little sleep this past week. I just didn't sleep well and/or had things to do into the night and in the mornings. We had a grand time today and I will post pictures later. I crashed on my bed at 5. I remember talking to Phil for a few minutes, then putting on my CPAP mask. The next thing I knew it was 7:50! Oh, my!

I told Bethany she will have to have smaller celebrations for 14 & 15, but we'll do it big again at 16. Of course in 4 months we'll start all over with Natalie's birthday!

I've also been trying to get some aprons made to sell on Etsy. When I am done, I will put a link in my blog.

Look for pictures of today's party coming soon. It was groovy and far out.

Bethany is 13!

Yesterday our baby turned 13. As we sat in the hospital holding our great niece this week, it hardly seemed possible that 13 years had passed since we were the ones sitting in the hospital holding our sweet newborn. So much has happened in thirteen years.

We started Bethany's birthday by having a sleepover with a few friends from our homeschool co-op (who happen to be very good friends). This year's party has been a work in progress. At first Bethany wanted to invite ALL of her friends to her party. She is in middle school and at our co-op is in the Girl Scout group with girls through high school. She wanted to have them over since she was now a teenager. I thought it would be hard to have a party that included kids from age 5 up to age 16, so encouraged her to have 2 parties: a bigger party with activities & goodies for the younger bunch & a teenage party just to hang out with the older girls. That morphed into having a sleepover with just a few of her teenage friends over and we'd send Natalie to one of her friend's houses that night. Then, we added some younger sisters of those girls, so Natalie, of course, would be staying. It would be JUST a slumber party & we'd do her birthday party next weekend. Never wanting to keep things status quo, it turned into some of the girls wanting to celebrate her b-day b/c they'd be out of town next weekend. Sooooooooooooo.......short story long (LOL), we had a semi-birthday-slumber-teenage-tweenage-party on Friday night! We had 6 extra girls plus our 2.

Here are some pics of the fun they had. To see the cute crafts they did, go to my crafting blog at www.chefmamacrafts.blogspot.com

Let's get this party started! Bethany watches as Annie & Natalie act natural. Um, I mean act like drama queens. Oh, that is natural! LOL!

A beautiful bunch of young ladies. We've watched them grow up from little girls to these lovely teens/tweens. And one large mama in the back!

Make a wish! Unlike her mom & sister, Bethany can blow out candles in one breath. We only had 10 candles, but this is the first time EVER she has blown out candles. She will not eat cake if candles have been in it (she says she can taste the wax), so we put them in a different mini-cake and let her blow them out. I'll have to blog about why you should never make mini-angel food cakes another time.

Bethany had us all laughing because she opens presents SO SLOWLY. I told everyone NOW they know why we are always late to co-op!
The sunglasses were on her wish list, so sister Natalie picked those out for her. The hat, well, we have no clue why she had that on. It's JULY in Texas!

Someone mentioned how thin someone was, which made me tell them I was so thin that a dress I wore in 8th grade is nearly too tight for Natalie (age 10, exactly the right weight/height for a 10 year old). We brought in a box of dresses & the fun began. Who knew big girls would still play dress up! They got a kick out of some of the styles! Natalie models this dress my mom (Mammaw) made for me when I was about 13.

I actually wore this dress. She looks stunning, but says it is itchy and the "stays" in the side kept poking her! Later she danced for us in this dress and gave us all a good giggle.
The moment Mom had been waiting for: movie is in, sleeping bags are all laid out, and there is hope that they will be snoozing soon. Believe it or not, only 3 girls were still awake at 2 a.m., and I think they went to bed soon after that.

I hope all the girls had as much fun as I had watching them. No arguments, even between sisters (now THAT is a miracle! ha, ha!). They giggled and danced and crafted and watched Bethany's homemade movies. They even got up and fed themselves in the morning! Maybe having kids get older is a good thing after all!

Our family gathering was later in the day and I will blog about that later.

Sweet Baby Pictures

Got to sneak a peek at this precious baby today. Here she is for those whom I have not already bombarded with baby news! LOL!

Nils & Katie with their new baby Emery

Isn't she beautiful?

Mama loves her little bundle

Great Grandparents Mammaw & Poppaw Smith (my parents)

Grandma & Gramps Smith---Actually GiGi & Bee Gee Smith, my sis-in-law Robin who is an incredible singer heard the grandma name "Gigi" and it fits so well, and my brother Greg who is BG: Big Granddaddy or Big Greg! He did NOT want to be called Gramps! LOL!

Held by her 6'7" grandpa, this little less than 20" bundle looks so tiny!
(though, most of us look small compared to him!)

Emery was born at Northeast Baptist Hospital. Her daddy is a youth/singles pastor at Trinity Baptist, where her mommy grew up, and her maternal grandparents and aunt attend. Her uncle Chris & Aunt Becky go to 1st Baptist in Houston, and Becky works there. Her Grandpa Greg is a Methodist pastor, and her greats are Methodist, so it was kind of a church get together at the hospital! LOL!

She's here!

Emery Jewell Smith was born at 8:30 pm and is 6 lbs. 4 oz. No more details yet other than this from my niece, Becky (now AUNT Becky!), "She's beautiful. I'm not just saying that she really is beautiful. She's long and skinny and has long fingers and toes. Oh, they took her hat off and she has fuzzy blond hair. Oooooh, ahhhh, they're giving her a bath, oh, look! Um, I'll see you tomorrow." click. Aunt Lori just got knocked down off the pyramid! ha, ha! That's okay because now I am.....

Aunt Lori, The GREAT! hee-hee!

Family Reunion Part 2: Old Ladies

Last year Ruth, my mother-in-law, and 2 of her sisters-in-law, Glenda and JoAnn, made an appearance as "The Old Ladies." They "won" the American Idol contest held at the Reunion and came back this year to share more of their charm and wit. Here is their prize winning song.

Family Reunion Part 1

My mother in law's family has a HUGE family reunion. That is, they have a very well-planned weekend long stay at the lake kind of reunion. There is a theme each year and typically some kind of game to go along with it. Last year was American Idol. This year was Let's Make a Deal. I'll fill in details later, but for now, enjoy a few pictures of this crazy bunch!

Family ties

If you are in a family where there has been a divorce, you have likely experienced a wedding or other event where the WHOLE family is there. I thought I'd add a bit of family tree-ism here before sharing about the baby shower we just had for my nephew & niece-in-law.

When my brother was a college student, he worked at J.C. Penney. There he met some twin ladies. They introduced him to their cousin, Jan. Greg and Jan got married, had a baby (Nils, my nephew) one year later, and another (Becky, my niece) 2 years after that. When Becky was about 6 mos. old they separated. Since Greg knew the twins before Jan, they were his friends and supported him through this divorce and later they would end up in church with Greg & his 2nd wife, Robin. Jan's parents also were very supportive of Greg, so they always maintained a good relationship with him. Jan's dad died several years ago and her mom remarried.

So, this is how the modern Brady Bunch family baby shower worked:
The shower was given by Becky, her mom Jan, and her step-mom Robin, at Greg & Robin's house. Guests included Jan's mom & step dad, Jan's cousin (one of the twins) and both the twins' daughters, who are close to Becky. Then we had Greg's mom (my mom), me (his sister), my kids, and our Aunt Bobbie (whose late husband, Uncle John, had married Greg & Jan). Nils' wife, Katie, had her parents & sister there, and her Poppaw. Usually, Robin's parents & brother's family would also have been there, but her mom is convalescing after a broken bone recently. As far as I could tell, everyone got along well. I enjoy talking to Jan and catching up on her life, and she is so good with my kids. Even so, when it's all said & done, there is always a sigh of relief when it is over.

Now to see how all these new grandparents learn to share little Emery in July!

Baby Shower Quick post

Just a few pics from my nephew & niece (in law)'s baby shower. More later!

You know there's a "Tween" in the house when...

Our older child, Bethany, is nearly 13. It's hard to believe that. She is our daughter with Asperger Syndrome, a mild autism, so she doesn't always, or more accurately, doesn't OFTEN, act her age. She thinks intellectually like a child her age, but socially, she is more likely to play with marbles than My Space, and for that, I am very thankful! In spite of the social delays, I have to say there are some sure signs that there is a soon to be teen in the house:

• She uses the word "like" about every 3rd or 4th word of a sentence
• She cries if you look at her the wrong way or change anything

For those of you who have or used to have teens, what were some signs that you know you have a soon to be teen in the house? I'd love to see your input!

Happy Birthday Nils!

Just want to wish my nephew Nils a HAPPY Birthday! It's his last year of his 20's. Wow, I can't believe it was 29 years ago that I was a teenager waiting in the hospital to become an AUNT! My friend Denise was with me. His mom's younger brother, Tommy, was there, too. Of course the anxious grandparents (this was a first for all of them) were waiting for the big moment. I guess teens get bored easily, and Denise & I had some free passes to Astroworld, a now non-existent amusement park. Tommy was WAY older than we were (probably about 2 years older & we thought he was SO old & cool---LOL!) and had a car. Guess what the 3 of us did since this baby was taking so long to be born? Yep, we took off for Astroworld! By the time we got back the baby was finally here. Apparently this big moment stuck with Tommy, whom I'm sure goes by Tom now, because at my niece's wedding a year & a half ago, we discussed this piece of history!

Nils has a big year ahead of him. He & his wife Katie just moved into a house they had built and they are expecting their first child, Emery Jewell, a sweet little girl.

Nils, the Garrisons wish you a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY! And celebrate all weekend. You get to do that when you have a Friday birthday!

Happy Birthday BACKY!

Today my niece turned 27. She was ALMOST born on her brother's birthday, but she is a go-getter and came 3 days BEFORE his birthday. Her name is actually Becky (well, Rebecca, but she NEVER uses Rebecca), but when my girls were little they pronounced it BACKY. In all fairness, Becky couldn't pronounce my name, either. I was, and often times, still am, "Aunt Lowee."

Happy Birthday Dear Niece! Praying the Lord draws you nearer and nearer to Him with each passing day!

World Autism Awareness Day

Today is World Autism Awareness Day. This month is Autism Awareness Month. Today 67 children will be diagnosed with autism. This hour, the parents of 3 children will receive this news. 1 in 150 children are diagnosed with autism. Stats say 1 in 94 boys are diagnosed.

Why do I write of such things? Why does this interest me? Because of a beautiful 12 year old child in my house with autism. We are among the fortunate ones. Our child has the highest functioning form of autism, Asperger Syndrome. She can speak very well. She now communicates "almost normally."

Others have more severe stories. Many have a child who was developing normally and speaking at 18 months. Then they gradually lost their child to this hideous condition. The child stopped speaking, stopped making eye contact, stopped laughing, and withdrew into a private world full with a mixture of screaming and silence. The child started rocking incessantly and banging his head on the wall. The child they knew at 18 months no longer exists at 24 months.

Much has been done to help find ways to help these kids in recent years. Some have seen success with dietary changes or removal of mercury in the bloodstream. Others have used a behavioral approach to help the child be content and better able to communicate his or her needs.

We have used a program called LIFE. No, it's not an acronym for anything. It's what we do. From the time we realized SOMETHING was going on with Bethany, we focused on dealing with the symptoms. We didn't know we were doing it, but we worked on it. We continually had her learn to look at us when she talks. We taught her how to answer questions (at age 5 she often could not answer a "yes/no" question, and no way could she answer the "wh" questions). We lived life as normally as possible. By homeschooling, we could have our own "Special Ed" classroom: the WORLD!

Bethany still doesn't like crowds. She still has trouble expressing feelings sometimes. And she is SO LITERAL. She actually loves to use "play on words" but she will also then tell you that she's "just using the expression" and doesn't "really mean" the literal use. She makes us laugh a lot!

If you'd like to read more about World Autism Awareness Day, you can visit this website:
Autsim Awareness