Just Silence, Tears and God

those are not my words.

i  found them in a blog post done by

 Hannah, The Rustic Chick.

i love her blog!!!

love it, love it, love it!

she is my go to person for cowgirl stuff.......

fashion, cowboy wisdom.

i even found one of my favorite devotional sites from her,

Campfire Cowboy Ministries.

Hannah is actually closer to my girls age than mine.

but that's ok.

it just means they can relate to the Rustic Chick when they visit.

and if i see something i think they should see (like dating wisdom:)

you can bet i share it:)

before i get to that (cause there are some cool quotes i want to share),

i have to explain the title to this post........

silence, tears and God.

Hannah sent out a prayer request this weekend.

her mom was having problems and undergoing tests.

moms are special, right?

just hearing this is enough to make one drop to their knees.

i found out this morning her sweet mom has a brain tumor

and is facing surgery tomorrow morning.

please, please please PRAY!

i remember last year 

when my dad was having surgery, 

i had people from all over the world praying.

it was such a comfort!

and God saw him through that surgery.  

In the end, he did not make it.  

he had fulfilled the purpose God had for him here on earth,

so he brought him home.

making him whole again yet breaking our hearts.

even though we knew he was in Heaven, still heartbreaking.

it's hard for me to even think about still.

i am blessed to know where he is right now

and that i will see him again.

how do people cope without that?

i can't imagine.

i had my own MRI a few years back........

to R/O (rule out) a brain tumor and MS.

not fun, waiting for those results.

they ruled out the brain tumor.

but not MS.

 i'm okay..........

and this isn't about me.

it's about Hannah's mom.

Hannah has such a strong faith in God,

which is the other reason i'm crazy about this young lady.

she knows he is holding her hand.......and her mom's.

but she still needs our prayers, so please pray.

and maybe you can visit her blog at this link and get to know my

 cowgirl "friend" for yourself:)

either way, thank you for taking the time to read this

 and for praying for Hannah and her family.

now for those cool dating quotes i found on her blog,

the Rustic Chick,

 and i shared them

IMMEDIATELY

with my own shabby chicks:)

now, don't you just love these?

and they came from the blog of a young girl determined to live a 

fun, happy, carefree, cowgirl kind of life.

a young lady whose head and heart are in the right place.

whose Faith is a wake up call for the rest of us.

Praying for your mama Hannah!

xoxo

Suzanne

BLESSED on Mother's Day.........

i am blessed.

so blessed.......to have a special mom.

blessed with two beautiful girls who call me Mom.

yes, i am blessed.

 when i came across one of my mom's devotional books recently,

i saw some thoughts that must have meant a lot,

enough for her to jot them down.

(she knows i read this:)

anyway, on mother's day,

i thought i would share a few of those thoughts.

i hope you see how blessed i am:)

then i got to thinking about my mom and the good ol' days.

that's when i realized that while i may try (and often fail) with

fancy new recipes........

my mom is still the best cook i know.

that's because who cares how great some special sauce is

 or fancy seafood dish turns out.......

if you can't make really good mashed potatoes and gravy,

you have problems:)

(and my mom makes AMAZING mashed potatoes and gravy:)

and strawberry shortcake.

and macaroni and cheese.

and oven baked chicken breasts.

and spaghetti.

and lemon merengue pie!

all the important stuff:)

she also has a frosting recipe we love and it goes 

PERFECTLY

 on her Strawberry Cake........

maybe that's why somebody wrote this........

because they were blessed to have a special mom too.

it's beautiful.......one of my favorites.

don't you love that?

here are a few more thoughts on mom's......

and whatever you remember from this,

PLEASE,

call your mom today:)

and since i promised you smiles for today,

this just

C

R

A

C

K

S

 me up!

and last but not least,

to my beautiful daughters.......

i know you have a special day planned,

and i can't wait!!!!!

but there is something you need to know.

while you rack your brains to think of the perfect gift,

you forget that YOU are my perfect gifts!

God gave me the perfect gift when he gave me you:)

everything else is just icing 

(don't get me wrong, i love icing;)

same thing when he gave me my mom......

the perfect gift.

yes, i am truly blessed this mother's day!

wishing

 all of the moms out there,

 moms to be, 

gonna be moms someday 

and

just as important,

 those special ladies who have been 

"just like like another mom" to someone,

a beautiful, blessed day!

XOXOXO

Hey Moms........

this is your week!

i say, work it......all week:)

and if you ever feel alone,

or like no one understands,

or you need advice from a friend,

then PLEASE

visit my FAVORITE parenting site,

iMom.

this site is so inspirational, encouraging, informative and downright cool!

it's like talking with your best friend.

check out this list.......

11 things you should NOT do as a mom:)

1.  I must be cheerful for my family at all time.
2. I must never admit I'm having a hard dayI must focus on my kids 24/7
3. I am only as good as the size of my jeans
4. I must make every meal healthy, tasty and special
5. I must make every day fun for my family
6. I cannot go to bed until all of my "mom work" is done
7. I must get everything "right" with my kids or they will be ruined
8. I must keep my house pretty close to spotless
9. I must say yes to every school or volunteer request
10. I must berate myself when I fall short of these mombligations

(hahaha.....now remember, those were 11 things you should NOT do) 

• TONS of parenting tips and articles like these.....
• 10 Ways to Discipline Your Child
• 21 Creative Consequences
• 5 Ways to Help Your Shy Child
• 9 Strategies for Feeding Picky Eaters
• Anger: Dealing with Anger in Children
• Attitude: Instilling a Can-Do Attitude in Your Children
• Bedtime: How to reduce Bedtime Struggles
• Behavior: Getting to the Heart of It
• Chores: Age-Appropriate Chores
• Church Benefits
• Complaining: How to Stop the Whining and Complaining
• Cursing: Kids and Cursing
• Disappointment: How to help your child deal with disappointment
• Fear: Is your Child afraid of the Dark?
• Goal Setting with your Children
• Honor: More than Obedience
• How Not to Let Your Family Revolve Around One Child
• `Kindness: Five Ways to Cultivate Kindness in your Child

and those are just a few articles you'll find on iMom

i got this in my email box today and thought i

would pass it on.

please visit iMOM and print these great sheets out for yourself.

a few FOR mom, a few for your kiddies, a bit of everything:)

great for a memory book.......

sometimes it's that one tiny special thing you do that makes the day!

 (i think I need this to stick with a diet/exercise program:)

and lastly, a fun, yummy mother's day treat you AND your kiddos will love...... 

 Super Easy Super Yummy Chocolate Fondue

                             1 cup chocolate chips (milk, semi-sweet, dark or bitter)

2 tablespoons butter

1 (14 ounce) can Sweetened Condensed Milk

2 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For dipping: sliced apples, sliced bananas, sliced pineapples, marshmallows

Skewers

DirectionsPlace chocolate chips, butter, condensed milk and water in heavy saucepan.  Melt mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Remove pan from stove and stir in vanilla.Use fondue for dipping while it is still warm. Store unused fondue covered in refrigerator.

okay, so go meet your new best friends at iMOM and while you're there, be sure to sign up for Espresso Minute.

you'll be so happy you did!

linking up.....

Hugs,

Suzanne

My Mom.....

is celebrating her birthday today!

as if we didn't before, 

i think i speak for all of my sisters when i say

that more then ever,

we appreciate and LOVE our Mom.

we are so blessed to have her in our lives and to be able to call her 

our MOM!

let me tell you a few things about her.

My Mom.....makes the BEST 

mashed potatoes with gravy and strawberry shortcake

....grew up in Michigan

....is the best gift wrapper i know....always wanted to be a nurse

.....has a great laugh....has more energy than i do (FOR SURE)

....always volunteered for my class at school....(i especially remember seeing her

in the hallway waving to me during the halloween costume parade)....

....once broke her toe when a huge boulder rolled on it

....likes shabby chic

....loves to read magazines

....loves her some BLING on an outfit

 (okay...maybe not this kind of bling:)

....made the BEST school lunches

....hates shellfish....can sew....knits great washcloths

....loved baskin-robbins JAMOCHA almond fudge ice cream

.....doesn't know how pretty she is

....let me be a tomboy

....plays the piano

....loves to SING

....likes riding her bike....loves a good bargain

....always has ice cream in the house

....still experiments with make-up

....is a good sport

....always kept us a special home

....likes a good nutty donut

....loves to hang out with her girls

....is a great grandma

....buys great presents

....has the kind of skin that tans beautifully

more than anything, she

....loves her family

.....loves the Lord

that's MY MOM!

even though times are tough...

you are not alone.

not really.

just as you have been there for us,

we are there for you.

might be by phone....

but we are there...and WE LOVE YOU!

Happy Birthday

xoxoxo

Happy Belated Mum's Day...

 yes...MUM!

this IS royal wedding month after all...

at least for the shabby chick "princesses" :)

and while my wishes for a special day are a bit late,

they are sincere!

(and by the way, I DID wish my own mother a happy day on Sunday

 so I'm not TOTALLY unfortunate!

 to Mums everywhere...

I hope you had a royally good day...

and were treated like the princess you are...

I apologize for being so late with my royal wedding recap.

 just wasn't feeling great last week, you know?

but never fear (or maybe you SHOULD fear..haha)

it's coming tomorrow at the latest!

along with a few winners...

although you're ALL winners!

hope you had a wonderful weekend...

and to my Mum...

 I love you!

(is my mum cool or what? Just look at her in the mini cooper with

the union jack on top!  hee-hee:)

you are the QUEEN MUM!!!!!

xoxoxoxoxo

Suzanne

Happy Birthday to My Mom...

  So Mom…you did it. 

You traveled around the sun 80 times!  

I know…I’ve used that line before. 

But it is pretty amazing when you think about it. 

I also know you’re not crazy about this whole “80 years old* thing 

but look at it from our eyes…

our mom is 80!  

She’s every bit as beautiful as she always was. 

She created a wonderful life for us growing up and she still has a wonderful life, 

full of people who love her.  

We’re pretty blessed Mom, 

so we want to CELEBRATE this with you

 Okay…but where to start… Do I make this funny or sentimental,

which is the way I’ve been feeling these past few months?

  You deserve it all so here goes… 

Mom, you have been the center of my world for so long and 

I can’t imagine a world without you in it. 

I know you’ll always be in my heart but still…

I need more...or maybe I should say I want more:)

Even with a family of my own,

yours is still the voice I often hear in my head.  

Maybe that’s how it goes. 

Maybe my voice will stick with my girls.
  (poor girls)

Life is so busy for me these days and the only regret I have with that is 

it means I can’t spend as much time with you…

but stick around because the days are going fast 

and I’ll soon have more time than I'll know what to do with.  

But I’m so grateful for the time we spent together while I was growing up.
Especially in high school...
now how many kids can say that?

Lucky me, being the youngest.  

So many of my memories revolve around you and YOUR friends, 

something I wouldn’t trade for anything.  

I think that’s why, 

when people ask that dumb question about socialization 

and my girls because they are home schooled, 

I just want to tell them they’re crazy.  

Besides the fact that they live VERY full, busy lives…

they are totally comfortable with people of ALL ages and find fun in 

spending time with adults as well as other teens. 

That’s how it was with me. 

I can’t drive past Tuttle Rd. in Sarasota without thinking about Mary Ella,
(Tuttle or Turtle??) 

I can’t hear “Everything is Beautiful” without thinking about Emery,  

can’t eat Marshmallow topping without thinking about that messy sundae 

Doris W. ate at Howard Johnsons!

And every single time I walk in a dollar store, (which is often:)
I think of the time when they first opened and were called

“Everything’s a Dollar”.  

You walked up to the guy and asked how much something cost

and the whole store screamed out 

“Everything’s a Dollar”!  haha… 

And I never knew you came home and messed with your own hair. 

I do that too!

  I come home, 

get out the scissors and give myself the cut I wanted in the first place. 

Must’ve seen you do it! 

One of my favorite memories involved my friends, 

who absolutely LOVED you, by the way.
You must have been one of the first "Cool Moms"!

One night, we realized they “teepee’d” the front yard. 

Thinking we were lucky to see it before we went to bed, 

you and I went out and cleaned it up before the morning dew. 

Smart, huh?  

Then when we went in the family room, 

we saw they had done the backyard too. 

Out we went to clean it. 

Finally we were done.  

Then Dad looks out the window and tells us they did the front yard again. 

Huh???  

While we were cleaning the back yard, they were out front doing it again!  hahaha 

We laughed so hard.  

How dumb were we?

  I had great friends from church…

my best friends, other than a few at school...
and my mom. 

Thank you for steering me towards my youth group instead of school. 

I can’t think of a single memory of school that means anything to me

but I have a truckload from church and to me, 

that’s as it should be. 

(even though my friends and I did manage to go through

a bunch of different youth directors.  

Did anyone stop to think it might have been us and not them?:)  

And can you explain how you let us put pennies on the train track 

when we heard it coming and then back away while 

it flattened our pennies at Otsego with Bowmans? 

I mean, I had to be about 8 or so, right? 

hahaha…but we survived to tell about it.  

Good times...

Yep…it’s definitely the little things that in the end are

really the big things. 

You did a lot of little things for me…for us…

and have no idea how “big” they really were. 

They still are! 

 Especially after this past year, 

I have never been more grateful for those little things.  

I remember crying  while telling you of my test results and you said

“Oh Suzy, I’m old.  I wish I could take it from you”. 

Yes, that made me cry even more…

it still does…but that’s a mother’s love for you. 

The cards and emails to cheer me up,

the few dollars tucked in an envelope to treat myself to 

Starbucks or ice cream.  

I know that you are there, that you care, 

that you worry and that you pray. 

I know when you are on your knees at night, 

you pray for me, for my girls, for every single one of us.  Thank you Mom. 

Thank you for  caring.  

Thank you for praying.  

Thank you for loving. 

Thank you for being our Mom….

our Mother…

our Mommy.  

I love you. 

Happy Birthday.  

Happy 80th Birthday!!!!!

 P.S...I almost forgot...
these guys want to wish you a Happy Birthday too!

XOXOXOXO
Suzanne

Don't Mess With Me...

Because I'm strong.

I can take care of myself.
Even though I wish I didn't have to.
Because of course I would rather be shopping.
Or getting a pedicure.
But we do what needs to be done, right ladies?
And if my girls are around
and you mess with me,
you'll WISH you were dealing with a mama bear

when I'm done with you;)

Seriously!!!

Do I need to prove my point?
Okay...you asked.
(I know you did even though I can't hear you:)

Let's see...
I have become good at fishing things out of my pool.
I don't go running to the neighbor or call my husband to come home
from work.
I used to do that...
but no more.

When I find a sweet turtle,
I gently take him back to the pond across the street.
I very carefully remove the bunny from my pool who got lost and fell in...
and take him somewhere peaceful for his final resting place.
A dead rat?
Yes...fished one of those out...
ON MY BIRTHDAY...
on the morning after our FIRST night in the house.
Yes...I thought it was a bad sign.
Still do.
But I know he must have gotten into someone's poison,
got thirsty and saw my pool full of water...
and died.
In MY pool!!!
Now THAT was creepy...
but I did it.
(Okay, first I called my new pool guy crying
while he explained about chemicals and what I needed to do
and told me it was okay...happens all the time)
Gee, thanks!

But the snake in the pool last week?
Please...
Why me???
My only question for God...who we do not question...but I have to on this one...
is WHY SNAKES?????
(Notice I had to make the letters small.)
Okay, before you write and scold me,
I did try to scoop him out with the long handled pool net.
But he wouldn't stay still and I am NOT playing games here.
SO...
with one good whack of the pool net,
he flipped over and became VERY easy to get out.
Yuck, YUCK, YUCK!!!!!

The car that I do not recognize from my small peaceful neighborhood...
that sneaks into this gated community behind a resident's car...
and parks at night in the empty cul de sac near my house...
AT NIGHT...
for no good reason...
I make sure you KNOW you are seen and busted
and then call the police!
DO NOT come in my neighborhood if you shouldn't be there...
park quietly in a dark spot...
and expect ME to not notice you.
Not when my chicks are around anyway.
So there!


And then last night, while my husband lay sleeping
peacefully...
(sometimes it's just easier to handle things yourself, you know?)
I hear the garage door open.
And we are BOTH home already.
And it is about Midnight!
I take my guard dog Maui,
who is the biggest scaredy cat ever,
and go check it out.


Did I mention that first I grabbed the hand saw that I keep in a special place
for times like this?
Yep...there I was, peeking in the cars, checking out the garage and
EVERY inch of the lower level with my big silly pup.
The one who thinks we're downstairs
because it's time to go out and play fetch in the pool.
But I have my saw, not his football!
Well, nothing there...
but CREEPY!!
When I come back upstairs,
Jordie asked if I could ever use it?
Let's see...
my girls, my dogs and a sleeping husband upstairs...
could I whack someone silly with a saw?
ABSOLUTELY...
and ask questions later.

So while I think I'm a pretty typical Mom,
not too high strung,
just trying to enjoy my days...
Don't Mess With ME!!!
hahaha

Dear Mom,

Although this is short and sweet,
it says it all.
Thank you for every little thing!
I love you,
Suzy

And a special poem for all of the wonderful moms out there...

A CHILD'S ANGEL

Once upon a time there was a child ready to be born. So one day he asked God:

"They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?"

"Among the many angels, I chose one for you. She will be waiting for you and will take care of you."

"But tell me, here in Heaven, I don't do anything else but sing and smile, that's enough for me to be happy."

"Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you every day. And you will feel your angel's love and be happy."

"And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me, if I don't know the language that men talk?"

"Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak."

"And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?"

"Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray."

"I've heard that on earth there are bad men. Who will protect me?"

"Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life."

"But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore."

"Your angel will always talk to you about me and will teach you the way for you to come back to me, even though I will always be next to you."

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from earth could already be heard, and the child in a hurry asked softly:

"Oh God, if I am about to leave now, please tell me my angel's name."

"Your angel's name is of no importance, you will call your angel,
"Mommy."

~ Author Unknown ~

Happy Mother's Day!!!