Boy Scout Motto-Be Prepared!

Well, she's here! Abigail Jo Robison was born at 9:02 on September 25, 2011. She weighed 3 pounds and 15 ounces and came out screaming. Sean called us at 2:30 on Sunday morning to tell us that Krysten's water had broken. I told them to go on to the hospital. Their doctor wasn't on call over the weekend and so the on-call doctor met them at the hospital. It was a blessing for us and them that he sent them to the closest hospital where Krysten and I both work, so that we can visit easier and I can see here while I am at work. Dr. Stoll delivered her and then she was whisked off to the NICU because of her being 8 1/2 weeks early.
She is beautiful and I think she looks alot like Krysten and her sister Sarah. They have the same shape of face. Abigail is already good at giving a really nice pout face. She also likes to stretch alot and throw her arms up over her head while she is sleeping. I got to shampoo her hair after Krysten gave her the first bath last night. It was wonderful.

Krysten was very emotional after the delivery. I can understand that, as she had worked very hard and was very worried. There was nothing finer than seeing Sean come out of the delivery room with the baby with tears in his eyes too. He told me today that watching the delivery was pretty amazing!

I went shopping today and bought a few little cute things for her. They are all too big, but she will grow. Today she is off oxygen, cpap and is on room air and still has her feeding tube and IV. She is in an isolette and under phototherapy for jaundice. Her hair is probably going to be curly and is a light brown.

I guess that we should have been better prepared. We haven't gotten the dresser or rocking chair painted, Sean and Krysten were going to be moving this next week, and we haven't had the baby shower yet. Now we will just have to go into high gear.

We love her already!

2011 Garden

So far this is all that we've gotten from the garden this year. It was cool for so long in May and we planted a little late and it grew slowly due to the cool weather. Weeds have been our bain too. I didn't need these tomatoes but I canned them and split them with my married kids, eight pints this time. If the warm weather holds we should get another batch.

Squash grow like a foot overnight, I have a friend who can feed these to her chickens.

My lovely beets! I've grown these before with good success, but this year they were a little slow to grow. But we got one good mess which I oven roasted tonight and dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. They were delicious!

My first successfull year at growing carrots! I was pleased since they were pretty much ignored and unwatered. I'll roast them with some potatoes, parsnips, onions, and turnips with some herbs and olive oil. I am grateful for the little successes with the garden this year. We had a good bit of squash, I've two butternuts out there ready to pick, some good peppers, which we made into pepper poppers. The green beans didn't do well, not enough water, neither did the cucumbers. I've got potatoes to dig next. Anyway I'm grateful!

I told you so.....!

THIS is what you look like after you take
THIS for a walk.....(I don't know anything about anything, she says!)
wearing THESE without one of.....

THESE!

The last thing he remembers is looking back at his friends and skating faster. Then I was in the living room and heard him coming in the house in tears, and he said he thought he blacked out and he couldn't remember anyting. The goose egg on his head above his brow was as big as a golf ball. We iced it for a couple of hours and then made the trip to the E.R. The doc said he had a concussion and needed to let his brain rest for a few days. So no school, video games, tv, books, music, or books on tape. Do you know how hard it is to make a ten year old lay in a dark room and rest his brain? Well it has been two weeks now and he is recuperated, but his judgement is still lacking as he went out today for recess, when his activity start up date is not until Monday. What is a mother to do?

Great Grandmother Little

Fannie Monroe Long was born 7 March 1885 in Jacksboro, Texas, in Jack County. She was she oldest child of Jake M. Long and Elizabeth Obarts. She married Jessie Bester Little 7 November 1901. Their children were Bonnie Elizabeth Little, Sam Bester Little, Nancy Edith Little, Fannie Mae Little, Eula Alma Little, Mertie Jake Little, and Clarabelle Little.
This is a photo of Grandmother Little with her oldest child, Bonnie Elizabeth, who was also known as Willie. All the children had nicknames that were given to them by their older half brother Earl and these were the names that most of us remember them being called by.

This is a photo of Grandmother Little's youngest brother John, who was born January 1898.

This is Jake Long, born 1892, and died April 1914, of meningitis. Grandma Pat told us the story of going to his funeral and having to kiss him in his coffin. It was a wonder that more of them didn't die from meningitis too. He died the same week that Aunt Babe (Mertie Jake) was born and so she was named after him.

This is a photo of another brother, Sam Long, born 24 April 1896, he had only one leg. This photo shows them in front of an oil rig. According to the 1930 census of Love County, Oklahoma his wife is Vinnie, and children are Albert W., Gladys L, Ruby L, and Sam R.J. I wonder if he lost his leg in an accident in the oil fields or as a farm worker. Probably will never know.

This is Great Grandmother's sister, Bonnie Elizabeth Long Sigman and her husband Jim. They had three children, Dottie, Jake and Elizabeth. They are listed in the 1920 census but then in the 1930 census they are both gone and the kids are living with the oldest sister in Wichita Falls. I don't know what happened to them.

Some things I do know about Great Grandmother Little. She was greatly loved by her husband, Jessie Bester Little. She died of breast cancer in 1916, when they went to Dallas to the doctor and received the diagnosis of cancer he took her and bought her a cameo brooch, that is now owned by my sister Elizabeth. He sold his farm to pay for her medical bills. While she was sick, my grandmother was taught to run the house, and do the cooking at the age of eight years. She also was the one who changed the dressings on Grandmother Little's breast as the cancer advanced. Grandma Pat told my sister Elizabeth that she was the first woman in her family to live past the age of forty. All her female relatives had died of cancer before the age of forty, including her mother, Fannie Monroe Long, grandmother,Elizabeth Obarts, aunt, Bonnie Elizabeth Long and sister, Nancy Edith (Billie). I wonder what that would feel like to be approaching that birthday and wondering what would happen to you? I am making the assumption that Elizabeth Obarts died of cancer, as well as Bonnie Long Sigman and we do know that Billie (Nancy Edith) also had breast cancer and died of a brain tumor after the cancer was treated. Billie was actually 42 when she died.

I also know that Fannie Monroe Long loved her family very much, since she named all of her children after her own brother's and sister. She is buried in the Illinois Bend cemetery in Montague County, Texas.

As I study the family history information and talk to my family members about the different stories that they've been told I feel even more close to the past away relatives. I love my family so much that sometimes it hurts!

Malachi 4:6.

New Windows At Our Home!

Well after 20 years in this house and 20 years freezing every winter, and 20 years of my family referring to our home as Valley Forge, we took the plunge and got new windows. They are beautiful and here are some shots of the work being done.
Three guys showed up at 7:30 a.m. and had them all (13 windows and a sliding door) installed by 2:00 p.m. They worked hard and fast. They were done by K & H Home Improvements in Denver and this is not a paid ad.
The windows are by a company called Gorell. They are triple paned and work and look great.


I had a little help that day with the twins here. Levi kept disappearing and going into Nolan's room, where all the good toys are kept.



Back bedroom window missing, lots of fresh air and the weather couldn't have been better for the workers.

Here they are almost done!
I love them already and can't wait for some cold weather to compare my utility bills. We also had 16 inches of insulations blown in the attic and new gutters applied so hopefully we won't have any ice dams on the roof this year. Bring the cold weather on!

Patio Furniture

A couple years ago I was looking all over Craiglist for the perfect patio furniture. I wanted wrought iron so it wouldn't blow away, and it would last, I wanted heavy because cheap stuff looks cheap. Alas, I couldn't afford anything that I liked. Age old problem. For as long as we have lived in our house there was another house in our neighborhood that had this stuff, thrown out in the backyard, willynilly, upside down and neglected. It had no cushions and looked very unwanted. So one evening on my way home from work I stopped and asked if I could buy it. They said I could just have it. I was ecstatic. I ran home and got the truck and boys to load and had ourselves a sofa, rocker, another chair and a side table. They were painted a very pale green, and I wanted a timeless look so we repainted them in a black. I bought foam on sale at Joann's and then for batting bought some cheap comforters at the thrift store. I bought the canvas on sale from Fabric.com and away we went.
A couple years later (yes I am a big procrastinator) I got these lovelies all done and I am so proud of the way they look. They are comfortable and pretty. You can now take a nap or read a book out on the patio and we have adequate seating for guests. The pillows are made from fabric that I had on hand and tie in to the royal blue cushions on the patio chairs that go with the dining table.

My motto: It never hurts to ask!