Committed and Consistent

There are many words that come to my mind when I think of my husband, but the two that stand out today are committed and consistent.

Steve is wholeheartedly dedicated and unchanging.

I truly could not ask for a better man to be the father of my children.

I am blessed by his quiet consistent commitment. I am blessed by the security he offers our family.

He just is. I never have to guess with him.

That is what I needed.

That is a gift.

Happy Father's Day, Steve.

I love you.

Sky Diving Great Grandma

Yes, that is right. My mother-in-law who is a great grandma went skydiving. How impressive is that?

Applause, applause....

When my kids are grown...when....maybe I will do this. My friend Krista and I joked about doing this if we didn't get married. That was ten years ago. We were crazy. We are married now, have good husbands to keep us sane and make us insane, have little ones, etc., but maybe we will still do this when we are great grandmas.

Thanks for the inspiration, Arlene.

The Pranksters of 100th Street

This is a purely fictional story. Any resemblance to real people I know are purely coincidental. Really they are.

Once upon a time there was a girl, we will call her Mrs. D who had a sister, we will call her Mrs. W. Her sister was married to a man, Mr. W, who likes to be funny, and amazingly he has a sister also. They have a mother-we will not call her anything out of respect. Their mother is very kind and likes to give away things on the holidays such as turkey carcasses and left-over pecan pies. Maybe, once in awhile, she will even give away a nice ham bone. If there are no takers in her family, the nice lady will try to give the ham bone away to her daughter-in-law's sister to make a nice soup.

Although the gift was declined due to the fact that Mrs. D had her own ham bone, the pranksters in the family could not rest. So, they broke the law. They committed a federal offense. Two middle-aged men-we will call them Mr. W and Mr. D, tin foil, black sharpies, trash bags to prevent leakage, and left-over Styrofoam. Mrs. W and Mrs. D were completely innocent in the whole process.These law-breaking men froze the ham bone that belonged to Mrs. D and sent it through the United States Postal Service to Mr. W's sister-we will call her Mrs. H. They skidded into the USPS at 5:10. Although they missed the deadline at the main desk, they were able to do a self-service mailing with a delivery date of the next day, if everything went as planned with this government service. Otherwise, it would arrive on New Year's Day...at which time the USPS would know something fishy was up. During the process, they were asked if they were mailing anything perishable. They said NO. Thus, the federal offense. Fortunately, the ham bone made it to it's desired location and was boiled into a nice pot of soup the next day.

Mrs. D and Mr. W are waiting anxiously for Mrs. H to retaliate. They are a little frightened. Maybe a turkey leg or a little left over guacamole dip is in their future.

Once again this is fictional, and the picture included is strictly an example of what this might have looked like had it actually happened. I cannot be held liable if this looks like something you might have experienced.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa George

Happy Birthday to a man who inspires me and makes me laugh, even though I don't know what he is talking about half of the time.

To the most amazing engineer I know...well the only engineer I know. I am blessed to have you as a father-in-law, George.

The Little Bundle At The Lincoln Memorial

I still remember that little bundle sitting in my great aunt's arms while we were sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. That is my first memory of her. Then they start to come to mind much easier. Dropping the bundle on her head because we wanted her to be our dolly, eating liver snaps at the fence with her when the neighbors walked by~yum, sliding down hills and building tepees out of long sticks we found on one of our outings. Playing and surviving on the river. Too many to count. Most good, some regretful, but always unquestionably filled with unconditional love.

She is one of my best friends, one of my closest listeners, someone who can make me laugh until my blood vessels in my face break. She's my little sister, and I am so thankful that God saw that it would be good to make us family.

Happy Birthday, Stephy.

I love you.

Happy Birthday

Coral's First Birthday. She walked on her birthday with the video camera on. I always knew she loved the camera!

Happy 17th birthday, Coral Skye!

My Friend

Yesterday was my dear friend, Krista's, baby shower. The girls and I were there with lots of other amazing people. Sharon's home is filled with so many memories for the girls and I. Sharon and John were like parents to me while I was going through my single parent days. Their home is where Steve and I got married. Their family is like family to me.

The shower was a wonderful time. Krista's mom asked me to do a small devotional for Krista. I really didn't know exactly what that meant so I just sat down and wrote something from my heart. Sharon was so uplifting to me and gave me such amazing compliments that I couldn't read my own write-up because I kept crying. I handed it off to Coral, and she read it for me. It is my heart towards an amazing woman and my heart as a mother.

When Sharon asked me to do this I honestly couldn't think of one thing I could say about mothering. I have been a mother for 18 years and feel like I know less now then I did before Tiffani was born. I had no idea of the challenges and the blessings that this job would bring.

In Stormy Omartain's book, "The Power of a Praying Parent", she describes parenting like this.
It's the best of jobs. It's the most difficult of jobs. It can bring you the greatest joy. It can cause the greatest pain. There is nothing as fulfilling and exhilarating. There's nothing so depleting and exhausting. No area of your life can make you feel more like a success when everything is going well. No area of your life can make you feel more like a failure when things go wrong. Parenting!"

In the last 18 years I have gone through many stages in my parenting. The "I know so much" stage to the "I am a horrible mother stage." There aren't many days left that I am in the "I know so much" stage and on the days that I feel I am a horrible mother, Jesus reminds me that this is one of the greatest things he had planned for my life. He made me a mommy to 6 amazing, unique children. He has blessed me with the most amazing gift that a woman could possible receive, the gift of caring for one of God's precious people, the gift of caring for a person that he sent his son to die for. He entrusted that job to me. He chose me to be my children's mommy, just as he has chosen you, Krista, to be this tiny person's mommy.

There are many things I have done that haven't been ideal parenting. There have been times when I have just simply been selfish and blew it. But, there is one thing that I have done better than anything else in my life, and that one thing is, I have loved my children.

I have known you, Krista for 9 years. You are an incredible person. You are a true friend. You have the gift of nurturing and loving those around you unconditionally. If you are even close to being the kind of mother that you are a friend, your child will know that he is loved without condition. Already I have blessed to watch your humbleness as a wife and your love and tenderness for your child.

If there is one thing I can share with you that I am still learning everyday it is to be merciful with yourself. You are the person for this job. You have been chosen to care for and love this precious baby. God has already given you a huge heart, and he will use this tiny person to help you become all that he desires you to be. Teach him to love Jesus, pray for him and love him everyday, and someday your child will grow up and call you blessed.

Love you, Krista.

IT'S A BOY!

A long time ago in a far away land, well not that far away, I met an amazing woman. She was the greatest friend a girl could ever asked for. So much has changed in those almost nine years. We both have married, and now we will both have experienced the amazing thing of being a mom to the male species! She just found out today that she is having a little baby boy. Yea! Congratulations, Krista. You and Tom are going to be and already are amazing parents!

Stories from the Stall; Part 2~Zanzibar

As promised, here is my mother-in-laws story from the stall. They were in Zanzibar at the time.
By Arlene:
Shellie, this story is especially for you. Remember the thing you sent us about why women take more time in a public restroom? We were in a museum, and I saw a sign that said TOILETS. No indication of which was his or hers. I checked out both. They were the same, with a pee trough and about four stalls, two with doors. I picked one and shut the door. No lock. I decided to chance it and pee fast before anyone came in. I started to hang my purse on a hook. No hook. The floor was gunky and wet with I-don't-know-what. There was no back on the toilet tank. So, you guessed it, I HUNG MY BAG AROUND MY NECK! I pulled down my slacks, trying not to let them touch the floor, and did my duty, and guess what: NO TOILET PAPER. No paper seat covers either. Normally I carry a pack of tissue in my purse, but of course I didn't have it this time nor did I have the wet-wipes I bought just for such situations. They were back at the hotel. So I wagged my butt a couple of times, redressed, and shot out of there, finding no sink to wash my hands. All the time I was thinking, "I've gotta tell Shellie about this!"

The Rest of the Story

Alright, now that I have your attention I will give you the whole story. It is one of those stories that we talk about and tell other people when they come over for chicken on the BBQ. It makes my kids and I laugh. Steve slept through it all so doesn't contribute much to the story telling.

I had a neighbor, whom since has moved, that had one of those kids who just wouldn't leave home. Even after she sold the house he still broke in and slept in the garage! The guy was a piece of work. Actually when he was sober he was a really nice kid, but get him drinking and he was interesting to say the least. He loved to drink and have partys when his mom was not around so one weekend she was gone and the party got hopin'. I was pretty good friends with her so she would ask me to keep an eye on things. She had also asked me to adopt her dog because she wasn't home much, and he loved it at our house because of the boys. The dog had been her sons before he got kicked out of his umpteenth apartment.

I would have been fine with his party if he would have kept it in the house, but as it goes they came out of the house. They were fighting, cursing, yelling, and then they got in their cars. That made the choice easy for me to call the police. No drinking and driving in my neighborhood!

Well, of course he knew that it was most likely me that called the police so the story happened as I said. He is 1/16 or so Indian and let's say, very proud of his heritage. He even gets a check from the tribe once per month. So, yes he really was doing an Indian war cry and as his garage door was closing his head was poking in and out as he was doing this war cry. It was hysterical, but a little frightening also. So, the girls and I actually do joke around that he was going to scalp me because honestly, I think he wanted to. I know it is not nice to assume, but he was doing a WAR CRY for goodness sake!

The next day he apologized, so I still have my scalp, and thankfully his mother moved into a one bedroom home on the river.

The Problem With Drunk Neighbors

I peered out my bathroom window through the slats in the blinds. I could hear him calling me. He was so angry that I had his dog. He was angrier that I had called the police. I spoke softly to my children as we listened to him do his war cry towards me. I was afraid. I knew that any moment he was going to charge across the street with his knife and scalp me. As the garage door closed on his rising and falling voice he lunged back and forth looking directly at me. Hi ya ya ya....Hi ya ya ya. I swear he could see me behind the closed covering of the window. He was looking at me, waiting for his chance to attack.

The Friendliest Man Alive

You have probably meet or at least been affected by the friendliest man alive. You have sat next to him on an airplane or fought fire next to him in one of the many wild fires that have blazed across the forests of our nation. You know the guy. He was the one with a cast on his leg. Maybe you have operated on him in some fashion or aided in his healing. Maybe you have climbed the same snow-capped peak. I can't imagine that there are very many people who have not been affected by this man.

It all started back in 1940 when Chester Virgil and Princess Dorothea got what I imagine was the surprise of their lives. It had been eight years since they had heard the word, "Congratulations! You are going to have a baby." They weren't young. Their children were older, and now they got to do it all over again. But, just like many of us have found out, God doesn't always follow our plan, and for that I am thankful. So, on this day, August 18, in the year 1940 God blessed this world with a baby named David Marquis. He arrived to this world in Monmouth, Illinois. He lived on Dime Hill.

He is my daddy, and I am amazed by this man. He loves Jesus in a world that doesn't. He loves my mama and has done so for 39 years and counting. He loves his children and his grandchildren unconditionally, even when we don't deserve it. He is loyal. He is the hardest working man I have or ever will meet. He has overcome obstacles without giving up. He is an example of persistence.

I am blessed to have been born the oldest daughter of this man. Through him I have experienced things most people don't get to. My kids always want my childhood. They want to do the things I did because they were so adventurous. Not much in my younger years is considered normal, but boy do I have the stories to tell around the campfire because I was raised by this man. Marquis calls them "Grandpa Stories". We all tell them to our kids.

His children all strive to be like him in some way, even if we don't know it. This summer the three of us went to California with our families. To save $10 we shoved all 16 of us in the mini van to drive to Disneyland. Granted it was only two blocks, but we were able to look at his 10 grandchildren who were all there that day and tell them it was a grandpa moment. As they were smelling their cousins' they got it. The stench of one another after walking around Disneyland for hours in 105 degree weather burned the memory into their hearts. We learned how to make memories from the best. Last week my family went camping, and I officially reached a bench mark in becoming more like my father. I scared my kids. I told the scariest story ever by the light of the campfire, and they were SCARED. My kids love to look at me and tell me I am acting just like grandpa. I do hope I have the integrity and love towards others that my father has.

Happy Birthday, David Marquis! You are quite the man!

My Friend

I don't have anything to say that is humorous, clever, sarcastic, or witty. I am grieving for my friend who lost her grandmother. So, I am sad. I am grateful though that she knows the Lord and no longer suffers. What an amazing thing to stand before the God who gave you life, pain free, praising Him for eternity. What a blessing to have something so awesome to look forward to when we are all done with this.

Happy Mother's Day, Wanda Mae!

My Mama has always been my hero (even when I was 16 and didn't know it). She is an amazing women. I have never meet anyone who works harder or strives to be the best that she can be. Despite the bumps in the road she has faced my mother has persevered and succeeded in too many areas to mention today, but here are a few. My mom has cerebral palsy, and despite that she married a man that could be described as nothing less than the normal red blooded American white male. That of course is an accomplishment all by itself. Not only did she marry him, but she has stayed married to him. They just celebrate their 39th wedding anniversary, May 10. This is a pretty amazing accomplishment in today's culture. Her love for my dad is a shinning example of how a woman should love her husband, and her dedication to him is worth mentioning. I thank her for the example she has given me as a wife, and I can only hope to do it as well as she has. She had three healthy, wonderfully talented children of which I am proudly the eldest...And that is starting to mean something these days...Eldest. She raised us to love Jesus, be respectful of those around us, and gave us all an amazing work ethic. She loves us all unconditionally. For example she didn't kill us or stick us in a barrel and plug up the hole when we were teenagers. Coming from a mother of 4 teenage daughters...WOW! She loves our spouses and children in a very comforting way. Even though my mom lives far away from her kids and grandkids there is a security that if we ever needed her she would be on a plane and be here as quickly as her little legs could carry her. There are no words to tell you how much I love and respect my mother. All I can say is I love her and thank her for the past 38 years. Without her I would not have life.