Beauty Is In the eye of the Beholder

If I was smart, I would be in bed . . . but restless so I will do this post.

I have wanted to put this on for awhile. I just see so much around me that I think is beautiful. Often others would not agree with me, but that is what make the world go 'round . . . and be interesting after all.



So what is so beautiful about the grunge behind the knobs on my stove? It took a whole lot of cooking to build that up! And it took a patient hubby to be willing to disassemble the afore said stove and repair it, exposing the grunge! . . . for the second time, no less. I'm lucky to need to do that much cooking.

Jon caught me "testing" the stove, just to make sure that this repair wouldn't end up like the first one did . . . . blowing huge blue sparks all over the place! I was home a lone of course.

Perhaps a little background here. I have wanted a glass top stove for so long, When the big front burner went out, I told him "No, don't put any money into this one, save it for the new one" . The oven thermostat has been kind of flaky, about 20 degrees off. But no, don't fix it, save the money. After two years or maybe a little longer, and I finally saw that things were going down hill fast, so I decided to review my priorities and just fix the stove we had.

Yes, the paint is chipped, the black paint on the back splash is scrubbed off in places, there are stains around all the burners that aren't going anywhere, without taking the enamel with it (been there, done that, don't want to repeat it). But come on, if you regularly fix meals for large groups, wouldn't you think that 4 lovely red glows were absolutely beautiful? I sure do! I kind of like the bibs hanging on the front too. It's wonderful to fill all of them at once. And that big goofy platter above, that's just my sunshine!

The 1 X 2 on the right side is holding up the upper cupboard, which is losing the back .. that would be the back that is screwed into the wall . . . you know, to hold the cupboard up, not!It's sister is on the other side holding up the other side of the same cupboard. Should do something creative to make it look planned, huh? Any ideas?!?!?!

His Arms Are Around Us

I love this this picture and have it hanging on the wall in the toy corner of my family room. I hope my grandchildren and any others who play there notice it. I take a peek at it often when I need to be reminded.


If you look closely at His face, you can see the love with a little humor mixed with it. I'm sure one of those children just said something that was a little funny, but a lot wise and insightful. Just like my kids used to, still do and now their children are.


Just as I love to wrap my arms around my grandchildren, His arms are around us, holding us close, whispering encouragement in our ears. Can you feel His arms? Can you hear that wonderful, gentle, quiet voice?


It isn't always easy, but it is worth the effort. I'm trying to more each day. I'm so thankful to know that I can . . . such a gift.

More pictures!!

Birthdays are so fun and I just found out how to do more than 5 pictures, so here goes!



Let's see, you've just pushed a watermelon through a pipe the size of a tennis ball, so what do you do? If you're Mariah you start taking pictures!

My baby with her baby ....

Grandma Jo Claire Maskey. She sure loves these little boys and they love her. I feel sad that she doesn't get to enjoy them as often as I do.

Grandpa Joe Maskey. He loves thse boys mucho grande. They have so much fun puttering around with him when they go down to Bisbee. I hear all about it when they come back.

Pretty funny stuff . . . especially from their perspective!

Poor baby Lincoln, he's sleeping peacefully and then they start scrubbing, poking, squeezing, touching him with those old cold stethoscopes ... what the heqq!?!?

When ole Papa was a courtin' ole Nanny, he loved all over her nephew who was just a few months old. The more she saw, the more bait she used! Looks like he still loves the little peanuts!

Aunt Sassie with her arms full of fun and

lovin' ! they sure do love her ... Smart boys!

SPENCER

OK, which Spencer is it who's mother had a banner day and night??? I can't stand the suspense!! I couldn't follow your URL back because your site is blocked!!! Email me at smhuish@netzero.com

Introducing . . . Lincoln Stephen Maskey

Well, the jury has returned to the court room and our new little guy will be known as Lincoln Stephen Maskey! Of course, I will exercise my rights as a grandma and have my own little pet names for him. We never had so much trouble coming up with names so I have had a hard time watching the kids struggle with this each time. Or maybe they just try to hard to make sure that their children will have a name they will like, just a thought.

And The Baby's Name Is . . . . OR ... A Familiar Sight

Mariah just called and said that they were down to two names and could she talk to Gabriel. so here is what I heard ---
Hi Mommy .......
Baby Atticus Stephen ......
I don't wike those names! ........
those are dumb names! ......
baby Attics Stephen .....
No-o-o-o ..... bye .....here's Nanny

He had the saddest voice .

This was Garrett's opinion ---

Hi Mommy
(are you being good for Nanny?) ....uh huh
(are you havng fun?) uh- huh. I'm going to Mt Lemmon and then I be happy!
Bye!

No help there at all. It sounds like Stephen is kind of winning out. They have to decide by noon so that they can tell the lady that takes care of the paper work.

I warned them that he is already Pinky to me so they better come up with something or it might stick .... our family does seem to attach weird names to kids!

The Winner is ..... My Own Son ?!?!?

This looks a little rigged, doesn't it? Rob guessed the poor, still un-named baby would come on the 23rd between noon and 4:00 pm, so he wins the baech of cookies. I will take them to him tomorrow when and then make sure they are good enough for him while I babysit ... life is good! He requested chocolate chip.

He gets to share them because at 8:00 am, when Brianna told Arianna that Aunt Mariah was in the hospital having the baby, Ari announced that the baby would be born in 40 minutes. She was only 7 minutes off! ... much to Aunt Mariah's delight.

The Eagl ... I Mean Stork Has Landed!

What a morning the Maskeys and Huishes have had! Mariah woke up at 2:oo am and thought, "Oh, that hurt!" After timing them a couple of hours she and Stephen got up, tried to text me, then called and the races bagan!

Baby Maskey was born at 8:33 a.m. weighing in at 8 lbs. 3 oz. and measuring 20". His hair is about the color that Mariah's was when he was born, very thin light eye brows and surprisingly pink complexion. There is the slight cleft in his little chin . His eye may be shaped like Stephen's, the upper lip definitely is Stephen's. So Mariah has finally got her mark on one of their kids!

Each time one of these little angels comes into our family, I am so overwhelmed with what an absolute miracle has occured.

When Gabriel was born, I didn't feell it so much at first. As my feelings grew, I realized that I just couldn't comprehend that this little being had come from my very own daughter. It just didn't sink in at first. Then Arianna came along and it seemed more real. By the time Garrett joined the family, I had a good sense of what a change each spirit created in our family, added upon, one personality at a time. Then Tatianna came, once again, someone so different and unique ... so needed by our family.

Now our new little nameless stranger has come to our family. When I reached out to pick him up, I was so humbled by his tiny, but great presence. These children are such a great blessing to our lives. So valiant to be coming on the earth at this time, to parents who love them and willngly shoulder the challenges before them, to raise their children up to be the strong, faithful members in God's kingdom.

Jon just came and sat beside me for a few minutes and then said, "I admire our kids, having babies right now". He said, yes, when I asked him if it was because of what was going on in the world. I reminded him that our parents felt the same way 30 years ago. He just smiled, I love his smile when we have these quiet little moments, they say so much.

I am so grateful.

Don't Tell Anyone, But Some Strange Object is Circling Above ...

Finally! I'll keep ya'll posted!

From "Cousin George" ... One of Our Favorites!

A Keeper

Their marriage was good, their dreams focused.
Their best friends lived barely a wave away.
I can see them now, Dad in trousers, work shirt and a hat; and Mom in a house dress, lawn mower in one hand, and dish-towel in the other.
It was the time for fixing things: a curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress.

Things we keep.

It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy.
All that re-fixing, re-heating leftovers, renewing; I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more.

But when my mother died, and I was standing in that clear morning light in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more.

Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away...never to return. So... While we have it, it's best we love it... And care for it.. And fix it when it's broken... And heal it when it's sick.

This is true: For marriage... And old cars... And children with bad report cards... Dogs and cats with bad hips... And aging parents... And grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it.

Some things we keep, like a best friend that moved away or a classmate we grew up with.

There are just some things that make life important,
like people we know who are special... And so, we keep them close!

For those who have been in our ward for awhile, guess who I got to see today! Wendy Jensen and her daughters! Those are three beauties, all the way to the core. It was so fun to see them again. I have missed Wendy since they moved away, as much of the ward still does. The girls are so tall, statuesque, and just plain gorgeous. I can hardly believe it’s the same little girls that left here. Alyson sang in the regional choir, that’s her in the blurry picture up behind us. Sorry, bad lighting.

A Spine Tingling Afternoon

Today was a great day. We got to spend good time with good friends, then with good family and were “entertained” by some wonderful young people who have developed their wonderful gifts of music. It was the South Eastern Regional Choir’s concert.

It started out with just the boys up on the stage and then all of a sudden the director turned to us (audience) and started waving his arms. The girls were lined up in the aisles and joined in. It was spine tingling, in a good way =-) The director is turned sideways, to be seen by both groups.

Gary Lunt , director, said that by looking at the kids on stage, whole choir, we were looking at the future and that it was good. I couldn’t agree with him more.

After seeing the Grease production and this concert today, I have realized how much most of us miss by not staying in touch with what is going on around us. The youth work very hard for these concerts, remember ? And then you come out on the stage and see so many empty seats, so discouraging. I remember how it felt when I was in the band. Just think how much it would mean to our young neighbors to find out that they had fans who didn’t “have” to go see their performances.

I’m glad that Brianna has opened up a new part of the world to our family!

When Do You Think the Baby Will Be born?

The other day Garrett asked Mariah, "When is the baby going to get out your shirt?"

Let's have some fun! When do you think the baby will be born? Closest guess gets a batch of fresh cookies, your choice. I will even mail them if I need to! Actual due date is March 3rd. Gabriel came 16 days early, Garrett came 14 days early. Mommy is NOT a happy camper!

Some people just need more to do I guess!

ALSO, check out the poll in the side column!

You can leave "G" name suggestions in the comments or an original ideas to go with the middle name Stephen in comments. When we played "name the baby" at her shower before Gabriel was born, there were some good suggestions! She thinks this is funny so don't worry about her being bothered. It's just her family's warped sense of humor, which she shares!

Fun Family Time

We had a special FHE tonight. The Maskeys came over to watch Joseph in Egypt to introduce the idea of why we store food. It was just about as long as the boys could sit still. The kids reminded the boys of the closet they had been organizing and filling with foods and that we were going to store up more to add to it.
The boys were so funny, they were SO excited when they found out they got to take the stuff home after we pouched it up. We're lucky to live so close to our children and to be able to share these kind of activities. Jon & I are enjoying our kids & grandkids more each day. Life is good!


Jon & I are slave drivers ..... even Baby "G" got to help!

I love Lemonade!

I'm so glad that I had so many lemons to squeeze and zest, to remind me of my new resolve. I'm so glad that I had the thoughts and the urge to make changes in my life, to turn those pages that needed to be turned. It has given me a new perspective in the world around me, in my life. It seems so random and disorganized, but it is my life and I have the opportunity to write the story on those pages.

I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who has eternal patience as He leads me, for a Savior who has enabled me to repent and start fresh. I am so grateful for my wonderful family and friends who are there for me in so many ways. I am grateful.

Nanny's Week, by Gabriel

My nanny is one very lucky lady. She gets all my help whenever she needs it, as long as I am a good boy and make good choices so that I get to go over to hers house. I have been working extra hard and doing a good job cause she needs lots of my help.

Last Monday she needed my help even though Papa was home helping. I borrowed the best screwdriver in the whole world that came all apart so that I could fix all the doors. Boy was she surprised when I brought some screws to her. When I brought half a door knob to her, she was REALLY surprised! I learned lefty loosie, righty tighty and the difference between a slotted or phiwips tip. I am such a smart boy!

She was so busy running around that she didn’t get to see me again until late on Wednesday. I could tell that she had really missed me so much. I went over to her house so that she wouldn’t be lonely while Papa was gone earning money for her to spend. I was great company and kept her totally entertained.

The next morning she had to drop me off cause she had to have lunch with some of her friends, she looked so sad but tried hard to be brave.

Saturday night was a pretty good time. Garrett and me got to go to Nanny’s house and make some way cool Valentine cookies.

We sure did such a good job and cleaned up when we were done. Nobody even had to ask us to.

We taked some to the Peterswens cause we love them, and the rest home to Mommy and Daddy.

We are the sweetest little boys, that’s why Nanny loves us mucho grande!

A Day in the Life of Granny Nanny, by Arianna

On Wednesday she comes over to play us. She has started calling us her little dollies so we have to remind her that we are her little princesses. She has to ask which princesses so that she knows if she is Cinderella’s mean old stepmother, Ursula, or Mrs. Potts for the day. We like Mrs. Potts cause she sings that song from the movie, only with strange words … I don’t understand why she does that?!?!

First , we take our bath and we see just how hard we can make it for her to get us lotioned, dressed and our hair done. We’re so good at this hair thing, that she takes us out with quite the hairdos sometimes. When we are REALLY wiggly she calls us her little urchins. Breakfast is almost a bother now because we have started going to the park before story time. We get to run, dance, slide and Granny Nanny pushes us in the swings as long as she can. She says that it’s such a good workout and she thanked us for helping her feeling a "little perkier" ... hm-m-m-m.

Next we go to the library for story time with Mr. Bill & Miss Amy. They are so funny and tell the best stories ever. Mr. Bill will do just about anything to make us laugh. Miss Amy used to seem kind of shy, but now she makes the stories even better when she helps Mr. Bill tell them and she is a great dancer!

Last Wednesday we went to Costco to check out the samples and had so much fun talking to all the sample ladies and telling them all kinds of stories. They ALL love us and think we are so cute and would even ask us questions. They act like they are grandmas who have been well trained by their grandchildren. All of a sudden Granny Nanny looked at her watch and said, “Good grief, it’s almost 1:30!” So we hurried up and got pizza for lunch that we could eat on the way home and get down for our naps … funny Granny Nanny, she thought we were going to lay down when we got home! Tati snuggle up to her and accidently fell asleep, but I was way too smart for that old trick! Mama even caught Granny Nanny sleeping with Tati on the couch. She makes funny noises when she sleeps, Daddy says she always has =-)

She did some stuff with Mama before she left and still looked happy when she left, I think she likes come play with us, she’s pretty lucky.

Westerners Have Warmth, Easterners Have Class ... ?

This was on a car in front of me coming home from a day with my dollies, ya gotta love it!

I was told this when living BYU by a guy that was dating my roomie. I made a quick decision on whether to be nice or not ... not! I just had to ask what guys from Wisconsin had ... !?!?!? He had become pretty smug with my roomate and was treating her horribly, she was glad when he sat there and sputtered like the &*^%$?! that he was and then didn't come back.

I have a new hobby. Once in a while I get this little bee buzzing in my bonnet and I get the biggest kick out of pinching every penny that goes through my fingers. Pinching until it SQUEALS! I couldn’t find a good image on the internet of a squealing pig, so I decided to use this little piggy bank as my symbol that something is a money saving idea.

I got the bank at Six Flags Over Texas in 1966 or 67. I found that if I put all my pennies in it, I could buy an album, yes vinyl, when it got full. So it is a good one for the symbol …. and yes, I still have the albums!!!

So if you see this, it will be a prompt that you might want to check out my other blog at: www.huishes.blogspot.com for info in the preparedness category and links to great information that will help you! I also hope that others will use it to share ideas that they have. Some of the links have been from readers that left comments.

Oh What a Week!

One more day left in the week and I'm only three days behind! It has been a funny week though.

First I decided that we were never going to eat all the tangerines, so why not can them. We pay and arm and leg for those silly little cans in the stores, why not use these? It worked! I do wish I had found pint jars, but they will keep nicely in the fridge this summer and be a great little snack for nibbling.

Next it was time to check the project the boys helped with last week. I have been babying the upside down buckets so carefully but one tomato plant broke off, now the other one looks like it is just dying from root rot. Have to think about this one and fix it before the boys see how Nanny blew it for them! Like carefully dig up and replant them, on the sly. While carefully assasinating plants, I decided to start thinking out of the box for the other blog.


It was time to pick the last of the fruit off the trees before it froze, again. Did you know that you can make a huge pile of lemon zest in 1/2 hour while eating lunch? Multi tasking, a woman's life. Then go get oranges to do the same the next day.

While entertaining your granddaughters by trying all the samples in Costco, fall in love with those gorgeous limes and think, "Well, why not? You love to cook with limes, right?"

So lunch tomorrow will be while the rest of the sale chicken is pressuring on the stove in jars, making lime zest and squeezing the juice out of the buggers! It has to be yummy stuff. I don't know if you can even find lime zest but I will have saved $12 - $14 on just the orange and lemon zest alone. The juice doesn't have the bitter peel taste in it and makes the best lemonade, so the lime should be the same. I feel some kitchen inspiration coming on!

The chicken is the first that I have home canned in years and I held my breath while doing it. It looks better than I remembered it looking when I was pregnant with Rob. It will be so handy and my mind is at ease after deciding to do this with sale meat. Every time I put more food in the freezer, I have had something digging at the back of my mind, "This is going to be a mess and waste if something happens to the power". I had already started buying new lids, which seemed to help ease my mind somewhat, but this really has. Experience has taught Jon & I to not ignore those little feelings when they stay put for very long. It has never been what we have expected, but is still obvious when we have been blessed for obeying the promptings. We have been so grateful for the gospel and the wonderful understanding we have that enables us to recognize when we are being led by a loving Heavenly Father for the good of our family. The peace of mind is priceless!

The funny thing is that when I was counting and figuring to do a batch of 18 jars, I didn't look to see that the packages were pretty thick, there were two layers so I have another 18 jars left to can up. That will make 36 quarts for about $50! Compare that to those little cans in the store!

Mom, You Aren't Going to Put this on Your Blog, Are You?

OK mom's, do you kids say that to you now, everytime you take a picture? Why, oh why would they waste their breath asking? We all know the answer, right? Of course, duh!

I had a wonderful day, actually, week. Haven't gotten much done around here, but what is life for if it isn't for inspirations, understandings, and memories. Who needs clean dishes, clothes, hung wallpaper borders, patched holes in the sheet rock, dead weeds in the yard, a clean car or sleep. Such a waste of time.

For those who have never checked out my other blog I planted upside down gardens with Garrett and Gabriel on Monday. It was fun, trashed, OK, "soiled" the dining room and has been fun to watch already. We did two buckets for mama with tomato plants hanging out the bottom and petunias growing out the top. One even has a flower already, purple of course. Then we squeezed the last of the lemons, now to make the zest, that stuff is expensive! Yesterday we ran errands with mama and then visited Nanny's house while mama went to see the dr. for one of "those" visits. She says everything is fine, she measures right on target and there is softening taking place, whew!

Today I spent the day with Arianna and Tatianna. They were so good for me and cooperated so well that we got to play at the park for 30 minutes BEFORE story time at the library with Mr. Bill and Miss Amy, who are the greatest! We even got to make monkey puppets with wiggle eyes! Both girls took naps, so hopefully they will be as good for mama as they were for me!

This afternoon I stopped by and saw Sarah at work to drive her car and see if I thought her clutch was OK. Kind of funny, huh? I've hardly driven her car since she bought it from us. Oh well, I had some fun with it. That was when I got THE question. Isn't my little femme fatale cute?

I have struggled with certain "duties" for years that I should not be struggling with. It really is unlike the basic me to have a hard time with this. I finally realized that I was causing the problem, and how easy it was alleviate it. For this, I am grateful. One mill stone off some tired shoulders. Such a relief! It makes one wonder how often we do this to ourselves .... such a waste of time, energy and emotions.

Kids Are So Funny!

I have been spending a little more time with the grandsons lately. Partly because I have missed them while I was working on projects with deadlines and partly so that Mariah can finish getting ready for "Baby G" (according to Rob and Brianna) or Aticus Stephen (according to Gabriel). They always surprise me with their observations in life. Friday night Gabriel came over for his weekly spend the night at Nanny's. We went to Costco for a couple of things, including a broasted chicken. While I was picking one out, he said"whatcha doin' Nanny, getting a dead chicken?" Now I grew up on a farm and have helped with butchering chickens then and when we had some laying hens age out on us almost 20 years ago ... but ... times roll on. I lost my appetite right on the spot.

Breakfast, Saturday morning:

I had picked all the oranges a few days before and discovered that they were not the kind I thought we had planted, not a belly button in the bunch! When I asked Gabriel if he would like to squeeze them with me, he looked at me like I was nuts! I asked him if he knew where orange juice came from, he said no, so I showed him! Fun, but a little strong for him. He usually gets diluted juice.

After breakfast, it was time to make apple worms and a slinky apple. Fun morning and a great way to make breakfast way more interesting.