Merry Christmas

Here it is the end of Christmas Day (almost at least - 11:30 p.m.), and it has been a wonderful day. The only thing I didn't do that I should have done and regret not having done was to call my Wannie and family to wish them a Merry Christmas. However, they spent the day with the McGinnis side of their family, and I didn't want to infringe on their time together. Maybe I'll touch base with her by IM before retiring. My day began as all Sundays do - going to church - and WOW what a service we had. We didn't cut back on anything just because it was Christmas, and even observed the Lord's Supper at the end. I had little faith before arriving at church thinking we would probably have a slim crowd. Well, God showed me! Our church was full!!!!! Yes, there is always room for more, but it was wonderful to have so many in attendance. My sweet son, Stuart, attended with me, which made it even more wonderful. After church, Stuart and I went directly to Granny Sons' for lunch that was prepared by my sister-in-law, Marge. I think there were 26 or 28 there to eat, and everybody had a place at a table to sit and enjoy the feast. I went out yesterday afternoon and helped Granny set up the tables and get the plates, napkins, glasses and silverware all set. Last night, I prepared supper for Angela and family, Stuart, myself, and Granny. I have overeaten as usual and feel like a stuffed pig. Oh, I must do something about this weight!! We didn't have church tonight, so Stuart and I rode out to Angela's to see what the kids got for Christmas. While there, we watched "Madagascar" together and then brought Meredith home with us for the night. She and her Uncle Stuart have such a bond and are in my room now listening to the CD by "Casting Crowns" and discussing spiritual matters. Tomorrow, Stuart has promised Ethan that he will pick him up and the two of them will go to Walmart or somewhere and buy Ethan a memory card for the Play Station 2 he got for Christmas. I'm so thankful Stuart likes spending time with his niece and nephew. Since he plans to be home all week, I have a list of "to dos" for him. ha. Oh, he called Amanda this afternoon, and they have a date tomorrow night! Hurrah! I don't have to work tomorrow and will probably spend the day taking down Christmas decorations, gathering up the empty boxes and trash, and putting my gifts together. So, until next update, know that I love you Angela, Steve, Meredith, Ethan, Emily, Jawan, Mitch, Andrew, Luke and Stuart!!!! Mom. P.S. Jawan, I showed off Luke's pictures to everybody at church today that I could get to stand still for a minute. ha. They, of course, thought he was a handsome babe!

Back from Columbus

I got home from Columbus, GA tonight, having been there since last Wednesday when Luke Brasher McGinnis was born to Jawan and Mitch. He weighed 8 lbs. 6 oz. and was 20 3/4" long and was delivered via C-section. Mom, Dad and Luke are all doing great. Luke is totally opposite in looks to Andrew: Andrew was fair skinned and blond hair; Luke is dark skinned with dark hair. Jawan says Andrew is hers and Luke is Mitch's. ha. Having an upset in the regular routine, Andrew has been confused about bedtime. It will probably take Jawan and Mitch a week or so to get him back on track.

Stuart is due home tomorrow for Christmas, so I will have him and Angela's family (Steve, Angela, Meredith, Ethan and Emily) for Christmas Eve dinner and gift exchange. On Christmas Day, we have church as usual (including Sunday School - but no Sunday night service) and Stuart and I will probably eat lunch with my sister-in-law, Marge. She always prepares Christmas lunch as her gift to the family, and boy is she a great cook!!! Angela and family will be joining Steve's dad, sister's and brother's families for Christmas lunch. This will be the first Christmas in years that all of my children have not been home. Of course, this year is understandable. With a new baby, Jawan doesn't want to get him away for visiting so soon.

Meredith is spending the night with me tonight; I've learned a lot about my granddaughter in the few hours she has been here. I've known her all of her life, but learn something new every time I'm around her for any length of time. She's a hoot!! We have laughed until my sides hurt; don't know where she gets her sense of humor, but she's got one! ha. (How do you put a giraffe in the refrigerator? - I'll let you think about that and maybe tell you next time I blog along with some other things she taught me.)

I may not get back on here until after Christmas, so everyone have a wonderful, merry Christmas! God bless and remember that HE is the reason for the season. I love you all. Gami.

Update from Columbus

Well, it has been an eventful week. On Wednesday, December 14, 2005, my fifth grandchild was born - Luke Brasher McGinnis - weighing in at 8 pounds 6 ounces and 20 3/4" long. He is beautiful but so different from his brother, Andrew. Andrew is fair skinned and blond (white) hair, and Luke is dark skinned and dark hair. Jawan says Andrew is her baby and Luke is Mitch's. ha. They got to come home from the hospital this afternoon - quite a long stay but Luke was jaundiced so they had to keep them for an extra day. Yesterday while visiting with them at the hospital, I was sitting in a glider rocker holding Andrew and playing with him. I was sitting on the edge of the rocking chair and was going to let Andrew slide down my legs. Well, the chair flipped out from under me, and I hit the floor flat on my bottom, which resulted in excruciating pain in my lower back. Jawan called the nurses' station and told them to get a wheel chair and some assistance pronto. The pain was awful. They took me to emergency and got x-rays of my back, which showed nothing broken or fractured (thank the good Lord) and gave me a prescription for a muscle relaxer as well as pain medication. I didn't get that filled until this afternoon and when I got up this morning I was very sore. It feels a little better tonight, so maybe in a day or two the medication will have me back to normal. I have no idea what caused the pain, but I won't be sitting on the edge of a rocker or any chair from now on. Tomorrow will be busy taking Luke for a checkup with his pediatrician, Jawan to the doctor to have staples removed, and several other things I heard her mention earlier. I think Angela and her kids are coming up Tuesday to see Luke (and Mitch, Jawan and Andrew) and will stay until Thursday, at which time all of us will head back to Thomasville. Hopefully, Stuart can drive over from Stockbridge on Tuesday or Wednesday night and we can have Christmas with Jawan and family before we go home. So, there you have it. I'm here to help her and almost wound up needing help myself. ha. I am so thankful it wasn't worse and that I'm feeling better. Oh, I almost forgot, I got to go to church this morning with Mitch and Andrew and even played the piano for their services. What a privilege and joy! More later.....

Baby has arrived!

Wow,what a day!! I drove the one-hour to work this morning only to get a call from Jawan saying her water broke and they were on the way to the hospital. So, I turned off my computer, told the bosses bye, and drove right back to Thomasville to pack my suitcase. I got to Columbus at 1:15 p.m., and the baby was born at 6:50 p.m. Jawan had to have a C-section as the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck, and he wasn't tolerating the contractions. Both Jawan and baby (Luke Brasher McGinnis) are wonderful, beautiful, and healthy. They won't get to come home until Saturday, so I'll get to have Andrew all to myself for a couple of days. I am so thankful that God answered my prayers for Jawan to have a safe delivery, Luke to be healthy, and me to have safety in travel on the way up. God is so good!!! I am at their apartment now, and Andrew is in bed fast asleep with no idea I am here. The babysitter took care of him all day today and did a great job. Won't he be surprised tomorrow morning when I walk into his room!? I can't hardly wait to get hold of him and take him to see his baby brother. I've called family members and e-mailed friends with the news, so my job is done for the night. I'll give you updates later.

Ladies' Meeting

The ladies meeting at church last night went great. Had about 17 or 18ladies there, Ramona shared her testimony, we had the reading of Luke 2by the 4 year old child, the singing of "Happy Birthday, Jesus" by thechild/children's choir, exchanged gifts, drew names for new secretsister for the coming year, and ate the delicious food brought by theladies. Everyone got a gift, and we had lots of good fellowship.Sandra is now my house guest and went with me to the meeting. Shethoroughly enjoyed it and was so welcomed by everyone. Even though Ionly have one bathroom, she and I managed to get ourselves ready thismorning and to work earlier than usual without any problems. Ha. I amso looking forward to next week and the arrival of Luke. Of course, ifhe wants to arrive earlier (like today or tomorrow), I would beoverjoyed. But whenever he decides to arrive, I plan to be there toenjoy getting to know him, playing with precious Andrew, and taking careof my big children, Jawan and Mitch. Have a wonderful day. I love you.

Gettin' Ready for Christmas and Baby

I had a really good weekend. Friday night, I stayed in Tallahassee and met my church family at the Seinyard Restaurant in Woodville for fun, food and fellowship. Not having Emily overnight as I usually do, I got up early Saturday morning and went for a haircut, got nails done, and did more shopping. In the afternoon, I went out to Angela's and visited a while, brought Emily home with me for a few hours, and took her home around 6:00. Sunday at church was wonderful, and I took Angela and family out for lunch at O'Neals. After lunch, I took Meredith and Ethan to the Central Middle School Christmas music and really enjoyed that. It was so much fun watching the two of them interact with their friends. Teenagers! ha. Meredith seems to be adjusting to public school really well, and I'm praying that Ethan will too after the Christmas break when he starts. Today has been easy at work as SMP was out of town and FMJ didn't produce much. I shopped at lunch and finished with everyone except FMJ and our paralegal. Tonight has been spent wrapping, sorting, boxing, bagging, tagging, etc. I have it all ready to throw into the car once I get the "baby" call. ha. Stuart sent me a picture of his new truck and then called and we chatted about it for a few minutes. It is a beautiful truck, and I'm so glad he has one. He takes really good care of his vehicles, so this one should last him about as long as his first one did. My ladies' meeting is tomorrow night, and I'm so excited about the progarm. I have asked one of our newest members to give her testimony and I'm going to follow that with the reading of Luke 2 by the little 4 year old girl (on CD) and end with the children singing "Happy Birthday, Jesus" (also on CD). Both of those just bring tears to my eyes and are so sweet. Hopefully, the ladies will be touched as well. (By the way, I sang a solo at church Sunday - "Heaven's Child" - the first one I've done in a long, long time. ) After the program part, we will exchange gifts with our secret sisters and reveal ourselves to them. Then we'll draw for new ones for the coming year and then dig into the food. Sounds fun, huh?! I better close out as this internet keeps shutting down on me unexpectedly. I lost the first one I did, so g'nite all. I love you Angela, Jawan, Stuart, Steve, Meredith, Ethan, Emily, Mitch, Andrew and soon to be Luke!!! Mom.

Mid-week catch-up

Ok, ok, Jawan has instructed me to update! ha. Since my last post, I have gotten all of the Christmas presents wrapped that I have bought so far and have them boxed up (at least Jawan and her family's) ready to grab when I get that call that she's on her way to the hospital. It suddenly dawned on me that I would need to be ready to go, so I'm glad that is done. It's been a good week at work (always is when I can get rid of the bosses for a day or two). I've been blessed to be able to talk to all three of my children this week as well as my four grands. I love it when Andrew "babbles" to me on the phone and can't wait for him to start talking a blue streak. Meredith, of course, has been the center of attention, as she started to Central High School on Monday. Some, most I might say, of my prayers were answered in that she seemed to handle it really well without any panic attacks or seizures (at least she didn't mention any). Ethan has that to look forward to after the Christmas break, so I hope it goes as well for him. I pray that their home schooling by a godly mother will be a real source of strength for both of them and give them that extra insulation from the things they will be faced with that they've never experienced before. I'm so proud of both of them and just know they will be fine. Tomorrow night, I plan to go downtown to Victorian Christmas and meander. My co-worker, Sandra, is supposed to be here by then, so I'll get to introduce her to some Thomasville activity. Then on Friday night, my church family will be going to Tallahassee to the Seineyard Restaurant to eat together. That is also the night of my office Christmas party, but I chose to go with the church group instead. Saturday, I plan to finish my shopping, wrapping and packing. Then on Sunday, my favorite day of the week, it will be worship. I know I don't lead a very exciting life, but I count my blessings and have peace, so I am very rich! Hope you enjoy reading my ramblings.

Saturday doins'

Emily spent last night with me as usual, and Ethan came over for a couple of hours while Angela and Steve did some Christmas shopping. (Meredith was babysitting.) We got my tree up and decorated, the door covered with red paper and a green wreath hung. We had ice cream with chocolate syrup as a reward for our hard work. By 9:30 Emily was ready for bed, so I put her jammies on, read her a story, had a prayer with her and she conked out. After that, Ethan wanted to create a blog for himself, so he and I worked on that (got it done, believe it or not). I don't have him linked to mine yet, but for your info his address is www.soaringwiththeeagles.blogspot.com Today, Emily and I got up, ate breakfast, and watched a craft show on public television. It was SOOOOOO good and the crafts were so easy. We mixed Kool Aid powder with just a little water, and this was her paint. She did several pictures with it and it worked great. Then, we mixed a little milk with about six drops of food coloring and painted pictures on white bread which we then popped in the toaster and ate. She and I did a little shopping and she wound up crying because I wouldn't buy her some shoes and a camera. ha. I took her home about 4:30. Since then, I've been wrapping Christmas presents!! I have the TV on with Christmas cartoons going - love it - guess I'm just a kid at heart. Tomorrow is Sunday, and I always look forward to being in God's house. I am so blessed and would rather be there than anywhere else. So, until later ------

The real thing

Ok, Jawan walked me through all this today, so hopefully I will get the hang of it soon. I don't know where my children got their "smarts," especially where computers are concerned, but I'm sure glad they know. I just finished getting all of my Christmas decorations out of the storage room and am going to do a few small things before bedtime. I'm going to save putting up the tree for tomorrow night when Emily is here. She will like helping me with that. Jawan was feeling better today but had a rough night last night - severe indigestion that was finally eased with Zantax. Oh, I do hope Luke decides to come earlier than anticipated! I am so excited about Christmas - not only are we blessed because Jesus was born but He is now blessing our homes with another precious soul. I count my blessings every day because I don't deserve any of them. Guess this is enough for one sitting since I don't have a lot to "report." Hope you enjoy reading my gibberish. I love my children - Angela, Jawan and Stuart; my sons-in-law - Steve and Mitch; and my grandchildren - Meredith, Ethan, Emily and Andrew. Wow, what a family!! Until later - Mom.

I'm a Beginner

I'm new at this. Just want to see if I'm doing it right.