Walking and Healing.

We live in a gorgeous neighborhood with

tons and tons of beautiful walking paths.

As part of the healing process, I have walked

each and every morning.  The sun was bright

 and shiny early this morning. I was talking to one of 

our neighbors at 5:45a.m. and forgot to put my

 tennisshoes on and walked 3.7 miles in a pair of

Crocs.  Holy cow!!!

During my walks, I pray continually for 

EVERYONE and EVERYTHING.  I talk 

to our Lord.  I know that Satan must be 

totally jealous as he inflicted me with these 

crazy blisters this morning when I was about 

two miles from home.  That Satan really

does not want you to spend time with our

Lord or in His Word.

As Paul writes in the book of Romans: "I

consider that our present sufferings are not

worth comparing with the glory that will

be revealed in us" (8:18).  Oh, how I long

for that day . . . g.l.o.r.y.

"Out for More Fabric."

If I'm not home, you can usually find me at

the fabric store!!  These 1930 reproduction

retro fabrics are most definitely "ooh" and

"ahh" worthy.

I read this today.  This totally sums up

grief the way I feel it:

It's not the kind of sadness to where you

cry all the time, but more like the sadness

that overwhelms your entire body, leaving

your heart aching and your stomach empty.

Making you feel weak and tired. Yet, you

cannot even sleep because the sadness is

in your dreams too.  It's almost a sadness

that you cannot escape.

All Covered Up.

Now in the big scheme of things, my newly

created sewing machine cover may not 

seem like THE mostest exciting thing ever . . .

 but it truly is!!  If you can only imagine,

these Bernina sewing computers do not

come with a cover.  It is super duper 

important to keep dust, lint, and particles

off of the sewing computer when it is not

in use.

I was excited to use scraps to make a little

cover for her . . . Until now, I had thrown

a pillowcase over her when I was not

sewing.  How gross is that!!!  Now we are

in style, sewing or not.

Bonus: The cover matches my newly 

created pin cushion and scrap bag!

(I know, I need a life.  In time, that

will also come . . . The recovery process

is just.not.that.easy.folks.)

Whew!  Now everyone can rest much,

much easier. 

And the Winner Is . . .

Some of my besties were kind enough to

invite me to a night of fun Oscar watching,

food, and fellowship.

(My Les Mis got dissed and Lincoln

did not win as much as I wanted . . . )

It was a wonderful night with galpals.

Sing-A-Long Saturday.

Today I spent much time counting

my many blessings . . .

At the tippy top of the list are my 

many wonderful family and friends.

I most definitely could.not.make.

it.withoutcha!!!

I continue to praise our Lord for

our wonderful boys.

I am so grateful that they have

amazing friends and choose to

hang out here!!!  It is great to

hear laughter, music, and joy

throughout our home.  

 We miss our Dad so!  We all

agree that there aren't many moments

during the day when we aren't thinking

about him.  We are grateful for each

other and the peace we have in that.

I'll be there soon . . . can't wait!!!

Monkeyin' Around.

 Hot off the press . . . 

 Who doesn't love vintage sock monkeys!!!

I am love, love, loving learning about my

new sewing "computer".  Two more weeks

and I learn ALL about embroidery.  Then 

watch out . . . I am sure that EVERYTHING

that is not nailed down around here will

have embroidery on it!!!!

#teamcooper Quilt

 A boy in Sam and Luke's youth group is

having some health challenges, so . . . 

 God and I, with a wee bit of help from 

Suzy-Q, whipped this puppy up to cheer

him on.

I took it to youth group so that all of the

kiddos and leaders could sign it!!

The boys and I delivered it today . . . quilts

really do bring big smiles to peoples' faces.

I.love.that.

The 88s.

  Sam played keys tonight in the worship

band.  All of the band members are so

talented.  It is so much fun to go and

listen to them.

That's our Sam . . . the cute one on the keys!!

I cried gobs wishing that our Dad were there

sitting right next to me watching his boy

play tonight!  You see those were our VERY

favorite things to go to together . . . watching

our boys perform or play sports. 

. . . pretty foreign territory for this gal

to go to things like this solo . . . 

As our Luke says, "What doesn't kill ya, will

make ya stronger" . . . 

New York or Bust!

 Too many good-byes for this

Mom lately . . . 

We had a fun and healing whirlwind

weekend with our Tim!  If there is

one person in the whole entire world

who can bring excitement and fun

ANYWHERE . . . it is Tim!  Our 

joint is always hoppin' when our Tim

is around.  We are going to miss,

miss, miss him!

New York . . . Here we come!!!

Love this boy!!!!  We aren't far

behind!!!!

Music Monday.

I heart this song!

Mama Mia.

Sunday dinner called for "gravy" and "macaroni"

or meat sauce and spaghetti.  Making this

awesome patch of gravy is pure science.

I followed Geri's recipe to.the.letter.

Let it simmer for four hours . . . 

Delizioso!!!

The Big Apple.

Start spreadin' the news . . . 

Lots and lots of prayer and crazy circumstances,

but our Tim is home, home, home.  His big

dream for a bazillion years has been to live

and work in New York.  TIM IS MOVING TO

NEW YORK on Tuesday!!!  

Without my Geri, this would not be possible.

He is going to stay with Geri and Matt in
New Jersey until his gets his land legs.

I see a trip to New York City in our

very near future.

He's Off . . .

Our sweet Luke and his buddies are

headed to Cali on a chartered bus 

with our church youth group for

a weekend winter retreat.

Selfishly, I hated to see him go!

I miss him already!!!

He has great buds and wonderful

youth leaders!  He is going to

have a wonderful weekend.

Missin' My Valentine.

Valentine's Day is not the same

with my special Valentine in Heaven.

However, our family loves holidays and

Valentine's Day is no exception.

 A great Valentine's Day begins with

strawberries and . . . 

 whipped cream!

 Our boys do so love our homemade donuts

and donut holes . . . 

 . . . yummy homemade heart-shaped 

cinnamon rolls . . . 

Yep, we are going to go have our

diabetes levels checked. Just wait

for lunch.

Thinking of the past 36 years that I

have had special Valentine dates, given

and received special Valentine gifts,

and all of the cards and memories made

today pretty.darn difficult.  However,

I am thankful for our many, many, many

blessings and am so very grateful for

my sweet boys and their devotion to

me as well as my wonderful family and

friends . . . 

"Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not

envy, it does not boast, it is not proud,

it does not dishonor others, it is not 

self-seeking . . ." 1 Corinthians 13

Off To School.

Today was THE big day . . . My first day

of Sewing Machine  Computer School.  

Yessiree, our boys helped me to get packed,

loaded, and out the door to the quilt shop

for my very first day of class.  My new

girlie girl and I have lots of work to do

before I can be proficient sewing and 

embroidering on her.

This is the perfect day for my class as

the boys have youth group.  As of yet, we

have had friends and family around so that

I did not have to be alone on Wednesdays.

Even as we begin to find activities and 

hobbies to fill in the BIG holes in our 

lives, we all continue to have such pain

over the loss of our wonderful husband

and Dad.  These are pretty big shoes to

fill and there is no way to really fill them.

We all pray that we will begin to heal.

It is VERY difficult.  Most of me has 

yet to even believe that my Mike is

not coming back . . . it is for real . . .

Don't get it, most of the time!

Big Batch of Peanut Butter Cookies. Not.

Luke and I could hardly wait to get home

from the grocery store to bake up a yum,

yum, yummy batch of peanut butter cookies

with Reese's Peanut Butter Chips.  We

were so excited . . . we ripped the bag 

open . . . hopped under a cozy quilt . . .

and ate the chips right out of the bag.

Easy peasy, no cookie sheets to wash!!!

Warm and Cozy.

 The ONLY reason we are so glad

that our weather turned to cold,

windy, and freezing again is this

bad boy right here!  He just rolled off

of my new sewing machine computer!!

He is so BIG, COZY, and COMFY . . . We

can all practically curl up together Jilly-style.

Our boys were champs and went to the good

old laundromat with me today to give this

guy a good scrubbin' and dryin'.  Believe you

me, you would NOT want to wash this 

heavy duty flannel guy in your washer at

home.  The lady and the laundromat and I

had a fun time sweeping up all of the fuzz

and furry from giving it it's first bath. 

Among MANY other things, I do so miss

curling up with my big cozy husband.  I 

have told the boys that I have NEVER EVER

been cold at night . . . until lately that is!!

Here's to big.cozy.comfy.warm.fuzzy quilts.

The Boyz.

 I love, love, love that our house

is always LOUD and full of 

LAUGHTER and FUN from our

boys' friends.  After Sadies last

night, the boys came to our home

for MORE food, movies, and fun.

Wonderful forever friends!

I am so grateful that our boys

have such wonderful friends!!

Sadies.

 Sadie Hawkins dudes.  I am so thankful that

our boys have such amazingly wonderful

friends.  Where would we be without them?!?

Part of the Sadie Hawkin's celebration included

dinner at B Dubs (their favorite), ice cream,

the dance (for about twenty minutes), more

food, and a late night scavenger hunt planned

by the girls at the Town Square Mall.

These kiddos are so amazing!!  We love each

and every single one of them and their 

families.  They have been such a tower of

strength and support for our family the past

eight weeks.  We are very, very grateful to

them.  Luke has also made wonderful friends

with this group and their siblings.  That

God certainly is amazing!!!

Happy Sadie Hawkins!!