Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Thanksgiving 2017

I am a bit late on this post....but the pictures are worth blogging...
A normal family shot at Thanksgiving
Westover Family

Harris Family

Sherwood Family
Nov. 30, 2017  ADOPTION DAY

SAMUEL REID HARRIS
I got braces just in time for Christmas!

Love this picture of Joshua and Papa Joe in matching pilot jackets
9 grandchildren all accounted for!

Audrey loves her babies

Feb. 5th we found out that there will be an addition to the Sherwood household....Due in August!  Will it be another girl?...That's my bet!  Let the crazy begin!  That will make it an even number of 10 grandchildren!

Thursday, May 11, 2017

Happy Mother's Day 2017

Mothers....
I IS one, and proud of it.  I have given birth, changed a kazillion diapers, bought matching outfits, taken them to guitar lessons, dance lessons, tap lessons, sat at a hundred football games to watch Philip score that one touchdown in pop warner, and watch Stacy shake her Pom Poms, and watch Sarah flip a flag or two.  I have sat in doctor offices for shots, colds, strep, stitches, and even in the ER when Philip crammed a bead up his nose at age 2.  Have cleaned up, wiped up, and cleaned up all over again these 3 kids who could get dirtier than a rodeo after a rainstorm.
I have made 10,864 meals...give or take a few.... fried chicken, potatoes, and made enough gravy to swim to Tahiti and back. Washed dishes, clothes, sheets, and shrunk a few things along the way. 
I have kissed boo boos, applied bandaids, rubbed backs, and rocked many to sleep....it’s all in a day’s job...and I wouldn’t trade it for all the tea in China.
I have cried at every graduation, every wedding, every birth, miscarriages, still births, and whatever life has thrown my family’s way. My heart has broken a time or two, but God heals it every time.
I was made for this Mom gig and now it appears I have gone from Mom to Majo overnight to 8, going on 9 grandkids!  
So as Mother’s Day approaches, I need to lift up my tea glass to my own Mother. Her gray hair is thanks to me...and she did a good job raising me, if I do say so myself, and I do!  She is where I get my wit, my lousy jokes, my accent, my cooking skills, and my love for Jesus.

So Lord, bless this Sunday and bless all the Mom’s and their children.  You have certainly poured your blessings on my head, to which I am so thankful.

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

A Respecter of Weeds

It happened just the other day.  My friend, Mr ROUNDUP, from Home Depot, and I went around the yard spraying. Weeds have a way of growing right out of a small crack in the driveway.  Ya gotta give them a lot of credit for their tenacity.  They don’t give up....always fighting to break out and take over.  We do this spraying quite a lot to try to stay on top of things.  But as things happen, I have shirked my duties and got behind the 8 ball.
Not everything can be taken out by Roundup.  Joe called my attention to some flowers on our side yard where the weeds had taken over big time.  This called for HANDS ON treatment and a lot of yanking and pulling.  
As I was working at it, I noticed that these weeds are very clever. 

Not only are they a force to be reconned with, but they work together as a team.  They wrap themselves around each other and become twice or three times as strong as a single vine.  I called them the devil and tried to cast them out, one by one, but it was as if they had a mind of their own, and the more I pulled, the more they fought back.  It took me hours to make any kind of headway.  

They would wrap themselves around the flower buds not allowing them to bloom.  I had to carefully unwrap each bud and said to myself, “this bud’s for you,” every time I would set one FREE.  It was very therapeutic.  and I think I saw the flowers smile back at me, but I am not for certain.

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Texas Trip Feb 13-17, 2017

A few weeks ago I went home.  Home meaning Texas.  Not exactly the town where I was raised, but anytime I go to Texas, it is home....These people sound like me, which anyone who knows me, would not think that was a good thing...ha!  But it IS to me.  There’s that twang...that “sweet tea” talk that makes me want to relax in a big comfy chair.
I digress....I was going to Whitney to visit the folks...I could say they live in an old folks home, since they are old and live in their home...but they actually live together in a neighborhood at the ages of 90 and 85...O my!  Daddy just renewed his driver’s license....of course he did!!  It was actually their 67th wedding anniversary THAT day!  Daddy always brings mother her coffee every morning, and once mother’s teeth are in, he gets a kiss...

A month or so ago Mother’s doctor found a walnut size cancer in her lung, and she went from Whitney to Austin, to have that thing radiated.
It was a crazy trip, where for most folks would not look forward to it or have any fun.  But you would have to know my mother!  “Fun” is her middle name!  Mother, as long as I can remember, has always been “crafty”.  She can cut, glue, knit, etc. just about anything she puts her hands on and GIVES her goodies away.  So, this trip, was no different.  She carries a big purse of her “makings” and everyone she comes in contact with, is a recipient of her goodness...they either get a scrubbie, a kleenex cover, a bookmark, you name it...they are going to get something, whether they like it or not!  The fact that she can make anything at all is amazing, since her fingers go in every direction known to man...they are seldom idle.
The Embassy Suites, where she stayed, has never been the same!  So a month later, I pull up with Mother, and my sister, Glenda, in tow for our doctor visit that week.  We came for a 3 day stay, and you would have thought we were traveling with a movie star.  The minute she walked in, the gal behind the desk, stopped what she was doing, and came running for a HUG from Miss Virginia!  She was crying...In fact, we all got a bit blurry just seeing that everyone was “ a buzz” cause Miss Virginia had just entered the building.


We go up to our room to find they had given us a beautiful suite.  There was flowers, champaign, chocolates, hors d’oeuvres,....the works!  They even had towels shaped like swans, since they have real live swans swimming in their atrium.  So the tears continued to flow.  What sweet people honoring my mama!  Then the door knocked, and the floor manager came by for a hug, along with the lady who cleaned her room last time....crazy!

The next morning, the lady who makes the breakfast came out for a hug and gave mother a mountain of bacon with her omelette. The floor manager reappeared and made sure we got everything we wanted.


Walmart was a trip!  It was Valentine’s Day.  She must of handed out 30 “hug” coupons.  The lady at the bakery was so thrilled, that she gave us all a hug.


When we go for the doctor visit, there were hugs everywhere!  The attending nurse, Amy, loved on Mother as well....and came by our hotel that night for more visit time! Amy wants to come to Whitney, and go to church with mother!....Mother always says, “it doesn’t hurt to ask”.  The doctor, who loves Mother too, finally came in and told her he thinks he got all the cancer, and they would do a scan in a month to see the progress.  I have never seen my mama so well received by total strangers...but then, Mother never met a stranger!

So....what do you do when you are told you have cancer?  You go to Austin and celebrate life!  The party begins when “Miss Virginia” enters the building!
Sure do love my mama!  She talks like me too, makes the BEST sweet tea, & I know I am home when I am around her.

Thursday, January 5, 2017

out of the mouth of babes(Jan 2017)

......I forgot to add what Claire told me right off the bat…She was sitting on my lap and looked at me intently, grabbing my neck and said…."MAJO….You sure do have a lot of wrinkles in your neck!”  And dad gum it, if she isn’t right on target…I love how children point out your flaws....Thank you so much for pointing that out to me, sweet child.....now go play in the street!...ha! ….Oh, the things children say!

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Our ski vacation in Park City, Utah 2016

     
     Going to Utah with the family this year was quite an experience.  We had a condo with 16 people .... 8 kids, 8 adults, but I swear we were outnumbered!  With the whole Sherwood clan, there were 37 of us.  It made for challenging times and a lot of whining, and I am not talking about happy hour, I was talking about me(ha).
We do this ski thing every other year now, so that we make it possible for everyone to come....There were 7 rental cars, and 2 additional condos to house this gang of misfits!  We have a seafood buffet night, a bowling night, and this year we added a fireside dining night, which was my favorite!

There was plenty of snow and snowmen were made and shopping was done and plenty of food was shoveled in.  An overflow of goodness all around.  My waistline has definitely grown, along with this family!  
Steve, Joe’s brother, is our host and makes sure we are taken care of....with ski tickets, lessons, housing, cars, food....a sweet deal if your last name is Sherwood....just sayin’!
We ushered in the New Year by 9pm and could barely keep our eyes open.  We are a wild bunch for sure!  Brenda made her dip, I made pots of cowboy chili, and Joanne kept us filled up with tins of cookies and then more cookies!  Geez Louise!
So 2017 promises to be a stellar year....We have a new president, we (as in Joe & I) have new bathrooms, and next week, will have hardwood floors throughout the house.  A lot going on around here.
I would like to wish you and yours the best life has to offer....Health, Family, Grandkids, a good pair of reading glasses, clean underwear, a cell phone with good reception, a glass of sweet tea with lemon, a slice of garlic bread, a good hair cut and color, a kleenex when you need it...mine is dripping at the moment, so where is that box? A nice slice of pecan pie, a call from an old friend, & to run across an old photo of days gone by, that brings a smile to your face.
ABOVE all, I hope you pray to God every single day with praises of his provisions.  God is good and gives us so much more than we deserve!  He has saved my scrawny neck and I am thankful beyond measure!  So give a helping hand to someone in need....a glass of water, a sandwich, a smile, a prayer....We GET more when we GIVE more...it has been proven by scientist....actually, I just made that up....don’t really know for sure, but it sure does make me feel good, when my hand is stretched out and I give away a part of me....actually, after Christmas, there is more of me to go around...(ha)....I ate like a dad gum lumberjack!
If you are reading this, I am sending blessings your way!  Happy New Year!