Chippy and I have a silent, good faith agreement . . .

Yes, over the years Chippy and I have quietly come to the understanding that we can share . . . 

The Strawberries!

And here's Chippy now!

Didn't anticipate having a Chippy cameo for this post, just sat down at the kitchen table to, amazingly, throw a quick post on the ol' blog and low and behold, who zips by in my periphery but, little Chippy...with a strawberry none-the-less, haha, thanks Chip!

As I said, we have an agreement.

There's my portion.

😍

And why do we think it's possible that I'm posting strawberries and chipmunks at 9:00a.m. on a Thursday morning???? Welp, 'cause last Thursday, for the first time in, I don't know, 15 or 16 years maybe...I made it out to the 5:30a.m. (5:40a.m. for me, haha...I just can't mentally do the 10 minutes earlier, cracks me up!), outdoor, 50 meter pool, Master's Swim workout!!! What??!! Yep, I shurrr did! And then I went Tuesday and Thursday this week with plans to go Saturday as well since it starts at 7:30a.m. 😅 If you look back to New Year's 2025 post, you'll see a barrage of my ailments and physical lamenting going on, they all lasted about a year and a half total. And when no doctors could fully figure it out or fix it, I decided to lose weight and massively up the protein intake (not one doctor suggested that, hmmmm)...guess what...fixed it! With the help of a fantastic, genuine, loving and caring nutritionist, I managed to lose 30 pounds in a year without pills or medications, have reworked my eating, got back to swimming on my own and now, back to Master's. Yee-haw!!

And you won't even believe what's happening later this afternoon, but maybe I'll be back tomorrow to share!

May God Bless You and Keep You Today and Always! 

Right on Time for Mother’s Day!

 Well, well, well…

Look who’s here two times in one month, lil’ old me!

😀

Oh, I’m quite sure I blogged this before, but I just can’t stand how beautiful this particular peony bush is that my sister and mom gave to me for Mother’s Day years ago before we moved here, that I was able to bring it with me and that it continues to give its first blooms almost right on Mother’s Day each year! It astound me. And so here we are. With the Mother’s Day peony bush, just on the verge of its first full bloom once again and a hearty bunch of buds ready to follow! Being a mother is not what we always expect or picture when we have that first precious baby, but if we're fortunate, we can continue to find glimpses of beauty and joy all around. 

May God Bless You and Keep You Dear Mothers! 💕

Ben would have been 25 today . . .

Just stumbled into this scripture today, 5/9, so back to add this into the post. I'm in my 7th year (I think, 7) of reading through the entire bible each year and have done a variety of different reading plans over the years. In this section of Deuteronomy, Moses is about to die and these are the words given about the various tribes of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin being one of them. I find them a fitting sentiment about my dear Ben as he was going through some hard and challenging times as a 15 year old  during the year and half prior to his death, and part of me has always felt (though I would never have chosen to loose him here on earth of course!!) that he was "rescued" from any more earthly trials or hardships, and "safe in the arms of Jesus." (Just sooner than a mom would have wanted).

 And here we are in June of 2015 rescuing our beloved dog Alli from the Humane Society one week after we all learned our intact family was going to break apart. Alli came into our lives like a miracle, and look at Ben, right down on her level showing that euphoric love that he could show. She got us all through that very hard year and then only a year later, Ben was gone and Alli got us through that too. That we were not actively thinking about getting a dog at all when she came to us is fascinating to me. A thought simply flitted through my brain days after SP surprised us all with his need to "find happiness" and break our intact family...something inside me said..."Go get a dog for the kids to love while love is breaking apart."...while it wasn't easy for me to suddenly be a dog mom with five kids and a divorce...she was a much needed miracle!

Now, Ben lives on my fridge and in my gardens.

(the rose of sharon he and I planted on his 5th birthday still survives outside my bedroom window after having been brought here from our old house, tucked behind the shed in the Fall before I knew we'd even be able to buy the place. So Grateful! And his confirmation clematis continues to climb up the side of the shed as it is now just about to burst with purple blooms...ahh, what we cling too before we all receive the joy of eternal salvation together...)

It was a hard day today because of that.

No one's child should have to be a memory on the fridge or garden.

But it's the state of things in this sin-fallen world and still we make it through, literally by the Grace of God. Thanks be to God! 💜

So, let's see what's on the fridge.

I made some fridge magnet pictures a while ago.

This is a favorite from the UP where we'd drive by his initials on our way to the cottage. This was our last trip in 2016 and I hate to be a downer but can you even imagine that SP filled Ben's head with the lies that I was abusing him, starting two months before he died... (which SP also did later again with H...his extreme hatred clouded his vision with great severity)...the pic above was three months before he died.

I will always love this one, Summer 2015.

I have a lot to say, but I won't.

Let's just enjoy it.

💜

Also on the fridge is a cherished memory from 2014 when I decided I wanted to take each new 13 year old in the family on a mom/teen weekend trip to Chicago. I was touched today when my friend Sue asked about a favorite memory with Ben and that this was one of them. Ben was first on the list as L1 and I went when she was nine and Ben just turned 13. We had such a perfect weekend, great weather, went to the Shedd Aquarium, Sears Tower, Took a river boat ride, ran into a Survivor player that I thought should have won that year and Ben was cool with me chasing him down on the sidewalk to say "hi" (haha), watched the Stanley Cup together and bought a vacuum off of a tv ad, had great pizza. Love my travel magnets.

A departure from fridge pictures...

Today, I drove out of town about 20 minutes to go get some free burlap off of the Nextdoor App. You know, to cover plants next Fall...yep, that's how I flow...spend $30 in gas (slight exaggeration, but not by much probably!!) to go get free burlap. Ha. Well, it turned out that the lady with the burlap was on a street that had me driving right next to a favorite little garden center in that area, so that was definitely going to be a stop on my way out of town. I pulled up, and low and behold, right in front of my parking spot was this cement heart, standing up, leaning on a garden bench...staring right at me...after I bawled the whole way out to the burlap house from my house and who knows WHAT that lady thought of me as I spoke to her in my "excited to get free burlap" energy with a mess of a face, wowza! (-: So...there was this lovely little garden heart, that I treated myself too, along with this sweet daisy variation and some leeks. Praise God from whom all blessings flow for rescuing me from the depths once again!

Back to the fridge . . .

Alli on our Christmas Card, 2025 

Sadly, right about the time I was making the card, Livia and I noticed Alli had a little bit of a bloody nose. I was working full time plus without many minutes to do a thing, but managed to get into the vet the following week, then they scheduled another appointment to be able to look closer. That was December 23rd. We learned that day that our sweet Alli had an aggressive tumor in her head that surgery could not fix. We were given some medications to help her ease the bleeding and try to shrink the tumor, this gave us almost three more weeks together until the hardest decision I've ever had to make needed to be made in mid-January. Livia and I went with her together to what I think they called, "end of life care." I may have another dog sometime, but I still can not imagine that that's possible because that loss was very, very painful. Not sure I can do that again. She was just perfect for us at the most perfect time. She was with us and much loved from June 2015 when they guessed she was about six months old to January 2026. 

Ben Turns 7!

This is Ben's first Blog birthday

Ben Would Have Turned 24

This has links to get to other posts

Thanks for stopping by and remembering Ben with me. Please consider keeping all my wonderful children (almost all adult children now!) in your prayers, thank you! L1, H, W and L2 💜

A 16th Birthday & Happy Thanksgiving! . . .

 Thanks be to God for how bountifully He provides for us in all ways, always! I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving friends. I was grateful today that Livia said she wanted to come to my families’ Thanksgiving and then go to SP’s later (it’s officially “his year” for Thanksgiving with the kids), that’s a new thing as of last year in this broken family situation, and I like it! L1 and W are out living CA so it just filled my heart to have Liv join in today.

And then we got to celebrate her 16th with her! All the 11/20 b-days were last week but they were on a long teaching day and then I got sick so no celebrating till a week later on Turkey Day. This gal has a 3.94gpa, great friend groups, travelled to New Orleans in the dead of summer for a giant Youth Group trip, joined an after school business club (sounds like to round out college apps but who knows, might get a thing or two out of it (-:) and of course…plays lots of volleyball. She just finished her HS season having gone all the way to D1 State Quarter Finals, has two weeks off then starts club practices. I continue to check in with this year round volleyball player and she still says she loves it (club a little more than HS though). A lovely young lady all around!

My bangs and I getting a B-day pic!

79…55…16

♥️♥️♥️

Cherish the days God blesses you with my friends. Even as they bend and blow in directions you don’t expect, He remains a sure and steady foundation of promise and hope.

Thanks be to God!

It’s really on Election Day you know . . .

So, here we are once again. I guess this is where I go, the ol’ blog in November and in May. Today, Election Day, regardless of the date, is the day Ben fell and died in 2016. It was the culmination of everything that started the Tuesday morning after Memorial Weekend in 2015, there is no other way to interpret those 17 months. I joined a hiking group from church this Fall…look back to January and celebrate that with me!! One solo hike, (cause the “group” doesn’t always “group” haha), I thought, “I have a Moth story to tell,” so I spoke into my phone recorder whilst on my journey, it starts something like…”It was the Tuesday morning after Memorial weekend 2015…” I might someday submit a story, and I might not. My friends, I am shocked at how fresh that pain can still be sometimes…at year nine. It can still be shocking to consider that Ben died and can still just stop me in my tracks with grief. But then, I get pulled together and carry on. And outside of this late October/early November anniversary time where I end up rather weepy, I am almost daily overwhelmed by God’s goodness and mercy to me, His provisions and care astound me. So…that’s incredible under the circumstances!

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/356628813929140104/8113818706933219482

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/356628813929140104/8113818706933219482

I still enjoy putting scripture verses on pics I take. This is from my hike this past Sunday, All Saints Day. As I was about to receive the blood of Christ during Holy Communion that morning the choir literally began to sing “Oh How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place,” from Brahm’s Requiem. The choral piece I chose to be sung at Ben’s funeral and that Ben heard at 4 mos old in Hill Auditorium days after the 9/11 attacks. It was a very meaningful Communion of saints!

I’m still gardening and had a bumper crop of butternut squash, tomatillos and cherry tomatoes. As well as many other delights. The gardens are always slowly reshaping, growing and a great source of joy for me (yet sometimes overwhelming! Haha).

Two hikes ago.

I mean, come on, you can’t not smile right??!!

In the “fend for yourself garden,” I tossed some pole beans and morning glory seeds and, oops…had somewhat of an explosion late in the summer. Beans and morning glories everywhere, could be worse. (-:

This girl is almost 16! Has a great group of friends that she went to homecoming with (one of the moms made these bouquets for all the girls) and I got BANGS to kick off the new school year. They’ve been a fun new look and have given everyone something to talk about, ha!

New this year for the piano families that are waiting for their sibling or child to finish their lesson is the puzzle table. We all FINALLY finished the 1,000 piece bird puzzle, started over the summer. A few times this fall I could actually be found listening to the Michigan game on the radio while trying to find a bird wing or beak into the night. Yep…my life! 

Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow!

Today, Ben would have been 24 . . .

 

My front garden 💕

http://pierceadventures.blogspot.com/2023/05/today-ben-would-have-turned-22-years-old.html?m=1

I miss Ben.

God is still good and gracious at all times.

I’m grateful to be with wonderful friends today!

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Happy New Year, 2025! . . .

 

Hello, Friends (or maybe that should be singular at this point, or maybe I’m just talking to myself, haha)! Tonight I found that I emailed this pic to myself sometime in December and for the life of me I couldn’t remember why. December was a little wonky this year, I’ll blather on about it a little later, ha! Anyway, when I found this in the ol’ email box tonight I pondered what to do with it, and couldn’t come up with an answer. But then it hit me, thee ol’blog! A beautiful blue pic of one of my two paddle boarding lakes with a beautiful verse from Zephaniah. Perfect way to kick off the New Year in this often now quiet, neglected space of memories.

I also found that I emailed myself this one…

Ben ♥️

Again, I can’t remember why on December 13th I emailed this to myself other than I know I always really like this pic when it pops up as pictures do on Google photo memory things. This was our last trip to the UP together, July/August 2016. This was our annual galavant out the breakwater at McLain State Park (which I will always think should be spelled, McClain’s, but that’s just me). For the most part I can just post this and move on, I thought, but turns out…nope…I’ll need a sec…🥲

Ok, I’m back. And with, a cello!

So, to blather a moment, I’ve had a rough year with mobility that started full force last March when I apparently had Athletic Pubalgia (Despite its name, a sports hernia is not actually a hernia. The condition’s true name is athletic pubalgia. Although the symptoms are similar, the pain and pressure from sports hernias are caused by torn tendons that attach to the pelvis instead of an abdominal muscle separation and protrusion of intestine or other soft tissue). We’ll let me tell you, these upset tendons took quite a while for people to figure out, getting into doctors took quite a while, a first round of PT during the summer was unsuccessful and my second round started in November was interrupted by a surgery to remove an overactive parathyroid gland that has been pumping too much calcium into my system for quite some time. All this blathering means that I have not been active one bit since last March (cause it’s actually painful to walk down to the mailbox, oh brother!), and back to square one it feels like today now with no PT since mid-December. So, blather, blather, what in the world does this have to do with the cello?? (-:

Ahhhh, isn’t she a beaut?!!

🙂🎶

Well, I’ve always loved how the cello sounds, always wanted one of my kids to learn the cello, heard a cool clip of cello being played online in the fall and it just hit me…I SHOULD LEARN THE CELLO! And then, on the Nextdoor App, where I like to online garage sale in their For Sale section, I found a cello stool! For real. Ha! Talked her down from $25 to $15 since she said, “name your price” and the rest is history. I had the stool, time to learn the cello! I picked up the cello on New Year’s Eve (renting from a shop the cello stool lady told me about, her daughter learned the cello from 4th-12th gr using “my” stool and the lady taught piano lessons on it), with my body still in shock post surgery weathering calcium withdrawal (that’s been loads of fun…only 2 trips to the ER for some calcium and magnesium iv’s, oy!). Where was I? I can only see about seven words at a time as I, once again, try to post on my tiny phone, haha. I think I was talking about how I’m going to learn the cello, hahaha, yes…I am. The cello shop lady then connected me with who she thinks will be the perfect teacher for me. Turns out, I’ve seen her in orchestras around town, and have sung with her and I think even met her briefly at a lake picnic once years ago. She doesn’t know all this yet, but I recognized her face from her email pic. My first lesson with Sarah is next Tuesday! I am SO excited. Oh, and also I thought, perfect timing to do the cello since moving around still isn’t working great. No reason to sit around being disappointed and grumpy about it (though I do miss swimming, kicking hurts, and all my outdoor fun especially), might as well sit around with a cello I say! 🎶

Well, since we’re here and I’m not teaching this week, let’s see some Christmas too! (-:

It was a compromised Christmas for me health wise with my surgery on the 20th and then my body being very unhappy until literally today, but it was still such a beautiful time with my dears. L was the most amazing ER partner for me both times my surgeon sent me in to check out all the tingling and numbness. She was patient, caring, entertaining, crocheted an entire hat the second time, had me do my first Wordel ever (and the word was Sauna, no way!! Thee ol’ blog likely doesn’t know it but I really, really, really want to build a small, outdoor sauna in my yard…but I discovered I’m afraid of power tools, haha, that’s not the entire reason, I had to be practical with the funds lately with sidewalks and doors and driveways and such since I teach here, some day on the sauna, but I’m going to do it…I have the post-sauna cold plunge, claw foot bathtub from the Nextdoor app in the yard waiting!). Ok, where were we again? Hahahaha

Whew, I gotta wrap this up.

Anyway, it was so, so, so nice to have time with L especially during her one week visit with us. ♥️

I’m sorry but, wow, this boy is stunning!! Isn’t this a great picture??!! I was disappointed this past August not to do a birthday post for him. The thing was, he was actually back for a visit from CA at that time and even dropped in on our annual six families camping trip and I threw him a little birthday/graduation celebration after our annual Saturday night group dinner. Decorated the clothes line and everything. (-: He’s back in MI now since mid- October and signed himself up for four classes at the local community college to begin Jan 13. He does really miss CA though.

Awww, here we all are at my folks for the annual Christmas Eve dinner. We arrived a couple hours after they ate and after L and I had about 2-3 hrs of sleep after 9 hrs in the ER. As if my hearty cheeks are not usually big enough, this pic has them filled with hours of iv liquids, haha! Whew! I was very disappointed not to have been able to make any Christmas church services but after dropping in here it was right back to bed and just trying to get this body used to healthier levels of calcium.

And finally, Alli!

She hardly plays with toys, doesn’t chew on things, just isn’t a mischievous dog. But boy oh boy, who woulda known that was until she found fake poinsettias! Haha!

And that’s gonna be a wrap! 

Wishing anyone that stops in this little ol’ place God’s richest blessings for 2025 and beyond. With the greatest of these being that our Heavenly Father gave His only begotten Son to be born for us, to be crucified for us and to rise again for us to wipe away our sinfulness, to wash us whiter than snow and to give us the gift of eternal salvation. Thanks be to God!

It’s Our Birthday! . . .

So I thought I’d post a picture!

Well, I did wake up to a birthday bloom, so I guess I’ll post another!

And, well, I was thrilled to find an extra half hour this

morning to finally throw my garlic and potatoes in the ground for their winter nap. So, here’s one more. 

Blogging here at 10:47pm, on a phone, it’s not easy. Life’s been clicking right along, I love my teaching schedule this year and wonderful students of all ages, in-person and online. L’s a 15 yr old sophomore now who is a scholar athlete in volleyball. The team just finished their season last week making it to Regional semi finals with no 6ft D1 recruits at the net, that’s saying something! 😅🏐🏐 

About all for now I suppose. This little ol’ space here.

♥️

Ben would have been 23 today . . .

Boy oh boy, I’m losing words. 

(ok, it turns out...I'm not)

This seems like a life a lifetime ago. 

Well now, I guess it was. 

Found this pic recently while on my continual quest to get rid of stuff in the basement. 

Not pictures though naturally!

Oh, our Ben. People just really loved him. We loved him. He was a magnetic, fun and funny personality. His face lit up when he smiled, he loved his friends. 

A writing about Ben from the first year we couldn't celebrate his birthday with him.

He sought the Lord his last weekend on earth while struggling in life, he called me one day the week before he died and asked if he could still get into the teen Tool Time weekend at Concordia. I told him I'd make some calls and see, they said yes, I let him know. My colleagues at Concordia and I prayed in the Music Dept hallway on that Friday afternoon that he'd attend, he kept going back and forth on it, I didn't call him...but he showed up! That's the biggest part of his story for me. He spent his last weekend in The Word, in prayer, in Communion, in song, with faithful friends, pastors and leaders. His life for the year before that was not there. Praise God!

The story of Ben from Memorial Weekend 2015 to November 2016 is a long, hard one that breaks this mom's heart. But the weekend before that horrible election day, he unexpectedly headed to church.

If you care to, look back in the blog to previous May 3rds and you’ll find blog posts from many, many of Ben’s birthdays both before 2016 and after. 

Summer 2016, the road to the cottage where Ben said "was his favorite place on earth."

Summer 2015

Our House Spring 2024

Ben’s house 2001-2003 and 2015-2106 

(the kids and I got to move back to “our” house in 2015)

We miss Ben!

Where’s William? . . .

Welp, he made it to California alright!

Lara sent this after his first time surfing.

She’s being the best big sister ever helping him get settled.

He went to Jersey Mikes (where he worked when he lived at home) to interview, wearing his old uniform. (-;

He got the job and is working there full time for a while.

He sure is missed though!

I initially came here to post about these though. And then thought, well, a William update should rank higher! (-:

So, I’ve been sicker than sick since Easter Day and this evening (Wednesday) finally felt well enough to do something. First thing that comes to mind, naturally (ha!) is to clean these things that I got from the Asian market last week, they look like really mini bok choy. I don’t know the name of them though, don’t know what to do with them and didn’t want them to go bad. So I picked off the wilting leaves, not too many, cleaned them up, put them out to dry and am going to figure out what to do. I kinda want to roast them, though I’m quite sure that’s not their intended use. 

And with that, Hello April!

Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed.

Alleluia!

Hey, Sharyn! . . .

I washed all the snow gear!

😉 

Gone are the days when "washing all the snow gear" was really a timing game with our state's weather and all the little kid gear that goes with winter, but still fun to give a shout out to an old friend...ehm...well...not "old" as in "old"...haha...😂...let's rephrase that...to a long-time friend. 😊 

Alli basking in the sun and me considering some gardening cleanup on this sunny, though admittedly chillier than the other out of the ordinary temps this week, has gotten me into the "put the winter duds away" spirit. Especially the ones that all wreak of bacon 'cause they went to our annual President's Weekend trip with us and, well, there was a lot of bacon cooking going on!  Been doing that trip 14 years in a row now, most of them with dear friends/families from church. Such a special time. The olders ("kids" that is...who are now young adults themselves) in the group have now moved on to skiing rather than sledding down the #1 sledding hill in the state, and honestly, there's been very little snow on the ol' hill the last couple of years, this year included. Some of us though did hike the "hill" and it's surrounding hills trying to reach the Great waters edge. Unfortunately, we got too late of a start and didn't make it (No, it was not because we couldn't make it, haha!). It was pizza night after all, orders needed to be placed and wings needed to get started cooking. Geesh! (-:

Hey, since I'm here, let's have a real deal post . . . 

All-weekend fires. 💕

L and M making some more of my lego flowers.

I just could not pass up that purchase when I made a solo (well, solo human...Alli came with me) trip to the UP the day after Christmas this  year and saw them in my favorite little flower shop.

My attempt at an artistic photo while on said hike, ha!

The house we stay in sits atop a hill and we were treated to thee most gorgeous sunsets. Notice, no ice on the lake!! We typically see ice shantys, trucks and people out on that lake each year.

W finished the rest for me. (-:

W on his way to work! Haha, Slept all the way home as we left in a flurry to get him to work at the sub shop. Lot's of fast a furious activity going on for him lately that I'm trying to keep up with. He decided he really wanted to graduate early and figured out how to do it and graduated faster than even he expected (like last week!... last two classes were online classes and set your own pace) and has decided he needs to go live at L's place in CA, and work, while figuring out what his next steps are. He tosses around lots of ideas, from nursing to the military, so...we'll see...

And with that, I shall sign off!