Can I have a re-do?

Hello my precious Teddy Bears! It has been way too long! I’ve been thinking a lot lately about re-dos (Is that even a word?). If you know me, you know that I am pretty tough on myself when I feel that my mess-ups negatively affect anyone. I especially hate when I hurt those that I love dearly. Say….like my kids. Can I have a re-do with my kids? Wow, did I make some crazy messes at times! I think back to specific times that make me cringe. I don’t want to go into detail about some of these situations, but let’s just say that my kids are tough and deserved better. I just pray that I remember these incidents more than my kids do. But if they do remember, I hope they can forgive me. Almost every day, I have someone compliment me on my kids. I usually reply with, “They turned out pretty good despite their raising!” In reality, I agree that they are all good people, and that they are the people they are because of so much more than being raised by me and their dad. They had so many influential people in their lives-grandparents, aunts, uncles, church family, friends, teachers and more. Now I see some young parents reacting similar to how I did. It makes me think, “If only I knew then what I know now, I would have been a much better parent.” Any perfect parents out there? Come on, be truthful. Some make better decisions than others, and I know we do our best at the time, but we are not perfect. But you know what we can do now? Be that person that helps. Give that encouraging comment. Offer to help. Create opportunities. Listen. Be available. Teach. Love! Wait! That sounds like Jesus! He does all those things for us. We need to show Jesus in our lives, just as all those people did for my kids. And we CAN have a re-do! We mess up. Jesus takes those mistakes away. We do our best, our very best, and Jesus will do the rest! He IS perfect!

The Importance of a Little Pink Dot

Hello Teddy Bears! I have missed our conversations. I want to share a story that happened to me a couple years ago. I went to get some things from my storage unit, only to find that it had been ransacked and burglarized. I was upset but really didn’t know what was missing since I do not keep inventory of everything that is put into storage. Maybe I should though? The unit was a mess. I felt so violated as I looked at pictures, papers, keepsakes, and just “my stuff” in general strewn all over the floor. Then, it hit me as I saw a small box containing a few cups that go with my punch bowl set. I say, “my punch bowl set”, but it was originally my Mom’s and had been passed down to me. It had seen many bridal and baby showers way back when disposable dishes were not used. I frantically searched around for the rest of the set. No, it was not there. My heart sank even deeper than before as tears flowed uncontrollably. Why did they have to take that? It was not worth big money, but it was worth so much to me. I love to keep things that have been special in my life (my children say that I am a hoarder). I knew that there must be other things missing, but I had no idea what. I left and went home, heartbroken. As I was telling a friend about what happened the next day, she told me that she had heard of another unit that had been broken into, and some of the things from it were found at a flea market close by. I started investigating and could only find one flea market and it was only open on weekends. I took a chance and went on the next Saturday. I browsed through many different areas. I had almost given up hope when I saw an old milk/cream can. I knew it was from my unit because my sister had done some decoupage on it. Obviously it was one of a kind! My heart began to race and my hands were shaking. I looked around more. There was a tub of Teddy Bears from my collection! My head began to spin. What else? I looked more. There was the punch bowl! I took it off the shelf and looked on the bottom. Sure enough, there was a dot of pink fingernail polish. You see, way back in the day that my Mom used this punch set for showers, other ladies from the community would also bring theirs so that there would be enough to serve all the guests. My Mom had marked hers so that it would not mistakenly be put with someone else’s set. I put the bowl back on the shelf and exited the flea market. I had to. I was overwhelmed with emotions. Anyway, to make a long story a little shorter, the police were able to get my things back, at least what I identified as mine. When the police confronted the owner, he said, “It must be hers. It has the pink dot.” This was a very traumatic experience for me, but I got back what was mine because my things had been marked. You know, I bet God feels the same way about us. Just as my punch set was precious to me, we are even more precious to God. Sometimes we get lost or led astray and it may seem that we have let pieces of our life get strewn about, but God never gives up on us. He has marked us, but instead of a pink dot, he has marked us with white. Jesus gave his life so that we can be marked white; washing us free from sin. My prayer for you is to never rid yourself of God’s mark. Let it show and may you never be lost.

WOW! It has been 2 years

Hello my precious Teddy Bears! Wow, it has almost been 2 years since we visited last and so much has happened since then. Where shall we start? Of course I will start with family :-) Our family has increased by 3 since we last talked. Chance and Chelsey blessed us with another granddaughter in December of 2011. Dreya brightens our life every day with her cuteness. Her personality is wonderfully happy. I just love her so much! Then Chet married his sweetheart of 8 years in June of last year. Tanna had been around us so long, she was already like one of the family. Now they have announced an addition to the family making his/her arrival in October. We are all so thrilled. As you can surely tell, family is so precious to me. I have heard people comment that it must be hard to have a large family. The way I see it: My heart isn't being split into more, tiny pieces to share with more people. My heart grows with each addition to our family, and it is sooooooo easy to love each and everyone of them. I thank God for blessing me with the wonderful family that I have fun with, laugh with, cry with, hurt for, and simply love with all my heart <3

Humble Hero

My Dad was a WWII veteran. I never heard him talk about the war until my daughter asked him to come speak to her history class when she was in 6th grade. He was hesitant to, but he couldn't turn her down. He took his uniform to show, and the students sat in amazement as he spoke about his experiences. That was the first time that I had heard that he was the target of a Kamakazi. But lucky for my Dad, the Kamakazi overshot his target. My Dad talked, answered questions and cried through 2 class periods that day (and I didn't have my video camera!). It seemed to help him, after all those years, finally deal with what he had been through. After that he spoke in other grandchildren's classes too. Darcee later wrote an essay about him titled "A Humble Hero" which won two contests! The last line of her essay was "That humble hero is my Grandad!" He is mine too!
Thank you to all veterans and military personnel for what you have given and continue to give to our country today!!!! Find a veteran, and give them a hug. I would love to be able to give my Dad a hug, along with some pretty special uncles too!!

Why?????

Hello my precious Teddy Bears!
Have you ever experienced something that just makes you shake your head and ask "Why would you do that?" There have been quite a few things that have made me do that lately. Chet was playing a game against ENMU the other day. Of course with all of his "fans" there, USW had a bigger crowd than ENMU. Included in those fans, were his Grandparents who are elderly. They parked so that they could watch the game while sitting in the car. It wasn't long into the game that the ENMU coach came over and, in a very hateful way, told them that they could not park there. He also motioned with his hand for them to move away, as if shooing away a fly. OOOOOOO! The USW fans were not happy!!!! One fan (Darcee) told the coach that he didn't have to be rude about it. This totally shocked the ENMU ball chasers. We could tell that they were not used to people standing up to the coach. Of course the coach had to turn around and glare at that fan. Another fan(Paige)told the coach to remember that he would be old some day. Needless to say, the Grandparents were extremely unhappy too!
Wouldn't it have been just as easy to walk over to them, explain why they couldn't park there and ask them nicely to move? Thankfully, we have people who are just the opposite in this world! An ENMU fan offered to help the grandparents and even offered to give up their stadium seat to make the bleachers easier for them to sit on. I think we all appreciated the gesture, but the Grandparents chose to park in the outfield and watch the game from there. They got to see Chet's hit from afar, but at least they got to see it!!!
What was the purpose of the coach's actions? To belittle? To show power? To be hurtful? What?
Oh yeah....... we have known this coach since Chance played in Little League, but when Darwin went out to visit with him after the game, GUESS WHAT.........He was rude to him too!!!!!
Like I said, some people just make you shake your head.


"A gentle answer deflects anger,
but harsh words make tempers flare."

Proverbs 15:1 New Living Translation Bible

Just call me CRAZY!

Hello My Precious Teddy Bears!

Yesterday, I asked to be called Blessed, and I am. But I think some people in this world would prefer to call me crazy! Could it be because I am not afraid to read a book using differing voices and expressions for the characters. Or because I am not afraid to sing and do the motions to Tony Chestnut? Or because I had my nails painted all different colors so that I could do a color identification assessment on my students? Or could it be because I am a teacher that will dress up for ALL of the spirit days during homecoming week? I know, I know...... it's because I am loading 17 preschoolers on the bus tomorrow and taking them to Lubbock, Texas so they can experience the Science Spectrum! Whatever the reason..... call me crazy for attempting to make learning as fun and interesting as possible. My students love my crazy side!

Just Call Me Blessed!

Hello My Precious Teddy Bears!
Isn't it funny how we go through life with different names and titles? And how those names change as we move from different stages of our lives?  Well I cherish my titles of sister, favorite aunt, cousin, neice, teacher/Mrs. Sheri, etc., but my most precious titles have been daughter, wife, mother and grandmother.  Along with the title of daughter came the name Sheri D'Lyn. My husband gave me the nickname of Sugar Bear. The Mother title brought about the name Mama, which changed to Mom as my kids got older.  Now I am a Grandmother and the name that I chose to be called is GrannyMa.  Why?  Well, I had a Granny, my kids have a Granny, so I wanted my grandkids to have a Granny.  Darwin did not agree.  He said that I was not "old enough" to be called Granny.  That's when I decided to combine Granny with Grandma, and be called GrannyMa.  But did you know that it doesn't really matter what I want to be called?  All four of my grandkids have had their own way of saying GrannyMa--GanGan, GannyMa, GeeMa (G as in get), and the latest addition is BaNaw.  Each one is as sweet to my ears as the one before. Even though I love all my names and titles, none can compare to being called a "Child of God"! I am so happy that I have a name and title as important as this.  My love for all of my family only compares dimly to the love that God has for me.  I am so blessed to have them and Him in my life.