Jeremiah 29:11-13

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with your heart."

one of mom's favorite Bible verses.

she could sleep anywhere...

the mcmahons told me this story tonight...
shortly after michael was born mary got really sick with a terrible staph infection and could barely get off the couch and hardly even lift michael. mom offered to come over one night and sleep in michael's room and get up with him and give him his bottle, etc. so as to give them a break. late that night mary heard michael crying. and crying. and crying. she made her way up off the couch and down the hall very slowly saying in an almost inaudible voice, "lynn? lynn?" she found mom asleep on the floor (not sure why) instead of the bed, patting her own chest (as if she were holding a baby... she was not, just to make that clear) and saying, "ssshhhh, there, there..." mary whispered, "lynn, what are you doing?" mom jumped up, disoriented, "huh, what?" then realized what was going on and picked michael up out of his crib. needless to say, the mcmahons teased mom about this for quite some time...

harvey's lake

Here are some cute pictures of us at Harvey's Lake

pictures

I found this picture recently of Mom and I really loved it.  She seems so happy and she must have been because she was at Rocky Point.  I then started scanning some other random pictures that I found in a couple of old albums (but I have barely scratched the surface).  There may be no rhyme or reason to the pictures, but I decided to post them all anyway.  I am not going to write captions for them right now.  I may come back later and edit it, but I just wanted you all to be able to appreciate them too.  

                         

  

  

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Today is an obvious day to think of mom a lot and an even more obvious one to miss her a lot.  I have a lot of good memories about mother's day mornings.   We would of course always make mom breakfast in bed, which was never very good or well planned.  It usually consisted of whatever we had in the fridge and cabinets, but the biggest part for me was always trying to surprise her.  She of course always knew it was coming and was usually already awake and pretending to still sleep because she knew it meant so much to us...well at least to me (I remember getting a little mad at her once when I caught her in her bathroom before we had come in with the breakfast).  She always acted so excited and like the food was so delicious and special... even when we were in High School.  We always got her such stupid presents--usually knick-knack things she didn't really need, but she always loved them.  I do think we sincerely made her happy the Mother's Day that we replaced all the lights that went around the mirror in her bathroom and wrote a messages on the mirror that said, "You light up our lives, so we are lighting up yours"  (cheesy, I know), but she loved it and was honestly surprised.  Those lights were always burnt out and since they were a special type of bulb, it was not something my mom ever had time to get around to.  I was also pretty proud that I had managed to sneak into her bathroom after she went to sleep and put in all the new light bulbs.   I knew at the time we were doing something thoughtful, but looking back on it now, I can only imagine how nice it would be for your kids to do something like that for you.   

organization

Emily's just organized her playroom thanks to her wonderful new hutch and of course this made her ever so happy... as it should. I couldn't help being reminded (thanks to Emily's before and after pictures) of The Bearenstein Bears and the Messy Room... my favorite one ever. I remember that after I read it, mom and I went to Target and bought a bunch of plastic bins (the red and blue ones I think Emily and Dad still have a few of) and organized a bunch of toys in that very same play room. I can remember sitting on the floor and organizing Playmobiles and thinking it was ever so fun... I bet Jack Burch would agree (he does take after his Godmother after all), but then again most of us Tabers appreciate organization, even if we can't always achieve it as well as we want. I can appreciate much more now how difficult it must have been for mom to try to keep our house organized. Fortunately, she at least had one child who thought it was a fun game to separate Danny's GI Joes from his Ninja Turtles.... that was me in case you didn't catch that.

our childhood prayer

Help me, Dear God, to live the way you want me to live

day by day.

And show me how

to please you best.

And play or rest.

And may I often think of you.

And never say what isn't true.

I think that's all, Dear God.

Goodnight.