Chilson Family

Wow.  Tomorrow is December first.  November has gone by so fast, even with the events of the last five days.  Tomorrow will be Mom's showing, Friday will be her funeral.  Then we start a new normal, which will be the hardest on my sister and dad.  I am sure Daddy is feeling a bit lost because he is home and her medical bed and pumps are there and she is not. So, last day of November...I am thankful for my Bible.  My precious Word of God.  It brings comfort, conviction and love.  To think that I hold in my hands the history of mankind.  The past, present and future all rolled up in one history book...His story!  If I did not have my precious Bible I don't know what I would do. Thank you God for your precious Word!

I am thankful for a wonderful sister.  We spent the entire day together yesterday.  We went with my daddy and two brothers to make funeral arrangements for my mom.  We needed to pick out an outfit for her and my sis ended up getting some new outfits also.  We had a "family" lunch, daddy and the four siblilngs. It was a hard day, but God's grace saw us through. Just a side note, I called home to have one of the older daughters start supper.  Son #5, who is 15, said he would do it.  So I gave him step by step instructions on reheating turkey and making stuffing-from a box :)-hoping no one would ask for gravy.  Ah, but without fail Son #6, my gravy boy, asked for gravy.  So with careful instructions I walked Son #5 through making gravy from scratch.  Guess what--he did it and the family enjoyed it!!!  It really was pretty good!  Way to go Son!  Sister, I am thankful for a day together doing just what sist...

I am thankful for a loving God who is good all the time.

I am thankful for the Red Cross.  Have you ever had to rely on them before?  This is the first time we ha ve needed their services.  My mother passed away today about 3:10 pm.  We spent the last 26 hours at the hospital taking turns in and out of her room.  (I will post another time about that.) When we realized that Mother's health was declining qicker than we thought, we had to make a decision to get a hold of the Red Cross to bring our daughter home from Fort Bragg, NC, where she is stationed in the Army.  She is expecting a baby in mid-January and knew we had to be quick to get her home before her air travel was restricted.  But too soon and the RC could deny travel until Mother was worse. Daughter #1 came into the hospital at 1:45 this morning.  She got to spend time with her Granny and be in the presence of Jesus when He called Mother home. I am very thankful to the Red Cross for their help.

I am thankful that I have been able to sleep in the last three days!  I am usually up and getting my day started at 5:20, but with a long weekend and no school I decided to sleep!  Today is the longest I have slept in-7:40.  Of course, I still have at least three nesters that greet me as I walk down the hall an my day is off and running. Hmm...a busy house early.  Yes, I am blessed.  I have a healthy family who needs to eat, need clothes cleaned and mended, needs to be reminded to put their clothes away and that does not mean leaving them on the bed, are being taught daily how to keep house and why we keep house.  Yep, they are normal and they are my God-given responsibility!  Days to sleep in...yes, I am thankful for that!

Today Daughter-in-law #2 has a birthday!  Son #2 is taking her out to dinner and we get to babysit!  Not only do we get to babysit, we get her ALL NIGHT!!!!!!!  Happy Birthday Daughter! We love you!!!!!

I am thankful for pay day!  I was able to go to to the grocery store this afternoon.  It is always a relief to know there is food in the icebox and on the shelves.  Food is so expensive! Not to mention laundry detergent! {not complaining, just making a statement!}   I am trying to figure out how Tide has taken a $3 plus jump in two weeks.  Doesn't not  matter if it is liquid or powder, the price is always up and down.  I have to pretty much stick to Tide because of one daughter itches if I use something else. (occasionally I can get away with using Gain, but only for a short time.)  Anyway, I am thankful that I have food to put on the table.  God is good all the time, and all the time God is good!

Well, the day is done, but the thankfulness goes on and on.  We had a full house today.  We had 20 here for the supper hour.  Our traditional Thanksgiving dinner consist of fried chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, green beans, homemade dinner rolls and salad.  Unfortunately, this year I forgot the salad fixings!!!  Hmm...how did that happen?  Traditional dessert is pumpkin pie, banana bars with homemade cream cheese frosting, brownie and chocolate chip cookies.  This year we added a strawberry pie, cherry pie, a peanut butter cookie  bar, lemon cake balls, and home made cherry mash!  Do you remember the cherry mash candy from years ago???  Hubby's favorite!  Daughter-in-law #3 made them!!!  Okay, so the desserts out numbered the meal!! So, what do you do when you have the ages of children from 26 to 3 years old?  You get all the Nerf guns you can find, and swim noodles that have been made into light sabers,...

I thankful for godly parents.  I am thankful that someone took the time to invite them to church.  I can say, as a second grader, I was less than thrilled in going since I would not know anyone there.  But it soon became a part of my life--three times a week.  I am thankful that serving and worshipping God were an important part of their lives and they lived at home what they lived at church!  I am thankful that in their old age, even with Mother bed-ridden and Daddy moving slower, they have been faithful to God.  They have been prayer warriors for their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Mother and Daddy, I am so very thankful for you!!!!!  Thank you for leaving us a godly heritage to follow!! 

Love following blogs!  One of the blogs I follow is Laura at littlearrows.blogspot.com .  She has a great little giveaway to celebrate her five years of blogging.  Why not hop on over to her blog and not only check out her little give away *an adorable had made hat for a newborn*, but see what she and her little family have been up to.  I always come away glad that I stopped by.

I am thankful for good health.  I have been having chest pains fairly regular.  I went to see a heart doctor yesterday.  I told him how I was feeling and what I had been experiencing.  He told me that I had every symptom of heart disease.  They were able to get me in for a stress test right away.  {good thing, because if I had to come back for it I would have found a reason to cancel it.}  After an ultrasound of my heart--yes I do have a heart :-)--stress test and more ultrasound pictures he told me that my likelyhood of having heart disease is very, very low.  My heart and vessels were normal.  I still need to keep a check on the pains and if they become regular or worsen that I need to come back and have a heart cath.  My blood pressure is a bit high, could be reason for some of the symptoms.  (usually I carry a low bp and if it is normal it is too high.) Yes, I am thankful for good health.  So, what excuse should I use if ...

I am thankful for rubber stamps, card stock, ink, scissors, cutting/scoring tools and adhesives!  Silly things to be thankful for, I know.  I love to stamp, I love to create.    I am also thankful for a Stampin' Up! demonstrator that is the top of the tops!  She warm, wonderful  and creative.  She loves what she does and sharing with others.   (still waiting on the brayering technique.  **wink, wink** kathy!)  Her stamp clubs are fun and I stamp with the best "Thumpers"!  Stamping, creating, yes I am thankful.  It is my "ahhh" in life.

I was blog hopping and came across a Gratitude Challenge at littlenaturalcottage.com . Okay, I like a challenge, so I am going to take it.  Let's see...ten days, no complaining, and I am seeing a heart doctor for chest pains tomorrow.  Hmmm...

I am thankful for friends.  I am thankful for good friends.  You know the kind, the ones that stick with you no matter what.  (Kind of like peanut butter and jelly.)  They listen and know your heart.  You can go without seeing them for a while and pick up right where you left off. Hey friends, I am thankful for you!

I came across a very interesting video on one of the blogs I follow.  If you are a parent you will not want to miss this video.  Do you think you know what is best for your child?  There are some who do not think as you do.  Click on this link:: http://www.abowlofmossandpebbles.com/?p=5387 You might be surprised in what you see.

I am thankful for the freedom to attend the church of my choice.  I am thankful that I can attend church three times a week, and hold God's Word in my hands and read it.  I  am thankful and unashamed to be a Baptist.      I am thankful that 391 years ago men, women, and their families made the journey across the ocean, so they could worship God as they felt led by His Word.  They suffered many hardships and persecutions.  Life was not easy and would not be easy.  I am thankful for those who would not give in and renounce their faith in God and what His Word said.  Even in the face of beatings, torture and burning at the stake, they remained true. Freedom to worship...I am very thankful for that.  What about you?  

I am thankful for grandchildren.  My hubby and I have been blessed with six grandchildren and a new one-to-be, due mid-January.  It is so nice to see how my grown children parent their nesters, and how my younger nesters interact with their neices and nephews! Grandbabies...Mammi loves you and is thankful for each one of you!

I am thankful that I have the freedom to home educate my children.  Home education seems to have become popular in the last several years.  But it has not always been that way.  {But that is a topic for another day.} I must say that when someone first suggested that I think about home education I said, "There is no way that I could do that."  I did not think I was "smart" enough and I had not really had heard  much about schooling at home.  We sent our two oldest to a K-5 program at a local Christian school.  It was for about 3 hours a day, they studied the three "R's", and was only about $100 a month for both.  Then the Lord began to convict me.  I was willing to let Him to determine the size of my family, we had five children at the time, but I wasn't trusting Him fully in every area of my life.  I went back to my friend and talked more about schooling at home.  She was the greatest resource and my biggest cheerleade...

I am thankful for my daughter-in-laws and son-in-law.  I am thankful that they love my sons and daughter unconditionally.  I am thankful that my children love their spouses and are willing to work on their marriages.  Marriage is hard work.  I am glad that Hubby and I have been able to give them and example to follow.  We are not perfect by any means.  But we made a commitment 28 years ago to love, honor, and obey (in my vows to him), in all things--sickness, health, poor, wealth, good, bad and the ugly. Thank you Daughter's and Son who are part of our family because you married into the family.  Thank you for loving my sons and daughter.  You are a blessing to our family and I am thankful for you!!!!

I am thankful for Daughter #7.  She is the caboose of our children.  She was born at 31 weeks.  My only preemie with no complication at all!  {I was on bed rest with her for seven weeks.} She is very full of life.  She has the largest imagination and thinks she is a true princess.  Her daddy told her one day that all little girls are their daddy's princess.  So, she truly believes she is royalty, "because Daddy said so".  Watch out Princess Catherine! :-)   She decided when she was three that she wanted to grow out her hair to her ankles...she will be seven in December, so this was before "Tangled", and she never heard of Rapunzel.  Her hair is now about 5-6 inches above the back of her knees.  Will it get to her ankles??...we'll see. I love you Daughter and I am thankful for you!

I am thankful for Son #7, who just happens to be child #13.  I spent 4 weeks on bed rest in the hospital before he came into this world at 32 weeks with no complications.  He went through his NICU period without too many set backs and he came home at 36 weeks with no monitors!   He was home less than 48 hours  when he coded on us.  A blessing for us Daughter #2, she was 11 at the time, wanted to hold him because he was "fussy".  She gave him to me because she thought he was hungry.  As I was trying to nurse him I realized he had gone limp and was blue.  Not a problem, we were use to "blue babies".  But he didn't "pink up", he went gray.  Daughter #2 went to get my neighbor as I called 911.  We started CPR but there was nothing to him, no pulse, no heart beat, nothing.  We continued CPR until the firemen and paramedics arrived.  When they scooped him up to work on him, Son let out a smal...

I am thankful for Daughter #6.  She was a micro preemie, born at 28 weeks, weighing 2 pounds 9 ounces.  She is truly a miracle baby.  We got to watch out of the womb what takes place in the womb.  AMAZING!!!  What an awesome God we serve!  She spent three months in the NICU.  She was on oxygen until she was 18 months, and stayed and on a heart and apnea monitor until she was two.  She was our "blue baby"--named because she was always turning blue.   {Son #3 became a respiratory therapist because he watched his baby sister being rescued so many times.  He even knew what to do when he was in the NICU with me one day when her monitor went off and she was blue.  It just came natural. The RT told him he saved his baby sister and he was a natural.  Of course the RT stepped in and checked her over to make sure she was okay.} Daughter #6 is healthy and a normal ten year old!  I love you Daugh...

Today is my wonderful hubby's birthday!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETHEART! WE LOVE YOU! 

I am thankful for Daughter #5, who just happens to be child #11.  She is a very happy child and full of life.  She is a lover and not afraid to try something new.  That has been a plus for her.  She was born with a club foot.  A lot of babies born with a club foot is due to positioning while in the womb, you know a tight space for growing babe.  But her foot was formed that was from the beginning.  Being child #11 the doctor said she had more than enough room to move.  Her toes were pointed up toward her nose.  She was in a cast, changed and foot repositioned weekly, for about 13 weeks, starting at one week old.  We used the Ponseti method.  During that time she had a heal cord release because her foot was by that time pointed down like a ballerina.  She also ended up with a half tendon transfer in her foot to pull her foot around.  To top off the surgery list she had her tibia and fibula rotated.  Wi...

Today I am thankful for Daughter #4, the twin to Son #6.  She is a very helpful child.  She loves to be at my side helping.  She will give up something she wants to do, to help me.  She is one of my early risers.  She is up at 5:20 am having her personal devotions and then ready to start school. I am thankful for you Daughter and love you very much!

Son and Daughter-in-law #2 and first born granddaughter Son and Daughter-in-law #3

Today I am thankful for Son #6, {who is a twin to Daughter #4, but today is not her day}.  He turned 13 on November third.   He loves to read!  He is so good about helping a sibling with the computer or a game.  He has a heart for other people.  He enjoys getting up with me at 5:20 am, having his personal devotions and starting his school work for the day.  He is quick to lend a hand when needed.  I love you Son and am very thankful for you!

Not long ago, October 24, I posted some pictures of a rocking chair we were redoing for Son #2 and wife.  I also added a picture of the invitation for Daughter #1's baby shower and the adorable hobby horse's to put in the cupcakes.  Well, the horse pictures didnot make it up on the blog.  I guess I was to lazy busy to fix it.  So, I decided to fix that this evening! You  may not be able to see, but we textured them with an embossing folder. Some had googlie eyes and some were small puched dots. Here are a few of them.  I think we made close to 50! Son #2 helped us "cowgirls" work on these.  It was cute watching the big hands do the little tiny work.  Let's just say he gave up on the bridles!!!! We had fun making them!  It was a lot of hard work, but well worth it! 

Today I am thankful for Son #5.  He has the sweetest spirit about him.  He recently turned 15,and it won't be much longer until he will be taller than me...he has about 3/4 of an inch to go!  He loves to tease and is helpful to his siblings, younger and older, when it comes to math! Love it! I am thankful for you Son!  I love you!

I am thankful for Daughter #3.  She was my first C-section and is child number seven.  She is truly a middle child.  If you have ever studied birth order or are a middle child you can relate to her.  She is my child that likes to cook.  One of her favorite dishes to make is fried onions.  She gives them just the right spices!  We never  have enough!  She has been a huge blessing to our youth pastor and wife on Sundays.  She watches their young son's during choir practice and any youth functions we have after church. Daughter, I love you and am very thankful for you!

I am thankful for Daughter #2.  She is engaged to be married, no date as of yet.  She is a hard worker and very responsible.  She does not know a stranger and is helpful to young and old alike.  I say she was born in the wrong era.  She loves what we call "Papa King" (my dad) music, big band like Glenn Miller and Tommy Dorsey.  Singers like Doris Day, Andrews Sisters, Dean Martin, and Perry Como.  She loves to read and always has her nose in a book, or two, or three.  Yep, she is unique! I love you Daughter, and I am thankful for  you!

 Chilson 14 Back Row::  Daughter #2, Daughter #1, Son #1, Son #5, Son #4, Son #3, Son #2 Middle Row::  Daughter #4 {twin},  Son # 7, Son #6 {twin}, Daughter #3, Front Row::  Daughter #7, Daughter #6, Daughter #5 There you  have it!  My 14 offspring!  This photo was taken about 20 minutes before Daughter #1 left for the airport to catch her flight home to Fort Bragg, NC.  I have a a couple of other pictures to share, but right now I need to go have a good cry!  Why does being a mommy have to hurt so much?

I am thankful for Son #4, {which is child #5}.  [you may not have noticed, but I am going in birth order of my children]  He has a heart of gold and never has met a stranger.  He is so willing to go out of his way to help others and see that they feel included. He has been very generous to allow his siblings to play on one of his gaming systems.  I love you Son #4 and am thankful for you!

I am thankful for Daughter #1.  She is in the Army, stationed at Fort Bragg, NC.  She and Son-in-law #1 are expecting their first baby in January!  I am thankful that she takes the time to drive 10 plus hours to spend time with her family! I love you Daughter #1, and I am very thankful for you!

I am thankful for Son #3.  He has always been so kind and patient with his siblings.  I remember when he was about nine or ten, Son #5 asked "Guy Guy", {a pet name #5 came up}, if he would sleep in his room with him on the floor.  Son #3 did, and so it was for the next twelve to fifteen months!  We tried to convince #3 that he needed to go to his own room, but he said he did not mind.   I am thankful for you, Son #3.  I love you!!!!

I am thankful for Son #2.  He turned 25 in April.  He and his wife have recently given us our newest grandbaby, who was born last month!  Never  have I seen such a couple so in love with their newborn.  I really think he was floating on air when he came to tell us about his new love! I am thakful that he is family minded.  { Really, all the children are.  I guess when you grow with in a large family it is hard NOT to be family minded!}  I am thankful that he takes the time to play with his younger siblings and does not see them as a bother! Son, I am so thankful for you and I love you!

This day thirteen years ago marked a first in our family...a set a twins! Today our "blue baby" and "pink baby", {so named by Daughter #3 when I was with child x 2}, turn thirteen!!!!  Official teenagers!!!!! Happy Birthday Son #6! Happy Birthday Daughter #4! 

I am thankful that God has allowed me to be a mother.  Our oldest, Son #1, will be 27 in February.  Poor thing, like most first born  children, he must feel like a "lab" experiment! (smile) Seriously, I am thankful that he is such a forgiving son.  I have not been the perfect mother and he has loved me any way.  He and his wife have five beautiful children that on occasion we get to love, hug and kiss.  I love you Son #1 and I am so thankful for you!!!

I am thankful my hubby has a job.  One year ago we were without a job or any source of income.  God saw us through those seven months, He provided and used many friends to meet our many needs.  Not only does Hubby have a job, he just recently has gone from being the associate dean to the dean of the new campus of the college he is employed.  God has been so good, because this job came directly from Him.  I am also very thankful that Hubby and I have been married 28 years!  We have fourteen beautiful children, four that have married and have families of their own giving us six, soon-to-be seven grandchildren!  He has been a great source of strength and a wonderful example to our children.

I have a couple of pictures to share.  Here is a picture of our newest grandbaby! Introducing "Mildred Millie Maude".  No, that is NOT her name.  Let's just say when Son #2 and Daughter-in-law #2 decided on a name, before she was born, I would refer to her by her name-to-be.  Not once did anyone ever correct me that I was pronouncing it wrong until about 5 days before she was born.  Dear Son asked me to repeat  her name, not once, not twice, but three times before I realized he was "making fun" of the way I was pronouncing the name. He is not the only one who poked fun at me.  I guess I put the emphasis on the wrong syllable!  So, this ol' Mammi decided to come up with a name until I can either take speech lessons and learn to pronounce it, or a nick name!   {just a side note, Son is NOT impressed with my "name" for her.  oh well, life goes on!} Here is a picture of 8 of our nesters, and "guard" dog...

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."~~John 3:16 I am so thankful for the free gift of salvation.  I am thankful that God loved me enough that He was willing to give His "only begotten Son".  I am thankful that when my earthly life is over, my soul, which is eternal, will live in heaven with Him.   I will "not perish", but live FOREVER in heaven.  What about you?  Can you say that you are thankful for a home in heaven?  You can read about God's eternal plan at   http://www.godssimpleplan.org/gsps-english.html .