Lady Godiva

Started in July of 2007, she is finally finished.

The pattern is a detail adapted from the painting "Lady Godiva" by John Collier.

Here is her story (courtesy of Jennifer at GoldenKite.com Thank you, Jennifer!)

Godiva was the wife of Earl Leofric, a powerful Lord during the reign of the Dane Canute around 1050 AD. Leofric had raised the taxes on the people of Coventry to an unbearable level. When Godiva asked him to repeal them saying that they were too harsh, he laughingly said that he would do so when she rode naked on a horse through the town. One can only imagine his surprise when she did so, covered by nothing more than her long golden hair.

The people of Coventry out of gratitude, and to spare the Lady any shame, stayed indoors with their windows shut. All but one that is – a tailor who has become known as “Peeping Tom” dared to look out and was struck blind by God for his audacity.

Leofric kept his word and repealed the taxes.

This is the legend. But did it actually happen? There was indeed an Earl Leofric and his wife, a Lady Godgifu (meaning “God’s gift” in Saxon) in Coventry at that time. He was a Danish Lord (the King of England at that time was in fact a Dane, Canute).

She was a Saxon and a landowner in her own right and is recorded in the Domesday book (1086) as having lands in Leicestershire, Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire.

The fact that her lands are still her own at this time, when so many lands had been redistributed by William the Conquerer after the Norman Invasion can be seen a sign of the lady’s popularity (indeed those of her grandchildren had been confiscated).

Contemporary historians only mention her as the wife Earl Leofric, nothing is said of her ride. Documents show that Leofric and Godiva were great benefactors of the Church and endowed an abbey in Coventry for the education of the clergy.

The first mention of the ride is by a monk and chronicler at the Benedictine Abbey of St. Albans, Roger of Wendover, He has this to say:

“The Countess Godiva, who was a great lover of God's mother, longing to free the town of Coventry from the oppression of a heavy toll, often with urgent prayers besought her husband that,

from regard to Jesus Christ and his mother, he would free the town from that service and from all other heavy burdens; and when the Earl sharply rebuked her for foolishly asking what was so much to his damage,

and always forbade her evermore to speak to him on the subject; and while she, on the other hand, with a woman's pertinacity, never ceased to exasperate her husband on that matter,

he at last made her this answer: "Mount your horse and ride naked, before all the people, through the market of this town from one end to the other, and on your return you shall have your request.”

On which Godiva replied,

“But will you give me permission if I am willing to do it?”

“I will,” said he.

“Whereupon the Countess, beloved of God, loosed her hair and let down her tresses, which covered the whole of her body like a veil,

and then, mounting her horse and attended by two knights, she rode through the marketplace without being seen, except her fair legs,

and having completed the journey, she returned with gladness to her astonished husband and obtained of him what she had asked,

for Earl Leofric freed the town of Coventry and its inhabitants from the aforesaid service, and confirmed what he had done by a charter.”

Chronica, Roger of Wendover , listed under the year 1057

Cancer Anyone?

January 28, 2008 my mother's brother, Bill, lost his 2 year long battle with cancer; he would have been fifty-two this month. Exactly three weeks later on February 18, 2008 my mother's father, also named Bill, was diagnosed with cancer of the bladder.

A little family history - the first person I ever lost that was close to me was my mother's mother. She died of cancer in her early sixties (sixty-two, i think). Years before that my Grandmother lost her mother and one of her sisters to cancer. When I was in third grade my mother's father lost his sister to cancer. I believe that all of these women died from breast cancer or breast cancer related complications. My Grandfather also lost his mother to cancer, although I do not know what kind she had. My mother's sister has had a number of benign lumps removed from her breasts and in the last year polyps formed from precancerous cells were found when she had a colonoscopy.

Given the family history, and the loss of Uncle Bill, this most recent diagnosis of my Grandfather's has not been received particularly well.
When my Grandfather was diagnosed he was living in his winter home in Arizona. He quickly decided that he would travel home, to Boise, for further testing, evaluation, and treatment. He made the trip from Arizona to Idaho safely and is awaiting the results of further testing (which will likely be received on Uncle Bill's birthday) after which a plan for treatment will be made. In the meantime, his children are trying to cope the best way they know how. There is fear and paranoia, "Who will be next?" they all wonder. There are also prayers and support for one another.

I live so far away and, unfortunately, seldom see the majority of my family. I feel somewhat removed from the current events. However, I talk often with my Mother and my Aunt so, I am kept up with news and stories of what goes on up there. I sit down here miles, and miles away essentially just watching what will unfold. I wonder what God will do for my family and those around it in this situation. I pray that His Grace and His Glory will shine through and bring them to a closer relationship to Him in their hardships.

SNOW!

Saturday afternoon was a warm sunny day in our neck of the woods. So warm and sunny, in fact, that I saw more than one customer come in with sunburns while at work that evening. Now, most people welcome warm, sunny weather on the second day of March. I, however, felt a sort of depression settle in with the knowledge that this warm, sunny day marked the end of "winter" and the beginning of the road to a long, hot summer.

However, I am joyful to report that I was wrong. In the space of two short days we went from warm sunshine, to freezing cold wind and rain, to SNOW! It started to snow in the evening and had finished by the middle of the night but, it was snowing real snow (not that icy imitation) and we had a chance to play in it a little and enjoy the unique atmosphere that can only be had with a blanket of snow. The snow began to melt as soon as the sun rose this morning and will be gone by the time we are in bed tonight. Tomorrow the temperature will be back in the sixties. Yet, when all hope of any winter weather was lost for the year, God saw fit to show me that he is indeed in control and gave this wonderful gift of real snow in March in Texas.

Praise you, Lord! You knew the desires of my heart and provided this beautiful gift. Thank you.

Peace Be Still

Peace Be Still by Rush Of Fools

This song is beautiful and has touched me deeply over the past couple of days. Click the lower of the two titles in the red box to start the song.


Come to Me, you who are weak
Let My strength be yours tonight
Come and rest, let My love be your bed
Let My heart be yours tonight

(Chorus:)
Peace be still, Peace be still
Please be still and know that I am God
and know that I am God

Come empty cup, let Me fill you up
I'll descend on you like a dove tonight
Lift your head, let your eyes fall into Mine
Let your fear subside tonight

(Chorus)

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
(repeat)

(Chorus)

Click here for more information about the songs
Click here to create your own MySpace Playlist

Rest in Peace Uncle Bill

It was a Merry Christmas

Answered Prayers

Praise the Lord!

I have been asking members of my family about their beliefs and asking about Uncle Bill and have received all the "right" answers. I am so confidant that I will be seeing them all in Heaven. What an incredible relief.
This experience has really taught me the importance of sharing the gospel and being open about my beliefs, though. What a blessing.

Will I See You Again?

The exact time in my life is a bit fuzzy as are many of my earlier childhood days, maybe it's just age. Anyway, the exact time is fuzzy but I am sure that I was somewhere between the ages of 7 to 9 when I accepted Christ. Honestly, it is something that when one looks at my childhood and the people in my life then, they would be surprised by. Suffice it to say that Christ was not in the forefront of the minds of anybody that I know of or, at least not in the lives of the people who had the most influence over me. But, maybe I am wrong about that because it just wasn't something that was ever really talked about in my family. My parents were divorced and though my father is Mormon and has continued to be faithful to his religion his whole life, I rarely even saw him. My mother's side of the family, however, is Catholic. Maybe I should really say that my Grandmother was Catholic, though, because she was the one who drove others into going to church and that was only a seemingly half hearted effort attempted by some. Out of all my aunts and uncles and their families, I can only think of one who I would guess really cared about it all. To this day there are certain members of the family who attend Mass once a year on Christmas Eve for Midnight Mass only out of remembrance of her.
Given that history (and more), here I stand, unsure of the beliefs of anybody close to me from that part of my life. I can make some guesses that may or may not be correct but, I cannot be absolutely sure about any one person. The blunt question "Do you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior?" has never been put forth. I would be willing to say that given things said by them I would guess that the answer is yes but, given certain lifestyles and attitudes of those same people the answer could just as easily be no.

Uncle Bill is very ill. He will not be a cancer survivor. It won't be long now. He is in incredible amounts of pain and is not eating. On top of that he is withdrawing from everybody and making statements about not making it to his birthday which is in March. Doctors wondered if he would make it to Christmas but, that was a major goal of his that it appears will be met. After that he has no further goals.
Uncle Bill is one who I have never seen step into a church. He is one who has openly spoken about his disregard of anything "religious". He had a difficult childhood and has shown himself over the past ten years to be a bitter, angry, unforgiving person. Not the uncle I remember growing up but, that is what he looks like now. He is still a person I love dearly and care about unconditionally. I am terrified for him. His illness and impending death has become something that is increasingly difficult for me to deal with. Getting to the point of impossible. Realizing that I do not have that assurance that I will see him again is just plain terrifying. Paired with that, have the realization that there are others I love whom I do not have that assurance about either.
How does one deal with the death of a loved one whom they do not know for certain that they will see them again? When they are not sure, or maybe even know for certain that their loved one is not a believer? The saying that they are "in a better place" really has no meaning. One cannot rejoice in their passing into the presence of our Saviour. I don't know what will happen to him.

Uncle Bill, will I see you again? Do you know the Truth? Do you believe? Are you at peace in this time because you know where you are headed next?

I wish he would answer these questions for me. He will not communicate with anyone. He is not answering his phone or returning calls. I would give anything to go up there and talk with him in person. Even if I could get up there, I am not even guaranteed that he would talk to me at all, though. I saw him just in July and did not take the opportunity to talk to him then. I hate myself for that. This whole experience has given a whole new meaning to sharing the gospel and my faith with others.

Create a Snowflake

This was sort of fun, and it was interesting to see what other people created. :)

http://www.popularfront.com/snowdays/index.html?id=5192253


(growl! can't get the link to work. will have to get there by copy and paste. hope that works!)

Update

Kiddo #4 is doing fantastic with the brace. She is learning how to get around with it fast and is quite determined to not let it slow her down. In fact, she has already figured out how to get it off!

I Have Missed You, I Will Miss You

Christmas was always the best time of year for my sisters and I. Christmas was the one time of year that we knew, without a doubt, that Uncle Bill would be coming to visit. Uncle Bill, my mother's brother, so full of energy, stories, excitement, fun. How we loved it when he came to visit. Christmas was the only time of year that we ever saw him, except the one year he came up for Uncle Kurt's wedding in the summer. Christmas was so much more magical because of Uncle Bill; so was the wedding, come to think of it. He constantly made us laugh with his crazy stories and outlandish ideas. He would spend tons of time with us. Shopping, going to the movies, playing, or just sitting down for a chat.
In high school Grandma became very ill so, Uncle Bill moved back to Boise in order to help with her care. We couldn't believe how lucky we could be, to have Uncle Bill there all the time. He took care of Grandma but, he made it his mission to take care of Mom, my sisters, and me. He did work around the house. He taught me how to drive. He did anything he could think of that would be helpful to us.
When Grandma died things went a bit crazy. I had never realized that she was truly the glue that held my mother's family together. A huge, ridiculous family fight erupted that I still do not understand. In short, it was a mess and it ended with Uncle Bill not speaking to anybody in the family, especially my sisters and I. This lasted years, and years; somewhere around 10, I believe.

Uncle Bill, I missed you so much during those years. I missed your love, your advice, your smile, your laughter, your stories, your crazy ideas. I missed having you in my life.

Just under 2 years ago, Uncle Bill was diagnosed with cancer. In the time since his diagnoses, Uncle Bill has shed his bitter, angry attitudes and returned to the man I remember from Christmas' growing up.
I didn't realize how much I missed him and how much I wanted my children to know him until we all saw him for the first time in many years this summer. He had not even met 3 of the 4 kiddos before then. It was amazing to watch him with my children. He was just as I remembered him. And they loved him so much. I so wanted him to get to know my family, to see how wonderful they all are. I wanted him to see how blessed I have been. To see that life has turned out more than okay for me. We were not able to spend as much time with him as I would have liked, though.
Now, months later, Uncle Bill's health has deteriorated. He is in a great deal of pain and the cancer, while not spreading, is growing. His doctor says he does not have much time left, whatever that means. I find myself thinking of him endlessly and praying for him always. I cannot seem to get him off my mind.
Even in his pain and illness, he has ambitious ideas of finishing projects and traveling. He would like to travel to Texas and then to Florida to visit my sisters and me. I would love to show him my home, take him to a hockey game, share with him the people, the things, the places I love. But, I know that it is most likely that I will not be able to see him again. I am sad. I wish I could sit with him for a time and talk to him about God, to learn about his beliefs and share mine with him, to tell him about myself and my family, to hear his thoughts, his stories, his ideas and ambitions. Just one evening, Uncle Bill and me, talking like we used to, once upon a time.

Uncle Bill, I missed you all those years. I am so thankful for the short time we had this summer. I will miss you tremendously when you are gone.

Good News

Due to the persistence on the part of myself and the wonderful, helpful receptionist at Synergy (the prosthetics and brace makers) the insurance company has finally relented and granted approval for kiddo #4's brace. Yesterday we went in so they could make a cast of her leg. They scheduled a follow up appointment for 2 weeks out (Nov 2) for us to return to pick up the brace.
Praise the Lord! Thank you all for your prayers!

Fantasy Football Woes

What a sad day.
The points are in from all the football games this week and my team has lost, yet again. An abysmal 109 points to the PA Killer Bees' 132. Starting the season with only 1 win and 4 losses, making my poor team the second worse team in the league (yes, there is actually someone with a worse start). Peyton Manning would be ashamed to know he was on such a team, unworthy of his greatness.
Woe is me!

Fantasy football is so much more fun than I ever imagined it to be! It brings out the competitive spirit and makes watching the football games, that would be on anyway, a much more interesting experience. Now, if I could just figure out how to get the full points potential out of my team, we would be doing great! The winning streak for Gramcrackers Zoo and the Texas Coolzone must end!

What's that smell?

Recently, the husband and I had an interesting conversation sparked by him teasing me about one of things I love to smell the most, new books. I love the smell of a new book! The first thing I do when I get a new book is flip through the pages, inhaling that wonderful new book smell. The husband finds this rather amusing, maybe rightly so.
This got us on the subject of what our favorite smells are. An interesting subject, indeed. I bet you can tell a lot about a person based on the things they like to sniff.
So, here is your chance to learn a little about me based on my top five smells (not necessarily in order).

1. New books (bet you didn't see that one coming)
2. Roses
3. Freshly shampooed baby hair
4. Fresh diapers (the husband finds this one amusing as well)
5. New Crayons (one of my favorite things in the world is coloring with brand new crayons, love the smell that goes along with that)

So, what are your top five smells? :)

How can you win with the health insurance company?

As many of you know, kiddo #4 was an early walker. She was pulling herself up to stand before she could crawl and walking by the time she turned 9 months. Kiddo #4 thinks she is a big kid and is determined to do anything she can to "keep up" with her three older siblings. For the most part, this is not a bad thing and is actually quite adorable however, there are some problems that can develop in the physical growth/development of children who are early walkers.

When she was about 10 months old we noticed that Kiddo #4's right leg was looking a little funny and that she was not walking quite right anymore. By the time she was 12 months old and it was time for her yearly checkup her walking had worsened and her leg was more visibly bow-legged. Our pediatrician referred us to a pediatric orthopedist who quickly determined that kiddo #4 has what is called tibia vara and determined that she needs to wear a brace on her leg for awhile to correct the problem. Tibia vara is not really serious problem, it means that her tibia bone is growing crookedly because of the weight she put on her legs at such an early age. It is not uncommon although, it is not usually apparent until children are closer to the age of 2.

So, we saw a problem, we talked to the doctor about the problem, the doctor diagnosed the problem and prescribed a fix for said problem. That was the easy part, quick and easy.

Now, here we sit 8 or 9 weeks later and still no brace. Getting in with the place who makes the braces was not difficult. However, after waiting in the office for more than 3 hours we learned that the insurance company needed more information before approving the brace. After another week of waiting it was finally determined that the brace place needed to send in paperwork so, they did. Cathy, the very nice receptionist at the brace place sent in her paperwork on August 23. I finally called Cathy about 2 weeks later to find out the status only to learn that the process usually takes about 30 days. Meanwhile, kiddo #4's leg is getting worse. I called the insurance company on Cathy's advice and, of course they did not have the paperwork in yet and told me to call back in week so, I did. I called back every week. Finally, today I talked to the insurance company only to find out that they didn't actually receive the paperwork until September 24. My first question is, why would it take a month to get to them and in their system? The insurance representative kindly informed me that it would take 30 days from the date they received the letter to get the approval for the brace. When I kindly informed her that we absolutely needed it earlier than that as kiddo #4's leg is continuing to worsen she kindly informed me that they must follow the "appropriate steps" for approval because the brace is a device that will cost more than $500 and following those steps will take 30 business days. She says there is nothing they can do. This puts us into November.

Poor kiddo #4 continues to get worse. Every time I see her trip over herself or see her leg collapse under her because she stepped just wrong, I want to throttle somebody at the insurance company. My little girl is getting worse because the insurance company refuses to rush approval for her brace because it costs more than their magic number. She is also growing so, the measurements they took way back in August will no longer be good by the time the insurance comes through in November and they will have to take an additional 2 to 3 weeks to make her a new one. My hands are tied. Nothing I can say or do will make this a priority to them, they have enough clients that her little leg problem means nothing to them. I have to just sit back and wait. How does one do that? How could I possibly make them understand? This sucks.

Sorry, for my long rant. I am pretty irritated, frustrated, you name it, right now.

It's Kiddo #3's Turn!

My dear, sweet, precious Kiddo #3! You are 3 today! What a big boy you are.
Kannon, there is no other like you. You are sweet and crazy and loving all wrapped up into one. You are the most adventurous of children, your lack of fear is truly amazing! :) I love you kiddo! I hope you had a very fun day on your birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Miss Chris!

Well, I haven't posted anything in eons. We have been much, much, much busier these last couple months than I ever imagined we would be! I have had little time to even read anybody else's posts, let alone make any of my own. Things are going to get busier over the next couple months as I begin working 3 jobs and continue homeschooling kiddos #1 and #2 but, I have missed this blogging community and plan to make an effort to get back into it.

I thought it fitting to make my first blog back a happy birthday entry since #1 it was my friend Chris' birthday just a couple days ago and #2 a birthday post was the last entry I made. :)

So, Miss Chris, a happy birthday to you! You have been my friend since first grade and we have celebrated many, many birthdays together. I am so happy that we were able to celebrate yet another one this year. It was not a big party with a big cake but, I had a great time spending the evening with you and I hope you enjoyed yourself as well.
Miss Chris, you have been the best of friends for so many years. I love you like a member of my family and my family loves you as much as I. I am so lucky to have you as my friend and I really look forward to many more years and many more birthdays celebrated with you.

One Year Already!

Happy first birthday kiddo #4, my sweet blessing baby!

Vacations and Surprises

There has been something that I have just been DYING to write about for months and months and months. However, that something was a great big surprise for somebody who may or may not be a reader of this blog so, I was unable to utter a single word about it and risk blowing it. Until now. Yipee! That somebody has been presented with her BIG surprise and now I am free to write about it all I want.

It all started last August when I was talking to my little sister, who lives in Florida. She casually mentioned an idea that was suggested to her by our aunt, who lives in Idaho. It was an idea that got my sisters and I jumping with excitement. Phone calls were made from Florida to Idaho to Texas to Florida and around and around it went for months.
The plan, presented by an uncle who swears he has no recollection of ever suggesting such a thing, started out as a simple idea to get my sisters and me and all our children up to Boise for my mom's 50th birthday and ended up as the biggest surprise ever planned (and pulled off) by this family. What fun it was too!
As I mentioned, this all started last August. My mother's birthday is June 14th. So, we spent almost a year planning and organizing this thing and somehow managed to keep it a secret! By Thanksgiving the whole family (about 32 of us) knew about and became involved with the organization of this party. I still don't know how we all managed to keep it from her for so long! My Aunt Dora (the main organizer) gave out jobs and responsibilities to various members of the family and threatened us with our lives if we were to spill the beans.
You see, I moved to Texas with my husband and kiddo #1 when kiddo #1 was just 4 weeks old. I have been back to Boise a couple times to visit and Mom has made it down here a couple times. However, a few months after we moved to Texas my younger sister moved to Florida and my older sister followed her down there a couple years later. The day we left for Texas ended up being the last day that my Mom was able to spend with all of her kids together and the last day that I saw my younger sister for 7 years. My mom had 2 grandkids that she hadn't even met yet, I had 2 nephews that I had never met and my sisters had 2 nephews and a niece that they had never met. So, this surprise party was a REALLY big deal.
Anyway...

Now that I think about it, I don't know what jobs my sisters were assigned to but, I decided that I absolutely must provide the birthday cake. This presented a pretty interesting challenge because our plan was to drive up and our vacation was cut short because of work conflicts with my husband so, we had to actually bake the cake here and bring it up with us to 'assemble'. I planned a 3 tiered thing with flowers growing up the side. It took a lot of extra time and some creativity but, we figured out how to pack it relatively safely and got it up there with minimal damage.

So, with great excitement we piled into our van on June 12th for the mad dash up to Boise. The party was planned to start at around 4pm on the 14th and I had to have time to finish the cake so, we had to get up there as fast as we could. It was tiring (tiring? exhausting) but we made it. The kids were fabulous on the drive. I think they even enjoyed themselves a little. This was the first time that we had been able to go on a vacation in a very long time so, everybody was very excited.
There were some hiccups in plans on the day of the party but, it all came together spectacularly. This was the first time that my entire family had gathered together since my grandmother's funeral over 10 years ago. My Aunt even somehow managed to get my Uncle and Grandfather, who haven't spoken to each other in that amount of time, together at the same event. There were only two people missing, my cousin and her son, they were unable to make the trip up from Florida (what's the deal with everyone moving to Florida?).
My Aunt and Uncle were able to get Mom to come over to Aunt Dora's house for her birthday by telling her that my Uncle would really like to spend the evening with her and he would grill her ribs for her on her birthday. Mom is not big on celebrating birthdays but, he was very convincing and she agreed to the little party of just the 3 of them.
We planned it so that when my Mom came out to the backyard she would not be able to see those of us who had so sneakily come to town to surprise her. The rest of the family were going to yell "Surprise!" then, all her grandkids would come out of hiding (which was behind her) and say "Happy Birthday, Grandma" and give her a rose. The funniest thing was that when my niece, Ayla, the eldest grandchild called out to her, Mom didn't even turn around. Poor Ayla was running up to her and must have said "Happy Birthday" 3 times with no response by the time she reached my mom and tugged on her shirt so she would turn around. And when she finally did turn around, the look of shock was priceless! There was some speculation as to whether or not she would cry because my mom is not the type to cry. While there was no real crying per se, there were a few tears that made their way out. Her reaction made all the hard work and hard traveling well worth the effort. Her arms and her mouth opened wide and she was shaking as she tried to hug all her grandchildren and children at once. It was a wonderful thing to see.
And there was my Aunt who was really the one behind it all, hiding in a corner laughing so hard she was in tears. It was such a wonderful thing that she did for my mom, her sister. I cannot thank her enough for getting us all together up there. It was amazing to see my sisters again and to spend that time all together.

There is more to the story of our vacation. More surprises, good and bad. More adventures. However, it is late and this may just be the longest blog entry that I have ever written so, I think I will stop here and pick up the story again another day. Now, y'all know where I have been for the past few weeks, though. Preparing for the trip, making cake, more trip preparation, driving, more driving, and a week of recovery. :)

Kiddo #2 Update

I have had a few people ask how kiddo #2 is doing. I want to thank you all for your concern and your prayers! It's comforting knowing that there have been people out there praying for him.

So, now for the update....
Let's see, the last post was on Monday. We took him to the doctor on Tuesday just to find out that he had "some sort of virus" and was dehydrated but, not quite to the point of needing an IV. There was nothing we could do other than keep the fever down as much as possible and try to get him to take some liquids. He was required to use the potty by 4:00 that afternoon in order to stay out of the hospital....he finally peed at 3:45! He ended up back in the Dr.'s office later that afternoon, though because he started getting a little delirious from the fever, that was a bit scary. The fever FINALLY broke last Friday afternoon and it has not come back. He is no longer hovering on the edge of dehydration and hospitalization. He has some lingering fatigue which worries me a bit. He has not returned to his normal high energy, rambunctious self. He is eating and drinking more but, again, not back to normal yet. I am considering taking him back to the Dr. but, I don't know that they can do anything for him so, have not made the decision to return yet. If he is not closer to normal by Monday we will be heading back in to see Dr. Jim.

So far, everybody else has remained healthy. I am probably speaking too soon but, it is possible that we have avoided spreading this nasty little virus.

The Shirt Says It All

"Daddy thinks I'm awesome!"