♥ Merry Christmas!! (A Christmas Letter, and a Video of Jordan) ♥

To parents of Young Children, on the subject of Christmas, (and to my friends and family everywhere),

As the mom of many, I've been where you are. It can be frantic in the days leading up to Christmas. Gifts to buy, programs to attend, meals to prepare. I learned a long time ago that I can't do everything, and my family is better off if I don't try! Don't feel guilty about what you don't do. You don't have to bake cookies for your kiddos to decorate. You don't have to go to every Christmas party. You don't have to decorate to the hilt, and keep everything clean in case someone drops by. You don't need to spend money on professional family photos to send to everyone...snapshots show your family as they truly are, blur and all :)

♥ Just enjoy your time together.♥

Drive around and look at Christmas lights in your pj's, they'll remember that more anyway. Stop for soup or hot chocolate on the way home...you'll have the money for it, because you didn't spend it on a photo session :)

We quit going anywhere on Christmas day, many years ago. My children wanted to play with their new toys, and dragging them somewhere else just didn't seem fair. Also, I don't cook a big Christmas meal. I know we're less formal than many families, but believe me, my children don't go hungry on Christmas day, (although they are most definitely under the influence of a more-than-average sugar rush) and again, there is more time to just relax and enjoy the day. 

This will be the first Christmas I spend without one of my children with me. He and his wife will be spending their first Christmas as a married couple, half a world away, establishing their own traditions for another generation. It happened in a flash. It really did. It was just yesterday that he was a little boy, joyfully tearing open his gifts. 

As I reflect on this, I believe that the memories we will all cherish won't be the gifts, the programs, the parties, or the food, but the time spent together, enjoying each other, arguing with each other (there were 6 kids in our house, so there was/is always an argument or two going on)...and in our family, it was almost always a new movie to watch. Nothing special in itself, but Oh So Special in the time spent together. 

Don't sweat the small stuff young parents, just enjoy the moments :) 

To Randy and Sarah, we will miss you dearly, but are so happy for the Christmas traditions you will be forever establishing for your family, and so thankful that Christ is the center of your celebrations! We love you both so much and are so proud of you!!

Btw, I'm now married to a very handsome "senior" citizen!! 

Senior meals, here we come!!

And for those of you who are still reading, waiting to hear about my nephew Jordan, 

I have something special to share with you! 

Watch this short video and get to know a little bit 

about Jordan and Jenn, their sacrifice, and the blessing of a new home; a gift from

Homes For Our Troops!! Feel free to share it, and spread the news

about this wonderful organization!

Merry Christmas to everyone! 

(Btw, this will serve as my Christmas card...because I didn't get any out this year) 

Lol :)

Blessings,

Marcia 

Never Enough

but we say 'Thank You' to the many servicemen and women,

and to all of their families, for all they have given for our FREEDOM.

To those who might be wondering, Jordan got his prosthetic legs

a few weeks ago and is now learning to walk again!!

Thank you for your continued prayers :)

Blessings,
Marcia 

♥ Hands ♥

The were married for years and couldn't have children, It was at a time when couples 

didn't choose "not to", and their hearts and arms ached for a baby of their own.

After quite a few years of marriage, they adopted a son 

and were thrilled to finally become parents. 

Looking to adopt again a few years later, they were surprised to find

that she was pregnant, after so many years of waiting. 

She gave birth to a daughter. 

They always said that there were two ways to get children, 

and they were doubly blessed to get one each way.

Having nearly given up on having a family at one time, 

they are now parents to 2 children, grandparents to 10,

and great-grandparents to 5. When you count in-laws, etc.,

their number swells to 35, and growing :)  

God's ways are not our ways, but His plans are always
so much better.

I am blessed beyond measure to call them......

Dad and Mom :)

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:31

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Blessings,

Marcia

*Turquoise* and Jordan Update :)

My beautiful turquoise necklace was a Christmas gift from my nephew and his wife.

He cut and smoothed the stones, and she made the necklace.

They gave one to each of my girls too.

I keep telling them that they should open an etsy shop. I know it would do well.

I shared these two a while back. They made them for my mom and sister-in-law :)

Aren't they beautiful?

I also thought I'd share a new photo of Jordan. He's driving!!!

He posted this on his Facebook page. He took his little boy to the beach :)

Isn't that wonderful? :)

He's continuing to improve. The antibiotic beads I told you about back 

in November have helped. We're all so proud of him. 

Homeschool is back in session around here, and my twins are in a play next week,

so I've been running around more than usual. Guess what they're playing?

Twins, lol. I think they might be typecast :)

I'm having a giveaway soon, so check back next week.

Blessings,

Marcia

Joining Good Life Wednesday at A Beach Cottage.

♥ Tea, Marshmallow Cookies, and Memories ♥

Cold weather has come to the desert, so my morning glass of iced tea 

is now a cup of hot tea. 

You might notice the little tea bag that says "Good Earth" tea. 

I'm sure there are plenty of you that enjoy this sweet treat,

but it means a little more to me than just a delicious cup of tea.

You see, it was nearly 28 years ago that I first met my hubby 

at "The Good Earth", a health food restaurant, popular in the 80's.
Yes, he was a cook and I was a waitress.

We were meant to be together, don't you think?

This was the tea that we served there.

Most of these restaurants were later changed over to "The Olive Garden"
(a completely different type of restaurant, but also a tasty favorite of ours), 

however, the delicious "Good Earth" tea is still sold.
It's a sentimental favorite around here :)

The aroma is *heavenly*. It always reminds me of when we were dating.

It tastes delicious with Marshmallow Coconut Cookies too :)

Have a blessed weekend!

Marcia 

An Update on Jordan:
Thank you all for your thoughtful comments for Jordan in my last post. 

They discovered that he had some type of infection (perhaps a fungus) 

so he had another surgery on Nov. 5th to take tissue and bone samples 

and put in antibiotic beads.

He's going into surgery again tomorrow. They will put a rod
coated with antibiotics into his femur bone. Then, in about 
8 weeks they will be taking the rod out. Hopefully that
will be his last surgery. He's been in quite a bit of pain, 

so please continue to keep him in your prayers.

Veterans Day has a more personal meaning to our family this year.
Thank you to all of those who have made freedom possible,
and thank you especially, Jordan.
We love you ♥

Harvest and Update on Jordan :)

 I'll bet you have a pumpkin patch around you somewhere. 

This one is just a few miles from our home.

See, we really can grow things here in the desert :) 

There is also a corn maze. I've never been successful

at growing corn myself, but it does grow around here, as you can see.

This is what the pumpkin sees :)

We're still harvesting. We have a late growing season here. 

I found a great "Any Kind of Squash" recipe this summer, 

and since I still have zucchini growing,

I've made it quite a few times. 

 You slice up your squash, and put a layer on the bottom of a baking dish.

Cover it with melted butter, 

salt and pepper to taste,

a little bit of cut up basil from the garden,

and then layer it with Parmesan cheese.

Repeat the steps with another layer (or two).

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. 

As you can see, different squashes work equally well.

I almost forgot to take a photo of the finished product. I got a corner of it, 

as the rest had already been gobbled up. It's delicious,

even my twins love it!

(I mean, with butter and Parmesan, how can you go wrong?)

I've also been harvesting my own seeds. 

These coriander seeds are about to be replanted. 

Last year I had cilantro growing late into the Fall,

and early in the Spring.

Our weather has finally cooled off a bit this week. 

It actually feels like Fall around here :)

We saw Jordan a few weeks ago too. 

He looks great, doesn't he? 

He had another surgery on Oct. 19th.

Here is and update from his Facebook Page :)

*So I wish to update all of you and let everybody know I am still very positive and motivated. I came in for surgery on wednesday the 19th to get a revision on my left leg. As the doctors cut me open they found that my femur was deteriorating. So they took a few tissue samples and closed it up. The doctors thought it was due to infection but after testing the tissue samples it was not infection. Yesterday the 22nd they cut me open again to take a small piece of bone for testing because their next theory is that the bone breakdown may be a type of osteoperosis. I will find out in the next few days what the source of the deterioration is and I will keep you all updated. Once again keep me in your thoughts and prayers.*

♥ Thank you everyone for your prayers for Jordan ♥

I know this post was a bit scattered. It's been a while since I've written anything,

so I just included a bit of this and that :) 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings,

Marcia 

Visiting with Jordan

Several blogging friends have asked about Jordan and I wanted to give you all an 

update. A little less than 2 weeks ago, he hit a rough patch of grass in his wheelchair, 

and fell, breaking his already injured arm. 

He was scheduled for another surgery on his leg the following Monday,

so they did the surgery on his arm at that time too. 

That was on Monday, August 22. 

Jordan, Jenn and Jay

On Friday, my brother called to say that Jordan would be visiting our area on Saturday.

Yes, less than a week after his surgery he was out traveling with his wonderful family!

I wish you all could know what an humble and gracious young man he is, 

and his wife Jenn is equally incredible. Their mutual love and respect 

for each other is inspiring, as is their devotion to their son. They're a young family 

that has faced far more than most of us can imagine, and yet they both express 

their thankfulness for the blessings in their lives, and for each other. 

4 generations of Maynard men :)

There are so many things we take for granted, and feel a sense of injustice

when those things are taken from us. As I watched Jordan very adeptly 

eating soup with his left hand (I'm left handed, so I tend to notice others that are)

I realized he'd had to learn this since the accident. 

I marveled at how well he was doing this 

(as I can not imagine having to relearn everything with my right hand)

and he just smiled, shrugged, and said 

"Yeah, I had to learn to shave too, so I've kind of gotten used to it." 

No sense of injustice. Just his kind and gentle nature. 

That's Jordan :)

Also, about a month ago, Semper Fi donated this brand new van equipped with

automatic doors, ramp, and hydraulics to Jordan and his family.  It has made it so

much easier for them to get around :)

I want to thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for Jordan.

Jordan and his family are very thankful too. 

Please continue to remember him, as he still has a long way to go in his recovery.

He's amazing!!

Blessings,

Marcia 

Picnic Time :) --- Update on Jordan

Are you planning a picnic this weekend? 

This is the season for picnic fun.

So grab your basket,

Find your favorite picnic spot, and bring on the treats :)

Betty Crocker had this sweet idea for your celebration,

Fireworks Push-Up Cupcakes :)

 Don't they look yummy?

For Fun Printables see:

 Tweedle Dee Designs

Sweet Straws are found at:

 The Cupcake Social

and no picnic would be complete without ideas from:

Fourth of July Bike Clip Art

Fourth of July Clip-Art Toothpick Flags

Martha Stewart!!

And now, a wonderful update from Jordan: 
(via his Facebook page)

hello all, thanks for all the support. as you see i am going strong and healing fast, Its really hard to keep up with everybody individually but once again i want to express my gratitude to everyone and i could not do it without you and of course my wonderful wife and my little helper jay.

Jordan and his son playing ball :)
We love you!

 Have a wonderful holiday weekend everyone!

Blessings,

Marcia

Mums in May and a wonderful photo of Jordan :-)

Can anyone tell me why we're getting Mums in May? 

Okay, I know that by the time you read this it will be June 1st, 

but they've been blooming all week, and "Mums in May" was a catchier title :-)

 I took a few quick photos this afternoon, and they didn't turn out too well,

but you can see their early show of color.

 I don't remember ever having them bloom this early before. 

Any ideas? 

 And for anyone who's been following to keep up with Jordan, 

this is the best photo of all :-)

Jordan and his beautiful family!! 

He's continuing to improve. He just has a few more areas that need to heal,

and then he'll be getting his prosthetic legs. Jenn told me I could share this

wonderful photo with all of you, and she said thank you for everything :-)

Blessings,

Marcia

Sunny Day Favorites....and Wonderful News :-)

 Sunshine, iced tea, and a good book. Just a few of my favorite things :-)

 We have close to 300 sunny days on average here.

Last week, we thought the warm days were here to last 

and summer had actually arrived. It was in the mid 80's.

However, the cold winds blowing this week 

mean I have a fire going in our fireplace tonight!

Who knew we'd be bundling up again?

 I guess we won't be putting these away just yet :-)

I have a wonderful update on my nephew Jordan. 

He will be moving into a house with his wife and son on Wednesday 

& just going to the hospital as an outpatient!

It's been less than 2 months since his terrible injuries, so this is truly amazing.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers!

How's that for Good Life Wednesday news? :-)

Thank you so much to Sarah at A Beach Cottage for 

hosting this wonderful linky party.
Thank you all too, for your sweet birthday wishes for my daughter.

Blessings to All of you,

Marcia

Sprinkles :-)

 Asking 10 year old boys if they'd "like" to help me bake

is like asking them if they'd "like" to go to the dentist. 

They clear the room in no time flat.

However, when I mention the word *Sprinkles*

 (codeword for *Candy* in their minds) 

suddenly they're more than happy to help.

Since I love cupcakes, that's what we made.....
we'll I made, and they decorated :-)

 I think that more sprinkles may have gone in their tummies than on the cupcakes.

I can't get too mad when they do this though....

So sweet, and yes, their toys are never far away :-)

Oh, and did you know...the little Silver Dragees (beads) that are seen
on cupcakes and wedding cakes all over the world, are illegal here in California?
Only the metallic ones.
Seriously :-)

photo credit Fancy Flours, where you can order yours (if you don't live in California)

See more Friday Pretties here,
 more Photo Feature Friday posts here.
and more Sweet Shot Tuesday posts here.
Have a Wonderful Mother's Day :-)

Blessings,

Marcia 

For anyone who might not know, my nephew Jordan lost both of his legs
after stepping on an I.E.D. in Afghanistan in March.
I'm continuing updates from time to time here on my blog. This one is kind of long.
Jordan has had a rough couple of days.

*Jordan Update* taken from his facebook page, Wednesday.
Jordan is taking a couple of hits this week. First it was unbearable phantom pain. He was taken into the "pain clinic" where they more or less tortured him for 6 hours. They tried electric shock therapy, a Lidocaine (sp?) injection and acupuncture. He came back to his room in horrible pain and having trouble regaining control of it. In comes O.T. with this technique of tricking the brain into feeling someones else's leg and foot. It was incredible! This guy sits so his legs are along side where Jordan's would have been. Jordan then taps up and down this guys leg as if it were his own. The O.T. guy slowly moves his foot up and down, spreads his toes and swings his leg. After 15 minutes of this "treatment" Jordan was able to get on top of his pain. We can try this technique anytime with any leg available. Crazy!
However, on the heels of that success came disappointing news. Jordan will have surgery tomorrow on his elbow. His right elbow was basically shattered and had to be pieced together with screws and plates. It was originally thought that a skin graft would be done, however, the docs were able to pull the skin together and close the wound. The wound pulled a part and exposed an ever so small glimpse of the plate underneath. Tomorrow they will open the seam, pack the wound with antibiotic beads and close it up. Next week they will reopen the wound, flush out the beads and close the wound again. If everything goes well, that will be the end of it. The concern is that the plate has been exposed which compromises the integrity of the plate and wound. If this surgery does not work they will have to undo the whole elbow and replace the plates and screws and create a skin graft to close the wound. 

*Surgery update today*
The surgery on Jordan's elbow went well this A.M. They were able to scrub out the wound, pack it with the antibiotic beads and close it without a wound vac. He will undergo part II of this procedure in about 5-6 weeks. The next few weeks are crucial to how they proceed with permanent closure of the wound. Tomorrow Jordan goes in for another procedure for his pain. It's not technically a surgical procedure but it's handled as such. They would like to try an alternative nerve block procedure for his phantom pain until he can do the electric shock. We'll continue to do the mirror therapy in the mean time.
Thank  you so much for your continued prayers :-)