What about Anna?

1. Recently one of the girls at work said "I'm all tore up about Josh Duggar".  (Yes, she is a southern girl.  Why do you ask?)  All I can think is - poor Anna.  What about Anna?
   
   Anna is 27 years old with four children, and is basically unequipped to be a single mom.  She's one of eight kids, all of whom were homeschooled and raised Independent Fundamentalist Baptist.  To me this is nothing short of brainwashing.  You keep them contained in your small, sheltered world and teach them what you think they should know, not allowing them to socialize and learn the ways of the world.  No doubt Anna has been raised to believe that the man is the head of the household and when you marry - it is forever.  Till death do you part.  
   
   You know what bothers me the most?  That she likely blames herself for Josh's philandering.  She is probably sitting at home, praying, and trying to figure out what she's done wrong.
   
   Anna, you haven't done anything wrong.  You have done exactly what you were raised to do.  It's your husband who has done wrong.  Big time.  And more than once.  You can only control your actions - no one else's, and Josh's problems began long before you came into his life.  His parents chose to sweep them under the carpet and hope they went away.  Well guess what - they didn't.
   
   Anna, you have done exactly what your beliefs led you to do.  You are well-groomed, well-mannered, you married a man who could provide for you, and performed your wifely duties as requested.  Now here you are, married for almost seven years to a man who is not who you thought he was.  A man who has led a hidden life for more years than you've known him.  He should hang his head in shame every day of his life.  But he probably won''t because that's not how he was raised.  
   
   Let this be a lesson to all of us.  Raise your children well.  
   
   Raise your daughters to be strong, independent, loving and kind women.   Raise them so they are educated, self-confident, honest and proud.  Raise Elin's, not Anna's.  
   
   Raise your sons to be kind, respectful, loving men who are true to themselves and at ease in world.  Raise men who are educated, self-confident, honest and proud.  
   
   Teach your children to love themselves.  Until you love yourself you'll never be able to love anyone else.  Teach them to follow the rules but don't be afraid to step out of their comfort zone.  
   
   And most importantly parents, love your children.  Unconditionally.  Love the good things about them and don't ignore the bad.  Praise them and discipline them.  Get them counseling when they need it in the same way you get them medical help when they need it.  We do a disservice by ignoring mental health issues.
   
   What about Anna?  What does she do now?  I don't know, but I wish her the best.  If I could, I would give her a big, long hug.  My heart aches for her.
   

   
   

   
   

Sweet Little Baby Girl

This sweet little granddaughter of mine

is almost 4 weeks old already.  My how she has already changed

And changed the lives of all of us.  Isn't it funny how babies do that?  When you're holding them you can forget everything else going on in your life.  It's all about the baby.

I won't get to see her again in person for a few months - but the pictures are great.  I'll keep them coming so you can all follow along!!

A 'Pinterest'y Baby Shower

Here are a few of the things that were inspired by hours and hours of trolling  a few leisurely looks at Pinterest.

Laura found lots of game ideas.  She had Nursery Rhyme Fill-In-The Blank, Baby Shower Bingo - using Starburst candy for markers, and gifts received for the Bingo squares, a couple of calendar pages for guessing the baby's birth day (the due date is July 30, so we were spanning July and August, and Guess How Much I Love You, using Hershey kisses and a baby bottle bank.

I made lots of handmade goodies for this little baby - drool bibs, a taggie blanket, hats, a small quilt and my favorites - monster bibs

We had two sets of favors - Chocolate covered pretzels, drizzled with pink and blue 

and clear boxes filled with animal crackers and a tea bag.

 And Jenn got this sweet 'guest book'.  

 Each person at the shower added their fingerprint to complete the tree and this now has a place of honor in the nursery.

Everything was wonderful - and with so many talented people helping to plan and execute, we had a wealth of crafty, beautiful items.

Team Boy or Team Girl?

That was the question we asked at the baby shower.  Since we don't know the gender, we thought it would be fun to use photo props and have everyone pick.

Team Boy

And Team Girl

We'll have to wait and see!!

It won't be long now

and we'll be welcoming the newest addition to the family.  We had a great time at the baby shower on Sunday.  The rain wind and cool temperatures can't stop us from having fun!!

We had asked everyone to bring a book and help build the baby's library.  And they did!!  This lucky little baby got so many great books!  We also decorated using books - and themed the decorations to the books.  We used the decorations as centerpieces on all of the tables.  There was Winnie The Pooh with a memory box

I Love You, Blankie with a small blanket

 Sheep in a Jeep with a little squeaky/teether and some receiving blankets

 Fox in Sox with a fox love and some monster socks (they are the cutest!)

 Guess How Much I Love You with a baby bottle bank filled with kisses.  This was one of our games,  and we collected guesses on how many kisses were in the bottle.

 The Cat in the Hat with cute little baby hats!

 Hop on Pop and Are You my Mother with pictures of Mom and Dad when they were kids.

We also had some balloons and a sign, which we wanted to put on her chair but ended up hanging behind the table - it looked good!

We had lots of friends and family come and celebrate with us.  It was a great crowd, good food and everyone had a grand time.

They got LOTS of great gifts

And we all enjoyed spending the day with the happy Mom and Dad and baby Gremlin.

The Grandma's can't wait to meet this little one!!

Happy Fathers Day!!

To my Dad, who always smiles when we're all with him

And to Bump, who we miss every day.

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads!!!

Watching - Mad Men. Binge-watching on Netflix.

Watching - Mad Men.  Binge-watching on Netflix.

Reading - Marie Claire and Shape magazines.  I have subscriptions to both, but don't always find the time to read them when they arrive.  I have  big stack I'm catching up on.

Listening to - Brava Valentine.  Book 2 of a trilogy.    It's a modern day romance about an italian family in New York who makes custom wedding shoes.

Sewing - Dress -- just waiting for the knit stay tape I ordered.  And making baby stuff :)

Looking forward to - Summer!  It's June  and I don't think we got about 70 degrees today.

Enjoying - Sewing.  Challenging myself a little bit there.

Celebrating - National Cancer Survivors Day - this weekend!

Wondering- Why are there never enough hours in the day?

Wanting - sunshine

Weather - cool, gray, misty, not very pleasant. 

Favorite quote

"We are not imprisoned by our circumstances, our set backs, our history, our mistakes, or even our staggering defeats along the way.  We are freed by our choices."