My Sweet Dad

My dad passed away on January 2nd. Since his passing I have been overwhelmed with feelings of gratitude to have been born to Don and Dian Schliesman. Thank you God that I was born to parents who knew what You require, to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God.

Dad's Creative Shelving

My Dad also exhibits some creativity.

This is in the basement. It looks precarious, but actually held a lot of stuff at one point.

This one is in the garage.

This is my favorite. It's nailed to the garage wall, and is made of a wooden file cabinet turned on its side, then some sloping wooden slats, finished up with a dog crate. My sister wanted the crate, but it took us forever to get this whole thing apart!

This isn't a shelf, but I like it because it's made from my old playpen slats. I'm 57, so that tells you how old it is.

My dad and me in 1952. I love you Dad!

Father's Day Coasters

I worked like mad trying to get these done for Loyd for Father's Day.

It's supposed to be a music stand with sheet music on it.

And here is the Patriarch, enjoying his present....

.

Book Marks

This is a little heart bookmark I made for my sister Kari. I used gold metallic thread and this free pattern.

I made this one for my nephew, Jonathan, for his 15th birthday.

.

Little Things

Here are various little things I have made for people over the last few weeks:

This is a kitty I made for my great-niece Crystal for her 6th birthday.

This is a bookmark I made for my sister in law Susan. I like to make these little things to send in birthday cards.

These are two bracelets I made for my daughter-in-law Nicole for her birthday. The first one is crocheted with popcorn stitches, using gold and silver metallic crochet threads. The second one is also crocheted using stretchy nylon beading filament and multicolored glass seed beads. Both were fun and different.

.

Mother's Day Presents

It's a little late, but here are the Mother's Day presents I made for Mary and Nicole, my daughter & daughter-in-law, the mothers of my grandchildren. :)

Crocheted Roses for  Mary, crocheted eggs & chick for Nicole:

I also stitched their names on the bags.

.

Family Update

Dear Friends,

Thank you all for your continued prayers for my mom and dad.

Dad has been getting steadily better and stronger, although he will probably have to remain in the nursing home, since he does have some dementia and is blind (due to macular degeneration). He is also having some panic attacks that we are trying to deal with. The medication they were giving him for anxiety has a warning on it about glaucoma, which he has, so we had to discontinue that.

Please pray that the doctors would have wisdom and and the nursing home staff compassion for dad. He is so sweet. When I am there with him in the evenings we have a nightly routine of prayers, singing hymns, and saying the Lord's prayer. It reminds me of when I was a child. He would come in and pray with me and I would stretch out the prayers so he would stay longer. He is doing the same thing now to me - it's hard to leave him at night.

Mom is holding steady right now. She is tired and sleeps a lot. One night she fell and couldn't get up off the floor. I tried to get her up, but then we both fell. She landed on me, so it was a soft landing for her! Finally my brother and sister in law arrived. She is a nurse and knows how to lift people. They were able to get her up. After that we made the decision that mom shouldn't be left alone at all. So now I am here at the house with her most of the time. She has a home health care worker that comes 3 days a week for a couple of hours, plus the hospice nurse who is coming once a week.

The hospice people are really great - they have a lot of patience and compassion. They really take their time with mom and never act like they are in a hurry to leave, always wanting to make sure that she is comfortable and has everything she needs. Please pray that when the time comes that mom will have an easy and painless transition. She has a strong faith and says that God has given her the "peace that passes understanding."

Lastly please pray for Loyd. The kids are looking after him, but of course I am concerned about him. He is singing a duet (with Rob) this weekend at all the services. Please pray for his health and stamina and that "May the LORD will watch between [him] and me when we are absent one from the other."

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit....Romans 15:13

Mom and Dad on their Smokey Mountain honeymoon - June, 1949.


















.

BLOG INTERRUPTED

I'm taking a break from blogging and am currently in Ohio helping to care for my elderly parents, Don and Dian. Please if you think about it, pray for them. My mom has uterine cancer that has metastisized to other organs. She is in hospice care. Hospice is coming to the house, so she is able to be at home and is comfortable. Dad is currently in a nursing home, so I am going back and forth between them. Mom is 80 and Dad is 89. They have been married 59 years. Here is a sweet picture of them taken about 5 years ago.



















PS It's supposed to SNOW here next week ! That's a little much for this Florida girl!

.