San Fran!

Pearly and I spent 4 days touring San Francisco area with her choir. I am their accompanist and "choir mom". We had a great time. They sang at Southern Oregon University, Chico High School, Pier 39 in San Francisco, and also at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo, CA. I especially enjoyed the Alcatraz tour. What a fun time with my daughter and 59 other students (and 10 chaperones).

Read more...

Head Spinning

That's what I feel like lately. I realized lately that there is not one room in our home that is "finished". We've had lots of remodeling going on, windows replaced, carpeting, flooring, trimming, drywall, granite countertops, you name it, and now I begin to paint so we can get our house on the market. It's a bit of a challenge doing the single mom thing during the week, but we're doing okay. The unemployment is still 10.6% in our area so I am thankful that my husband has a job.

As if our life were dull, Pearly is busy occupying herself with more volleyball. She has grown and is now 6'3-1/4". Yes, every 1/4-in counts! She is thrilled. She is on two teams. One is a club and the other is the private league that she has played on for years. The club is a special treat. The coach has really taken her under his wings and wants to develop her. He's had one-on-one training with her and videotaped the session so she could see the details in slow motion and fine tune her skills.

Aside from volleyball, Orange Boy and Brown Eyes are also on local rec leagues playing basketball. They both love that.

In the meantime, I take special pleasure in seeing sights like this - Caboose decided he wanted to sleep in the closet of the newly carpeted room. Can you believe this is my baby? He's almost FIVE. No way!


If I can get the boys' room painted, I will be rewarding myself with some sewing time!

Read more...

Playin' Around

I picked up Scrapbook Factory Deluxe at a rummage sale for $2. I was greatly surprised to open up the package and find that the CDs were in a sealed package! Here are a couple shots from my new sister's recent visit.
Obviously, Orange boy really enjoyed having a cute and cuddly cousin around. So sweet.
The visit from my new sisters was precious. Of course there never is enough time, but I think we got a good thing started and I'm glad we have the rest of our lives to get to know each other.

Read more...

Roller Coaster Week

Sunday night, I was about to go to bed wondering if I would be able to sleep because the following day, my husband was going to be notified if he still had his job or not. We had known for about 2 months of the impending layoffs and my mind had traveled through all sorts of scenarios of "what ifs" and "how can we do it with only unemployment" to a lot of simply praying, "God, you are in control, You've always taken care of us" and trying to rest in that thought.

So, before going to bed, I checked my Facebook acct and found out some sad news regarding long-time acquaintances (and reconnections newly established on Facebook). Their 16-yr old son, Nathan, who has Down Syndrome was in a terrible accident. You can read about it here.

That put it all into perspective for me. This family whose father who has been unemployed for 18-months now has a child who is teetering on death (with no health insurance), and I am whining about the possibility of a job loss. I did stay up all night. Not due to our job situation, but with a heavy heart for the Vredevelt family and prayed.

The next day, my husband called me with the news: he still has his job. All is well for now.

So, today is Wednesday, Nathan is still in critical condition and my mind has been on him and his family constantly.

But tonight . . . . I am switching gears. My two half-sisters I recently discovered after years and years of searching are coming to Oregon and I will meet them for the first time in person. What a sweet gift I have been given - an opportunity to learn about my biological father from the 2 daughters that he raised.

Read more...

Sweater for Caboose

I'm working on a sweater. This free pattern is here: Child's Aran Pullover.
It's a very easy pattern to follow except now looking at it, I think I messed up on the left cable. Hmm, do I leave it or fix it? What would you do? (Nevermind - I fixed it. It would have bugged me every time I looked at it.)

I'm using gorgeous Dream in Color Classy yarn in the Nightwatch colorway, on Size 7/8 needles for a Child's Size 8 (yes, for my THREE yr old). I'm hoping he's swimming in it for a couple yrs of wear. I cannot tell you how much I enjoy this Dream in Classy yarn. It feels so good and the subtle color changes are gorgeous.

I'm hoping to get away this weekend to a ladies retreat. A dear friend invited me at the last minute and I so need the time away. My brain has been overwhelmed with the thoughts of a possible pending layoff (we find out in a couple weeks) and I keep going back and forth on what am I doing spending $$ on a ladies retreat when my husband may soon be out of a job. Maybe it's hormones, but today the tears just keep coming. After speaking to my friend today, she reminded me that as homeschooling mothers, we do not get time away from our job. It is never ending. And there is a price to pay for mental sanity and it might be better to pay this extra $$ to be refreshed mentally and spiritually and trust God to work out the rest. I think there is wisdom in that.

Well, I guess this post got a little personal.

Read more...

Facebook Reconnections

Well, these past few weeks have been an emotional whirlwind to say the least. Finding the answers to my questions about my biological father and family so suddenly was amazing. I'm still sad about the fact that I never got to ever see or talk with my biological father. That is a pain in the soul that is very hard to find words to explain. How could I have love for a father who seemingly abandoned me, yet then find out that he carried my picture in his wallet for years? I was told awful things about my father my whole life. Most of them were true. But yet, I still feel an unconditional love toward this man. So, that chapter of my life was taken from me in his death, yet a new one unfolds with the meeting of my new half-brother and sisters and extended family. I still haven't met one half-brother and I'll probably leave it in his court since he knows how he can get a hold of me. At least I know about him and he is in my thoughts and prayers.

Interestingly, since all of this transpired, I posted my reunion story (the same story I posted here) on my Facebook wall. What I didn't know was how many other people have similar stories. Two people e-mailed me privately on Facebook telling me their story and how my story encouraged them to look for long lost friends/relatives. One person actually found her maid of honor after 25 years of no contact. Isn't that great? After that, I decided I should try to find friends from our college group where dh and I met. We were a close-knit group and it was during a pivotal time in all of our lives; yet as often happens, we lost track of each other.

I was able to find two friends from that college group on Facebook. We decided to make a Facebook Group so we could have a central location to reconnect, share stories, and pictures. In less than one week, we've found close to 20 people from that old college group and now pictures and memories are being posted. I thought I'd share a few here from my younger years.


This was where we held retreats at the Oregon coast. I was probably 20 years old. I'm right smack in the middle with the blue sweater and dh is to the left of me with the gray/striped sweater. This was probably the beginning of our courtship.

And what I found more interesting is the guy who took the above picture was also connected with me in the youth group and youth choir I was in when I was about 16 years old. He was an avid photographer back then and saved every slide! I was thrilled to be able to see these old memories.

This was when we were on a choir tour when I was probably 16 years old. What great memories! I am the far left person in the top row.

This must have been a quick stop at a convenient store for snacks, just a guess. I'm in the back with the light blue sweater.

And here I am sleeping on the tour bus. Seriously, who keeps these kinds of pictures for nearly 30 years?! I love it!

Now this picture really got me. I recognized the guy and befriended him on Facebook when I saw him posting on our mutual friend's picture. I remembered him from the high school choir, but then through our correspondence, he told me that he remembered me from further back than that. He was a student teacher in my choir class in 8th grade and remembered that I also played the piano for the class. This guy remembered me from over 30 years ago! That floors me. I remember looking up to him as an 8th grader because he played so well and aspired to play the piano just like him some day.

So, do you have lost friends or loved ones? Start searching on Facebook! And if you do find someone because of my post encouraging you, please drop me a note. I'd love to read your story!

Read more...

A Very Special Gift, but Bittersweet

This is the only picture I have ever seen of my parents together and me. (I zoomed in with my camera to take this picture and the following pictures - the originals are quite small.)

Forty-something years ago, my mom was married to Frank VanC___. I was born during that first year of marriage. My parents did not have a happy marriage. They divorced after one year. Frank had issues with drugs and the ramifications of a lifestyle with drugs. He wasn't a good dad or husband at that time. My mom remarried when I was 3 yrs old and my step-dad legally adopted me. My new dad and I didn't have a great relationship and I always wondered about my biological father, Frank. I only had three very small pictures of Frank. That was my only connection to this man because legally, he had no more connection with me. As a child, I found myself staring at them wondering who this man was and what happened to him.

When I was about 19 years old, my mom helped me to try to find Frank. We found Frank's parents' phone number and called. That was the first time I had ever spoken to those grandparents. They were very sweet and asked about my life. They didn't have Frank's phone number because he had recently moved, but gave me an uncle's phone number. If I remember correctly, we did call an uncle, but I lost the courage to call Frank. Many years passed.

I don't know anything about this picture except that the man standing in front of the car is my father.

Ever since internet searches have been available, I have searched for Frank. Last summer after a Google search, I found an old address in Salem, Oregon for him and went to the house asking the resident and neighbors if they knew or had heard of Frank. No one had heard of him. On the 20th of December, I typed Van C in the search field on Facebook and scrolled through the names. I knew the names of my uncles and some of their children. I e-mailed one person whose name sounded familiar and she e--mailed me - no connection. Then I found a Facebook group for people who are connected with the Van C's. There were several Van C's listed. I joined the group and posted on the wall that I was looking for a Frank Van C.

Today, I found the answer I've been looking for. Jeff Van C. read my note on the wall and contacted me saying that Frank is his uncle. He called Robyne who is my half-sister and gave her my phone number. Within one hour of the original note from Jeff, I was on the phone speaking for the first time with my half-sister, Robyne. It was then that I found out that I had been living in the same city where my father died and was buried. Although I was not living in Oregon when he died, I was living in Oregon for many of the years he was living here.

It is sad that I never had the opportunity to see his eyes, to hear his voice, to touch his hands. But it is comforting to know that he spoke of me to his daughters. He did think of me. I wish I could have told him that I have his wavy red hair and his love for music. I always wished I could have seen his expression when telling him that he had seven grandchildren - and they are all TALL (he was 6'5").

This is the only picture I have of Frank where his eyes are open and looking at the camera. These three pictures were the only pictures I had of my biological father. I don't know how many times I looked at this picture wondering about this man who fathered me.

So finally, the missing pieces of my puzzle have been found. I don't understand why I didn't contact Frank earlier when I had the opportunity, but am thankful for the new relationships I will have now and thank God for the amazing sequence of events on this day.

This is Carrie and Robyne - my half-sisters on the day my father died.

Read more...

Pincushion Swap

I am participating in a pincushion swap on Ravelry.com and today I received my package. It came all the way from Cambridge, Mass. We had to fill out a questionnaire and I mentioned some of my favorites: fall colors and cobalt blue. She made me a cobalt blue wrist pincushion and another pincushion using fall colors. I also mentioned dark chocolate. Wish you could see the big smile on my face. She also included a sewing marking pen and pins. This was my first time ever participating in a swap. My goodies are ready to send, I'm just finishing up the pincushion.

Read more...

Big Babies

I've met quite a few moms who joke with me about birthing a baby 1/2 the size of my last baby.

My last baby was a big boy at birth, but this lady sure birthed some amazing-sized babies for twins: Amazing Mama.

Love all that squishy baby fat! Way to go, Mama!

Read more...