A rose is a rose is a rose...

Names facinate me. They always have. For my 15th birthday I had a cake decorated with nothing but names.

I originally named my children when I was seven. They were Ginger, Adam, Crystal, and Jason. Of those names, the only one that I might still ever use is Ginger, and that would most likely be for a dog.

When I was about 13, I named my children again (and this time I made them all girls). They were Bradleigh Elizabeth, Anastasia Rebecca, Jessica Kate, and Tyme Aryn. And I really, truly intended to use these names. Right up until I turned about 20 and decided that I wanted my kids to have old names, names that had a lot of meaning to me.

Betsy's full name is Elizabeth Anne Watson Johnson. The Elizabeth comes from my grandma, who was Margaret Elizabeth. I, in turn, am Joy Elizabeth. And since my grandma meant more to me than just about anyone on earth, Betsy is Elizabeth in her honor. And then, she's Betsy because I just love the name Betsy. It is such a cute name. We are currently reading the Betsy-Tacy series and that is Betsy. Her name suits her to a tee. Anne is for Anne Shirley, otherwise known as Anne of Green Gables. Anne is my favorite literary character of all time. She is my best friend, really. And then Watson is my maiden name. It was hugely important to me that I get that in there. I hadn't anticipated that until I was pregnant. But I didn't want to hyphenate it because I always hated being at the end of the alphabet. Truly, I was thrilled when I met Nick that my kids would be in the middle of the alphabet. So, it's there but it's just a second middle name. What she does with all these names when and if she marries is her problem to deal with.

Felicity is Felicity Kate Watson Johnson. Felicity is from a different book by L.M. Montgomery called The Story Girl. And she figured heavily into the show Road to Avonlea. Kate is from my great-grandmother, who was my Grandma West's mother. Her name was Jessie Kate but she went by Kate. Ergo that Jessica Kate up there in that other list. It was close, I could have gone with Jessica. But I knew that people of a certain age would think of Sweet Valley High if I named them Elizabeth and Jessica. And I love the name Felicity. And then of course, she is stuck with the Watson too.

If I had a boy, he would have been Benjamin David Robert Johnson. The Benjamin because I like it (and I think that the 'j' in the middle goes well with Johnson). And David and Robert for my dad and my father-in-law. But that wasn't to be.

And lastly there are the dogs. Gidget and Moondoggie. It is shocking to me how many people just think that we gave Moondoggie a weird name. Moondoggie is Gidget's boyfriend, both in the movies and on the TV show. Their middle names are Catherine and Heathcliff, my original choices for their names, which Nicholas vetoed.

The circle of life...

One of my MOPs friends just posted that she is wondering how to talk to her children about death. So it has inspired a blog post.

My girls are very inquesitive about death. Betsy has lived through a dog dying, and my Grandma's death, so for a while she just kind of naturally had a lot of questions. Felicity hasn't really experienced death, but she thinks about it a lot. She often says to me, "Mommy, I don't want to die." And I just try to talk to her about the fact that everyone dies at some point, and then, because we are Christians, we talk about Jesus and the fact that he died for us and what that means.

I have some books that I really enjoy on this subject. Please note that they are not all Christian in theme. In my life, I am more than willing to read someone else's point of view on things, and then I always remind the girls what I believe. I want them to always understand that we can hold onto our beliefs, and still learn from other people who are questioning, or who have found a different answer.

My favorite of these books is Badger's Parting Gifts by Susan Varley. In it, Badger dies and the animals all get together and remember all of the things that Badger taught them during his life. When my grandmother died, this was my go to book for Betsy and we would talk about all of the things that Grandma loved, all of the things that she had shown us, all of the things that she had pressed on our hearts.

What's Heaven? by Maria Shriver is a book talking about what heaven may be like. I like to use this as a starting point for a conversation about what I think heaven is like, and ask the girls what they think heaven is like. This is not an explicitly Christian book.

The Tenth Good Thing About Barney by Judith Viorst is another very good book that is quite secular in nature. The child in this book questions the idea of heaven and God and he doesn't really get answers. That said, it is an excellent book about dealing with the crummy emotions that come with the death of a loved one.

Kadish for Grandpa In Jesus' Name Amen by Catherine Stock is a combination of Jewish and Christian beliefs about death. It is a very good book for understanding that the two cultures do different things when someone dies, but that ultimately they are both about remembering and loving the person.

And finally, When a Pet Dies by Fred Rogers is an excellent resource for that specific loss. Mr. Rogers is gentle in his explaination of the loss of a pet and about the idea that someday you may be ready to get another pet.

Talking in our house is prized above nearly all else. I encourage questions, even if I don't really know that answers, and I flat out say if that is the case. We read our Bibles every day, so my kids definately have an understanding of Jesus and our values. But I let them know that we will still grieve and hurt just like everyone else. I hope that they grow to understand death as a part of life, not to be feared, but to be anticipated as a continuation of the journey.

The Garden of Eden (aka Rix Mills)...

So, just now I was outside calling my dog and I was listening to many things. The lambs, the birds, the rooster. Plus, I was enjoying my own light show with the fireflies, or, as we in southeastern Ohio call them, lightning bugs.

It is quite unbelievable to me that there are people who don't open their backdoor to these sights and sounds.

Rix Mills is in my bones, in my blood. I love Rix Mills like it's a living, breathing person. I have no idea how far back in my family Rix Mills goes. My great-grandmother, Kate Tom, grew up in Rix Mills, and I have no idea how much further back it goes.

I utterly cannot imagine living anywhere else. It is the most beautiful place on earth to me, and to many others who have shared with me how much they love the view from Terra Cotta Vineyards, which is just up the road.

My kids live in the world that I grew up in. They smell the honeysuckle every spring, they watch the lambs nursing in the backyard, they feel the wind blow through like a tornado in the fall. They attend the Rix Mills Presbyterian Church every Sunday, just like I did, and my mom, and her mom, and on and on. They play outside with the Baughman kids, just as my sister and I played with those same Baughman kids' dads.

I'm sure that to many (perhaps to most) Rix Mills is too remote, too far out. I understand that best in the winter, when our road is like a sled ride to town. But even then, I would never want to wake up anywhere else. I have always wanted to live in the very house that I live in, for as absolutely as long as I can remember.

Rix Mills Remembered by Paul Patton, and featuring his wonderful paintings, is a wonderful book about the history of Rix Mills that I highly recommend. You can even read it at the library, as they have it in the reference department. My grandmother is the piano player in the painting "The Pig in the Parlor."

Reading it is like having a conversation with my grandma, who I miss every single day. She called Rix Mills "the Garden of Eden" and passed all of her love for it into my heart.

Oh, to be in Colonial Williamsburg...

So, last week the girls and I (and my mom, who went to drive the van) went to Virginia Beach for the last hoorah. Yes, you read that right. April is coming home NEXT WEEK! I am so excited.

But anyway, we decided that we really wanted to take the girls to Colonial Williamsburg before they moved away. We went there once as children-I was nine, April eight. What I remember-it seemed like Roscoe Village. And it rained.

So, this time, I am sure that I will remember more. And I wanted to impart advice for traveling there with children. Oh, yes, and it rained.

First of all, it is not at all cheap, so I would only advise going if you have children who will truly be interested in seeing it. Otherwise, that is what Roscoe Village is for, and it's nearby. It cost $60 for Betsy and me (Felicity was free, as she is under six, but then, it is not designed for kids under six).

I have nerdy girls, so we decided it was worth it. We read the Felicity book before going, which is set in Williamsburg. Betsy really loved it, as it is about horses.

They recommend that you tour the Governor's Mansion and the Capital Building. We skipped these. Again, base your decision on you kids ages and interest. The tours lasted about 30 minutes for each building, and that was just way too long, especially for Felicity. We did go on our own tour of the Governor's Mansion, which included a stop in the kitchen, where they were making chocolate, and going through the maze in the garden.

We managed to squeeze in all of the shops that were doing demonstrations that day. We met with the blacksmith, the shoemaker, the cabinet maker, and many others. One very interesting note is that they really do make all of their own furniture and buggies and things, using the tools from the time period.

They also have a reinactment that goes on for quite a long time, an hour and forty-five minutes the day that we were there. We watched some of it, and the girls enjoyed it, but then it got talky and they grew bored.

We ate our lunch at one of the taverns and I must say, that was the highlight of the day for me. I had a delicious pulled pork sandwich. They don't advertise it, but the taverns do have a kids menu with cheeseburgers and hot dogs, you just have to ask.

We took the children's orientation tour, which was cute but not much of an orientation. The gentleman leading our tour had the children pick up a bucket to illustrate how heavy carrying water would be, and then he had them go through a scenio of "Good day my lady," and "Good day kind sir." The girls thought that was fun.

They say that they rent costumes, so April and I were very much looking foward to that. However, upon getting there, we discovered that the costume was just a plain white dress, that would go about to their knees, and a bonnet, which you have to buy due to head lice problems. It was disappointing, so we skipped that, and only saw one little girl all day who wore one.

Overall, it was fun. It was too bad that it rained, but it wasn't hot and it wasn't crowded, which I certainly enjoyed.

The next day we went to the beach, which the girls always want to do when we are there. But there are many things to do down there. There is Busch Gardens, and the aquarium, and a small zoo. All things that we have done on other trips. And there is Jamestown and Yorktown if your kids are into the history stuff. The traffic is terrible, especially the closer you get to the beach. April will never remember how she managed to drive in it for all these years.

Anyway, it was a nice last visit. And now I am definately looking forward to visiting them in Akron, where I can go and come home all in one day!

Memories of Memorial Day...

Last year we played a game where we all had to answer, "What is our favorite thing that we do as a family?" My answer was our Memorial Day trip to McConnelsville. Then, this year, we had to go and mix it up-because when New Concord has a parade, I have to go to it. But the main gist was still the same.

Ordinarily, we leave on Monday morning and rush to get to the McConnelsville Memorial Day parade by 10. This always involves Nick and me getting into a fight. We are always late, but because the parade starts in Malta and makes its way toward McConnelsville, we have never missed seeing it. It's a very simple, small town parade, with gun salutes at different memorials along the way.

Then we pile back into the car and head out to Chesterhill, which is accompanied by a lot of moaning and groaning about how long it takes to get there. I, however, know that it's a pretty long trip and just have learned to live with it. I love looking at the beautiful scenery out the window, especially the cute little church at Todds. (A couple of years ago Nick and I went on a garden tour of Morgan County and it was one of the stops and it is just as darling inside as it is on the outside).

At Chesterhill, we always miss the turn and yell at each other yet again about how you would think that by now we would remember where to turn. Then we find it and pull right into the cemetary next to Nick's grandma's grave. The girls leave her pictures that they have drawn. Nick leaves irises from our backyard (not this year though, they bloomed a couple of weeks early due to this wacky weather). Nick's grandma died in June of 2002, just a few months before our wedding. However, I feel extremely blessed that she had made an afghan for me the Christmas before-she made afghans for everyone who entered Nick's family, either by birth or by marriage. I was the last person to receieve an afghan from her. I treasure knowing that she already believed me to be a part of her family.

Then we head back to McConnelsville and eat lunch at the Blue Bell Diner. This year the place was so packed we had to sit at the counter, a new experience for the girls.

Then on our way home we stop at the cemetary just past Rix Mills and visit with my grandparents. Again, the girls leave pictures. Again, we usually leave irises. We walk around and see my great-grandparents and most of my grandma's family. Some neighbors and friends. Always my favorite grave, which has a lamb on top of it.

The past two years, we have been blessed as a family to have been asked to place the flags on the graves for Memorial Day weekend at this cemetary. It is an honor and a privilege to walk around, finding the veterans in such an old cemetary.

This year, we had to change this all around. New Concord decided to have a parade, and since that is where we actually live, it took precedence. So we went to McConnelsville on Sunday. That was a nice change of pace, because we weren't hurrying to get there. So we stopped at the Big Muskie (which is such a lovely area, we always try to take a picnic there once a summer). We took our time. As always, we listened to our Living History CD in the car (it tells the story of Paul Revere, winter at Valley Forge, Molly Pitcher, and Nathan Hale). That takes us all the way to Chesterhill. (We listened to Annette Funicello on the way home-I love that my kids love my Annette.) Then we went to the Blue Bell.

Today we went to the Veterans Memorial in New Concord. I have to force Nick to do these things, but I am proud of his service. Then they had a Decoration Day parade for the kids. And it ended with a picnic in front of Stormont.

It was a lovely parade and they had all kinds of food and games for the kids. The John Glenn High School band played. But, unfortunately, it wasn't very well attended. I worry about this-I love NCAARD and all of the events that go on in New Concord and I hate that not many people seem to come to them. NCAARD is such an asset to our community.

But the girls had a great time. The only bad part of the day was the heat, which was stiffling. How hot will it be on the 4th of July?

Anyway, tomorrow when we go to take down the flags, we will take my grandparents their pictures. It is good for me to be forced to draw it out, otherwise I get really caught up in, "We have to do everything all in this one day." It was nice to spread it out, and it did away with our fighting (except, of course, for missing the turn in Chesterhill).

MOPs and me

MOPs kind of saved my life. So I thought that I should tell you about it.

MOPs came into my life when I was a harried, overtired, overwhelmed mess of a first time mother. I had a baby of my own, and I was also full time keeping my niece Mallory, who is 3 months younger than Betsy. (This was back in the days before they were walking, talking, etc. and those 3 months mattered.) I literally spent every day in the house with the two of them. Other than going on a walk every day, I didn't leave the house.

Two things happened:

1) I started taking them to baby storytime, which was a nice diversion and of course I always love going to the library


2) I was invited to MOPs.


MOPs, for those of you who don't know, stands for Mothers of Preschoolers. It is a haven for such mothers. I walked in that first day (carrying both girls, so my arms were aching) and very nice women took them and watched them for 2 hours while I had some homemade food and listened to an interesting speaker and basically rediscovered my brain.

And so it goes. That was 7 years ago. And I still attend MOPs on a biweekly basis, and intend to do so for two more years. This year I actually attended MOPs in two places-in Zanesville, where I've been going for all these seven years, and in New Concord, where I actually live. The New Concord group is relatively new, only 3 years old I believe. But it is a terrific group and the one that I intend to make my permanent home for the next two years.

So, anyway, I want to encourage any and all moms who stumble upon my page to find a MOPs group. They are plentiful and many meet at night if that is an issue for you. Both of mine meet in the day, which I love and need as a stay at home mom. I have heard many wonderful speakers on an array of topics, but mostly its just nice to sit with a group of moms and talk about our lives. I've gone from being the youngest mom in the group, with tons of questions, to being the old pro who answers all of the questions.

When Betsy was a baby I read, "These are the longest days and shortest years of your life." How true that is! There are days that drag on and on, and then I turn around and somehow my babies are seven and four years old! And I ache to hold them close to my heart again. I'm that person now who says to the new moms, just hold them all that you can. Enjoy them. Forget about doing everything perfectly.

I try to take my own advice. I'm a lot better than I used to be.

I can't say enough good about MOPs. It has helped my girls to transition to preschool, to understand that they can be away from my side for a while. It has helped my to become the mother than I should be, the wife I should be. It saved my life...really.

Take me out to the ball game...

Baseball breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything begins again and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings; and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops, and leaves you to face the fall alone. -A. Barlett Giamatti




And that sums it up. I love baseball, I adore baseball, I could watch hours and hours of baseball and still be wanting more. This is odd-I am the most uncoordinated, the most sport averse person in probably the entire world. Betsy is playing softball this year (last year she played T-Ball) and she LOVES it. I have to try very hard never to let her know that I would rather do just about anything (yes, possibly even telephone people, which I hate more than anything on earth) than play an actual softball game.




I'm not sure why I love baseball like I do. I like to watch a great many sports. I inhale the Olympics, watching every single televised moment and keeping a ledger of U.S. wins. I can watch almost any sport. I love to watch tennis (though I don't hold a candle to my tennis obsessed little sister). And, of course, I love football-April and I have decided that when people act like, oh, you're a Buckeye fan, that we quickly say, yes, but we are also Browns fans. You know, the ying and the yang, the agony and the ectasy.



But mostly, I love baseball. In particular I love the New York Yankees and the Cincinnati Reds. I love then both completely and totally equally. It's okay, because one is American League and one is National League, so I don't feel bad about it. The Yankees are the only team that I actively root for that are not an Ohio team. This happened for multiple reasons, but it boils down basically to this: 1) I don't actively root for the Indians because I have an issue with the image that they choose to project with Chief Wahoo (I do passively root for them, meaning that I don't wish them to lose), and 2) once you start rooting for the Yankees, it is just hard to stop. I love their fans, their uniforms, just everything about the institution that is the New York Yankees.



Cincinnati is a totally different story. I grew up a Reds fan. My family is comprised of all Reds fans. It's as born in me as my love for the Buckeyes and the Browns. However, once I started really watching baseball I found that (at the time) I really preferred to watch the American League. That is no longer as true as it used to be-there is a lot that I now appreciate in the National League.



So, anyway, today my whole family watched the Yankees beat the Red Sox (victory over the Red Sox is always the sweetest). And it was fun to listen to Felicity, who kept saying, "Go Blue Sox!" I'm glad that they will be able to say, I root for the Yankees because my mother does. Having plucked them out myself and started rooting for them, it's kind of like taking up a religion that no one in your family is comfortable with. My grandmother, who was as big a baseball fan as I am, hated the Yankees with a passion. She would root for whoever they were playing against. (Those of you who knew my grandmother will know that she didn't hate anything-but trust me, she hated the Yankees.)



It's still the spring. Anything can still happen. The Reds and the Yankees could meet in the World Series. I have hope.