Category Archives: Family

Blog Updates and a New Business

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So many of you noticed the updates on the blog.  There’s a new header and some thing have been added along the side including a “Keeping up with the Kramers”…A blog reader said she likes to read Kayla’s and Kalissa’s blogs but often can’t find them.  Well now they are in an easy access spot right in the right hand column.

I’d really welcome any other suggestions you might send my way on making the blog easier for you to use and navigate.

Kayla has been working on blog and making the changes.  You might also know that Kayla helped Mary over at Country Threads get her blog back up and running.

In the process of it all I talked to Kayla and said, “You know, there are other people who would like a blog, instagram account or Facebook page and they really have no idea on how to do it.  You could easily start a business helping people with media.”

Kayla hemmed and hawed and after she got thinking about it, she thought it might not be a bad idea….and so she is starting Ms. Pins Media.  You can find her site for that HERE.

I’m so excited for her and excited for any of you who might be interested in working with her.  Kayla set up my blog over 11 years ago.  She does all of the background work for me.  Seriously, she taught me what to do to write a blog post and how to publish it.  Everything else, she does.  I love it because that allows me to do the things I want to do….create and write, and not worry about the behind the scenes things like spam and widgets and placing ads.  Kayla’s the one that does that so I’m free from that hassle.

On Kayla’s last visit to my house she was helping me with EQ (Electric Quilt) program.  Being I’m not doing regular childcare I thought I’d try to work on designing more quilts again.  I thought I should really get serious about learning EQ as it would be more professional.  So Kayla was busy figuring it out….


…and here is what I was doing…. Continue reading →

A Happy Balance

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I was really disappointed with my doctor appointment on Thursday.  It really put a downer on my day.  I ended up getting home in time to attend a local little league softball game.   My older childcare kiddos (I still claim them even though I’m not doing childcare anymore) are old enough that they are playing ball.

I decided to grab Carver and go attend the game.  I am so glad that I did.  It was good to see the kiddos.  It was good to see the parents.  It was just what my soul needed.


There is a saying “Whatever is good for you soul, do that.”

Whatever is Good for your Soul...Do That! - Connected To Self
Thursday night I’m so glad I did.

Carver loved it too.  He got to play with the kids.  It was good to reconnect.

After the game I took Carver to my house.  On the way I rolled down his window and he thought it was awesome.  I love how kids love simple things.  His laughter and silly words were so precious.  Instead of being sad and frustrated with whole doctor experience, I was thankful that I got to spend this time with Carver.  My cancer be damned.  I wasn’t going to let the circumstance of that take over my life.  I have life to live and that’s exactly what I planned on doing….living it and not letting cancer be the focus.  I needed to be reminded of that.

Carver and I had plans to go to my house as we were going to have floats.  My intention was to buy him a treat at the game, but the concession stand wasn’t open.  A float a perfect substitute.  Carver and I like our floats not with root beer but with orange pop.  Karl joined us too.

Carver was a hoot!  He had Karl and I laughing and laughing.  Then we went out to the garden and Carver got to check out his climbing pole beans.  He loves watching and seeing how tall they are growing.

I put Carver in the truck and took him back home.  He wanted his window rolled down so I let him.  He was looking out and saw the neighbor lady and yelled, “Hi Sally!”.  Then he asked me about her husband Mike.  He saw Mike and yelled “Hi Mike!”  Both of them heard him and waved.  (Yes, we’re very small town America around here!)

We got to Carver’s house.  I delivered him to Craig.  I told Craig how good Carver was at the game.  I told him how proud I was of Carver because he listened to me all the time.  Then I told Craig that we stopped at my house and had a treat….I gave Craig the money that Kalissa had sent with to get a treat.  Craig ended up giving the money to Carver and told him that he could keep the money and put it in his piggy bank as a reward for being so good.  Carver’s face lit up and he said….. Continue reading →

Family Chronicles

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WHAT A BUSY WEEKEND because, well, FAMILY.

I’ve had lots of visitors lately…all family.  I think the kids all know there is a possibility that I’ll have the Radioactive Iodine Treatment and want to be here as much as they can before I’m put in quarantine…so they visit.  That plus missing each other from Covid quarantine adds up to lots of time to make up for…and making up for it, they have.

Friday was a grandma day.  Here I have Carver on the left.  Gannon sleeping in the middle and Georgia on the right…who was suppose to be going to sleep…no luck.


Auntie Kayla and Jasper were here too.


…but admittedly, my lap wasn’t big enough for Jasper too.  My heart sure was though!!  He is growing so big.  Carver as you can see adores him.  He takes his role as big cousin pretty seriously.


You could find him with Jasper like this much of the weekend.    See? Continue reading →

The Day

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June 2nd 2019 is the official day noted as the death of my husband Kramer.  It happened in the night so to me and the kids, it seems more like it was the day before.

But officially:  Today is the one year anniversary.

Not so long ago I was watching a Ken Burns’ miniseries on The Roosevelts.  It was noted that this was the diary entry wrote on the day his wife died…

…an “X” and then the words “the light has gone out of my life”.

he had is much worse than me.  “On Valentine’s Day of 1884, just 36 hours after the birth of their only daughter, Alice (named after her mother), 25-year-old future U.S. President Roosevelt held his young wife in his arms as she passed away from undiagnosed Bright’s disease. Incredibly, just hours before, in the same house, he had already said a final goodbye to his mother, Martha. She had succumbed to Typhoid, aged just 48.”

What a incredible man to pull through that tragedy.

…I can say, I fell his sentiment.  I truly did feel like the light was gone from my life when Kramer passed.

What a blow it was to me….what a blow it was to the family and to the kids.  When I married Kramer back in 1986, I had no idea our life would lead us to Iowa…we were Minnesotans.

This was definitely and 80’s wedding, right?? Continue reading →