Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Out With the Old





I took mom to her knee replacement surgery yesterday. As you can see, she's been in pain for a very long time. Her knee is was so disfiguring that it made my stomach upset. Mom was very brave, as she was past ready to have this surgery. I was very concerned with how I would react seeing her in pain, but thanks goodness for nerve blocks! When she came out of surgery, she was all smiles! She felt absolutely no pain! She couldn't even feel her leg! They will have her up doing physical therapy this morning. I still can't believe that a total knee replacement surgery only takes one hour to perform! I waited five hours in the waiting room but I didn't mind. I rearranged the chairs and slid a table in the corner and spread out my scrappin' supplies and made 8 cards! I'm so thankful for modern medical technology. I'm thankful we live in free country where we have the freedom of choosing our doctors and treatment and I pray to God that it will stay this way!
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Saturday, March 21, 2009

A Midnight Run for Edward

At 12:o1am this morning, the movie Twilight was released and at 12:10am, Sadie and I decided to make a run into town to Walmart to buy our copy. I asked the cashier if she had sold many and she replied, "Oh yes!". That was what Sadie and I were thinking as we walking out of Walmart with Edward and Bella in our hands. By the time we drove home and put the movie on, it was 1:15am. Forrest couldn't hang as he fell asleep an hour into the movie, but Sadie and I were troopers! After the movie was over, we watched both special feature disks We finally went to bed at 5:ooam. It was so worth it! We have plans to watch it again this evening, but I promise you, I'll be in bed by 10:00pm. I need to be awake in church!
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Friday, March 20, 2009

A Lazy Spring Break



Because our plans to visit my brother in Knoxille fell through, we decided to just stay here for Spring Break. Sadie asked if she could set the tent up and George kindly gave up his spot in the garage so the tent wouldn't get wet in case it rained. So, every night this week, Forrest, Sadie and I have slept outside in the tent along with Benny & Carhartt. Now, we aren't "roughing" it too bad, as we have brought out two twin mattresses and all of the blankets and pillows to keep us warm and cozy. But let me tell you, there have been some cold nights and a few annoyances when the dogs decided to bark along with other dogs who were miles away!

We have had the best time together playing Runscape, watching movies and scrapbooking this week. You would think we would have gotten tired of each other, but we haven't! I'm sure we will pay for all of this laziness and staying up all night long when early morning seminary and school starts back on Monday, but today, I say it's been worth it! I have greatly enjoyed being with my children and I know they have enjoyed being with me!

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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Another Closet Creation


Here is the one and only page I created yesterday and I'm so in love with it! It's really hard for me to comprehend that this creation came from me! I took this picture of Forrest and Sadie for our Christmas cards in 2005. Forrest was 11 yrs. old and Sadie was only 8. I can't believe they have grown so much! I thought "Pure Joy" fit for a title and my journaling reads, "Loving you defines pure joy". Again, I can't believe this came from me!
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Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Sleep or Scrap?



Sleep or scrap? I shouldn't even have to ask the question! I have absolutely no problem burning the midnight oil if I'm scrappin'. That's exactly what I did last night and I hope to get more pages done today, that is, after my nap!
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Friday, March 13, 2009

Change of Scenery



Ever since I took the Feeling Scrappy Card class in February, I have fallen in love with making cards! I really love the instant gratification creating a card gives to me as compared to the half day, love-hate relationship of creating a scrapbook page. Scrappin' will always be my first love, but I welcome the change of scenery. I made these three cards today using my scraps and to my surprise, they turned out great! But more surprisingly, I realized that I didn't "cardlift" or use anyone's card sketch. This is my very own design! I will definatley be making a few more in the days to come!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

My Leave of Absence

Hello my friends and family! It's been a month since I have posted and from the content of my last blog, my leave of absence could have been very easily caused by my two beautiful children driving me crazy! But I am here to report, that is not so! Here's the 411 on our family (not in any order):
1. A couple of days after my last post, my husband and I made a consequence box for Forrest and Sadie with every kind of chore we could think for inside and outside of the house, including dusting the baseboards to raking leaves in the yard. If it is a chore that has to be done, it's in the consequence box! We held a family counsel meeting and discussed the negative behavior we didn't like and that with each offense, they would have to pull a card (chore) from the consequence box in addition to their daily chores. OMG! The first day we put this box into effect, it was a day from h-e-double hockey sticks! BOth Forrest and Sadie had to pull four cards from the box. That was four weeks ago and since then, ony three cards have been pulled. Effective baby! And on the flip-side to this consequence box, we have always taught our kids that every choice has a consequence, either positive or negative, so on each consequence chore card, there is a dollar amount. So if the kids want to earn extra money, they can pull from the box and earn as much as they want! We are very happy with the outcome this system giving to our family. Hopefully this consequence box will keep the gray hairs away! lol



2. I was asked to teach the ladies at church how to make their own altered star with pictures. Twenty signed up, but only half came and five hours later, they took their stars home to hang on their wall! I thouroughly enjoy making these stars!
3. I used alot of my free time this past month to re-read the Twilight Series again. OMG! They were so much better the second time around! I savored every word and even marked in my books like my I do my scriptures! lol George doesn't show my love for Twilight. He made the comment, "I'll be glad when I don't have to go to bed with Edward anymore!" 4. The past several days, I have been gaining my strength back from being sick for 10 days with pneumonia. As soon as I was on the mend, Sadie decides this past weekend to run a fever and have a cough for three days straight and missed three days of school. (Today was her first day back.)



5. I made 50 of these invitations to send out for my best friend Cay's birthday party. I have never made anything of this magnitude and was a little nervous after I said, "Sure, I can make that!" My friend Rachel helped me gather the supplies and also volunteered to punch out the tags and flowers for the cards. It took three trips to Hobbly Lobby and one to the local scrapbook store for supplies and a total of 2 1/2 days to perfect the invites. When I showed Cay her invitations, she was flabbergasted! I knew by her reaction, she was well pleased, and so was I! ( Cay's mom told me after she recieved her invitation that Cay didn't want a birthday cake, but had requested a lady at church to make her favorite cupcakes for her party and that the stamp, "celebrating one cupckake at a time" was perfect for the invitations!)

6. George is almost done converting our carport into a garage. He has done a great job so far and only has the back wall to finish. I am very proud of what he has done and he is proud of himself, as a lot of this was a "first" for him, like putting up garage doors and the automatic door openers. He really facinates me with his knowledge and talents. By him doing this himself, he is saving us thousands of dollars! And in the next couple of weeks, when the garage is finished, I will have the utility room as my big pantry as George will move the water heater, washer and dryer outside in the garage. YEAH! I would love to have that space for my scrap room, but that idea didn't "fly" with George. I sometimes have to remind myself to stay FOCUSED! lol








7. Forrest's soccer season began a couple of weeks ago so that means games several times a week along with traveling, eating dinner out and getting to bed later. It's all worth it to see him play. The only complaint I have is that admission into the games are $4 each! I'm upset that I have to pay for me to see my own child to play, along with paying the $250 soccer fee, buying his equipment and gear, travel expenses for all the practices and all of my time that we spend supporting him and the team! It drives me crazy! I remember my mom telling the money collectors at the gate of my softball tournaments that she didn't think she should have to pay to see her own daughter play. it used to embarrass me to death, but I understand now! For us to watch Forrest play, at $4 each, times a minimum of two games a week, it comes out to $128 a month! OUCH! I found out if you teach in the county, you get yourself in plus a guest for free! Even if I was still teaching, it wouldn't apply to me, as I taught in the city. What about the parents? I vote for a parent discount! I have found a way to get Sadie in for free-if she works the game on the sidelines chasing after the soccer balls, she gets in free plus she gets a free drink and snack! And she loves doing it!

Run, Forrest, Run!
8. Sadie was one of four students in her school to be invited to go on a four-day field trip to Daulpin Islands in Mobile, AL. We loaded the charter bus on Feb. 19 and headed for Mobile. It took us eight hours to get there. We stayed in old dorms that haven't been updated since the 1950's, but it was the adventure of staying somewhere new that overrided that complaint. The field trips were amazing! We had the absolute best time ever! It was so nice to see Sadie experiencing this trip with her friends and to learn about the ocean and all of the residents that call the ocean HOME. The food was fantastic! I was really suprised. We were able to visit Fort Gaines Sunday before we headed back to Home. The night before we left, two kids started to throw up. The next morning, two other kids followed suit. By the time we left for home, another two started throwing up. On the bus ride home, another two joined the sick club and by the time we arrived back in town, twelve kids had become sick! The stomach bug was everywhere and I'm just thankful it got to me and Sadie before the trip (see next topic) I would not have wanted to be sick on the ride home!


Daulphin Island trip
(disecting a squid!)



Marching off to the marsh! Sadie walkes into the marsh and
is up to her thighs in mud! It was so funny seeing her try
to walk in all that mud! The instructions said to bring clothes that you
could throw away immediately after being in the marsh. I was
quick to discover why-the marsh's mud is very stinky!



Group shot at the Beach -we all
had the best time ever!


Gathering plankton to put under the microscope


9. Here is Mr. Clean again! He represents Sadie and I getting the 24 hour stomach bug 1 1/2 days before we were to leave for the Daulphin island trip! I'm very thankful that we were able to go, because I never found out if our money would have been reimbursed and I had a feeling, it would not have been! When we walked on the bes, it had been 24 hours since we had fever or had thrown up. We weren't the only ones who had the stomach bug right before the trip either. Like I said in before, I am so thankful that we got sick BEFORE the trip, because it would have been horrible being sick on the trip and especially on the bus on the way back home! After we get back from our trip, Forrest and George get the stomach bug! Mr. Clean needs to take up residence in our house premantely!
I hope you have enjoyed the 411 update and my longest blog post ever! And I hope that I will never have to repeat this long of an absence again, as I have missed blogging and have missed visiting with you in Bloggersville!





































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