Posting whle medicated... NOT GOOD!

I am just going to put out this brief posting. It's been brought to my attention that my spelling and grammar have been less than par during these last few days. I thought about rewriting them and correcting the language and such, but then I thought. Why... I am have been experiencing pain like I've never felt in my life (yes it's far worse than childbirth, and giving birth to twins naturally!) and the meds have had me pretty zoned out. My husband is deployed, I've had emergency surgery and yet people still expect daily updates with correct punctuations and grammar. Talk about pressure. So this is what it is... my blog, faults and all. My little record of life and creativity, enjoy and just read it from the heart~ May your Christmas Season and New Year bring to you many blessings and good fortune!

Christmas went off with me...

Well this Christmas certainly wasn't what I had planned it to be, but I sure am glad I was as organized as I was for Christmas. You see, I've been living with a nasty jagged snaggled toothed 7+mm kidney stone for over a week. And he's been an ugly character. The meds the ER put me last Saturday leave me, well lets just say pretty worthless and spaced out. Finally on Christmas Eve I was able to get into a Doctors office in Morehead City (only 45 minutes from home!) and he took some more x-rays and sent to straight to OR. By 2pm yesterday afternoon we were on our way home, drugged up but stone free. As Caleb so sweetly put it "they laser blasted my mom's gut and killed that stone!". Today, on Christmas Day I am still in a lot of pain and discomfort but I'm glad I am home. Mom did a great job making sure Santa knew where to come and leave all the presents. She made Christmas breakfast and has been nursing me back to health. Christmas went off without any problems, sure we were missing Mark and yes I cried a lot today but Christmas came, Christ was born, and we are one day closer to the home-coming of our Marine, our Daddy, and my Mark! We missed you terribly today Mark, and we cannot wait until we can share all of our Christmas presents with you. Merry Christmas everyone, this is one year to really count your blessings. I know I sure have.

Twas the Morning before Christmas...

Twas the morning before Christmas and all through the house, the kids
and their mom were preparing for a BLAST. It's only one stone, or so they do say. We'll try to blast it on this Merry Day. So come and drive some 90 minutes away and we'll try to bless you with a really short stay. No Promises they give, just simple advice, wear loose clothes and try to be nice. Our stockings are hung and the presents are wrapped so please pray for us as mom takes her nap. She'll be up and about soon enough but prayers are what she needs to come home with us. Merry Christmas, and please say a prayer for me. The kids need me home for Christmas, and I need to be there...

Merry Christmas!

Just how big is a...

I apologize for not posting more often over the last couple of days. Yesterday at 3:30am i was awoken by a sharp stabbing pain that persisted. I walked around my room and tried to get comfortable for almost an hour before I decided it was time to go to the ER. Thank goodness, my mom had just driven in from Ohio so I didn't have to take my children with me. I drove myself to the ER at 4:40am. The pain was far worse than delivering a baby and at that point I had no idea what was going wrong. I just knew something was drastically not right. After many tests and a CT scan it was determined that I have kidney stones. A 7mm kidney stone, doesn't sound like much until you measure one out. It's about the size of a basic pencil's eraser. And they want me to pass it through my you know what! Heck no...at the hospital the doctors gave me two doses of morphine which wiped the pain away and put me on a strange floating cloud that hovered me in a strange new realm on what felt like the outside/side stage of life. I left the hospital with lots of pain meds and such to assist me the passing and in the pain involved with my KS. I get to call the urologist on Monday to schedule a "blasting" of the stone. So in the mean time I get to walk around drunk/high and beyond sleepy. I can hardly keep my eyes open. I'll keep y'all posted on the passing/zapping of my wee little KS... so until next time.... ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

Christmas Cards

My Christmas cards are out...
this is only half of the stack I sent out this year. It was well over 75 I do believe. Sad to say they weren't homemade. I had lofty goals of sending out handmade cards with our annual "Newsletter", but instead I am sending out store bought cards with a personal note/newsletter. There are some great pictures in them too, so be on the lookout. They'll be in your mailboxes soon!

Bring Him Home...

Click this Link... that's all I can say!

scrapblog.com

I discovered a new website... www.scrapblog.com and created this page honoring the man of my dreams. What I like is that you can create then share in so many ways, you can publish your designs, print them or save them to your computer. Completely FREE!

I am a Cheer Mom!

Here are a few pictures from Saturday's Cheerleading Competition. Katie is the one 'up' in the air. Her stunt squad is consistantly the first group 'up' and so far they've never dropped her. And no that is NOT her real hair. It's a hair piece!

Go Elf Yourself

You gotta see this...

http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/BYQpwHIfv1oH6yml

check it out... it'll bring a smile to your face!

when it rains it pours... downpours!

I am sorry I haven't posted in a while. It's been crazy, I mean crazy around here. Lets just jump in and hit the highlights. Friday night we had some kids sleep over (friends from church, they were so good, we had fun!). Saturday morning I woke up early b/c we had a very busy day. As I was in the shower I started to smell this horrible burning plastic smell. You know the one I am talking about it scares you to pieces. It's a horrid smell. I jumped out of the shower and began searching my house to see what could possibly be on fire (and no we didn't even have our tree up yet!) After a long panic attack, I realized it was in the bathroom. We turned the power off to that side of the house and called the electrician. After cheerleading practice and rehearsal we headed home. The electrician came by at about 4 o'clock and soon discovered that is was the illegal ceiling fan in our master bath. Yeah, we know who puts a ceiling fan in the bathroom. It was here when we bought the house and it was on our list of things to remove/change in the remodeling process. The electrician told us it was a fire waiting to happen. The light bulb was sizzling and causing that horrid smell. He said we were really lucky and that it could have caused the house to burn down. So that was Saturday. Sunday we went to church, then to a cheerleading competition that started 45 minutes late and lasted a really long time. When we all got home we were exhausted. So we didn't make it to the Battalion Christmas Party. Monday came faster than we ever imagined, the kids went to school, I went to work. We got home as usual and I was greeted at the door by the 'easement man'. He had to tell me that all of the big beautiful hardwood trees in our backyard must come down. There are within the easement area for the power lines and they have to cut them down. So one of the reasons we bought this house, all of the beautiful trees, shade and great backyard is now going to be cut down. I know I should look at this as a blessing, but it is so hard to imagine our yard without all of these beautiful trees. I love huge shade trees, & I love the way the yard smells after a fresh rain. That will all change because we are losing all these hardwoods. Oh did I remember to mention that they want to do all this work right before Christmas? I am not ready for all of this... and now our poor dog. She's 14 years old and has developed a horrible infection in her front right leg. She's been on 3 different antibiotics for the past 3+ weeks and it's not healing correctly. She's is now scheduled for surgery to remove the infected area this Thursday. I know she's older, but she has a lot of life left in her. She's got more squirrels to chase and lots more love to share. So see, it's been a little crazy and a little stressful around here lately. I am creating and I'll be posting my new classes and creations soon! But in the mean time, pray for us, pray for our dog and continue to pray for Mark and the safety of his team.

my own flowers...

When I started this project I didn't know Mark was going to have fresh flowers delivered monthly. So this has really been a wonderful compliment to the flowers he sends me. When Mark left for Iraq I forced bulbs in my kitchen. I bought a great big box of paper whites at Sam's Club. I thought if I could "force" the bulbs and grow them inside I could have beautiful flowers the whole time Mark is gone. My plan is to plant new bulbs every 3-4 weeks. The first set should have bloomed about the sixth week after Mark left. The 5 planted in the first set didn't grow at all. But I learned a lot! I started the second set of bulbs 3 weeks after the first set. It was awesome. I planted 5 in this really sentimental bowl Mark had given to me, I don't even know if he remembers it or not. Many Easters ago back in Virginia Beach, I think it was Katie's first Easter, Mark got me yellow tulips in this bowl and they were so pretty in our bedroom. I've kept the bowl and used it over and over again to plant flowers for our patio. But this time I used it to plant my paper whites. Of the 5 bulbs I planted in this container, 4 of them have bloomed. Kinda of significant since our family of 5 has one missing. They are gorgeous and smell amazing. At the same time I also planted individual bulbs in two antique desert bowls my mom passed down to me. She thinks she received them as a wedding present in 1963 (that makes them 45 years old). Those bulbs are also blooming. I have all these bowls lining the kitchen windows. They are amazingly beautiful and they smell so sweet. Here is just a sampling of how beautiful they really are.

Mark's gift to me

Mark knows my love of fresh flowers. He has purposed in his heart to make sure I have fresh flowers every month while he is gone to Iraq. Every month and sometimes twice he has the most incredible flower arrangements delivered just for me and just because he loves me. I love him too...he's amazing!

New Class!

This is for a new class I am teaching at Combat Creations. Check out the website and sign up today! It's called the MIU Album Tin. It is entirely Memories in Uniform and I am using this as Mark's deployment album of all of the pictures he's taken since he's been in Iraq. The really small pictures are the index prints you can get printed. I love it because you can get a lot of pictures on one page.There are several more pages in the accordion but I only shared a few. I also plan on putting his welcome home photo on the front of the tin right below the star and journal the dates he left to the day he came home on the tan tag lines. I can miss him can you tell!

Meet the World's Best Kids!

We had a busy weekend, relaxing, but we got a lot done. ALL of our Christmas shopping is done! It feels great! I'll be sending out packages this week. Now I can relax and float through the holidays... yeah right! Many of you will get these in your Christmas cards but I just couldn't wait to share them. I am so proud of our kids. The first picture is in the same pose the kids did last time Mark was deployed to Iraq. This year the boys are wearing their Webelos uniform (Cub Scouts) and Katie is wearing her Cheer America All Star uniform.

Mark and I cannot believe that these amazing kids are OURS!!

Caleb, Seth & Katie

Thanksgiving with friends and family

I can't believe that Thanksgiving has come and gone. It went by so fast, I think because it was so relaxing. We cooked a simple traditional dinner, and we had some great friends over. It was so relaxing and I think we all took a nap (okay the kids didn't but we the adults sure did) next to the cozy fire. Our prayer for you all was to have a safe, relaxing and joyous Thanksgiving weekend, we sure hope you did!

My Beautiful Room...

Here it is... it's about 90% finished. I need to sit down and go shelf by shelf making them pretty, but they are organized. I've got a military only shelf, shelves of just embellishments, alterables, photographs, and some with just pretty things. I love it, it's simple and functional. Just what I always wanted. Here are some during and after photos. And yes, the shredder exploded on me! Mark never put a bag in it, so i had to dump it in a bag. It didn't make it all the way, can you tell. I can't decide on the curtains, that is why you only see one in the pix. Still contemplating that one. BTW: the pictures don't do it justice! It's soooooo pretty!

"But I never heard that word before!"

Before my big unveiling of my "studio" I have to share with you something that happened at school today. Apparently the school office called me twice and I didn't answer or return their calls. In my defense our home phone isn't working right (the digital phone router is not cooperating with me right now), but they also never called on my cell phone! So I it can't be that serious right... wrong! This story is so innocent, but so serious in the eyes of the school.

Let's set the stage... the kids are at lunch in a very over crowded cafeteria! Another boy in Caleb and Seth's class (who by the way isn't a really nice kid!) asked Caleb if he could sound out SH---IT. The boy said it really show... like SH............IT! Caleb plainly said "it's like this ...shit". The teacher flipped a lid, and the class all went "OHHHHHHHH". Caleb and Seth had no idea what was going on... straight to the office with you Caleb. He's panicked he had no idea what was happening. He was reprimanded, and he said "Mrs. Frisbee, I never heard that word before I didn't know it was a bad word! Seriously, Mrs. Frisbee I didn't". That didn't get very far. The teacher nor the assistant principal could believe that a 4Th grader had never heard that word before and they should certainly know it was a bad word. They continued not to believe him. He had to rewrite his behavior contract that all students have to sign at the beginning of the year, and he had to apologize to the class. Of course I heard all about this when I picked the kids up, before I got out of the school drive-thru pick-up I parked and we went back to talk to the teacher. She seriously couldn't believe that the boys had never heard that word before. I replied "Mark and I do not use that kind of language neither do most of the people we associate with, so it's no doubt he's never heard it. We don't even watch movies with language like that." She was shocked, still not believing it. I assured her again. Now that I've had time to reflect on the situation I should have asked his teacher to apologize to Caleb for not believing what he had said. So the lesson today parents is to teach your kids bad words and then teach them not to use them or say them because they will get in trouble for not knowing them... interesting isn't it?!

What are those flags? What do they mean?

I know I am supposed to be "doing my green room". I will, I plan on working on that today.

But I wanted to share with you about Service Star Flags, many of you know what I am talking about. The Service Star Flags were designed in Ohio in 1917 by an Army Col. to honor his 2 sons fighting in WWI. The function of the flag was to let the community know who was directly affected by the war in their small towns. It allowed community members to help, aid and support those families who were often without their husbands, fathers and sons for months or years at a time. The flags were hung in the front right window of the home of families where the service member lives. These Flags have served as a reminder to us as Nation to the sacrifice and commitment made by members of the Armed Forces and their families.
Today as we remain steadfast in our nations commitment to Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom many more homes are displaying the Service Flags. Let us remember why those flags are there, those men and women overseas need our help and support but so do the families left behind. Reach out and see what these families might need, it's usually something easy or simple that doesn't take much time or money...maybe they need their lawn mowed, bushes trimmed, a meal that doesn't consist of a dog, tot, or sandwich in it. Maybe they'd like the Cheerios vacuumed out from underneath the car seat, their sidewalk shoveled, time to go grocery shopping alone, or maybe they just need dinner at a friends house. Don't just offer, insist with no strings attached. Military families don't ask for help, and they don't go looking for it, but sometimes we just need it and it' too hard to ask for it.

My D-Day... decision day

I've been inspired rather challenged to resuscitate my creative side and dig deep into my spirit and live again. Design, create and make a mess. It's been a long time since I've really made things for me, to just experiment and enjoy the pretty papers, stamps, and stickers that surround me in boxes and bags. So today, I have decided I am going to start again. I am going to finish my "studio/office", it's my green room. I want it to be my place to unwind, inspire and express who I am. Below are pictures of my office as it now... it completely stresses me out. I find no peace in here. I am a woman of order, of a schedule, a need to know the plan kind of woman. I do not thrive on chaos; this room is chaos! Right now, I find nothing breath taking about coming into this room (accept the emails that I get from my husband, in case you didn't know he's in Iraq right now!). But that will all change, I will get it done, I will make it pretty, functional, and above all beautiful. I ask all of you to hold me accountable. My goal date to finish this is Saturday morning, 11/22/08. I say Saturday just in case I work on it after midnight on Friday! I can't wait to show you the final product... and pray nothing "SHINY" comes along to distract me! (One more quick thing: that is my dog she has a very hurt leg so the collar is to prevent her from itching it, she's pitiful isn't she.)

It's Snowing, It's Snowing!

We had a blizzard here in Jacksonville, NC today. It was fierce just look at the photos. The reality is it only lasted about 3 minutes. You have to act quick to catch photos in our snow storms... That's right Ohio be jealous, you might have 2 feet of snow, but we at least got some!

My First Official Blog...

Mark's been on me to start one of these. I don't know how often I can get on and update you on life. my projects or all the chaos that often surrounds it. So check back periodically and see what's new!