Digital Scrapbook Pages

I'm thinking about trying out digital scrapbooking again. Here are some of the pages the pages that I have made in the past.









 

 

 











 

Happy Mother's Day

Well, it's Mothers Day. Not a good day for me, but I'm not making a big deal about it. Ian and the girls bought me a card and a pretty pink rose. :) The card made me cry. It was so sweet! I love them all so much!

To those that read my blog, I hope your day was a special one! :)

Stone Mountain Fun!

What a fabulous day we had at Stone Mountain yesterday! Well, minus the rain that caused us to miss the Laser Show. That's ok though, we can always go back to just see the Laser Show later in the Summer. :) Taylor and Katie had a blast! I think this is the first time that I've done everything in one visit, and the first time I've been to Antebellum Plantation. Those old houses were so cool! You know those houses have to be haunted...I just had that feeling. LOL.
Not much time to go into detail.......going to the hospital to check on my dad..........check out the pics on my Facebook page! :)

The Zoo

Since we can't go to the beach, we have decided to do some fun stuff in the area in between hospital visits. Taylor did go to the beach with our neighbors, so we took Katie to Zoo Atlanta today. We all had a blast! The animals were all out and active, and best of all IT WASN'T CROWDED! Big plus on that one! Nothing spoils the fun more than having to dodge people and fight your way to see something. Hate that!
 Katie's favorite exhibit was the naked mole rats. Out of all the cool BIG animals, she chooses rats! LOL! Oh well, at least she had fun! My favorite was the Giant Panda. I love Pandas! I can't wait to go back either! I took lots of great pictures, just check out my Facebook page. :)

 I have this exact same picture of Taylor and Thomas standing beside Willie B. I can't wait to scrapbook the pictures! How cool is that? :)

Update on Dad

My dads surgery went great! No complications! Thank you Jesus for bringing him through surgery!
He's in recovery now and doing very well, actually better than expected. He has almost all of the wires removed and that is great news! I fed him some ice chips while I was in there. He will probably move back to his room tomorrow, that's how well he is doing. I hope so because we are only allowed to be in the recovery room for short time depending on his condition. Please continue to pray!

Update on Dad

My dad wasn't feeling well a few days ago, so I took him to the ER. Come to find out, he had a slight heart attack. After further testing, including a cardiac cath, it was determined that he has 3 blockages that will require open heart surgery.

Guess when all of this is scheduled? Yep, Monday. The day we are supposed to leave for Myrtle Beach.
Of course I'm not going to leave my Dad to go on vacation. That would be selfish, and he's my Dad. Even though he told us to go and that he would be fine. I couldn't even fathom the thought of being up there on the beach while something bad happened and not being able to get to the hospital in time. The beach can wait. We will go this Summer.

After the surgery, he will be in the hospital for 3 or 4 days. I will update this blog with new information after his heart surgery. Please continue to pray for him!

Lake Placid

We just got home from a fun trip to Lake Placid, Florida. We went down there to visit Ian's grandparents, other family members, and to also celebrate Easter. It was by far the BEST Easter we've had in a long time! It was nice to meet new family and to reconnect with the ones that I haven't seen since 2006.

It was so nice of Danny and Ellie to host the gatherings at their beautiful home on the lake. Our kids had a blast fishing, riding on the boat, and tubing! The trip to the hunting land was also a blast! The land was beautiful! Taylor shot 4 armadillos with a .410 shotgun. Those things are like rats down there and they tear up the land, so it was justified. LOL!

The best memory of the whole trip: Great-Grandpa Green showing Katie, Taylor, and Thomas his garden in their backyard. It was so sweet watching and listening to him interact with the kids. I could tell that he really enjoyed telling the kids about the different plants. :)

Anyway, next week we're heading up to Myrtle Beach for a week with our neighbors. I cannot wait to stick my feet in the sand! I've never been to Myrtle Beach, so it's going to be so much fun. I just hope that it's going to be warm enough to enjoy it. :)

One Year.....

Today is the one year anniversary of my mother's death. I cannot believe that it has been a year already.
The pain is still there. That feeling will probably never go away. You know, the empty feeling like something is supposed to be there and you are searching and searching to find something to fill the void. When my mom died, she took a piece of my heart with her.

I still cry almost every single day. Some days I can hide it, and other days I stay in bed until one of the kids make me get up. It's tough some days. Very tough.

I think the hardest part along this journey is knowing that I can't talk to her. The first time something great happened after she passed, and the first bit of gossip I heard, (my mom and I LOVED to gossip, LOL) I caught myself grabbing the phone to dial 'Mom and Dad'. Then it hit me......like a punch in the gut. I can't call her. I began to panic a little. I have to tell her this so bad! Who am I going to talk to now? Her laugh, her encouraging words and advice. Who do I go to now for help? Yeah, that day was like watching her die all over again. It was a really hard day.

I have taught myself how to handle the hard days. I just smile and try to think about what she would say to me. I know that she is looking over all of us. My mom is my Guardian Angel now. :)

The past year has been an emotional roller coaster that's for sure. My family and friends have been such a great support system. I don't how I would've made it through 'the firsts' without them. You know who you are, and Thank You!

I love you Mom.

I finally went to the doctor this morning to get a few things checked out.
I was right about having diabetes just by the symptoms I've been having. It's a huge relief to be officially diagnosed and on meds. He prescribed me Janumet, which is the medication used to control high blood sugar. I am also on Lisinopril, which a medication for high blood pressure. However, I don't have high blood pressure, it is prescribed to diabetics because the medication helps prolong the life of the kidneys.
In addition to that, I have to check my blood sugar twice a day and also change my diet BIG TIME. My doctor wants me to go on the South Beach Diet to help get my sugar levels under control. I am so determined because the fat is just going to melt off!
I know with exercise and this diet, I will be on my way to healthy in no time!!
There's no playing around anymore. This is serious stuff! Determination and will power is the key to success!!!!

Well, it's been a few days since my last post.
It seems like we are passing around a nasty cold. That's always fun! Of course for some reason it always starts with Ian. Lol! Katie is the only one not sick.
Anyway, Taylor has a touch of bronchitis and had to get the usual breathing treatment. They gave her prednisone and Zithromax. She is feeling much better, thank goodness, and didn't have to miss any school time thanks to Presidents Day.
I'm trying to keep everyone well and in school so they can afford to miss a few days of school around Easter weekend when we go to Florida to visit family......and the Gulf Coast. :)

Valentines Day

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day!!
It's by far my least favorite day, but I do love the extra attention...and the chocolate!
Ian and I went to the mall and then out to a Valentine's lunch to enjoy the occasion before the girls came home from school.
It's always nice to have a quiet meal without any kid drama.

Happy Valentine's Day!

happy valentines day 9 Graphic & Graphics

Recycled Crayons

This is a super cute way to make use out of those broken crayons, and those silicone baking trays that are worthless.

Preheat oven to 230.

Break up the crayons and place in the pan. Fill crayons to the top.

Place in oven for 15 minutes.

Be careful when removing from oven because the crayons have liquified.

Place on a cooling rack until the melted crayons have hardened again.

Once hardened, simply pop out the heart shape!

That's it! Easy Peasy!

Late Night Ramblings.....

So, it's 1:00 AM and I can't sleep yet again. So many random thoughts flooding my head.

I have so much on my mind these days. Some are silly, petty things that I let get to me, even though I know good and well the situation and the person is not worth one second of my time. Karma, that's all I'm saying.

On a more serious note, I'm filled with anxiety these days with the approaching one year anniversary of my Mother's death, March 26. I survived the "firsts" pretty well, I think. I just keep thinking things like, "This time last year she was still alive." If I had only known it was going to happen so fast, I wouldn't have left her side. I would've talked to her more, and took pictures, or even recorded her voice.
I'm going to buy some pretty flowers to go on her grave next week, and also put some fresh beach sand around her marker. I know she will love that.  :)

Well, with that said, I think I am going to find a boring movie on TV that will hopefully make me sleepy.

G'Nite.....

Happy Groundhog's Day!

Today was an absolutely beautiful day! I love being able to open the windows in my house to let the fresh air flow through.
General Beauregard Lee here in Georgia predicted an early Spring.  I say "Bring It!" I am so ready for some warmer Spring weather! :)

Happy Groundhog's Day!

Coldest Day of the Year....So it seems.

Yesterday, Taylor, Katie, and I went shopping at Kohls. Oh my, it was so cold!! This beach girl can't handle this cold weather! Just walking from the car to the store, the strong cold wind cut right through us!
Anyway, Taylor found some jeans and a few shirts, and some shoes. Going to take her to Old Navy next week to buy some more shirts and jeans.
Katie picked out the cutest pair of shoes. She got those Sketchers Ballerina toe shoes. The shoes have this disk on the bottom of the toe of the shoe so that she can spin around like a ballerina. She wanted another pair of Twinkle Toes, but daddy is going to buy those for her. She also got a few cute outfits for Spring and to take on our two vacations in April.
So, while we were shopping my Dad calls to tell me that the power was out. Really? On the coldest night of week?! A tree fell on a power line, snapped the line and the pole. So we went to Chick-fil-a for dinner since obviously I wasn't able to cook.
Did I mention that it was bone-chilling cold outside?
We finally made it home around 8:30ish and we went over to my Dads house to thaw out since he had a good fire going in his wood burning stove. Then I came home to build a fire in ours. Just when it got nice and toasty in the living room, the power came back on around 11pm.
I just want to thank those guys from Jackson EMC that froze their butts off to get our power back on!!!

Student, Again

Some of you may already know that I have gone back to school, and those of you that don't...well, now you know! :)

I am going to school to be a Pharmacy Technician. Hopefully I can finish before the end of the year. My goal is to get a job working as a Pharmacy Tech and then go back to school to get my Surgical Tech diploma which will take about 2 years.

Anyway, everything is going great so far. I only have to study some vocabulary and answer a few questions before I can take my first test. Hopefully I can get that knocked out by Friday.

I have to admit that studying seems to be a lot easier this time around. Maybe it's because I am so determined to make this happen, or maybe it's because I am able to relax and concentrate now that I have actual "quiet time" during the day while the kids are at school. I don't know, but I do know that things will be looking up and we will finally be doing so good after I finish school and have the extra income. :)

Blake Shelton Concert

Last night, Taylor and I went to the Blake Shelton concert at Gwinnett Arena. We had a BLAST!!! Not to mention the awesome seats we had, 13 rows from the front stage and about 12 seats from the stage on our right. What a perfect way to celebrate Taylor's very first concert. :) Blake put on an awesome show, as well as Justin Moore who opened up Blake. I will definitely buy tickets to see him again!
The only bummer was the iPod didn't take good pictures at all, or video. I knew I should've brought my camera. Oh well. Lesson learned, and next time I will know better.

Even though the picture quality totally sucks and he looks like a ghost, we were about 10 feet away from him. The picture doesn't do it justice, appears farther away than we actually were.

Relaxing Fall Day

I had to take Taylor to the horse farm this morning so she could finish her volunteer work for her Agriculture SAE project. I took a bunch of pictures that I will post later on Facebook.
I never realized how much work goes in to having a horse farm! Taylor wants to do this when she gets older. I'm glad that she has found a career path that she enjoys and truly has a passion for. I think she's a natural at this type of stuff. She loves being outdoors! I will do my best to encourage her and provide her with the experience she needs to make her much successful in her future endeavors in this field.
The weather was cooler than expected this morning, but it was nice breathing in the fresh air. Well, that has it's plus/minus affect with me. Fall is one of the seasons that causes my asthma to flare up. Pretty much the only season that I need an inhaler.
When I got home I opened up all of the windows to let the house air out. Then, I took a nap. I admit that I slept pretty good!
Fall is coming whether I want it too or not. The way I see it is I get to cook all of the "hot" foods that I don't normally cook any other time of the year. Oh, and going to the mountains to see the pretty fall colors. :)

Been a While....

I'm dusting off the 'ol blog once again. Maybe I will keep it updated this time!

I was just going back and reading all of the updates that I posted about Mom's progress. I totally forgot that I had done that. I'm a little sad right now after reading all of the posts. But I've also been a little emotional the past few days. I've been thinking about her A LOT lately. Yesterday was a pretty bad day, almost unbearable. It's getting to the point to where I can't even go next door that much, or inside the house anymore. If I do, I stay outside.
I went over there today by myself since Dad and Kim aren't home. I went in their closest and looked at her clothes. The black jacket she wore on Christmas, I held it for a few minutes hoping her scent was still there. I can't smell her anymore. I'm afraid I'm going to forget her voice and that makes me so sad and so angry at the same time.
I'm glad that she is pain-free and in a better place, but I'm just so mad at God right now for taking her away from us! I'm really having a hard time with my Faith because of it. I haven't stepped foot in a Church since she passed away. I know in time this will pass and I will ask Him for forgiveness, but I'm not ready right now.