Saturday, December 22, 2007

Friday, December 21, 2007

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Tis Been Awhile...

Well seems like ages since I've taken the time to post...first and foremost Happy Birthday G'ma!!! My grandma Austin celebrates her birthday today so I had a nice chat with her this evening which was a great ending to a wonderful day.

Our day today started out chaotic and hectic like most mornings, all of 5 of us trying to find shoes and clothes and tights and ties and jumpers (sweaters). I really should have a better system but alas it's one more thing I have yet to get around to doing (story of my life really). Every morning its the same routine, I get up around the time the kids do, fix breakfast-which involves pouring cereal and milk in a bowl-and while they are eating (and I'm telling them to hurry and eat and stop talking) I make their lunches. Then we all trek upstairs and while they are brushing their teeth (or playing in the sink, which ever the case may be) I'm laying out their uniforms for school. Then I try to get myself dressed and ready to go for the day as well. Ty is on is own! LOL Well today there was an exception...I had to also fit in curling Emma's hair because today, at school, she was an Angel in the class Nativity Play! She was very excited and nervous because her daddy and I were going to be at school to watch the play. Since Mary Helen is back home in Virgina for Christmas Ty had to work a couple hours in Longford this morning, so we dropped the kids at school, drove to Longford, he treated a few people, then we drove back the 45 minutes to be at the school to watch the 20 minute play. She was absolutely adorable! What we could hear of her was adorable anyway...there was a little Angel in front of Emma swinging her angel wings back and forth in front of her. We could barely hear Emma's line (in Bethleham, your saviour was born today!). She was fantastic and of course the STAR of the performance! When they were all finished, we got to take her out of school an hour early so all 3 kids got out of school at the same time today (yay!!!!) and we popped home for just a bit to change clothes and then go and see santa at the new shopping centre in town. The kids were so cute! They each told santa what they wanted for Christmas-a digital camera for all three-and even Austyn sat on his knee for picture, without tears this year! That was monumental for her! We were very proud! We did a little Christmas shopping, then all went to dinner together! We had an exceptional family day together today. Everyone was very good, listened to us, didn't walk too far away from us, no whining that they were tired/hungry/feet hurt...etc... It's after days like this that I am reminded just how lucky I am to have been given such an awesome, wonderful family! I am truely blessed! I know that sounds terrible, I know that I am blessed and I feel it most of the time...it's just easy to forget when life gets so hectic and chaotic, which seems to be more and more these days. It's good to get little reminders from time to time!

You know its funny too, they never seems to stop amazing me either! Little Dagan, the other day said something that literally brought tears to my eyes! We were at the church Christmas dinner last week and with all the kids gathered around the pastor asked everyone (Dagan is one of the youngest) about Christmas, why is was important and why we celebrate, etc...and in the middle of everyone answering the questions Dagan pipes up loud so all could hear....It's Jesus' birthday and he died for our sins so that we wouldn't have to go to hell! He was so cute, his little voice was so pronounced and clear and he was so serious! Absolutely adorable...I had to smile! I just love it when they do little things like that without prompting, just speak from their little hearts and they mean it too! Very sweet!!!

Ok well that is about all I can think of to ramble on about just now....I'm sure I'll think of something else as soon as I post this! Stayed tuned here though...we will add a video of Emma's play as soon as we get it uploaded (Thanks Mom and Dad Russell for the early Christmas pressie)

Friday, November 16, 2007

Like Grandmother, Like Daughter, Like Grandaughter

It's funny how things are passed down over the generations....along with the creativity/artistic ability that I so lovingly inherited from my dear mom...I also got her ability to worry...now thankfully for me (and for Ty's sanity) I don't take it to the degree that she does...I'm convinced that if mom had nothing to worry about, she would worry about not having anything to worry about...you know I adore you mom but you know I'm right ;o). Well much to mine and Ty's dismay this amazing ability did not skip a generation and our lovely, sweet, caring, kind, big-hearted, motherly, Emma has also be given this 'worry' gene!

Mom had her hip replaced today and I've been nervous all day! Here I am 1/2 a world away, I can do nothing, can't even really talk to her because of the time change (thank God for mobile phones and texting!) and I'm nervous, as if I could do anything if I wanted to, but I worry because that's just what we do! Mom had some 'nerve' problems all last week and this and it was causing her blood pressure to get too high, which then threatened the cancelation of her surgery which made her even more nervous which raised her bp...etc..etc..etc...vicious circle! Well, she got her self relaxed (and got bp meds) enough to at least keep the scheduled surgery for today. I didn't talk to my step-dad but Ty did and he said that there was some delay in the doctor's schedule or something but it caused mom's surgery to be delayed but that she was out now and in recovery and was doing fine (Thank you God!) I probably won't be able to talk to her until tomorrow but I'm so glad that she came thru ok and that she is doing good so far. It is a long recovery/theapy time but I'm sure she will do great. Well with all the worrying mom has been doing I have been talking to her a lot, just to help ease her nerves (and mine too probably) and just lend an ear! In doing this though, Emma knew something was up...kept asking questions if G'ma was ok and what was wrong, etc...I told her that g'ma had a hip that was hurting her, and had been for a long time, and that the doctors were going to fix it for her so that it wouldn't hurt anymore. This was enough of a explaination for her little mind but then the worrying started! Poor girl can't help herself...is g'ma going to have to stay in the hospital? --yes for a couple days....what will g'pa Jim do without g'ma? --well he will stay at their house when he's not at the hospital with g'ma but he'll be ok for a couple days...he can't stay at the hospital too? --well I'm not sure, there maybe not be room there for him....oh they probably need the room for other hurt people......they are adding 'cushioning in her hip so that it doesn't hurt right? --well it's kinda like that, they will make it so that it doesn't hurt her to walk anymore...will g'ma have to stay in bed all the time? --no she will be able to get up and move around.....won't that hurt her hip again? --well yes it will be sore but she will have to move around to get used to the new hip....She's getting a new one??? --well sort of, it's hard to explain...go talk to your dad......this all took place in about a 4 minute period, and we've gone thru these questions and oh so many more every day for the last week and half or so! I try very hard not to get cross with her, because I know I was just like her! LOL After I heard from Jim tonight I went up and woke her up a little just to tell her g'ma was ok and out of surgery, even in her very sleepy state, she sat up in bed with a grin from ear to ear and said aaahhhh thanks mom! I'm glad she is ok.......good night! (still with a smile on her face!) she's so cute! She's frustrating at times but she means well and like her mother and grandmother (one both sides too) we just can't help it!~

On the crafting side of things...I've done a few things this week, a baby project and card to match (see previous post), the Halloween layouts for my class on Monday, but I'll post those next week though and a little birthday card for our pastor's son who turned 7 today. This is the card I did for him...he loves penguins

I should have done a little more doodling around the penguins and balloons and such but just didn't have the time, I rushed around all day! In a perfect world I would have done the card before today.....but I don't live in a perfect world...I live in a world of 3 children who run me ragged! lol

Monday, November 12, 2007

Babies...Babies...Babies

No not mine...but those of friends. A very good friend of mine just resently found out she was expecting her 2nd baby (YAY!!!!), another good friend here in Ireland is due a couple weeks with her 2nd baby..they think their second girl and finally a very close friend and confidant (sp?) back in CO just had their third baby, a girl! Mammy and baby Selah are both doing great, I'm very thrilled to say. Well walking around in our new Shopping centre this weekend I came across this little frame...
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...and my mind went crazy with ideas of what I could 'do' to it! ha ha Well this is what I did (Karen if you are reading this...turn away now or you will ruin your surprise...I'll take it to the post tomorrow or Wednesday so you can expect it soon)

This little project kept me busy today and I'm really happy with how it turned out...hope Karen and Selah are too...




Here is the finished frame, pictures and all...

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Thursday, November 8, 2007

Doing Better

Well I'm doing a little better...in several areas....One, it's not quite been a week and I'm posting again! Yay!!! Two, my grandma is out of the hospital and is doing better so that is great news!!! Three, my mom sounds better and is getting herself ready for surgery next Thursday. Her sounding better makes me feel much better. Four, kids were out of school all last week and so didn't get to have my weekly breakfast date with Ty on Wednesday :( BUT we did get to go yesterday so that made me very happy (and Ty too)!!! Five, I started making my Christmas cards this week, I've only made one...but hey I started! hmmmm what else....OH and Six, I got to go to a crop on Saturday afternoon (see previous post) and I had a great time, got to chat with some good friends, eat fabulous sweet home-made baked goodies AND got 4 pages done in a book so that was fantastic!!! All in all I think I am doing pretty well this week, can't complain about much of anything!

Saturday, November 3, 2007

YAY its finally Saturday!!!

I'm very excited it's Saturday....I'm going to a crop today and I've really been looking forward to it! I'm going with a couple friends here and meeting (IRL) some friends from the online craft forum that I chat (way too much) on. I'm bring loads of stuff to do but don't know how much I'll actually do, I hope a lot. I'm way behind. I've not been crafting too much with this £$%"@ cold I have and can't get rid of. Anyway, I'm still not feeling the greatest but I don't care I'm going anyway!

I did manage to get a card done yesterday...not gonna post the whole card yet as I haven't given it to the person it's going to and I don't want her to see it on here first. But I will show you the first parts of it...sorta a work in progress at this stage.

These little guys are called 'Tear Bears' and I think they are just adorable! What do you think???

Ok, well I have loads to do before leaving in an hour so I'm going for now...check back though and I will post up what I got done...assuming of course I get anything finished.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Well it's Halloween night and it has been a very fun filled day for everyone! We took the kids to McDonalds (one of their favourites) for lunch, then after a couple errands we went to Leisure World to go bowling! They had a great time!!! I only had my phone's camera to take pictures with so we'll see what they turn out like. I'm thinking they won't be very good. The bowling was a good distraction to the main event of the day......trick or treating! We got home just in time to get ready to go on the hunt for sweets with neighbor kids. My little ballerina, loved getting her hair pulled back like a 'real ballerina' and Em couldn't wait for me to paint a pawprint on her cheek. She is a cheerleader from High School Musical, her FAVOURITE movie right now, (it's driving me and Ty CRAZY) she's constently singing the songs from the movie. While I was trying to get the girls ready, Dagan was running around the house saying 'oooo ooooo oooo' at everyone! We went up to Serena and Alan's house so that we could all walk around together, 6 adults and 8 children. We all had a great time watching the kids, they were all so giddy! I think we ended up going to half a dozen houses, maybe, but the kids were quite happy to be done and go home to eat dinner and of course have sweets too. It surprises me how many bon fires and fireworkds there are on Halloween, since that is not a big thing to do at home. We've been listening to pops and bangs all evening. Even with several sweets and loud bangs outside, the kids are all sleeping really well, I guess we really wore them out today. I got all the halloween pictures in a slide show from today...I have some others from carving our pumpkins too but don't know if I will get those added today because it's almost midnight but I'll add them later, so check back! So, bye for now...

Thursday, October 25, 2007

I have a cold!

Something about having a cold absolutely drives me crazy!!! I hate the fuzzy head feeling and I can't breath right and my nose hurts from blowing it so much and my eyes and throat are itchy...and...and...well you get the picture! Poor Ty...I kept him up so much last night with my snoring...I felt so bad this morning because I had kept him awake and all he said was, 'Ah it's no big deal, one night in 11 years is not too bad!' ahh bless him :) He's such a sweet guy, I love him to pieces! Even feeling yuky yesterday, I still managed to get a birthday card done for Ty's Grammy in Kansas. She will celebrate her 89th birthday on Saturday (so that means the card will be a little late, but nothing new there). I truly hope that I am able to live that long and still have most of my faculties about me, well at least as many as I have now...that's not saying a lot sometimes ;)





I had a great breakfast this morning with a dear friend, I don't think we chatted about many earth shaking events but it was really great getting together just to chat about nothing. I'm loving being able to do that too. Ty and I go just about every Wednesday after we drop the kids at school and last week I got a chance to go to breakfast/coffee with two other friends on Friday too. I could definitely get used to this new found freedom...


Let's see what other exciting news do I have.....hmm....not much...well exciting for me I guess...my wonderful mammy is sending me 3 pairs of much needed blue jeans! YAY!!! Not sure when I will get them but I'm very excited about it anyway, doesn't take much I guess LOL And...I have just over a week before I get to spend the afternoon scrapbooking away at the Midlands Craft Club very first Saturday crop!!! Yippee Yahoo!!!!!!!!!! I am VERY excited about this. I really hope this new craft club has a good turn out on the 3rd, it would be great to a good group of ladies that enjoy getting together to crop.



Lastly I will share one more picture of our cutie Maisy...we got her a rubber chicken to play with at the shop yesterday and it squeaks just a little bit. It is already worth all €5 it cost me, I have laughed until I had tears streaming down my face at her playing with this silly chicken! She is rolling it around, chewing on it, throwing it up in the air, whipping her head around with it and just carrying it around the house. She is absolutely hysterical! It's not a great picture as I took it with my phone and she wouldn't exactly hold still long enough to pose! I was trying to get one of her holding it in her mouth but she was moving about too much!

With that...I better go for now...more later when hopefully I'm feeling a bit better. TTFN

Monday, October 22, 2007

Hello again

Well I'm not doing so good at posting regularly, seems to stay at only once a week....I guess that's better than not at all!
Once again this week was crazy! And....once again I'm not sure what I actually did...but I know it wasn't laundry and it wasn't cleaning the house! It looks like a bomb went off in it! Well maybe not that bad...a couple nights ago as we were getting kids ready for bed, I asked Dagan to put his clothes in the laundry bin and he said, I can't mammy it's too full! I had to laugh outloud at him.....hmmmm I guess I better do some washing :(
I did manage to get a little crafting done this week, but it was in the way of cards mostly. I did do one LO too and fixed another one that had been bugging me for ages! I did this LO in a class a couple years ago and just never finished it. I looked so plain, every time I looked at it in Em's book it stared back at me and I hated it. So I 'fixed' it. I wish I would have taken a before shot of it but I didn't think of it until after.





I had a couple birthday cards to do also, one for a little friend of Em's and one for a friend of ours (can you spot the little goof-up???)

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Why is it going to school=being ill???

I don't get it, why is it as soon as school starts all children get ill in one way or another. Our kids have always always been so healthy. We never had an ear infection or any kind of '-itis' or anything more than a simple cold since birth.....until school happened! Now already this year, in less than two months of school, we've already had head lice in Emma that we have treated 5 times and we are still not sure that we got it all, throat infections in Austyn and Dagan, a stomach ache for Emma and some type of stomach bug or intestinal parasite in Dagan and now Dagan has a pretty bad cough and of course the three of them have the perpetual runny nose that I think every student has for the duration of their school years! Does this ever end? It could be worse...they have not had to miss very much from school so hopefully that continues and even through all of this, they have all managed to stay in pretty good spirits most of the time!

I had a scrapbook class again last night, I am really enjoying having the classes since I've started back after my summer break. I have such a good group of ladies that so faithfully take my classes and put up with my scattered brain...I wonder if any of them would believe that I actually did have a brain that could think straight once-upon-a-time...probably not! I have a couple crops that I will be attending in the near future so I will have more things to post up here soon...speaking of which, I have a page that I am trying to get going so I'm gonna be done for now...more later!

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Another week has past

Well I've been working to get this site up and running and hopefully I will be a little more diligent at updating it with new posts and pictures.

Let's see...what's been happening this week...funny how at the end of the week I've no idea what I've done but I know I was gone all the time! The kids had school all week and for the first time in weeks we had NO birthday parties to put on or attend! That helped our Saturday out a lot! We did get the kids' Halloween costumes so we are set for that and didn't even wait til the last minute..yippeeeee (you'll have to wait til then to see them tho...No sneak peeks ;)

The girls also started ballet this week and they were very excited about it! Austyn has been so anxious about taking ballet but there just wasn't anyone teaching it. Then, I talked to Aishling, their dance teacher from last year. She asked me if either of the girls were going to continue this year. I was hesitant at first because they didn't' seem to enjoy the hip-hop class last year but then, much to Austyn's excitement, she told me she had a ballet teacher this year...bad news, she wasn't going to start until after Christmas. Well Austyn was over the moon about starting 'soon' in ballet! We went ahead and started her in another class until the ballet started, since Emma was taking gymnastics on Saturdays. She was enjoying her time in the class very much (all 3 that she took) and then Ashling told us that the class was actually going to start early...again Austyn was thrilled!!! Well ballet started on Saturday and Austyn was SO EXCITED about it. Emma hadn't decided if she wanted to take the class or not but wanted to try it out first. (Poor Dagan just gets hang out with mommy while we taxi the girls around). When I collected the girls...Emma had made up her mind...so now we have two little ballerina-to-be's in the house. I'll take a picture of them and post it, maybe before next weeks class.

After Ty was finished with work and all the kids were collected from their various classes we all worked out in the garden. We got the trampoline down for the winter...kids are always a little sad when we take it down but then they were REALLY excited when we first put it up in the spring. We had beautiful weather so we all enjoyed it. They helped us take down the trampoline while they were riding their bikes around!

Well that is about all the ramblings I can do for now...nothing too much exciting was going on this week...I'll update more later. I have a Scrapbook class on Monday evening so I should have a few more things to add to my crafty slide show....Have a blessed week ahead. Bye for now!

Friday, October 12, 2007

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Hello...Welcome to my new blog site

I decided that it was time to change blog sites...I wanted a site that was a little easier to post to and set up slide shows and such...so what do you think?



So much has been going on lately and I'm affraid it isn't going to be slowing down anytime soon so hopefully I will actually have time to keep this thing updated...we'll see!



Check back soon for new pics of Austyn and Dagan's birthdays!!!



See you soon...kel