Summer is Finally Here

I have been out of school for over a month but I finally feel like summer is here! Things have been so hectic. Last Friday we finally were able to come to agreement with the commercial building and our uncle is taking over the payments (still in our name) but hopefully this will keep things good, and get the stress out of my life! Praying he will get it out of our name ASAP.

"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him....." ~Psalm 37:7 NIV
It is so hard to wait and to give all the worry over to Him. I tend to always take it back and keep worrying. I am so thankful that He always takes care of everything...even though it isn't always in the time frame that I would like!

Chads Birthday Surprise

March 25th was Chad's birthday. His mom REALLY surprised him with a car! She got a great deal on a 2003 Toyota Camry with less than 10,000 miles...so it is almost like brand new! His mom was so excited about it! She called me a few weeks in advance because she needed me to get insurance on it so that she could drive it here from Clarksburg (about an hour away). So I then had to keep it a secret! When she gave me the serial number, make and model and year, I wrote it all down on a smal sheet of paper. It was my bookmark. Well somehow I lost it out of my book and Chad discovered it! EEEEEEK! Luckily I was reading when he discovered it he said..."what is this? Is it from my mom?" ....so I played the.....let me finish this page when he asked me what the paper was. His mom had told him about this car to see if he was interested and he told her it sounded like a good deal but he was gonna drive his Grand Am until it was a pile of rust in the driveway. OK, so with that in mind, he finds this slip of paper aka my bookmark and asks me what it is...I used my let me finish this page tactic to give me a few seconds to think of what that paper could be!! I told him it was my aide Jaques and I was using as a bookmark cause it was trash. Then I said..."why did you ask me if it was from your mom?" He said, "Oh nothing, she was telling me about a car but that was a long time ago. I don't know why I thought it was from her." WIPE SWEAT FROM BROW!!!!!!!! About three or four more times I almost slipped up. Like the time he mentioned something about tires on the Grand Am...kinda freaked thinking he was gonna get new ones and almost slipped. Then I as the day approached I almost slipped and told him his mom was coming...and she wanted that to be part of the secret too. He was getting off work early that day cause he wanted to watch the big WV game. Well she wanted the car to be in the driveway when he arrived with the bow on top and banner in the windshield. She wanted the kids to be there for the surprise too so I had to pick them up early from school since Chad was coming home from work early.

We had everything ready and were hiding in the garage where we could see. Chad was arriving home when I would have typically been picking up the kids from school (if I hadn't already gotten them early!) When Chad turned down the road he said he saw the big yellow bow on top of the car. His first thought was who is in the driveway...Michelle is picking up the kids. Then he thought..and who is laying no top of that car. He thought the bow was a person!

When he pulled into the driveway he saw the banner that said Happy Birthday Chad. He yelled out the window, "Are you serious?" He was in total shock! He just kinda sat there for a minute then got out of the car and headed straight to hug his mom! What a fabulous Birthday surprise!!!

Seeds Are Sprouting!

I am so excited! My cucumber seeds are sprouting already! WOOHOO! Now if everything else will sprout!! I still haven't planted my herbs or flower seeds yet. Best be doing that this weekend I guess!

Christina and Angela are going to a worship conference tomorrow. I can't take off work so I am just going to the concert part in the evening. Heather Sloan and I are driving up as soon as Heather gets off work. I am hoping we will have a little extra time so we can stop at Micheals!:) I have a coupon!! I am so excited for a girls evening!

I am working on a fun new project for my mom for Mother's day! While Chad and I were at Amish country I fell in love with these little Fairy Gardens. I found a FREE big clay pot on the curb last weekend, thanks to Diana for calling to tell me about it!! So I am getting ready to start mom's fairy garden. I have already been to Crafts 2000 to buy some miniatures to decorate it. Now I just have to find the right herbs to plant!! This is going to be fun. I am posting a photo of the garden I saw in Amish country. I hope mine will turn out as cute!

Sick of Sickness!

Who invited the cold back to WV? It is freezing outside again. Yesterday it was a warm 74 degree high. I want spring!!

When will everyone be healthy again? For the past two days I have had a splitting headache, dizzy, fevered and just feeling plain awful. After work I came home and slept the rest of the day. I was awake long enough to watch Idol and then back to bed. Thankfully I am feeling some better today. Brooke missed school yesterday with the same headache, dizziness and fever as me. Thankfully today we were both feeling well enough to go to school. Poor Nic is looking like he might be next. He overslept this morning and just wasn't himself. I have been expecting the school to call for me to come pick him up all day. Praying that he has gotten better and won't be sick!

I thought that Danny and Chris both did excellent last night. Scott really blew me away too. My guess is Anoop and Jorge will be going home tonight. To me their performances were the weakest.

Well I am off to prepare my bible story for Awana tonight. My little Sparks (K-2nd grade) are so much fun and just love their bible story time at Awana. I do my best to make it special for them:) I am thinking maybe puppets tonight!

Beverly Lewis Books

I love, love, love every book I have ever read by Beverly Lewis!

The past couple months I have read the whole series of Summerhill Secrets. Which are actually teen novels...but very good! I passed them along to Brooke and I hope she will enjoy them as much as I did. These are from an "Englisher" point of view living beside Amish.

I just finished The Redemption Of Sarah Cain. Another fabulous Amish story. Now I can't wait to get the movie!!

My favorite Beverly Lewis series is Abram's Daughters. This is the series that really got me back into reading for pleasure!

I recommend Bevery Lewis books! I talked Josie into starting Abrams Daughters. When she comes to visit this summer we are gonna head to Amish country for a day! I had such a good time at Amish country after reading these books!!

Now I have to find a new book to start. Hmmmm...could always reread Twilight I guess! Can't wait till March 21st when the DVD is out. Gotta see it again!!!

My American Idol Top 13 Favorites!

I have never been so happy with a Top 12 or 13 as it is this year! There were only a couple that came through that I didn't pick. There was one, Felicia Barton, that I feel got ripped off. Why in the world didn't they pick her for the wild card at least?? so i was pretty bummed about Felicia.

My top two are Danny and Chris. Both are worship leaders at their churches which is just awesome in itself! I am praying that they will be able to show Jesus in all that they do. Danny has such a strong voice. I gotta admit he is truly my favorite and I was so excited when they announced his place in the top 13!!

Go Danny and Chris!!

Starting My Garden

So where oh where did my weekend go? The weather was in the 70's and oh so beautiful! It really got me in the gardening mood that is for sure!

I garden using Earthboxes because I have very little yard space that is flat enough for a garden. With the earthboxes I can plant on my patio. I get way more veggies from my earthboxes than I ever got from planting in the ground though because the earthboxes have a selfcontained watering system. I have to water once a day or sometimes twice a day when it is really hot...but wow we get a huge abundance of produce all summer long!!

I usually purchase my veggie plants to plant in the earthboxes when it is time to set them out. However, this year I decided to try growing from seed to save some money. We shall see. I have been researching and reading about starting from seed. Oh I so hope that I can do it! I have planted 216 seeds in jiffy pots. Cucumbers, red peppers, green peppers, beefstake tomatoe, cherry tomato, spaghetti squash, yellow straigtneck squash, scallions, acorn squash, zuchini. I usually grow eggplant but last year I didn't have much luck so I am switching to spaghetti squash this year to give it a try!

So this is day one for my planted seeds! Maybe the seed thing can keep me content while I wait to get outside to garden. Come on SPRING!!! I am so ready for the cold to be long gone! These past two days of nice spring weather have me itching for it to last!! I will try to post pictures of my seed project soon!:)

Creamy Ramen Noodles

My kids love Ramen noodles. Here is a new twist that we are loving! Fast and easy is what I love about it!!

Creamy Ramen NoodlesIngredients
1 (3 ounce) package ramen noodles, any flavor, with seasoning packet
2 cups water
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup milk

Directions
Bring water to boil in a small sauce pan. Add dried noodles and cook 3 minutes, or until noodles are tender. Stir occasionally.

Drain away water. Return noodles to sauce pan.

Add butter, milk and contents of seasoning packet. Heat on low heat and stir until butter is melted and noodles are coated with creamy sauce.

Time Flies 2009 update!

Wow! It is hard to believe that it is already March! The weather was so beautiful here today, in the 70's! WOOHOOO! I am so sick of the snow and freezing cold. Welcome spring!!!

Life has been pretty calm here. I have been feeling better with my new treatment. So hopefully the pills will continue to control the endometriosis. I have a little pain here and there but it is manageable now at least.

Chad has a fractured sesanoid(sp?) bone in his foot. It is all caused by his right knee that needs a partial replacement. We went to the Dr in Cincinatti yesterday and he recommended orthodics in his shoes and if it isn't doing better in 3 months, surgeryt o remove the sesanoid bone from his foot. Apparently it is a bone you do not have to have, we are doing our research on that still. So prayers for his foot to heal with no surgery are greatly needed!

I finally have my scraproom somewhat organized with what I have to work with for now. I am really hoping for some cabinets and countertop to really make it how I want it...but for now I am settling with what I have. It doesnt look beautiful but it works and I am able to get things accomplished without feeling overwhelmed by a mess! I am currently working on an album for our pastor. He is retiring from our church so we collected some photos and I am almost done putting the album together.

The boys are both playing indoor soccer every Saturday. They love it. Especially Tyler, and he is doing great. Last week he scored the only two goals to win the game for his team! Nic has been doing good too, just hasnt scored any goals. He is better at defending the goal!

Brooke is playing volleyball at the YMCA and will be starting up her track season next week with hurdles and long distance. She is also singing in the county honor choir and will be performing in front of the whole county in a couple weeks.

All the kids had great grades! Tyler and Brooke both with straight A's and Nic with straight B's! They were all listed in the newspaper for their awesome grades! I am so proud of them for working hard and doing their best!

I am loving my job as a preschool teacher/director. I couldn't think of a better job for me right now! The hours are perfect because I can take the kids to school and be out with plenty of time to do a few errands and then be able to pick the kids up from school. The only thing I wish is that I had retirement. Then it would be perfect! But it is pretty close to perfect and I LOVE teaching 3 and 4 yr olds. I wish I had a little more time to devote to our FaithSisters website but hopefully I can get everything caught up over the summer break!

52 Blessings {Week 6}

I am so blessed to have the most wonderful husband. We have been married for 13 going on 14 years! Wow it just doesn't seem that long! Looking back at these pictures though...wow have we aged! We looked like kids when we got married!

I couldn't ask for a better husband. Of course we have our moments but for the most part we see eye to eye on most everything. He does so much more than most husbands. We are truly a team. I thank the Lord for him every single day.

I am so blessed!

52 Blessings {Week 5}

I am so blessed to have a healthy, smart and beautiful daughter. She just turned 13 and I keep thinking to myself. Only a little while longer to keep her here at home with me. They just grow up to quickly. Doing my best to train her up in the way she should go. Praying that she will always stay on the right path, the one that God has planned for her.

Brooke is super smart. I homeschooled her for 7 years. Then she started public school last year for 7th grade. She has done so well in school! Straight A's with an occasional B in math. I feel like she has such a strong foundation both educational and spiritually. I pray that she will always remember to put God first!

52 Blessings {Week 4}

My little sister Julie lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband Chris. She is the youngest of us girls but my brother is the youngest of the family. Julie had a sickly childhood. She had horrid allergies and terrible asthma. Life was often crappy for her. She was allergic to so many different foods, including corn (all forms of it) and corn is in nearly everything. She was allergic to milk too. Those are the two that I remember the most. She was always on medicine. Some of the medicines gave her hallucinations. One time she was so mad at us because we were all floating in bubbles and she couldn't figure out how to get in a bubble too.

She has grown up to be a healthy girl! She still has allergies but thank the Lord they are much milder than they used to be. I am so thankful that she is so much healthier now.

We don't get to see each other much, but when we do we always have loads of fun. Our favorite thing to do is play Canasta! We even formed a Canasta club!:) If we don't get in at least one game when we are together we feel ripped off! So we usually find the time for at least ONE game! We also love to play sing star and American Idol!

Love my littlest sister!:)

52 Blessings {Week 3}

I am so blessed to have FaithSisters in my life. I knew with all my heart that the Lord wanted us to pursue our ideas for FaithSisters. The way things came together it could have only been God. The way things have grown it is obviously God! Each day I am so blessed to chat with likeminded Christian women and see how their day has gone. To pray for their needs. To know that when I have needs they are praying for me. My FaithSisters are the first prayer warriors that I head to when I need prayer. We have seen so many answers to the prayers we have lifted up.

I knew FaithSisters was going to be awesome, but I never really imagined it could be this awesome! I am so blessed to have met so many wonderful women who I call friends. I have only got to meet a few of them in person. Hopefully I will get to meet more of them here on this earth, but if not I know that someday we will all be celebrating together in heaven!

Scrappy Organizing - ordering albums

Wow! It has been a long weekend already and it is only Sat night! My friend Diana came over Friday morning to keep me company in my scraproom while I cleaned and organized. She was scrapping, which of course made me quite jealous! But I did what I so desperately have needed to do for the past year! It is now almost midnight Saturday but I feel like I have accomplished SO MUCH! WOOHOO! My scraproom is organized...now I didn't say it was beautiful or anything (hoping for cabinets and countertop someday- watching the bulletin board for a good deal!)but it is at least better than it was and I can scrap in there now! Finally!

I had over 100 layouts made without pictures! From conventions, classes I have designed and taught and then last year I made a new kit each week at Get Crafty Studios. Wonderful scrapbook pages, mostly two page spreads...with no photos and journaling. So that stack has been laying in my room, piling up with more and more all along for the past few years...and really grew last year with creating all those layouts for the kits every week! I FINALLY tackled the stack! I went through boxes of pictures and just worked most of the day Fri and Saturday putting pictures onto those already scrapped pages. I still have 13 single page layouts and 3 two page spreads that are pictureless. I need to print some of my digital photos, but I at least know which ones I need already so that is a good thing! Not only did I get pictures on these layouts but tonight, I just put all of them into the proper albums!

Putting all those layouts into albums has caused a huge problem though! I am now out of album space and page protectors! So I am placing an album order! Anyone who needs 12x12 We R Memory D ring albums, let me know and I will add your order to mine. I will be placing the order hopefully by Wed of this week.

I have lunch in the crock pot for after church~ Creamy Chicken and Noodles (if it is good I will post the recipe later!) Diana and her family are coming to eat after church. Then we are playing a game of Canasta. The boys will then watch football while Diana and I escape to my scraproom for some serious scrappin time!! I am treating myself to a day of actual SCRAPBOOKING since I accomplished so much. That attatching pictures to already finished pages was pure torture...I just wanted to scrap! Which is exactly the reason that I haven't tackled that stack before now! Whenever I think I might, well I just start scrapping and lay the stack aside! WOOHOO. I am just so excited to have that stack dwindled down and into my albums!

52 Blessings {Week 2}

Today was a wonderful and relaxing day. We had a great service at church with Preacher Jack from Peacemaker Ministries. I took a long nap after church and then started working on some My Prayers For You Challenge stuff for FaithSisters.

52 Blessings {Week 2}



I have been so blessed for the past 34 years to have a wonderful Christian grandfather. We lost grandpa on New Years Eve. His memorial service was just breathtaking. There were more people in attendance than we ever would have imagined. The parking lot was overflowing and cars were parking along the road on both sides with people having to walk quite a ways to get to the church. Some people have even told us that they didn't know what to do since the parking was so far away and they decided to just leave. We know know there were over 200 people in attendance at the funeral. That is alot of people at the funeral of a 79 year old man! We shouldn't have been surprised though becaue grandpa was a very well liked man.

He was very quiet and soft spoken. As a child I remember him always singing. He lead singing at church. Grandma babysat all of us while mom worked. When grandpa worked night shift we would have to be very quiet. Sometimes we would hear grandpa singing and think that he had gotten up...but he was singing in his sleep! He loved to sing. The last song that we sang at his memorial service was Sing and Be Happy. That is my favorite song of all of his favorites and I can remember him singing it years ago as he lead singing at our church.

My grandpa was such a blessing to so many people. He fought a long hard battle with Parkinson disease but through it all he always did all he could to attend church and set a Godly example. I am sure that the angels were rejoicing when he joined their choir on New Years Eve!

52 Blessings Project Week 1

It was a freezing cold day here in WV. We had a Snow Day! No school. So good for me because I was feeling very bad today. Would it be to much to ask for a snow day tomorrow too? Oh I could sure use another day off;)

I am so excited to be starting the 52 Blessings Project from Faith Sisters. The challenge is to Post 1 Blessing for each week all year long. Maybe this will help me to be a better blogger too:)

52 Blessings Project Week 1
There are so many blessings in my life. The first one that I will spotlight is my wonderful family. I feel so blessed to be married to a wondeful Christian man. Chad is such a great husband and loving father. I could not ask for a better husband. Sure, he isn't perfect, but he works hard to be his very best. I admire him for his commitment to everything that he does.

My three children are healthy. They are the joy of my life. They are smart and talented and so sweet. The Lord blessed me with the most wonderful family!

Not the Gall Bladder

Test results are back from my lovely gall bladder function test Wed morning. As much as I wanted it to be my gall bladder causing all of this...after all they could take it out and I can live without it and be pain free...well the test is showing that it is functioning at 90% so that is most likely not the cause of the pain. NOW WHAT??? I don't know. I go back to my surgeon net Wed. maybe he will have some other ideas. My chiropractor is wandering if it still might have something to do with my kidney...so my guess is my next stop will be a Kidney Dr. I think I need to start some kind of third job so I can pay for all of the tests they are doing to get to the root of this pain. Not to mention that with every new test is another week or two of waiting. Why can't they do the tests all in one day and get me out of this pain instead of dragging it out?????? OK I am whining. I am sure I am suppose to be learning something from all this. Patience? Tolerating pain? Being Strong? Only time will tell I guess.

ON to some happy news! My family is participating in the New Hope For the Holidays Christmas program with our church this weekend. Tonight is the first performance. Chad is a tree, Nic a gingerbread man, Tyler a paige and a present(at seperate scenes), Brooke a candy cane and she is also singing a duet of "Where are you Christmas". I was suppose to be an angel...but I had to turn in my halo because was afraid I wouldnt be able to stand on the stage that long without falling over in pain. Plus, we have a retreat this weekend so it would have been difficult. The first performance is tonight so I will get to go take pictures and watch my family perform:) Should be a fun night!

We are having a scrapbook retreat this weekend at the studio. It should be fun because a few friends are coming too. My friend Heather from church is having a birthday on Sunday so going to have a little bday party for her. Us December babies have to stick together..nobody ever throws us parties cause they are to busy with Christmas..so I will live my birthday party that never happens through her!!;)

Well Brooke is begging to go to the mall before church so I am heading back for more shopping fun. Was already there once today...but I can't complain...Aeropostle was having a HUGE sale! Shirts and sweats for 1.99 and 2.99 and jeans for 5.99!!! WOOHOO!!

Thanksgiving and Shopping

What a great holiday! I can't upload my pictures though because my camera battery died! I only ended up getting a couple of pictures of Grandpa playing Rock Band. He has been so sick with his Parkinsons...we never expected him to make it to Thanksgiving a few weeks ago. Well if the camera battery had to die I am thankful that I got these couple of shots with grandpa playing the drums! I will get them uploaded just as soon as I remember to charge the battery...can you tell I am sick...what scrapper let's the camera battery die and then leaves it uncharged this long. This pain is seriously overwhelming me.

My little sister and her husband came in from Atlanta. All of the family was there! We had 31 family members at Thanksgiving dinner. That number is down about 8from last year! Can't believe I missed all those photo opps :(

After Thanksgiving dinner my sisters, aunt and I devoured the black Friday ads. It is tradition for us to go shopping on Black Friday. Crazy but true! Christina, Brooke and I left at 3:30am to head to Kohls. Oh my heck, there were only more than 1,000 people already wrapping around the parking lot standing in line! We got there later than expected due to traffic at 3:30am! EVERYONE is looking for the deals THIS Christmas it seems! Well we shopped for 11 hours, well maybe I should make that clearer. We shopped for 4 hours and waited in lines the rest of the 7 hours! That may be stretching it a little on the waiting in lines, but it has to be pretty close! I was feeling quite dead and lived on pain killers the rest of the weekend trying to recover. Even my arms were sore! I did get most of my Christmas shopping done. Still have a little to do but I am so happy that I was able to get great deals on the majority of the presents this year!

My little sis, Julie never comes home for a visit without us playing Canasta. Our alltime favorite card game. It just wouldnt be right to have her home and not play. We even have a Canasta Club notebook with scores from the last 3 or 4 years of games..most of them are when Julie is in town! We have a blast playing Canasta. Remember how I said I lived on pain killers after the shopping...well the pain killers alter my memory! Or should I say make it nonexistant! Julie and I are rarely beaten as a team. In fact, they rarely let us play together cause we dominate the Canasta club! I wouldn't be surprised if they don't stalk up on some pain killers to push on me the next time we play! Everyone but Julie was thrilled with my lack of memory, we got beat 3 out of 4 times. It was 12am when we started the final game....cause we refused to quit playing until we won at least once!

Although I am not feeling at my best...well far from my best...this was a fabulous Thanksgiving weekend. I hope to be feeling better by Christmas though so I can enjoy the feast!!

The Pain continues

Just back from the surgeon. He is not at all worried about the catheter in my liver. Says that sometimes they put small catheters in like that to relieve pressure in cirrhosis patients...so he thinks it should be just fine and not cause me any problems. The problem is, I am still having pain in my right side! So what is causing it???? I almost feel like they think I am crazy, and because I know the little thingy is in my liver I am making up the pain. UGH!

So anyways...he says he thinks it sounds like classic gall bladder. So now more tests to see if the gall bladder is functioning. The ultrasound on my liver also studied the gall bladder and they said it looked normal already. He sent me out to eat some high fat and greasy food and see if the pain got worse. It has been an hour since I ate and the pain is still just the same. I go on the 3rd for gall bladder function test.

I do have to say I feel a little better knowing that he isn't concerned about the catheter. He said that it will likely cause much worse problems trying to remove it than it would to just leave it. I am still going for a second opinion at Cleveland Clinic in the near future.

I am so exhausted! I think I am going to take a 20 minute power nap before I start working on my Thanksgiving desserts to take to moms house! My little sister is traveling from Atlanta, typically a 8 hr drive but will most likely be much longer tonight with all the traffic.

I can't wait to go Black Friday shopping! It is a tradition for my sisters and I to head out around 4am to shop the day away! I sure hope there are some good deals on the things my children want this year for Christmas! I am looking specifically for a good point and shoot camera for Brooke!

Have a very blessed Thanksgiving!

Twilight

I haven't read the books yet, but Brooke and my cousins Kacie and Jodi and I went to the premiere on Thursday night. Wow! FABULOUS movie! Of course everyone says the books are better. Aren't they always?? So I am ready to dive into the first Twilight book! Sunny sent it to me in my surprise box! The Dr has ordered me to just relax and do nothing....so I am hoping to spend some time relaxing and reading! I am going to do some scrapping too. I think if I scrap in small intervals it shouldn't bother my back. I am sure hoping at least!



It is FREEZING here. Seems like winter has come early. I don't understand why we never have FALL anymore around here. We go from HOT to FREEZING. Where oh where did fall disappear to?? We have already had our first two hour delay with approximately 3 inches of snow covering the roads. It was pouring down big HUGE flakes when we were going in to see Twilight. We were all hoping for lots of snow when we came back out so there would be a two hour delay...but no such luck! We got out of the movie at almost 3am and then back up by 6:30am. EEEEK! So yesterday was a tired day. I worked and then took a twenty minute nap and went to crop club! I slept in till 10am this morning!

Well I really wish I could get my house cleaned up...but as per Dr orders I am heading to the lazyboy to start on my Twilight book and relax:)