Happy Anniversary to my ‘Rents!

Today my parents celebrate their 36th wedding anniversary! Thank you Mom and Dad for being an example of what it means to stick together through rich & poor, in sickness & health, and for better or worse. ♥ Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad! ♥

Thanks for the Prayers!

Thank you for all the prayers yesterday! I think they were definitely heard. I’m happy to report that my Mom is now at home resting (or she is supposed to be resting!) and doing well. The heart catherizations showed that there was not any damage to her heart. There was no plaque and the heart was clear! We still don’t know what is causing her chest pain but at least it isn’t the heart or life threatening so they’ll be working to figure out the cause of the chest pain next week.

Prayers for my Momma Please

Please take a minute and say a prayer for my Momma. She went to the ER yesterday having chest pains. Her heart rate was fast and her blood pressure and oxygen levels were low.

They decided to admit her and started an 18 hour EKG. This morning they did a stress test. The test showed that there may be a problem with the front part of her heart. They are going to do a heart catherization tomorrow. The hospital that she was at doesn't do heart catherizations so they transported her to another hospital earlier tonight. 

We're not sure when the heart catherization will be. The doctor at the second hospital stopped by once my Momma was settled and said his schedule for tomorrow was crazy so she could go ahead and have breakfast and they'd do it sometime in the afternoon or evening depending on how crazy things got.  I'm taking an overnight bag in case I want to stay at my parents' house tomorrow night but I will update you all when I can. 

Oh, and while your saying prayers, say a quick one for me. My ulcer has been flaring up - I imagine it's just stress but it sure is painful and uncomfortable!

Photo is my Momma with her kitties taken in Feb.

Wordless Wednesday: My Hero

J and I just love this shirt - especially because J often refers to Noah as "little Hero." 

Project 365: April 13- April 19

Monday April 13 (day 103)Dino socks that were in Noah's Easter Basket.

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Tuesday April 14 (day 104)Love these socks! 

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Wednesday April 15 (day 105)

Posing with his ribbon at the Special Olympics

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Thursday April 16 (day 106)

Grandad helping Noah bat at a Miracle League game.

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Friday April 17 (day 107) At the Young Republicans Political Rally

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Saturday April 18 (day 108) Book signed by Mike Gallagher at yesterday’s political rally.

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Sunday April 19 (day 109)

Our 6th anniversary

The Gift Tea

As many of you know, I belong to a Tea Ministry at my church. Each month, different ladies host a tea with a theme and small decorations. My Mom also belongs to this group and had signed up to host the May tea so of course, I helped.

My Mom came up with the theme of God's Gifts since the "program" portion of the May tea always revolves around the Secret Sipper (think Secret Sister) reveal. She did most of the work for this tea and came up with using simple boxes decorated with ribbons and bows so they look like presents. We added a little tulle to the middle of each table and nestled the gifts in the tulle. Our favors were decorated candy bars. (Decorating candy bars is one of my new fave things to do. Odd I know!) I added a tag with one of my favorite quotes, “What you are is God’s gift to you, What you become is your gift to God." 

I was also very proud of my Momma as she gave an abbreviated version of her testimony which includes some hard things she went through during her life. 

Here are some of the tables set up with the centerpieces........

Here's some of the candy bar favors..............

Miracle League Spring Season 2009

I realized the other day I hadn't posted any Miracle League pictures this season! First, in case you don't know what Miracle League is - let me educate you! Miracle League is baseball for kids with special needs. There is a special field that makes it easy for walkers and wheelchairs to navigate. There's no outs, no strikes - only winners. Each child bats twice during a regular game. It's not so much about the actual game as it is the self esteem and pride that each child gets from being a part of a team and from playing a sport. During the games, each child has an able bodied buddy. Sometimes they are teens from a local youth group or baseball players from a local college, but Noah has a special buddy each and every week. He brings Granddad as his buddy. (Well, except for the week that Granddad was out of town for work and Noah refused to play because he wasn’t there!) I guess Noah’s just gotten spoiled to Granddad being his buddy, “stealing the bases” and just having a good time playing baseball together that Noah refuses to let anyone else attempt to be his buddy. He’s definitely loyal! 
Sadly, the season is almost over. Next Thursday is a short game (each team will play one inning) and then there will be the awards ceremony, (each kid gets a trophy) and end of the season party.
So, without further adieu, here are some of my favorite pictures from the season!

Noah and Granddad having a very serious talk in the dugout. I assume they are discussing strategy or something equally important.

Noah and Granddad fielding the ball. Granddad is pointing showing Noah where to throw it to.

Getting the bat from the "catcher." Noah is very particular about which bat he uses, but doesn't have to use the same bat each time, which surprises me. I guess he uses whatever bat strikes him at the moment.

Batter Up!

Grandad helping Noah bat. (I LOVE his smile when he is batting!)

Once Noah hits the ball, he doesn't just throw the bat back like most baseball players do. Nope, he politely hands it back!

And their off!

Noah signing that he loves Granddad or maybe baseball or maybe both!

Giving the Coach (aka Daddy in Noah's case) "five" when he crosses home plate.

  Posing in front of the Miracle League banner

Project 365: April 6 - April 12

Monday April 6 (day 95)Busy time of the year with so much to do!

Tuesday April 7 (day 96)Reading

Wednesday April 8 (day 97)Silly Noah trying on his Daddy's shoes Thursday April 9 (day 98)My adorable new brown polky dot shoes

Friday April 10 (day 99)Proud parents posing with our "Terrific Kid"

Saturday April 11 (day 100 of Project 365!!) Easter eggs we dyed.

Sunday April 12 (day 101) Easter Sunday

Tutorial Thursday: Lil’ Composition Notebooks

Awhile back I was at the Dollar Store and saw these little composition notebooks pictured below.

They come 4 to a package making them just 25 cents each! They are small - a little over 3 inches wide and 4 inches tall.

They are sort of cute the way they are but I knew I could make them cuter - so I went to work! And here's what I came up with.........

This is super duper easy but oh so very cute and no one will know you did it so quickly; well, unless you tell them! They are just a perfect little size - perfect to keep in your purse to jot down little lists or things you need to remember or the perfect to keep next to your computer and jot things down as well. They'd also be cute little party favors done in party colors.  

You'll need:  Lil' Composition Notebooks (obviously!)Scrapbooking Paper Coordinating Ribbon Coordinating Embellishments like stickers, artificial flowers, buttons, etc…  Glue Stick Scissors Pencil What You'll Do:

Trace around your notebook leaving a little room on each end for when it is open and then cut around the traced lines.

 Liberally apply glue to the paper and the little notebook then line up the ends of the paper with the end of the notebook and glue it down. Repeat on the other side. If you have any excess paper anywhere, trim it off. 

Now, cut some ribbon for the front and the back of your little notebook so that when it is shut you can tie it closed. Glue the ribbon on the inside of the front and back covers. Also, glue down the first page to the inside of the front cover and the last page to the inside of the back cover so you can not see where the ribbon is glued down. 

Embellish the front however you like! Use stickers, flowers,  buttons, rhinestones - whatever you want! Admire your work and make some more!

Butterflies are nice and pretty. This particular one is nice and glittery too. 

Add a little bling with rhinestones like the flower shaped rhinestones I used in this one. 

Project 365: March 30 - April 5

Monday March 30 (day 88)These pictures (my wedding photo and Andy’s graduation photo) hang in the living room at my parents’ house. My Mom was telling me how the Merry Maids are always asking if that is her daughter’s picture and then commenting how pretty the picture is. Makes an old girl feel good. :) 

Tuesday March 31 (day 89)Signs of the Times – this sign is outside a sandwich shop near by parents’ house. Wednesday April 1 (day 90)My crazy BFF and her April Fools Prank(In case you can't read it as the pic isn't that great, it says "Oh no, the stick turned blue!") 

Thursday April 2 (day 91)

Reading at the library during spring break. 

Friday April 3 (day 92)

Sleeping in the hotel in Summerville, SC. 

Saturday April 4 (day 93) Hugging Uncle Andy before we leave Summerville

Sunday April 5 (day 94) Self Portrait

Wordless Wednesday: Sending Love to Heaven

On Mother's Day we stopped by the cemetery (where J's mom is buried) to leave some flowers for her for Mother's Day. We let Noah get a balloon to send to heaven for her and this is one of the photos I snapped as the balloon floated upward to heaven. 

Things I Made my Momma for Mother's Day

Earlier in the week I mentioned on facebook that I was running to Hobby Lobby to grab a few things I’d need in order to finish making a gift for my Mom and several people demanded um I mean requested that I post pictures when I was finished. Since my Mom is a reader (hi Mom!) of this blog, I couldn’t post the pics until she had the gifts. I made her several different things……

First up, is my favorite thing that I made her. It’s a personalized candle. I saw it online somewhere last week and since my Mom likes candles, I thought it would be a neat gift. I had my Dad email me some pics of me and my Mom as a child and I chose one of those, I changed it from a color photo to a black and white photo just because it looked more vintage that way and then I printed it. I used my scrapbooking paper and ribbon for the rest of it. It turned out way cool if I do say so myself. 

The other thing I made my Mom was a memory jar. I saw the idea on a craft blog last week and thought it was a very neat idea so I started trying to get in touch with my brother, which is not an easy thing! Finally, I spoke with him and he agreed to email me 8 memories he had of him and my Mom from childhood to present day. I typed my memories and typed up a few of Noah’s. I added Andy’s to the mix when he emailed them. I then printed them all out and cut them a part into little strips. I rolled up each strip and then tied it with ribbon. I tied mine with pink ribbon, Andy’s with purple ribbon, and Noah’s with orange ribbon so when my Mom picked them up she’d automatically know who’s she was about to read. I put them all in a glass jar that I decorated with stickers. 

When I asked Noah what he wanted to give my Mom for Mother’s/Nana’s Day (as he named it) he said socks. She gives him socks a lot so this made sense to me. So, I took him to WalMart and let him pick out some of those iron on patch/appliqués in the craft section. Then we picked out matching socks and I ironed them on one night when he was in bed. They turned out super cute and were very inexpensive to make (most of the socks were only 1.00 at WalMart) and now I want to do some for myself! 

So, there ya have it - the crafts I made for my Momma!