Today's Verse




Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas!

I hope all of you are having a wonderful Christmas. My family had our annual gathering at my mom's on Christmas eve. I won't bore you with the details (yet) but I did want to share this small concert provided by my Aunt Hy, my cousins Traci, Trina & Tim. Enjoy and I wish you a continued blessed holiday!




Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Card Time!

I am pretty sure all my loved ones have received their Christmas cards by now so I guess it is time to post the final results for all my bloggy friends. We stayed with our very simple theme of card this year, but took a different route on the scripture. The second page explains how we came up with this years card. We hope you enjoy it!


Cover


Inside cover


And of course the picture.


My family wishes you all a very merry Christmas. Our prayers for you that the coming year is filled with many blessings. I probably won't be posting until after the new year, but I have a really big surprise!!!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Annual Christmas Tour

Every year we try to drive around looking at everyone's Christmas decorations. We have some great places to go and this year has been really good because Mattie May is "getting" Christmas. She has been so much fun. I never know where I am going to find the ornaments on my tree, but at least she has learned to put one back when she wants to take one off!

Sunday night we took our tour and had a wonderful time even though a cold front blew in! I hope everyone is enjoying this entire season.

Merry Christmas!

Be sure to click on the Scrapblog icon on the bottom of the picture.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Christmas Card Pictures!

I love Christmas cards!!! I love that all my friends send them, put thought into them, to see what they want to express to loved ones each year. We get some from the other side of the world and some from friends and family right here at home.

Frank and I have always tried to express our feelings of the holiday through our cards. We always want to have scripture on them and preferably a picture of the Christ child, because, after all, that is what we are celebrating. Some years it was just a simple card with a lovingly hand written sentiment and some years we would add a letter letting everyone know what we had done through the year.

Then along came Mattie May. We decided right then and there that she would always be a part of our Christmas cards.

The first year was easy; stick a wobbly 9 month old baby in a box decorated in Christmas wrap and viola! This is what you get...


May the Lord bless your Christmas with sweet surprises.


Cute is just not enough to describe that little face sticking out of that box!

The next year, when you have a toddling almost two year old, who you believe is the sweetest angel on the face of the earth, you get this...



And the angel said unto them, "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people."


Luke 2:10 KJV



So how do you top those two? She has studied so many things this year and learned so much. She has got an unbelievable vocabulary and you wish you were around more kids her age to see if they talk as much as she does. But you have to have a darling picture with a scripture to match. That is when you get this...




OH! Come on now! Did you really think I would show you the card and picture before all my loved ones received them in the mail? You all know me better than that by now! So enjoy your little teaser and I will get the final picture posted in the weeks to come.


Until then, enjoy your preparations for the holidays and don't let it stress you out. It is after all a time to worship and enjoy your family. Love to all and I hope you can endure the wait.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

With 22 days before Christmas, REMEMBER:


Jesus is Better than Santa...

Santa lives at the North Pole.
JESUS is everywhere.

Santa rides in a sleigh
JESUS rides on the wind and walks on the water.

Santa comes but once a year
JESUS is an ever-present help.

Santa fills yours stockings with goodies
JESUS supplies all your needs.

Santa comes down your chimney uninvited
JESUS stands at your door and knocks and then enters your heart.

You have to stand in line to see Santa
JESUS is as close as the mention of His name.

Santa lets you sit on his lap
JESUS lets you rest in His arms.

Santa doesn't know your name, all he can say is "Hi little boy or girl, what's your name?"
JESUS knew our name before we did. Not only does He know our name, He knows our address too. He knows our history and future and He even knows how many hairs are on our heads.

JESUS has a heart full of love.
JESUS offers health, help and hope.

Santa says "You better not cry"
JESUS says "Cast all your cares on me for I care for you."

Santa's little helpers make toys
JESUS makes new life, mends wounded hearts, repairs broken homes and builds mansions.

Santa may make you chuckle but...
JESUS gives you joy that is your strength.

While Santa puts gifts under your tree,
JESUS became our gift and died on the tree.

It's obvious there is really no comparison.
We need to remember WHO Christmas is all about.
We need to put Christ back in Christmas.

Jesus is still the reason for the season.

May the Lord Bless and Watch over you and your loved ones this Christmas 2008
And my He prosper and bless the work of your hands in the New Year 2009.


One of my non-bloggy friends sent this to me and I wanted to share.

Friday, November 28, 2008

We Have Survived and We Won!

Walmart at 5AM! lol












My alarm went off at 3:00AM, we left the house by
3:25AM, arrived at Walmart at 3:40AM and only had to park about five spaces out! YeeHaw! We had time to make a loop around the store to find the items we wanted then we took up our post at our selected pallets. At five minutes til five we could hear the wave of shrink wrap being removed (shredded) from the pallets so we started pulling. I grabbed a Cricut (which we decided not to get by the time we left the store) and Katie grabbed "The Jeep"! She is the winner of the day!




There were eight jeeps on the pallet and 15 people waiting to get one. The 'sweet' lady next to her, that the top of her head struck her about mid armpit politely looked up at Katie and told her "I am not afraid to throw elbows!" Can you believe that? Katie had already made an alliance with a young man standing with her on how they were going to get two of those off at once. She looked at him and they grinned at each other. Then she turned that 'sweet' lady and replied "My elbows hit higher!" The man that was with her started laughing and that was about the time the shrink wrap started flying. Their alliance worked out. They both walked (ran) away with a jeep and we finished our shopping. She hurt her arm in the process (she has a gigantic bruise on her bicep and a scratch on her chin) but she got the jeep.





I promise - she was polite to everyone, but that lady was rude. Katie did NOT throw any elbows! We left Walmart by 6AM and headed to Sam's. The wait at the check out was worse than the wait till five o'clock. We hit several more stores and met up with the cousins at Kmart then we were home by 8AM.





I have had my nap and am headed back to my aunts to visit with the family. I hope each of you has had a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday. I have had so many blessing to thank God for this year and I hope I have not forgotten to thank Him for any. I pray that the coming month is fun for you and that we can all remind all those that seem to have forgotten why we are actually celebrating.





And finally, two things I thought would never leave my lips - GO BAYLOR AND GO OSU! (Ouch! That hurt!)





God bless you all!

IT'S HERE!!!!!

Well, we are all stuffed turkeys, UT beat A&M, we have had a wonderful day and there are only 4 hours left on my ticker!! God has blessed me beyond belief and I am going shopping in the morning! See you all at Starbucks!

Monday, November 24, 2008

I am Thankful For...

It is the time of year people start thinking about their many blessings and things to be thankful for. I had an email this morning that talked about the blessings that we should be thankful for. One of the statements was "I am thankful for a leaking roof and a yard that needs to be mowed because it means I own my home to make repairs on." Really that is a great sentiment. I am so very thankful for this old house of mine, even though the carpet needs to be replaced and the linoleum is peeling off the kitchen floor. I am also thankful for the husband I share this house with for so man reasons, but because on nights like tonight, he can make those repairs and I don't have to call in a professional.

My kitchen sink stopped up and the Drano didn't work. So, bless his heart, Frank set about getting it cleared and and cleaned up and even had time to spend on Mattie May.

Pipe snake - $27.00
Meal from EIEIOs because no water in kitchen $25.00
Being married to Frank for almost 25 years PRICELESS

Monday, November 17, 2008

Katie Can't Cook!

If you know my daughter, you know she is not the most domestic person around. She doesn't clean, failed apparel, and in no shape form or fashion can that girl cook!! Thank goodness for frozen foods or she would starve if we weren't around!

I must admit, she comes by the cleaning part naturally, I don't either! But I do sew and Frank hasn't starved since we have been married. And since we are going on a quarter of a century, I must do something right in the kitchen.

I got to thinking about poor little Mattie May. If they ever move out, who will teach her to cook? I feel part of this responsibility falls to me. I did, after all, have two grandmothers that were both great cooks and I think I did pick up a few things from them. Don't believe me? Just ask anyone on either side of my family about MeMaw's chowchow and Mattie B's strawberry cake, just to name a couple of things. My mom is a good cook too! Can you say broccoli cheese casserole? And when it comes to biscuits & gravy and all things on the grill, my dad is the best!

So, anyway, I have been trying to find things Mattie May can do as we prepare supper in the evenings. She really is a big help. I think when she learns to read, she will be ready to really put something together on her own. And this got me to thinking, I love to take pictures and document all the things she does. I was putting together a scapblog of her making peanut butter cookies for the first time and the light bulb when off over my head. I am going to make her a scrapblog cookbook for her when she is older! What a great keepsake. I get to cook and scrap, she gets knowledge and recipes from her childhood!

Here is the beginning. Please let me know what you think!



There will be some reorginization as I add to it, and the instructions will grow as she does. I just know that some of MeMaw's recipes are gone forever and I want Mattie May to have as many things to pass along as she can.

Friday, November 7, 2008

Ahhh...

Think how nice it is to wrap up in a towel that is warm from just coming out of the dryer, after taking a bath or shower. I think this face says it all...

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

The Election is Finally Over

I have tried to keep quite on the election this year. I did stay up and watch the results for some unknown reason. I sure could have used the sleep instead.

Now that it is all over, we need to remember to continue to pray for our nation, a nation that gives us the freedom to pray to the God of our choosing. If you are like me and have trouble putting things in prayer, please read my friend Julie's blog today. She has a lovely prayer worded the way I wish I could.

God Bless

Friday, October 31, 2008

Monday, October 27, 2008

Did You See My New Widget?!

There, at the top of my page. How do you like that? It is mainly for my cousins and I. Our most fun day of the year is black Friday.

So, some of you are asking "Why an amusement park to represent shopping?" If you must ask, you must be one of the ones that sleep late on that day. Have you ever been to Six Flags on one of the busiest days of the year? You run into the park when they open the gates only to stand in line, sometimes for hours to ride a ride. When that ride is finished you run to the next ride just as fast as you can to wait in line yet again. That is what Black Friday is all about. You get up early to wait in line (usually outside in the cold) for the doors to open. When they open you and all your "friends" rush into the store, grab your bargains, rush to the check out to wait in yet another line. After you pay, again, you rush to the next store and the process starts all over again, just like an adult amusement park.

Yes, we do get out in the cold, rain, snow, heat, dust... whatever the weather brings, we stand in it!
Yes, we do laugh at all the sleepy, angry, tired of waiting people. Get over it, you know it is going to be a long day, have fun with it, get in the spirit of Christmas.
Yes, we know we do not have to face the crowd, but we like it!
Yes, we do use our cell phones to call each other if we found a good deal, got in a short line and are ready to be picked up.
Yes, we do allow others to go with us, but only if they promise to have a good time and not complain.
Yes, we do make fun of hateful, mean, rude people.
Yes, we have been known to split a bean burrito and a small soda because all we had between us was pocket change and barely enough to purchase said items.


So, Trina and Traci, get your walking/running shoes on and your Starbucks cards ready!

IT IS ALMOST TIME TO SHOP!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

This is Stunning

I like to sew, I just don't very often because life gets in the way! I like to start something and get it finished before I stop and something always gets in the way.

I came across this blog, Grograin, by reading someone else's blog of course. She is an amazing seamstress and she gives these away. The dress she is giving away now is a 17oo's era gown that is, well words just don't do it justice. Pop on over by clicking the link below and tell her hi.

Wouldn't my Mattie May look darling in this gown?


Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Monday, October 20, 2008

Busy Weekend

This was another fun filled weekend.

We started Friday night at Makaley's 11th Birthday. This is Makaley holding Mattie May and the friends she had stay the night with her. I hear there was some mischief going on, but mainly done by Hysti! I know while we were still there, she had several of them scared. I just remember all the slumber parties we had and look forward to when Mattie May has them.
Saturday morning we slept in and then started getting busy. Mattie May got a manicure and pedicure by Mommie. She got orange nails with Jack-O-Lanterns on the thumb nails. Then she worked on her Trick or Treat bucket. She wanted a purple bucket and just stuck craft foam stickers all over it. It was easy, quick, and cheap! And she loves doing it.
Saturday night we went to Boo at the Zoo where she met up with her friend Wesley. They are in Bible class together. Doesn't Wesley look cute in her veterinarian costume? Her grandmother made it for her. And of course, our little angel. Another quick and cheap costume using what we had at home. Thank goodness for the dress up box we have!
I could not believe the crowd that was at the zoo Saturday night! We didn't stay very long because of all the lines. She wasn't to interested in getting the candy, just wanted to see the animals. She didn't even get to see her favorite, the giraffes, because the bridge was so crowded. And we really wanted to get her out of there. It is amazing how ADULTS take advantage of a child's activity to lose all morality (if they had any to begin with!). The way some of the people were dressed... Oh my!

Lisa that works with Frank won tickets to the circus and gave them to him. So nice! Thanks Lisa. The ticket was for two adults and three children so Chris and Nikki joined us. It started our great. Mattie May and Nikki met a clown and he was so nice. He gave them hugs, candy and asked to take a picture! Mattie May just couldn't take her eyes off him!
The seating was first come, first serve, so we got there about an hour early and ended up with great seats. There were pony rides and elephant rides. We just watched the others do this. But Mattie May sat very still just looking around and watching all the people.

Then, promptly at 5 PM the lights went down, the ring master came out and this is how Mattie May sat through the entire thing...
She woke up during intermission to go to the restroom then went right back to sleep. She didn't see a thing. But she is so funny. Grumpy asked her how the circus was and she said "It was great!"! How would she know?

I hope everyone is having a great Monday!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Angry!

This! would make me very angry as a parent and I think I would be pulling my child from this school. Aren't the schools required to send out permission slips any more? Whatever happened to trips to the zoo or the museum?

I try not to get on my soap box about stuff around here, but this just made me extremely angry! This is not what I believe and I would be furious had my child been taken to something like this!

Monday, October 13, 2008

Cute Quote

Note much happening around here and no pictures to post (yet). But just something we have notice Mattie May saying lately.

Tonight when we came in the house from shopping she was the first one in and it was dark in the house. She has never been afraid of the dark and walked on in to the back room. Shortly after, Katie and I heard her. "Mom! I can't see my eyes!"

Just a cute little thing!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Katie and Mattie May

Tuesday night, we took advantage of our beautiful fall weather and went out to play with some pictures. I will not tell you how many pictures I actually took, but I did spare all of you and only worked with five of them! I do plan on adding some more when I have time but until then, enjoy seeing my girls.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Another Trip to the Zoo

I was off today (recuperating from our trip) and Katie took off early, so we picked up Mattie May and headed to the zoo. It was so nice. The temperature was not hot, the wind was only a breeze and there were not many people there. It was so nice today. Then we stopped by Imagination Park and spent a little time until Mattie May told us she was hungry.

Click to play Zoo 09.29.08
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We Saw GOD Today!

Have you? Have you seen Him? If not, go here and see my pictures.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Take a Night off From Cooking!!!!

My bloggy friend Michelle has made me aware of some donations being made by Chili's. Please click here to read about having a night off from cooking on Monday night.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

We Saw Elmo!

Saturday, we took Mattie May to see her first live show "Sesame Street Live, Elmo Makes Music". We had a great time. It was about 15 minutes to long for her but she clapped and sang with everyone. Here are the pics.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Fair Scrapbook

It has been a pretty lazy Saturday since we found out that Frank does not have to go down south in the wake of Hurricane Ike (yeah!). Katie had to work (OT Yeah!) but has since made it home. Frank, Katie and Mattie May are all taking naps and it is kind of quite around here. We have promised MM that we would go do something special if she would get her nap so maybe something exciting will happen this afternoon.

In the meantime, I finished my scrapblog about the fair and thought I would share it with you. I tried to give it an Old West feeling. Please let me know what you think.



(Remember to click on the scrapblog icon in the lower right corner and follow the leads to see it in full screen)

UPDATE - It looks like something is wrong with this scrapblog. Click here to go directly to the site.

All is Well

Frank got the call this morning that they will not have to go for storm recovery this weekend. I was glad, even though I didn't see how they weren't needed. There are more than four million people without electricity in the Houston/Galveston area! Seems like they would be wanting as much help as possible! Oh well.

They will find out Monday if they will be needed for station repair and still may have to go. But by then Ike will have been gone from town for quite some time.

Let's keep praying for all those still there, and all the restoration workers and rescuers that have gone in to help.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Um, Excuse Me, but Your Going the Wrong Way!


Unless you have just confined yourself into a hole somewhere, you know that Hurricane Ike is spinning its way towards the Texas Coast, probably making a direct hit to Galveston and Houston. Not only do Frank and I both have family and friends in that area, he is on standby for storm recovery. That means he will be headed south when all others are headed north!

I know we have all put the residents of the coast on our prayer list, but please add all those that will be going in after it hits. This is a huge storm that will effect our entire Gulf Coast region, and that my friends is a lot of coast line!

You know the old saying "EVERYTHINGS BIGGER IN TEXAS" and that includes our storms as well.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

I WON! I WON!

This week in Abilene has been West Texas Fair and Rodeo week. It started last Thursday with Sneak a Peek and will end this Saturday with the final performance of the rodeo. We try to take Mattie May every year to the rodeo and the fair. She just loves riding the rides. Through all the rain, we managed to make it out there last night. And I must say, a fun time was had by all (I will post on that later).

Of course all fairs have entries for cooking, sewing, live stock, etc. My favorite is the photography. This year I had 14 entries and won three ribbons. Yeah me!

I won sixth place on this...
B&W Sports

And first place on this...
Color General
I was really proud of this one and it was included in this article in Saturday's paper.


And last but definitely not least, I also won 1st place on this...
This is the Grandparent Brag contest. It is judged on several different things;
A.Ability to Follow Rules
B. Originality
C. Contents
D.Appearance

(You can click here to see more of the rules)

I was really proud of this one and of course it gave me a chance to brag on Mattie May! (Click on any of the pictures to enlarge them)

I am working on a scrapblog from all the fun we have had this week and will post it as soon as it is finished.

Every one keep those in the path of Ike in your prayers!

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Silliness

OK, so we eat dinner at the table because we feel it is the best family time we can have all day. We try to eat before 7PM but on Wednesday night we have church, so it is considerably later than that. And I don't know about you, but when we get tired, we get silly. This is just a small sampling of what we do when we get silly.

Have you ever seen so much silliness? Just part of our crazy family antics.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Have you ever seen a cuter face?

I DON'T THINK SO!!!!!

This is the cutest face ever! I don't care who you are!!

Friday, August 15, 2008

Golden Girl

How cool is this?
Nastia Luikin
Olympic Champion
and
Gold Medalest
AND SHE IS FROM PLANO!!!!
Congratulations to all our Olympians!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Well it was funny to ME!

This is another Mattie May did story, so if you are bored with those, you probably don't want to go any further.

We have geckos. Not as pets, but as pest. I can't stand them. I know they can't hurt me, but they just creep me out! Tonight as we were getting Mattie May into the bathtub, there was one in the bathroom. I saw it out of the corner of my eye.

We went ahead and bathed Mattie May and while she was playing, Katie went on the hunt for the gecko. She is not to crazy about the little pest either, but she is braver than I am. With her back to Mattie May, she was standing on her toes on Mattie May's little pink stool bent over looking behind the toilet looking for him. Now those of you who know Katie know what long legs she has. So in this position she looked like some type of weird frog (sorry Sweetie, you know I love you.) ready to pounce.

It was at this point I went in to check on them. And boy what timing that was. Just as I poked my head through the door, Mattie May was pouring water into...I guess I will say, Katie's plumbers crack. She could not have jumped any higher or screamed any louder! Mattie May and I both started laughing and as soon as Katie caught her breath and realized what had happened, she joined right in with us! (Oh, I am laughing and crying as I type this!).

My sides still hurt so bad from laughing. Things finally settled down, I got Mattie May out of the tub, and Katie rid the world of one more gecko and all is well with the world.

Didn't I read somewhere that the more you laugh, the longer you live?

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Just Stuff

This has been an uneventful week so far. Oh, I know the Olympics are on, hence the dark circles under my eyes (it's all recorded, why do they play it so late?), Mattie May has decided she is going to be "da swimmer on the divey board" and it is still hot! That about wraps up the past few days.

My friend Linda Sue over at Living in Buhl-a-land has a great post today. Click here to read the story about the fork. I am sure a lot of you have read it before, but it is a a great re-read.

I have posted several of my scrapbooks from scrapblog.com but there are some I haven't posted. Click here if you would like to see some of my other work.

I have run out of pictures to play with for the time being, so I am starting a new project. Remember this post? Well I have not taken that machine out of the box! Last week Hancock's had patterns on sale for $.99! If you have purchased patterns lately, you know this was a great buy. Katie and I went and picked out a few and tonight I am going to try out my new machine! If it turns out OK, I will post pictures. If it doesn't, well, we'll just forget about this paragraph.

Hope everyone is enjoying the Olympics as much as we are. Lets all keep praying that nothing else bad happens over there.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

New scrapbook

Scrapblog.com is doing a bit of maintence. Once they finish, I will get this new one up and ready for your viewing pleasure. (I think this is one of my best yet.)

!Update! Scrapblog is back up and running. Pleae let me know if you enjoy my newest scrap!



Wednesday, August 6, 2008

" I hear somptin'!"

When Mattie May wants you to listen, she says, "I hear somptin!" and you better listen or she will ask you (in a stern 2-yr old voice) "Do you hear me?!"

Her voice is the most beautiful thing I think I will ever hear. All of us are like that, we all have our favorite sounds. But if you live in west Texas, I would almost guess that the sound in the following video is music to your ears. Listen...



Isn't that beautiful music God provided us this afternoon? It is not very often that we west Texans get to hear that, especially in the month of August.

Thank you, God for the wonderful rain this afternoon!

Monday, August 4, 2008

More Pool Pictures!!

And this time I am in some of them!!! This is a great way to cool off in the afternoon!


Click to play Pool Time
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Thursday, July 31, 2008

Fun at the Pool

Last Friday, Mattie May and I went to the pool while everyone else was at work. That afternoon, we all went back. Frank had a great time playing with her in the water and of course, I had a blast taking pictures! Yes, I am sorry! More pictures. And as usual, I have created a new scrapblog for them. IT IS SHORT I PROMISE - JUST 4 PAGES!

I hope you enjoy!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Dr vs Insurance - Who is Really in Charge?

I want to thank everyone that has been praying for my mom and our family. She has been having problems for quite some time and this past Sunday it lead us to the ER at ARMC. What great care she received. The doctor, PA and nurses were fantastic. They were truly concerned for her care and comfort.

What is sad is they were not in control of the actual treatment she received. Her insurance company was! That is terrifying to me! They are telling her she needs to be admitted so they can give her the proper care she needs, but yet, they can't because they can't actually put on paper what is wrong with her! ARGH!!

I don't mean to be long winded, and I don't want to give a lot of gory details, but it does need some explaining.

She has a primary care physician (pcp) that she really likes and is on her insurance. Last year when she started having problems, he sent her to a gastroentologist that is also on her insurance. However, the gastroentologist does not/can not practice at the hospital that is covered by her insurance. That is where the problem occurs. She last saw her pcp in the spring for a different reason. He did labs that were not related to her problem so he could not show she needed to be admitted.

She has been seeing the gastroentologist just about every week for the past year (or should I say his PA) and they have been working to get her fixed up. But when she became so sick this weekend and was getting sicker by the minute, she had no choice to go to ARMC. As I stated earlier, they were fantastic. They immediately got her through triage and to a room and she waited no more than three minutes before the ER dr. himself was in there visiting with us and making his preliminary diagnosis.

She had a CT and the dr. could tell she needed to be admitted. But had to contact her pcp. He could not approve her being admitted because her labs from the spring have nothing to do with the problem she is having now. And they could not even call her gastroentologist because he doesn't practice there. They kept her as long as the could and administered fluids and antibiotics, but eventually had to release her. Each of those caring for her at different times did tell us if she wasn't better to come back and they would have no choice but to admit her. The medical staff has figured out a way to buck the insurance system and have to slyly pass that info on to their patients! That is crazy!

Frank and I took her home and got her settled in. By this time she had already shown major improvement. She is improving daily and planning on going to work for a little bit tomorrow. But in the mean time she has had to call all her doctors and try to work this mess out and will probably end up having to find another gastroentologist that she might not like as well as the one she has.

It is just so frustrating that those attending to you are not the ones that choose your care. Be sure to read all of your insurance information carefully so you don't end up in the same situation that she did!

Please keep mom on your prayer list as she is not well. She is good for now but we still need to find out what is causing all of these problems!

Friday, July 25, 2008

Good Ol' Summer Time

Mattie May is home and I am off the rest of the week so we played today!! We had some things to do early and took her mommy lunch, but late this evening we went to the pool. This year she is tall enough to be in the shallow end by herself. You can see in this picture, she is on her knees and still above water.














We practiced blowing bubbles, preparing to learn to go under and hold our breath.














She even ventured out across the pool by herself. She is such a big girl. You can see, there are very few people there. That is why I like going late in the afternoon.














After we got home, she pulled a can off a shelf onto her nose. She didn't cry, she just looked at me and said "Lolo that hurt. I need a banded aid." So of course...














And check this one out...
Yes, that is Tinker Bell on her hiney, but the important thing to notice is she is wearing big girl panties! We had a couple of accidents today, they were my fault. So tomorrow, we will still be working on the training thing, but will also be hitting the pool a couple of times. I will have more pictures too!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Not Much to Talk About

I just realized that it has been almost two weeks since my last post. That should tell you what is going on around here - not much. It has been steamy, hot, and lazy. It is too hot to do much outside so we have been lazing around the house, except for work and we did manage to make it to the movie this past weekend. "The Dark Night" is really good we thought, but we like that kind of film. We also rented some movies and stayed up way to late on Saturday night, but enjoyed just doing nothing.

We got a pleasant surprise this week, Mattie May got to come home a week early from her dad's house. We are so glad to have her home. I will be off the next two days so we are going to try to get this potty thing down. She is doing pretty good, but with just me and her home I think she will get it down.

I have had some time to play around on scrapblog.com. If you like photos and scrapbooking, you really need to check out this site. It is very easy to get started. I learned from just playing around and looking at scraps others have done. Two years ago, we made a trip to Las Vegas. since it has officially been two years, and because I really am ready to go back, I did a scrap on it. I hope you enjoy.




This is just a bit of what we did while we were there, because you know what they say - "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." We really had a good time. What you don't see in the scrap is Frank was able to play in a Texas Hold 'Em tournament (made it through 5 rounds!) and Trina and I did a lot of shopping and site seeing. If you ever plan a trip let me know. I think she and I found everything possible that was free. We even found a lot of fun in public transportation!

Now that Matti May is back, I plan on taking more pictures and having lots more to blog about! Frank and I have missed her so much and are ready to make up for some lost time!

I also would like to direct you to a new blog. My cousin Traci has decided to join the bloggy community. Why it has taken so long is beyond me. She is after all the techy one in the family! Click here to visit her and leave her a comment to welcome her. Tell her I sent you! Now if I can just get Katie to update her blog!!!

Happy Blogging and God Bless You All.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Video of Vacation 2008

I am home alone and missing my Mattie May! I was looking at pictures from Corpus Christi and found this smile box I had made. You have seen most of the pictures, but there is a short video of her and Grumpy on the beach. Hope you enjoy and I am ready for her to come home!!!!


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TOOOO CUTE

It seems lately that all commercials on TV are just lame. But this Dairy Queen commercial I think will be one of my all time favorites!




What is your all time favorite commercial? Or your favorite now?

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Going Back in Time

I have been practicing some techniques on Scrapblog.com. This time I used pictures from the day Mattie May was born, January 3, 2006. I had fun putting this one together. There is no music, it wouldn't download for some reason. For some of you, this will be the first time you have seen my MayMay as a newborn. For others, I am sure it will stir some emotions that you had on that day just as it did me.

Tip: if you click on the scrapblog emblem on the bottom of the scrapblog, it will open so that you can open it for Full Screen View. Let me know if you have any problems viewing.

Monday, July 7, 2008

July 4th Weekend

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend. I know we sure did! I had to get back to work to get some rest! I did good this time, its only Monday and I already have my pictures ready for you. Hope you enjoy. There is music, so turn up those speakers!

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Shall we Dance?

I got this over at Ables Antics. Fun! What type of dance are you?



You Are Ballroom Dancing



You are sophisticated and classy. Definitely not the type to be seen dancing on a bar.

You are a bit old fashioned. You prefer dance to be subtly sexy, not in your face sexy.



You are sentimental and nostalgic. You appreciate the beauty of old things.

You are even tempered and cooperative. You work well with a partner.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Happy July!

July 1st is here! What a great time for all of us! God has blessed us with living in the greatest country in the world!
We have lots of plans this year. We will be going to Stamford for the Texas Cowboy Reunion, watching fire works from the zoo, and joining Poppa's family at lake Cisco on Saturday for belated festivities.
Everyone be safe, have fun, but most of all, remember to thank our Heavenly Father for this great place we live and all we have.

(picture taken last year at the TCR parade)

Monday, June 23, 2008

Summer Sunday Afternoon

This past Sunday, after supper, we spent some time in the yard with Mattie May playing in the sprinkler and on her four wheeler. She is just the cutest thing and she makes us laugh all the time. Attached are a few pictures and videos of our afternoon. The last video is about seven minutes long, but she was having such a good time and I was afraid I would miss something if I stopped recording!


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Saturday, June 21, 2008

Friday, June 20, 2008

Frank and Mattie May at the Zoo

While we were on vacation, Frank and I took Mattie May to her second favorite place in Abilene, the zoo. It was quite warm (hot), she had not had a nap, and I forgot to charge my camera batteries after our trip to Corpus Christi. Due to those three things, there are not many pictures. She (and Grumpy) still had fun, but when she said she was sleepy and wanted to go home, we packed up and left.

Enjoy the pictures.

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Oh, what is her #1 favorite place, you ask? Bible class of course. She would go daily if we could!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

More Vacation 2008

I have had lots of comments on my pictures from our vacation. The most common was "Brandi, didn't you go? Why are you not in any pictures?" Well I am in pictures. See this is me on the left;
And here I am on the right;

Proof I was there. I just like being behind more than I like being in front of the camera.

I get so busy taking pictures that I forget my camera can also take videos. So I tried to remind myself to take some on our trip. I have put them all together for you in this small scrapbook. Be sure you have sound on so you can hear our precious Mattie May.



Click to play Vacation Videos
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Please leave me a comment. I would love to hear what you think. It helps me improve!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

I Promised You Pictures...

I know you have had to wait, but here they are, pictures from our trip to Corpus Christi and Sea World. Hope you enjoy. Leave a comment and let me know what you think.



This is kind of small, but if you will click here, it will take you to my scrapblog and you can view it in a full screen and adjust the timing so some of the longer journaling can be easily read.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

#100 I Didn't know the tradition or I might not have started this

I have had this ready for my 100th post. I am still working on my vacation post so enjoy my 100th until I get my pictures ready.

When I started my little blog, I did not know there were already blog traditions and protocol that I would have to follow or I might have just said "No way". Well I didn't know and have always wanted to write, so I started my blog. Now I learn that on my 100th post, I am supposed to write 100 interesting things about myself. ISN'T THAT JUST GREAT! I don't know if all of these will be interesting or if I will be able to think of 100 of them, but here goes (in no particular order)...

100. I have always wanted to write a children's book.
99. I want Frank to illustrate said book.
98. I love being a mom.
97. I love to fish.
96. I hate to read.
95. I love being a grandmother as much as I love being a mom.
94. When I say I love my job, I mean it.
93. I love being a wife even though I don't do it very well sometimes.
92. I never dreamed I would be married to one person this long.
91. I have trouble finishing projects that I start.
90. I really, really hate telemarketers!
89. I love going to Las Vegas.
88. I love working in my flower garden.
87. I love sitting outside with Mattie May, especially when Frank has just finished mowing the lawn.
86. I can not think of a gift I did not appreciate getting even though it was not something I would have chosen for myself.
85. I like dogs more than cats.
84. My favorite thing to do is just sit and do nothing.
83. I am terribly afraid of heights.
82. I love to fly.
81. I hope to graduate from college some day.
80. I hate to have to wear a bra!
79. I love to water ski and snow ski, I just wish I was in shape enough to do both.
78. I am a very shy person until I get to know you.
77. I can't wait to take Mattie May and Katie to Disneyworld.
76. I love to dance, especially with Frank (that is how we met).
75. I love being an only child but I am glad I have Trina and Traci around to be my "sisters".
74. I hate being alone (part of that only child thing).
73. I don't mind not being productive (I could sit and stare at a blank wall for hours).
72. I think men and women can have a platonic friendship.
71. We drive the golf cart up and down the county road at my dad's for entertainment.
70. I hate being around cigarette smoke. I can't breath for days afterward.
69. I love my Yukon, but hope to have a cool Jeep just to poot around in someday.
68. I love to sew even though I don't very often (see #91) and I am glad Mom gave me a new sewing machine for Christmas/birthday (see this post).
67. I cry in Church almost every Sunday (it's an uplifting thing, not sad).
66. I spend too much time staring out my window at work (this comes from 20 years of working in buildings without windows).
65. I would love to get a tattoo, but am too afraid it would hurt.
64. I am a slob.
63. I love to cook but hate to clean up afterward.
62. I wish I could make a living from being a photographer.
61. I love "Gone With the Wind" and often wonder if I would have been able to survive back then.
60. I don't think any generation have ever known or will have to know how to survive like my grandmother's generation did.
59. Statues scare me, especially the ones with faces (ooo, creepy).
58. I got very excited the first time someone linked me in their blog.
57. I do believe that one morning I will wake up and all this extra weight will have just disappeared from my body.
56. I don't think that just because it comes on the Disney Channel we should let children watch it. And I really think there are some shows on Nickelodeon that are to much for children.
55. I have been in one pageant. I did a flag routine, but I can not tell you what song it was to.
54. I was in the high school band starting in the 7th grade (that's a small school for you).
53.I started playing the flute because I could use my cousin's, but then I learned how to play trombone. But I had most of my fun in the flag corps.
52. I failed miserably at the piano (ask Trina), but I can still play "The Middle 'C' March".
51. I think I have a pretty interesting family history and I hope that Trina, Traci and I can get it all down and publish a book. (See #100)
50.I love to eat at Abuelo's.



49. Frank and I have beat the odds of an early marriage.
48. I am so lucky to have had a great grandmother around to tell stories of her life (from covered wagon to space shuttle).
47.I am so very lucky to still have a grandmother living.
46.I struggle with daily Bible study (getting it done).
45.I am not fond of horses.
44. My first name is from the movie "Hatari" with John Wayne.
43. My middle name was one of my mother's dearest high school friends who died way to soon.
42.My mother lost her best friend in a car wreck about 25 years before I lost my best friend the same way.
41. I try to learn at least one thing new each day.
40.I think the song I used in the pageant was "William Tell Overture".
39. I think it is OK to be silly with kids. Mattie May and I sing silly songs and dance a lot!
38. I practice CPR(Catch, Photograph, Release) when I fish, and I kiss the fish before they are released.
37. I love getting flowers, but hate that the money was spent.
36. My wedding ring is made from Frank's class ring.
35. I was going to name Katie after my two aunts, Hymonda and Medrice, but everyone said she would not be able to say her own name.
34. Genealogy interests me, and I wish I had the time and money to trace my ancestry.
33. I think a lot of things in this list are silly.
32. I love to go to parades.
31. I would not change anything in my life, it makes me who I am.
30. I sunburn real easy.
29. I love to watch kids sports, high school down.
28. I was in 4-H.
27. This is post 100 on this blog, but if I added my other three blogs it would be post #___.
26. I am an only child but don't think of myself as spoiled.
25. I hate talking about myself.
24. I lived in New Mexico as a child but only for 3 months, then my parents came to their senses and moved back to Texas.
23. I can not for the life of me understand why God made gnats.
22. We used to play in my grandmother's cellar when we were kids, now I can't stand that musty smell.
21. I love to sing but don't do it very well.
20. Most of my current friends are friends I have had since high school or earlier.
19. I went to the same school as my mother did.
18. I enjoy scrapbooking.
17. I get really irritated when people don't follow the rules.
16. I hope to get my backyard landscaped within the next two years.
15. The first real job I had I kept for 20 years.
14. The shortest time I worked for a company was for 6 months.
13. I say I am not superstitious, but there are certain things I do when fishing that would fall in that catergory.
12. I hope to travel all over Texas before I die.
11. I have always wanted to skydive (yes, I know, I am afraid of heights).
10. I have had one flight lesson (it was free).
9. I know how to drive a forklift.
8. I hunt but prefer to just take pictures.
7. I know how to drive a stick shift.
6. I would like to have my own business, I just don't know what it would be.
5. I love to cross stitch, but have trouble now that my eyes are old.
4. I love my nightly walk with Mattie May and collecting all the treasures she finds along the way.
3. One of my favorite past times is looking for shapes in clouds.
2. I can 't believe I came up with 100 different things about myself.
1.I believe all that I have listed are all gifts from God. I am who I am because of Him and would have nothing without Him.



Whew! I can't believe I finished. If you are still reading, thanks and I hope you learned something interesting about me. I can't wait to see some of your responses.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Wish You Were Here

Isn't that what the vacation post cards always say? After a slow start, we finally made it to Corpus Christi. We didn't get off to the early start we had planned, our air conditioning in the house started going out Friday night. Luckily it held until Saturday morning, but it had to be fixed before we left town. Frank was able to get it fixed and we were able to leave by 11:00. We pulled into Corpus Christi about 6:00 PM and Mattie May was ready to hit the beach. So down we went in our clothes and she had a blast.


She first found this little puddle made by the run off of the sand shower. We couldn't convince her to get out of it and into the actual ocean. She was having so much fun and we were not in a rush to go any where so we just let her play.


She finally made it into the waves. She LOVED it. She didn't mind the salty taste and wanted to keep going even though the waves would make it over her head. She finally just sat in the water letting it rush up over her. One of us kept standing behind her just to make sure she didn't get pulled into the abyss.


Oh yeah, Frank caught a crab!

We are having fun. it is much to late for us to be up and on the computer. So I am going to make Katie log off from where she is and we are going to go join Frank and Mattie May who are having sweet ocean dreams up in the room.

Tomorrow is the Texas State Aquarium and more fun on the beach. We are going to try to hit Snoopy's before it gets to late and hopefully a trip to Aransas Pass and the ferry. I will try to post more of our trip tomorrow.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Epstein-Barr Virus

Well, they figured it out in less than a week. I have Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV). Rest and steroids are what will make me feel better. It last several weeks, but the doctor has assured me I will be ready for vacation! What, you say you have never heard of EBV? Well click here and you will learn more than you ever wanted to know. It is not life threatening and once you go to the link you will see you have heard of it before by a different name. So maybe, once the chiropractor gets my back fixed up, I will be back to posting in my wonderful boring way.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Have You Missed Me?

I don't remember going this long without a post. But there has been a lot going on. I don't have much time but am going to try to make this short and sweet.

We celebrated Mother's day at my mom's house it was great. I had nothing but trouble trying to work with the pictures so I gave up. The next weekend was my great aunt's 85th birthday. Went to visit her on our way to a fishing tournament. That night at the motel I got very sick. Woke up the next morning feeling terrible. Rode around in the boat with Frank. He fished, I was sick in the back of the boat. Monday, went to the doctor. Very bad sinus infection. I only worked 2 1/2 days that week. The next week better, but still very tired. Back to the doctor. Taking lots of blood to test for lots of things. Only worked 2 1/2 days that week (last week). I even had to go back on Friday to give more blood because the didn't have enough. Last Wednesday, Mattie May had a happy party on a fire ant bed! More bites on her than I would like to say! She is OK. Monday (yesterday) Katie got a job offer from Blue Cross Blue Shield and she starts on June 16th!! Yeah! And I threw my back out, but the chiropractor promises he will have me ready for vacation!

So you can see, the last few weeks have not been good to me. I promise I will get some good post us just bear with me and keep us in your prayers until they find out what is wrong with me!

Monday, May 12, 2008

Living In Black and White

Someone emailed this to me and I loved it. I hope it brings back memories for you too.


Black and White
(Under age 40? You won't understand.)

You could hardly
see for all the snow, spread the rabbit ears as far as they go. Pull a chair up to the TV set, 'Good Night, David. Good Night, Chet.'


My Mom used to cut chicken, chop eggs and spread mayo on the same cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't seem to get food poisoning. My Mom used to defrost hamburger on the counter AND I used to eat it raw sometimes, too. Our school sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper in a brown paper bag, not in ice-pack coolers, but I can't remember getting e.coli.



Almost all of us would have rather gone swimming in the lake instead of a pristine pool (talk about boring), no beach closures then. The term cell phone would have conjured up a phone in a jail cell, and a pager was the school PA system.

We all took gym, not PE ... and risked permanent injury with a pair of high top Ked's (only worn in gym) instead of having cross-training athletic shoes with air cushion soles and built in light reflectors. I can't recall any injuries but they must have happened because they tell us how much safer we are
now.

Flunking gym was not an option even for stupid kids! I guess PE must be much harder than gym. Speaking of school, we all said prayers and sang the national anthem, and staying in detention after school caught all sorts of negative attention.



We must have had horribly damaged psyches. What an archaic health system we had then. Remember school nurses? Ours wore a hat and everything. I thought that I was supposed to accomplish something before I was allowed to be
proud of myself.

I just can't recall how bored we were
without computers, Play Station, Nintendo, X-box or 270 digital TV cable stations. Oh yeah ... and where was the Benadryl and sterilization kit when I got that
bee sting? I could have been killed!


We played 'king of the hill' on piles of gravel left on vacant construction sites, and when we got hurt, Mom pulled out the 48-cent bottle of Mercurochrome (kids liked it better because it didn't sting like iodine did) and then we got our butt spanked. Now it's a trip to the emergency room, followed by a 10-day dose of a $49 bottle of antibiotics, and then Mom calls the attorney to sue the contractor for leaving a horribly vicious pile of gravel where it was such a threat.


We didn't act up at the neighbor's house either because if we did, we got spanked there and then we got spanked again when we got home. I recall Donny Reynolds from next door coming over and doing his tricks on the front stoop, just before he fell off. Little did his Mom know that she could have owned our house. Instead, she picked him up and swatted him for being such a goof. It was a neighborhood run amuck.

To top it off, not a single person I knew had ever been told that they were from a dysfunctional family. How could we possibly have known that we needed to get into group therapy and anger management classes? We were obviously so duped by so many societal ills that we didn't even notice that the entire country wasn't taking Prozac! How did we ever survive?

LOVE TO ALL OF US WHO SHARED THIS ERA, AND TO ALL WHO DIDN'T; SORRY FOR WHAT YOU MISSED. I WOULDN'T TRADE IT FOR ANYTHING.