Sorry...

Oh I have decided I am not good at "blogging" ! I just can't seem to find the time (or make the time) for updates.... I would say I plan to do better but I realize it probably will not happen.
Went Friday with Carson on his field trip to Constitution Hall Park- it was fun...and I am glad I was able to go. Here are a couple of pictures from the day...



Jessica was here over the week-end (Michael worked) and I kept Griff Saturday night. (Kristen and Josh went out for her birthday which is tomorrow) Griff was precious and Miss Halle Grace slept all night! She has actually slept all night for almost an entire week and we are hoping it continues.

Monday night Noah and Nick had a baseball game and Jessica and Michael(and Halle Grace) went and watched them play. Their ball team is undefeated right now and I think we are enjoying the games as much as the boys are. I forgot to take any pictures but hopefully I will next game.

Tuesday was really warm and I went and bought Griff a little swimming pool. He is only 15 months old so his first year to really enjoy one and I couldn't wait to see him play. Of course Carson jumped right in and played wit him and I think had about as much fun.


Today we had our follow up meeting for Relay For Life and I am excited to say we raised $162,389.00 so far this year!!! We still have several teams with outstanding money so we hope to end up with over $165,000.00. It amazes me how great our small community does each year. Hopefully one day due to our Relay dollars cancer will be a disease of the past. Our meeting today was to finish up alot of task and of course- start planning for 2010!!! Lots of changes for the coming year and we were all fired up and excited!!

As I said already- tomorrow is Kristen's birthday.... Hard to imagine- she will be 28 years old. My mother died(with cancer) when Kristen was only 2 months old. Kristen I am proud of you and what a good mother you are to the boys. I am so glad God has let me live to see them grow up thus far.Happy Birthday Kristen and I hope you have many more to come.

Friday Jessica is gong back to work- and I know she is dreading it so much! She teaches school -so it will only be for a few weeks that she has to work (until next fall) But keep Jessica in your prayers as it is going to be hard to leave Miss Halle Grace. I am going to be keeping her on the days Michael can not. I am excited to get to see her change and grow up too.I am sure I will have more pictures soon...

Oh and almost forgot to add.. Baby Stellan had his surgery in Boston and did great. There were a few issues and it didn't go exactly as hoped -but so far he is better and got to go home yesterday. Check out their blog for updates...

Relay For Life -2009!

Relay was huge - will give details in a later post.... Right now I am still tired and not caught up on my sleep!
I am going to post a few pictures and more details to come later...
Thanks to everyone who helped make this a huge success!!

Carson and myself- preparing bags with sand- for luminaria -




One of my best friends and co-worker on Relay Committee. Judy is also a cancer survivor and another reason I relay!!!

Wednesday

Well, the weeks just seem to fly.....
Today I went and walked (2 miles) with my "walking girls" We meet @ 7:30 every morning (at least part of us on any given day) I enjoy my walks now and heaven knows I need it. Usually we will go eat breakfast afterwards (which is probably the reason I have not lost even a lb. since we started walking...) ha!

Tuesday I worked with the other members of our Relay For Life Committee - it was Bank Day- when all of our Relay teams turned in money and we gave them their team t-shirts, team captain packets and prizes. It was alot of work but we were so excited. Our Marshall North has already reached over $100,000 for ACS!!! With the economy we were happy with the current total and can't wait to see the final results.We are all hoping for a great Relay Friday and pray the weather is nice.
I picked up Carson and Griff today and we played outside for a good while. Griff is getting to the most fun age! He tries to repeat everything we say or do and it is precious. He is a loving little boy and so very funny! I met Kristen at church- she picked up Griff and saw Carson for awhile before Carson and I went to church.After church I took Carson home (Griff was already sleeping away)
I just checked my "blog friends" for updates and baby Stellan is off to Boston. Check on his link and please pray for them. The doctors in Boston hopefully will make the best choices for Stellan's care. Stellan's mom also posted Psalm 107. It was the perfect verse for his situation but amazingly -it seemed to be something Ineeded for the things going on in my daily life as well.... : )


Psalm 107:28-30

Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
and He brought them out of their distress.

He stilled the storm to a whisper;
the waves of the sea were hushed.

They were glad when it grew calm,
and He guided them to their desired haven.

( I look forward to the calm....) But when you see what others are having to deal with each day- it makes you see how "petty" our problems really are.

Oh- also- my husband is the biggest procrastinator in the world... I have ask him for weeks when he planned to get our taxes filled out. He finally did that yesterday and we had to pay almost $900.00 today ( ugh) Since I am not working I guess next year we will not have to pay at least......

Easter

Carson hunting eggs on Easter


Halle Grace's first Easter.




Griff


They did not want to get their pictures made!



I love Easter and got to spend the day with most of my family.

Today I kept Halle Grace and she seems to be a bit better ( the colic) The Dr. has changed her medicine again and so far it seems to have helped some. Friday Michael was on call and had to go to work so Carson and I went with Jessica to get Halle Grace's shots. Jessica said Friday night she was really ill but Sunday she was much better. (Although she wasn't real happy in some of her pictures)

Tomorrow is our last night to wait tables with proceeds going to Relay For Life. Hopefully we will do good. We had our yard sale on Saturday and made over 300 dollars. That puts our team over a thousand dollars and I am proud of that.

Continue to keep baby Stellan in your prayers - check out their blog for updates.

Tuesday night I worked all afternoon (and most of the night) on the survivor dinner for Relay For Life. It was alot of work but a huge success! We had over 200 people to attend the ceremony and almost ran out of places to seat people. It is a night we recognize cancer survivors. We have guest speakers and give away lots of door prizes. ( And a wonderful meal is provided - this year compliments of Outback Steak house.) Alot of preparation goes into this event but it is well worth it.

Tonight I took Carson to church - they had an Easter party and he had a great time.

This week-end we plan to have our rescheduled yard sale for Relay For Life. Yard sales are so much work but hopefully it will end up being worth the trouble and we will make more money for Relay.

The following article was on http://www.arab-today.com/

April Proclaimed
Relay For Life Month



Mayor Gary Beam signs proclamation declaring April as American Cancer Society Relay For Life Month in Arab as members of the American Cancer Society Relay For Life looked on. In the picture was - Mayor Beam, Sherry Willis, Susan Varano, Tawanna Vickers, Janette Murphree, Kelly Harper, Judy Walker, Pam Duncan, and Natalie Burke
As part of the activities leading up to the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life scheduled for April 17, Arab Mayor Gary Beam recently proclaimed April as Relay For Life Month in Arab. The Relay event will take place at the Arab Soccer Complex and will begin at 7 pm.

Having lost my mom to cancer when I was only twenty three years old I am passionate about American Cancer Society and hope their is a cure one day for cancer. I hope my grandchildren one day can tell their kids- what cancer USE to be. I hate that my children did not have their grandmother around when they were growing up. Some grandparents don't take the time (or care) to be close to their grandchildren -while others don't have the opportunity. I hope my children live to see their grandchildren and do not have that robbed from them due to cancer.

As for grandchildren.... here is the latest pictures of Miss Halle Grace.... of course - I love these.. ....
The tights are alittle big - but precious!!!!

Easter week- day 2

The rich and the poor have a common bond, the LORD is the maker of them all. - Proverbs 22:2


I tried to get a few pictures over the week-end of the 3 grandkids together.. hopefully pictures will turn out better in months/years to come. I still would like to share one..... : ) You can tell Griff was more interested in eating the Easter eggs ( shell and all) and Halle Grace was not at all thrilled about any of it.





Also- here is the first picture I have made of Halle Grace - looking like a "big" girl. She is 8 weeks old in the picture and growing up so fast... I love having a little girl around..

Easter week!

Kristen and Josh sold their house and moved over the week-end so I kept the boys. Griff has not really spent the night alot with us but he did great this week-end! He has always been great about sleeping but usually when he is here he wakes up several times not knowing where he is. He is 14 months old and usually goes to bed about 7:30 -8:00 and sleeps till around 6 AM. But since his routine was out of whack- we ended up staying up until around 9 or 9:30. He loves me to rock him and sing to him; which I love. Of course, Carson is here alot and helps me out when Griff is here. Carson is a great big brother.
Also- Saturday Jessica and Halle Grace came and spent the afternoon with us. I tried to make some pictures of the 3 little ones but it didn't work to good. Halle Grace has colic and poor thing- cried alot. She is 8 weeks old now so I hope and pray she outgrows this soon!! She goes back on Friday for her check -up. She eats good and is growing so fast. I am posting a picture of her that we made probably a week or so ago.



I did get a few pictures on Jessica's camera Saturday. She plans to download them tomorrow so I hopefully can post a couple later this week. Carson, Griff and I colored Easter eggs Saturday morning and I had to make a few pictures of all three of the kids with the finished products! Carson will be with his dad this week-end so I went ahead and let them color eggs Saturday. Of course we will end up hiding eggs probably a hundred times! Jessica was kidding Carson as to how 3 years ago - she thinks he had us hiding eggs up until the end of summer. We loved it though and it makes me sad that he is growing up so much. I am sure he will continue for years to hide eggs for his cousins and brother but in a few years he will think he is to big for it.

I have another busy week planned and I seriously wonder how I ever accomplished much when I worked!

I took Carson to church today and we both really enjoyed it. At church today our Sunday school teacher pointed out something that I thought about alot. There are so many people who attend church only on Easter. I really have never understood why- but I know it is true. It use to be everyone got new clothes on Easter and it seemed to mark the beginning of spring. But how many actually think of the true meaning of Easter? I had an article that included this :

The highlights behind the Easter story include Jesus' execution, His burial and, most importantly, His rising from death.

The account of Jesus' rising from death was recorded in the most authoritative historical records, the Gospel books: Three days after His death, a few women first found His tomb empty. Then Jesus appeared in front of these women and His disciples, talking and eating with them. Out of doubts still, one disciple did not believe Jesus was alive again until he actually touched Jesus' fatal wounds. In the following forty days, hundreds of people witnessed this Jesus who had returned from death until He ascended to Heaven.

Before His death, Jesus had promised eternal life to those who followed Him. If the story ended at His death, Jesus would have been no more than a religious figure with a finite life span. But the fact the Jesus rose from death demonstrated He has the power over death, and only through Him can people have hope for eternal life. Jesus said, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

As a child I looked forward to Easter. I loved getting my new Easter dress and shoes and to the Easter egg hunts at church and at school. It is so sad- now schools no longer get to celebrate Easter or hunt eggs. Ad although most still do have Christmas parties I doubt most get to teach the real meaning of Christmas. I realize alot of these kids have no idea the reason we celebrate Easter or Christmas.

Oh update on baby Stellan - he is again having episodes of SVT and the Drs. are all trying to decide what the next move will be. Right now they are tossing around differnt options of other places they may send him to get the best care of the most experienced doctors for Stellans situation. Please continue to check Stellan's updates and pray for this family. http://www.mycharmingkids.net/