Music Monday

For the silly in all of us!!

Have a great week!
Tina

Music Monday David Crowder Shine

I love this video...watch the story it's amazing and all done with a little lite brite. For real..the people in their church helped them with all the images. Awesome!!

Music Monday

Negative Nellie's

Have you ever been so excited about something that you can't help but share it with everyone. Maybe it's a new opportunity or maybe just something you have been wanting to try but it's working out and you are just so stinkin excited about it? Sometimes are you guarded and maybe you are afraid of sharing because you have been shot down before? Why can't people just be happy for you ? Aren't we suppose to delight in God's goodness being given to others? Mean and negative people are making me a little crazy right now. Can we get some thank yous and that a boys ? Please!!!

Music Monday

Music Monday is Back!!

Enjoy!!

Save a Place for Me,,,

I know so many of you had been praying for my dear sweet friend Michal...she left for heaven today. I am struggling with such sadness but I am so thankful she did not suffer long. I can't even begin to tell you of the legacy she is leaving behind...faithful to the very end. She decided on July 18th to do no more Chemo, she truly gave it to God ...she stated it was his all along anyway. Trusting him the whole way...she never wavered...could I be that faithful?
Please pray for her hubby and sweet, sweet boys...they will miss her something awful. She has left them many sweet reminders of her but I hope they never forget how much she fought to stay with them and how much she loved them.

Hooray

I forgot to post the skinny picture of my friend Christy...Hooray for you on your weight loss.

I also forgot the picture of my friend Jim... he is a Canadian Mounted Policeman...he brought his uniform so we could be goobers and get lots of pictures!!

Finally

After months away I am attempting a comeback. We have had so much going on that I unfortunately had no time to dedicate to my blog. I have missed it.

Here's a little of what we have been up to:

*Took a family vacation to Florida to celebrate Emilee's 21st Birthday...we were there 2 glorious weeks this past June

*Boys started High School

*Garrett plays tennis

Levi is a football player

*Had a Luau to celebrate some summer Birthdays

*Went on a work retreat for my Literacy job

*Still work for Dr Jay

*Met Miss Emilee's New Fella...Big Steve ( he is great!!)

*Trying to deal with ailing parents...Papaw had a stroke and Grandma Val's neuropothay is BAD!

*Friend from Canada visits

*Football Starts!!!

*Cut my hair off...it's grown back some

*Emm starts back to collage ...can't believe she's a JR already...she takes the LSAT this year

*Build houses for the homeless

*Connected with an old friend...that always feels good

*Finally got to visit with my new skinny friend Christy

*Praying for my sweet friend Michal...gave up on chemo and is ready for Gods plan

*Cory and Ashley got engaged and the boys will be groomsmen 2011

* A young man (10th grade) that the boys played football with for years killed himself...Tragic

Although life has been a bit trying lately I must tell you that God has been so good and church has been awesome. We are so blessed and I feel God doing a work in all of us. I have had moments of extreme sadness and frustration but thank goodness they are never lasting. I know this is the holy spirit. I am hopeful and I do hope everyone in blog land knows that kind of hope.

May this new week bring you a beautiful reminder that you are never ALONE!!

Big Hugs

Music Monday

My High Schoolers

Here is a picture of my parents with our boys. We were heading out to 8th grade graduation. That's right they are now in High School!!! I just can't believe it's time for them to be in high school. I know how fast it goes and to be honest it made me a little sad.
Hope your summer is off to a great start!!

It's Friday

I thought I would be able to check in a lot more, that has not been the case. Today is Yearbook Dance at the Middle School. I volunteered to coordinate it. Being that the boys are going to be High Schoolers...I'm so not ready for that. They just finished their Middle School Golf season. Levi already has a full football schedule for this summer but I am so excited about the coach. He takes them on a retreat and he offers a bible study once a week. Garrett is busy with tennis and we are praying he gets a good man to coach. With all the teacher cuts we are losing a great man that so inspired the kids.
I'm still working more than I thought I would be but I am blessed to have the opportunity to work. So many patients call cancelling their appointments because they lost their jobs and can't find work. So, I'm thanking God for the opportunity.
Hope to share some pictures.(if I can locate the usb cord )
Have a wonderful weekend!!

Music Monday

Music Monday

Enough

Well, I have a Friday off and I am catching up on some errands, cleaning and thoughts. This Sunday is Mother's day and I want you to know I am just so happy to be called MOM. After years of trying(6) to have children and so many I'm sorry Mrs Hammond it was negative...I am most grateful for the opportunity to hear MOM yelled from upstairs. Working so much lately has made me appreciate that even more. Sometimes we can get caught up in what they do for us on this day and what stuff we get but truly just the simple gift of being called mom will be enough for me this year.
I'm excited because Emm is back home from college and my house is full of fun, fussing and chaos. We are going on a 2 week family vacation this summer and are thrilled to be able to do that. With the boys starting high school and Levi playing football...did you know that starts in June? We thought this may be one of our last times to getaway like this. Best part, the trip is already paid for. Yes, working a lot has its perks.


Have a wonderful Mothers day and let MOM be enough!!

Music Monday

I am hoping that I will have more time to share with you all again. April is already gone and May brings new opportunities and new challenges but I will be cutting my day to day work load.
So I wanted to start with this awesome song. This was one of my favorites from the Dove awards.
Enjoy and have a great week! Honor him in all that you do.

Remember this Prayer Request???

Remember sweet Ashley? I got the call we have all been waiting for...her pet scan is awesome and she only has 3 more chemo treatments!! June 1st and she will be done!! Thank you so much for all your prayers. She is so excited and is so thankful.

Big Hugs



PS My sister is at home and healing nicely. She is a little freaked out by all the stitches and the dent in her neck but all in all she feels great.

Greetings

I have made a quick pit stop wanted to give a little update and request some prayer.
My sweet sister had to have a tumor removed from her neck yesterday and a 2 hr surgery turned into 7+ hrs. They kept her overnight and she is now at home with my mom. It took a tole on her and please pray for her and her healing. She is a little discouraged right now and scared. I appreciate your thoughts and prayers.
I know one day soon I will have more time to visit with you all. Until then make today a great day!!

GO DAWGS!!

It is so exciting around here. Please pray for our Dawgs.

Birthday Wishes

Love these guys!!

14 years ago today my sweet boys were born...5 1/2 weeks early!! What a scary day that turned out to be. With the Dr not able to stop my labor any longer those sweet babies entered this world. Levi at 12:40 and Garrett at 12:42. My c-section went very quick and in no time I was meeting with the boys Dr to discuss their game plan. They needed to be moved to a neonatal unit at another hospital. It was so hard to tell them goodbye. I didn't see them again for 3 days. Leaving a hospital without your babies is tough and probably one of the hardest things I have ever done. But today we celebrate those babies that are healthy and strong and oh so funny. I am a lucky mommy!!

Off to go rock climbing!!

I'm Still Here

I am still around but I have been a full full time working girl. The dentist I work for PRN is needing me to fill in for about 6 weeks. This is a blessing but it's also difficult because I am so booked with my literacy events. So there are days I am gone from 7am until 9pm. Again, this is temporary and the opportunity has been a blessing. I am pooped out !!
This week was rough because my babies are going to high school !!! Yep, it was freshman orientation...I can't believe it's time for them to go. I say no but go they must. I just know now how fast high school goes and it makes me a little sad. I really enjoy my kids. I love talking to them and hanging out with them. What can I say I dig my kids!!
I did have something exciting happen. One evening while I was in my car traveling to my next gig, I called into a radio station and won tickets to Mercy Me. I was so excited because I never do this and my son Garrett loves Mercy Me. So, I am a WINNER!!
The weather has been so much warmer and today I brought out the flip flops. My feet where so happy.
I hope whatever you've been up to has been a blessing to yourself and others. I pray that you have felt God's amazing presence.

Happy Spring!!

Music Monday

I love singing this song!!
Have a wonderful week!!

Yummy Granola Recipe

One of the awesome ladies I work with makes the best granola. She was kind enough to make it for us for Christmas and shared the recipe. I made it and it was so easy . I love me some granola with my yogurt.

Recipe:

2/3 cup cranberry juice(you can use OJ)

1/2 C Brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

1 1/2 Tbs oil

1-2 tsp vanilla

Combine juice,sugar, and honey and heat till dissolved. Remove form heat and add oil and vanilla. Stir well.

4 cups oats

1 Tbs cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup walnuts

1 cuped slice almonds ( I like whole too )

1 1/2 cups dried fruit ( I use the welches mixed berry)

Combine (except fruit) and pour juice mixture over oats and mix well. Spread over a jelly roll pan that has been coated with Pam spray. Bake at 300 for 15 minutes, stir , bake 15 more minutes, stir and check for doneness, you may have to bake another 10 mins until golden brown. Do not let burn. Cool on rack. Add fruit. Store in an airtight container for two weeks!!

Enjoy!

Snow Days

We've had snow days , delays,being stuck in the drive (it was bad), drifting and more . We are so ready for spring or even some sunshine would be nice. But we did have some fun sledding. The boys brought a friend and they had a blast! Thought I would share some new pictures . I know there is snow most everywhere and in places it's not suppose to snow!!

Music Monday

Little Black Dress

Emme had a Little Black dress party and here are a few pictures of some goodies I helped her with. I made truffles and placed them in these little favor boxes. The favor boxes were found at the dollar tree and I stamped on them. So easy and affordable. I had bought the candelabra at a garage sale for $3. I finally got it painted for her and added the crystals. I had all of this stuff in the basement. We did find the dress @ goodwill for $2. I used a vintage earring to clip the welcome message. This was for the door. She did everything in black and white and it was so cute. All the girls were to wear their favorite little black dress and the guys were to wear black.

Valentines Day Ideas

Being snowed in for two days has made me very productive. Our dollar tree had some cute boxes and this cute little trash can. I had picked these up awhile back and was hoping to have some time to get some goodies made to fill them. I love taking the sweetheart boxes and decorating them with scrapbook paper. I saw these rice krispy treats on several sites and gave them a try. So fun and so cute. Got some love decorations out and some love notes put up throughout the house. I refer to Valentines day as Love day.

John 13:34 Love on another

Beauty

This sweet girl is heavy on my heart today. Ashley had to have emergency surgery yesterday. Actually twice. She spiked a terrible fever over the weekend and they took her to the ER. She has a staph infection at your port iv site. Last night they went 3 inches deep to try and remove as much as they could. She is in recovery and will be in the hospital for awhile and then home for a long healing process. They do have to stop chemo for now. I know I ask a lot but please pray for this sweet young woman. She had just lost her hair and was having a terrible time emotionally. I know from several people attitude is a key part to beating cancer. I couldn't sleep last night just thinking about her and all the emotions she must be feeling. When I saw her a few weeks ago we talked a lot about how she was more than her hair and so what if she is gaining weight. She is so much more than all of that. I thought about beauty, true beauty. Not store bought, accessorized, commercialized beauty. I pray that Ashley knows how beautiful God has made her to be. Please pray for her sweet spirit not be be broken .

Thank you all so much and I promise to have something fun to share this week!!

Blue Friday

It's BLUE FRIDAY here in Indy. GO COLTS!!! The boys got to dress up for school and believe it or not some schools are closing on Monday or have a 2 hr delay because of the game. Our school system is not one of those schools and I am glad. Love a good football game but it is just a game. Are you having a Superbowl Party? What snacks are you fixing? My people love some wings and chicken buffalo dip. If you haven't tried that dip it is so easy and so yummy. I can share the recipe.
We are suppose to get some serious snow... 4-8 inches. The boys are excited because that means sledding!! I'm praying it waits till after I get home from work.

Whatever you're doing this weekend I hope it involves some fun!!

The Little Things

Thank you all for the awesome prayers. Yesterday was the funeral and there where nuggets from God everywhere. Through an experience like this we are given the opportunity to get a new perspective on things. For that I am thankful. One example of this came last night from my friend Cindy. She stood and told me that she longed to have Cory's smelly dirty clothes. Just have them laying on the floor in his room. I get that. I have two smelly teenage boys. This morning when they got ready I could smell the Axe being sprayed , the contact solution is still on the counter and their beds are a mess. These are signs of life and I am very thankful. Tonight when they come home from weight training and they are all smelly and want to give their mom one of those smelly hugs because they think it's so funny, I will gladly accept. So I thank my dear friend Cindy for reminding me to appreciate the little things, including smelly socks!!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!!

Music Monday

I have always liked this song and after spending the day at the funeral home yesterday I thought it was more than appropriate. Please continue to pray for my friend and pray for all the young people that have been impacted by Cory's death.