We interrupt this regularly scheduled program! Well, sort of....

Tori-bug had her first gymnastics meet of the season yesterday. Sort of. Technically her season starts in January every year, but we had the chance to do a "brush up" meet yesterday. Really just to see where the girls were and what they needed to work on before the season begins. BUT..... it was a sanctioned meet and the scores counted. The girls have to have at least two 32's to go to the STATE meet every season so if they scored at least a 32 yesterday it only helped them. If they didn't, it really didn't go against them. Well........ my Tori-bug got a 35.55 all-around!! I am so proud of her. I would be proud of her even if she didn't make it, but she did her best and ended up with great scores. A little stress for sure. She doesn't get nervous at all before meets, but I usually am for some reason. I just want her to have fun and do it safely. In fact, that is what I tell her before EVERY meet. I am still nervous for her b/c she sets such high standards for herself. I want her to enjoy gymnastics for years to come so I am so thankful that she doesn't feel pressured to "perform" at someone else's standards. She came home with two 2nd. place scores in beam and bars. She got 4th. in vault and floor. Her floor routine was really good (according to her mama anyways). She got all the skills and bonuses, but she didn't end spot-on with the music. All of the girls music was cut short 3 days before the meet so she didn't have a lot of time to get the beat down pact. She was scared she would finish after the music ended so she rushed and ended up ending a few seconds before the music. They apparently count off big time for that b/c she ended up with a 8.950 and 4th. place. Still a great score, but for landing all the skills--- round off double back handspring and a front handspring, not as high as I thought. She definitely needs to work on "selling" her song. I was a really bad mama and didn't take my video camera with me to the meet so I don't have video to post. One of these days I am going to get a video posted though. The rest of the scores were: Beam- 9.050, Bars- 8.7, Vault- 8.8. She got second place All-Around.

Joy left her a note and 30 treat bags for her gymnast teammates. The note said to take the treat bags filled with hugs and kisses and a candy cane to the meet with her. Joy also said she wanted to go to the meet. The same day she left all of our clean underwear all over the undecorated Christmas tree. We don't have our tree decorated yet b/c we haven't been able to get to our Christmas stuff b/c we are finishing our basement. It was supposed to be done when we got home on Saturday, but he needs about 3 more hours to finish on Monday. Hopefully he will get it done tomorrow and then we can get on with getting our Christmas stuff out.

Tori-bug's 2nd. place All-around trophy and four medals!! She loves coming home with SOMETHING!! We should be back to Joy adventures this week so I will post when the mischief continues tomorrow.

Proud of my baby girl,
Wendy

Joy got into the Fritos

Tori-bug ended up sleeping with Joy last night. I didn't get a picture of it, but she promptly wrapped her in her big coat and snuggled her in the bed beside her. She thought she needed to rest after her long journey from the North Pole yesterday. She placed her under the tree this morning with a jelly bean when she left for school. I think this is the better plan so we don't have to worry about her getting into "messes" when we are sleeping at night ;-)

Tori-bug had wrote to her in the journal yesterday asking her how old she was this year. Joy wrote back some time today when we were gone saying that elves don't age so she was still 9. She had gotten into the Fritos and left a big mess on the counter. She said she was hungry or something because of the long trip from the North Pole.

Tori-bug: "Mama, some kids on my bus said Santa isn't real. It's your parents".

Me: "Really? What do you think?"

Tori-bug: "I told them that I knew Santa was real b/c my parents can't afford all those presents!"

Me: "You are EXACTLY right!!"

Oh how I love that girl. She makes me smile :-)

Oh Joy!! Oh Joy!!

Today is December 1st. and Joy has arrived!!

She was under our undecorated Christmas tree when we got home from gymnastics.

She came with a pair of new Christmas pajamas, her journal, and a box of jellybeans.

Tori-bug wrote a note to her underneath her note that said she was back.

She said, "Hey Joy. I was scared you would not come back but you did! How old are you now?"

I'm 9!

Joy told Tori-bug last year that she was 9, so I have a feeling she is going to reply that she is now 10 years old, but we will see.

Either way, Tori-bug was ecstatic that she was here for the month. I don't know how much she is going to be getting into, but I think I have finally convinced Tori-bug into feeding her jelly beans in the mornings when we leave for school and work instead of at night. When we come home in the evenings we can clean up the mess. I don't have time to do it in the mornings. She is only allowed to feed her jellybeans two days a week too and the other days she has to give her oatmeal flakes so she will sleep ;-)

Tonight, b/c Joy has been traveling from the North Pole all day, Tori-bug wrapped her up in her coat and put her in her bed to sleep with her. She wanted her to have a good night of rest all snuggled up beside her!

Spreading Christmas "JOY",

Wendy

Sunday

I have been up since 4am with my back "out". I hate it when I wake up early with back pain. Not fun at all. We had a really relaxing day yesterday. Went out and bought some concrete floor paint for the basement, which will hopefully be done early this week. We thought we might put hardwood lamenent on the floors, but I simply don't want to fork out a lot of money to put it down. We decided to go with just painting it and then putting a big area rug down. It will be cold, but it is way cheaper. We wanted to finish the basement so we could have a place to go and hang out, watch TV, play videogames, scrapbook, etc. It will be nice to come up the stairs and shut the door on the mess if we need to. I am really excited!! While we were out at the Home Depot picking up the paint, we bought our Christmas tree. Mind you, all my Christmas stuff is in the basement and I can't get to it until the contractor is done, but we went ahead and got the tree. Hopefully, I will be able to decorate it before Tuesday when "Joy", our elf, comes. She is coming and I have a plan of some mischief she can get into. I think this might be my last year for the magic of Christmas so I went ahead and decided to do it. I will post pics when all the magic unfolds. You might even get a few more updates than normal with all the Elf Magic. If you would like to get your own elf or would like to sponsor a child to have an elf go to: www.hostanelf.com
Under CatieElf. They donate a part of their proceeds to CURE childhood cancer research.
Today, is going to be a relaxing day too. I am skipping church today since my back is out. Hoping to get a little laundry done, Christmas presents wrapped, and some homemade chicken stew for lunch prepared.
Enjoy your Sunday!!!
Wendy

Elf Magic?

Hello friends,

Things are much more calmer here in now. I am thankful for that. I feel so blessed to have great BFF's that are there for me. Thank you Tammy and Marsha. We were able to get away Sat. for a shopping trip, which really helped my spirits out!! Things are still going to come up and my mom has an appt. on 12/3 with her pulmonologist so I know it is just the beginning of more things to come, but my mind is much better and I think I will be able to handle what comes. I needed to be able to set my ownself up for dealing with some future stresses when they do come. I am not really *worried* about my mom's appt. after getting my focus where it needed to be, but I would appreciate some prayers on her behalf when we speak to the doctor that day. We might consider putting her on hospice (not bc they think she will die necessarily), but to help my sister and I with her care. We have had lots of experience with hospice in the past and very recently with my grandfather in April and we were so much better equipped having them. I am a nurse, but I have my own family, stresses, full-time job, etc. and so does my sister. All the care falls on us. It might just help us not to have to bathe her ourselves, get her out to the doctors (especially in Winter months), and such. I will still continue to fix her meds, but a nurse would be able to come in weekly and monitor her and a tech could come bathe her for my sister. We will see......

Now, the real reason for my post is in regards to our Elf, (her name is Joy). If you have been following my blog for any length of time you know how this goes. A couple of years ago I read a blog about a little girl that had cancer. I still follow her site. She died after a long battle with the beast. Anyway, her mother always blogged about how in the month of December, Katie got to ask Santa for an elf to come visit with her for the holidays and all the fun and mischief that the elf got into. They were raising money for CURE, childhood cancer research. Tori-bug wrote a letter to Santa at Elf Magic and requested an elf. She came that first year, two years ago, named and with a box of oatmeal flakes and jellybeans. The letter from Santa said that she could stay her for the month, but on Christmas Eve she had to be placed under the tree to hop back on his sleigh to go back to the North Pole. Sometimes though, the elf gets into things at night and creates mischief while the family is asleep. If you don't care if she gets into mischief, you "feed" her a jellybean and if you don't want her to get into mischief she has to "eat" oatmeal flakes. The first year, I did really good and was really creative to come up with mischief. Last year, not so much. I only allowed Tori-bug to "give" her a jellybean two nights a week b/c sometimes she made a huge mess and I simply didn't have time to clean it up. Other nights, we would just find her in the freezer (bc it reminded her of the North Pole) or she would sometimes be laying in front of the TV, like she was watching a movie all night. Not too hard.... This year, I was considering her sending a note saying she was not going to come here and maybe she would go help someone else spread the magic of Christmas, with another family. My sister-in-law said I couldn't do that bc I had gotten it started way back when and I couldn't stop now. I just don't have any creative ideas for the "mischief" this year. Can you help me come up with something? If you have time, go back over last years posts from around this time of year and see what she has done before. I don't really want to do the same things over again. I have *some* ideas though. I think she might bake cookies one night and ask Tori-bug to take her and the cookies to the nursing home and pass them out. One night or day, she might make homemade dog treats and have Tori-bug drop them off at the vet or animal shelter. She is not only supposed to get into mischief, but help spread good cheer too. I want Tori-bug to learn the magic of Christmas and doing for others. It is fun to watch her wake up in the mornings and start immediately looking for her to see where she is. Last year, Joy (the elf) put a 4 ft. Christmas tree up in Tori-bug's room with ornaments all over it that said "Joy" and she was at the top, like a tree topper. That was really cool. She will show up this year on Dec. 1st. with a set of Christmas pajamas so i need at least 10-12 ideas. So, if you have anything creative for me to help spread good cheer or do something mischievous (without me getting caught), post it on here. There are websites that I have looked at for ideas, but some of the things are just not do-able for me. Come on, help me out..... and say a prayer for my mom's visit on Dec. 3rd if you remember.

Ready for the "magic" to begin,
Wendy

Peace and Understanding

I am feeling emotionally better this week. It was rough last week, but I am making progress. I had a good week to take off. It was absolutely gorgeous in Georgia every day last week. Mid 70's and warm Fall temps. I wallowed in pity on Monday. Tuesday my husband met me for lunch. We went through the drive-thru of KFC and took chicken plates to Fort Yargo where we ate lunch by the lake and took a nice stroll down a nature trail. We were able to talk about a lot of stuff that was burdening us. I went to work on Friday feeling much more at peace.



My Tori-bug is practicing hard on her gymnastics. She only has about 6 weeks of practice left before the first meet. All of her skills are shaping up nicely. She was struggling with not wanting to jump to the high bar a few weeks ago. Now she is jumping with absolutely no problem. Her dismount still needs work. She is not getting enough height on it and is sometimes squatting or falling on the dismount. If her hands or bottom hit the mat it is counted as a fall. 5/10th. of a point off her score automatically. The rest of it looks pretty good. Her floor looks really good and she is mostly spot-on with the music. It needs to be tightened up some, i.e. hand placement and such. Her front handspring doesn't look as graceful as she needs it to, but she is landing it. Beam she was struggling on the full turn, but finally has it now too. A lot of the girls are having a hard time on beam with their cartwheels. This is our (parents) biggest event of concern. We know the girls will do well at meets on the other events, but since so many are struggling on beam we are worried. The girls have worked so hard and will continue to work hard until the meets. Hopefully, they will get the skills they need. I am so proud of every one of them.

Thanks for stopping by!
Wendy

Gratitude List

I took the time this week to sit down and write down a Gratitude List. I often have to remind myself how blessed I am. I know it, I just have to be reminded of it. I did un-link my blog from my facebook page for personal reasons. The people that read my blog know almost everything there is to know about me anyways so I unlinked it. The ones that choose to come here and read are the people that I have relationships with anyway. I started this blog for myself as a way to write down my thoughts, but by no means want people to think it is more than that. The people that don't want to read don't have to stop by. I was informed that the whole world (meaning facebook users) don't want to know all my personal issues. Oh really? Don't read it..... it is for me. So in saying all this, I now won't be able to receive comments from my link to FB and that is where I was receiving most of them. Please, feel free to comment me on here, but I won't know that you stopped by unless you do leave on a comment. If you don't have an acct. just leave it under anonymous and sign your name to it so I will know it was you. Okay, moving on to my gratitude list......

1. My husband-- for 18+ years he has been my rock. The other half of me that tells me, "everything is going to be okay". He is a great husband, father, and provider. I honestly couldn't have asked God for anyone better. He and his girls have a very special relationship. He still makes my heart go pitter-pat. I am blessed to have him in my life.
2. My beautiful girls---- Lyndsey is a good big sister. She has a smile that can light up a room. She is sweet and loving. Tori-bug is my sweet, high-spirited girl. She has the biggest dimple in her right cheek (thanks to her daddy!) She "rocks" at gymnastics. I am blessed to have them in my life.
3. My four-legged children. They love me unconditionally and I can tell them anything. *smiles* I am blessed to have them in my life.
4. My job and co-workers---- I work with some of the sweetest people. My bosses and office manager are Godly people that are always willing to lend an ear and Godly wisdom. It makes it easier to show up to work everyday. I am blessed to have them in my life.
5. My best friends---- Marsha and Tammy. Without even having to know what I am going through they are there for me. I know they are praying and when I get ready to talk they will be there. Friendships like these are hard to find and without looking for them we found it!! I am blessed to have them in my life.
6. My sister, Monica--- we haven't always been super-close but all the things our family has been through has pulled us together. We have a family bond and loyalty that is hard to beat. I am blessed to have her in my life.
7. My mom--- we have always been close and she is my world. I can't imagine my life without her but know that her health is not good. I am very protective of her and will always strive to do my best for her. I am blessed to have her in my life. Before I got married, I always thought that I could never love anyone more than I loved my mom. Then I met and married Kevin. Then, I thought there was no way I could ever love anyone more than I love him. Until, I got pregnant and had Tori-bug. I know that I really couldn't love anyone more than I love her, but I still love my mama A LOT!! All different kinds of love, but another thing on my gratitude list.....
8. LOVE
9. My daddy--- I've always been closer to my mama than to my daddy, but there is a special bond between daddy's and daughter's. I am blessed to have him in my life.
10. My Faith--- Thank God for faith. I became a believer on April 9, 1984. Right before I turned 10 years old. I asked Jesus into my heart at a youth retreat. It was a day I will never forget. I am thankful that God doesn't keep score and allows us to make mistakes or sin, ask for forgiveness, and then wipes our slate clean. I am grateful for the gift of the Holy Spirit that nudges us to ask for that forgiveness when we do wrong. I wish that I could forgive and forget that easily when people wrong me. I am blessed to be able to be called a daughter of the King!!


I am doing better the past couple of days. I continue to strive to be the best me I can possibly be. I read a quote somewhere the other day that I totally needed and thought was extremely helpful. Here it is......
Faith is not necessary when you know how things are going to work out- that's knowledge. It's in the time of unknowing that having faith is what sees you through to the other side. Faith is what gives you strength. Faith is that light in your heart that keeps on shining even when it's all dark outside. Now is the time to keep that faith alive.

Wendy

Here, but struggling

I have a ton of mental and emotional junk in my head and heart. I will get through this, but I am struggling. I asked to take a few days off of work to be able to clear my foggy brain. Thanks for praying.

I am reminding myself how blessed I am. I have so much good in my life. I am thankful that I serve a risen Saviour who is in control. I am grateful that I can leave my burdens with Him, but I keep trying to figure out HOW to leave it. I don't want to be a "whoa is me" person. I don't want to be depressed. I don't want to be worried, but I am.

Hopefully, if you check back here next week I will be in a much better place emotionally and mentally. Going to talk to someone this week will help. Until then.......

Wendy

Parenting, Daughtering, Sistering

It is hard to be the oldest daughter of a disabled mother.


The hardest job in the world is being a parent.


Sometimes it is even hard being a sister.


I need prayers for my sanity. I found out this week that my mom's lung function is down to 18%. In 2006 she had 37%. She had been smoking last year too when she was near death in December. She was in ICU for 3 days. I called her lung specialist this week b/c my ex-aunt is near death with only 2 weeks to live with 13% of lung function. It scared me and made me realize that back in May I never asked what mom's percentage was when she had the lung function study repeated. The doctor just told us that it was significantly worse. My grandfather had just passed away so I never asked the percentage. I really think I would have lost it at that point to know. When I talked to her doctor's office this week the nurse told me and then said when mom comes in December that we might talk about putting her on hospice. I proceeded to tell her that mom was smoking again. My sister and I just discovered this. When I asked her why she was smoking she said it was stress, but that is untrue. When my grandfather passed away in April we moved her in with my biological sister since she has someone home a lot of the time and I work full-time. My sister does everything for her. She does her meals, baths, etc. I take mom to the doctor and fix her medicine weekly. She has no stress at my sister's house. The truth is that she is addicted to nicotine. She enjoys smoking. For a daughter, I don't get it. I can't see how she would want to die quicker. We know she isn't going to live a very long life, but we want her to get the most of what time she does have left. When the nurse mentioned hospice she didn't specify or speculate on the amount of time we are looking at. I don't think the doctor will in December or not, but we do know that if she smokes she can't make it long. She took Chantix, the smoking cessation pill about 3 months ago and did fabulous on it. When she was done with the 3 months she told me she didn't need it anymore, that she had no desires to smoke and I believed that she had totally quit. In fact, I am sure she did! Recently she started back. Needless to say I told her what the nurse had said (we have never kept anything from her and won't start now) and that she was going to go back on the Chantix, which she did. I hope it works again. I lost my grandmother 8 months before my grandfather and I can't bear to lose my mother.

Without going into details, I am also dealing with some issues with my daughter and my adopted sister. I am not going to go over it here but the two are mad at each other now. My head is filled with conflict, my heart is breaking. Over family, over parenting, over daughtering!!! I have asked many times over the past several weeks to please pray for me, but I am asking again. I feel so needy these days. I hardly ever even mention my own prayer concerns, but I think I need them again. I need to figure out the best way to have a relationship with all parties involved. I love my daughter. I love my mama. I love my sister.

Wendy

Aunt Wendy

See this beautiful baby girl? She is my niece Leah. My 19-year-old sister had her six months ago. She was born on my birthday, April 20th. She was an unexpected great surprise. See, my sister is not married. I would not have chosen for her to give birth at such a young age, but I love this baby like no other. She isn't technically mine own blood b/c my sister is adopted. But she is still my niece and I am blessed to have her in my life. On Thursday, my sister told me she is expecting AGAIN!!! I am devastated. She is not at all ready for another baby. She has a hard time providing for this one. No job, not married, no house, etc. I don't know what she is going to do. I will help her any way I can b/c she will have another child that will be my niece or nephew. I know that I can't DO this for her and she wasn't trying to get pregnant, but we have to figure out what to do. She really is a good mother to Leah. She just simply has a hard time providing for her. Dad is in the picture, but they are an inter-racial relationship which makes it even harder on them. If you feel so inclined please lift this situation up to God. She is trying to get a job (or so she says). The dad does work, but b/c neither of them graduated high school, it is hard for them to make good money or even get a job in this economy. I don't think she would be willing to give the child up for adoption, but she can't provide for two kids either that will be 13 months apart. Two in diapers, carseats, etc. I am doing some soul-searching as to whether if it came down to it would my husband and I be willing to take a new baby on. Our babies are 18 and 9. We had decided that we didn't want anymore kids 5 years ago when I hurt my back. I got my tubes tied. I know that we would be able to provide for another child and before I would want the child to go into state custody, I think we would take it on. It is a sticky situation. I love being an aunt to Leah and I will keep you posted on what happens, but please lift up my family. I am a little stressed out about all of it.

TGIF

Not the best pictures I have ever taken, but this is a pic of Tori-bug and I at Vogel State Park over the weekend while we were camping. My Tori-bug had to pose by the sunflowers at the CornMaze. I remember one time A LONG TIME ago seeing a picture in the local paper of my great-grandparents growing the largest/tallest sunflower in our county. It was really tall, but I can't remember the height. I am extremely glad that today is Friday. We are scheduled for family portraits on Sunday. My 18-year-old is also getting her senior pics made then too. Should be a fun day. I will see if I can post some of the pics. Have a great weekend. Supposed to be wet and rainy here all weekend! On second thought, maybe our pics we get re-scheduled. I hope not!!!

Wendy

Updates, I guess

I have had my legs striped for not updating in so long!! Sorry Kathleen!! I really didn't know it had been so long since my last update and that very many people cared ;-)

Let's see....... what has been going on?

Tori-bug continues to go to gymnastics each week. Although now that her friend has gotten hurt she is afraid to jump to the high bar. I don't know what is up with that, but at least she doesn't want to quit anymore. All of her other routines are shaping up nicely. She looks really good on floor and on beam. Vault has never been her strong suit, but it looks good too. At least to me it does! Competition starts in January. She needs to get ready. We have lots of meets out of state this year so it should be fun. And expensive.

My friend, Pyper continues to need prayers. If you remember she is a 2-year-old with a relapse of cancer. She got a bone marrow transplant from her big sister a few months ago and it has been going great, but now they are almost positive that she WILL relapse again. Her mom, Mandy and her daddy are scared to death. They don't want to lose her. Please lift her up to God. We serve a MIGHTY KING and He is still on the throne. I believe in miracles and that is my prayer.

We went camping this past weekend in the beautiful North Georgia Mountains. A very nice park, Vogel State Park. We went with our best friends and their kids and had a great time. The kids looked for salamanders, played in the creek, rode bikes, roasted marshmallows, made s'mores, and even read while we were there. We visited a corn maze too. It was a great trip. Now, I have camper fever. I have been wanting to purchase a camper for awhile now and so now I am going to start looking for one. We hope we can make it an annual event.

I will do my best to update again soon. I have lots more pics of the weekend to share.

Thanks for checking in and don't forget to pray for Pyper!

Wendy

Oh, to be 18 again!!

Would you be 18 again if given the chance? Just one day?

Yesterday was my step-daughter's 18th. birthday. She is a senior in high school and is a beautiful young lady.

Dear Lyndsey,

Wow! Where to start? I have been thinking a lot over the past few weeks about you turning 18! An adult!! How did that happen? When I was reminiscing, I thought back to those first few weeks with you. You were the "baby" that a lot of people took to raising. Because we were all so young when we had you, a lot of close personal friends took care of you like you were theirs. Daddy was 19 when you were born and had just graduated high school when he found out he would be a daddy. Needless to say, it was a shocker. He was only a year older than you are now when you were born. Because of the circumstances, daddy and I didn't start getting you for weekends until you were 9 months old. A lot happened that first year or so, but we all learned together. Even with the shock of daddy finding out that he was going to be a father, you were the best thing that ever happened to him. He still tears up at that country song, "There goes my life". That song is so about him.

Anyway, I think about the sleepless nights (you didn't sleep all night until around age 2). You were just so busy and didn't have time for sleeping. When you did sleep, you woke us up on the weekends by rattling your baby bed and shaking it across the floor. Your smile was and is still infectious. You smiled A LOT. We loved that! You walked very early b/c like I say, you were so busy. You just had to go. When you were a toddler, you loved Barney. Oh yikes! We knew every Barney song ever sang on the show and you would dance and dance every time a song started playing. One time at Easter, you were just barely able to reach the counters and you pulled a whole cup of blue egg dye on top of you. You were stained blue for days and we called you Baby Smurf. It really wasn't funny at the time, but now that I think back it is! I remember you starting kindergarten, middle school, high school, dancing for 10 years, and your first and only beauty pageant. You didn't win, but you lit up the stage that night. You took your frilly little dress and rubbed it all over your face right in the middle of the stage. It was too cute.

I really just wanted to tell you how proud I am of the beautiful young lady you have become. I know I am not your mom, but I love you like the daughter you are to me and always will be. You make daddy and I proud to be your parents. Keep working hard and enjoy your last year of high school.

How blessed I am, you are my daughter and also my friend!! I love you and Happy Birthday, Zee!!

Wendy

Greetings from Heaven

This past weekend we decided at the last minute to take a trip to Ruby Falls and to see Rock City in Chattanooga Tennessee. The family got to enjoy seeing lots of beautiful scenery which we thoroughly enjoyed. Tori-bug was not on her best behavior, but we enjoyed the day nonetheless. I had been to Ruby Falls about 25 years ago (and no, I am not THAT old). It was when I was about 10 years old. When didn't go to Rock City that trip that I remember. The rest of the family had been to neither place so it was a real treat. On the way home, we were talking about how blessed we were as a family and "how can you not believe in God when you see such beautiful sights?" Right about the same time the bottom dropped out on us and it started pouring down rain. It rained really hard for about 10 minutes and then a complete rainbow formed in the sky. It was so cool, like a reminder that God was saying to us that He was there.

Sunday we were so exhausted from all the walking that we took a nap after church. I love Sunday naps. It came up a bad thunderstorm so that made for an even better nap. Life is great!

Now, I want to tell you another story......

I found a bookmark in my grandmother's Bible on Sunday. Two bookmarks actually, just alike. One was written out To: Jean and one was written out To: Winford. My grandparents names and written by my grandmother. My grandmother died in 2004 and I lost my grandfather in April this year. I read almost every day. I thought, "How cool is this?" I am going to use this bookmark for the book that I am reading. I guess my granddaddy was on my brain when I went to bed since I read mostly at bedtime. Let me go back a little and say that my grandparents had this old clock on their wall for my entire life. It is a wind up clock and chimes ever how many times that it is that hour and chimes once for the half hour. Somehow before my grandfather passed away the clock was not chiming the right amount of times for that hour so when my grandfather passed away I asked my mom if I could have the clock. Of course she said I could so I brought it home and placed it propped up against the wall in my living room. My thought was that I would take it to a clock maker and try to get it fixed to chime the right amount of times. I never once heard it chime in the 4 months since my grandfather passed away. It has sat in my living room for the past 4 months. I really thought the clock was now broken completely and now I really wanted to get it fixed so I put in in the back of my SUV about 2 weeks ago. I have not found anybody to fix the clock. I dream of my grandfather a lot. I don't know why I dream of him in particular so often, but I do. I think about him constantly. Anyway, yesterday morning I was driving to work and I heard a "ding, ding, ding". I turned the radio down and listened more closely. I thought it was something on the radio at first, but no, there it was again, "ding, ding, ding". It was the clock CHIMING!!! Good Morning Granddaddy! I have not heard it since. It felt like a reminder that my GOD and my granddaddy are here and still looking out for me. I don't believe in a lot that is "coincidental". I know in my heart it was a reminder to me and I am extremely blessed. It was like a greeting from Heaven. Have a good day. Be sure to look around today and find someway you might be a blessing to someone else.

Wendy

Gymnastics update

I realized a little bit ago after responding to a comment from my sweet friend Sarah that I had not updated last night. Tori-bug got off the school bus saying she had a headache yesterday and she didn't want to go to gymnastics. I told her that I would give her some ibuprofen, but she WAS going to go to practice. Wed. night she didn't get in the bed until 9:45pm by the time we got home from church, finished studying for a science test, and took a bath. Way too late for her!! Big mistake!! So, when she got off the bus saying she didn't want to go to gym practice I thought it was just b/c she was tired. She did her homework then went outside to jump on the trampoline without taking ibuprofen. I called her in when it was time to leave for gymnastics and on the way, she started boohooing. Not just a little whine, but an all out breakdown about how she was quitting gymnastics b/c she didn't want to do it anymore. I couldn't figure out what in the world had happened and why she decided that she was wanting to quit all of a sudden. I calmed her down but told her that she had to go to practice b/c I had already paid for this month and if she indeed did want to quit then we would discuss it later (I don't want her to quit and I really thought is was all coming from her just being overtired). So, when we pulled in the parking lot she said she wanted to quit b/c she was scared of jumping to the high bar!!! OH! Her friend fell off of the high bar on Monday night and broke her shoulder (that is Caroline w/Tori-bug in the pic above). That was it. I told her that we would call her friend later on so she could hear it from her that it was just an accident and something that could happen anywhere. She did stay at gym practice but said they "spotted" her a little more for her jump to the high bar. When my friend Sarah told me all about how her daughter quit dance all of a sudden after dancing for several years I realized that I hadn't went into all this last night on the blog. Sorry Sarah if I confused you with my reply!! Geesh! Anyway, she talked to her friend that has the broke shoulder and all is well now. She is good to go again and told me to order her floor music CD when we got home. I am still sorting out the schedule as far as school and keeping her focused, but maybe all of this week was a result from being overtired. Now, I am sick so perhaps it was from her mom being a little oversensitive too. I hate Summer colds!!

Just Here

I have been so busy lately and having an almost non-stop backache that I have not been wanting to update my blog. School has begun and I am working pretty much full-time now. I do have off on Thursdays so that is nice. Gymnastics is keeping Tori-bug really busy. Three days a week is a killer for us. With school just starting and 11 hrs a week of gymnastics I am scared her grades are going to suffer for it. This is something I am struggling with b/c her attention has been all over the place since school started. She is forgetting to bring her books home on a regular basis, not writing her homework assignments down, etc. Can you tell I am a little frustrated at this point? It isn't the gymnastics, it is her. I just have to figure out the best way to handle it. I am hoping that it is just getting back on a regular schedule, but we will see. If not, we will come up with a plan and follow thru with it.
I will do better at blogging soon hopefully. Thanks for check in!
Wendy

It's Saturday

I love Saturdays. I love Saturday's that I can sleep in and do nothing for a few hours upon awakening.

That wasn't today, exactly. I woke up early at 7am with a backache. Uggh! I did get to do nothing (if you don't count watching TV and surfing the internet) for a few hours, waiting on my pain to ease up before I get the day started. But, I still love Saturdays. The girls are still sleeping and it is 9:40am.

It is supposed to be 93 today in Hotlanta! My nieces are having a combined swim birthday party today at Papa B's house. Ashley turned 15 on Aug. 5 and her sister, Hannah will turn 11 on Aug. 25th. They are growing up so fast. Ashley did not even study for her learners driver's test, went and took it on a whim and PASSED!!! Look out the girl will be learning to drive. Scary if you ask me. So we will go hang out and swim to celebrate their birthdays.

I kept Tori-bug out of gymnastics all last week b/c of her pulled muscle in her back (occurred early in practice on Tuesday). She was out doing back flips on the trampoline last night so guess that it is A-OK now. She will be going back to gymnastics on Monday. The first week of school went great. Tori-bug absolutely loves her 4th. grade teacher this year, Mrs. Lott. She seems really nice and I think she will be a good teacher and she will learn a lot. She has computers this year and they are going to learn to type. When Tori-bug came home and told me this earlier in the week, I told her about a CD that I had for the computer called, Typing Tutor and that being the way that I learned to type. When I quit my nursing job when I was pregnant with her I wanted to be able to supplement our income and decided that I would do some medical dictation at home. A friend at church lent me the CD (which I never gave back on accident- yep, guess I broke a commandment with that one- thou shalt not steal). Oops!! Anyway, in one month I learned to type using it and could type 65 words a minute. Which considering I was a hunt and peck kind of typer to begin with was amazing. She wanted to know if I still had it so she could practice at home too. Her daddy dug it out for her and she has been using it the past couple of days. She told me last night she was up to 14 words per minute. Amazing!!! I couldn't believe it. It is a really good teacher. Maybe she will make a good grade in that class this year.

Well, guess I will get off this blog now. I need to know that people are reading. Please leave me comments. I have been getting quite a few comments on my facebook page since this is directly linked to it, but not many people are commenting on here. Have a great Saturday! I love Saturdays!!

Wendy

Update

After 2 days of nursing a pulled muscle, my Tori-bug is much better. Thank you Jesus! She was really careful with it and walking gingerly, but now it is good to go. She will be able to go back to gymnastics on Monday. Thanks for all the prayers for her. She is one tough cookie indeed!

Wendy

Ouch

My beautiful girl hurt her back at gymnastics tonight. She was doing "bridge running". This is apparently where you do a backbend and then crawl like a crab walking on your hands and feet. When she stood up she said she felt immediate pain. It knocked her off balance I guess and she fell into the wall. I was at work when this took place so another mom called to ask if she could give her some Tylenol. "Of course", I said. When I got there to pick her up she was really walking gingerly and complaining of it a lot. She normally doesn't complain about too much. I asked her if she wanted to go to the doctor and she said she did. I ran her over to Regional FirstCare, an urgent care place in town. The doctor didn't feel x-rays were in order, but thought that she had a muscle strain and possible pulled the cartilage away from the muscle. He said to just rest it, give Motrin, and NO GYMNASTICS until further notice, i.e. not the rest of this week. We were told to follow up with our regular pediatrician (my employer) on Monday and see what she thought. Hopefully by tomorrow she will be feeling somewhat better anyway. I had to help her in and out of the car, in and out of the tub, and bending over causes her great pain. Geez, two people in one house with a bad back won't work for us :-)
Please pray that it gets better quickly and can go back to gymnastics on Monday.
Her mommy will thank you for it.
Wendy

I am back

The family and I just got back from a great time at Panama City Beach. I didn't get that many great pics b/c my camera battery was dying. I was so proud of Lyndsey though. She is one of those people that has to just about be pushed into everything. She didn't have to be pushed this weekend at all. She tried everything!! Bungee jumping, Gator balls (haha-Zee), shark tails, parasailing, and got her navel pierced (so did I, but you won't be seeing a picture)........

Me and the love of my life!!!

Me on the balcony of our condo.

Two most beautiful girls in the world and they are mine!

We had a great time, but I am glad to be home. Now, I need another vacation from that vacation. Thanks Mandy for letting us tag along!!

The GIRLS

My best friends and I and our families went to the lakehouse this past weekend for July 4th. My one BFF, Marsha owns a lakehouse about an hour from our house. The lake was about 17 feet down just 8 months ago and we didn't think we were going to be able to enjoy it at all this Summer. Plus, she just gave birth 2-1/2 months ago. Yep, that is her on the front of the jetski. My other BFF is Tammy. She is in the middle and I, of course, am on the back. We had a great time. The baby did so good. Everytime we rode on the boat she slept. Yes, we did put her on the boat. She had a little baby lifejacket and everything. I am sorry that I didn't get a picture of her wearing it. It would have been cute. We were able to enjoy watching the fireworks from the boat, eat some good food, and chitchat with the girls. We are planning on going out on Friday night too to celebrate my birthday (which was 2 months ago). I told you she was busy having a baby!
My Tori-bug is loving her new team and teammates. She is learning all kinds of fun new stuff. She is learning her back walkover on beam (not the high beam yet)! I am really proud of her dedication. She is practicing really hard. Keep up the good work Tori-bug!!
Thanks for checking in on us! Talk to you soon!
Wendy

Look out, look out

Two blogs in one week!! I know you are surprised, but I have some great news!!!! My Tori-bug is getting moved from the Optionals Bronze team to the Optionals Silver team. This is super-great for her b/c in only one month she has gotten her jump to the high bar, front hip circle, cartwheel on the beam, round off double backhandspring on floor, and vaulting on 5 mats. I couldn't be happier for her. She has worked really hard and she deserves to move up. We were told that this is the good thing about this new program so I am thankful that it is working out for us. Each child would be able to advance when they were ready and not have to wait on the entire team to move up. So, if one child is more motivated or works really hard they can move on up.

Now, I will get to actually attend more of her practices (especially in July). I had been working and not getting to see anything. I was getting there at time for her to do conditioning. Two more practices on Bronze Team and moving up!! Great job Tori-bug.

Wendy

Father's Day

Daddy and my brothers, Tony and Alan
(not sure why I didn't get my sister in here)

Me and my daddy

My daddy loved his scrapbook I made for Father's Day for him. He started crying on the first page (which I knew he would). I am not even done with the book and probably never will be until I die. This morning in church we talked about leaving behind a legacy. I want to leave a legacy when I am gone. I want my children to remember all the good memories, that they had a dad that loved their mother and she loved their dad. I want them to remember big moments, little moments, and some that seem insignificant at the time, but that turn out to be good moments. I wanted my dad to know that I remembered these moments too, thus the reason for the scrapbook. I have a long way to go on it still. I had just a few hours to spend on the pages that I got done, but I want to be able to add to it year after year for him. I am grateful to God that he gave me a great earthly father. Sure, he made mistakes here and there (nobody is perfect except my Heavenly Father), but through it all he taught me valuable life lessons. I am proud to say I am his daughter. I love you daddy!

P.S. I am also extremely proud to have the most wonderful husband who is the best daddy in the world to my girls.

VBS

VBS this week. Period. Busy, busy, busy!

My sweet little 9-year-old

Today is my Tori-bugs 9th birthday. I can't believe it has been 9 great years. I am blessed everyday I get up and see her sweet smiling face. We went camping this weekend and had a blast, but boy are we tired. That is why my birthday girl already has on her pj's. We are having her official party on Sat. at her gym (of course a tumbling party).

Letter to Tori:
I love you baby girl with all my heart. You will always be my baby girl. You were the best baby. You never cried except when you wanted to be fed or changed. You were a thumb sucker baby so you slept all night at 7 weeks old. You didn't need me to get and find you pacifier for you. Yeah, that definitely worked me for me. I love you Tori-bug more than any other thing.

The sun is shining

Yep, the sun is shining. It has been shining all week and it has been nearly 90 degrees outside all week too. I had the priviledge of baby-sitting my niece two Sats. ago. This was her parents first outing without her and they asked Aunt Wendy to be her first babysitter. Awww! I loved it. We had so much fun with her. Tori-bug and I gave her a bath, Tori-bug fed her a bottle AND burped her, and she swang in her swinger for the first time (since it was still at my house). She really liked her swing. This is a picture of me holding her. I realized that I had all these pictures from the hospital and not one of them had me holding her. I was the one behind the camera, I guess! She is 6 weeks old now and hopefully they will let me keep her again really soon.

Here is Tori-bug holding her right after she got her bottle. She was trying to go back to sleep.

I couldn't remember if I had posted this picture so I put it up again. This was her coming home day. I just love this picture. Such a pretty girl!

Here is my new ride! I love it too!

Tomorrow's forecast is thunderstorms, but if it doesn't rain I will do my best to put pics of Tori-bug up of her jumping on the trampoline. I know I promised that and haven't gotten around to it. Shoot, I haven't even taken them yet. You'll have to check back to see if I got them up.

Wendy

TGIF

I am so glad it is Friday. We have had non-stop rain FOREVER in Georgia. Today is gorgeous, hot, 85 degrees and RAIN-FREE!! Woohoo! I am so excited that the forecast for the weekend is rain-free as well. Maybe we will be able to sit by the pool too. We bought Tori-bug a trampoline for her birthday. Her birthday isn't until June 14th. but we went ahead and got it for her. She has enjoyed it so much. I'll post pics of her on it tonight. She has her back tuck and back handspring on it too. She could technically do a back handspring on the floor, but won't. She is too chicken. She can do about 30 in a row on the trampoline though. They had field day today at school and her daddy went. I am working full-time for the next three weeks so I was unable to attend. Last year she was in a cast so she didn't get to do much. I normally just work part-time so I hated not getting to go this year. Oh well! You gotta do what you gotta do.
Have a great weekend!!

Wendy

The days gone by

Nothing new going on. I have just now been able to get on here and look around at the different blogs I read. I have hardly been on the computer at all since getting the Wii. It is so much fun and it is taking away all my "used to be" computer time. My husband and I are so addicted to the game we got on Wii. The Animal Crossing game that I told you about last week. He looked on there and discovered that one day this week I had played the game a total of 1-1/2 hrs! Geesh, don't I have a life? He said he was ashamed to say that the same day he had played it 2-1/2 hrs. Needless to say, it is a fun game.
This is Memorial Day Weekend. My mom is coming over here for the weekend. My sister and her crew are going camping so mom gets to come over to stay with us. Well, technically she doesn't "have" to, but she chose to b/c she didn't want to go camping. We can hang out anyways. For that I am grateful for. Have a good weekend. Get out and enjoy the Springtime air (I probably won't, I'll be playing the Wii). Just kidding. Maybe we will cookout or something.

This Week

This picture isn't from this week at all. It was actually back in January when we went to Hilton Head Island for Tori-bug's gymnastics meet. This is at the top of the lighthouse. I don't think I have ever posted any pics of me on here so I decided that my husband needed to forward them to me. I love this picture of me and my mini-me.

Here is another one of me on the way out the door going to church one morning. Not the best picture, but it is me! Sadly the camera doesn't lie.

Now, on to the title for this post..... This week......

Not much happened this week except for work, gymnastics practice, watching the finale to Grey's Anatomy (boohoo), and the finale to Biggest Loser. Oh yeah, we got a Wii too. We discovered the funnest game ever. It is called Animal Crossing with Wii Speak. You create yourself a character then build your town. Kinda like the new farmtown on Facebook for all you Facebookers out there. The Wii Speak part of it comes in when you open your town gate and your friends can come to your town and play. You go around collecting things to sell, plant flower and fruit trees, fish, catch butterflies, etc. When your friends get to your town a microphone comes on (that is attached to the TV) and you can talk to your friends in your own living room. We could hear everything that was said at my sister's house and they could hear us. It is just like being on the telephone except your not!! We need all our friends to get this game so we can play!! I think me and my husband like it and play it more than Tori-bug.

And, this week I won a Pioneer Woman contest. I have never won anything before. It was the neatest feeling. I created an account at Snapfish.com and won 5 free photo books. If you have never stopped by her blog, you must do so. She gives away all kinds of stuff too. She lives on this big ranch and is the neatest person. Her blog is great fun to read and she posts recipes, photography, and homeschooling stuff too.

Well, that is all I have going on. I know, boring and all that, but it is my life. Thanks for stopping by.

Wendy

Yay Me!!

I got a new vehicle on Tuesday. I have been driving the same minivan for the past 13 years. It was just about on its last leg, but it was paid for so I kept driving it. It felt so good not to have a car payment (we paid off my husbands too) for a while now. I had been looking and longing for a Toyota Sequoia and Tuesday I found one that I loved. It is gorgeous. Going from a minivan to an SUV felt weird. It is so big!!! Anyway, yay me. Maybe I will post pics of it soon.

Wendy

WHO AM I?

I was driving to work this morning and listening to the radio. It takes me about 30 minutes to get there so a lot of mornings I pray! Sometimes I just listen to the FISH, which is a local Christian radio station here in Atlanta. I have been on such an emotional rollercoaster the past couple of months and this morning was no different. The song, Who am I by Casting Crowns came on about half way to work. I was listening to the words and singing at the top of my lungs as a prayer to God. Grief struck me!! I was immediately crying and sobbing about missing my granddaddy. Who am I that HE would care to know my name, would care to feel my hurt? I miss my granddaddy immensely and I know this is normal and I am grateful to God that I will see him again. I feel truly blessed that I know who I am because of what HE has done. Here are the words to the song.....

WHO AM I?

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would chose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart

Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who you are

Chorus:
I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in th ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours

Thank you Jesus for telling Who I am!!!

Feeling blessed,
Wendy

So, I was tagged by www.fosterhome5.blogspot.com to do this 8 things survey. So, of course, I have to do it. It really is a lot of fun.

8 Things I am Looking Forward To:

1. Getting our debt paid off (one credit card)
2. Watching my new baby niece grow up.
3. Summer.
4. My 17-year-old getting a job :-)
5. Being a stay-at-home mommy one day.
6. Buying a new car (sooner rather than later probably. Mine can't last much longer).
7. My husband's business raking in the dough (see #5)
8. Pain relief (stupid back pain!! Ugh!)

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Took my dog to the groomer.
2. Went to the grocery store.
3. Loved on Leah and my Tori-bug.
4. Read.
5. Found my sister's dog a home.
6. Picked my dog back up.
7. Cooked out with my sister and the rest of the gang.
8. Went to bed rather early.

8 Things I wish I could do:

1. Get rid of this stupid backache that has lasted for 4 years.
2. Cure childhood cancer.
3. Pay off my house.
4. Wrinkle my nose and my house be spotless.
5. Be a stay-at-home mommy.
6. Buy a new car.
7. Go to the beach.
8. Have another week of vacation (since I didn't get to rest on mine last week).

8 Shows I Watch

1. Survivor
2. Deadliest Catch
3. The Biggest Loser
4. American Idol
5. Dr. Phil
6. Jon and Kate plus 8
7. Oprah
8. Live with Regis and Kelly (DVR everyday)

I am supposed to tag some people. So, I tag www.adayinthelifeofacrazedmom.blogspot.com
www.jennykate77.blogspot.com (although I think she might have already did the survey), www.rajandginny.com/blog/
There you go.
Love to all,
Wendy

P.S. My great aunt passed away about 2 hours ago. I don't know what is happening to my family. Good grief, we have been on a rollercoaster.

The Best Birthday Present Ever

My birthday was on April 20th. I turned 35 and got the best birthday present ever. Here she is.... Leah Racheigh Shields. My sister, C.C. was due on April 25th., but we told her all along that she would make her grand entrance on my birthday. And, she did!!! Leah was born at 2:10am. She weighed 7 lb. 9 oz. and was 19-1/2 inches long. I love being an aunt again. She is the most gorgeous baby so she must look like her aunt Wendy. Here is my husband, Uncle Kevin holding her for the first time.

Granny of course had to hold her too. She was going to be in the delivery room, but C.C. ended up with a c-section after laboring for 20 hrs.

C.C. bonding with her new lil' angel. She is going to be a great mom and I am proud of her. I will help her in whatever I can. Since I work at the pediatrician's office she has a pediatric nurse at her fingertips all the time. My little finger is wrapped tightly though from that sweet precious baby girl already!!

Happy Birthday, Leah and to me too!!

A Champion

Well, my Tori-bug didn't win a state championship today, but she is still a champion in my book. She did really well though. I will post pics tomorrow hopefully. She got her 36 finally!!! Actually, it was an all-around score of 36.105!!! She also placed in every event with 21 girls competing. She got a 9.1 on vault (pretty good for her), 8.85 on bars, 8.85 on beam, and 9.3 on floor. I was so extremely proud of her. She is getting on a plane tomorrow night and flying to Disney World. The lucky girl!!! The best thing about today was that SHE was proud of herself.

One beaming mom,
Wendy

Just an update

I haven't updated this blog all week b/c I am still trying to recover from the lack of sleep and fatigue that washed over me the past 2 weeks. It has been one big rollercoaster ride with my emotions. We have a lot of family drama going on (that I don't want to get into to right now). My mom is moving in with my sister and her family this weekend. Trying to pack a house that they never threw stuff away is tough. My granddaddy was one of those people who kept EVERYTHING. My other sister is still pregnant. She is due in 9 days now. She and her boyfriend moved into the house with his uncle (who is older and has dementia). Don't know how all that is going to work out when she has the baby, but they will make do. My mom is moving in with my sister b/c she is leaving my stepdad. He has been terrible to my entire family. Speaking horribly to all of us and I, for one, am tired of it. My child is scared of him. She finally told him that she wanted to leave him. But, mom is disabled so she needs someone with her during the day thus the reason she is going to my sister's. She will be done with school on May 5th. and will be available to mom during the day. I am working full time right now and it would be easier to have mom come here, but nobody is here during the day. We will try this out and see how it goes.
Tori has her State Meet this Sat. at 5pm. I absolutely love gymnastics competition season, but I am rather glad it is coming to a close for now. She is leaving on Sunday to go to Disney World without me. I went ahead and took the week off from work though so I could catch up. My husband and I spent our 11th. wedding anniversary at the funeral home so we want to be able to do something together new week. I will do better at updating next week hopefully. Maybe I will be able to tell you that Tori-bug won State Champion then too.

Wendy

Eulogy

Never before have I spoken at a funeral. I am usually too scared to even offer to get up and try to speak, but for my granddaddy I wanted to. He was especially special to me. I wish I had my scanner hooked up so I could post a picture of him, but I don't. I will share with you what I said though.

My Granddaddy

You may have called him Peanut, Wimp, daddy, brother, or uncle, but he was my granddaddy. I wanted to tell you a little bit about who my granddaddy was. When I was a young girl I stayed every weekend with Mama Jean and Granddaddy. I could have had sleep overs with my friends, but I chose to go to granddaddy's because they were my favorite people. I loved spending time with them. Granddaddy worked for Palm Harbor Homes and Mama Jean couldn't stay by herself when Mama Mae (my great-grandmother) would go to Johnny's for the weekend or to Florida so I stayed with her. On Friday nights when granddaddy got home from work, we would go to the steak house and eat supper. Granddaddy could hardly eat because he knew everybody that came in the door. On Sat. nights we went to John's BBQ. It was the same way there.
Granddaddy impacted my life. He taught me true love. Mama Jean had epilepsy and had seizures often. When she would have one, he would wrap his arms around her tightly so she wouldn't get hurt. On April 16, they would have been married for 60 years. Yesterday (April 4) was my 11th. wedding anniversary and I pray we will be together for 60 years. Granddaddy loved lots of things and people. He loved to fish. He loved to eat catfish, chicken stew, BBQ, moonpies, and oh yes, HUNNY BUNS!!! Granddaddy told everyone about his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. He carried pictures around in his wallet for everyone to see. When I was 9 years old Granddaddy told everyone that I was his "little nurse". I would just beam. I knew from that moment on that I would go to nursing school. He was so proud of me when I graduated.
There was a movie out several years ago where a man died. His family said it was not goodbye because they would see him again someday, it was "See you later". So granddaddy, "I'll see you later". I love you and I will miss you from the bottom of my heart.

My grandparents were very special to me. I just lost my other grandmother (my dad's mom) 8 months ago. They were the last 2 alive and now I have lost both of them. We are going through some really trying times right now. Please keep lifting my family up in your prayers. I will be forever grateful.

Missing my granddaddy,
Wendy

Funeral

I am so sad! My granddaddy passed away early Friday morning. My sister and I had been caring for him all this week and Wednesday we knew that it would only be a couple of days. I stayed all night on Wednesday night, my sister stayed all night on Thursday night. She called me at 3:18am and said she wasn't sure if he was breathing. I raced over there (in about 3 minutes flat) and he was already gone. Today we have the funeral. I am going to try my best to get up and speak. I am hoping I won't be a big blubbering mess. I really want to express what kind of man my grandfather was. He was my favorite person. I will miss him dearly.

Grandmother Whiddon

I realized that I had been putting a lot of "heavy" stuff on my blog recently. All this drama in my family with the medical issues so I wanted to post something more upbeat.
This is my husband's grandmother. Grandmother Whiddon is 94 years young and still finds time to sit down and play a game of checkers with her 8 year old great-granddaughter. I love that about Grandmother Whiddon. She is the most special lady you will ever meet. She always has a smile on her face. She does all her cooking and cleaning herself, has gorgeous flowers that she tends to, and occasionally a tomato plant or so. She got on a horse this year for her 94th. birthday. I will try to find the picture and post it. Grandmother Whiddon still drives too (although we'd rather she didn't b/c of the traffic on her road), but she does. She takes fresh cut flowers from her yard to all her friends when they are in the hospital, but she has outlived most of them now. She goes to church nearly every Sunday. That woman can do just about anything and with the right frame of mind. If you are ever down and out, all you have to do is go by and see her and when you do, you will find yourself smiling before you leave. We are fortunate to live directly behind her. We should stop by more often though. Thanks Grandmother Whiddon for showing my girl love, playing with her, and giggling the whole time when you let her beat you!!!
I love you so much!

Stress, stress, and stress

Please accept my apology for taking so long to update my blog. We have had a ton of stuff going on. Gymnastics meets almost every weekend, doctor's visits for me, my mom, and my grandfather, in-patient stays for my grandfather 2 out of the past 3 weeks.
My grandfather was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer today. Not good!! I have been the caretaker for most of his and my mom's needs for the past 4 months. My mom nearly died back in December and she is doing somewhat better, but is still really sick. My grandfather complained of chest pain about a month ago on a Monday morning so we took him by ambulance to the hospital where he was admitted, cardiac cathed, and a stint was placed in his 95% blocked artery. He started looking jaundiced the day before that discharge, but nobody but us thought anything of it. He came home on Thursday. He was supposed to go to his regular doctor on Monday for bloodwork about that, but it snowed so we had to cancel it. He went on Wednesday instead. Thursday night they called my mom (who doesn't understand all the medical stuff much) to say that he was extremely jaundiced and he needed to be admitted immediately back into the hospital. I couldn't go that night so we took him the next morning. He was inpatient Friday, Sat., and Sunday. At discharge they told me that they had done some tumor markers on some blood work, but didn't have the results back yet. I was told to bring him to the gastroenterologist office in 3 weeks which we did today. She saw us and told him and me that he had extremely high levels of the tumor marker. Way off the chart so it is probably advanced stage. He has bad back pain, headaches, abdominal pain, nausea, etc. Now, all we can do is keep him comfortable. I am going to call hospice tomorrow to see if I can get that started. I am his main caregiver b/c I hold his power of attorney as well as my mom's. My younger sister at home is 19 and pregnant. She is due in 2-3 weeks. I need prayers for my family, for Pyper's family (she is doing some better), and for my peace of mind please. I will try to update again tomorrow when I get a chance.

Pray for Pyper

I have a little friend who is 2-years-old that just relapsed with leukemia. She had it as an infant. She was rediagnosed last week. The family lives in South Georgia, 5 hrs. from Atlanta. Mom isn't working of course as she is taking care of her. They have a total of 5 children. Dad and the other children at separated from them while she is in-patient. She will probably be inpatient at least 6 weeks and she had a white blood cell count over 200,000. That is astronomical. They are really struggling right now, physically, emotionally, and financially. PLEASE pray for her. Her name is Pyper Sellers. You can check out her blog at www.caringbridge.org/visit/pyperaddisynsellers
I was trying to come up with a creative way to raise some money for them. I, like everyone else don't have any extra money right now. With her daddy being 5 hrs. away he will need gas money to come visit on the weekends. I was thinking that I could collect loose change for them to use in the vending machines while inpatient or if I raise enough money to buy them a gas card or an American Express card to use whereever. I am going to put a change bucket in my Sunday School room at church for people to throw their loose change in to. If you feel so inclined and have a few extra coins laying around, bag it up, or take it to the bank and write a check, either to me (I promise I will give them every dime) or donate on her website at Suntrust Bank. Everyone has a few loose coins. If you would like to donate through me, just email me at:
whiddonfour@windstream.net and I will give you my address. I want to collect change for the next 2 weeks and then take it to her. Mom would be so grateful. Let me know if you would like to help.
Wendy