New Beginnings!

The month of May has been very busy around here. I sort of feel like we are repeating the month of December when we never have a free minute. That's ok though! I'd rather be busy than bored or unable to participate in my families milestones.
  On May 11, our Bubba earned his degree in Oil and Gas Technology from Bossier Parish Community College. As most of you know, this was a miracle in itself as he was in that terrible wreck in September. The doctors told him he'd not be able to walk for at least six months. He proved them wrong and was back in class in December. 
 The Bossier Press Tribune did an interview with him, and the article came out on his graduation day. We all just sat there with tears in our eyes feeling so blessed and so thankful he had lived through that and achieved his goal to finish by the end of May. You can read the article HERE.
  I was also excited to see some kids I taught in elementary school also graduate the same day! I guess that's double dipping! 
  This is a picture of Bubba and one of his best friends from high school, Katy. Katy graduated again with Bubba, and the funny thing is that Bubba ended up sitting right behind Katy at the ceremony - out of 372 graduates - that was pretty neat! 

  The speaker at the ceremony chose 4 students to highlight, and one of them was Bubba for his determination to finish. We were again touched beyond words!


 Our next milestone was our little Shelby who graduated Pre-K on  May 17th. She was so adorable during their program. She never missed a beat or a verse singing the songs. She said her Bible verse loud and clear - so loud we were wondering who this kid was? 

 If you read this to the bottom, I really appreciate it. I know most people don't find my blog very interesting, but is my life and this is what brings me joy. 
 I comment on so many blogs and the majority of them never even come to look at mine. I may continue for a while and then just give it up. I don't have much else to share except my family and the projects I make. 
 I hope everyone has a good weekend. Thanks for stopping by. 
 

Tongue Cancer Surgery - 4 Years Ago!!

(Linking this post to With a Grateful Prayer and a Thankful Heart)
 
 Today is a very emotional day for me. It has been exactly 4 years since I had tongue cancer surgery. It really doesn't seem possible at times. If you would like to read about my surgery, click the link below, and then arrow down to the first few posts for May. My daughter, Emily, did an excellent (Amazing) job of keeping everyone up to date all through my 12 hour surgery.

May 2008 Archives

  I got all teary-eyed just rereading all of that. Mostly from reading all of the sweet messages that people wrote, and especially from our precious friend, Jay Dawn, that left us in Feb. She was and has always been such a big support to our family. Words just can't describe the emptiness I still feel about her passing. 

 With that being said, I hope to again make people aware just how important it is to use good dental hygiene, and to get your mouth checked regularly. Even the smallest place can turn into cancer.

 I was very lucky that mine was confined to my tongue. Half of my tongue is now muscle from my left arm. Amazing? Right! 

 If you read that part of my blog, you will see that on the 9th day I was talking! Amazing? Right! Extremely amazing! 
 I also had two Amazing doctors - Dr. Ghali and Dr. Kim! 

  My family (husband-Clay, son-Cody, daughter-Emily, and niece, Robin) was also Amazing through this whole ordeal - and believe me, it was an ordeal! This was the most helpless I've ever been in my life. ICU was a nightmare for me as I couldn't sleep, and I couldn't talk, and of course, no one was allowed to stay in there with me. I won't go into details, but it was such a relief to get to a room so someone could stay with me to be my voice. I used a dry erase board, but I was so weak that it was hard to write plainly what I needed or wanted. 

 I found this board a few weeks ago stuck behind my dresser. These were some of the last messages on it. I don't think they went together, but I just had to laugh out loud. 
 What is funny is that my hubby wrote the last sentence! Hello, I could hear! Just couldn't talk!

 I sincerely hope that you will pass this information along. If you are a smoker, then your chances of getting tongue/mouth cancer is greatly increased. I was in the 4 percentile! My doctors said they do this surgery on someone nearly every week. I had never even heard of this surgery until it happened to me. 

 Sadly, we had a friend that had the same surgery a couple of years ago, but she lost her battle. She was in stage 4 when they found it. 

 Again, let me say how very lucky and blessed I was that my dentist sent me on to be checked by an oral surgeon, and then to Dr. Ghali. I was also very, very blessed that I didn't have to take chemo or radiation!! 
  So I leave you with the first verse of this song. I am truly Amazed and eternally grateful that I am here to tell you MY story!

I stand Amazed in the presence 
 of Jesus the Nazarene, 
 and wonder how he could love me, 
 a sinner, condemned, unclean. 

 How marvelous! How wonderful! 
 And my song shall ever be:
 How marvelous! How wonderful 
 is my Savior's love for me! 

Bright Summer Outfit...

 It's Sew Crafty Saturday over at Wildflowers and Whimsy!

Also Sew Dang Crafty over at Sew Many Ways!



 

 There is a story behind this fabric. I won a copy of "Girl's World" on a blog, and after several weeks, I'd never received it. I wrote and no response so I wrote Jennifer Paganelli on FB. She immediately mailed out my copy of the book. The book was wrapped in this luscious yellow/blue print from her West Indies collection.
  It was a challenge as it was less than a yard. I knew I had to figure out some way to make something for Shelby.

Cayden and Shelby made puppets from their monkies!

  I had seen a tutorial for this type of top on the Children's Corner Archives page. I only changed how I did the straps. I didn't do the shirring method - I just used some 1/8" elastic. It was so super easy!
  The rick rack bridging is easy too! I've done this before, and if you are familiar with Kari Mecca, then you've seen her creations also.
  The shorts were a simple McCalls pattern. I added the waistband with belt loops and the band for the legs so it would tie on each side. I barely had enough left to make the belt.
 Oh I guess you'd like to see more pics!

 This was a fun outfit to make, and I gave it to her for her birthday. She loved it! 
Thanks for stopping by!

Wordless Wednesday!

CLASS OF 2025!

 My granddaughter - Shelby - growing up....

How a Sewing Machine Works!

 Someone posted this video on Facebook. It is really incredible to see how a sewing machine works on the inside, and how perfectly it has to be synchronized!

 It's not long - so enjoy!
 

Busy Birthday Week!

 My granddaughter, Shelby, turned 5 on Wednesday. Her party and my daughter's birthday were yesterday. They have kept us hopping! 
 On Wednesday, I met my daughter, and we took cupcakes to Shelby's class. Then we went to get Cayden where he was on a field trip. I always take them some type of present ON their birthday. That's just a special time for me.
  Emily had bought Shelby a purple leotard to wear for her party as it was at a sports center, and they did a lot of jumping and tumbling stuff. I thought it needed a little skirt, so I went to Hancock Fabrics and found this liquid silver lame to make a circular skirt. 
 It turned out so cute, and it was so easy as I made it completely on the serger!

  I used Simplicity 5401 to cut the circle, and I adjusted it a little so I could put elastic in the waistband. The fabric was really easy to work with even though it is stretchy. 

  This girl was ready to go to her party at 10:00 on Saturday, and her party wasn't until 1:00 pm. LOL

 It's hard to get a picture of a silver skirt when using a flash! 
  Then last night we met them at El Chicos Mexican restaurant because that's where Shelby wanted to go. She loves their french fries! What???
  She got ready, and this is what she wore: bluejeans with bling, a new shirt with bling, new sunglasses, a sequined cap, a necklace, 2 bracelets, new shoes, a princess pin, and a sequined purse. Then she asked her mommy if she needed to add anything else! 

We are very blessed to have such sweet and healthy grandchildren. I cherish every day that I get to spend with them and my kids!

One of our Junk Finds...

 Recently we visited a flea market and some antique/junk stores in another town.
  This chair was one of our great finds. We've used chairs before to display potted plants, but our last one finally bit the dust.
   We only paid $4 for this chair. It's not in the best of shape, but it will surely last for this summer. I will confess that we bought the plants already potted. However, we normally do our own. This was so pretty that we decided we just had to take it home!

 Remember the gerbera daisies I posted a few weeks ago? Well, here they are with even more blooms. Some of these blooms are finally fading, but more are coming. Since this pic was taken, I even have an orange one in the bunch, and I don't remember even buying orange. 

  We love sitting on our patio and watching the birds and squirrels. There is one squirrel that vexes the heck out of our dog. It is hilarious to watch. I call him the flying squirrel because he will jump out of the tree half way across the yard to get away from Maggie. I don't know how he survives those jumps and hitting the ground so hard, but he's back everyday!!

Thanks for visiting!

Pics of my Little Grands...

 I'm sorry to be so long with posting. We've had some stormy weather this past week, and our modem blew out during a crazy power surge. It was old so I suppose it just couldn't take the on and off surging. Does that sound right? LOL
  Anyway we had to wait a couple of days to get a new one. I'm glad to be back online. I missed reading my blogs!
  My daughter took these pictures a couple of weeks ago when the azaleas were in full bloom. She found Cayden a green shirt to match the green in Shelby's dress I made her from the last post.
 They are getting that age where it's hard to get them both to act right so they usually get bribed. She took the fixins' for a little picnic at this beautiful place called Norton's Art Gallery. It has wonderfully landscaped grounds, and it's so serene to just sit and enjoy the scenery.
  They were sitting on a blanket eating, and Cayden looked around and said, "You know this is really embarrassing!" Kids! You never know what is going through their minds.
  Here are the pics! Hope you enjoy!

If only it were like this all of the time!

Getting those big ole' teeth!

The "real" Cayden and Shelby!

 Thanks for looking!

Sew-a-Long with Whimsical Fabrics...

 I love Whimsical Fabrics! You should visit Danielle's site and her Facebook page. 

  Danielle decided to have a Sew-a-Long, and she made up a Facebook page for those that wanted to participate.
 The group voted, and the pattern that won was the Macy Giggles dress from Little Lizard King. 

 Danielle even made some fabric kits for those that needed fabric, and she gave us a discount on the fabric and patterns.

 I already had some fabric in my stash that I needed to use so I just bought the pattern. 

  This has been fun except for Danielle as she got sick this week, and she hasn't been able to finish the last lesson, but some of us went ahead and finished on our own. We've all been helping each other, and I've really enjoyed getting to know some more people that sew including some that are just learning. 

 You are never too old to learn new things! I love seeing how other people sew certain techniques. 

  I wanted to show the dress I made so I could also link up to Project Run and Play's Linky party.

 Here is the front of the dress. I chose the view with the wide band at the bottom, and I also chose to do a simple monogram on the bodice. (Click on the pictures for a closer view.)

 I went outside thinking I could get better pictures, but the wind was blowing, and I ended up next to the house. 

  This is the back. It only calls for 2 covered buttons and some loops to fasten the back. I didn't like the way the pattern suggested to do the loops so I separated mine, and I like it much better.

 I am very excited to try this on my little granddaughter, Shelby. I'm not sure how the straps/armholes will fit, but I'm hoping I won't have to make any alterations.

 Thanks for looking. There will be another Sew-a-Long coming soon so watch on Whimsical Fabric's Facebook page for the announcement in case you want to participate.

Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I'm a Lucky Girl - I am I am!!

 I entered a giveaway on the Boutique Cafe Blog back in January to try and win a copy of Girl's World by Jennifer Paganelli. 

I was notified in February that I won, (Woo Hoo!) and I replied to the email, but somehow I guess it got overlooked, and I never received my book. So I wrote Jennifer on Facebook a few days ago, and she immediately mailed my copy of this wonderful book. She even asked me if I wanted her to autograph it. Oh Yes! I certainly did!

  Now do I feel special or what? Plus when I received the book, it was wrapped in this beautiful fabric from her West Indies collection! 

  Girl's World is a fabulous book filled with patterns and beautiful ideas for sewing girl's clothing, and also some decorating ideas. All of the patterns are tucked away in the front of the book in a special envelope. 

 I can't wait to try some of these, and the good thing is that Shelby can wear these patterns for a few years to come. 
 Let me tease you with a peak at a couple of my favorites!

 

 Jennifer Paganelli's blog link is HERE.


  You can find her book many places, but be sure you visit her Facebook page "Sis Boom" for updates and lots of inspiration. I told her she was becoming a very famous person in the sewing/fabric world. Her collections are just filled with bright,  happy colors that would entice anyone to want to sew!

 The good news is that she also has another book entitled "The Happy Home". Oh yes! I need to get that one also!