country rocks

as many of you know, my grandpa passed away last friday morning.
we were in east texas the first half of the week for his funeral. my family out there lives on more acres than they can count, and most of it is beautiful undeveloped pasture and woods. there are cows and horses and ponds; its a kids dream.
molly and colby were playing out in a field right after the graveside (grandpa is buried there on the land in a family cemetary), and molly came up to allen and said
molly: daddy look at this cool rock!! it has swirls in it!
allen: molly, thats dried up poop.

she immediately dropped it and now that i think of it, i didnt hear that story until much later and im not sure she washed her hands for quite sometime after that incident. ew.

threesixfive, days 355 thru 361???

somehow i dont have enough days in my year.....not sure how that happened.

its been a very long very hard week. warning: long story ahead.

my parents headed to mt pleasant,tx christmas night to spend a few days with my grandparents (on dads side) and celebrate christmas with them.

i got a call tuesday late morning that they found grandpa laying in the driveway (only a minute or so after it had happened, thank the Lord), and it appeared as if he had fallen out of the car while reaching to close the door (he had gone out to start it up and wait for everyone to come load up to go to lunch). when the ambulance got him to the hospital they discovered a collapsed lung and his heart was extremely enlarged. it was hard to tell if something happened in his body that caused him to fall, or if the fall caused the lung to collapse, although they believe it had been collapsing slowly over the last couple of months based on information from my grandma. the enlarged heart was not caused by the fall, but could easily have caused him to pass out briefly. he was admitted to the ICU and put on a breathing tube and a pulse to keep his heart beating correctly. they also had to figure out what to do about his lung. i felt very compelled to go and be with my family, so i left wednesday afternoon after we received more information and got to mt pleasant wednesday night (about a 5 hour drive). thursday morning he was stable enough for them to do a CT scan and they found a spot in his brain that needed further exploration. theres not a neurologist at the hospital there, so they flew him an hour and a half away to tyler. the specialist in tyler said the spot on his brain was a stroke and they would have to run some more tests and see how he did over the weekend before any major decisions could be made (drs wait 3 days after diagnosing a stroke before they discuss treatment). thursday afternoon his heart started beating very irregularly, and after some discussion with the nurse, a lot of prayer, and some hard but necessary and very candid heart to heart talks with my grandma, we decided it was best to remove the breathing tube and everything else they had him hooked up to. they couldnt actually get a dr to come in and do that until 8:30 friday morning. grandpa breathed really well on his own for about 5 or 6 minutes, then it became more shallow and his heart rate slowed. he closed his eyes and went to be be with the Lord at 8:37. thursday night my parents, my grandma, and i, stood around his bed and sang to him and talked to him. he couldnt respond, but he could hear us and every once in awhile he'd squeeze our hand. when they took the breathing tube out he actually rasped out a 'thank you'. we knew he was ready to go.

my mom and i came home friday afternoon, while my dad stayed with grandma.

we're leaving in the morning to go back for the service on tuesday.

i appreciate thoughts and prayers for my grandma. shes the godliest woman i know, so i know she'll be ok, but theres of course a grieving process to go thru. they just celebrated 55 years of marriage. he was 79 years old.

on a lighter note, here are my pictures for the week.

sunday

merry christmas!!!! molly got a mrs potts tea set, and has been quite the waitress since.

monday

allen got me a sewing machine!! so far i can thread it and sew a crooked line, but i WILL learn!

tuesday

we took some friends and a trailer to belton and went thru a great trail of lights they have there. this is me and molly and my friend emily and her two girls addie (mollys best friend) and katie.

wednesday

my new bedspread!! i love it!

thursday

i very quickly got this picture of grandpa being loaded in the helicopter so they could transport him to tyler.

friday

this is my grandpa and grandma. this picture is about 25 years old, but its seriously the most recent one i could find hanging in their house. :-/ they're not picture takers.

saturday

happy new year!!!!!

again, i covet your prayers for my family as we travel this week and spend time celebrating the life of my grandpa.

have a blessed first week of 2012!

threesixfive, days 348 thru 354

its 6 minutes to christmas and i'm exhausted. gifts are wrapped, stockings stuffed, breakfast casserole is in the crockpot, and my pillow is calling. so straight to the main event....

sunday, day 348

we woke up to find that ace had turned our milk green. we never know what he's going to do next! ;-)





monday, day 349

a last minute grocery store purchase of window crayons kept them busy for awhile.

tuesday, day 350

every year the seniors adopt a family in need and go christmas shopping for them, then deliver the presents as a group. i heard about a single mom that just moved to the area who was in need of pretty much everything, and got her information to the senior sunday school teacher. i was able to go with them to make the delivery. 18 students donated just under $1000 and were able to bless this lady and her daughter beyond anything they could have thought. this is the line of students as we knocked on her door and waited to go in.

wednesday, day 351

for the last wednesday night youth meeting of this year, and the last one before christmas, allen did a movie theme night. they watched elf and had an eating contest. if you're familiar with the movie, you'll know what this is. it was a tie between two girls. they out-ate the boys way too easy.

thursday, day 352

ace replaced colby and mollys stockings with their underwear!! thankfully he left mine and allens alone. :-)

friday, day 353

for the 6th year in a row, we spent an evening with shayne and kristin and they prayed over molly and colby as we approach a new year.

saturday, day 354

we went to my parents house after christmas eve service for dinner. my mom bought fuzzy fabric baseballs and pulled all the red thread out of them to make them look like snowballs, so we had a "snowball" fight and played different games with them out in their gameroom.

have a merry christmas!!!!

brought to you by the letter L

the youth worker christmas party was a week and a half ago, and we went to a pottery place here in town where everyone got to paint either a mug or an ornament. i painted an ornament with red and lime green stripes, then painted the word 'noel' on it in black letters. you havent seen a picture, because its not that great. :-/
anyway, the other day allen picked them up from the shop and brought them to our house, and i had mine sitting on the kitchen counter when colby asked
colby: does that say noel?
allen: yes it does.
colby: what does that mean?
allen: it means mommy doesnt like the letter L. no L.
colby: what?! mommy, you dont like the letter L?
me: nope.
colby: why??
me: its worthless. i dont like it at all.
allen: mommys jealous because we all have L's in our name and she doesnt.
colby: really, mommy? is that why you dont like L?
me: (pretending to cry) its true. L doesnt like me. i just want an L like you guys have.
molly: (hugging me) mommy, please dont cry! i LOVE you!! its ok, mommy!
me: hey! i know! molly, you can give me one of your L's! you have two! can i have one of your L's and then we'll all have one?
molly: (long pause...thinking....)no, i dont think so. i like both of my L's. but daddy has two. maybe he'll give you one of his.

the conversation kind of died after that. she did tell my later that she'd trade me an L for my M, but that didnt seem like a very good deal to me, so we're all leaving our names as they are.

threesixfive, days 341 thru 347

merry 1 week till christmas!! i was feeling pretty crummy all week, but realize after some review that my pictures dont reflect that at all, which i guess is a good thing. i feel much better today, but i'm coughing like crazy and my voice will probably be gone by tomorrow. i'm looking into taking a temp job as a 1-900 operator. ;-) kidding, kidding.
my sweet momma was rushed to the ER early thursday morning after about a day and a half of what we thought was a stomach bug. it turns out her appendix had ruptered and they did an emergency appendectomy. shes still in the hospital recovering, but we're hoping she'll be sent home tomorrow. please pray for a quick recovery for her! the good thing is things have slowed down for now so she can rest, but what a bummer time of year to be laid up post-op. makes me think right about this time last year colby was having his adnoids and tonsils out. molly may be next; we'll revisit that in the spring.
i'm rambling.
on to pictures....


sunday, day 341
i snagged this platter at world market, and i love it!!!! i've been wanting a pretty christmas platter, but nothings grabbed my attention like this one did. now i need to make something yummy to break it in.






monday, day 342
they had this cut out next to a very santa-esque chair at the grocery store today. i'm thinking santa made a visit over the weekend and they hadnt taken the "set" down yet.







tuesday, day 343
i ventured into the land of homemade laundry detergent today. i saw a thing on pinterest where a lady made some (the same recipe i used) and it cost her $20 and lasted over 9 months! i had to shred 2 large bars of zote soap with my cheese grater, but other than that it was pretty painless.





wednesday, day 344
the parents were invited into dance class today to watch a christmas performance. they each got to take a candy cane home at the end. molly did a great job.






thursday, day 345
allen needed to change our a.c. filter, but my dad had borrowed our ladder to use up at church. a couple of kitchen chairs and a stepstool later, he had it taken care of. i was a nervouse wreck in the meantime.





friday, day 346
we woke up this morning to find that ace had toilet papered the guest bathroom!! what a troublemaker. the good thing is he always cleans up after himself. ;-)




saturday, day 347
christmas morning at mimis. molly got a doll that was customized and ordered to look just like her, complete with matching dresses. molly named her jessie.

have a fantastic week!!! enjoy the countdown, and time with your loved ones!

i'll see you all back here on christmas eve!!

threesixfive, days 334 thru 340

baby its cold outside!! of course, i suppose thats relative. you northerners would probably be out swimmin' or something, but the sweaters and wool peacoats made their first appearance this week. there was even a sheet of ice (a very very thin sheet, but ice is ice) on my windshield one morning!! most days we had stripped down to one layer by the afternoon, but beggars cants be choosers i suppose. i'll take what i can get.


sunday, day 334
i'm working on more projects, the results of which you'll see later in the week!!





monday, day 335
ace decided to keep watch from colbys light chain today. :-)





tuesday, day 336
tonight after dinner we went to look at christmas lights. theres a neighborhood of gorgeous homes near us with several cul-de-sacs in a row, and most of them are decorated beautifully. this one had its lights set to music. we sat there for 20 minutes and watched the whole show.





wednesday, day 337
i scavenged pinecones from my inlaws' yard in houston last week and spray painted them orange and teal. the orange doesnt pop as much as i'd like, but i still like them.





thursday, day 338
every year my friends lauren and april and i exchange gifts. april (whos an art teacher) has always been, well, artsy. lauren and i just jumped on the crafty artsy bandwagon a couple years ago, and so its kind of become "the thing" to make something for each other. i got this idea off pinterest. they're earring holders; you just hook them thru the burlap. i dont have pierced ears, though, so when i get around to making one for myself, it will be art on the mantle.

friday, day 339

tonight was the church staff christmas party. this is the white elephant gift pile.

saturday, day 340

allen and i took the kids to the mall to see santa.

this week we have a 2 christmas parties, then we're going to my inlaws to celebrate with them for a couple days. will you be traveling or staying put this year?

threesixfive, days 327 thru 333

hello everyone! we are on our third day of rain here in round rock, but i am absolutely not complaining! we've needed it for quite sometime. i was feeling crummy all week in the evenings. i'd be fine till about 4 oclock, and then id get a pounding headache and just be exhausted. all that to say, my pictures arent terribly exciting, because most of the week was spent at home.

sunday, day 327
my jewelry was out of control, so i reorganized! i saw the paper towel holder for bracelets idea on pinterest. i tried putting all my headbands around an oatmeal canister (also a pinterest idea), but either the one i saw a picture of was a really big oatmeal container, or i have a very large head, because they all just slid right down. i had this basket in my closet, though, so its working for now. my necklaces are on a little board with hooks in it (something youd use for bathtowels, or maybe jackets). i like the way its all working...for now.

monday, day 328

at the grocery store, the kids saw a barrel of nuts, and i was telling them what the different kinds were. we went ahead and bought a small sack full (and a nutcracker), so i could show them how nuts actually look before we buy them already shelled. they had fun with it.

tuesday, day 329

allen and i spent the evening wrapping presents. i'm done with all my shopping; even the stockings! how about you??

wednesday, day 330
colbys been reading these frog and toad books as part of his schoolwork, and loves them! hes actually wanting to read now (most of the time).

thursday, day 331

we had a birthday party this evening at a bowling alley. i only bowled a couple of frames, but i think molly and colby would have both beaten me if i had played a full game. even with the bumpers up i'm just awful.

friday, day 332

allens mom had her christmas party for the kids on friday. shes done halloween the past couple years, but this year the kids asked for christmas. our friends the ogradys went with us, and we spent all afternoon doing crafts, and playing games. she does such a great job.

saturday, day 333

ace is back! he showed up thursday evening and will be with us until he has to go back to the north pole on christmas eve. the kids were so excited to see him.

as i said earlier, i'm officially done with all my christmas shopping. i'm still doing some craft stuff. i have one more set of coasters to make, and i'm hopefully going to finally make my own christmas wreath this week. i also collected a sack of pine cones at my mother in laws house when we were there friday, and i'm going to spray paint those and put them in a bowl or a glass vase somewhere.

on a side note, we went and saw arthur christmas last saturday, and it was a very very good christmas movie if youre looking for something to see with your family.

have a blessed week!!