My Mom, bless her heart!

Have you ever spent much time thinking about the life of a Mom? Well, I'm here to tell you that it is one hard job! Not only that, but it is usually a thankless job as well. It is the most heartbreaking and yet most rewarding job you could ever have, being a Mom - it's just not a piece of cake; it's not a walk in the park; it's not like riding a bicycle; it doesn't come with an instruction manual (except the Bible of course); it is a grueling task, yet we all do it and love every minute of it.

But what happens when our Moms begin to be like we remember our Grandmothers - sick, older, slower, tired, lonesome, isolated...when we begin to ask ourselves, when did she get like this, where have I been all this time that I didn't notice, is it too late to fix it for her?

Well, this past year my Mom has been telling me how badly she feels and how she cannot walk from one place to the other without getting tired, out of breath and just plain exhausted. So this week we go for an arteriogram and find that she has 2 blockages and a re-routed artery in her heart. To Centennial we go for what we think is bionic bypass surgery, minimally invasive surgical procedure, only to find out at 2 am it will be open heart surgery. After the surgery, the doctor informs us that not only did she have 2 arteries bypassed, she also had a left lung that had grown attached to her left breastbone following a car accident 9 years ago. The surgeon had to remove her lung from the breastbone and place it back where it goes and in wiring her ribcage back together, attempted to wire her breastbone where it had healed improperly all those years ago.

The bottom line is this, she had major things going on with her and it took an act of God and a very direct heart physician to get her to do the repair work needed. She did great and here it is 3 days before Christmas Eve and I am only wanting one thing for Christmas from Santa/God, her health restored to what it should be and let her enjoy her life from her on out.

You see, my Mom wiped my butt, fed me, loved me, sang to me, rocked me, washed me, taught me about God, sacrificed for me, did without for me, and never did she ever complain that she had to do all those things because of me. No matter how tired she was or how much I drove her nuts, she didn't complain it was because of me.

So this Christmas, I only want gifts for her: no pain, a quick recovery, a smile on her face where the wince is now, her scars to heal quickly, for her to walk and get back into shape this year and last but not least, that she remember Who gave her this gift of life when she was in such bad shape. God is looking for you Mom, let Him find you going out into the world giving Him the glory for your healing!!

You are loved beyond measure and I thank God that you are my Mom and he saved you from leaving this earth before I wanted you to go. Merry Christmas Mom and a Very Blessed New Year!

Weekend Updates

We kept Tessa and Harrison Sat. night for Amanda & Greg to go to their Sunday School Christmas Dinner. We took them to the G'ville Christmas parade and then home to play for a while. Tessa was so excited as we sat in the car and watched the parade go by - we have a great spot at Papaw's office parking lot! She loved the marching bands and the floats with lights. Harrison slept through most of the parade and woke up starving on the way home. I had to pull over to give him his pacifier, I cannot stand to hear his little cry!! Tessa likes to be the baby sometimes so she is eating in the high chair!! Heather and Ron (her father-in-law) took Isabella to get Christmas photos made. These were the best 2 - she is soooo hard to catch smiling on camera!! I love them both. Sunday morning we went to Grace Baptist to watch Harrison's baby dedication, so precious - then Sunday night we went back to Grace to watch Tessa in the children's Christmas choir!! She did so good and was such a smiley girl until she started looking at all the people and she wanted her Mommy!! We had such fun with them all weekend. Isabella was with her Mommy and her Grandpa visiting from Illinois and they came to the dedicatin at Grace too!! I just love family time!!!

Funniest Home Videos

I have tried to capture special moments on my camera in video and am amazed each time I watch them how precious and how priceless life really is!! That exact moment will never be recreated and can never be captured again if we miss just a second of it!! Oh how I wish I had been able to document my own childrens' lives so completely. I have my memories but nothing like being able to watch them laugh, have fun, say I love you, blow kisses - all the things that make my heart melt. I hope you enjoy these video clips as much as I loved taking them. Life is so very precious, don't miss a second of it! PS: We have many Christmas musical things for the children to play with - but the favorite of all 8 kids is the "pooting" Santa. The video of Is dancing to him is so funny - she plays it over and over and over and over and over!! Tessa loves to try to make Isabella's noises as she talks and squeels and this video shows how much they make the other laugh with their "sounds"!! Isabella's laugh is the funniest thing! I'll post more later!! Enjoy!

Holiday time!!

Well, since it's Christmas time again - there are photos to be taken, children to be kept, shopping to be done, cards to write: where does the time go? Amanda & Greg went to dinner and a movie for a date night for Amanda's b'day and I kept Harrison. Photo of me feeding him. He is one chunky monkey! Heather visited to with Isabella. She and Tess love playing together! Then Amanda took her two to have Christmas photos done. They turned out so beautiful! We are so overjoyed to have Harrison in our lives. The white outfit is thte baby dedication outfiit that I got him. He will be dedicated at Grace Baptist on 12/14. Such special moments for me! Enjoy the photos.

Birthday week!!

Photos: Me, Amanda, Harrison, Heather, Isabella & Tessa; On stairs; Little J, Curtis, Grace, Krystal holding a sleeping Harrison, Lexie, Brayden, Abbie, Isabella, Tessa and Lillie on the front row!

Amanda and Heather turned 31 this past Wednesday (12/3). They each did their own B'day thing this year. Usually I have presents and a cake at our family Thanksgiving, whenever that is, but since Heather & Pete were very, very sick, they didn't make it to dinner so I gave them gifts and they spent friend and family time for their B'days!! Peters birthday was 12/1 too. My nephew Curtis had his 11th birthday yesterday so we all went to a party at his house on Saturday. So fun, all the cousins were there with their little ones so Sheila had a house full!! Curtis had a really cool pirate cake! Thanks Publix. We had me, Mom, Sheila & Don, brother Robert, niece Michelle and her son Brayden, niece Tracey and her son Jason "Little J" and daughter Lexie, Amanda with Harrison and Tessa, Heather with Isabella, my brother Roberts' girls Krystal and Grace, Curtis, Abbie and Lillie and their sister, Jessica. It was a large gathering of little children - but so fun to spend time with them all. Enjoy the photos.

Photo Tag - 4th post:; 4th photo

This photo is of Tessa and her Papaw (Arles) They absolutely love each other and it's the sweetest thing I've ever seen. We lay in bed the other night and just before I went to sleep he said "I love you, but I think I love Tessa more"! I almost cried it was so very sweet. They have stolen each others hearts over the past year and it will melt yours to watch them together. There are 58 years between their ages but you'd never know it watching them play! Papaw makes a great horsey!! Here he is teaching her to Eskimo kiss to avoid germs!!! So funny and so precious the relationships with Grandparents!! I know, I was one of those grandchildren who adored my Grandmother!!

If you're looking at this site, tag - you're it!!!