Another neat giveaway............

Go HERE to read about a cool fabric giveaway. I love their stuff.

It was really hard for me to share this link. LOL

My Celebrate Life Party...

  This post may be long, but it is so important to me. We got our yard all decorated with tables, tablecloths tied down so they wouldn't blow off, simple leis put on the tables for some color.
  Then about 2:00 or so, it started clouding up a little. No worry. The weather station said "No rain, unless there is a little afternoon shower or 2." I'm thinking, "I can deal with that."
  WRONG!  Around 3ish, it started raining, very hard, and it rained, and rained and rained for what seemed like forever. My yard usually drains pretty fast, and had it only been a short downpour, it wouldn't have been a problem, but I couldn't have people bogging down in the yard trying to eat.
  My DH called the oldest grandsons to come back, and they haul everything into the carport. We had to throw away the first set of table cloths and dry off everything. Luckily, I had bought some extras. 
  It was a little crowded in the carport, and we couldn't put up all of the tables so we had to also let people eat in the house and sunroom. Not a problem for us. I just wanted us all to be together. 
  My caterer pulls up with his trailer, and it is still raining, thundering, and lightning. We keep praying. I sure didn't want him in any danger. 
  It finally stopped about the time people started arriving. At least the rain didn't keep anyone from coming that had planned on coming. We had around 54 people. I even had a couple to come that wasn't on the invitation list. LOL That was ok. We had plenty.
  My caterer cooked fish, shrimp, red beans and rice, fries, hushpuppies, made slaw, tarter sauce, and banana pudding. It was all wonderful.
  We had a great time visiting. I'm posting a few pics for you to see. God is good, and I felt very blessed to have my family and wonderful friends to celebrate with me.

 The pic above is all of us. I think this is the first time since Shelby was born for us all to be in a pic.

A SURPRISE IN THE MAIL....

  This has not been a good week in that one of our very best friends died last Sunday. Terry had been a close friend for thirty something years. 
  In spite of that, we had been planning a "Celebrate Life" party here on May 26th. My husband is having it all catered so we can just visit with our friends and family.
  One of my dearest friends lives in Oklahoma, and she couldn't make the party because it is a really long way. She wants to be here as much as I would like for her to be here so she surprised me with a gift in the mail.
  The funny thing is that when I got home yesterday there was this big box sitting on my island bar. I didn't open it because I thought it was something my hubby had brought in from school. He didn't open it because he thought it was "some more crap I'd ordered." LOL So after I swore I didn't have a clue as to where it came from he got a knife and slit it open.
  My friend, Jay Dawn, (from OK) had sent me a special gift to use at my party.
  It is a wooden, carved, and painted wind chime, and to top it off, it is hysterical to watch because when the wind blows his head and neck bob up and down. It was made in Indonesia. I just LOVE it.
  Thank you, Jay Dawn (sounds like Julia on Designing Women), for brightening my day. I love you dearly!
Click on the pics to make them larger.

I think I'll call him "Woody".

Cayden's Pre-K Graduation...

  I just can't believe our sweet grandson will be going to kindergarten in August. He has had the same preschool teacher for 2 years, and I have to say that Ms. Regina has taught them well. She has not only taught them reading, math, and writing, but she also had taught them life skills. 
  They had the cutest program with a '70's theme. Cayden wore his hair in a Mohawk, and Ms. Regina painted it green. He thought he was so cool. I just wanted to share a few pics. 

For his graduation present, we gave him Ironman sheets and a comforter. He was so excited.

Cayden is such a happy kid. We are so blessed to have such sweet and healthy grandbabies.

...AND THE WINNER IS..............................

  First, I want to say THANKS to everyone that posted. 
  My labwork came back yesterday, and everything is good! Praise God, yet again!
  I really enjoyed reading your comments, and I hope all of you will go back and read everyone's comments about their loved ones and friends having or have had cancer. While you are reading, please say a prayer for each family.
  Now to announce the winner. I numbered  everyone's entries on a list, and I used True Random Number Generator. 

The number that was picked is:

 Congratulations to "Everything Sewing".
Please send me your mailing address so I can send your goodies.
  I look forward to another giveaway in the future. 
Happy Sewing!

Last Day for Giveaway!

  I almost forgot that I said I'd post the winner on May 14th. I will close any comments tonight at midnight Central time.
  Thanks to everyone who entered!

Two Year Doctor Visit...

  I know I have some friends who check in on me to see how things are going since my surgery two years ago, and these friends don't sew or embroider, so this is for them.
  I went to see Dr. Ghali yesterday, and he said everything was "looking good." I had some bloodwork and a chest x-ray. The other good news is that I don't have to go back for 6 months. I've been going every 3 months for 2 years now. I really haven't minded as my doctors are so awesome and caring.
  I feel so blessed after seeing some really pitiful people in the office yesterday. I could tell their outcome must not have been as good as mine. 
  I am here to tell you that everyone needs to watch your mouth and tongue area for anything that doesn't look right. Get your doctor or dentist to check out anything suspicious. Oral cancer is on the rampage.  I don't smoke, and never have so if you do smoke your chances are much higher than mine were.
  Thanks to all of you that have continued to check on me. Many hugs for all of your prayers.
 

Experimenting with Blue Hour...

  Ever since I read about this on BNOTP blog, I have been intrigued. Thanks, Susan, for showing this on your blog.
  I only have a little Kodak digital camera, but I thought, why not?
  I went out and lit a little hanging glass lantern Sunday evening. Well, really it was a tea light. LOL
  OK - so slap me for not dusting off the top, but I do have a good excuse since it's hard to reach up very high with my bad shoulder. As the night got darker, the dust disappeared.
  I just wanted to share my pics. I do want to experiment some more with "blue hour." If you would like to try this, go to this website 
- blue hour site - and you can find out the best time of the day to experiment. 
  (Don't forget about my giveaway on the previous post.)

  First pic

Second pic

Third pic

I think I like the second one the best.
  Evening folks!

Celebrate Life......and a Giveaway..

  Two years ago today I had my surgery for tongue cancer. I went in very early on the morning of Wednesday, May 7, 2008 with my husband and kids by my side. Luckily, I didn't have to wait too long before they starting drugging me. I don't even remember much about that morning. I was kept asleep mostly for 2 days. My family says I woke up and they talked to me a few times, but I don't remember a thing until I woke up on Friday. From then on, I remember a lot.
  I had a 12 hour surgery which is described by daughter in the archives (arrow down the page for all of the May posts) if anyone wants to go and read about it. I was in ICU for 6 days, and stayed in the hospital a total of 12 days. I had never in my life been away from home for that long.
  I had an amazing team of doctors which I now see every three months. My two year check up is on Tuesday, May 11. After that, they said I may be able to space my visits further apart.
  Dr. Ghali went in after putting the vent in, and started cutting out the part of my tongue that had the cancer, and then they would check each piece he cut out until they got to a point where there were no cancer cells. That was a long period of time. 
  Dr. Kim did the reconstruction by taking a piece of muscle from my forearm (called the flap), and rebuilt my tongue. He also took the big vein in my left arm. Looooong ordeal! 
  I also had 50 lymph nodes removed in my neck. Praise God, those were cancer free, and I didn't have to take chemo or radiation!
  As soon as they took me off the vent, and I could cover up the hole, I could talk. I was shocked to even hear myself speak. I thought it would be a really long time before I could speak again. This was Day 9. Amazing, huh? Just another one of God's blessings. 
  It was a very long recovery, but I managed to go back to school that August, and teach until mid-term when I retired in January. It wasn't easy, but I made it with the help of my wonderful family and friends.

  Now in celebration of being TWO years cancer free (I'm not worried at all about my reports), I am having a GIVEAWAY!
  These are some pics of the goodies I'm giving.

A Clover eraser pen for taking out the blue and purple pen marks - and it works! Love mine!
 A spool of white and a spool of black Madeira Polyneon embroidery thread.

A Nancy Zieman Stack and Store Bobbin Tower that holds 30 bobbins.

A beautiful spring garden flag.

  How do you like this desk set of 3 notepads? Too cute, huh? 

You do not have to be a blog owner to enter. Just leave your email or contact information in your post.
  Since this is my first giveaway, one lucky person will win all of these items. 

Instructions:

 1.  All I'm asking is that you make a comment below about someone you know that is battling cancer or has lost their battle with cancer. I want to know your stories. They don't have to be long. Just a couple of sentences.
 2.  If you are a follower of my blog or become a follower of my blog, make a separate comment to get an extra entry for the drawing. 
 3.  If you have a blog, and you want to post about my giveaway, put a link in another comment for a third entry.
 The drawing will be on May 14th. I look forward to your comments.

God was in Control of this....

  My daughter, Emily, works for 911, and she was at work last night when a call came in from her best friend, Rhonda. Another dispatcher took the call, but knew immediately who it was.
 Rhonda's automobile had caught on fire. It was parked next to the deck behind their house. The house then caught on fire. Rhonda's little dog had started barking, and thank God, Rhonda got up to see what was wrong. She was home alone with all 4 of her kids. Her husband also works for the fire dept. Rhonda got the kids out as they were all in her room asleep. Something she does frequently when Jonathan is working. They lived in a double wide manufactured home. They also had smoke detectors, but with the fire being in the attic it could have collapsed before the detectors even went off.
  The fire spread into the attic, and the firemen worked 5 hours trying to control it. Emily took these pics on the way home from work as Rhonda lives only about 1/2 mile away. When you look at these, you will also say "God was in control." There was no roof whatsoever left on the house.

  The room with the pink stripe wall was Payton's, the oldest child. 
  All in all this was a terrible tragedy, but the best part is that these precious children and their mom were able to get out alive. We are so very thankful as they have always been so special to us.

 Praising God for a miracle in Keithville last night!

Another beautiful child lost to Cancer...

 My words are few. I can't even imagine what a parent goes through having a child that is battling cancer. I read many of the Caring Bridge sites on a regular basis, and there are some in our surrounding area that are at St. Jude right now.
  This young girl, Mary Katherine Joyce, lost her battle on Sunday with an inoperable brain tumor. She lived a little over a year after she found out. 
 I never met her, but I did meet her mom, and my daughter worked for her dad, William Joyce (creator of Rolie Polie Olie, Toy Story characters, etc.) His talent is beyond remarkable. He could have moved to L.A. a long time ago to pursue an even bigger career, but he chose to stay in Shreveport to raise his kids. His kids were his and Elisabeth's life.
  When Emily worked for him, I couldn't wait until the end of the day to hear all of the wild and cute things he would do for his kids. When they lost a tooth, he would leave the window open, and the tooth fairy would leave tooth fairy dust all over the room while coming in to get the tooth.  That's just one of the stories.
  My heart aches for them, and any parents who lose children, and especially for children with cancer because I've been there. I have been luckier than most. I don't know why. I just know I thank God everyday for my outcome.
  Please keep this family in your prayers as they bury their beautiful girl on Saturday. 

Evidence!!

 When the grands come to see us, they always leave some evidence that they've been here. No matter how good Mommy thinks she has picked up the toys or made them pick up, there is always something left out.
  It tickles us because it's a reminder of them being here, and of the funny things they do. PawPaw said to leave these things where they are until they come back, butttttttttttt, they are right in the front entrance so I imagine they will have to be put away soon.
  I heard a loud noise last night, and I went to the front door to look out. We have two skinny glass windows on each side of the door, and as soon as I got to the edge of the carpet, I realized if I went any further I would step on something that would hurt. 

 I'm not sure which one left the army men here - maybe both. I do know that Cayden was the one eating chips. LOL
  You see this little ledge at the bottom of the window? That is where Shelby sat to eat her snack. Well, wouldn't it be nice to have a "behind" that only about 10" wide?

  We all sat on the patio after lunch while the kids blew bubbles. Cayden came and sat in my lap for a long time, which is unusual for him these days, but Mimi sure enjoyed it. Then Shelby had to have her lap time. She looked up at me and said, "Mimi, me luz you." Melted my heart!

 PawPaw will be out of school on the 25th of May, and then we can have our sweet grands to spend the night. We usually get a small pool for the backyard, some water toys, ice cream, and hotdogs! Sounds like a perfect summer day to me!!