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....