A handmade box and a set of cards for Thankful Thursday

Yesterday I had the opportunity to have lunch with a friend who is an inspiration to me.  I wanted to give her a little something, so this is what I made.  To bad I didn’t get it finished in time for lunch, but I’ll drop it by for her today :)  Isn’t it wonderful to have good friends!  I am so thankful for friends for which we can share our lives.

I made the box using Tresa Black’s Card box tutorial.  I really like how simple and easy it was to make! The papers and color scheme come from Close To My Heart’s Caprice papers.  I had some of the stickease leftover from scrapbook pages and think that decorating with these is a breeze!

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The card designs and stamps are from CTMH’s Everyday Celebration, the September card kit.  I LOVE this set!  And I love how great it looks with other papers and colors.

 

This was a pretty simple project over all to make, maybe I can make some of these for myself soon :)

Thankful Thursday: Growing Children and Families

I have so much to be thankful for!  I don’t post very often, but with so  much wonderful in life, I need to remember to be thankful each and every day!

I can’t believe Kylie is 3 weeks old!  She weighs 10 pounds and is adorable! Her sister’s still hover unmercifully, but I know that will end sooner or later.

Our  house is also finally getting well!  Last week everyone but me was on breathing treatments, 2 are currently on steroids and their 2nd round of antibiotics, and then we even had a bought of stomach virus mixed in for good measure. But as of today, I think we might just survive!

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And then there is Hudson to be thankful for!  My sister Libby, her husband Mike and their daughter Abby arrived home with new son Hudson just last night!!

Here they are in a park in Korea.

Isn’t he precious!

Wow, so much for which we have to be thankful!

Thankful Thursday: The gift of clothes and a good Doctor visit for Maddie

Coming into the home stretch of this pregnancy has me psycho in a bit of a tizzy.  You forget from one baby to the next how much stuff they need!  Well, you do when they are 5 years apart each time.

On Tuesday I was worried about the fact that we only had a couple of receiving blankets, 4 pairs of socks, a few sleepers and one t-shirt.  I just kept thinking of how often I was going to have to wash if that’s all the clothes we had.

Yesterday, this is what my sister Melody brought over!! 
No those aren’t diapers, they are ALL 0-6 months clothes!! Can you believe it??? We had tons of fun sorting them out and looking at everything.

Mel’s baby is a year old, so we have the benefit of her stuff.. at least until my baby outgrows hers.. :)

It was so amazing once we got everything into piles by size and type. You can not believe the gift it is to be given beyond measure!

If that wasn’t enough a friend of mine provided us with a pack and play complete with baby changer and a couple of very fancy toys!!

And last but not least, Maddie had her yearly well child visit yesterday and looks great!  She is right on target for all of her milestones and her blood pressure (what we have to watch most carefully due to kidney disease) was great! As her doctor said, she looks wonderful!  I am so thankful that we have learned how to manage her disease so much more effectively over this last year. We look forward to her continued good health in the midst of a chronic disease and are so thankful to have doctors who truly care about Maddie!

Thankful Thursday complete with a few trials

I love the concept of Thankful Thursday. It's something that stays with me all day, every Thursday, even if I don't post about it. Today however, has been one of those days that just hurt. What is interesting though, is that in the yuck of the day, I still have pondered thankfulness all day. So, here is what I am thinking...

1. I am so very thankful that although I feel horrible today, my growing child is constantly making me aware that she is fine.
2. I am thankful that while Maddie still has daily issues with her kidney disease and life is not and probably won't be "normal" for her, she is happy!
3. I am thankful that Lexi is Lexi. No other way to put it..
4. I am thankful for bunkbeds and Lexi sleeping all night in them!! Hallelujah!
5. I am thankful that I have a husband who loves me, everyday, all day and through anything.
6. I am thankful that my husband is a Godly man with integrity!

So yes, I am a blessed woman. But if you could, would you pray for my unspoken prayers. God's timing is best in all situations, but as a hormonal woman with 8 weeks until delivery, could you pray for a miracle in our life.

Thanks.

Thankful Thursday

Lake house 2009 has come and gone.  

It is so much fun to play with family, but man am I tired by the time we get home!  With all of the family together, I am reminded how special our family is and how lucky we are that we get along and play and at the end of our vacation we still all like each other!!Isn’t the “island” so cool!! We had a blast playing on our floating island.  It seated 6 adults, had 2 reclining areas, 2 ice chests, a loading dock, an anchor and even a swimming hole in the center!

This year we were back on Cedar Creek Lake and the house was a wonderful size complete with 5 bedrooms, 3 full baths, 2 half baths, 4 dining tables and lots of play space.  That may seem like a lot of space but when you have as much energy and craziness as our brood, that space is engulfed quickly!!

Here a a few pictures from the adventure! See if you can count us all….  I’ll help!

The list includes:

• Mom and Dad
• Oldest daughter Libby and her husband Mike and their kids Carter, Abby and Dillon.
• Second daughter, Me and my husband Doug and our girls Maddie and Lexi.
• Third daughter Melody and her husband Brad and their daughter Sissy.
• Fourth daughter Katy and her husband Kyle and his parents Lonnie and Cindy.

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Next year we will add 3 more children to the mix!!

Thankful Thursday: 5 year anniversary in our house

Five years ago today we packed up the house in Azle and moved back home to Stephenville.  I can not believe how quickly five years have passed.  We went from moving around a lot (6 houses in 5 years) to stability.  It’s no wonder that this house feels like home.

We have also done a lot of work to the house over the last five years.  In fact, we have changed almost everything.  Here are a few before pictures.  You will notice that I was pregnant then too!

   

And here are some after shots.  Funny thing is, I started painting Lexi’s room today.  This will be the third color in five years :)

 

I look forward to what the next five years holds for us and am interested to see where we will be living.  We could very possibly be in this same house.  No telling how many more paint colors could come our way!

Thankful Thursday

I am shocked that another week has gone by so quickly! Yet here I am again trying to process what I should write down for thankfulness.

This week has been busy and crazy and stressful. So first, I am thankful that this week is almost over! With TAKS testing at school, trying to keep our house clean, the Swine Flu and the Optimist Auction, I am about worn out! But TAKS is done for our campus, we got the last test done today! Maddie is practically quarantined for her saftey, so she shouldn't get sick. The Optimist Auction is tomorrow and then Doug will be much less stressed. And who knows, maybe one day soon someone will fall in love with our house!!

I know I am totally random today. Sorry about that. You know how some days you are off kilter the moment you get up and it stays that way all day, well today has been one of those days. Once again, I am very thankful to be a healthy 24 weeks pregnant, but man, this is hard work :)

And a side note.. I am working on a couple of fun gifty things. Can't wait to share! Watch for a new technique and a new project next week!

Thankful Thursday.. Hallelujah, the house is ready to sell!

I can't believe we are back to Thursday again! Today is exactly 2 weeks since I started the quest to get the house ready to sell. It has been an exhausting effort, but the house looks great!

So if you know of anyone that needs a great place to live in Stephenville, Texas, send them my way!

Take a look at all of my work and the specs of our house by going to www.1302cleveland.com

Have a wonderful day.

And one more thing, if anyone gets this far.. pray for Maddie, she's had a flare up and has missed the last 2 days of school and I don't expect her to go today. She's only been to 2 softball practices and she can't go to practice today. I am thankful that we know what she has and how to deal with an autoimmune kidney disease, but it doesn't make it any eaiser.

Thanks.

Thankful Thursday

Lately I have seen so many blogs doing Thankful Thursday that it has really inspired me to stop and reflect on all the many things I have for which to be thankful.

So here goes:

• I am thankful that Maddie's name was called out today during the awards ceremony at school for having perfect attendance for the 5th 6wks. I am also so thankful that I was there to see her joy!


• I am thankful that I have a wild child named Lexi who yesterday while at the dentist acted like a "big girl" and was very good!
  
• I am thankful that I have a husband who is willing to get up at 3am and drive his mother to the hospital for surgery so that she wouldn't have to worry about her car. And that in the same day he volunteered for a local church helping them in their evening Maundy Thursday service.


• I am thankful that I can't sleep at night, that I can't breathe, that my head hurts and I can't really take anything for it, that I have constant heartburn, and that this baby girl inside me is growing stronger and bigger everyday.

Putting down thankful thoughts gets my mind in the right place and man, I can think of all kinds of things I am thankful for! But that's all I'm gonna right about now. Except that I am off to bed and very thankful that tomorrow is Good Friday and we don't have school!