I'm still kicking..........barely! lol

I have been really neglegent in my blogging. I guess I got out of habit when I had surgery and spent most of the summer at Momma's! Hi i am brooke watson i love you sososososososososososs much! mommy. <----This is what happens when you walk away from the computer and leave your blog window open! lol That's ok, I think it's sweet!
Anyway.........Christopher is doing well at college, I still miss him and love the weekends he comes home, Brooke loves her 4th grade teacher but I don't remember all this work when Christopher was in 4th grade!
My niece, Angel, taught me how to loom knit and I'm truly enjoying it. (even tho I had said "NO MORE HOBBIES" lol) I plan to start cleaning part time and am hoping I'll get some substitute teaching calls since my permit has been renewed.
Christopher is home and the kids are wanting the computer so I'll update more later!!!!!!
Have a great weekend!

When life changes your plans

Wow, I had so many plans for this summer! I was gonna organize my house bigtime, Chris was gonna get all four floors torn up and redone, I would take the kids roller blading and walk lots with Lisa and her kids, etc. etc. Approx. 6 months ago or more I was having problems with nausea off and on. With a med change and such I blamed it on that, then it kept getting worse and I started getting heartburn. Pregnancy was a thought but no, it wasn't that! So after eating Uncle Rays BBQ chips and almost instantly getting heartburn I think.......I'm getting older and now I just can't eat really spicy stuff! Now I know what it is!!! Not so! We have a 50th birthday party for my sis (complete with Famous Dave's BBQ and about everything they serve, KFC, Chocolate and Peanut Butter Fudge, and a Juke Box cake) and I get sicker than I think I have ever been in my life! (Vomiting like 20 times) Ididn't eat much bbq but figured it must have been enough. Too make a long story short......that was Sat. night. By Monday morn I was still so sick I decided to drive myself to immediate care. (I wasn't sick the whole time, just off and on) The dr told me it was my gall bladder and he made me an appt. at the hospital to have tests done that day. I had an inflamed gall bladder, sludge, and gall stones. He did NOT want me to get one in a duct! I got so bad Tues. night that we went to emergency but they just gave me morphine and crazy pills! (Lortab) Wed. I went to the surgeon and he scheduled surgery for Friday. Sure enough.......a stone had gotten in the duct going into my gall bladder and stopped it up so hence the bad pain! Crazy emergency doc just wanted to get me out of there! 6 gall stones and gall bladder taken out and I was a happy camper! Well, not really! I heard all these awesome stories about how everybody felt so good afterwards that they either went shopping the very same day or had family over for a get together a couple days later etc. that I expected to feel awesome! Not so! It took me a week! Leave it to me!

Chris and Christopher took the oppurtunity to tear up what needed to be of the kitchen floor and put down my new hardwood! Chris cleaned the outsides of my cabinets, fridge, and painted and put up my kitchen border! It looks awesome. Buuuuuttttt.......my element in my oven had went out and when Chris went to pull it out to get the numbers off of the back the whole front glass shattered! Big time! I have to wait 7-10 days to get that in! So back to momma's to bake the cakes for Marilyn and Larry's 50th wedding anniversary! We came back home Friday, got the cakes decorated, went to the party Sat. then to Tab's for Chris to split wood, (mopmma went with us) Sun. BJ and Sam came home with us, and today I am sick with some bug that Brooke so sweetly shared with me! What a summer I have had! lol But I truly enjoyed all my time with momma even tho I was recovering from surgery etc. Chris plans to tear up the bathroom and large hallway either this week or next so that it'll be done before Brooke starts school. Christopher has to be at college by Aug. 18 and I try not to think about that! I will miss him so much!

Now that I have written a book trying to catch up I think I'll add the pics to this post! :-)

New Mexico Mission Trip

Christopher got a chance to go on a mission trip to New Mexico and while I missed him lots, I'm so glad he was able to go. He not only worked at the Indian Mission but he also went to the Grand Canyon, Four Corners, Colorado Rockies, and lots more. I'll add pics and such later but he'll need to tell me more about them so that I'll label them correctly. I AM glad to have him back home!!!!! :-)

A Wonderful Birthday

I had such a wonderful time with two wonderful friends! I am so blessed. Bro. Beers funeral happened to be on my actual birthday so Lisa and MiChelle planned a special day just for me a couple weeks later. They took me shopping at Greenwood to the stores of my choice, to Panera Bread for supper, and Coldstone Creamery for dessert! We had such a wonderful time. Ahhh, the memories even now. Lots of laughter, Flying mints, unbreakable water bottles (NOT), etc. This will now be a new tradition for each of our birthdays! I can't wait!!!!!!

Thoughts......

How in the world do you tell your children that someone so very important in their life has passed away? How do you try to explain the questions when you don't have answers yourself? In the human all I can think of is - But God, We NEED him! Rev. James Beers was so many things in our life. Not only mine and Chris' school administrator but now Christopher's. Friend, Prayer Warrior, Doctor, and so much more. Christopher drank in the knowledge that he learned from Bro. Beers. Bro. Beers even got Christopher to start eating healthier. My son who said that anything fried had to be better. :-) Political things, legal things.........we don't realize how heavily we rely on someone until we no longer have them. What a legacy he leaves and tho no one can fill his shoes it will take many people to help fill in the gaping hole that he leaves behind.
A precious friend of mine helped with this thought - At an airport there was a group of people crying as their loved one was leaving on a long journey, but there was another group cheering and full of glee. Their loved one had arrived home. As is with Bro. Beers. We are so sad to see him go and we're crying tears for ourself, but on Heaven's shore there is a group of people cheering and so happy to see him. God, please help me to be a better person so that I may be able to help fill the tiniest spot and to also be worthy of that honor.

Sunshine.......

I opened the blinds and the beautiful rays of sunshine peeking through did lots for my spirits this morning! I am so happy to see sunshine! Now......if I can just get over this bug that I have. I am thankful to be feeling better than I was. I might even have a little bit of motivation! lol That is.....after this cough med wears off and I'm not so sleepy. April has been a rough month with sickness. Both kids were sick and then me again.........

Momma is coming over tomorrow to spend the day with me and I so love being with her!

My dear, sweet hubby took Saturday and devoted it to me and took the kids and I out for breakfast and then took me to some stores that I had been wanting to go to. We went to Kohl's and my ragged, jean and pull over shirt wearing son got "Dress shoes, 2 ties, and dress shirts"!!! Wow, did he clean up nice for Sat. night and Sun! :-)

I bought a bunch of totes and plan on organizing Brooke's toys so that she can get to them easily AND put them away easily! lol The putting away being the key part here!!!! I also want to organize my yard sale stuff so that the garage isn't such a mess. I hope to get rid of alot at the yard sale and what's left.......I'll give to Good Will or some such store! I just don't enjoy keeping stuff around that I want to get rid of.

We had a great time camping with the Gilley's and Tooley's and look so forward to doing it again soon! I loved it!

All of us girls on the beach at the campgrounds!

Bubby helping Brooke reel her fish in. He hadn't caught anything yet and we stopped by to see the guys while they were fishing. Brooke just wanted to cast one time before we left. Bubby helped her and within minutes.....she had a fish!!! :-)

Group picture of us without Danny so.......

Here's Danny and Teresa! :-)

One thing Christopher MUST have on any trip! One of his guitars!!!!

Well, lest my post get too boring I'll quit and try to post some more highlights of my most exciting life later! lol

Sick of being sick

I just want to feel even kinda good! I had so many plans for this past week. I didn't have anywhere I had to go and I was going to spring clean and organize. I have to rest alot of times so I knew it would take all week and more. Then........I get sick. Monday morning I woke up with a sore throat and it all went downhill from there. Finally, on Thurs. I thought I was getting better and got a little motivation to do some cleaning and by that evening I was a mess. So.......after not going ANYWHERE all week and this weekend I still feel yuck. I guess I just made my blog a venting board. lol Spring Break is this week and I'm hoping it goes better. I'll just do what cleaning I can and hope that I feel good enough for us to go camping Thurs. and Fri.

Here is a picture of Brooke with her little monkey she wanted for her birthday. It's so ugly it's cute! :-)

Here is my 53 cent shopping spree at CVS! I'm trying to learn to play the register rewards game, by using those, coupons and sales. Brooke was pretty impressed. She kept saying...FIFTY-THREE CENTS???? lol

And now......my head hurts and I think I'll save anymore exciting news I may have for later! :-)

Peanut Butter Cream Sandwich Cookies

These are soooo good! I made them for Chris and Christopher and was hoping I wouldn't like them. No such luck!

Peanut Butter Cream Sandwich Cookies
1/2 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp. salt

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Granulated sugar

1 recipe Peanut Cream Filling

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. In bowl beat peanut butter and shortening with mixer on med. speed for 30 sec. Add brown sugar, egg and vanilla. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl. Beat in baking soda, salt, and as much flour as you can. Stir in any remaining flour.

2. Form dough into balls, using a level tsp. each. Place 1-1/2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Flatten by making crisscross marks with tines of fork dipped in suagar.

3. Bake 7-8 min. or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheet 1 minute. Transfer to wire rack; cool.

4. Spread one tsp. Peanut Cream Filling on flat side of half of cookies. Top with remaining cookie. Store in airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days. Freeze unfilled cookies up to 1 month. Makes 4 dozen sandwich cookies.

Peanut Cream Filling

In medium bowl whisk together 3/4 cup peanut butter, 3/4 cup marshmallow creme and 3 tbsp. milk. Gradually whisk in 3 Tbsp powdered sugar.

Here is the cake, complete and set up at the reception.

It's a relief that it's over but the decorating part is so much fun!!!

My baby girl is now 9!!!! I just can't believe it! Time is going so fast........the older I get and yada yada! lol

Well, that's enough for now. If I told you all the drama that had been going on in our life lately you probably wouldn't believe me anyway! lol God has answered prayer in a lot of ways and I'm expecting more!

Busy Life

First of all, Phillip is home and doing well. Pretty good for a guy who was just on life support and little over a week ago and not much hope to live. He will have to make a diet change and such in his life but.......He is alive!

I have been soooo busy this week. I forgot how much work it was to make a wedding cake AND I had Aunt Lois and Momma helping me with washing things when I did Elizabeth and Mark's!

I got the cake done earlier this afternoon and don't have to have it set up until tomorrow at 2pm.

I guess I did good! :-) Here are a couple pics.

The cake topper will be in the center of the circle of roses. The second pic is my favorite of the three cakes!

I took Brooke to violin lessons Tues. and before that went to a couple stores.

Wed. we went to church, Wendy's to meet friends, and Kroger before heading back home.

Thurs. we went to B.J.'s school program

and today I finished the cakes. Tomorrow we set up the cakes and I will probably crash after we get home!!!! It was fun, tho, and I'd do it again! :-)

Next week I get to get caught back up on the housework for company that is coming for the weekend. At least I pretty well kept caught up on the laundry.

I have a recipe to share later for Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies! They were Great!!!!

Happy Birthday to Brooke and Update

First I wanna tell my baby girl "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" She's 9 today! She did awesome at her violin lessons last night. I'm so proud of her! There were times that she'd get frustrated and want to quit but since the recital it seems like something just clicked and she's really "getting" it now.
I have awesome news about Phillip! He's off life support and the drain started working!!!!! Momma was so happy when she called. God is Good!

This and That and Update on Phillip

Someone has come between Debra and Christopher! :-) Jonanthan is a hoot and such fun to be around. This was at Steak n Shake and I had a "Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Shake" It was awesome. That was before this dreaded diet!

One of my favorite spots in our house!

Pancake Puppies! They are awesome! I had them at Denny's the other night. The picture was right side up when I uploaded and goes sideways on here. I tried twice and it's just gonna have to stay sideways!

The drainage tube they put in Phillip is not doing it's job so if things aren't better by tomorrow they have to do another surgery! All prayers are appreciated!

I am missing my momma! I'm sure glad she doesn't LIVE in Louisville or I'd be in trouble.

Bye for now................

Daily Life and Update on Phillip

Brooke had her first violin recital and did a great job. In this pic she was practicing before the actual recital.

Debra and Christopher. She was describing something and I can't remember what. Her sound effects were great! :-)

Christopher took this one on his cell phone and I have no idea how to make it larger. I like it, tho!

My hanging ladder after I added my miniature kitchen tools to it!

Chris was able to go to work yesterday and today. He left work Thurs. and even made is own dr. appt. I knew he was really sick! lol He had some contagious virus and was down til Monday. He had me worried!

Phillip had a drainage tube put in his lung and if he does ok today they may be able to take him off of life support. He is responding to them. The nurse will tell him to hold up 2 fingers and he will, etc. He tries to move his lips and gets frustrated, I'm sure he's wanting to talk to them. Last night the drain was working well, so if it continues they won't have to do the 2nd surgery. I hope and pray they don't have to!

I felt sick yesterday so didn't get much of anything done. I cannot get warm even tho I have an awesome fire going! I like winter but I am so ready for spring! (except for tornados)

I am ready to get back to my organizing. I am on a mission!

Update on Phillip

They ran a scope, scraped his lung and that didn't work. They did an MRI and were taking him in to put in a drainage tube and I haven't heard anything since. He was opening his eyes alot this morning. Hopefully, I'll know more in the morning. Momma and Aunt Lois were staying at the hospital till everything was done.

Happenings

Wow, alot has happened since I last blogged! We went to Washington and spent time with the Tooley's and had a great time and Christopher took the opportunity to take Debra out on Valentine's Day and seal-the-deal of going steady! I'll post some pics later but a certain little girl is wanting the computer! lol
Debra was able to stay with Valerie during Preacher/Lay Convention so we got to spend alot of time with her. The services were awesome and Debra is a sweetheart.
My cousin, Phillip, had to go to the hospital and was in heart failure. He already has emphysema and had pneumonia, and then has the heart failure on top of it. He's been on life support but they were able to turn the oxygen down and now he's breathing quite a bit on his own. He's opening his eyes alot more and it seems to be when momma and Aunt Lois are talking to him or going to pray for him. He's still in ICU but the dr. said he is slowly improving. They have more hope now. Monday they are doing surgery on his lung to clean it due to the pneumonia. I haven't heard more today but will update as I hear.
Thanks for all prayers~

Miracle's still happen!

Wow, alot can happen in a day! Yesterday, Chris walked in from the hallway and from the look on his face you could tell it was bad. He had just gotten off of the phone from Jeremy and the dr had told him that his leukemia was back. From the bone marrow test the dr was 99% sure it was back and wanted him to start chemo last night. He and Susan didn't have stuff or the kids so wanted to go home and come back today. The dr agreed. Today when they got there Jeremy took off his phone and started to get ready for the dr and the dr came in and told him not to get too comfortable that he was going home. They got the more sensitive test back and it showed 95% that the cancer was GONE! Jeremy is like, ok you tell me last night you're 99% SURE I have it and now 95% sure I don't. How can I get my hopes up when you might tell me the test was wrong and I have it again? The dr said maybe something in the shots Jeremy had been taking could have altered the first test but he said that it wasn't logical and that there was no logical reason that it could show up he had cancer and now that he didn't but if they took his counts and they were up and could be assured the cancer was gone. Well, they took the test and they were as follows......
Yesterday Today
Blood Count 1.8 2.4
Platlets 29 34
Hemoglobon 8.3 8.5
Every one was up. Jeremy told the dr that alot of people had been praying for him and the dr's reply......"They must have prayed all night!" Susan said you hear about this happening to other people but you don't expect it for yourself!

On a sadder note, Granny went home to be with Jesus on Jan. 27, 09! She had a very peaceful home going and I am sure she is enjoying her pain free time with Jesus and loved ones. Please, pray for the family.

Bits and Pieces

Jeremy has had his last round of chemo but they are having to keep an eye on him still. He has dr appt. about every other day until his counts come back up. His hair is growing back in and his color is lots better. We have had so much fun being with the family. Susan and Taylanee just put up with my craziness. lol Brooke and Karissa have lots of fun playing together and Jonathon and Christopher have fun on the PSP's.
Granny is sure a little fighter. They called the girls in Thurs. night because they thought this was the end. The pacemaker was what was keeping her heart beating. Now her heart has started up on it's own again. As of right now she'll go home and have hospice come in. This is the beginning of the end but she's just not ready to go yet. She plans to be at her great-grandson's birthday party tomorrow. :-)
It's pretty warm here today.....in the 30's! Sad to say, it does almost seem warm. :-)
We're going to my sisters for dinner tomorrow and that's always fun.
Tues. after I get Brooke off to school, Christopher will drive me to the hospital and drop me off. He'll go to school and when he gets out go to momma's. After Elaine's surgery and she's fine, we'll head back to momma's and hopefully be home before Brooke gets out of school. Elaine's surgery is at 10:00am.
Friday, Lisa, Michelle, Karen, and I are going to a crop and I am so looking forward to it. Karen is a new friend I met a few months ago. I have found someone who is funnier than me. She loves to laugh, she laughs loud like me, she's forgetful, and so much more. We have so much fun. All of us went to Karen's fiance's house last night for dinner and games. It was so much fun. We played spoons. Have you ever heard of that? It's a hoot! We used "Swap" game cards to play it.

December and what it can bring

Reading the Christmas Story!

December was a busy month and so different than what I planned. I was voted in (along with my hubby) to be in charge of the church Christmas Program because of sickness and I have new appreciation for our normal leader! :-) But.....I have to say, our kids did an awesome job and I am very proud of them! We headed to momma's the Sat. before Christmas so we could get the church set up for the play. Elaine had to come get us so because our car wouldn't start and Chris was gone hunting. So, of course, my plan was....... Chris would get home, fix the car, we'd stay a night or two at momma's and be back home to finish all that baking and candy making that I had started in my fridge! WRONG! First of all, we got to momma's and I thought Butterscotch was dead! I know it's sounds dumb but that crazy hamster has won this family over. I checked her and she was in a fetal position, very cold, and not moving that I could see. I knew I had to tell Brooke. Well, I tell her, she starts to cry, and I have this box fixed to put her in so that we could bury her later. I got her out and the silly thing takes a breath. I wrapped her in a towel and called a vet. They said I could try vegetable baby food! So......Here I am running to the store and getting one jar of baby food. I get back to momma's and she had a syringe that I started using to try to get her to eat. Finally, I could see her mouth moving and then her tongue. I would gently press a little at a time. Well, I guess once I wasn't so gentle because green baby food went all on Butterscotch, my top, etc. Scared myself, let me tell ya! Fortunately, it didn't give her a heart attack and she continued to eat a little more and drink some water. I held that thing for probably an hour. Anyone that knows me and my ocd with animals and cleanliness knows I had to be worried. lol After that hour, she was trying to get away and go check things out. I think I'll become a vet! ha! Anyway, when Brooke found out, she took me to the side and told me that she prayed that God would let her live, even if for just a little bit. The faith of a child. Butterscotch is alive and well and fatter than ever today. :-)

Anyway, back at the home front, Chris found out it was the starter and decided to hit it with the hammer to see if he could get it to momma's to work on it. It worked! (He tried to tell me that he decided it would be cheaper and he'd just put a hammer under the seat for me to use when I went anywhere!) He's done starters before but this one was a doozy.

Monday, momma and I were gonna get some shopping done and a few houses down.......her tire was flatter than a flitter. We called Christopher, her ran down, put the donut on, and it was flat. Who knows what it was? Christopher aired it up and it's still up! Go figure. We did get the donut fixed. The seal had broken. Our car didn't get fixed until Tues. night when my brother brought some tools, getting out in the ice storm to do it! God Bless big brothers who come to our rescue! To make this really looonnnnng story shorter, Christopher went home on Wed. and got all our gifts and stuff to bake and headed back to momma's. We had an awesome time and I would not trade one minute of the time I got to spend with momma. We had such a good time together. Drinking hot cocoa, hot tea, baking, wrapping gifts, shopping, and just being together!

Now I think we're getting back to our old routine except I have lots of catching up to do on the house. I hurt my back after we got home and was down for a few days! Leave it to me!

Memorable Moments

When I was younger it seems like there had to be something big going on for it to be a memorable day but as I "age" (lol) I am finding that it doesn't take much for moments to be so special. Tonight is an example....I was fixing supper (we had a breakfast meal for supper) and Brooke wanted to know if she could make the orange juice. She did it all my herself. Then as I was making biscuits she wanted to know if she could help. She cut them all out, helped knead it together, and flattened it to cut the rest out. I so enjoyed that time with Brooke and look forward to more nights of us fixing supper together. I wouldn't trade the times of our family just being home together, playing a game, reading together, listening to Odyssey together, and much more. Those are truly the most memorable moments to me!