One of the smiling faces that light my most cloudy days!

This is Alexander at 6 months old.  He is the happiest little man, and he simply charms everyone he meets, and just melts my heart!!  He has come a long way from the below picture to this.

He is only a tiny bit spoiled and I truly thank God every day for such a precious gift!!  When we take him out we have strangers stop us and say he beautiful he is - and he just smiles from ear to ear, I always wonder if they can see God's love shining out of his little face.  All babies are a blessing and I love and cherish all my children and grandchildren and I would not trade any of them for anything and I thank God for sharing them with us and try to let them know how much I love them every day!

Homemade hot or cold packs using whole corn kernels

This is the site for instructions to make homemade hot or cold packs http://web.archive.org/web/20080531122731/http://www.diamondthreadworks.com/microwave_heating_bags.htme and also at this site
http://happyandsimple.wordpress.com/2013/02/02/microwavable-hotcold-packs-made-from-corn-tutorial/

Candy at Jacque's Joie de Vivre site

Hi guys!  If anyone stumbles upon this blog anytime soon there is wonderful blog candy on Jacque's site http://jacquesmagnolias.blogspot.com/2014/08/candy-candy-candy.html, and wonderful projects and inspiration on Cut Cardstock.  Please check out both sites!  Also, Jacque always has some of the most gorgeous cards and creations on her site it is just music to my eyes to visit every day.

Fred She Said Paper Piercing design and colored iris for Janice's BD card

This is a card I made for Janice's birthday this year.  My mind was completely blank and everything I thought of I just could not find everything I needed to make it and suddenly this popped into my head!  The paper pricking around the corners and the purple iris are from Fred She Said site from two separate designs. The corners actually go with the rose but I took it out and replaced it with the iris because Janice and I exchange iris bulbs when either of us get something different.  The site for the iris is: http://fred-she-said-store.blogspot.com/2012/06/bearded-iris.html and is already colored and ready for use. The site for the paper pricking is: http://fred-she-said-store.blogspot.com/2012/03/diamond-rose-with-pp-pattern.html.  The white paper is Georgia Pacific from Walmart and the purple is Recollections.  The shiny paper trimming the card front and the iris diamond is holographic paper that I love and try to buy when I find it in a store.  I don't care for the self adhesive kind and prefer to use the thicker.  I punched the holes with a push pin and the holographic paper underneath sparkles thru. I hope Janice will be happy with the card and I am just happy that I actually made something!!

Red and White Christmas Card

Here are a couple of pictures of a Christmas catd I made using a design from Kathy Roney at http://www.joyfullymadedesigns.blogspot.com/2013/12/all-about-christmas.html  I asked her if I could copy her card and she was so sweet and said she did not mind at all!  I have the snowflake she used on her card and also the embossing folder for the background but I could not find that specific embossing folder when I started making my background so I used this one and also a snowflake one.  I made one big boo-boo when I embossed these, I embossed too far down on the card for the snowflake to fit, therefore I used this free SVG poinsettia from Images by Heather at this site https://imagesbyheatherm.wordpress.com/2013/10/18/layered-poinsettia-svg-and-dxf-files/.  Both these ladies have some fantastic creations on their sites and I hope if anyone reads this you will be so kind as to stop by and visit with both these ladies.  The stamp is from JustRite and I will have to check out the maker of the embossing folder but I think it is from Crafts Too but possibly Darice.  The ribbon is from my box.  Thanks for looking and I will probably have a card on here later that looks more like the one on Kathy's site.

June's BD card, Digital Two For Tuesday

This is a card I made for my cousin June who turned 89 this year.  The image is from Digital Two For Tuesday and colored with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol. The glitter on the vines is Star Dust Stickles and the Happy Birthday is computer generated.  The "lace" on the sides is the tops of some paper hearts that I had and when I was trying to figure out something different for the card Angel suggested lace and this was the closest I had - but I think it turned out pretty and June loved it!

Amiti's graduation box by Creations by AR

This is the gift box I made for Amiti when she graduated from high school.  It is from a template I bought at Creations by AR and it was very quick and easy to put together. Adele even gives the tutorial for how to make the tassel.

Alexander's first trip to the beach

This is Alexander's first trip to the beach on 06-02-14 and he is the perfect traveler!

Alexander taking bottle after not having one for almost a week

This is Angel feeding Alexander formula after he has been off feeding for almost a week!  In this picture most of his tubing has been removed and he is awake and looking around.  He was given 2 ounces at this feeding and has kept everything down well.  We got news after this that they were going to take the PICC line out of his belly button tonight (Tuesday) and he will possibly be put into a room on the floor and get out of PICU tomorrow (Wednesday).  This is wonderful news and means that he is doing better and will hopefully be home soon.  Prayers are answered and he is one that we can actually hold!  We have not been able to pick him up or hold him since Thursday of last week and only for a few hours then and had not held him since Sunday before that.  I have a feeling he may be slightly spoiled when we get him home since he has only been home about 17 hours since being born.

New Surprises with Alexander and an update

When Alexander was born we thought he was a handsome and healthy newborn boy.  He had to stay at the hospital for 4 days while they were monitoring his bilirubin and was allowed to come home on Saturday afternoon.  Everything seemed to be going along as normal but on Sunday morning when we were going to feed him he threw up his formula and seemed to continue to be choking and even with suctioning his mouth and nose he was gagging so we made a rush back to the hospital where he was diagnosed with pneumonia and eventually sent to Children's Hospital in Knoxville.  After a lot of testing they do not think it was pneumonia at all but he was found to have a pyloric stricture which would not let his food pass into his intestines and out of his stomach so the only way for it to go was back up and that is why he was throwing up so much.  Not sure what was going on with his lungs but they told us they did not think it was caused by his regurgitation.  He has been in the hospital since he was born except for a very few hours and Angel has been right there with him.  She has not left his side for very many minutes at all and is sleeping in the wonderful chair beside his bed.  When they did the repair of his stricture we were told one of the complications could be a tear of the lining of the pyloric muscle but the doctor who performed it had only had 3 in 400 cases - but of course Alexander had to break that record and become his 4th, and they had to extend the incision and put in a stitch to try to fix it, so that means that they had to put a PICC line in so he can be fed because he can't have any food in is stomach until they do an ultrasound to insure the lining has healed and that will be done Monday. They could not find any veins to insert the line into so it is going into his belly button and this all means that Angel cannot even hold him and has only been able to hold him for a few hours before they inserted the PICC line since his being admitted to Children's because it is in an artery and if it becomes dislodged he could bleed to death.  So even though a childbirth may be normal and the child be normal, things can change in the blink of an eye so be very alert and observe your baby and the new mother very carefully for anything abnormal and if you are worried about something that seems "not right" take them back to be checked because it is better to be safe than sorry!!  Please take a minute to say a prayer and thank God for the blessings He has sent you!!  We have said so many prayers for Alexander and had everyone we know praying for him and I know that God is healing him and we will be able to bring him home to lead a normal, happy, and healthy life (or as normal as life with us can be). If you are reading this, thank you for your time, and if you feel led to say a prayer for Alexander's healing or just a prayer in general for all the blessings in your life, it would be appreciated.  In my opinion prayer is the strongest medicine there is and God moves in ways far beyond our understanding if we just have faith.  I am not a particularly religious person, not a preacher, or a teacher, but during all this I have had to learn to turn things over to God because I cannot do anything else and I have been a nervous wreck until I just put things in his hands and it was as if an immense weight had been lifted from me.  If you don't feel this way that is your choice and I would never force my opinion on anyone but this is my feeling and my heart.

Introducing the newest member of my family - Alexander

Angel 04/20/14 Easter Sunday

Angel 04/22/14

Angel and Alexander 04/22/14

Alexander was due on May 14 but he made an early appearance on April 22, 2014 at 11:55 a.m.!  He weighed in at 6 lbs. 8 ozs and is 20 inches long.  He and Mom are doing great and have already had so many visitors and we can't wait to have them home.

Thank you Penny Duncan!!

I had sent a question to Penny Duncan http://pennyduncancreations.blogspot.com and to Bird at Bird's Cards http://www.birdscards.com asking about a sun bonnet sue pattern for SCAL and Penny made one for me and sent me the pattern!  I can't wait to try this one out.  My Mother used to make these quilts all the time and I want to try to fix some cards with a quilt design and send to some of my family who either got these quilts made by her or remember her making them!  Thank you Penny for making me want to create something and actually look forward to doing it!  I could cut these patterns out by hand but it takes a little longer.  With the efile I can cut a bunch and have them on hand in about the same time it would have taken me to cut one with scissors.  If there is anyone out there who has not visited these two ladies' blogs please visit and see all the beautiful creations they make and share with us.

Diaper Motorcycle

Thom's Diaper motorcycle and other items and Sweetapril's diaper motorcycle  These are two sites I checked out while trying to come up with a motorcycle cake for Angel's shower.  These sites both have good instructions and pictures and Thom's site has all kinds of other things to make with diapers for a baby shower.  My pictures do not even do justice to this!  Thankfully it looks better in real life and it is not an expert creation but I think Angel will like it.

Baby Whale from Designs on Cloud 9

This is the start of the design on my future great grandson's wall.  My granddaughter wants whales and it is so hard to find anything with whales on it.  I found this cute whale design on DesignsonCloud9.com.  I sized it to 18 inches long for the big one and a little over 11 inches tall and I don't remember what the small one is sized at, and cut it with my Cricut and SCAL. I ordered vinyl from Vinyl Expressions and that is what these are cut from.  It was very hard for me to get the two layers together and ended up cutting the bottom layer to fit under the top instead of going all the way to the top and that is what you can see across the middle and not so much the vinyl being buckled or wrinkled but there are a few bubbles in it that I didn't get out but overall it doesn't look too bad (at least from far away).  I am going to try to cut waves to go on the bottom and maybe a sun and a few clouds for the sky.  IF I get that done I will post future pictures of the final scene. This is the first time I have used vinyl so I don't guess it is too bad.

Tuletta's BD card

This is the card I made for Tuletta's (my sister-in-law) birthday.  The image is from Digital Two For Tuesday, the swirls are Swirls 1 from Birds Cards.  I colored the flowers with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol, Diamond stickles on the bubbles and on the swirls.  The sentiment is Bix Antique script on my computer.

Angel's Baby Shower Invitations

These are invitations I made for Angel's baby shower.  The whale is a file that I bought several years ago when they were doing a fund raiser and is by Studio313.  The heading is computer generated and so is the background paper.  I used Star Dust Stickles on the water and the spouts.

My mini glue gun holder

I have been looking for a glue gun holder that won't tip over and found several models online but none really fit my little gun but this site was the closest to what I finally used Shanty-2-chic.com.  I used a piece of 1x3 cut at 6 1/2 inches and the stop was 3/4 inches wide and then a small tile from Lowe's.  The dowel rod is 1/4 inch which was cut at about 3 1/2 inches tall.  I painted it white and then put pearl mist spray paint over top of the white so it has a shimmer.

Ina's BD card for 2014

This is Ina's birthday card.  The picture is a free digi from Digital Two for Tuesday, the saying is computer generated, the silver holographic swirls are swirls from My Time to Craft and the bottom swirls are cut off the bottom of the top swirls.  I colored the picture with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol.  The card is an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of cardstock cut into a step card and will fit in a large invitation envelope.

Two of my Princesses and the whole gang Thanksgiving 2012

These are pictures that were made on Thanksgiving 2012.  Sierra is always wanting to be a "princess" and my oldest granddaughter Amiti has been Junior Princess at school and also was runner up for homecoming queen this year.  She had the crown and dress and brought it up for Sierra to wear for her birthday.  Sierra's birthday is November 17th and Amiti's is November 14th.  For some reason this year had been busy and everyone could not find a good time to celebrate individual birthdays so we celebrated everything on this day.  Sierra and Amiti are cousins.






  This is another one of all my children and their children along with Jim and Ina.  This is the last Thanksgiving we were all able to celebrate together before Jim got sick.

Quiet and peaceful and coldest day EVER!

It is so quiet and cold outside today.  There are no cars on the road and I am the only one up here at my house so it is very quiet.  It is very unusual not to hear a single car but if they were not garaged last night they may not start today because it is so cold outside.  Sunday night we were forcast to get snow and about 1:00 a.m. it started snowing here but when I got back up at 5:30 we only had about 1/2 inch so I was kind of disappointed. It started snowing around 9:00 and it snowed hard for a while and within a couple of hours we had 3 inches and it snowed all day and we ended up with around 6 inches of the white stuff on the ground.  It is gorgeous but the bad thing is that it also got very cold so you really could not enjoy it!  We were forecast to get down to 0 or -3 last night but I have not heard what the official temp was overnight but at 8:00 this morning it is now 1 degree.  It is not as cold here as it is in some parts of the country right now though.  There are some gorgeous pictures on TV with all the snow and ice and some areas are down to -60 degrees with the wind chill so I am very thankful that we only got -15 with the wind chill and our power and water are still on. It is a record cold all over the country and it is not really going to be above freezing until Thursday.  I pray everyone out there is staying safe.