A Bittersweet Day

Hello, I'm glad you stopped by. You are catching me on a very bittersweet day. As the one year anniversary of my mother's death, I am very sad tonight. I can't even think about where I was 1 year ago right now. My mother was my best friend and my hero. I looked up to her and admired her. I strive every day to become more like her. Her death left a gaping whole in my life and in my heart .

I love this picture of her. She is wearing her favorite sweater and loving life. I miss her very much.

Not only is today the 1 year anniversary of her death, it is the 2  year anniversary of HER mother's death, my grandmother. They died exactly 1 year apart. I am not a superstitious person by nature, but today left me a little leary, wondering if it was going to be 3 generations in 3 years. I didn't honestly believe it, but it makes me want to stay up til midnight, just to be sure. I guess, though, if it is my time, I won't be able to stop it asleep OR awake.

On a brighter note, our friends are safely on American soil after a year long deployment. I am so thankful for their safe return. I will be glad to see them and sit down and have a good long cluck fest!! :) I sure have missed them!

We have also had a promising report from Walter Reed Medical Center on our friends' son. He is responsive and can acknowledge that his parents are present. He is blinking his eyes and nodding his head to answer questions and there has been movement in his feet. I pray the Lord's healing hands on him and that He hold this family in the palm of his hands, strengthening them and carrying them through this terrible time!

So, as I have said, it has been a somewhat bittersweet day today. I think I am ready for bed. I am glad that this milestone has passed. I think that maybe I can do a little healing now, maybe move past this somehow. I have lived through all the "firsts" without her, hard as they were. Now I have to adjust to my new "normal"

God heals, not only bodies, but hearts. I pray his healing on all who need it.

Good night my dear friend.

Today I am Thankful For:
- Life
- My Children
- Paul
- My friends and family
- Warm weather in January
- a comfortable bed after a difficult day

Who or What I am Praying for Today:
- My family as we pass this milestone in our lives
- My children that they grow healthy and strong and wise
- Paul, that he may have peace and happiness in his life
- My friends as they return from deployment
- Nicholas and his family as he recovers from his injuries
- Safe Travels for me and my children this weekend
- For Healing

Tuesday

Hi, come on in and sit a bit....its time to just relax, put up my feet and chat! Tuesday's mean dance night again. Of course I had to run off to Wal-Mart tonight and do some errands. I love just sitting at dance, chatting with the other mother's. It is like a special commraderie that forms as we all sit and wait for all our little prima ballerinas to finish class.

I am feeling a little sad tonight. Paul has been staying with me since 3 Jan and it is hard to see him go home. Having him around every night, helping with the little things reminds me of how much I miss being married. Don't get me wrong, I don't miss my ex husband at all, but I miss the partnership, I miss the day to day "life" things that married life contains. I know that I will see him again in just a few days, but it makes me sad to know that I have to wait so long for our forever to begin.

I am happy to report that my friends son is slowly recovering after falling through the ice last week. He is still in the hospital and on a ventilator, but he is making slow steady progress! Praise God!! Please keep little Reese in your prayers!

I am also happy to say that many of our friends are home from their deployment! More are on their way over the next few weeks! We are excited to see them! Hailey is about jumping up and down! She can't wait to see Shannon! It has been a long year without them!

Matt came home from pep band tonight and told me that his band director wants him to do a solo this year. He plays the tenor sax and I think he is good. Apparently his director does too. He told Matt that he has the potential to go to state (Matt is a freshman) and to be a leader in the band. I hope Matt takes him seriously and I pray for the words to encourage him and guide him!

Well, I think I will finish my tea and toddle off to bed for the night! I hope ya'll enjoyed our chat! I look forward to talking with you again!

What I am Thankful for Today:
- My kids are home and safe
- Paul successfully finished his training
- Short day at work
- Seeing friends arrive home from deployment
- Loving family and friends who lend a shoulder when needed
- Warmer weather

What and Who I am Praying for Today:
- My children
- Paul and his family
- My family as the first anniversary of my mother's death approaches
- Reese as he recovers from his fall through the ice
- Nicholas as he fights to recover from his injuries from the IED
- Nicholas' family as they help him through this
- Friends returning from deployment
- Me, for the words of wisdom and encouragement for my children
- Donna and her family during her father's illness
- LeRoy and Donna as they face the aftermath of the fire

End to a Wonderful Weekend

What a fantastic weekend! It was bitterly cold outside, but we managed to get out and have some fun. Matt spent most of the weekend with one of his buddies so it was mostly a girl weekend.

Hailey and I went for breakfast with my aunt and cousin on Saturday morning. It was real nice to see them both. We haven't seen either of them since Christmas!

After breakfast, Hailey and I went home and pulled out the sewing machines. With my school and work, I don't get as much of a chance to work on my quilts as I want to and Hailey has been begging me to teach her to sew. And sew we did.

She worked so very hard on the quilt for her doll! She almost has it done! Can you even believe that this is her first attempt? She had never used a sewing machine before! She said she thinks its in her blood! Ha ha!!

Here is the project I have been working on! It is a baby quilt and I found the bugs so adorably cute!! I can't wait to see the finished work!!!

 

 

After Church today we came home and worked on our projects again. It was a wonderful way to spend the weekend with my daughter.

On Saturday night, Paul and I went out to dinner with some of the people he is training with. It was a very nice evening!

All in all, a terrific weekend!

What I am Thankful For Today:

- safe kids

- a touching sermon at church

- time to work on a quilt

- dinner out with Paul

- my favorite show - Extreme Home Makeover

Who I am Praying For Today:

- My kids

- My family

- Paul

- Friends returning Home

- Friends son who was hit by an IED last week

- Friends son who fell through the ice last week

Baby its cold outside!!!

Wow! Welcome to winter in Wisconsin! They put us under a winter weather advisory late last night and this morning we woke up to about an inch or so on the ground. The roads were all snow covered and slippery on the way to school and work. It continued to snow all day, leaving us with around 6 inches total and of course the roads were not much better on the way home!

So as if the snow isn't bad enough, Old Man Winter is throwing another artic blast our way! The temps are only supposed to be in the single digits with wind chills between -25 and -35!!! Tell my again way my ancestor's decided to settle in Wisconsin?

On another note, I just had to laugh tonight as I watched my daughter do her homework. All her life, she has been such a wiggle worm! Whether she is listening to a story, coloring, homework or reading, she just can't sit still. I snapped these shots of her while she concentrated on reading me a story tonight. She is such a silly girl!

Dinner tonight was taco's and Spanish rice! Kind of a make your own night from the counter and eat in the living room watching a movie. Tonight's feature "Night at the Museum; Battle for the Smithsonian". It was pretty cool!!

Well, its time for bed again! I hope the drive in to work tomorrow isn't too bad, though I am already having my doubts. and if it is too cold, school may be late or cancelled. I wish I had the opportunity to stay home with my kids on no school days (or every day for that matter) HA! We would have so much fun!! Snow days are a blast...so many possibilities!

I hope you all have a blessed and restful night!!

Today I am Thankful For:

- Everyone's safe travels

- Kids having the shoveling done when I get home

- Another night with Paul

- My brother calling to check on me

- a Quiet Day at work

- a Beautiful Quilt to sleep under

- Laughing with my kids

Today I am Praying For:

- My children

- Paul

- Paul's children

- My family

- My cousin's twins as they come home from the hospital

- My cousin's pregnancy

-

Yesterday!

Well, Yesterday seems to have gotten by me a bit. I will have to catch up.

I am soooo excited! Paul and I are planning a vacation with our blended family this summer. He has 4 kids himself, 2 of which are still at home, and then I have 2, so we will be taking 4 kids on a cross country road trip to Rapid City, South Dakota!! I am so excited to go! We haven't taken them anywhere since our trip to Michigan 3 years ago for the family reunion.

We are planning on staying at KAO campgrounds, but renting out the cabins they have. There are some that have 2 room cabins or even lodges! They are reasonable too and with the lodges, you have the bathroom and a kitchette right there, plus a private master bedroom. I think this is what we are going to get. Another hint, if you are military, ask about a military discount. One of the KAO's we stayed at in Michigan gave us 10% off our stay! Each KAO is independently owned and operated, so it is up to the discretion of the owner if they offer the discount, but ya gotta try right?

Something else that was exciting to me is that I got a note from my cousin's 13 year old daughter last night. She is apparently doing some family research for school and wanted to know what I knew about my Grandfather's family (her Great-Grandfather). Well, over the years I have become known as the family historian. I have traced this particular side of the family back to 1160 in Scotland and another branch back to 1499 in England.

By her asking for information, it has opened up the desire to start the research again. I love delving in to the past and finding out about the people who made me who I am today! You never know what you will find, good, bad, funny, sad, intriguing...it's all there in the past!

Well, better get back to work here! Whoops!! I will try to get a better post up tonight before bed!!

Have a great day!

What I am Thankful For from Yesterday
- Healthy Happy Children
- Time with Paul
- Vacation Plans
- Family History
- Bed!
- News of impending homecomings!

Who I was Praying For Yesterday
- My Children
- My family as the 1st anniversary of my mother's passing approaches
- Deployed friends
- Family who lost their house in a fire
- Friends mother who was in a car accident last night

Crazy Day!!!

Today just seemed like a crazy day from the get go. Paul is staying with me for a week and a half and it is slightly strange to have him around! While I am enjoying it very much, it does upset the routine a bit! I am normally a go with the flow type person, but I also like my routine.Image Credit: Google Images

Tuesdays are dance days. This means that I leave work at 3:15 to rush home and help my daughter out of her school clothes and into dance clothes. Its easier, and warmer, to do this at home than at dance. Today her bus was late and it was nearly 3:45 by the time we left the house. It is a 20 minute drive to dance and my teen-aged son through a zig in my zag! He needed money for the wrestling match tonight that he had to play pep band for. Quick stop at the school to give him yet another $10 and we were back off and running.

I dropped Hailey off at dance, luckily the instructor was a bit late as well, and visited with the other dance mom's before rushing off to the local department store for groceries.

Back to dance by 6 to pick up my little ballerina and then home to dinner. Luckily I was fore-sighted enough to put a roast in the crock-pot this morning.

Combine all this with 2 hours of homework for her (that includes all the fighting to get her to do it) and 2 batches of cookies and you have one tired mama!

I am off to cuddle with my honey and enjoy the time we have together while he is here! Much less running to look forward to tomorrow night! Just more cleaning!! :)

What I am Thankful For:
- Dance Moms
- Running Vehicles
- Dinner Ready
- Frost on the Window Panes - so beautiful
- Getting off work early

Who I am Praying For:
- My children
- Local family who lost house in fire.
- Troops returning from deployment
- My family as the 1st anniversary of my mother's death approaches.

An Introduction

Hello! Welcome to my Blog! As the first post in my blog, I shall attempt to introduce myself! My name is Sheila. I live in the upper Midwest with my two children, Matt and Hailey. Matt is 14 and in high school. There are days that being the parent of a teenagers is the most trying job in the world. Matt plays football and wants to join the golf team in the spring. He also plays the tenor saxaphone. He is in concert band, pep band, jazz band and marching band. Hailey is 9 and a complete diva already. She is almost as involved as her brother. She is in the girl scouts and also takes 3 different types of dance lessons, ballet, tap and jazz. They both have huge hearts and unfortunately have to deal with being the children of divorce.

I also live with my cat, Jynx. He is a funny fellow, with a personality that you can't help but love. His favorite things to do are to sleep and to try to get attention. He is a big fat lump of loving!

I have a wonderful boyfriend, Paul, whom I love very much. Unfortunately, he lives 2 hours away from me and much of our time together falls on the weekends, and then only the ones he doesn't work. He is a 22 year veteran of the military and still serves in the National Guard. I'm proud of who he is and what he does. There is just seeing him in uniform that makes my heart swell with pride.

I love to read, quilt/sew/craft, scrapbook and write. I like to try new recipe and redecorate my house. I am also a part-time student finishing my degree. I can't wait to have it over, but am having so much fun while I am doing it. Next semester I have Comp & Lit and The American West history class. I have a busy life, but I am doing my best to enjoy every minute.

There is always a lot going on in my life! I am always looking for new friends. Stop on by, share a cup of tea and let's chat for awhile!

What I am Thankful for Today:
- Having wonderful happy healthy kids
- Time with Paul
- Taking down the Christmas decorations for another year
- a working furnace (-26 below windchills tonight)
- family

Who I am Praying for Today:
- My kids
- Paul
- Soldiers over seas
- Friends as they return from deployment