Update

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for my mother-in-law. She is doing very well. She is currently undergoing radiation five days a week for the next six weeks. I think the hardest part of this for her is the drive. They have to drive over an hour each way for her treatments.

Please Pray

This is my sweet mother-in-law. She is truly wonderful. I love her very much. I think she has loved me since the first time she meet me. I don't know why. She hugged me as soon as she meet me. Daddy-O told me later that she was not a hugger. I think she was just really grateful that her son had brought someone home besides all his hungry guy friends. Maybe there was hope that one day his clothes would match and he would not be moving back home after college.

We celebrated her 78th birthday last week. Three-fourths of the kids and I drove to Dickson to meet her, my father-in-law and two of my sister-in-laws for lunch. We went to a Chinese restaurant.

This is what you get there if you are celebrating your birthday.

Pretty cute, huh?

A rabbit made from a boiled egg eating carrots.

About three weeks ago she was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was detected very early and the tumor is very small. The day we meet for lunch she had come from the Cardiologist to make sure she was healthy enough for surgery.  This past Tuesday she meet with the Oncologist to discuss her options. She will have a lumpectomy on this Monday followed by six weeks of radiation.

If you are the praying type, please pray for her. She is a very devout Catholic and will appreciate any prayers you send her way. I feel confident she will do fine with the surgery. The six weeks of radiation afterward will be difficult on her and my father-in-law. They will have to drive over an hour each way each day. If you will please keep them in your prayers over the next few weeks we will all be very grateful.

First Haircut

 Here we go! Time for the first haircut. I love The Messenger's blond locks but it they were interfering with his swinging and his chronic runny nose. I didn't know how he was going to do. But, he jumped right up into the chair like he'd done this before.

 Still doing good.

Ugh...Those blond locks falling to the floor.

 Crazy hair!

Ok. I may be a little biased. But, isn't this just the cutest face? I could just eat him up! L'OREAL should pay him for the privilege of him wearing their cape.

 All done! No more sheepdog hair and a chocolate kiss to boot. Great job!

First Holy Communion - II

Dear Jesus,

At first I felt nerves and scard I wanted to leve. But onuce I receved You I felt beter.

Love,

                    No. 1 Son

I found this in No. 1 Son's folder today. Precious, that's all I can say, misspellings and all.

First Holy Communion

"This is the wonderful truth, my dear friends: the Word, which became flesh two thousand years ago, is present today in the Eucharist."

- Pope John Paul II

Isn't this a beautiful site? Another precious soul joining at the table of our Lord. It was a wonderful day for No. 1 Son. He was very excited and serious. I have never seen him so serious. We were blessed to be able to sit on the front pew. I got to see each and every First Communicant receive; I cried the whole time. That night Daddy-O and I were talking about the day. He said he was crying too. He was telling me that after the First Communicants had all received he realized it was our turn. He said he said to himself, "Pull it together! Pull it together! It's time to go up!" It was probably for the best that his parents were sitting between us. If we had been next to each other we probably would have been hysterical. When it comes to sacraments we are both very emotional.

Congratulations No. 1 Son! We are so excited for you. I love watching you receive each Sunday. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the great moms out there!

With the exception of the Blessed Mother, the greatest mom ever is right up there! This is my mom. It was very difficult to find a picture of her. And yes this one is from circa 1975.

She was funny, strong, supportive, stricked, beautiful, loving, a great cook, tough, inspirational, creative, talented, everyone loved her. 

She grew-up the oldest in a very very poor family in Massachusetts. After graduating from high school she joined the Marine Corp. She met my dad and became a sailor's wife. Moved thirteen times in the first twelve years of marriage. When she was about 7 months pregnant with me and my sister was about eight months old she drove from Long Beach, CA to Swansea, MA by herself. She had cancer when she was pregnant with me. The doctor want to abort me. She said no. She had a complete hysterectomy when I was six weeks old. She spent a lot of time raising my sister and me on her own since my dad was out to sea nine months at a time. She moved to the farm my father grew up on in 1976. Had a pond dug within weeks of moving in so she could see the water. She loved the ocean. Loved shellfish but thought mussels were bait. Moved to the South during a time when Yankees and women weren't well thought of. Worked in a country store close to home and earned the respect of a lot of county folk. Officially became a farmer's wife when my dad retired from the Navy in 1979. Raised two daughters to be strong and independent. Had many friends. Diagnosed with lung cancer in 1993. Fought the good fight. Inspired many. Knew that heaven awaited her. May 20, 1995 with my dad, Daddy-O (only my boyfriend then) and me at her side in the house I grew-up in, she took her last breath and smiled. Without a doubt I knew she had seen those that had gone on before her and was welcomed into the loving arms of our Heavenly Father.


I miss her greatly. I wonder if she is proud of me. Feel certain she would be crazy about my kids. 

I love you mamma.

Merry Christmas!

Daddy-O suggested this be our picture for our Thanksgiving card this year. Since Thanksgiving has come and gone I guess it should be our Christmas card. However, I know for a fact there will be no Christmas card this year. This became official today. We were told at work (Target, the second job) that we will be going in at 2:00 am the rest of the week. Ugggg!!!! Oh! It get's even better! Starting Monday we will work every day until Christmas. Wait, I'm not done yet... We have to come in at midnight starting on Monday! I'm not sure what time we'll get out of work. Let's just be frank, this really stinks. I'm not sure when I'm suppose to sleep.

So, if you are reading this Merry Christmas! You are one of the lucky one. Because of the 150 plus people I hand make and send cards to, they will be getting something around Easter if I live to see 2011.

PS - Ever wondered about the test pattern? A test card, also known as a test pattern in North America, is a television test signal, typically broadcast at times when the transmitter is active but no program is being broadcast (often at startup and closedown). Used since the earliest TV broadcasts, test cards were originally physical cards at which a television camera was pointed.