Ya Ya Sisterhood 2010

Friday night was the annual Ya Ya Sisterhood Event to support Women's Health here in Tift County. Last year we went as Revenge of the Nerds....this year's theme was Women of the World. We choose China as our country. It was a wonderful night of fun and fellowship with the girls. We laughed and danced the night away after eating a yummy dinner. I think we all looked fabulous in our 'kimonos', which were actually robes that one of the girls, Kim, found at Belk's on the clearance rack. She scoured two Belk stores to get one for all of us. Kelli, Leslie, Tonya and Kim decorated our table which looked awesome as far as I was concerned. There were lots of really unique table designs there. It always amazes me the level of some people's creativity. The best part of it was that it was for a great cause and money was definitely made for the foundation....especially off our table just in the bar tab alone!

I wish I could come up with some sort of fundraiser that would be as successful as this one is to support ALS and MS. These diseases affect my closest family members, and I am always one to dive right in to whatever we are facing....I know I could come up with something if I put my mind to it, but I just don't even know the first thing about starting a fundraiser. Maybe that is just something that will come eventually.....in fact, my fortune cookie from the YaYa event that I got at our table said, "You will become a prominent public figure and community leader." What do you think? Politics aren't remotely my thing, but advocacy is. Who knows what the future holds for us.....I guess we will just leave that all up to the Big Man upstairs, and in the mean time get my wheels turning......

Have a great day!

It has been a while......

I know it has been a long time since I have posted on this site.....but our life has taken a turn that none of us were ready for. I will try to update you on what has been happening....
November brought us to the end of band season. It was a fun season but we were so ready for it to end. Bailey finished up soccer season as well. She had a great season and really enjoyed it more than we thought she would. December was full of the usual activity for the holidays. Todd and I were involved in the organizing of the John Berry concert that happened at the beginning of the month. It was a fundraiser for our band program. It was definitely challenging but in the end turned out great. If you don't know who John Berry is...he is a country singer, mostly popular in the 90's. Some of hits are "Your Love Amazes Me", "Kiss Me in the Car", and "40 again". Part of the concert was Christmas music with his "O Holy Night" rocking the house. It was a true pleasure meeting him also. We had lots of visitors through the holidays as well. All of our parents came to visit during the months of November and December which was so fun for all of us. Along with having a wonderful Christmas, we celebrated Sarah's 16th birthday as well. It is so hard for me to believe my baby girl is 16 now. She truly has been a joy to raise though. I wouldn't change a thing, and I am so proud of her.
Now for the big changes.....in November, Todd starting undergoing intense testing for the issues he has been having with his legs. After five trips to Augusta, Ga to see a neurologist there, we were dealt the crushing blow of his diagnosis. Todd has been diagnosed with ALS, or as it is more well know Lou Gherig's Disease. For those of you that don't know much about the disease, I can tell you it is not a kind disease, and the prognosis is very grim.....so needless to say our family is having to deal with it as best we know how. We had the horrible task of telling the children what was going on with Todd. Needless to say it was not pleasant, but we have vowed to be completely honest with them through our journey. We are taking each day as it comes. Todd as of right now is feeling fine and to look at him you would never in a million years think something was wrong. So we will relish in this good health while we can. He has such a wonderful outlook on life and a positive attitude about everything. That coupled with his sense of humor is what is going to bring us through this. Don't get me wrong...we have our moments where we feel the pain of what is going to happen to us, but it has been our goal for now to not dwell in the negative and the sadness. With that being said, all we ask of everyone is to just pray for him and for healing or at the least slow progression. We did take a trip last week again to Augusta to go to the monthly ALS Clinic. We will only need to go every three months at this point but when you go to clinic days you basically meet with everyone on your "team". In other words, your dietician, respitory therapist, speech therapist, physical therapist, occupational therapist, clinic nurse, the neurologist, and then people from the ALS Association (social worker) and MDA representatives. Todd's joke is now he is officially one of "Jerry's Kids"....so next time the telethon is on or someone asks you to buy a shamrock to support MDA....PLEASE do it....it may be what helps my husband. At this point it all is very overwhelming as far as the information that they bombard you with, but we will weed our way through it slowly.
Well, I guess that about catches you up on what is going on in our world.....it is a lot and I could probably write all night, but I have things to do and people to talk to, so I hope this finds everyone well.
Please pray for Todd and for our family. People want to know what they can do for us....pray and stay positive!

Fall Fun

Well we have been very busy the past week. Last weekend, we were in Ocala, Florida for Sarah's big band competition. They did a great job and placed 3rd out of 30 bands and 2nd in their class. They received all superior ratings as well which for those that know nothing about band scores....that is awesome. It was sooooo cold at the competition.....45 degrees in Florida....brrrr. The day after the competition we went to Busch Gardens for the day. Bailey enjoyed a day with mom and dad while Sarah walked with her friends.

When we got home, the week was filled with lots of basic day to day errands and lots of aggravation.....car went into the shop and is costing us much more than we really want to hear. I had planned a trip to the north Georgia mountains which is my one thing I love to do in the fall. I had to cancel the trip because of the car, and it made me really mad. I pouted like a baby about it all Friday night which didn't make the football game all that fun, but it made me feel better! LOL.....On Saturday, I got up and decided I would still see if I could salvage my 'ruined' weekend. I found a corn maze about one hour from here so we headed out to attempt the corn maze. We had a fun day and I felt a little better about the weekend. Yesterday, we went to our church's fall festival. Bailey was excited to wear her halloween costume.....a jellyfish.....she was too cute. It kinda makes me feel sad cuz this is probably the last year she will do the halloween thing. It makes me realize how fast time has gone by......my babies are definitely not babies anymore.......so for now I will cherish the memories we make and know that both girls have had very good childhoods....broken cars and all!

HGTV.....Bathrooom Redesign.....

I have spent this whole week remodeling our bathroom. Since I don't have the cash to gut the bathroom and redo the whole thing like we really want, I decided to just make it livable for the time being. All for under $300, I was able to redesign the entire bathroom. New flooring, paint, window treatments, lighting and accessories! I love how it turned out and I am so glad I got it done while Todd was gone. Hopefully he will like what I have done.

He will finally be home tomorrow. I know he made it back into the States safely so that is all I care about. No moose once again, but he had fun and I guess that is all that really matters. I cannot wait to hold him in my arms again. I have felt like a part of me was missing all week.

He will be home tomorrow evening so I am gonna take the girls to the Georgia State Fair tomorrow while we anxiously wait for him to get home.

We had soccer pictures taken today for Bailey. She looks so cute in her uniform. She is really enjoying it so far. She has another game on Monday.

I guess that is all for now. I am tired and gonna head to bed. Hope everyone has a great week!

Soccer and Dances

Whew! What a week! I am so tired from all of it, but so fulfilled because my children are experiencing so much fun and excitement.

Bailey had her first soccer game this past week. She did SOOOO good for never playing soccer before. She was sitting on the ball before the game started, and I was like "oh boy, this is gonna get interesting". But once that whistle blew she just hopped up and got her head in the game. She played defense which I thought was a good choice on the coach's part being she had never played before. I just sat on the sidelines praying she would just not get hurt. Well, let me tell you that ball came down near her and she got right in there. She had a few good plays too. She learned a few things as well which was great. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Her team won 5-1. She was so excited and couldn't wait to tell Sarah and Daddy about it. She has another game again tonight so we will see if she does as well. It was so neat to see her involved in something.

Sarah had her Homecoming this weekend as well. It was Spirit week at school so she got right in on the festivities....twin day, tacky day/duct tape day, zombie day, red light day and finally spirit day. The football team won Friday night at the game which is always a good thing for homecoming. Band did great as usual. Saturday started off with a nail appointment, then hair appointment and finally the dance. Chase looked so handsome when he arrived to pick up our princess. Sarah looked fantastic if I don't say so myself. She was absolutely radiant and classy. Some of these teenage girls look like hoochies when they go to these dances. We took some pictures and the kids headed out to dinner. She and Chase went with one other couple to eat. I went out to eat with Chase's parents and when the kids were done, they met up with us again to get more pictures made at ABAC (our local college). Then they headed to the dance which they had an absolute ball at! I had a bonfire at the house and all the kid's parents came to it and then the kids joined us after the dance was over. We all had a great time relaxing and enjoying the laughter of our kids. We didn't get to bed till around 3:30 am. Sunday was spent recovering from lack of sleep! Sarah didn't want the weekend to end...but like all good things it did. She made lots of memories and that is all that matters.

So I sit here on Monday morning exhausted but fulfilled......funny how your children can bring you so much grief at times but seeing what my girls have been up to lately, the joys of being a mom by far outweigh the crazy times. I love being a mom and seeing our children happy....there is nothing in the world quite like it.

What we have been up to.....

Okay....so when I tell you band pretty much takes up our life.....I am not joking. For the past few weeks all we do on the weekends it band stuff. I feel like I am never home and that we are constantly at something band related. This weekend was no different. Sarah had her first major band competition of the season. The Blue Devil Brigade took home top honors....Superior Ratings, All 1's for scores, and a Sweepstakes win for the competition! They did fantastic and the kids were so excited. Bailey and I had fun watching the kids but we were sweating our bottoms off! It was like 93 degrees and humid! I felt so bad for the kids in their polyester band uniforms because it was so hot, so Bailey and I tried not to complain but it was hard.

Next week is Homecoming weekend so we will have the homecoming parade on Thursday, game at the stadium on Friday and then the dance on Saturday. So we will have a fun packed week/weekend. Sarah has her dress and accessories purchased. Going to get nails and hair done the day of the dance and then off to pictures and dinner before the dance. I am having a bonfire out here at our house after the dance for the kids to come and hang out. It is just gonna be Sarah and Chase and her friends Kaycee and Rob. I am gonna have the parents out while the kids are at the dance....so maybe I will get to relax a little next weekend....doubt it but a girl can dream.

Bailey has started soccer practice and she is doing quite good for never have played the game. She is realizing how tiring it can be too which is funny to watch her. Her first game is at the same time of the parade on Thursday, so I won't be at the parade but on the soccer field watching Bailey. That has been hard for me to have to now split myself between activities because I want to be there for both my children....hate that feeling. Bailey had her Pride Program this week for all the kids who made all A's for the first quarter. She is doing so well in school. The kids were treated to one of the original Harlem Globetrotters as their speaker. She got to ask him a question....and what does she ask? "What size shoe do you wear?"....too funny! By the way....it was a size 15. She was so excited she got to "talk" to him!

Todd heads out on his annual moose hunt on Friday. He will be gone for about 9 days. He loves this trip and has told me he thinks this is probably going to be the last year doing this because he thinks his dad won't be able to continue the hiking etc. because of his health.....I am more worried about Todd's legs this year too. I hope he will do okay with it. I can't wait to go to the doctor's in November to start to get some answers....I am fearful of what the outcome will be but in the same sense anxious cuz I want to see him finally know what is going on. Please continue to pray for him as things are not changing much and sometimes I think worse but in different ways. I know God has a plan for us and I trust He will take us through this, but I am human and I still have fears.

Well I think that catches you all up on things. Hope everone is well!

Playing in the Mud....

We had a really horrible rainstorm the other day that came through Tifton. The farmer's field across the road from us at one point looked like a pond. The girls and I sat on the front porch and watched the cars "flying" down the road in the torrential downpour. As soon as they would hit the intersection at the corner of our property, the cars would hydroplane. We thought for sure there was gonna be a wreck. So we sat there just laughing at how dumb people are....I know that is kinda sick, but we were looking for some form of entertainment and that seemed to fit the bill for the time. Once the rain let up, the little voices from the field across from us were calling the girls names....."come play in the mud"...."it will be fun"......so needless to say the girls couldn't resist. They had so much fun and were laughing so hard. I was on guard on the front porch with the camera, waiting for one of them to fall on their behind in the mud. It didn't happen unfortunately, but it was a small moment of childhood laughter that I got to experience with my girls....so it was priceless. We had a fun afternoon just enjoying the basics....rain and mud and laughter.