My lovely niece

Lisa is such a loving, caring and giving person. She is the mother of two beautiful little boys, Seth and Sammy, ages 4 and 3. We have such a close relationship even though she lives on the west coast. I love her like she was one of my own children.
This kit is "Colors Of Easter" by 2mrssumnersdesigns.

Sugar and Spice and Me...

Now which one of these sweet little two year olds actually went through the "terrible twos"? If you guessed all three of them you are CORRECT! I know...you can't imagine me as a "terrible two", LOL, but I was. There is a story that goes with the picture of me. In the original 8x10 pic you can actually see tears in my eyes despite the big smile. Mom said that before they took me to have this picture made I had been to the doctor for my "booster" shots and when they sat me on the table to take my picture later, I started screaming bloody murder. Mom and Dad took me out for ice cream and came back to try again for the picture. Obviously the ice cream worked but I still had a few tears just waiting to come streaming out. CJ and Tiffi went through their share of terrible twos also, but at least we knew not to try to get a picture immediately following a doctor's visit. LOL.

This kit is "The Magic of Spring" by Marlies Kieninger at Lisa'sScrapBlog.

My Forever Love

Well, I took your advise, Carol and Linda. I tried to just relax and have fun and here's the end result. Not one of my better pages...but I'm posting it anyway. This picture was taken on Valentine's Day by our grandson, Cory who is 12 years old. It was so funny because he took one picture of us looking into the camera and then he said, in his all knowing 12 year old wisdom, "don't you think it would be good if you kinda looked at each other?" LOL

The kit is a freebie from Creative Victorian Designs called "Inherit Blessings".

Is it just me or

has anyone else ever had those days when you want to be creative and just can't seem to get going? I'm going through a series of "those days" lately. I sit down to scrap something and a million ideas run through my mind, (all at the same time, unfortunately) and I end up with nothing! I have a gazillion lovely scrap kits and two gazillion pics but sometimes I just can't seem to make them connect. I look at all the pages that you all have done and I think, "wow, I have some really talented friends who seem to be able to take everything and make something so beautiful from it."

Maybe it's just the stress from what's been going on with my parents lately. Or maybe it's the fact that I have prayed for God to just take this stress away and He's perfectly willing to do it.....but I always seem to forget to let go. How can I expect Him to handle a situation when I'm always trying to help. He doesn't need my help and I know that perfectly well. I now know where that saying came from...you know, the one that says "Let go and let God". I guess it's just human nature, if you know something isn't right then you're suppose to try to fix it even though it's totally out of your control and if you can't fix it then you worry about it and that solves absolutely nothing.

The doctors have changed Mom's medicine for her dementia. Last week they tried one and it had the exact opposite effect than what they were hoping for. Let's just say it involved a lot of noise, a tv remote and the window in her room. The owners of the assisted living home said if they can't get her medication adjusted, they won't be able to keep her there. So the social worker called me and said they were trying a different medicine and if it doesn't work then she will have to go to a nursing home with an Alzheimer's Unit. It breaks my heart to think of that but I understand their position. This is, after all, an ASSISTED living home. So, she's been on the new medication for about 6 days now, and I continue to call her every day, but I find myself sometimes dreading the call because I don't know what I'll hear on the other end of the line. It seems to vary from crying one day, mumbling words that make no sense the next day, to a day like today...when I called she was in such a good mood and carried on a fairly good conversation with just a few off-the-wall sentences in between.

On a brighter note, Dad seems to be doing quite well. The hospice nurses continue to visit him at home and make sure he's eating well and taking his medication. He visits Mom twice daily and takes her little treats, even though sometimes she doesn't know he's been there. I call him every night at exactly 9pm (my time) because Wheel of Fortune goes off at that time and you simply don't interrupt Daddy when he's watching that. lol Anyway, he knows it's me when his phone rings at that time and he always answers with "Hello, JudyBug". My grandsons get a kick out of knowing that "Great-Grandpa" calls THEIR MAMAW "JudyBug". To my Dad, no matter how old I am, that's what I'll always be.

Well, I guess I've wasted enough of your time with my rambling, so maybe I'll go try to scrap something again. Thanks for being the great friends you are and for putting up with me. I love you all dearly.

Promise of Spring

Just a little something for my "northern" friends. This picture was in our local newspaper today. It's a picture taken last week at East Tennessee State University, which is exactly 7 miles from my house. The trees are Japannese Apricots. Although they are beautiful, I fear for them because they are prediciting snow with accumulations by the first of the week.

I talked to Dad tonight and he said it was 60 degrees today in Arizona, but 2 days ago it was 83. We "southerner's" have been enjoying uper 50's and mid 60's. But perhaps I'll get the snow that my dear friend Linda has been promising to send me. I hope this let's her know that spring is just around the corner. Carol, Judy and Gerri, hope this brings springs promise to y'all also.

The kit is "Simplicity" by Donna. See her blinkie on the right of my blog..."Donna's Designs".

Mommy and Me

I made this page in 8x10 so I could print and frame it for Mom for Valentine's Day. She is not doing well at all now. Her dementia seems to be getting worse day by day. I call her every day but some days she doesn't talk much and when she does talk she can't follow the conversation. It's just bits and pieces of whatever pops into her head. She does always say "Hi Baby" and "I love you". This is how she has always began and ended our phone calls so I don't know if she really knows it's me or if she just recalls saying these words. It breaks my heart to think that I may have already had the last meaningful conversation with my Mom that I will ever have. I'm hoping the pics will jog some memory within her. Please continue to remember her in prayer.

The background is from Liz's kit "Timeless Love" at sweetdigiscraps. The top pic is when I was 18 mo. old and the bottom pic is the last one we had made together when we visited her and Dad last year.

Gone With The Wind-ter

Just a little something for my dear friends who live north of the Mason-Dixson line. I know y'all are just plumb chilled to the bone, but down here in the south, I declare.....I'm about to swoon from the heat. If y'all come down, we can sit on the veranda and drink Mint Jelups together.

Kit is Carol's "Elegance".

Once upon a time

a long, long time ago...we didn't have grey hair....we moved around a little quicker... and we were much slimmer! My how the years have changed us. But only our physical features have changed...I like to think of it as "Growing Old Together", 'cause I love you even more with each passing year. I did this page for my dear husband, Gary. Yeah, I'm still feeling a little sentimental.
I was moving kits into my external hard drive and realized that I haven't used this kit yet. It was a gift from my dear friend, Chris. Liz allowed her to share it with some friends. The kit is called "Under The Covers" and it's by lizandherbabes at SweetDigiScraps. Thanks again Chris and thank you Liz for making such a great kit.

Happiness is...

being married to your best friend. Yeah, I know...Valentine's Day is coming up and I'm such a sentimental old lady. But he truly is my very best friend in the whole world. The one person I know I can count on, no matter what. He reminds me of a song we used to hear back in our "younger" days, part of the chorus is..."you're my bread when I'm hungry, you're my shelter from troubled winds, you're my anchor in life's ocean....but most of all, you're my best friend."

OK... call me corny, sappy, sentimental or whatever you want but I love this guy with all my heart. (wonder what I'll get for valentine's day when he sees this? LOL)

Kit is Carol's "Grungy Valentine".