Popcorn snowmen and snowman nugget

Here are a few of the things I have been working on for the craft fair I am doing on November 14. This little snowmen contains a package of microwave popcorn. In addition, the hat is a pair of gloves. I rolled and stuffed one glove inside the other. I then tied up the fingers with a ribbon and placed a little snowflake embellishment on it with some double sided tape. These will be great stocking stuffers. I found the free graphic download for this project Here.

This little guy is a Hershey nugget. I cropped the face from the snowman graphic and centered it on a standard address label which measures 1 inch by 2 5/8 inch. These labels fit perfectly around the Hershey nuggets. I cut a finger off a glove and rolled the botton edge and placed it on the top of the nugget and embellished it with a little snowflake sticker. I think it turned out pretty cute.


Have a great day.

Trick or Treat!!!

I know this is a little late, but I just had to share the pictures of my favorite trick or treaters.


Here is little Kollin in his first costume. This is the same costume that both Josh and Olivia wore for their first Halloween. Now I have a picture of each of them in the same pumpkin costume. I guess it must be a tradition.

Here is Miss Olivia in her Kitty costume. She was so cute walking around going "Meeeooowww."
She just loved going door to door.

Then, of course, we can't forget Josh who portrayed Darth Vader from Star Wars. He did an excellent impression if I do say so myself.

A good time was had by all.

Take care.

I am not ready for this!!!

This is what I awoke to this morning. I took this picture at around 7am. It is now 11am and it is still snowing. I think we have about 4 inches out there now. The temperature is nearing 32 degrees now so maybe it will start melting soon. I am so not ready for this.

This is looking out the front door.

This is looking out the back door.

Here are some updated pictures of the grandkids.

Cute little Olivia. She is 15 months old now and toddling all over the place. I think they are so cute when they first learn to walk.

Here is Josh who is 5 years old now. He is holding his little cousin, Kollin. I can hardly believe he is in Kindergarten already. It seems like yesterday he was the size of Kollin.

Here is Kollin the latest addition to the clan. He is growing by leaps and bounds. I am sure before I know it, he will be toddling all over the place.

Take care and have a nice day.

The new Grandson has arrived!!

I would like to introduce my new grandson, Kollin Laverne. He arrived on Tuesday, August 11, 2009 at 9:16 pm. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 4 oz. and measured 19 1/2 inches tall. His mom and dad are Kelly and Kevin. He is their firstborn. Kelly is my younger daughter.

I think he is quite a handsome fellow.

He is for sure a gift from God. Kevin and Kelly have been married for 14 years and have been trying to have a baby for the past 11 years with no luck. Then, in December, just one week after I was hospitalized and found out I had a spot on my lung, she took a pregnancy test with a positive result. She didn't want to tell anyone until she had confirmed the results with a doctor, so she kept it quiet until the day before I started chemotherapy, then she told me. I think it really helped me to withstand the treatment knowing what I had to look forward to in August. Then just less than two weeks before he was born, I found out my cancer had gone into remission. What perfect timing. God is good.

Take care everyone.

It's a celebration!!!

It is hard to believe that little Olivia turned one year old on July 8th. It seems like just yesterday we were at the hospital watching that nurse weigh and measure her for the very first time.

And Josh, who is becoming quite a little man, turned 5 years old on July 20th. He is pretty excited to be starting Kindergarten in just a few short weeks. He and his mom went shopping for school supplies on Saturday. I remember shopping for school supplies for his mom. Golly, I swear that was just a year or so ago. Where does time go?

As much as my daughter Kim wanted their birthdays to be separate occasions, it just wasn't going to happen. There were so many things going on in July, she was lucky to find one Sunday afternoon to have their joint birthday party.

Olivia loves to tear paper, but for some reason she decided she didn't want to tear the paper on her presents. And she loved her cake. She actually had two cakes, one to share with guests and one that was her own personal cake.

Of course Josh had no trouble opening his gifts. As a matter of fact, he helped Olivia open hers too. His cake was a chocolate Scooby Do cake.

It was a great party.

We have more to celebrate. My younger daughter Kelly is expecting a baby. It's a boy and he is due tomorrow!! Although, I just talked to her and she said she is feeling just fine. But you never know. Those babies will come when they are ready no matter how you feel.

On another happy note, I finally finished the last round of chemo the doctor ordered in May and I had a PET scan on July 24th. My doctor informed me at my appointment last Tuesday that the cancer is in remission at this time. I am so thankful. I finally get a break from chemotherapy. I have been getting chemotherapy every 3 weeks since December 29th. Now I pray the cancer will stay away for good!!!

I met with a radiation doctor Thursday who explained the benefit of having my brain radiated. This type of cancer is notorious for going to the brain. With this treatment, it will decrease the chance of the cancer recurring in my brain from 60% to 5%. I think it is worth it. I have to go in for an MRI on Wednesday to make sure there is no cancer lurking there already, then I will start radiation treatment next Monday. I will have 10 treatments. One every day for 5 days, two weeks in a row.

Hopefully, now I can start building up my strength again. I am pretty weak. This last chemo drug really took me down. I don't know what I would have done if the doctor had told me I needed more treatments. Thank God, I don't have to wonder about that now.

So, I have all kinds of things to celebrate. As soon as I feel good enough, I am going to celebrate by going on a shopping trip. I think I am going to need a new comb!

Take care.

This blog was never

supposed to be about me! It was supposed to be about crafting, sewing, cooking, family, fun activities with the grandkids....things that are fun. I hate it that I am sick and I can't do what I want to do. So I have been ignoring the blog. But some of you are asking how I am doing, so I have decided to give a little update on my condition.

I had 6 rounds of chemo which ended around the middle of April. The first of May I had a PET scan which shows how active the cancer is. It showed the cancer was still present although it was much smaller. Originally I had a spot in both lungs, but the doctor said the spot in the left side was showing very little activity and was probably just scar tissue by now. The spot in the right side was smaller but was still showing moderate activity. He recommended another course of chemo which I began the week after Mother's Day. Each round of this chemo consists of 5 days of treatment in a row, then I am off two weeks. So, basically, I have treatment every three weeks. I will have at least 4 rounds of this drug. I just finished my second round last week. I have to say it has really taken me down.

The good news is that the cancer is still contained in the lungs and has not spread to other parts of my body. Hopefully, this new treatment will put it into remission so I can have a break. That is where I am right now.

The other thing I wanted to blog about today is a dream I had this morning I need to share. I dreamed about Heaven. I guess it was Heaven. It seemed like Heaven to me anyway.

I don't know where this dream began but suddenly I was lifted up and carried to a place that was higher than I had ever been before. There was a light shining on my face. It was bright like sunlight, but not hot. There was a gentle breeze hitting my face and blowing my hair (I haven't had hair since mid-January.) It was very peaceful and quiet. I was looking down on everything I had known my whole life.....people, places, things. It made me smile and when I woke up I was just so happy. I can't explain how happy I was. I just know that this has to be the Lord letting me know that no matter what happens to me, everything will be ok. I was very comforted by this dream.

Ok, that is enough about me. Now the grandkids. They continue to grow and thrive. My little Olivia will be one year old in just one month....how time flies. She sure gets around quick. She doesn't actually crawl on her hands and knees. It is more like the obstacle course crawl on her belly with her arms pulling her. She almost looks like she is swimming. Anyway, she is fast. She is not walking yet, but she is starting to pull herself up to a standing position next to things.

Josh will turn 5 years old next month also. He is pretty excited now that he is a pre-school graduate and will be starting Kindergarten in August. He recently started playing T-ball. I love T-ball. Everyone gets to play, everyone gets to bat, everyone gets to run, everyone gets to score. I love this game. Those little kids are so cute running bases and chasing the ball. I get a kick out of it.

Have a great day everyone.

The Grandbabies are getting so big!!!

I just wanted to share a few new photos my my grandbabies. They grow so fast!!! Olivia is nine months old already. Time flies. It seems like just yesterday when I watched the nurse weigh and measure her for the first time. She already has her first pair of glasses. Unfortunately, she suffers the same eye problems as her brother, Josh, which they both inherited from their mother.

Josh loves to help in the kitchen. He is getting good at it too. I have high hopes he will be a great chef someday, although he has set himself higher goals than that. He has a couple ideas as to what he wants to be when he grows up. He alternates between wanting to be President of the United States or a doctor, so he can take care of Grandma.....awwwww, how sweet.

Have a great day everyone.

Take care.

I am still here!

A few people have commented that I haven't blogged in a while and were wondering how I was doing. I decided it was time to give an update.

I am doing ok. I finished my fifth round of chemo a week ago. I have been fighting a cold all week this week, which of course always manages to go into my chest. So, I spend a lot of time coughing. Needless to say it really takes the steam out of me. I am afraid that by the time I start feeling better, it will be time for my next round of chemo. I guess that wouldn't be a bad thing. I would hate to feel this bad and have a chemo treatment at the same time.

After my next round of chemo, I will have a break. I am ready for it. Every round seems to be a little harder on me. Then, I will have more tests and maybe some radiation.

I have really been wanting to do some crafting, but I can't seem to get up enough energy to do anything. So I spend a lot of time perusing other blogs. I have accumulated a lot of good ideas. There are a lot of creative people out there. Thank God for the internet or I would be spending my days on the couch watching reruns of old sitcoms.

My grandbabies are getting so big. I can hardly believe how fast they grow. Josh will soon graduate from preschool. He is so excited he will be in kindergarten next year. Then he will really be a big man on campus. Olivia is almost 9 months old. It seems like just yesterday I was at the hospital watching them weigh and measure her. She has learned to pat-a-cake and she is even trying to say it. It comes out something like paw-ta, paw-ta .... She is so funny.







Here are a few pictures since I don't have anything else to post.

Have a good day everyone.

Update

I just wanted to let everyone know that I had a ct scan last week to check the progress of my cancer treatments. I saw my doctor on Tuesday to discuss the results of the scan. Both tumors have decreased in size. The larger tumor had a significant decrease. At least things are going in the right direction.

I started my fourth round of treatment on Tuesday also. I go three days in a row for treatments. Then I am off for three weeks. I will have at least six rounds of treatments. They may do some radiation at some point in time also.

I do know they are going to radiate my brain. So far the scans show no cancer in the brain. I am told that when they radiate the brain it will decrease the chance of the cancer reappearing there from 60% to 5%. Those are odds I can handle. The only side effect to that treatment is that I will lose my hair, but it is already gone, so nothing hurt there.

I want everyone to know I really appreciate all the thoughts and prayers and I know they are helping. I have seen miracles and I just know if I have enough people praying I will see another one.

Thanks everyone.
Joyce

This and that.

My hubbie has been especially nice to me lately. A couple weeks ago, I had a birthday. For most of our married life, soon to be 38 years, my hubbie has done nothing for my birthday. But this year, he decided to make me breakfast. It was very good, but apparently he thought I was hungry because he made me an immense amount of food.

It was funny watching him prepare this meal. He had a hard time finding the pots, pans and utensils he needed to use. Does that tell you how often he uses the kitchen. We have lived in this house for over 25 years now and the location of everything has been the same since day one.

He really did a good job. Along with the scrambled eggs, he served a concoction of sausage, potato, onion, mushroom, green and red peppers. Everything was quite tasty. I will have to have him help me more often.

I have been sorting through some things lately and I come across some projects that seemed to get thrown back and never finished, such as my daughter's quilt top. Here is another project that was actually completed. The only thing I need to do it frame it so I can display it. It is a counted cross stitch that I did over 10 years ago. It is a Paula Vaughn design titled Rose of Sharon. The finished design measures 12inches by 15 inches.

I just know when I placed it in that tube and put it in the drawer, it was with the intention that the next time I went to the craft store I would buy a frame for it. Oh, well, I still have time.

I also found another counted cross stitch in progress. I started this one shortly after I finished the other one. I am not quite half done with it. I did start working on it again. I forgot how much I love to do cross stitch, although I think I need stronger glasses.

This is from the Stoney Creek collection called A Visit from Father Christmas. I had hopes of doing all the designs from the book...lol. What was I thinking!!!

I am off to cross stitch. Have a good day everyone.

Take care.

Unfinished business

While digging through my closet a while back I come across a project I started more than 15 years ago. It is a quilt top I made for my younger daughter. It is my first and last attempt at making a full size quilt. It seemed like such a simple task while I was planning it in my head....not!!! I guess that is why I never finished it, I was too overwhelmed.

I know a perfectly lovely lady who owns a quilt shop and does machine quilting. I think I may give her a call . I really should have it finished.

Sorry it is so wrinkled. It has been folded up in a box for all these years.

Take care.

Joyce