The Chalkboard Wall

So back to this monster chalkboard wall.  I must share this awesome work from these two budding artists - This is exactly why I thought painting them a huge chalkboard in their playroom would be better than any toy I could buy them at Wal-Mart! 

These two are so gifted and our family has encouraged them in every way with music, art, and their schoolwork.  (You may recall Joe's Elvis impersonations...he's sort of famous for it locally). We are very proud of them and are enjoying watching them blossom into wonderful little dudes!

I hate to admit this but I erased this entire wall so I could set up my Week 23 shot. They were cool with it though.  This mural has been up for many months, so once my little project was over and erased, I'm sure they started a new masterpiece. 

 

I love the little details they have included.  Joe (the older one in white) has his stuff on the left and Jake's is on the right.  They are so clever, they traced the shape of the guitar from a real guitar!

The only part of the wall that I was not allowed to erase was "Crazy Man" which is Jake's piece.  He said he really liked "Crazy Man" and really didn't want to lose him.  (obviously, Cousin Kim obliged!)  

Excuse the quality of this one, it was a quick phone shot.  

I totally recommend the chalkboard wall - I would however use a wall that doesn't have as much texture as their sheetrock.  I purchased my paint at Home Depot and went through almost 2 quarts after a good primer (there was a painted mural on the wall). 

I gave them each a box of white chalk and colored chalk and I think it has really inspired their creativity on a large scale. 

Carlee is here!!!

Thursday changed our lives forever!

I really don't know what else I can say except to show you:

I present Carlee Claire Whitten

 

Words cannot begin to describe how perfect she is. SERIOUSLY....I really am not just being biased because she is part of the family.  She came out NOT looking like a newborn.
Don't you agree????

Carlee's stats:
Born 8:23 AM, Thursday, May 12, 2011 @ White River Medical Center in Batesville, AR
HERE is the link to her hospital pictures: WRMC Babies
Dr. Keith Harville
She weighed 7 pounds 2.2 ounces
She was 18.75 inches long
She has fuzzy blondish hair with a hint of strawberry
Long fingers
A sweet little dimple when she purses her lips
Beautiful dark eyes
She can poop with the best of them!  (I know TMI, but it's for posterity's sake) ;)
Amy (her mom) had a c-section and although sore and exhausted is doing well.
She already has her Daddy wrapped around her little finger!

If you have followed my blog at all you may remember me posting about Case Lee Whitten, who would be 5 years old this summer. I know Case is watching his little sister from heaven and will be her guardian angel.

It's been a rough few years on my stepson and DIL, Cody and Amy after losing Case at 5 days old with a serious and rare genetic disorder, but the amount of prayers that have been lifted for them is probably not measurable on this Earth.
 
I honestly had no doubt that God would make this child completely perfect and I am so full of pure JOY that Carlee has made her debut and all apprehension that our family and friends had completely melted away Thursday morning when this blessing arrived.

I just give thanks to the Lord for his mercy and rich blessings on our family for allowing us to spend many years to come with our angel on Earth, Carlee Claire Whitten.

5211-16

Week 16 is a tribute to my family that I married into...the Whitten's
That lady there in the middle probably shouldn't even be alive right now, but her strength and faith has given her more life to live.  The other reason she is her is that baby bump you see over on the right...that would be Ms. Carlee Claire Whitten, aka "peanuts" and she is coming very soon and making me into a grandmother! {it's really weird to type that!}

This was taken at Amy's shower last Sunday and represents the majority of the women tied to the Whitten family.

And since we are talking about this baby shower event, I thought I'd share some more photos from the day:

 

 

 

 

We cannot wait for your arrival Carlee Claire!!! 

5211-10

A shot at my Mom's utilizing her wonderful natural light last Sunday. 

On another note/Memaw update: She is actually improving and doing well!  Praise the Good Lord!!!  Finally got released to start putting weight on her leg (the one with the broken hip from December) so if we can get her to eat better and build up some strength, she may get to come home.  Something we had almost given up on.  
Thanks for your patience and prayers (if anyone still checks this quiet, lonely place!)

5211-2 and a Memaw update

Week 2 did not turn out quite like I'd hoped, but I am rolling with it anyway.  It seems to have somewhat of a retro 80's vibe and we all know I love me some 80's!

Hoping to start some fun little photo challenges over on the 52 Week Project blog very soon.  I'm always needing some new motivation and a challenge is always, well, a Challenge! HA

In other news of my life besides this project that seems to be the only thing I've blogged about in a few weeks {sorry to be so repetitive}, my MIL finally got out of the hospital. (insert cheers) - It's been over 3 weeks and we are truthfully just 'plum' wore out!  She is in a local long-term rehab that is in a nursing home.  It's not the ideal situation by any means, but we are just praying every day that just being in there will keep her attitude positive and her body and mind motivated to get the heck out of Dodge!  

I have such a new perspective of aging - it's really a sad thing in all honesty.  BUT, I also don't think we can give up hope at that point either.  That is not what God wants. He has a reason for it.  My emotions have been from one end of the spectrum to the other on this can you tell? 


Thanks for all the prayers for Memaw.  We really felt them all and I know that is what got her through the ordeal of being a 91 year old broken-hip-going-through-some-rehab-having-a-heart-attack-plus-pneumonia-heart-cath-complications-afterwords-pseudo-aneurysm-in-both-legs-almost-having-to-have-another-surgery-constipated and incontinent-having woman!

Keep praying for her recuperation and hopefully back home with us soon!

Hospital time

Just a quick post - I'm in the hospital.
Well, I'm not acutally in the hospital, but I'm here with my mother-in-law who fell and broke her hip this week.
Sucks to be in the hospital.
Really REALLY sucks.

My MIL is 91, just turned it last week actually. Here she is during our Christmas celebration a couple of weeks ago acting silly!  When she smiles she closes her eyes so this is her propping her eyes open for a picture. Except...funny thing is, her eyes are still closed! :)

{and yes, she is sporting her Snuggie!}

She's a real trooper.
A hard worker, a selfless mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, MIL and friend.

She lives with my hubs and me.
Always has, since we've been married.

I can count on one hand how many times she has not slept under our roof.

One of those was last night.

There will be many more in the next few weeks as she heals, recovers and rehabilitates.

I know you have had some experience more than likely with a hosptial visit or stay.  Don't you agree that the time in a hospital is off kilter somehow?

Sometimes, time goes super fast....other times it stand stills.

It's just odd.

Anyway, we will more than likely be spending Christmas here.

Not exactly what we had planned:
I don't have all my gift buying or wrapping done.
I don't have my groceries bought for the dishes I am supposed to make.
But, guess what?
I'm just not stressing out about that right now.  I think I'm doing what I am suppose to be doing and that's okay.

Please be praying for my MIL, or as we all call her: "Memaw".  I would appreicate if you will also pray for me and my hubs as we have a lot facing us with this situation.

Thanks and to you and yours, I wish you many blessings for Christmas and the coming year.

prettiful silliful sisters

Words cannot even describe how special last week was having family together for our early Christmas.  Even though we didn't get to ALL be together for extended periods of time while Brooke was home, these two sisters were able to spend lots of time together and I think they enjoyed it and probably needed it!

They are just fun to be with and in my opinion they are simply prettiful! :)

They are equally as SILLIFUL as they are PRETTIFUL!!!

And it's amazing how the older, married one is more so silly than the younger!

I can feel the love but apparently one sister feels it more than the other!

I miss seeing their pretty faces and silly antics around these parts!

A wee bit behind: Weeks 36 and 37

Sorry for the lack of activity the last few days...I've had some personal stuff going on and have just been preoccupied.

I do want to get the last two weeks of my 52 week project posted for posterity's sake.

Week 36

I am obviously totally inspired by Kara - this shirt features her lovely *pun intended* handwriting and I had been inspired by another post from her blog a few weeks ago with my fresh out of the shower, no make-up look.

(shirt can be purchased here: the lovely along with some other lovely items.)

Week 37 

I lost my Aunt Kathi (my mom's oldest sister) on Friday night - I was actually with her when she passed away and I will probably blog about it sometime, but for now, I will say she is now cancer free and living the good life...the eternal life...with God in Heaven.  

This week's photo is my tribute to her....she was an artist and has always encouraged my creativeness. For that I am thankful!  The camo headwrap was fabric I had gotten to make her some cancer caps.  She loves to hunt so this was perfect for her.  She loved nature and the outdoors, so this was done outside.  More than anything though, she loved her family and the Lord. 

She will be greatly missed and I feel so blessed that she was such a huge impact in my life.

"Independence" Day

That is what I felt Friday getting to have a day of fun on Lake Norfork with my family. I try to keep everything positive on the old blogitty blog, but let's all face it, life is not positive 100% of the time...mine included!

I have felt very tied to home, even on my days off, because of my MIL's illness the past few months, so I really needed a day away from home.   It was nice and I got over my guilt as soon as my feet hit that wooden boat dock!  :)

sidebar: We rented from Buzzard Roost in Mountain Home.  They were super nice, clean, and professional - highly recommended if you are ever in the market. 

We started out sitting in the boat slip waiting on Dad and Hadley.  

We joked that we were having an environmentally friendly day of boating!!! :D

They finally made it and we made our way into the main part of the lake. 

The first half of the day, Wayne was our "captain", then the second half, went to Tommy.

He was captain when we got pulled over by the lake patrol...I think they were hoping to catch a bunch of drunks on the lake in a rental...boy were they sadly disappointed!   :P

They did reprimand us for Hadley (my lil bro) riding on back of the boat while we were moving.  (the bench you see behind my cousin Cindy above) We honestly didn't realize you were not suppose to be on there. In fact I was laid out on there on our initial trip leaving the boat dock.  Luckily Cindy ended up knowing the lake patrol dude so he backed off the attitude when he realized he knew someone.  

Was excited to finally meet Jill (left) my cousin Cindy's good friend. She's a hoot!

This is probably one of my favorite all time pictures of my Dad.  He just looks like relaxed and happy.  Usually when I pull the camera out he tries to be funny and makes goofy faces or looks all stiff, so I was glad to catch him just being him.


Look at my adorable little brother Hadley! He HATES for me to take his picture, so I took a crapload to catch him smiling while he was drying off from our little excursion in the water. 

So that was Friday - my "independence" day.  

Everyone needs an "independence" day every now and then regardless of 

what's going on in their life, dontcha think?

Reunion Time

So on the subject of family reunions.

In my experience these events are not something to get super excited about.  They are times to reconnect with what are virtual strangers in some cases. Can we say awkward?

Last weekend was my DeShazo reunion.
DeShazo is my maiden name so it was my Dad's side.  (Thanks Captain Obvious.)
Anyway,  Although I don't go every year, mostly because the past several years my Saturdays have been spent at horseshows, this year our immediate family was in charge, so I wanted to go and help out as much as I could.


We had the reunion at a little primitive church (I could really kick myself for not getting some pictures of the quaint one-room chapel).  This church, pavilion, cemetery, and seriously primitive outdoor potties are located by the home place where my PaPa DeShazo grew up.

I do enjoy seeing other DeShazo's...offspring of my Papa's brother and sisters and looking through old and new pictures in the family scrapbook that gets passed around each year

This is my Granny DeShazo (right) visiting with a cousin.  Now, Granny doesn't have this awkwardness because she really knows all these fine folks! 

And here she is again with my Uncle Tommy.

He's my Dad's little brother and lives in San Diego...I blame him for my schnauzer love.  {sidenote} His Sammi has been sick, but she made the trip.  I get to see her today before we make a lake trip.

Here's a candid shot of my Dad and two brothers, Hadley (16 and hates to have his picture taken!) He is a mini-me of my Dad.  Quite the cowboy!

My other brother, Kyle is a lover of music and is so talented and creative.  I was 16 when he was born and was so happy to finally have a sibling. :)  He was the cutest kid ever and could tell some great {long} stories! LOL  He loved Ghostbusters.

 Love those dudes!

One fun thing our family does is hold an auction - everyone brings something to sell and the money goes into the "pot" to pay for the catered meals, rental and other reunion expenses from year to year.

A few years ago my Mom (who was part of the family for many years and is still close with my Granny, Aunt, Uncle, etc...) put together a wonderful basket of fresh veggies and canned goodies from her garden for me to take to the auction. It sold extremely high so it has become somewhat of a tradition. This year was no exception!

I have a great Mom!

You can see I added a little "candy" in the mix. ;)

My stepmom put together this great outdoor set complete with cooler, everything one needs for the sun and water and those wonderful chocolate covered sunflower seeds.  She is incredibly talented and generous.  She came early to the reunion and decorated the pavilion - it was so nifty - patriotic themed of course.

This next item was the funniest one of all!

A redneck survival kit! Complete with Boone's Farm wine, paper plates, Moon Pie, Yoo-Hoo chocolate soda, canned cheese and saltines, and lots of other cute items.   Thought it was such a clever idea and one I may have to file away for some other occasion.

You can also see some great handmade beaded bracelets in this shot...guess fun jewelry making runs in the family. ;)

This picture cracks me up of my Dad with part of his auction loot - some Jones Soda.  he really is not asleep, just playing it cool in the back doing a little sneaky bidding. 

All-in-all it was a fun day and I did enjoy seeing everyone and visiting some - even the awkward moments.


My Mom's side always had a huge reunion when I was younger - at Lake Charles - it was awesome!  We would swim and it was a potluck style so there was always tons of awesome homemade food!

It was also a time I would always get to see my second cousin Leigh.  We were never super close, but always fell right in with each other come reunion time!  Leigh and her husband have recently gone through an adoption and their story is AMAAAAAZING!  I invite you to visit their blog and read about their miracle from God, Lucas!
Adams Familee

So what are your thoughts on family reunions?

FAMILY!

So happy to have some updated pictures of us all together.

This is my oldest stepson Cody and his wife, Amy (who has lost 70 pounds by the way) YAY AMY!!!!

Middler...Brooke and husband, Rob. They live in Orlando and I miss them like a fat kid misses cake!

And Alex (the graduate!) with her boyfriend, Jessy.

These pictures just make me smile!

thrilled

I am taking a break to rest after my quick cleaning spree this evening I must blog about my super duper excitement!  I needed some happiness after my recent "blah-ness" and today has been one of those great days that I have something to look forward to. As I sit here at 10PM, I am waiting for my middle stepdaughter, Brooke & husband Rob to arrive in an hour or so from their all day drive in from Orlando.  I'm just so excited about them coming.  It's like I feel we have not seen them in far too long.
They are coming for Alex's graduation Friday night and I just look so forward to spending some time hanging out with everyone visiting, laughing, eating, you know, family stuff!
I have taken off work for the rest of the week for this occasion as has Amy, my DIL so I hope to snap lots of candid pictures as well as some family shots while we are all together.

I will blog more about the upcoming days later, rest assured! 

I have a feeling there will be a lot of these type of moments over the next couple of days!

(photos: circa November 2007)