What a Week!

What a week it has been at our house.  We've had siblings do a kidney transplant which went very well!

Maggie helped Olivia get her hair back in shape after a few days of bed!!  That's what sisters do!

Olivia and Ben are both out of the hospital and recovering well!!

My 7th child, Sam, turned 18 Tuesday!

Seemed like the perfect age to try blowing out his candles with his nose.......it worked.....

This morning, my 5th child, John, left for grad school in Illinois.  His brother Sam is helping him drive out.  It was bitter sweet watching them drive off this morning. 

How do you spend your last night at home??

By playing hockey together!!  Sam is taking over John's position as goalie on an adult league team.  Good thing he turned 18 and is eligible to do that! For the transition, the team let Sammy "skate out" last night while his brother goal tended for the last time here.  The best part??  Sam scored a goal!!

Sammy is on the left and John is on the right.

If you've never been around hockey much, you need to know that their gear reeks!!  no matter how much you wash it, it has a horrific smell all of its own.  Even worse??  They are proud of that smell and eager to rub it off on you if they can!  I can laugh though because John's hockey bag is making the trip to Southern Illinois University with them......in his 4Runner!!  Yes, even though I washed it all last night, they get to smell it all the way there!

Enjoy boys!!!



  

Transplant

Yesterday was a huge day for our family.  Our 29 yr. old son was diagnosed with a kidney disease right after being wounded in Iraq December 2004. It became clear within a couple of days that he would eventually need a kidney transplant and yesterday was that day.  Our oldest, Olivia insisted on donating one of her kidneys to him yesterday.  Their surgeries were long and hard.  Hers took over four hours and his almost six hours.  The good news?  Her kidney was super healthy and so far is working great for him!!  Her body is also rapidly adapting to having just one very healthy kidney. In fact, she is recovering better than the team's wildest hopes!!  Oh you go girl!!

These are photos of Ben and Olivia that I took this evening.  They are recovering just a few doors from each other at University of New Mexico Hospital. Don't they look great???  This is just a little over 24 hrs after their transplant!!

Being just a few rooms apart means the "Older Sister" can go check on her brother and make sure he is obeying orders. .....Isn't that what older sisters do...regardless of where you are at...??

We are thanking Go for watching over them and giving them successful surgeries!  Thank you for praying for them.

Hen House Class

Next Saturday afternoon I will be teaching my first card making class at the hen House Paperie!

This is the first of four cards we will be making that afternoon.  All of them will use Unity Stamps and a variety of techniques. 

More photos coming in the next few days.  You can sign up for class through the Hen House! Hope to see you there.

The Hen House is full of Chicks!!

Hello!
Did you get out and brave the crowd and heat Friday night?  It was the grand opening for Albuquerque's newest scrapbook and stamping store!!  It's amazing what we will endure just to get our hands on new goodies! 

Thank you for helping make the opening an overwhelming success. It was so much fun seeing your happy faces and getting to meet so many of you. Hopefully I'll see you in my upcoming classes at the Hen House Paperie......where chicks of a feather craft together!!  (Posts and pics coming this week.)

Yard Sale Goodies

Do you like yard sales and great finds as much as I do?  I stumbled upon a wonderful yard sale this weekend after dropping a kid off at work.  They had been selling for two and a half hours when I arrived and claimed that their good stuff was gone.  With a quick glance, I knew that wasn't entirely true as this quilt caught my eye from across the yard.

Then these hydrangeas called to me, reminding me of my favorite Hero Arts Hydrangea stamp.

Its too bad I dropped it on my kitchen floor, breaking the front plastic shortly after bringing it home.  I gathered the pieces back together, a little clear tape on the side and it works!!

As I went to pay, this sole old book, a 1917 textbook, caught my eye amongst all sorts of magazines. I felt obligated to pick it up and place it with my quilt and hydrangeas.

My vintage haul cost me less than $5!  Oh yeah, baby!!

Summer Ride

This is a card I made with scraps from my table.  The tag stamped with the Hero Arts Ledger stamp was meant for another card, but the next layer of stamping was a disaster!!  Eventually the tag got pulled from the trash and got this fun scrap of Cosmo Cricket patterned paper stiched to it.  It was the perfect scrap to cover my mistake and give new life to this tag. Stitching it down ensured that it can't be taken apart showing the mess hidden underneath ;D.  A few more scraps were stitched together and tada ...a usable

card to send a friend! 

Stamping with Mom

This afternoon, Abbie who is my youngest at 15 yrs, asked me to help her make a card. She knew what she wanted to make so we went to work. 

She did the CB embossing, stamping and clear embossing, then picked out her purple PP and button accents. 








Watch those black dots come to life with the magic of Glossy Accents!! 

And what is a teenage girl without hair to battle?! 

Thanks for the fun afternoon, Abbie!  I love you......XOXO