Sadness and Rejoicing!

My dear father-in-law that has been so sick passed away on Tuesday.  Henry Champion was man who never gave up.  He came into this world fighting and left it in the same way.  He had tried for so long to overcome the weakness that his body kept giving to him. 

 I call him Grandpa, so I will probably refer to him as that the rest of this blog.  Grandpa was a man that I met way before I met my husband.  He used to visit my Sunday School room at church.  I remember him sitting next to me and asking questions about what was going on in my life like I was the only kid on Earth. I know he spent the same amount of time with the other kids too so I know that wasn't true, but it sure felt like it. 

Then I met and later married John. Grandpa continued to be a big influence in our marriage.   He would do anything for us....sometimes without us asking.  His first act of kindness was to pay off our car after we got married. He said he hated for us to have a car payment just starting out.  How wonderful was that?

As our kids came he became a wonderful Grandpa.  No matter how tired he was, all our daughter or son would have to say is "grandpa will you play with me?" and down in the floor he got and played with them like he felt perfect.

As his body began to fail him, it was more difficult to get onto the floor, so he would sit in his chair and be the student to Hannah's teacher (his grades were pretty good).  Even from his hospital bed he would ask about the kids and try to mess around with them if they were visiting.

One Thursday night March 29, I took him to the ER for the last time.  We did not know that at the time, but he was telling me stories about his childhood, about his wife (my mom in law), telling me how special my kids were and things that he wanted to do.  The next day they put him on an oxygen mask making it very difficult to hear what he was saying.  Still he would lift that mask and try to talk to us about things.  By Saturday he took a turn for the worse. His heart decided that it had enough.  What a terrifying few minutes that was.  They sedated him for a while because they had placed him on a ventilator.  

The next day he was coming out of the sedation and was able to communicate with us.  He was writing words, nodding his head and mouthing "I love you".  We will never forget this because it was not long before his heart betrayed him yet again.

This time we lost him.  I made these cards to kind of calm down my nerves and help to heal my sadness. Then I started reflecting on just about everything and it hit me.............

I rejoice that Grandpa is with the Lord in Heaven.  Grandpa lead a wonderful life with Christ and I have no doubts there.  I am saddened that I shall not hear him ask about my kids again.  I am going to hang onto the thought that his body will not betray him ever again, and that is he is happy and hanging with our Lord.  

All paper materials came from my scrapbin (which is starting to run low).  All the color inks are from Tim Holtz (Broken China, Mustard Seed, Worn Lipstick and Spiced Marmalade).  Tim Holtz also created the "artful" charm.  The thank you  and dream stamp is from Fiskars.  The flower stamp is by Close to My Heart.  The Eiffel Tower was drawn and painted by ME.   The embossing powder is by Jo Anns.  The hearts by Making Memories. 

An emotional mess

This weekend has been a little odd.  My father-in-law who has been sick since October 2009, got ill on Thursday and I had to take him to the hospital.  He had stage 4 edema and congestive heart failure (he has had this for years).  They admitted him and figured out that his kidneys were not working.  Into CCU he went so that they could repair the damage.  Yesterday morning I went to visit him.  He was on a bi-level oxygen mask, and had to lift the mask so that I could hear what he had to say.  He was jolly, he was concerned about his dear wife, my mother-in-law.  I took her home and drove the 20 minute drive back to my house.  One hour later the hospital called and told us to get there now.  Some of you can imagine how we felt making that 20 minute drive.  He had coded because he aspirated.  They worked on him and brought him back.  They put him on a vent.  The last 24 hours has been the most critical.  He is fighting for his life.  His body is so weak.  Today a tiny miracle, even with the vent he has been able to communicate with us via those eyes, head shakes, nodding and squeezing our hands.  You can see the love he has for us and how he wants to touch us.

We have been blessed with so many that are praying for him.  Praying for my mother-in-law who thinks the world of him and needs him so much.  April 16 will be their 60th wedding anniversary.  60 years is a long time...a long time in which they have grown to rely on each other for EVERYTHING!!!

I came home from the hospital today counting my blessings that my parents are healthy, that my kids are so wonderful and feeling so proud of my husband who has had to make decisions in the last 24 hours that he never thought he would have to make.  Decisions he thought were made and were not.  Decisions that he does not want to make.  He is so brave so strong!  I am so proud of him!  I know I said that, but I am.

I had to come home and make some cards to calm down my emotions.  I thought more detailed folding would ease my mind and give me time with my thoughts so I could reflect on the last few days.

All patterned papers are by K&CO (Viola Viva, Mira, Bailey, Wild Saffron, Que Sera Sera)
All inks by Tim Holtz
plain cardstock from my scrapbin
word stamp, dot stamp and pear stamp by Technique Tuesday
Bird cage collage stamp by Tim Holtz
tag by K&Co
ribbon by Hobby Lobby
border punch by Fiskars




One more thing, for those of you praying for him, I thank you.  Thank you so very much.

Just read a book!!!

I think I have said this before, but when I was in high school, reading a book was the LAST thing I would do.  I was too cool to read the assigned books and tried very hard NOT to read them unless the teacher required us during class time.  I did read the book A Farewell to Arms because we were required to do so in class.  I fell deeply in love with the story and to this day it is one of my favorite books.  I even love the movie with Rock Hudson and Jennifer Jones.  I read this book every year because I love it so much.

The other book I fell for while in high school was The Mayor of Casterbridge.  Again, a wonderful story with a crazy but effective story.  If you have not read these two books you must!

Gone with the Wind was my next book.  This was the book that did it for me.  This is the book that hooked me to reading.  This is it.  I began to realize that in a book you could lose reality, you could imagine people, things and scenery.  I have currently read GWTW 39 times.  That equals one time for every year that I have been alive. I hope to keep it going and read it once a year, we shall see if I can do it.  

Since the introduction of my smartphone, I don't read as much as I did.  I also scrapbook A LOT!!! So there is another thing that takes up my time.  At one time in my life I read around 300 books per year.  Now it is more like 75.  It may be my attention span too, it is worse because there are so many things to distract me.  And then it could be that my kids are more involved in things now.

Still I love to read and love to share that love.

Now I am not talking about the Bible, there are so grand stories in there, and those I read over and over so don't think I am discounting that. I don't believe that counts.  That is the best book and the one you can use for real life.  So basically I count it on a different scale. I guess that is because mainly I read novels for my escapism.  The Bible I read for my soul!

 I made this card for our librarian at LOHS.  She reads books so I made her a bookmark holder with 2 bookmarks.  This was an experiment because I had never made a card with bookmarks.   I am pleased with the result. I am rather pleased with the way it turned out.  It is a two sided card. I stitched it up after I added the pockets. 

This card uses:

Tim Holtz's distress inks in Broken China, Dusty Concord, Fired Brick, Seedless Preserves, Peeled Paint, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Festive Berries, and Weathered Wood

Also DMC thread

Stampendous embossing powder in midnight black

stamps from Inkadinkadoo (Birds Galore)

Patterned paper by K&Co Viola Viva

Sunday Afternoon Workshop

I have never been invited to a card workshop before and was very excited when a scrapbooking buddy (Kelly Veach) invited me to her monthly card class.  The teacher was Gina Fraser and she was GREAT!  Bubbly and excited with TONS of grand ideas!.

Today I am going to share the cards that she created for us to make.  I did change mine a tad.  On most of the cards I used inks to distress a bit or add some dimension.  One card I changed a lot the pennant card. Her card featured 3 flags that went across the card, I simply can't do that straight across stuff so I made mine at an angle and I must say it is one of my 2 favorites.  My favorite is the grey and pink card.  Gina's card was PERFECT and needed me to change NOTHING.

I had a wonderful time.  I was quiet because I was soaking it all in.  The room was so inspiring.  The chatter from the girls was great to be around.  The learning to use a big shot was AWESOME (thanks Jennifer Hodges for showing me how to use it)!  I can't think of anything that could have been changed to make the afternoon better.

I am grateful for the chance to go to this class.

Spring Break Goals

I tend to be more productive if I have a list.  I tend to hold myself accountable when I share that list.  I have a week off starting today and I have some things that I MUST accomplish on this week off.  Today I am going to share this list with you.  What?  I know I can't believe I won't be on a cruise ship either, but no the cruise is later, a staycation is first.  These items are above my usual daily cleaning chores. (Maybe I should post them, yes there is a daily list)

1.  Make 50 cards
2.  Submit at least 40 of those designs
3.  Fix the cracks in the driveway
4.  Reseal the driveway
5.  Stain the deck
6.  Clean the windows in my house
7.  Possibly paint the utility room (still thinking about this one)
8.  Day trip to Nashville
9.  Fix crack in sidewalk
10.  Weed the flower bed (possibly raise it---this depends on funding)
11.  Fix lattice on deck
12.  Try to take apart or fix basketball goal
13.  Having any work needed done on vehicles
14.  Clean the carpets
15.  Clean out the garage and storeroom (this won't take long because I keep them tidy all ready)
16.  Clean out Trevor's closet and toy box


things I wanted to do but finished all ready
1.  Cleaned out hall closet
2.  Weeded the herbs
3.  Worked on the bed frame
4.  Cleaned all the bathroom and kitchen walls
5.  Cleaned behind washer, dryer, fridge and stove
6.  Reorganized the store room shelves
7.  Cleaned out hall closet
8.  Reorganized my closet


Have a great productive spring break, I know I will. 

Good Friends

I don't think I have been lucky here. Sometimes I think it's me, sometimes I think I choose unwisely, sometimes I just think that maybe I am unlucky.  Oh, but I do ramble.  

I just mainly wanted to state that I feel that I have gotten in too deep in an area I should not have, who among us has not. I was seeking something. I still have not figured out what it was. I look at what I have and I see I am blessed beyond measure. Way more than I deserve. I have a loving husband that treats me like a princess.  Two VERY good kids that are just incredible.  A possessions I don't deserve but am grateful for none the less.  

I am not going to dwell on the things I have screwed up or left in the past.  I am going to focus on the here and now and my blessings. 

 

Two quotes to leave you with today:


'Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.” CS Lewis


1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

The act of kindness

Luke 6:31...one of my favorite Bible verse of all time....

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

I have been working very hard on this goal this year.   To appreciate those that do things for me and let them know that I do.  I have achieved this goal by making cards for the people that do things. I am not going to tell you who is going to receive this card, but I think they will love it.  

The person I made it for is one of those rare breeds these days.  She puts herself last in so many instances. I have seen her forgo her own comfort and utter exhaustion and keep pressuring on because there was a goal to be met.  Even though she was going to gain nothing for it, she pushed on.  I guess actually if you think about it she would reap the rewards one day.  This Christian lady will for sure have a home with Jesus one day. I can think of no better reward!!

I decided to use this card for this week's Mojo Monday.  I did like this sketch very much and it worked perfectly for me because I wanted to create a gate fold card.  

Materials used:

Wild Saffron by K&Co patterned paper

Brown paper and paper behind so kind stamp is from my scrap bin

So Kind Stamp by Stampin UP!  

Thread by DMC 

Brown flower made by Michelle's Musings (me)

Brown ink by Stampin UP! chocolate chip

Brown ribbon from Hobby Lobby (cut by the yard)

Ruffle ribbon bought at a vendor at CKC, it was white and I colored it using  Mustard Seed Distress Inks by Tim Holtz.  I used my ink blending tool and colored the ribbon as I do paper.  Then I set the color using spray mist. 

 Button by Making Memories

If you have not check out Mojo Monday at

www.mojomonday.blogspot.com

card being opened

close up of my flower and stitched design