What have I been up to lately?

So what have I been up to lately?  Let's see

First there is a little of this... My youngest is having the best time playing ball this year.  His natural love of the game is encouraging him to practice, practice, practice. As the season progresses we can all see his hard work paying off.

Aidan Baseball

And some of this.. Today is the 13th Birthday of my son Xander. He specifically asked me to create him a chocolate and peanut butter cake for his family party.  Below is the final result and oh boy did it taste yummy!!

Chocolate Cake with homemade Peanut Butter Frosting

And a little bit of fun along with the cake.  Time spent with brothers, uncles, grandparents and a couple of friends.  The boys had fun throwing the football around the front yard.. And turning a couple of cartwheels.  The adults sat around on the porch watching the fun and having some great conversation.

Xander Family Party

Cartwheels during Football

Xander and Nick

Aidan wanted to play with the big boys

This weekend he gets to choose a friend and I will take them to dinner and a movie to celebrate his birthday.       Once my boys turn 10 they get their last 'friend' party.  With all these kids up to age 10 was about all that I could handle.  Every year, for each boy no matter how young or old, I take them out to dinner and a movie so that they can spend some one on one time with me .. and if they choose they can bring a friend.  It is a memorable time for me .. and I like to think for them as well.

So what else ... tomorrow I will share a post on the wonderful beads that I received from my bead swap partners that Lori Anderson hosted.  I can't want to share the wonderful goodies that I received from them.

So what have you been doing that makes you smile lately?

Much Love
Shell 

Take me out to the ball game...

Wow!  I cannot believe that it has been so long since I have written a post.  Time gets away from me this time of the year and feeling poorly didn't help at all.  In the time that I was away, I did manage to catch up on my blog reading.  Thanks for keeping me entertained and informed while I laid in bed.  So, what's been going on?  Hmmm... Let's see ..

I am finally on the mend.  My neck is still sore but the pain in the left side of my head and neck are manageable.  I will be starting physical therapy soon to try to get the pain to subside completely.  I was reminded yet again that I need to look at where I am walking rather than at the floor or my cell phone.  I almost ran face first into an open cabinet door in the kitchen while walking into the laundry room.  I did a total Matrix style move to keep from smashing my face, but strained my neck.  This is just me .. totally clumsy.  My husband laughed so hard that I thought he was going to be sick.

I am still working on my art journal.  I have realized that the space that I have setup for journaling - which is the same space that I have for making jewelry - does not inspire me.  I have wanted to art journal so badly for the last couple of days, however when I walk to my table I am uninspired.  So, I am going to create a more comfy space for me this weekend.

Hmm.. Let's see what else ...  Oh yeah Nick and Jordan both attended prom since I last wrote.. Nick went to his girlfriend's senior prom at her school (He's just a sophomore so he was excited).. He was handsome and danced the night away.. I haven't gotten their pics back yet and don't have any from her grandmother to be able to show you .. that kind of sucks but rest assured that as soon as I get the pics, you will see endless postings of them on facebook and some in my blog as well.

Jordan and his girlfriend attended their senior prom just this past weekend.  He went with her at 8 in the morning to get her hair done, then to the nail salon.. He really is a good boyfriend.. They spent the day together and had a wonderful time getting ready and riding around in the limo that her mother got them for the day. They traveled to Point Park atop Lookout Mountain to get photos done.  All total there are over 400 photos of them from the day.  (that's a lot of posing)  Here are a couple of my favorites to share. They are just the cutest couple ever!

 

Let's see .. I know that's not all.. Oh yeah - Jordan went for a tour of the Armstrong Atlantic campus in Savannah.  He visited the dorms and registered for his fall classes.  I honestly cannot believe that he will be going away in just a few short months.  Tears will be shed. I feel better knowing that he is going somewhere with friends - actually his entire group of friends including his girlfriend are all attending the same school this fall.

Baseball - Little League Baseball that is - has started up here with the opening ceremonies last weekend. I mean we have actually been playing for a over a month in pre-season tournaments, but this was the official opening ceremony for regular season. This year only the youngest is playing which feels a little weird.  And here he is doing his thing on the field...

May is a busy month for us over here.  We have 3 birthdays - Xander's, Nick's and mine, in addition to Mother's Day, graduation, baseball, friends' birthdays and the end of school.  I plan on hanging around here more often so look to see me post more frequently.  

Much Love

Shell 

Recovery

The last couple of weeks have brought with it their fair share of hardships over here.  I have been in a considerable amount of pain which brings with it lots of sedating medication which takes time away from my family.  I hate feeling like I am not being a mom and wife when this pain sneaks up and attacks.  

I have to say that I have the best, most wonderful, most understanding husband in the entire world.  He has been there with me through all of it - not once questioning me or telling me that I was just being a baby about the whole thing.  I like to think that I can push through the pain of a migraine or sinus issue, but this was beyond anything that I have experienced before.  When I finally decided that a trip to the emergency room was necessary, there was so much pain I couldn't tell them where it was or wasn't.  My entire head and face was pulsating with pain. After the ER trip, I stayed heavily sedated until my husband and I decided that I needed to find the actual cause and resolve it rather than simply sedate myself.  Basically, I tweaked a nerve and strained some muscles in my neck while sleeping (I am so talented) which was causing multiple migraines.  For those of you who suffer from migraines, I think that you can understand the pain.  Rather than one migraine with isolated pain, I was suffering multiple migraines at the same time in different areas of my brain.  I have the BEST doctor ever!  He was able to actually diagnose the issue, and prescribe the correct injections and medications to start correcting the problem rather than just relieve the symptoms. 

After the trip to the emergency room when the pain was finally beyond my ability to cope, and a couple of visits with my doctor I am beginning to feel better.  The pain is within a tolerable limit so I can spend time with my family and work. 

I am behind in getting my goodies out to my swap partners for the bead swap hosted by Lori Anderson and the button swap hosted by Cindy Wimmer.  I will finally be able to get everything together and get the goodies in the mail tomorrow.  I must say that my partners have been extremely understanding during what seems like a lifetime of being down.  

Prior to getting sidelined, I started my first art journal and was able to get some pages completed.  I wanted to create pages with pastels, watercolors and bright cheery springtime colors, but it was forced and I would stare at my journal without getting anything actually accomplished.  I have learned that I am not a pretty, bright, cheery color kind of artist - at least not right now - and have come to terms with that.  I am getting out some old feelings that have been hidden way deep down inside but need to be released so that I can heal and renew.  I have a feeling that those bright, cheery pages I was looking for will come with time as I heal those old wounds.

Now that I am beginning feeling better, I will be able to continue this journey and hopefully share some of those pages with you.  Also, I can't wait to get my goodies from my swap partners and start creating from those as well.  Who knows what I will come up with this time... This weekend will be full of studying for my final exam in my statistics class and baseball games with my youngest son.  Getting back to normal will take some time since there is some residual pain, but I look forward to continuing my recovery.  

Much Love 

Shell 

Progress

Hello dear readers, 

Easter is right around the corner, so let me begin by wishing all of you a Happy Easter.  This year, we are trying a more non-traditional route to Easter dinner with burgers on the grill with all the fixings.  It has just been too warm here this year to go the ham, mashed potatoes, etc route.  

I just wanted to give a little update on my progress so far.  I have started one art journal of two that I plan to work on.  The one that I have started will be my every day journal for practicing techniques while journaling about how I am feeling on that day.  The second one I will be working on once a week while enjoying the company of my dear friend.  

I did actually sew something as promised.  Of course it's just a dog collar, but its a start.  My lines are not straight and my double-stitching is awful.  Still practicing a little every day to get the techniques down better.  

I will show pics of some of my sewing and selected art journal pages as I continue to progress. Stick around, I'm sure that I will get myself into trouble along the way.

Much love

Shell