Grandma Violet

My Grandma was admitted to the hospital last Thursday after she was having trouble keeping her balance and remembering which day it was. Taylorville hospital thought she might need a pace maker so she was transferred to Springfield. Springfield determined that one of the valves in her heart was "leaking" and needed to be closed. My Grandma was refusing to have the surgery because she was afraid they were going to put her to sleep and she wouldn't wake back up. They performed surgery starting around 4:00 p.m. on Friday and they didn't finish until almost 10:00 that evening. They closed the valve and put in a pace maker. She is doing fine now. She is on some blood thinning medicine so she has to be really careful once she is up and moving. My family is considering putting her in the nursing home until she is off of this medicine so that they keep a closer eye on her. Once she is off the medicine, she can go back home… which is back to her room in the retirement home (right next door). She seems to be doing quite well so far, especially for 92 years of age!

Quick update

Well my logo for After the Diamond is currently in progress! She sent me one logo already and I like it. I have replied with some minor modifications. I will share them with you soon! You can see her current designs at www.onthespotstudio.com. Some of them are really cute.

Chad and I went to dinner with Jon and Nikki last night to "NV" in uptown Normal. I don't think we will go there again. Chad and Jon both ordered fish and chips and we all laughed when the brought it out to them. I think they accidentally brough them each a childs meal! My burger had NO flavor. On a side note, Jon and Nikki are expecting their little one on July 13th. She is so cute. She looks like she has a basketball under her shirt. She is all belly... adorable!

After dinner, Chad and I went to see Wanted last night. I really liked the movie. Chad was somewhat disappointed in the graphics because they were supposed to be out of this world. I would agree with him, that they weren't as exciting as we expected. We also started watching Cars the other night. Cute movie! We both got tired and never finished it though. Maybe tonight we will get back to it.

Well, I have an insurance exam that I really need to be studying for. I keep finding other things to do. I guess I should read another page in that darn book. :) Have a great weekend!

Accomplishments!

Is it Sunday night already? The weekend flew by but I also feel like I got alot accomplished. I wrote my speech, studied for a test, took recycling in, cleaned house, Chad worked in the yard, we hung up the blind in the bathroom, we met my parents at a tasting in Springfield, and we even squeezed in two movies (The Bucket List and Semi-Pro)!

I also have finished uploading and editing all of my pictures. Here are the few more that I promised from Fathers Day Weekend out at the pond.

Clayton was playing with the sparklers, being so dramatic and having such a good time... we all enjoyed watching the him play.

We also really enjoyed watching Devereauxs face light up as he lit his and gently waved them through the air.

Two of my favorites of Nichole and Layla...

This picture shows the hands of 4 generations... Margie, Cheri, Nichole, and Layla (a.k.a. Grandma, Mother, Daughter, Grandaughter).

These last couple of photos are not from Fathers Day but they are from today at the tasting with my parents in Springfield. The first on is of my Uncle David and Kayla... followed by a photo of my Dad and one of the table set-ups. We actually bought quite a bit of stuff... Once you taste it... you crave for more! We bought BBQ sauce, pure honey, carmel popcorn, and polish sausage. This is the second year we have attended with my parents. It is their 5th-ish year...

Now, lets just hope the coming week is as productive as the weekend was!

Fathers Day Weekend

Happy Fathers Day to my Dad and my Father-In-Law. I hope you both enjoyed it!

We went to visit Nichole, Dwayne and the kids on Saturday. While the guys golfed the ladies and the kids went to the beach. Yes... there is a beach in dixon. It is small and cute. Not exactly the ocean... but the kids love it just as much.

Sheena is so great with the kids. She took them right out into the lake and let them all cling on to her until they were comfortable enough to venture out a few feet on their own.

Devereaux and Clayton had a fun splashing each other. Deveraux quickly learned to keep his back to Clayton and splash away. It does appear in this photo that Devereaux was splashing himself more than Clayton though. haha!

I promised all the ladies I wouldn't take any photos of them in their suites. Not that any of them should care but... I didn't. However, I cheated a tiny tiny bit. This is a photo of someones foot though... I just won't tell you who has the cute feet!

I will update some more photos tomorrow from this weekend. I haven't unloaded the others yet. Tonight I went out with Laura and Kari to Lake Bloomington to play around with our cameras. Mental note to myself... either get a backup battery or always charge it before leaving the house! :) Thanks girls! I had a great time!

A few photos...

I am up at Terry and Cheri's this weekend visiting Nichole, Dwayne, Devereaux & Layla. They all flew in for Fathers Day. Since I have internet access while I am up here, I decided to take advantage of it. I wanted to send out a few recent shots of the girls and Tybee. We were dog sitting Tybee last weekend. She is the easiest pup to watch. She aslo has the cutest "trick". Tell her to do a puppy stretch and this is what you get...

Here are also some shots of the girls from Kayla's graduation...

And finally, I was playing with my camera and Chad was playing his guitar. I liked this shot so I thought I would share.

Have a great weekend and enjoy Fathers Day!

Blogging catch up...

First and foremost… CONGRATULATIONS on your graduation KAYLA! I am SOOOOO proud of you!!! You have really done a great job in HS… you are involved, you work, and yet you still maintained good grades. I knew you would take after me! Haha In all seriousness… you have made us all so proud. Congratulations on the scholarships you have received and your acceptance to Culver Stockten. I can't wait to go visit the campus!


Second, THANKS GIRLS for an awesome "college girls" weekend. I had so much fun with you all. Seriously… what group of girls will you find that are close enough to play "dress up" in their later 20's!?!?! Also, Leann… great job at the tri-shark! You did awesome and you are making a great recovery with your knee.






I was able to finish making a baby gift for Nikki and Jon Maurer (their shower was Sunday). It was adorable. Julie helped me get it finished on Friday since she came down before everyone else. Thanks Jules - I would not have finished in time without you!


Nikki suggested I write a book of creative gift ideas. I am thinking about it. I love giving creative gifts and I really enjoy coming up with new ideas. Maybe I will just start compiling these ideas but I have NO idea how to go about writing a real book. It is one of those things that I can just add to my list of things to do. For some reason, that list gets longer, even after I mark some things off! Strange… haha!

Healing Chad, Growing Yard, and Terrible Taxes

Quick update! Chad is still in a lot of pain… he cringes every time he swallows and isn't eating much. He came to work yesterday but only stayed for a half day. He didn't take any medicine and said he pain was about an 8.5 on a 1 to 10 scale. I feel so bad for him. He is taking medicine for the crazy hiccups he was having and hasn't had any problems since. Today he is at home again. He wasn't feeling well overall so he took some medicine and stayed snuggled up with the girls while the storm heads our way. Tomorrow he will be finished with week 1. Only about one more week of recovery. Then he can eat solid foods again and hopefully be pain free!

Other than that, we worked in the yard this weekend. Chad helped out some - while trying not to overdue it. He had his medicine in him so he helped out before he got too sleepy. The work paid off and we now have sprigs of grass everywhere! HOW EXCITING! Now… if it will just blossom into a nice plush yard… I would be one excited home owner. On the down side… we got our tax bill. It was MUCH higher than we expected. I was shocked. All that money to pay for taxes on a house we didn't even live in. What a shame…