Prayers PLEASE...for a sweet new mother and her family!

****UPDATE**** 6-02-08...I just heard from my daughter that Stephanie is mending...albeit slowly and with a lot of pain. She was able to sit up for the very first time yesterday for a brief period. Her husband made it in from his post in the Middle East and they say it improved her spirits immensely! I am thrilled he was able to get here soon! She is still in ICU...but I was told that hopefully they will be able to move her to a room, soon. I guess she has a few more hurdles to get over before they move her and I would think pain management would be one of them. Please continue to pray for her and for a complete and speedy recovery...as you all know she has a beautiful baby girl that is 6 months old and I know she is very anxious to be with her full time again! Her family and she are very grateful and want to thank you all for your prayers...and I personally want to thank each of you that have prayed, emailed or posted about this. Blessings to you all! I will update as soon as I know more...Thanks again!!***












Friends, Family and Fellow prayer warriors...I have an urgent request. Last night a long time friend of our families; beautiful daughter who just became a mother herself 6 months ago...was hit by a drunk driver. She is in the ICU of a wonderful hospital in our area...she is suffering from a bruised liver, torn diaphram, punctured lung, broken and cracked ribs, broken pelvis and broken teeth. She was just in our home on Wednesday with her precious baby girl...Brooklyn...my daughter was taking pictures of the 2 of them and it was very apparant to both of us that Stephanie is a wonderful mom! She currently lives in California but is home visiting her parents for a month while her husband is deployed for training somewhere in the Middle East...luckily the Red Cross is flying him home, immediately!

Please, please pray for Stephanie, her baby, her husband, her mom and dad Harry and Debbie, her sister Ali (who has been friends with my daughter since 5th grade) her brother, and all of her extended family and friends. They are a very sweet and loving family...and this young lady has so much "spunk" and "joy" in her that I just know she is going to pull through...but her recovery may take a while. I am praying for a complete and total recovery, that she be re-united with her baby, husband and family very soon...and that she be totally healed!

These are a couple of pictures Jackie took of Stephanie and Brooklyn on Wednesday...they are beautiful, look at those blue, blue eyes...just gorgeous! I am heartbroken for all of her family...but I know she is going to heal...God is good and he will work miracles....Please continue to pray...and I will update you all when I know more....they are such a sweet and beautiful family....all your prayers are so greatly appreciated!!

Buddy Will....a sad tale...hopefully w/a happy ending...

*****update on BUDDY WILL****...5-27-08...Buddy Will is still at our vet's re-cooping and doing much better and his physical wounds are healing! I was able to contact the vet that was on B.W.'s tags...he did not recommend contacting the owners of this dog...he said it was not a good situation for the dog...and he STRONGLY advised me to either find another home for Buddy Will, turn him over to an adoption agency or keep him...that he would not contact the owner nor would he give the owner our name and number...for our good and the good of Buddy Will!! I am saddened to think that this sweet dog has probably been mistreated for a while...and that possibly his starvation was part of that cruelty...I can only guess as to what he has been through in his short life span...but my vet, his techs, the humane society and I are all looking for a new and perfect place for Buddy Will to live. He seems to have a sweet disposition...and our vet is so graciously letting Buddy Will stay there and re-coop for free...of course we are paying all medical bills...but he is not charging us for services, room and board or the treatment rooms...he is just charging us for the meds...I love him for that!! So hopefully, tomorrow I will have some better news...we are praying that we find him a forever home! Please, Please say a prayer for him...that the perfect person comes along who will love him back to being a healthy and thriving dog!


*****WARNING*****WARNING****WARNING****WARNING****
If you are an animal lover...you may want to sit down and take a deep breath before reading this post....it is a tad disturbing...along with some pretty shocking pictures.

Today, after arriving home from a weekend in New Orleans and Gulfport Mississippi, for the wedding of my good friends son...who just so happens to be my son's best friend...we found the most unnerving and disheartening thing on our back porch. To help you understand a bit...we do live in the country; so to speak on about 2.5 acres...we do not have a security fence around our property, only a decorative type fencing...so we often have a few strays come through...we don't mind because they usually go as quickly as the arrive. BUT today...when my sweet hubbin stepped out onto the back porch to enjoy his morning coffee...this is what he encountered....
this poor, poor fella could barely stand...as my husband came closer to the dog he could tell the dog was not only starving...but in pain, that something was amiss for this poor guy! Luckily, our children were still here b/c we had just arrived late last night from our trip! Hubbin noticed that the dog was in trouble and called for our son and DIL...along with our daughter...we are all huge animal lovers...and dogs reign supreme around these parts for us! Hubbin noticed the dog did have a collar with a rabies only tag...but somehow...and we believe it happened b/c he had become so emaciated that the collar came loose and he had stepped through it with his front left leg...the collar got stuck around him much like you would envision a shoulder strap purse across one arm and then the chest...Sadly, the buckle rubbed the under side of his front leg along the top joint where the leg connects to the body. The buckle was almost embedded into his flesh...it had rubbed all his hair and a large amount of flesh off of him...plus he is was so skinny, not to mention he was dehydrated beyond belief...I could not believe he was still standing!! It was just the saddest thing to see...so hubbin and our children cut the collar off....rinsed him and the wound with cool water...fed him a bit and gave him some water. After my sweet man cut the collar off...this poor fella just laid his head in my husbands lap...he was so relieved, I think this was his only way of thanking my husband. We then made a bed for him under the ceiling fan on the back porch....Folks he just laid there and slept for several hours only to rise for water...I never did see him pee or poop...and I'm sure he didn't b/c there was nothing in him. We tried to call the vets office were the tags were issued but with today being a holiday they were closed. So...I could not stand it anymore...we all knew he needed medical attention...so I called our vet...thankfully, he had us bring Buddy Will in the office ASAP!! (that is what we are calling him, b/c both of the children started calling him Buddy before the other one even knew it...and I added the Will because I feel he has a strong will and is determined to survive) we put a leash around his neck and he was so good to come off his bedding and move slowly in our direction...but after a few steps we determined he needed to be carried the rest of the way to the truck! We swaddled him in a dry towel and we then loaded him in our truck and headed to the vet. This "disturbing" shot is a picture of him in the truck...he was just so sweet...it breaks my heart to see him like this...


After arriving at the vets...they tried to call the city dog shelter to see if his tags were registered there...no luck...they were closed, too. The vet decided to run a heart worm test on him to find out just what we were dealing with...he was heart worm negative "unbelievable"...plus he did not have any parasites, worms or ticks at all "WOW!!"...our doc looked at me...and asked "so what do you want me to do?" (he knows me and he already knew what the answer was before I answered!!) I told him...help him get well and in the meantime we would try and contact the other vet tomorrow when they open to see if the previous owners are still in the picture or not!! Our vet said he is not very old....probably a year or less! Other than the fact he needs a lot of good groceries and antibiotics to heal his wounds...he really was in pretty good shape considering what he may have been through. We are not sure where he came from...if he ran away...if he was dumped...if he just got lost...we do not know...but I could not live with myself if we hadn't taken him to the vet. Tomorrow, we will try and find a home for him because we really can't keep him...he needs to be fixed as well...so we may have to do that before we can have someone rescue him...I am looking up doggie foster homes in our area as well as rescue shelters...but I will not take him to the humane society...b/c I know they would probably just put him down...and I don't want that to happen. He seems very gentle...but of course I do not know what he will be like when he is healthy. The doc did say that he does have some pit bull in him (which isn't a problem unless he has been mistreated which can be bad for any breed of dog)...he said that basically he is just a mixed breed...that has had a run of bad luck...that is until he met the crazy lady who takes strays in anytime she see's a need!! My hubbin was just as eager to take Buddy Will to the vet and save him as I was...BUT he didn't want me to name him...b/c he knew I would become too attached if I did so...but too late...I've already named him...even if it is temporary!

I hope we can find someone great to adopt him...OR if his family lost him and have been looking for him...this would be an awesome surprise for them!! Due to his poor condition we feel he has been missing for quite a while...but if I think for one minute these folks are the reason he is in this shape...I WILL NOT turn him over to them...I'll keep him before I do that! It is just too sad to bear!

Sorry these pictures are so graphic...but this shows just how sad it was and how horrific he looked when we found him OR he found us!!!...hopefully, now he is resting at the vets with antibiotics and sedatives taking care of him...along with some IV fluids and some healthy food! We will see what tomorrow brings.

Here he is at the vets while the tech is scanning him to see if he had a microchip...but he did not! Folks if you haven't had your dog micro chipped...please think about it...it could save his/her life...not to mention many heart breaking moments for his/her family....we micro chipped our dogs...b/c there are times when they do not always have their collar on....let Buddy Will be a reminder to please do so....
I mean for goodness sakes...look at this face...such a helpless creature...it makes me want to cry just thinking about him hobbling around for heaven knows how long with that collar digging into his flesh...and no food or water! I think he came to our yard because we do have a large water bowl outside...and it had fresh rain water in it...plus he may have smelled our dogs scents and thought he would just rest here. My husband thinks he may have been here while we were gone b/c of a small dug up patch in the flower bed...were he thinks he may have found a quite place to rest...I am so thankful we made it home when we did...because I don't think he would have survived another day w/o food and water.

Please say a prayer for Buddy Will ...that we find a perfect home for him and that he makes a complete recovery!!

Happy Birthday...baby sister!!

Wanted to give a BIG shout out to my baby sister....she turns 43 today...YES..she's the baby...I'm the middle child and for some "crazy" reason my parents thought it necessary to have a baby after I had been the baby for 8 years!! In fact the new baby....this little girl was born 8 years and 23 days after ME!! I thought it rather rude and unnecessary at the time...I mean for goodness sakes...I WAS THE BABY!....what were they thinking?? Well, guys...I am here to tell ya, they were the smartest parents EVER...I can not imagine my life without this baby girl in it!!! She is the best sister a gal could ask for...plus you can ask my kids and kids-in-laws...she is the bestest aunt ever...


This is my sister with my little punkin when punkin was about a year old. Yes!! THEY were shopping from the Service Merchandise Catalog, shopping for what else???...toys for Santa to bring the baby girl! (Isn't my sister gorgeous, I think she was about 16or so...and look at my baby, so engrossed in the pictures of her future presents from Santa) YES, my sister has always been helpful like that.

Actually, to be 8 years apart in age, my sister and I have the closest of relationships...we really don't think about the age difference (well, except for me sometimes...b/c she is still in her forties..and I've entered "fifty"dom!) because, well, it's always been like that AND age is JUST a number, right??? She tells me I'm a great mother (isn't that the sweetest thing) because I was able to practice on her...YIKES... this poor girl really did have some close-calls because of me and our brother...there were too many to count. I do know that I always felt she was mine...that God had given her not only to my mom and dad...but to me! Not sure if it was for practice, for companionship later in life OR just to bug the doo-wah out of me when I was a teenager and she was just a punk kid (not really, she was kinda sweet)...regardless... for whatever reason I felt this way...I knew she was a gift, and I loved having her around as I was growing up...plus you can't return a gift...can you??? Seriously, I love that she is MY little sister, a gift from GOD and I love her with all my heart!! She keeps me young, keeps me laughing and always keeps me close to her heart! For that...I am eternally grateful; to my parents...for keeping at it until they got it RIGHT!!

Here is my gorgeous sister at the FABULOUS bridal luncheon she gave for that same little girl she used to catalog shop with...she is wearing the black lace top (yea! she's always been sexier than me, too) and she is standing with my lovely Daughter-in-law, my beautiful daughter and me...this is my fav picture of all of us...I actually for once in my life took a pretty decent picture (so DO NOT be fooled by this) and of course the other three ladies look smashing as always...these gals mean the world to me...and my sister is the BESTEST, MOST LOVING, and CRAZIEST of them all, I wouldn't change her for the world!! AND I will always carry her in my "heart".

HAPPY BIRTHDAY....LAURA MARIE....I LOVE YOU!!

*** Doesn't my sister have the most lovely of names???...her middle name is the same middle name that both grandma's had...isn't that a cool coincidence??? I always thought that was so incredible...it kind of made me think my parents were destined to be together (yea, I'm forever the romantic) BTW...the last picture was taken almost 3 years ago...so we all look younger...and that is how we like it!!!****

Prayers for my friends family

*****Update****Thursday...May 15th....Hallelujah!!!!*** Folks I just received this email from my friend's daughter and Aunt to Stone, the young lad we have all been praying for...this is such great news...I had to share it and THANK each of you that has remembered this family and young boy in your prayers...again, many, many thanks!!
***hallelujah!***
The doctors just came in and said, "Everything we
hoped for has happened!" Remember the three things we
specifically asked for in prayer:
1. No new bacteria would grow
2. The antibiotics continue to do its job
3. No extensive surgery

Well, all three prayers were answered! There is no
sign of new bacteria (it was only dead white blood
cells), the antibiotics are shrinking the abscess and
they are not scheduling the extensive surgery.
Stone will be in the hospital for only three more days
and be back next week for another CT scan.

We are rejoicing!

I ask that you please keep praying that the
antibiotics will completely rid the abscess on the
brain...That it continues doing its job. I will give
you an update next week. Thank you for walking this
journey with us....we couldn't do it without you.

Love to all,
Lindsay and family

******************************************************************************************




A few months ago many of you may remember reading about a dear friend that lost his short battle with cancer. We have known his family for over 20 years and they are very dear to me and my family. Folks I need for all you prayer warriors to keep this sweet family in your prayers. Our friend who passed away and his lovely wife Barbara have 4 incredible children...all of whom are married with families of their own. There oldest daughter, Kimberly (who along with one of her sisters used to babysit our kids) has a son named Stone...Stone is 12 years old....On May 1st I received an email from Stone's aunt informing us that he had been stricken with a very rare bacterial infection of the brain...long story short...he had been having migraines for a few weeks, the doctors could not figure out what was causing them...then sadly Stone went into a Grand Mal Seizure...he was rushed to one of the top Children's Hospitals in the area...and it was determined after brain surgery that he had a very aggresive bacteria attacking the frontal and temperol lobes of his brain (two seperate abcesses). The doctors gave Stone a 1% chance of surviving the surgery...and were told if he did survive he most likely would have brain damage and not remember his family. Well, every one dropped to their knees and starting praying for him...miracles of miracles...Stone woke up from the surgery less than 12 hours after the procedure...but due to the fact he had tubes coming in and out of him he could not speak! He motioned for the nurses to let him have pen and paper...he looked up and his parents...wrote on the paper..." I love you guys" and then pulled them to his chest...YES, through God's grace...Stone had beaten the odds and soon was recovering at home with an antibiotic pump implanted so he could continue to be treated for the bacteria for the next 6 weeks. He was humbled by all the prayers, cards, visits and emails he had received and was very, very grateful!

Today I received another email from Stone's aunt asking for prayers and for us to ask God to perform another miracle. It seems that the bacteria has built up a resistance to the antibiotic and has mutated into another type of bacteria that will not respond to the current course of antibiotics. Today, they started him on a different round of treatments and the doctors are giving it till 1:00 p.m. CST tomorrow to show improvement. At that time...they will make an incision behind his ear to drain the fluids that have built up on his brain...if they see no improvement they will have to do a much more extensive surgery involving scraping away all the bacteria and damaged tissue from Stones frontal and temperol lobes of his brain where the abscesses are in these 2 seperate areas! Folks...we need prayers for the antibiotics to work and for Stone to NOT have to endure the more extensive surgery. I don't think the docs are as optimistic as they were before when they deemed him the "miracle boy"...but we all know he is strong, he is loved...and he is a child of God...and that miracle can and will happen. I ask you all to please remember them in your prayers...he is a remarkable young man...he even told his parents that during the first surgery he felt the presence of his grandfather (our friend Tommy) with him...he could feel Tommy's hand upon his head...of course this just shows me what a connection he not only has with his grandfather...but that God is in control here...he is comforting Stone...and showing him the will to live.

Thanks for indulging me in my prayer request...I could not have posted about anything else until I knew we had exhausted every possibly source of prayer out there...thanks so much and I will update when I know something. I am praying for a miraculous outcome!

Thanks again...

Spring cleaning...and "COOL" letters...

For some reason I have been a bit remiss in doing my normal spring cleaning...I have planted most all the plants in their prospective areas and have spruced up the outside on the most part...but I have been totally "slacking" and I'm just dragging on the whole inside of the house "spring cleaning" prospect...FINALLY I think the bug has bitten me ( or was that a mosquito?)...I've spent a good portion of this weekend getting some much needed things cleaned up...starting with bathing the dogs ( I do this most every week or so but sometimes...it just takes me a lot to go there)...then deep, deep cleaning the dogs sleeping quarters...yuck!! aka...the utility room...my vehicle...and now some closets and drawers...not to mention some deep cleaning in the "high traffic" areas...so lots of dusting, mopping, vacuming...some major deep cleaning going on here! I clean every week...but deep cleaning...hmmmm...not so much until the spring/summer and then the fall/winter months!! Hopefully, this momentum will just keep growing over the coming weeks...but I'm afraid it's going to stop for a while because of my friends sons wedding...and you know I have to help out with THAT...yep...any excuse not to spring clean...I knew that was going to happen!

For me sometimes it just takes getting something new or re-arranging a room to get me JUMP STARTED...One of the things that has inspired me to "get with it" this past week is getting these....some really cool pictures of old letters that my daughter sells on ETSY...I decided I wanted something clever to hang in my craft room! Am I the only one out here that gets excited and then does a total re-do when I find something like this??...I mean seriously I am going to re-do my entire sewing room...b/c of these letters...but I never need an excuse to re-do something and my craft/sewing room is in DIRE need of a re-do...so it is great timing that I got these...I happen to LOVE them and of course I love the artist/photographer a little bit, too!! A friend of mine did the whole take on the word "sew" in her sewing room years ago, I've decide to "borrow" her idea and frame these babies and hang them up to enjoy every day!!! I love words in a room and my craft room is so eclectic...I thought I would do the whole "sew" thing in there to liven it up...isn't this just the most clever idea!!!! I can say that b/c I did not come up with this idea...but I love it none the less...and I am SEW using it!!








For a look at some of the other letters and word phrases that my daughter sells....you can check her out at her ETSY site

www.jacquelynlee.etsy.com She has other pictures, too...but I like the letters...she is trying to get some more photos up...so keep checking back!! OR her official photography web-site at www.jacquelynlee.com

Also, I want to express my heartfelt "THANKS" to Kim at TodaysCreativeBlogspot....she is such a doll as many of you know...she so graciously featured Jackie's website and new business venture on her site a week or so ago (I would have thanked her sooner...but I had this whole Mr. Blog issue going on)....my daughter was elated...she called me the very day...I think the very minute that she saw it on Kim's site...So thank you, thank you, thank you Kim...for being such an advocate for young ladies getting starting in a new venture or for anyone who is blessed with the creative gene...she really does an awesome job in not only promoting new talent and keeping up with the latest fun things...she is just the most awesome lady...she is funny, talented and very dedicated to her family and she LOVES life...I think she is my long lost baby sister...I love her...you can check her out if you haven't yet...she is at www.todayscreativeblog.blogspot.com or her personel blog at www.scrap-to-my-lu.blogspot.com
Hope you are all having a great weekend...and I hope that I am able to finish up my spring cleaning before summer or fall rolls around...I REALLY have lots to do...not only cleaning...but re-organizing and just getting rid of a lot of things. My desire is when our new home is complete (which has not started quite yet...I'll update that later)that I will have everything done to this home that is needed...and I will just have to mop, vacumn and dust...then put her on the market....hey! a girl can "DREAM" can't she...OH!! by the way...that is a word my daughter sells on ETSY..."DREAM"...it is so cool...check it out.