Sometimes it is Too Much

Sometimes it feels like we are able to live our lives on an even keel and then other times it starts to feel like the odds are not in your favor. That is pretty much where I am right now. Yesterday I found out that my mother's dog, Sarah, who has been a part of our lives for the last fourteen years passed away.
I've also been dealing with a lot of pain from my TMD and that has been making it impossible for me to get a full night of sleep. It is wearing on me quite rapidly.

But still, there are things in my life that are very valuable to me and things that do make it possible for me to go on when it feels like the odds are quite against me. I'm lucky to have my two very beautiful children and my husband that does try my nerves sometimes, but is good to me overall.

I love thinking about those great times in my life when I'm struggling because that is the best thing that I can do to get through those dark moments. Easter is one of my favorite times of the year and that is why I choose to scrap pictures from Easter just after I found out that I was pregnant with Paul and when Kat was just three years old.

You were so cute during our Easter egg hunt this year. With every egg that you discovered, you had to run and show it to Nana.

For my layout I used Spring Pretty by Michelle Pieters.

One Year Ago Today

It never ceases to amaze me that our lives can be completely and irrevocably changed in just one minute. It was exactly one year ago today that we got the call from a surgeon that changed the lives of everyone in our family forever. It was the call where the surgeon called to let us know that the preliminary biopsy results from my husband's lymphectomy were back and they showed Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

This set into motion a series of events that I really wish that I could wake up from and realize that they were a bad dream, but that just isn't something that is possible. The only hope that I keep these days is that he is able to stay in remission and cancer will just be a part of our past. Financially, we've been almost devastated and our relationship has really suffered as well. But I know that we are both stronger people because of it and there isn't a day that I'm not thankful to get to spend time with Tom and the kids.

Those happy, carefree moments aren't something that we are really able to enjoy all that much now though because of the constant fear of cancer returning and having to go through it all over again. That is one of the reasons that my scrapbooking is so very important to me because it allows me to relieve the carefree moments and forget about our struggles for a little while.

My newest page is of some pictures that were taken five years ago of Paul and I on his first Mother's Day. I believe that the colors in Amanda Thorderson's Wax Nostalgic were perfect to go along with the mixture of feminine and masculine in my layout.

A couple of pictures of Paul (and me) on his first Mother's Day.
For my layout I used Wax Nostalgic by Amanda Thorderson

Kathryn

I really don't think that most parents are as lucky to have a daughter that is as wonderfully special as Kathryn is. She is nine years old now and wise well beyond her years. She does have her moments when she seems like your typical nine-year-old girl, but most of the time she seems like a young woman that is stuck in a little girl's body.
She is really into music and is learning to play the violin right now (she won't be old enough to start in the school orchestra until next year). She is a member of Girl Scouts of America and she is also an aspiring vet. I just know that she is going to have an amazing life as she continues to grow up.
The pictures in this layout are some that I took last week at the park when I was taking some Easter pictures of the kids and also my friend's kids as well. They really are the perfect images of her because they show that she is hard and soft at the same time.
For my layout I used Wax Nostalgic by Amanda Thorderson.

Easter thoughts

The Easter bunny came to visit my kids on Sunday and I certainly hope that he visited yours as well. Not only did Kathryn and Paul end up with an Easter basket loaded with toys and lots of candy, they also go to have an Easter egg hunt with A's kids at my mother's house. I think that Easter was a great success for all seven of the kids.

You see, spring break and Easter this year were hectic for us because I invited A's kids to spend all of spring break week with us. That meant a very noisy house for a family that is used to just the four of us being here.

On Good Friday we took all of the kids to Jacobson Park so that we could get some Easter pictures of them and the picture in my layout is the best one of Kathryn and Paul.

For my layout I used Spring Pretty by Michelle Pieters.

Thinking about those who are no longer with us

Since I was fourteen years old, March has always been a really difficult month for me. The reason for that is that my father passed away on March 2, 1995 after having spent nearly a month in a coma following a massive heart attack.

So, having a heritage type of scrapbook kit to work with this month has been a great form of therapy for me. Not only have I lost my father, I've also lost all of my grandparents, some friends and two children to miscarriage in my life. Thinking about all of these loved ones is something that has a tendency to bring me down.

Though we never lived really close to my grandparents, I was very close to my grandmother, Mary and I feel very lucky that she had the opportunity to meet both of my children (two of her oldest great-grandchildren) in her life. The day that we brought Paul home from the hospital she was able to hold him. It was less than a short week later and she was gone, but she had the opportunity to meet him. My grandfather passed away when I was just twelve years old, so I don't have quite as many vivid memories of him, but I do remember that I certainly did love him.

Some pictures of my maternal grandparents taken over the years.

For my layout I used Memories are Precious by Joyce de Jonge

Spring and Weddings are in the air

This week has been so beautiful outside that I've not been spending a lot of time at the computer. It is almost impossible to stay cooped up inside when the sun is shining and the birds are singing.

However, yesterday I did have to stay inside because my wonderful son attempted to set our house on fire. Luckily, all he lit was the bag of toilet paper and it was right by the fireplace so I could throw it in there before any damage was able to be done. He is still grounded today, so I'm inside again.

So, the spring season is traditionally thought of as the wedding season and that is when my parents were married, 34 years ago. I decided to scrap a page with their wedding picture using Joyce de Jonge's wonderful kit, Memories are Precious.

My mom and dad on the day that they were married along with the lyrics to their first dance song.

For my layout I used Memories are Precious by Joyce de Jonge

Happy St. Patrick's Day

May the luck of the Irish be with you. I hope that you remembered to wear your green today so that you don't get pinched.


Kathryn and Paul found these cool St. Patrick's Day shirts at Wal-Mart the other day and they both absolutely had to have them. I love the fact that they decided on matching t-shirts and they fit both of their personalities so well. I think that they are rockers stuck in bodies where their mother is more of a country girl.

I've also been doing some scrapping today. I dug out these old pictures of Paul when he was just over a year old. I'd scrapped them before, but that was when I scrapped everything in an 8 x 10 format. I changed over to 12 x 12 a little bit over a year ago and when I find the right kits, I've been rescrapping my old pages.

I absolutely love The Most Wonderful Place on Earth: Wild Mouse Scraps by Glenda Ketcham and find it really easy to use despite the fact that neither I nor the kids have ever been to Disney.

When Paul was little, he was convinced that slides were for climbing up, not sliding down.
For my layout I used The Most Wonderful Place on Earth: Wild Mouse Scraps by Glenda Ketcham.

Hope you are all having a wonderful St. Patrick's Day Weekend