How my town is like The Jeffersons...

Well we're movin' on up....

Lake Jackson just got a new business... Let's see who can guess what it is. 

That's right! Starbucks, my friends. 

That crazy, more addictive than crack, pick me up when I fall in the morning, drink of goodness is just 3 miles away from my home. 

That is all. 

Everybody's painting for the weekend!

I am no artist. 

Let's be honest. I love crafting and I love being creative, but as a painter, I fall painfully short. 

We live in a small town here is South Texas. Please understand, we are not riding horses to a one room school while Pa tends to the farmin' and Ma cooks the cornbread. We live close to the beach, have tons of stores and restaurants, but we have very few things to do for kids and families. 

My friend, Phoebe has been working on opening up one of those painting classes for quite some time now and is so very close to opening. She has a place in mind and is working to make sure all of her business ducks are in a row. 

Now, she is doing parties to get the word out, so my friend Carmela hosted a party at a local Italian restaurant so that we could eat, chat, and paint. 

We had a blasty blast. I am ok with how my artwork turned out, because this was a pretty difficult painting. But fun!

The first thing was that I got to see this awesome lady. She is just lovely and I never get to see her enough!!

 Then we just got to spend time laughing at how crazy hard but fun this was...

 Here is mine about half way through the painting...

Carmela's, Susan's, and Angela's all in a row...

 Break time...

My finished painting is on the right and Savannah's is on the left

And this is our finished products!

This was the group of myself and my friends, as well as my mother and some of her friends... and a couple-o-friends' kids :)

I can't wait until she gets a place because it will give us a place to go for some fun and it gives kids a chance to have parties there as well. Creativity at it's finest...

3rd grade research project....Character Can

When I was in elementary school at the same school that Jansen attends, we had to do a presentation, in character, of a famous historical figure. I was Helen Keller. It was a fun project to research the individual, write a biography, and then dress up and present it to the school.

Jansen came home yesterday with a project they have been working on and a Pringles can. Their assignment at home is to create a famous historical character out of the Pringles can. Guess who he got?

Helen Keller!

Oh don't let your 8 year old use a glue gun!

He made the skirt too short so it doesn't go all the way around the can. We don't need any wardrobe malfunctions! :)

I think it looks like Whoopie Goldberg but Jansen thinks it looks just like Helen Keller. It's all good...he's in the 3rd grade!

Happy Easter 2014!

Well, another Easter is in the books. We had a fantastic day. My husband was actually off work this holiday and we loved having him with us. 

We colored our Easter eggs and got everything ready...

The Easter bunny showed up...

We headed for church...

We went to celebrate with my husband's family...

And then we went to celebrate with my parents...

It was a day of faith and family. What a wonderful day!

Jansen's 3rd grade program

Last night, my youngest son, Jansen had his 3rd grade music program. It was adorable!

Jansen even had a speaking part and his body just couldn't contain his excitement. 

Love this kid!

Post op doctor visit

Monday, I woke up feeling great. My swelling had gone down quite a bit and I was ready to drive myself to Houston for my follow up appointment. 

Now, by the time I got to Houston, an hour away, I was beginning to feel uncomfortable. I was, after all, only 13 days out from surgery and this was my first real outing. I was there almost 2 hours and got a pretty good report. 

She went over the pathology report which included: small fibroids, adenomyosis, endometriosis, adhesions, and finished with the removal of my uterus, cervix, and fallopian tubes. She assured me that, in the case of the adenomyosis, nothing they could have done short of the surgery would have helped me. I felt really validated! I am to be taking it easy for the next two weeks and I go back on May 6th for the final follow up. If everything looks good at that time, then I am cleared to resume all my normal activities. 

As of now, I am still unable to take a bath, exercise, lift anything heavier than 10 pounds, or sweep, mop, or vacuum. I REALLY want to take a bath!!! 

Today is day 17. I have some remaining aches, occasional sharp twinges, and a bit of cramping. In the morning I feel the best and as the day rolls on I get more tired and swelly. I am taking a nap every day and am still in bed before 9pm. I am not really going out places unless I have to, mainly because I want to make sure I don't over do it. I have done too much a few days and I pay for it dearly. 

Going to feel better soon!

Post Hysterectomy...the first 2 weeks

I have had many people private message me about how I got my hysterectomy, what to expect, and how the recovery goes.

Everyone says the same thing....rest, relax, and don't overdo it. This is very true. 

The first week I did take my pain meds (Norco) but I was only taking three per day. The pain wasn't really sharp and stabbing, but I mainly felt achy, bloated, and sore. I got up twice a day to walk around my house several times. I was slow and felt very out of breath, but it felt good to be up and moving. 

I stopped taking my pain meds over the weekend, so I haven't had anything in week...not even Motrin or Tylenol. 

On Friday, day 10 my husband went back to work and I drove the kids to school. I totally felt like I could do it, but it did prove to be more uncomfortable than I had expected. Saturday, I took the kids to the mall to get a couple pair of jeans, we went to Hobby Lobby to get a few things, and then I took them to tennis lessons. By the time I got home I know it was too much. I was feeling quite achy and exhausted and promptly feel asleep while my children played video games. 

So today is day 12. I feel more comfortable although my abdomen is still quite swollen. I am wearing my binder just because it makes me feel better and helps reduce the swelling a bit. I am in a weird mental state where I feel like I want to go to so many things, but I am really not able to. I want to take a bath, I want to go shopping, I want to start exercising...none of which I can do yet. Tomorrow is my follow up visit with my surgeon, so I am looking forward to see what progress has been made and what new things I can do. 

I just want to thank my friends for all the prayers and well wishes, flowers, and meals provided for us since my surgery. 

My friends got together to provide us meals for the entire first week home. This was a fantastic idea, and here is what our first week home looked like:

Wednesday: My mother-Chicken Pot Pie
Thursday: My mother-Chicken and Dumplings
Friday: My cousin, Wendy-Taco soup, chips, and chocolate pudding
Saturday: My friend, Carmela-Lasagna, salad, and garlic bread, and ice cream
Sunday: My friend, Savannah-Chicken spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, and brownies
Monday: My friend, Crystal-Chicken casserole
Tuesday: My friend, Sonya-Tator tot casserole and salad

AND my friends, Amanda and Cindy each provided a gift card to Chick-fil-A, which is a favorite of my family!

We are blessed and thankful! I can't wait to be back to normal and to have this surgery be a distant memory!