Kidney Stone..

A very short post...I just got home from the hospital. I was admitted Saturday morning with a kidney stone. I knew I'd been under the weather...and I kept thinking I was trying to get a bladder infection for the last couple of weeks. Well it progressed into unbearable pain on Friday and by Saturday morning I had my Dad take me to the hospital. The cat scan showed a kidney stone in my left ureter. On top of that my hemoglobin is extremely low. It was 8.3 when I left the hospital this afternoon. I still haven't passed the stone so they've sent me home with a cup and strainer to strain my pee. I probably won't be on for a while...I'm going to try to rest and take it easy...which is very hard for me :)
Sam is still sick too....he's been coughing quite a bit. Please continue to remember my family in your prayers. It seems when it rains around here..it pours....
I'll try to check in with a post in a day or too..if I'm able..
Love to All.........Jerelene

Hello! sniffles, new friends, knitting and pen pals :)

Hello to everyone!
It has been so busy around here. We've had sickness and all kinds of troubles...toilets not working, roof leaking, heater not working...it's been crazy and seems to continue with this trend. My Dad came and fixed the heater...so that's one down and a big THANK YOU to my dear Dad :)
Sam was sick with a head cold...and Mark too. Both of the girls had sniffles too. I had a little sniffly nose, but mostly just aching neck and sore throat. My neck always hurts me...but when I'm sick..it's really sore. It seems to settle in my neck when I'm ill. I'm feeling better and so is everyone else...still some sniffling but everyones better. I still have to worry about Sam though. He tends to go into sinus infections frequently after being sick..I'm hoping we'll sail through this time...:)
My oldest daughter works at one of the local nursing homes. I had been wanting to do some kind of volunteer work or just something helpful...(community service type stuff)with Sam. After she had started working there, it came to mind that maybe Sam and I could adopt a grandparent. Now...we're not really calling it that to her...but I went in and asked and Elizabeth and the nurses found the sweested lady for us :) Her name is Barb and she only has one relative that lives states away. She doesn't get much as far as visitors...but she is really sweet. She sales Avon to the people in the nursing home. When Elizabeth went in and asked her if she might like some new friends and told her about Sam...she got very excited. She wanted to know his name and how old and when were we coming...Sam is extremely excited as well. I understand that her room mate is very sweet too, so we may be making some new friend(s)..There is couple of sweet gentleman there too. One is a veteran and he and his room mate always talk to Elizabeth and are very kind too. I am hoping Sam gets the chance to talk to them too. Oh the stories that they could tell. The stories my Grandma used to tell me were just so wonderful!!
I just want Sam to be very well rounded person and be able to be around our lovely senior citizens there and not be afraid. He has a lot to offer them...and I know they have a lot to offer him too.
They have a grand piano there and have told me that I can come play anytime...I'm hoping Sam and I can play violin and cello for them too. I think that will be good for him :)
I've asked about joining our local homemakers extension group. It's something I've wanted to find out about for a long time. They've had an exhibit up at the library and today, at the library, I was knitting while Sam did his work...and a gentleman came up and started talking to me about his wife knitting and that she was in the homemakers extension group. I couldn't believe it! Talk about being in the right place at the right time. I gave him my name and number and he said his wife would call me and talk to me about it...I am so excited!!
I talked to one of the librarians that knit a lot...about doing a knitting class with her...I suggested teaching the basic knit stitch and using chunky yarn and needles and making scarves as Christmas presents. She loved the idea..so I'm hoping that we'll be doing that. The last time she had a class...Sam and I both went. (Sam can do the knit stitch...he actually made a scarf for himself!) As you can tell....I'm sure trying to keep myself busy....Is there a saying like..a busy heart is a happy heart? I'm definately trying:)
Could all my sweet pen-palers let me know if they've sent their partner a card? If they could let me know...I would appreciate it so much :)
I hope everyone's week has been a good one...
Tomorrow is co-op for Sam...a busy day ahead!
I've been trying to make my rounds to everyone...and I think I'm not getting everyone...if I've missed you...I'll come see you this weekend...I'll be thinking about you too! Would you believe it's raining here again? ARGHHH.....
Hugs to everyone....sorry no pics....I'll try to post some pictures this weekend...
With Love, Jerelene

Prayer Requests......

I've not known Janine long.....but I do know this......she is one amazing woman!! I ran across her blog Sniffles and Smiles...through some of my other sweet blogging friends. Ever since I started reading her blog, I have been amazed by her wonderful posts, her amazing strength and her wonderful and sweet personality :) I hope everyone will visit her page and leave a kind comment. My hope is that everyone will lift her up in prayer and pray that God will be with her every step of the way...through her surgery this week and afterwards also. I pray that she can feel the love of all her friends, even though some of us are miles away....
Praying for you Janine....

Also, if you could please at the same time, pray for Melanie's son Andrew at Bella Mella...it would mean a lot to me...he has been on my heart greatly for the last couple of weeks. I guess this touches me deeply because I have a son the same age....

Please pray for both of them, and everyone else here that we blog with too. I think in these days, there are so many hardships and trials, sicknesses and suffering....we all need prayer....I know I do :)

Janine and Melanie(Andrew too).....please know that you are in my thoughts and prayers.....

With Love.......

Jerelene

A lovely monday!

Happy Monday Evening!!
I hope everyone had a wonderful day and that the sun was shining where you are!! It actually was shining here...and it was wonderful :) We've had so much rain here lately, that it was truly a blessing to see the beautiful sun shining in the sky!!
Our school day was a good one, and we even took a lunch break to meet my Mom and her friend out for mexican food. Sam is doing well and is moving along nicely on the cello. It is so fun getting my violin out and playing along with him..I LOVE it!!
We had a nice supper of chili (with our garden tomatoes and bell peppers.) It was yummy! We had some yummy cookies for dessert. It's been such a nice day here :)


I had a busy Sunday....working on something I wanted to do....and it was very nice!! I had saw a quilted scarf on another blog...and thought to myself that I would like to try my hand at it. I had a lot of fun with it! It is big....but I wanted it to be big and warm where you could really wrap up in it. It is really quilted, with batting on the inside and yummy corduroy on the back. I used the cutest little swirly floral stitch to quilt it.. I think it turned out really well and this was a starter for me...I hope to make some with snowman fabric and maybe something boyish for Sam...Elizabeth loves the orange...so this may end up going to her....Sarah loves pink....I think it would even be cute to put pockets on the bottoms with fleece lining....The ideas are endless for me! I can't wait!!
It's wrapped twice around Sarah's neck...so you can see it's pretty long...I haven't officially measured it yet...but I'm 5' 2 and when I held it up from the floor I held it over my head. It is so cozy and warm though. I can't wait to make more!! Have a Happy Night :)
I want to feel little,
more simple, more mild.
More like our blest parents,
and more like a child.
More thankful, more humble,
more lowly in mind,
More watchful, more pray'rful,
more loving and kind. Anonymous
With Love, Jerelene

Friday favorites (the night before!)

I'm not going to be home tomorrow...(Sam's homeschool co-op)..so I'm going to post some Friday favorites tonight! The weather here is ucky again! We are under a flood watch and a tornado watch is right next to us...I've seriously had enough of this rain...On to better things....The first picture is of a purse that my Mom bought for me last year. It is HUGE and is so nice if you're carrying books or knitting with you...I just love it...I love the colors and how it looks quilted. The angel pins are from my Mom :)
Next is a cute little frosty pumpkin that I got from our local dollar store this afternoon...I just love it!! It looks really cute with my pumpkin bears :)

This is my favorite find for the afternoon.....I had eyed it once before, and didn't get it...but I couldn't help myself today...it was marked down...which meant I definately should grab it...right?

It is just adorable and a really cute way to enjoy my yummy coffee with white chocolate mocha creamer :) and...it's a lovely addition to my small mug collection!
After posting the Dutch girl dish towels...I just knew I had to post these too! My Aunt Audrey made these for me...(she made the cross stitch cow pictures too..) They are absolutely adorable and you almost have to see them to appreciate the beautiful work that she did!
These are two of my favorites!! The one on the right has blue eyes! The one on the left has earrings! Aren't they just darling?

I better go for now as there are some really strong storms headed our way. I usually turn the computer off when it storms badly. I don't want it to get fried by the lightning..

You are ALL in my thoughts and prayers...

With Love, Jerelene

Pen Pals for October!

Hello Everyone! It's starting to look a little like Halloween....:)
We had a busy afternoon learning about Holland...it has been a lot of fun learning about this beautiful country. I wasn't lucky enough to get to visit there when I went to Europe (a long time ago)but, I would have loved to have went there. I have Irish, French and Dutch in my family-tree...so it has been a lot of fun reading all about it! They have some of the most beautiful castles there too.
Mark went out to the garden and brought this in for Sam. He won't eat it...but it was nice to see that the garden is productive. I actually cut this beauty up....and she was VERY spicy!! A little too much for me....The broccoli have little heads on them now...It was too wet for me to get in the garden and take any pictures...
I tossed our names around and came up with the new list for pen-pals. I thought it would be fun to have a fall theme or Halloween..whichever you prefer.

Linda & Marcy

Lori & Diana

Jackie & Bernie

Eileen & Jerelene (Me :)

If anyone doesn't want to do it this time then leave me a comment..If I don't hear then I'll assume everyone is still in :) If you need your partners address then just let me know :)

I have been having so much fun with this and I hope that you all are too!!I thought I would end the post with a silly picture of Mickey that Sam took..It's funny how it looks like he is sticking his tongue out at him!! He is always making us laugh :)

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1 With Love, Jerelene

I might be a redneck....

Happy Tuesday!! I hope everyone's had a good day! I got this e-mail and I really felt like I wanted to share it...
You might be a redneck if: It never occurred to you to be offended by the phrase, 'One nation, under God. 'You might be a redneck if: You've never protested about seeing the 10 Commandments posted in public places. You might be a redneck if: You still say ' Christmas' instead of 'Winter Festival. ' You might be a redneck if: You bow your head when someone prays.You might be a redneck if: You stand and place your hand over your heart when they play the National Anthem. You might be a redneck if: You treat our armed forces veterans with great respect, and always have. You might be a redneck if: You've never burned an American flag, nor intend to. You might be a redneck if: You know what you believe and you aren't afraid to say so, no matter who is listening. You might be a redneck if: You respect your elders and raised your kids to do the same. You might be a redneck if: You'd give your last dollar to a friend. If you got this email from me, it is because I believe that you, like me, have just enough Red Neck in you to have the same beliefs as those talked about in this email. God Bless the USA !
Ok...I saw this on facebook...I'm not going to comment on it...but I thought I would at least share it with you all.....feel free to comment....Honestly...I just don't even know what TO say.... be sure to scroll down and turn the music off first :)


I'm going to try to get a list together of names for the pen-pal exchange...I thought it would be nice to be able to send Halloween cards if we wanted..Then next month we'll have Thanksgiving. :) I'll have to look back and see who's pal'd with who so that everyone gets someone new...I'll try to do that this evening.....

I'm praying that your day is filled with the richness of God's blessings...

With Love, Jerelene....I'm leaving you with something a little more pleasant...actually, I just loved this!!

A sweet surprise!

Hello! It has been a pretty week here so far ...the temperature has been cool and we actually hit 40 degrees last night! I got the nicest surprise in the mail today. My sweet pen-pal for the month...Linda at Linda Lu's Been There Done That....didn't just send me a card...she sent a sweet little cow card (sorry it's a blurry pic )and.......
She sent me a cute little plaque......I LOVE what it says...I have been so blessed by having such sweet friends as all the villagers are :) and Linda....you are a blessing to me and I appreciate your friendship and kindness so much!! She actually cheated a little...she was only suppose to send a card...but I forgive her :) Thank You so Much!! For all the villagers that have Linda in their thoughts and prayers for her surgery...I actually spoke to her on the phone this evening. She seems to be doing well and is home recovering. I'll let her give everyone the details herself when she is feeling better and posts...but I asked if she would mind me telling everyone that I had talked to her and she said to tell everyone that she is doing well and appreciates all the thoughts and prayers....She is such a sweetie and I enjoyed talking with her so much!!

And she sent Sam these adorable Halloween decorations....Aren't they sweet? And they're sparkly too!! Sam was so surprised when he realized that they were for him...He loves them!!
It was so nice of her to think of Sam :)

I took a walk out in the yard yesterday and took a few pics. This is our Maple (I think it's a Maple) tree...It was the prettiest tree in the yard last fall. I am looking forward to seeing it in it's full glory :)
Mark's fall garden....cabbage, broccolli and he planted radishes and turnips too..You can tell we had a lot of rain over the last week or so......
And this is something that really makes me happy. Sam and I had planted Morning Glory seeds in jiffy pots in the spring. This Morning Glory plant is growing around the bottom of my old wind mill. I had just about given up all hope of it blooming. I happened to look out the kitchen window and low and behold.....I saw the most beautiful blue glow.....I quickly ran outside and proceeded to cheer and bellow like a child...I had really wanted to see this and had thought I wasn't going to get to....There seems to be a few more blooms coming on so I am very thankful. They are just so beautiful and exciting to see!! Isn't she pretty?

I'm hoping to maybe try to get names together again before Halloween for the pen-palers...if everyone would like that. I think it would be a lot of fun to send Halloween cards...what would everyone think about that? Just leave a comment and let me know :) I've been thinking about each and every one of you. You are in my thoughts and prayers daily and I feel so lucky to have such sweet friends as you!!

Across the miles though far apart, God's love joins us heart to heart.

With Love, Jerelene

Sam's 12 !!!

Sorry I've not checked in with everyone, but yesterday was just so busy I wasn't able to sit and post anything. The night before his birthday I was still busy at the sewing machine...
12 yrs. ago...this sweet little guy arrived. They pulled the pacifier out and then snap went the camera...I wasn't too happy. His little mouth didn't even get the chance to quit puckering :) He had the prettiest blond hair that looked frosted in the back. He was adorable....8 lbs. 6 oz. 22 inches...(he was my tiniest...all the rest were 9 pounds or more..) They take such cute pictures of the babies nowadays....they didn't then :( But he was a beautiful baby!!
He got even cuter...or we think so anyway :)

Here he was in preschool...He's the only one of my kids with blue eyes like his Daddy. I think that is what gave me the heartburn for 9 months....
And of course he grew and turned into a sweet 12 yr. old!! He got an mp3 player...
He also got some other little toys too....Then the oldest sister, Elizabeth...took Sam out for lunch at our local Mexican restraunt.

Burritos.....yum!!! Sam had fries with his...
Big sister sharing fried ice-cream with Sam. She really wanted the guys to come and sing Happy Birthday to him...then they smash the ice-cream and cool whip in your face...But Sam didn't want to do that...so she just got some and shared :)

Later.....for supper....out with Grandma to Cici's Pizza!! This is Grandma (my Mommy :)

Sam got some stuff for his train track from big brother and......

A new train from Grandma!

And....I know you've all been wondering....I DID get the quilt done the night before his birthday...And yes, he LOVES it ........

It was a good birthday for him....and I appreciate everyone that left comments..wondering if Momma got it done....thanks for the encouragement! I needed it :)

I got a call from the specialist's office who is suppose to do Sarah's surgery on Saturday morning. They said they had called the insurance people this morning and that they wouldn't authorize it because they had to have 48 hrs...to process and authorize and that Saturday didn't count. So unless I can straighten something out with them in the morning it looks like we may probably be rescheduling her surgery. She is pretty upset. I will find out for sure in the morning. A friend from our homeschool co-op reminded me this evening to keep in mind that God has his reasons for everything...so I'm trying not to be upset...but we've had this scheduled for 2 weeks. They should have took care of things in time....Oh well...

That's all for now...It has been a long day and we have co-op all day tomorrow. I've not felt well this week either...so I'll try to catch up and say hello to everyone this weekend...I apologize for not making my rounds...forgive me :)

"Your love has given me great joy and encouragement....." Philemon 1:7

With Love, Jerelene