Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Sister update…

Tears, heartache, love, family, togetherness, suffering, doctors, nurses, hospitals, snow, ice, long day….and more….

Cindy has a long ways to go but in the end should start feeling human again. Should start to learn to take care of herself and be healthy.

Our trip was a long one this morning. It started out like this yesterday…

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After driving in this for 140 miles we arrived…

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Cindy is well taken care of at the UofM. She is in Cardiovascular ICU until probably tomorrow. Then a regular room until she’s released. It’ll be a while, sometime next week I’m expecting.

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My sister, my little sister. Please pray for her, not only to heal from this but to finally learn that there are so many that love her that she needs to learn to take care of herself.

Thank you everyone, for all your prayers and words of comfort and support.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Ideas….

It’s Christmas time and I’ve been thinking and thinking of things to give my hubby for Christmas. He’s not your typical businessman. Oh he takes a laptop to work occasionally, he does a lot of paperwork at home from work so instead of a folder or box I’m going to get him a briedfcase.
CSN has an amazing bunch of stores that offer all kinds of different things but I was looking at their briefcases and think I have found a couple really cool ideas.

Do you need any ideas for those hard to give for people? CSN Stores have over 200 stores to choose from. Take a bit of time to check them out and find that perfect gift.

I hope you all are enjoying this holiday season. Life can be difficult at times but this is the season to try and relax and enjoy all the lights, festivities and all that this holiday offers. Take care my friends and God Bless you all!!

My wee blessings…

We had our daycare Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. I took the cutest blessing photo ever.

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I asked the kids when they were finished to give me 30 things that they are feel they are blessed with, check out this list…

1. Life 2. God 3. Turkey 4. Jesus 5. Food 6. Mom and Dad 7. Sister 8. Family 9. School 10. Brother 11. Julie 12. Daylight 13. Love 14. Swimming 15. Church 16. Cars 17. Brain 18. Blankie and Baby Jaguar 19. Austin and Scooby 20. Stores 21. Lego’s 22. Toys 23. Homes 24. Cameras 25. Dogs 26. Animals 27. Outdoors 28. Christmas 29. Reindeer 30. Holiday

Extra credit 31. Trees 32. Birds

It was a treat to hear them think and listen to each other. Just darn cool!!

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My big blessing and “his” Hannah. She just loves Mike so much. It is fun watching these two screw around and just laugh.

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Lego’s everywhere. They have so much fun creating, sharing and arguing. The things they come up with are amazing at times.

This was our Thanksgiving as a daycare. It was truly a blessing. I am so blessed to have such wonderful kids and parents that let me be part of their lives.

I hope you are having a great Thanksgiving weekend. I shampoo rugs today and rearranged furniture so that we can put up our Christmas tree this week. I’m excited, I so love the pretty lights.

Take care my friends and God Bless!!

Friday, November 26, 2010

Prayers please….

My sister is in the hospital again. Her gall bladder is about to burst. It’s full of all the nasty stuff you could imagine. She’s been sick again for the past two weeks, off and on, and had an ultra sound last week and they told her about her gall bladder. Her platelets are so low they are afraid to operate. I don’t know anything else, I just know she needs your prayers.

Thank you guys. God Bless you all!!



Update: They took Cindy by ambulance to the cities to the UofM, Fairview hospital. Our surgeons up here just didn't want to risk such a tricky operation on Cindy and felt she could get the care and the expertise down there. The doctor my daddy talked to said that they can get, do, have anything Cindy needs in a 10 minute window so we are comfortable with her there. They are running tests galore on her to see just how to take care of this. I am not sure if I'm going to the cities this weekend or waiting for mid week when there is something she may need or want.
I will keep you posted and I so, and my family, apprecaite all the love and prayers headed our way.
Take care my friends, God Bless!!

Update #2: Cindy talked to her surgeon today. They will be taking her gall bladder on Monday. Since she is at such a high risk of infections or bleeding to death they are weighing all the options before just jumping right in. I am so happy she is at such a wonderful hospital. Oh we have a great one up here too but nothing compares to all the people in the cities that are there for such high risk people. I am taking mama and daddy down on Tuesday to see her. It will have been 5 days since they got to hug and hold their daughter and they need that. Me too since I love my sister so.
Thank you all for all your prayers and words of concern and support. You do not know just how much it is appreciated and loved. Thank you!
Take care everyone and God Bless!!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Greetings001

God didn’t promise life would be easy or have no challenges but he did promise us lots of love and blessings along the way. May you and yours have the most blessed Thanksgiving.

Thessalonians 5:18  "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God."

Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Bible Trivia: Did you know that Psalms 107:1 and 1 Chronicles 16:34 are the same verse? KJV

1 Chronicles 16:34 “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.”

Psalm 107:1 "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."

Monday, November 22, 2010

I want to craft!!!

Beaded Recycled CD Ornament

I want to have the kids try these for parents gifts. Aren’t they cool? It’s a CD painted and then wrapped with wire and beads. I know my littlest can’t do this but Rachel and Abby could.

Handmade Ornaments

We are going to make these for parent gifts. I love this idea too. I think since last year the bath salts were a hit we’ll make some of them too.

I think this would be something my littlest ones can do and I think we’ll add a bead in-between each loop. Just to add some bling.

I got all these ideas off of the Family Fun website my mama sent me.

I also need to make a special someone a charm bracelet. So gotta get to work on that. So it’s crafting time. Tomorrow we’ll work on something. I have just Hannah and Justin tomorrow so we’ll make something.

I also saw at Menard yesterday a canister painted really cool. I have an old cook canister I think I’ll give a try doing something with.

I’ll share whatever we come up with. Hey I have a question? Last year at this time of year there were ornament challenges, Christmas card exchanges and more, for some reason I’m not seeing them this year. Has anyone seen any? Last year the daycare kids participated in a really cool card exchange. We made 10 cards and sent them all over the world and we got 10 cards from all over the world. Maybe if I can’t find one I’ll have to host something like that. Interested?

So that’s what’s got my mind spinning. How are your plans coming for the holidays? Got your shopping started?

I hope that you all are having a blessed week. Take care my friends.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Daycare day….

Well I told you it was going to be busy. So here’s what just a portion of our day was about.
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Wilbur's jammies. The ones he outgrew Hannah wanted on and the ones Wilbur wears when we go camping because he gets so cold.

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Wilbur getting dressed by Rachel to greet the boys after school. I love the picture of him and the two boys but the most precious is the look from his couch. “Can’t this just end now?”

Then to top our day off, I needed to haul in wood and the kids wanted to help. Here’s what they came up with, on their own, to help me.

And the final picture…

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So that ends a very long but good week. Take care everyone and have a safe and blessed weekend.

A story….

Remember awhile back I told you I had a story that was a family one? It is a story that was started out by my mama. She is the greatest story writer and one year she wanted to write one and then have me finish it. So I did my part and finished the story. Well the following year Mike needed a story for creative writing. Since he’s not a great one for starting a story he talked to the teacher and told her about the story we as a family were writing. She told him if he could add his part onto the story she’d except that. Well he got an A on it along with mama and I. The teacher loved it and shared it with the school’s newspaper and I have been thinking about sharing it with you. Well when I decided to, of course, I couldn’t fine it anywhere’s. Mike had destroyed all high school stuff because he wasn’t going there again so I asked mama. My mama saves everything when it comes to Mike and his writing, reports, stories and so on. So without going on and on more about this, here is my mama’s, mine and Mike’s story. A three generation story….

The Town Called Grunge

A husband and wife were on vacation and enjoyed visiting small towns. They came upon a town called Grunge and decided to stay and visit. The husband and wife weren’t much for striking up conversation just enjoyed looking in windows and watching the people of the town. However in this town the people seemed so different. No one acknowledged their presence, not even a “hello” or a “howdy”, and they all walked with their heads down like there was a wind storm, all though it was a sunny, clear day. This made the couple very curious as there weren’t any frills either, no people chatting, no kids playing in the streets, no pets running around. It was just very strange.

They decided that since they were so hungry they’d look for a place to eat. They found a diner but it had that terrible Grunge look. You couldn’t see through the door window which was cracked and ready to fall out, the windows were so dirty and the flyers that were in the windows seemed to be so old. But being hungry and a lack of any other place to go, they entered. As they were walking in the door they had to dodge a ladder that seemed to go to the roof, but figured they were having repairs done, which not only the roof needed! They found a couple of waitresses and a cook working in the kitchen as though they were cooking for a crowd. The couple sat down in a booth and no one came out to take their order. They waited a good 30 minutes just watching and trying to hear what the waitresses and cook were talking about. They waited for another 10 minutes and finally the husband said “we’d like to order”, no one even turned in their direction, it seemed as if they didn’t hear them or care, so the couple got up to leave. They got to the door and found it locked and as they looked back they saw what they thought was a child’s hand and wondered what was in that huge pot they were cooking. But there wasn’t much time to wonder because the waitresses and cook started walking towards them as if they were in a trance. They had never seen such ugly people, kind of a gray color and eyes that bulged and they were caring knives. The couple looked out the door and the town’s people no longer had their heads down and they too were gray with bulging eye coming right at the diner with axes and knives. The husband and wife stood for seconds that seemed like years wondering what they could do, where they could run………….where to go.

The couple stood there for a few more seconds trying to put two and two together and then the husband grabbed his wife’s hand and headed for the ladder they had dodged on the way in. They weren’t quite sure where it would lead or what but they knew it would be away for these people, at least for a little bit. The door was still locked but had a dead bolt so they turned the knob.

As they climbed the ladder it seemed to just go on and on and when the man’s wife looked down there was no on following them. They slowed their ascend and climbed into a room that was very dark and it smelled terrible. They didn’t want to go back down, they didn’t was to go in but having no choice they headed in looking for a light switch. As they stumbled around a bit they could hear noises but couldn’t make anything out, it was kind of like muffled screams or something like that. They finally found a light switch and just as they were about to turn it on…..it happened…someone yelled “HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!” The couple just stood with their mouths opened and once it sunk in that they weren’t about to become soup they started to laugh. The town’s folks do this every year and they did apologize for terrorizing the couple. Once things had settled down they were able to enjoy “Grunge Day” with the town folks. Oh and the smell, it was from everyone taking their shoes off so there weren’t any noises and it was the sock stink.

The towns’ festivities included some really weird games and activities the couple had never seen or heard about but that didn’t keep them for having a great time. There were games like, hit the pumpkin with a tomahawk, find the scarecrow, pin the hat on the kids, and all sorts of different games. The food was really strange too. Remember the child’s hand in the soup? Well it also had eye balls, ears and toes. All made from pasta. When all the games were completed and all the food was gone there was just one more thing to do, to go on a hay ride. You know the kind in the dark, through the forest, not knowing where you are or where you’re going.

The couple were a bit frightened to take this ride. They had only met these town folks a few hours before and really just wanted to head out of town to the nearest motel. But because they had been treated like family they decided to be part of this hay ride. There were pumpkins lining the road, there were lighted ghosts in the trees and at first this seemed like it would be a romantic hay ride but the further they got into the forest the less lighting there was and the more woods noises they heard. The people started to get really quiet and seemed to start acting just a little off. The people started to moan and sway a bit. It got darker and darker and soon they couple couldn’t even see each other, all they could do was press closer together. Then all of a sudden…………

So there you have it. Now there’s room for another generation to add to it one year. Or maybe a nephew or daycare wee one. Or maybe even you if you’d like to add to it and send me your part. The only thing I ask is, this is a Bill/Riley story we are sharing with you, please don’t copy it and say it’s yours.

Now it’s onward and upwards to the weekend. I am ready. Take care and God Bless you all my friends.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Turkey's

There’s this kind…

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Or this kind…

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The first kind taste good but but the second kind were funner to make. The kids loved doing these. Even Hannah made one with just a tad bit of help.

I am so tired this week. It’s been a long, busy week and tomorrow is Friday. TGIF!!! I love the kids, I love everything we do but I’m tired. I haven’t started any day this week before 8:00 which has been fantastic for getting my house in order each morning. I’m not done until 6:45 or so each evening so it’s a bit late with extras for dinner but no complaining there either because this is my life and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I’m just tired.

I’m looking forward to the weekend. It’s finally winter and no more gardening, lawns, outside work that has to be done so it means I can do some crafting, sewing, relaxing or maybe even napping. I have stuff planned for both Saturday and Sunday mornings but the afternoon/evenings are clear. I have a charm bracelet I need to make for a dear friend and a earring that I need to try and make a mate from from an older customer that lost one. I’d like to start measuring and sewing up some new living room drapes. So there’s ideas, lets see what will happen.

I hope that you have the most blessed Friday and a terrific, relaxing and enjoyable weekend. Take care my friends.

What happens in Heaven when we pray?

I dreamt that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around. We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels. My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, 

'This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received.  I  looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world.  

Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section.    The  angel then said to me, "This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked

for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them." I noticed again how busy it was there.  There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth.   

Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of a very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing. "This is the Acknowledgment Section, my angel friend quietly admitted to me. He seemed embarrassed."  How is it that there is no work going on here? ' I asked.   
"So sad," the angel sighed.  "After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments."  

"How does one acknowledge God's blessings? " I  asked.
"Simple,"  the angel answered. Just say, "Thank you, Lord. " 

"What blessings should they acknowledge?"  I asked.   

"If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy. "  
"And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who has that opportunity."  
"If you woke up this morning with more health than illness. You are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day. "   
"If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation. You are ahead of 700 million people in the world." 
"If you can attend a church without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the world."
"If your parents are still alive and still married, you are very rare."  
"If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm, you're unique to all those in doubt and despair."

Ok, what now, You are thinking?  How can I start?  
If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you as very special and you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.


Have a good day, count your blessings. God Bless you all my friends!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

I delivered two babies yesterday…

I was so excited. It was so cool. Now I’ve done it once before when the baby was breach and had to go in and turn it but it was so great. I just had to help the mama push and Mark helped pull just a bit and out popped a baby, then two and then three. Sorry to say #2 went to heaven to play but #1 and #3 are happily drinking and crying.

Can you guess what I’m talking about? Here’s I’ll show you….

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Meet the mama.

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And babies #1 and #3. Number #3 is doing a bit better then #1 but I think it’ll be okay when mama’s milk comes in better.

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Now I told Mark that these are my babies but they get to eat, poop and live at his house. I just want to be mama2 and get to name them. I told the kids next week we’ll give them names (just making sure the kids don’t fall in love (too late for me) with something that just might not be here next week).

Isn’t life grand. I oh so love these baby goats. I love the way they sound, I love the way they nuzzle, I love the way they love you back. There are times I wish I had a goat but they do grow up, like puppies and then aren’t quite as cuddly and cute but still loving.

Just had to share you all. I hope that you are having the most blessed day possible. I just got a call from a daycare parent, they are coming out to visit after school. YEAH!!! I love my girls. Well I love them all really!!

Take care and God Bless!!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Just pictures….

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Today I took the kids for a ride to do some errands. Here is some of the sites we saw. The last two pictures the house across the lake is my parents and the one with the cow is my uncles. My favorite, the old school house. I have a soft spot for these places and love seeing them.

Just thought I’d share these with you. Hope you all had a terrific and blessed day.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Snow…snow…but…

It is beautiful, even though it’s not my favorite thing. Well really I don’t mind the snow, it’s the cold and I even get use to that after a bit. I refuse to wear a winter coat until it really is cold, I just put on a t-shirt under a sweatshirt for a while longer. Anyways here are a few pictures I took this morning. I love the beauty God left us this morning.

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I have a busy daycare week, M-F from 8-6:30 each day. An outing tomorrow and a surprise trip to MickyD’s, Tuesday a visit with great grandma, Wednesday is library day plus 3 after school kids, Thursday is our day to paint and play, Friday is a 1/2 day of school so that means a house full after lunch. I love it all. I love “my” kids.

It’s my nephew’s birthday this week too. He’ll 16. WOW time flies. We’re going to my sisters for a party Tuesday night, really a family get together to celebrate Scott. It’ll be great being together for a bit.

I hope that you all have a great week. I’ll be back to share what’s happening in the Life of Riley. God Bless you all!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Wood, wood and more wood…but….

Done, I am finally done putting up 12 cords of wood. Yes, I do 99% of it alone, no it doesn’t matter. I work from home and keep our house warm is my job. Keeping it cool in the summer is Jim’s, the $300.00 electric bill. I use to be the one to go out and cut it, split it and stack it. Now I’m lucky enough that people owe us money so they cut it, split it and deliver it by dump truck so all I have to do is stack it, cover it and then burn it up. It’s still tons of work stacking up 12 cords of wood. It is in four different huge piles.

Here…..

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Here…..

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here….

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and here…

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Here was today’s pile…going…going…stacked….

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Now for all my married life except for 8 years of driving truck I have done this wood, not a problem just my job. Today I had fun doing it, you know why? I listened to my itouch with my work out music and it went by much easier then ever plus I jigged, I jumped, I danced and sang at the top of my lungs. Think of the calories I burned off. Why have I never done that before? I usually just count the pieces of wood I put away. 1,2,3,4…..199,200,201…300,301,302…500…well you get the idea.

I know that tonight I am sore, even my stomach muscles are sore and I did hurt my left shoulder stacking the wood way above my head but it’ll heal now that there’s no more wood left. Now it can snow, sleet or whatever the Lord has in store for us and we’ll be warm. I’ll have unlimited hot water, a heated garage and a heated workshop and a house that is a constant 70* no matter if it’s 30 above or 30 below.

Okay, enough for now. I hope that you have a warm safe house, a place to go in all types of weather, a place you can call your own. I am truly blessed to call my house a home.

Take care my friends. Have a blessed weekend.