Neurology Appt

  Bug had a neurology appointment to see how she has been doing on her medication for migraines.  It is a preventative medication, to help keep them at bay.  She has been have migraines for a number of years now, but has only been seeing a neurologist for the past 8 months.  I think it has really helped.  Before, we took Bug to just of primary care doctor.  She was put on just a general pain reliever which she had to take everyday.  It helped, but it also made her gain weight, which was not a great side effect.  But the migraines were worse.  Now that she is of a certain age, she is able to see an adult neurologist and a whole new field of medications are open to her.  She is on a new regimen that has almost completely eliminated the need for Aleve or Tylenol, etc.
  Every time Bug has an appointment, she has to fill out an assessment on how her headaches have been seen her last visit.  Each answer is assigned a point value and then the total is rated on a scale.  I am happy to say the last time she filled it out the assessment the total said she had no debilitating effect from her headaches.  This is a huge step for her!!!

  I am so happy we were able to find the right doctor and medications for Bug.  I know I have suffered from migraines for most of my life and there is nothing worse than one.  I would gladly take one of her headaches so she would not have to go through it.  But unfortunately, this is not the case.  She suffers from them just like me and my grandmother.  My mother said she never got migraines, but I know she had some terrible headaches, so I always wondered. 
  If you suffer from migraines, I really hope you seek help.  There is many different medications out there that can help.  I know I have to go through a lot of trial and error before I found the right mix.  Just be open and honest with you doctor when things are working and more importantly, when things are NOT! 

Love to all,   Sara

Polar Vortex 2014

  So I am hearing about this polar vortex. I think we are right in the middle of it!!!!  It is dang cold out!  Hopefully it will warm up soon! 

Love to all,   Sara 

New Year's Resolutions

 

 

  Do you make a list of resolutions every year?  Do you actually write a list or do you just think about thing you want to change and then promptly forget them?  I was always in the second bracket.  I thought of things I wanted to change and maybe even did for a week or two in January, but had forgotten by February 1st.

  This year I want to do things differently.  I don't know if I really want to call the things I want to change as resolutions.  They are more of things I want to do to have a better life for my family and myself, also to have more peace and a deeper meaning to our lives.

  So here are just a few things I will be trying to do in the new year:

• Cook supper at least 5 nights a week (the other nights we need to eat up leftovers, etc.)
• Read my Bible more and encourage Bug to read hers
• Keep a cleaner home
• Pack the Hubby's lunch every day
• Exercise more (of course)
• Do more family activities (even if it is going swimming in the backyard)
• Spending more time at the lake (a must!!!)
• Have at least a dozen freezer meals on hand at ALL times
• Find some  time to do the things I enjoy doing i.e. crafting
• Get my basement under control (if you could see my basement right now you would understand)
• Make every spot in my home a livable place.  It seems like we have a lot of STUFF (junk), that both the Hubby & I can't seem to get rid of.  Not anymore, I want to be albe to use all of my house, not just certain rooms or spots because the other rooms are so full of stuff! 

I think that is a pretty good  start.  Maybe I will add more to the list as I some of these things accomplished.  So what are your resolutions? 


Love to all,   Sara

Mother-In-Law is in a Manor

  The past few months have been very difficult for the family.  It was decided in the beginning of October to put my mother-in-law in a manor (old folks home).  She has been having health issues for a number of years, but it has gotten to a point where my father-in-law could no longer take care of her by himself.  There is guilty feelings in all of us for not being there more, but what can one do?

  My MIL has been having mini strokes in here brain for the past several years.  What this does is mimics Alzheimer's disease. She has also gotten to the point where I believe anyway, not that anyone else in the family agrees with me, she is having small stokes in her left leg and arm.  It is getting very hard to for her to walk.  Her left leg just doesn't want to move at all.  Her left arm has been bad for years.  

  I know that the stress of being responsible for my MIL needs have taken there toll on my husband and sister-in-law and father-in-law, also.  I do what I can but they don't want to but added stress on me because of my own health issues.  I took my MIL to the doctor the other day and the next day all I could do was rest, I was so tired from the day.  At least by taking her, we will have her evaluated for he possibility of a wheelchair.  I would hate to have her fall when we have her out for the holidays or something like that.  It is just so hard to know what to do.  I found the following quote on Facebook, I wish I could remember who had posted it.  It sums up what we need to remember when dealing with our older generation. 

Love to all,   Sara

HAPPY NEW YEAR

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S!

 

from my family to yours!

 

 

Love to all,   Sara

Christmas Wreath

   This Christmas I was feeling a little crafty, and a little cheap!  You see, last year the Hubby bought a beautiful fresh wreath that was about 3 feet across.  I really loved it!  We have a star hanging on the front of our house and the wreath fit over it just perfectly, just touching the tips of the star.  The hubby, without me knowing it, saved the frame of that wreath.  When we where talking about outside decorations for this Christmas, he mentioned that he still had the frame of the old wreath.  This got my creative juices flowing.  I decided I could craft a wreath that would last year for many years.

  First, I started with the frame of the wreath and 50 feet of artificial greens and some 20 galvanized steel wire.  I used the wire to secure the greenery to the frame, because with the wreath being out in the elements I felt I could fasten it more securely with wire than with glue.

   And then I started to wrapped, and then I wrapped and then I wrapped.  And then I tied it with wire and then tied it with some more wire.  No actually, I would wrap and then secure it with wire about every 3 - 4 inches.  It took about a half hour to wrap the first layer of greens.  At this point, I was not pleased with the fullness of the wreath.  I had picked up another type of greenery for a different project. so I used some of that and wrapped a second looser layer over the first.  I really liked the way it looked with both layers on it.

 

Now on to the fun part the decorating!  I was able to find a lot of the items I used at a florist shop that was trying to get rid of their Christmas floral items early in the season.  They probably didn't want to be stuck with a lot of leftover items at the end of the season.  I think for the 2 pinecone spikes and the one red spike was less than $12.00.  The silver flowers I got at a discount store for around $2.00.  I used a hot glue gun to put them on.  I did not skimp on the hot glue.  With the red bow, I used gorilla glue.  The reason I used different glue was because of the different material.  The bow was not liking the hot glue very much. The bow I had already had from a different project.  I had wanted a silver bow, but didn't find one I liked. 

 

  What do you think of it?

Love to all,   Sara

 

 

 

Operation Christmas Child Packing Party

 

Start of the pile of boxes

 

  I can't believe it has been almost a month already since we had our Operation Christmas Child packing party to church.  I want to give you a little background leading up to this event. A little over a year ago, I was elected to be the chairperson of our congregation's Mission and Outreach committee.  Before 2013, our congregation supported many different missions, but never really got behind any on thing.  Because of this, many in our church felt that they were being viewed as ATM machines.  We decided that we needed to select a few missions to concentrate our efforts on.

  Last December, around 15 youth and adults from our congregation went to an OCC processing center.  The experience really seemed to change those that attended event.  Us on the committee saw an organization we could really get behind and support.  We decided to collect items for the shoe boxes all year long, then on one Sunday in November after church we packed boxes.  We packed 138 boxes.  I think for doing it this way for the first time, we did great!!!

Last year when we just provided the boxes for individuals to pack themselves, we received 49 boxes.  We did almost 3x the amount of boxes this way.  We also learned a lot, like what to ask for and what NOT to ask for, also how to organize the tables for more efficient packing.  I do know everyone that attended was having a good time!!! :)
 

Me trying to give a few instructions before the chaos began!  lol

Busy selecting just the right things!

How does this shoebox look?

Everyone seemed to be having fun!

All ages were getting in on the packing!

Of course we had to add Christmas cards to the boxes!  That was my job!

Got one done!

 

  All totaled the hubby and I took 273 shoe boxes to the drop off center in a neighboring town.  This equals 273 children that will receive a Christmas present for the very first time and also hear about Jesus Christ, many for the first time also.  One other very important thing is that they will see that someone cares about them!  The feeling you get from doing this work is BETTER than any present you could ever receive.  

  To learn more about Operation Christmas Child click on this link Samaritan's Purse.  It is such an amazing program, one that has truly touched my heart!

Love to all,   Sara