Thanksgiving....Meherrin Fertilizer Style

Cooking in the kitchen with Cathy...LOL...I told her that was what I was going to title this picture! Sounds like a cooking show!

Cathy showing off the oven mitts, one of which she caught on fire!!! I missed that!!

Cathy setting the table. Yes, I did my part! I bought a cake from Wal-Mart and took pictures! (and yeah, I was having fun taking pictures of Cathy, wish I could show you some of the other ones, but she won't let me!!)

Our table all set! I didn't take a picture of everyone eating. We had to wait a little while for everyone to get here and I was ready to eat! LOL

We decided to have a meal today at work to celebrate Thanksgiving!! Well, we all are going to have ham and turkey and dressing tomorrow. So....we had lasagna, salad, rolls, and cake. We missed Rhonda, Jamie, and Jody. They were all unable to be here today for different reasons. Here are a fews pics taken before lunch. Hope you and your families all have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Inaugural Ball

Alyssa was really excited about the Inaugural Ball at school. Her boyfriend, Ethan Burgess, actually called me and asked me could he take Alyssa to the ball. Alyssa insisted on buying a new red dress for the ball and Ethan insisted on buying a new red tie to match her dress. He also bought her ticket to the ball. Both Ethan and Alyssa were nominated for the "court" as Prince and Princess for the 4th grade. The kids had to raise money in order to win. Ethan contributed $7 to Alyssa! LOL He is such a sweety! Alyssa and Harley Williams won Princess for the 4th Grade and Ethan and Cole Deloatch won Prince! We were so excited! We were all quite impressed with the ball! The kids had a great time!

My girls before school....

Since they wear uniforms every single day and even on picture day, my girls LOVE the opportunity to wear something different to school. Monday, they had the Inagural Ball at school for the 3rd - 5th graders. The rest of the school could dress in their Sunday best! Here is a pic that my girls took of themselves before school. I'm not really sure what the deal is about putting your arm up! LOL

Update on Me and Daddy

Daddy - He had his bone marrow test Monday and it was his last test. It wasn't as bad as he thought. Mama said he could feel a little pressure and he was a little sore afterwards. He looked a little tired last night when I saw him. He goes back on December 8 for the results of all his tests. So, for now, we wait and pray, pray, pray!!!

Me - I had a follow up appointment this morning concerning my Bells Palsy. It is improving and Dr. Taylor said he could see a big difference! YAY! I can tell that my ear is not as sensitive to sound, I can close my eye lid, and my lip is starting to "shape up" up a little. I still can not smile! :( I go back in a month to see how I'm doing. So, for now I just wait for it to correct on it's on. Please continue to keep my family in your prayers!!! Thank you all for your sweet comments concerning my Daddy! It means so much!

Aaron working hard on the Pit Crew....look out Nascar, here we come......

Here is a pic of Aaron from the Roanoke Chowan News Herald. He was on the Pit Crew for the NEAT EV Rally for Northampton County High School-East. The picture in the paper is really cute because his foot is tangled up in the cord. LOL His cousin, Taylor, is on the far left with the Carolina sweatshirt.

Just when you are about to give up....

A few minutes ago, I got a call from the Secretary from school requesting for me to come to school. I asked her was everything okay and she said Mrs. Stephenson (the principal) wanted to talk to me. So, I fly out the door with all these thoughts running in my head, are the kids okay, what did Logan do, is the police out there about Alyssa's stuff???? So, I get to the school and they immediately signal for me to come in. When I walk in, there are two other women sitting in the office. So, then I'm thinking, oh this is about Alyssa. The Principal introduced me to the two women, I shook their hands, told them it was nice to meet them, and sat down. Well, the Principal asked me could I describe Alyssa's game system and I said yes, it is red and black. She picked up a notebook and there it was! One of the two women was an Aunt that found it, took it from her nephew, demanded for him to tell her where it came from, and turned it in! Can you believe it??? I started crying and the Aunt hugged me. She told me that she was a parent and she worked in the school system and she had to turn it in. I probably thanked her 20 times. I know they thought I was crazy! I had given up and had told Alyssa she could get another one for Christmas. I called Alyssa out of her classroom and showed her and she was so excited. We only have one game that was found. She did not get back her pocketbook, charger, wallet, or other games, but she did get the DS. The Aunt told me she would turn in anything else she found. I am so thankful to her and I think she is a remarkable woman. God is good!

Just a little push.....in the right direction...

I don't know why it takes something tragic for me to talk to God. When everything is running smoothly, the bills are paid, everyone is healthy, I forget to talk to him and thank him for all my blessings. But, just as soon as money gets tight or someone gets sick, I'm ready to talk. Through finding out about Daddy's cancer, I've prayed a lot, and I've prayed hard. Probably more than I have ever prayed. I always thank God for my blessings when I do pray, but last night was different. I did pray for my Daddy and my Bells Palsy and I did thank him for my blessings, but then I asked him something I have never asked him before...God, what can I do for you? I always ask of you, but what can I do for you? I went to sleep and didn't think much of it until I was on my way to work. When I left school, there was a wreck at the crossroads. Everyone was okay, just a fender bender in the rain, but I knew one of the women involved. As I went around, like everyone else trying to get to work, I felt this push. I turned around and pulled over and went to her and just gave her a big hug. I asked had she taken her girls to school, and she had. I asked was her husband coming, and he is out of town. She said it wasn't too bad and she thought she could drive it home, so I asked did she need me to wait and follow her home, and she said no she was fine. I gave her another hug and told her Thank God she was okay and her girls were not with her, and I went to work. There were men out there standing in the rain directing traffic so she wasn't alone. I met the State Trooper on my way to work. I know all I did was a little thing, just to check on someone I knew. I know I was just doing the right thing, but I feel like God was asking me to go check on "His" child and just give her a hug.

Multiple Myeloma

Here is a picture of my Daddy, my brother Dave and myself at the Dedication for the Veteran's Memorial in Conway. My Daddy and brother would not look at the camera! Men! I was not unhappy, but I can't smile because of my Bells Palsy, so it's not a very flattering picture of me. My Daddy has a brick at the memorial in honor of his service in the Army.

Okay.....I'm going to see if I can get through this blog without too many tears. My Daddy was recently diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma. This is a form of cancer in the plasma cell. About a month ago, my Daddy was not feeling well and went to the doctor and they ran some "routine" bloodwork. Well, the bloodwork showed something they didn't like, so they called him to do more bloodwork and then a third time for more bloodwork. Never, ever did I think it could be cancer. It never crossed my mind. I cried for two days and could not go see my Daddy for the fear of upsetting him. I checked on him through Mama, but I just could not bring myself to talk to him. Everytime I thought about him and I could see his face, I cried. So, when I thought I could see him without crying, I did and HE made ME feel better. Isn't that crazy?!?! He told me he was fine and that we couldn't worry about things we couldn't control. He has been to an oncologist in Roanoke Rapids and they are currently doing a series of tests. His last test is a bone marrow test on November 17th. The doctor told him that they would compile all of the tests together and determine if the cancer was benign or malignant. I always thought benign meant non-cancerous, but I found out that it means non-recurrent or non-progressive. He has not showed any symptoms and he's not anemic, so the doctor said that was in his favor.

I've had to wait before posting this because my parents didn't want "the world" to know yet. But, I've had several people approach me, so the word is out. Please keep my Daddy in your prayers. He is truly an amazing man! My brother and I are so lucky to have such great parents.

New Blogger Alert

Guess who is blogging now......Rhonda Brown!!! YAY!!! Send her some love at www.rhondajbrown.blogspot.com. Can't wait to see what she is going to blog about!!!

Having fun at the Turkey Shoot.....

Taylor, Nathan, and Donnie

Taylor and Donnie

Nathan

Okay...so I know I'm redneck because I LOVE going to the Turkey Shoot. Just in case you do not know what a Turkey Shoot is (because I didn't at first either), it is a fundraiser, usually put on by the local fire departments. No one shoots at a turkey, but at a target to win a turkey or ham, and in some places, cheese! I took some pictures for blogging purposes. LOL I know there were people out there thinking, why is she taking pictures? LOL But, Cathy's huband Donnie won a turkey, and her son Taylor won a ham, and my step-son Nathan won a ham. So, we were pretty excited, and I just had to share them with you!!! (Sorry about the quality of the pictures, my camera doesn't like the dark.)

Look what Cathy found this morning.....

Can you tell by the pics what it is? Well, it is a snake and it was alive in her office at 7:00 this morning!! She walked right by it, and her little boy, Hunter, spotted it! She thought he was playing, but oh no he was not! So, we have moved to our brand new office and now we have snakes coming in! Great!!!

Bells Palsy

Imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning and the whole left side of my face was numb. You know that numb feeling right after you leave the dentist office and your waiting for your mouth to wake up? Well, that's how I felt and still feel. I didn't know what was going on and it scared me to death. So, I dropped off the kids and headed to the Doctor's office. I don't even remember finishing explaining my symptoms to him when he diagnosed it as Bells Palsy. Luckily, it is temporary. It can last 2 weeks to a month and I'm on an anti-viral medicine (5 pills a day for 7 days). The description for the medicine is for herpes and chicken pox! WHAT?!?!? Hope I got the right medicine! LOL So, I'm okay, I'm not in any pain, just really uncomfortable and frustrated. I'm struggling with drinks, even with a straw and my eye will not close on the left side. Crazy! I can't be around loud noises, so I guess I'm going to have to move. LOL My ear does hurt pretty bad when the kids get loud, which is all the time. So, this was a great way to start my Wednesday morning (right before hearing about the President, UGH!)

New Blogger Alert!

Just wanted to let you all know about a new blogger, Allyson Cashwell. You can find her at www.allysonmichelle.blogspot.com. Send her some love!!! She's already gotten the hang of it and her blog is so cute!!! Love ya girl!

Halloween

Camryn is a fairy. Alyssa is a pirate. Logan is Spider Man and Peter Parker (that's what he told me).

Okay...so these are not the best Halloween pics....but my kids were in a big hurry to get to church for our Fall Carnival! They had a great time! We won 3 cakes and shared 1 with my Mama and Daddy! (But, the other 2 had to come home! LOL)

I was tagged.....

I have a new computer at work, so my pictures are fairly new also. This is a pic of the pictures and stars on my wall in my new office.