Feels like forever....

I am really going to try and do this "Blog" thing a lot more often than I was doing.  I'm finally getting over all of the past years events with my Mom having a brain aneuresym and surving it, the heart breaking decision of having to put Mom in a temporary rehab hospital and then dealing with everything that possibly could go wrong and did, learning that someone very special to me is losing her daughter to Cancer, to my oldest sister being diagnosed with MS.  Needless to say it has been a crazy year and things are finally calming down a bit for all of us.

BUT.....let's not forget the blessings that were given to our family this year. The biggest blessing of all is the fact that my Mother survived and fought through the anueresym she had on Feb 12, 2011 and although she is not the same "Mom" that she was before hand, I am very thankful and lucky to have her here.  We were also blessed with a new baby in the family this year, my Niece Karlee and her husband Perry welcomed a new baby boy in June little  ~Jackson Parker Ashlock~



Thankful for days like these

Well it was all planned out that I would krop at the Scrapbook Store yesterday with all the girls and as usual, a problem came up because I wasn't aware that Malissa was not off of school on Friday like Jordan was until a few days prior to my plans. So I made a few phone calls and was able find someone (Uncle Angelo) to sit with Jordan for a few hours until Tom got off work and then he could pick her (Jordan) up on his way home.  Well of course at the last minute Uncle decided he didn't want to watch her after all and he wanted to make other plans....So at the last minute I had to hustle to find out who could watch Jordan until Malissa was done with school.  After talking it over with the kids, Krysta offered to watch her so I could go and enjoy some adult company with my friends, even if only for a few hours.  I am thankful for having "older" children to kick in and help keep an eye on my youngest while I escape everyday life for a while!  Thank you Krysta, for taking Jordan on your day off to run errands and treating her to "Red Robin" for lunch and all for the sake of my sanity....It may not mean much to anyone else that I have my time to scrap with my friends and do what I enjoy doing but it is very reviving for me to be able to get out and do this.  So, Krysta,  I appreciate you so much for your willingness to alway help me out! 

Sadie Mae.......

How cute is this little girl?  I have never seen a dog sprint through the snow with so much spirit and happiness, she loves to play in the snow and dig with her nose to find those particular smells that dogs look for! (whatever those may be) as you can tell by this picture.  This is 6 month old "Sadie", the latest addition to our family and she is a sweet girl, although not without severe attitude. She brings alot of laughter to me & family and makes it very hard to stay mad at her when she's being naughty, but we all love her just the same. 

If there is such a thing as "Doggy ADD" she is definately the poster dog for this !! 

Winter Treats

Nothing like starting your blog out with wishing it was warm outside and waiting for those "open window" days to hit.  Even though winter is still in full swing here in Milwaukee,  it's days like today that you get that feeling that it's finally starting to warm up.  So you stop at your local ice cream joint to get your favorite frozen treat and while standing in line on a balmy 35 degree day waiting for your small crunchy delight, wearing only a hooded sweat-shirt, you realize that this is only something you will see in Wisconsin in the wintertime.  I always look forward to the hot summer nights when we can go to the ice cream shop and sit out at the table and share family time as we race to eat our cones before the heat melts it.