Easter Fun....

We had a fun weekend with Jay's family before leaving for Dallas to help mom as she recovers from her surgery.

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

Warm out of the oven....

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts
1 cup coarsely chopped white chocolate

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla and almond extracts. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the macadamia nuts and white chocolate. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

I made a few adjustments to this recipe. I used 1/2 cup shortening and 1/2 cup butter and 1 tsp. of vanilla instead of almond flavor and 1/2 cup coconut flakes. They are so yummy and just melt in your mouth. I will definelty make these again!!:)

Randomness....

I have fallen far behind with mom suddenly falling sick and I will try to catch up today. These are just pictures that I have taken over the past week of random things were have done. Good News: Mom is heading home today, but still very uncomfortable and eating very little. She is going to have a lengthy recovery ahead. Home health will come a couple times a week to help with the care of her colostomy bag and continue to help her learn how to care for it by herself. I am heading over to Dallas sometime this weekend, just waiting to see how she does once she is at home. Dad is helping Jeremy and Lisa move back to Michigan the end of next week, so I will be with Mom through the weekend next week. This week has been so long and I know for her it has been even longer. Home will be more comfortable I know!!:)

The weather here is just perfect and I am feeling the itch to get outside. We hoped to plant our tomatoes this weekend, but it is forecast to get cold again before next week. We'll have to keep them in the garage until it warms up. Last night I pulled weeds and the boys helped Jay spread peat moss on the yard to keep the moisture in. We didn't come in until dark!!:) So great to get fresh air, but my allergies are flaring up somewhat with all the pollen in the air. Happy Spring to Everyone!!:)

Lane holding his Easter basket. His teacher made each child in preschool their own easter basket. Using the big coffee cans and painting each one and adding felt ears and a ribbon for the handle. So darling and such a great memory to have from pre-k. His teacher has been so fabulous and he loves her too. It was a rainy, cool morning on Wednesday, so the easter egg hunt and bubbles had to be brought back into the classroom instead of being at a child's home not far away.
These were some of the goodies at Lane's party. They were made by a small, local bakery. So adorable!!:)

Last Thursday I hosted my teacher sorority at our house. I belong to Alpha Delta Kappa, a teacher's sorority, a small group of ladies who are currently teachers or retired. Several of my friend are members and its nice to get together once a month and visit with them. These were some of the flowers I bought and arranged for the meeting. They are still doing well and have been so beautiful to look at.
I bought this hydrangea at Lowe's to have as a centerpiece for the kitchen table.

For our meal that evening I fixed antipasta salad, fruit salad, cucumber sandwiches, toffee bars and banana pudding. I forgot to take a picture before we ate, so as you can see some of the platters were almost empty. I don't very often get to use my Arther Court silver and neat serving dishes, so this was reason to get them out and enjoy them!!:)

Update on Mom

Mom was very tired yesterday. She is having trouble sleeping well with them coming in every few hours. At times, some of the monitors she is wearing malfunction and alarms go off keeping her awake. She got up out of bed and sat in the chair for awhile. She is just very weak- she has had only juice and chicken broth, which really doesn't give you anything to go on. They took out her catheter, now that she is able to get out of the bed. One less tube and wire hooked to her. She continues to have a slight fever, which is to be expected and still a high pulse rate, also expected with the trauma to her body.

Today she had yogurt and cream of wheat for breakfast and that was sooo GOOD, she said. :) When I talked with her at 9:30 she had just gotten back from a walk down the hall and was back in bed, exhausted and ready to sleep. They plan to remove the drains in her abdomen today, they say this will be quite uncomfortable as it stretches the incision. She is not looking forward to that. Thank you from her to all of you who have called and sent your wishes and thoughts!:)

Big Scare!!

Where do I begin.......? We were headed to Jeremy and Lisa's for a funfilled weekend in New Orleans on Friday evening, when we received a phone call from my dad. Mom was in the ER with severe abdominal pain, vomiting and passing out, even after receiving 10mg. of morphin and 2 mg. of diladid( That is an ungodly amount of narcotics). After a ct scan they found pockets of air in her abdomen, which indicates that somewhere in the GI system there was a perferation. At this point we were about 2 hours from home and turned around and headed to Dallas. Mom was rushed into emergency exploritory surgery to find the source. They opened her from her sternum to her pelvis( what they call a zipper). The find... a perferated colon...extremely dangerous and serious(deadly if nothing is done quickly). They removed 6 inches of her colon and flushed her entire abdominal cavity. She was taken to ICU after surgery. We arrived at the hospital at 2:30 a.m. Saturday. Mom was a serious shape. I went up for awhile with Dad and then went to their house to sleep a few hours, while Dad stayed at the hospital. After a few hours of sleep I went back to the hospital and let Dad come home to sleep.

In the mean time Jay went to the airport to pick up Jeremy who flew in from New Orleans. Jeremy and I spent the day with her while Dad rested. She looked so much better by yesterday evening and was a little more alert.

Today about 1 p.m. they transfered her to the surgical floor where she will be for 5-7 days before she can go home. Today while I stayed with her, she sat on the side of the bed while I combed her hair and she brushed her teeth. She was then able to slowly move herself back into bed. The doctors and nurses are very impressed with how well she is moving around. It has been good to see her making progress and slowly becoming herself. You just never know when these types of things will happen and it sure was very touch and go for awhile. So scary!! :( On our way home this evening I was finally starting to let down and with it came a terrible headache. I know I have been running on adrenaline since Friday evening. Knowing that she is going to be alright, I can let down!! :)

Dad is going to work from the hospital this week and my Spring break begins this Friday and I will go back with the boys then to help once she is at home. I'll let this be all for tonight and I'll post new updates through the week. I am so ready for a good night's sleep!!:)

Neat Stuff!!

For all my fellow blogger and scrapbook friends, just wanted to share this with you. If you like to use neat clipart and lettering with either, you'll be excited to know that http://www.letteringdelights.com/ is having a Dollar Sale on tons and tons of their inventory. You simple purchase them and download them to your computer and their yours Forever!!:) My new header is using letters from their site. Thank you, Stacy for introducing me to this several months back. It has been so fun to use and wanted to share it.

Who says it can't snow in the South??!

I know it can't compare with what you northerners get, but any snow in Louisiana is a monumentous event! You can really see in the field how white the ground is. The flakes where huge and coming down in almost slow motion. The boys played outside for a few minutes after we got home, but it was just too cold and wet. If nothing else, we got a half day off of school!:)

Happy Friday!!

We made it to Friday!! It seems as thought it has been a long week. Bryce was sick again with a bad head cold, and today he is finally going back to school. I'm still kind of choked up with the last of mine I got last weekend. We have a busy weekend ahead, but a fun one! Tomorrow we plan to take the boys to the Shrine Circus in Monroe and then I am going to do alittle needed shopping for special mtg. on Sunday. I love special mtg. time because it means a new outfit and spring clothes. Spring makes me feel so good!!:)

Today, it sure doesn't feel like spring. It is to hover around 36' and rain/snow turning to all snow by afternoon. They say we may get an inch or two. The boys would be sooooo HAPPY!! :) We'll have to wait and see. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Another year passed.....

Another year has come and gone, where does time go?! These are the cupcakes I really should have for my b-day!! I had to post this after seeing them on Stacy's blog. I love broccoli, but not in place of cake!!:)

In my kitchen tonight

We have our special mtg. workers coming for the next two nights and special mtg. here on Tuesday evening. I quickly made these this evening to have for dessert when they are here. They are delicious and easy to make. Just what I need, as I try to unpack from our weekend and plan the meals for the next few days.

Make a postcard - it's easy!

Our weekend getaway

Jay and I had a wonderful quick getaway. It was just what we needed to reconnect and forget about worries and life for a day. The weather could not have been better if we had planned it, sunny and 72' on the first day of March. We walked the downtown area and enjoyed supper at the Porterhouse Steak House. Delicious food and fine dining that we don't often get. Then we sat on the veranda of the hotel until about 10:00, just enjoying one another's company!! We need to do this more often. A Big thank you to my wonderful husband for a great weekend.:)

The Arlington Hotel

We had an awesome room with prime view of the downtown area and the National Park and springs. Our room had a large tub with the mineral water from the springs pump in to fill the bath. I enjoyed a nice hot bath.
The view from our ninth floor room.

Hot Springs National Park
Looking down to Central Street from above in the park.

The neat winding trails on the hill top of the park.

At the bottom of the falls the springs empty into this pool. You can see the steam rising from the water. It was hotter than any hot tub I have ever been in. Several people came up while we were there and put their feet in or washed their faces.
Looking up from the bottom of the falls to the walkway above.