Our Snowman

The weather has warmed up and here is a picture of what is left of our snowman.  CC keeps saying that “God needs to make it snow again so we can make another snowman”.

Excellence Award

Here are a couple of more pictures taken at the breakfast when Dad received his Excellence Award.  There is a picture of him with his boss and with the president.  I am so proud of my husband.

Excellence Award

I am so proud of my husband. He was recently honored with the Bob Rebholtz In Excellence Award at work. My husband was selected out of the entire company which is over 1,000 people. I'm so amazed at how the Lord blesses us each day and thankful to have this wonderful man in my life. You might have to double click on the document below so that it's large enough to actually read.

The $4.00 Shelf

About a month ago we were out looking at garage sales and purchased this shelf for $2.00. When Dad was on his backpacking trip, CC and I took a trip to Michaels for some paint and a brush. The supplies came to $2.00, so CC got a new shelf for her room for only $4.00. It took me longer to paint than I thought though, but it was fun. I wish I had taken a “before” picture.

CC’s Big Girl Bed

We finally decided to buy CC a big girl bed.  She loves her new Hello Kitty room just as much as mommy does (I’m sure of it).  Surprisingly, it went off without a hitch.  She slept soundly through the night on her first night.  What a big girl.

Garage Sale Bargains

Lately Dad and I have been out hitting all the garage sales we can find and came across these great deals. I was just so excited to find these, especially since CC is so into Disney Princesses.

This couch that folds out into a bed was new at BabiesRUs for $45.00 and we bought it at a garage sale for just $4.00, what a deal.

Then we bought what we thought was a purple and pink tent for $4.00 and look…not just purple and pink, but a Princess tent.

Here is a quick video of CC enjoying her new castle!

Disneyland – Day 2, Our Room

Here are some pictures from our room at the Disneyland Hotel.  We were fortunate to get one of the newly remodeled rooms and they were very nice.  The head board that runs along the wall in the back was made of a dark wood that had cut outs to form the shape of the castle when it was lit up.  Then there was castle music that played when you turned on the lights.  Upon check in we had requested one of the newer rooms and they hotel guy had us answer trivia questions about Disneyland before giving us our request.  It was pretty funny.  The last question was to name the Seven Dwarfs and CC and I got that question right (with a little help from Dad).

Customer Appreciation BBQ

Last week Dad's work hosted a Customer Appreciation BBQ.  All three of us went and CC got to play with the other kiddies there, it as fun to watch them.  It was a little chilly that day which meant that CC got to wear her Princess Cowboy Boots!!  We had delicious tri-tip and overall a great day.

The Wedding

Here are some from Amy's wedding.  The picture below, CC put on a big performance when dad and I were ready to leave.  Lot's of tears and hugs and wanting to be held.  I'm told the drama ended less than 5 minutes after we left the house.  What an actress.

The wedding was beautful, the church had a great view of the foothills, Amy was a beautiful bride, and Dad and I even got to eat in peace and dance at the reception - yeah!! 

Amy's Wedding Shower

Here are some pictures from Amy's Wedding Shower.  They had a wine tasting party at one of the hotels downtown and they paired the wines with cheeses and food perfectly - too good in fact.  Congratulations to Amy on her upcoming wedding day!

The COSTAdas

Last night I had to work at church and Dad stayed home with monkey since she had a little cold.  When I'm away he spends time coming up with new recipes - how lucky am I??

Introducing ....... The COSTAdas. So yummy!

Happy New Year!!!

Y May God Bless Us Everyone Y

The Playroom

Dad and I decided that CC need a playroom all to herself so we moved the office to the front room and let CC take over the old office room.  Here's a few pictures.  We aren't done yet, but it's a start.  I need some decorating ideas from my southern friend.   I'll have to give her a call today.

What Is Bell's Palsey??

Well good morning, Dad, CC and I have had quite a week, especially last Tuesday (early Wednesday am). Everything is fine now, but here is the scoop...

Last Tuesday I had an appointment at the dentist at 11:00 am to get two cavities filled on my upper right side. When the dentist was finished I went to get up out of the chair and the dentist noticed that I was not blinking with my right eye. He told me that, "he hadn't seen anything like that since medical school" (what is that supposed to mean?). He quickly chalked it up to the Novocaine shot and told me that if it didn't go away in a couple of hours to call him back.

So at 4:00 pm I called him back because there was still no improvement (in fact I thought it was worse, but didn't tell him that). I went in at 5:30 pm to see him and he poked around and still seemed to think that it was from the shot and that it would wear off by the morning. By this time I could barely blink at all and was having a hard time moving the muscles in my face. I wasn't as confident in the dentist's assessment, but then I don't completely trust doctors and I do know my own body. In any event we agreed that if my blinking and facial movement wasn't restored by morning that I would come back and see him. Yes, at this point I'm starting to wonder what good these little dentist visits are doing me.

At 10:00 pm that night (Dad and I already in bed) the dentist calls and tells me he has done some "research" on the matter. He wants me to go to ER right away because he thinks I may have had a stroke - or I could have Bell's Palsey. Okay, so we pack up CC and off to the ER we go. We get to the ER and the doctor there is equally, if not more, concerned that I have indeed had a "mini stroke". I assure everyone that I feel fine, but I'm told that doesn't matter with "mini strokes". They initially ruled out Bell's Palsey because - then - I still had some movement in my forehead and eyebrow. Evidently with Bell's Palsey it effects the entire one-half of your face. After spending some time with the ER doctor they did an EKG (routine procedure) and did an MRI. It was too late at this point to do a CT scan if I had a stroke at 11:00 this morning so we had to do the MRI.

Thank you Jesus, I did not have a stroke and in fact my brain looks great - good to know for future reference : ) The nice internal medicine doctor in the ER set us up an appointment with a neurologist for Thursday, set me up with steroids, gave me some eye goop to keep my eye hydrated and Dad and I headed home at 4:30 am. I'm so thankful the grandparents were able to come over and stay with CC since this wasn't the quick trip we initially anticipated.

On Thursday the neurologist quickly confirmed the diagnosis of Bell's Palsey and told me that there is a 90% - 95% that I will completely recover all my facial and eye movements. I should expect to see some improvement over the next week to three months. I'm hoping and praying for the sooner the better. It's hard to drink, I can't smile, it's hard to eat. We went out to dinner on Father's Day and people were staring at me because you can tell something is wrong. Mostly I'm just thankful that it wasn't a stroke or something more serious and that I will get better soon. In the meantime I'm trying hard to to be too vain about my appearance. Please pray for a speedy and full recovery from Bell's Palsey. Y

What is Bell's Palsey: Bell's palsy is a paralysis or weakness of the muscles on one side of your face. Damage to the facial nerve that controls muscles on one side of the face causes that side of your face to droop. The nerve damage may also affect your sense of taste and how you make tears and saliva. This condition comes on suddenly, often overnight, and usually gets better on its own within a few weeks. Source: http://www.webmd.com/brain/tc/bells-palsy-topic-overview

Pampered Chef Party

I had a Pampered Chef party last Thursday night. The star of the show is in the pictures below. Isn't she BEAUTIFUL. It makes me want another one...almost Y