Twilight Dolls and Cars

They are making Twilight Dolls!  WOW! Next thing you know they will be making Twilight cars...Own your own set of Twilight MatchBox cars now!  Just kidding, but I do periodically walk through the toy section to see if they have any Twilight Cars hanging on the racks...I am sure the day will come!  Anyway, back to the dolls, here is the link. There aren't any pictures yet, but I am sure they will be coming soon!

http://www.action-figure.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=23790

Memories

So When i was younger, I don't remember how old, I watched this movie with my mom. It was based on Danelle Steele's Book Fine Things. In the movie, this women gets diagnosed with cancer of some sort and goes through Chemo and loses all her hair...In one of the scenes, the lady is brushing her hair or soemthing and pulls a huge wad of hair out. at the time that I watched this movie, I didn't really understand anything about cancer or the chemo that usually goes along with it. Unforunately, I didn't understand that it was the chemo that made her hair fall out.  I thought that when you have cancer your hair falls out. 

So as I got older and would wash my hair and pull some of it out everytime, I managed to convince myself that I had cancer. It wasn't just 'any cancer' though. It was some sort of cancer that laid dormant for years except for making your hair fall out. Then one day it comes out and you die. Or something like that. I was so scared about it that I didn't want to tell my mom because I thought it would make her sad. Which is also the reason I never told my dad...(news for you eh dad?)  Anyway, as I grew up and learned more about cancer and treatments and so forth, I realized that it was not the cancer that caused hair loss but the chemo. 

Still everytime I wash my hair and 'lose' a little bit more, I think about watching Fine Things with my mother and thinking I had cancer. It makes me laugh pretty good now...why would I keep something like that from my parents. I have no clue. Obviously I wasn't too horribly scared, because life went on. But I was sure that I had cancer and that one day I was just going to not wake up because the cancer came out and I died. It makes for a good laugh now. I look back though and am baffled as to how I managed to keep this fear from my parents...

Anyway, I kept thinking about that lately. And just as a gentle reminder...cancer itself does not cause hair loss. So when you pull your hair out, you can feel a little more at ease!  

:) Here's to funny memories!  Anyone else got any they want to share? 

School Fundrasier...

ALREADY!?!  I didn't think this would happen quite so soon!  So Jaicie is having a fundraiser for school. I am not willing to send her around the neighborhood asking people to buy stuff. And since they have online ordering, I thought we could do things this way. So if you are interested, feel free to buy something. But don't feel any pressure! The info is below. There is cookie and pizzas and pies and pretzels on her catalog that she has, but it doesn't look like that is available online. So let me know if you want to order anything like that...I know that the cookies are great!  Though I don't know how they would be if you don't live in Lubbock.

*****************

Centennial Elementary is having a fundraiser. You can shop online at

http://www.gsgfundraising.com/store/brochures.php?sID=cen4431

The group receives profit from the sale and the seller will receive prize credits. Enter the seller ID below to begin.

Seller: Jaicie Clayton
Seller ID: cen4431

Thank you for your support.

If the link above does not work, please use the following link and enter the seller ID: http://www.gsgfundraising.com/store/index.php

Because we all could use a good laugh!

So I pulled out the video camera again today...twice in one week, it is a miracle!  I enjoyed making the video of Collin yesterday and wanted to capture a little more of him on video. He has been laughing a little bit more lately. He really likes peek-a-boo...is it a little early for that? I don't know. But regardless it is really cute. Well, Justin has had a busy schedule working the ER for Peds this week. So aside from not seeing much of us because of class, he doesn't get home until 1 in the morning. He has seen Jaicie for all of 10 minutes in the past 2 days. And until Saturday morning will see for about that long. Anyway, He has missed a lot of Collin's laughing so far, and I thought that I should video tape it so he can see it later. So, as long as you can ignore my obnoxiousness on the video (I hate my voice on the film) you are welcome to watch and enjoy Collin and his adorable laugh...It is quite contagious. So if you need a good laugh...Here is one for you. 

Oh yeah, and just for the record being alone in the evening SUCKS! 

OAMC Blog

I know, what is OAMC right?  OAMC is Once-A-Month Cooking...and my sister is a PRO!  She has started a new blog Here And you should definitely take a look at it and follow it as she teaches her secrets! It is well worth it. If I had freezer big enough to store a month worth of cooking in, I would totally do this!  So check it out and follow it...

Another video

Okay, so as I was loading the video of Collin rolling onto my computer, I found that I had missed loading a video of Collin from when he was 2 weeks old. It is crazy how much bigger he is now! I thought I would load this one up too...He is certainly a cutie!

Collin Rolling

So, I blogged before about Collin rolling. So here is the video to go along with that. I took it today and I am horrible at capturing things on video, so please forgive the shakiness of it. Nigel---If you were here, you would have done an amazingly better job of it...but alas, I am here alone and have to do it myself! Hope you enjoy!



It is hard to believe that he is 3 months and 12 days already. It seems to have just flown by. Before i know it he will be graduating high school...AHHHHH. That is scary!

Go! Collin, GO!

So, tonight Collin made his first move into the world of movers...He rolled over from his stomach to his back. So I rolled him back to his belly and he did it again. Over and over til he got fussy! It was fun! He is now 3 months and 11 days. I only wish I had a camera on him when it happened. But it was cute and I thought I would share the fun news!

By the way, he is quite regularly sleeping through the night! YAY for the return of sleep! And to top that off, both the girls are actually sleeping through the night too...(where is some wood to knock on!)

Just thought I would share!

New Blog Obsession

So, I decided that I need a good place for my friends and I to share recipes. So, I started this new blog. If anyone wants to share their recipes on it as well, email me and I will add you to the authors list! It is kind of fun. So far their are only two Authors, so we need more. But it is a fun way to get new recipes.

One you get to the page, you can browse recipes by clicking on the Labels under the Other Recipes link. This divides the recipes up by the type. And I will make sure each post is included in this list. (If I get to busy and miss one, let me know) right now there are only a couple of recipes. But we are working on adding more! So let me know if you want to submit. And if you just want to enjoy the recipes...do that too!

Hope you enjoy!

Hurricane Ike

I thought that I would make a quick post on the Hurricane situation. I have gotten a lot of questions from people asking how we are doing and where we are in relation to Ike. So...

Here is a map of the great state of Texas. Lubbock is on the West side of the state, NW of the Houston/Galveston area. It is funny that more people know where Amarillo is when Lubbock is bigger and has a major university...

Anyway, back to Ike. As you probably know, Ike hit Galveston directly. And Houston got it with the Hurricane downgraded to a 1. It is expected to Turn to the northeast so we shouldn't get hit by Ike at all.

It is nice that we won't even get any of the water that falls as it passes Texas. I think we tend to miss most of the storms from the Gulf.

We do not however miss the remnants of hurricanes/tropical storms out of the pacific. On Thursday we received 8 inches of rain in 24 hours that fell following Tropical Storm Lowell. The storm was really bad. The biggest problem with the flooding is that Lubbock is filled with lakes. These lakes are usually in the parks and they flood and take their level up over the side walks, the parks and into the housing surrounding them. We also have really bad drainage problems on roads. The roads don't drain, I don't know if there just isn't any sort of sewers or something under the road, but the roads flood really bad and you can't drive through them. So you get rain like we had this week, and you are trapped in your house because the road in front of your house is so flooded your car will get washed away. The canceled school on Friday for Jaicie. The Walmart parking lot was so flooded there were hardly any parking spots left.I saw a picture of a stop sign that had only about a foot of metal below the sign.I drove through an intersection Thursday around 3, before the worst of the rain. The intersection was completely flooded and water was up covering the sidewalk on the edges. It was crazy!

Anyway, we wanted to let everyone know that our family is doing fine despite the storms all around us. We are greatful for the fact that the rain expected to continue to fall through Sunday stopped. We have been very fortunate. We have many friends down in Houston and surrounding areas. And we will continue to keep them in our prayers in hopes that they are safe and their homes are okay. Lubbock is set to take evacuees from the Areas hit by Ike, so it is a good thing that a lot of the water here has subsided.

New Background

So I have been playing today with the HTML for my blog and created a new background. I think it turned out really well! Anyway, It is quite a bit different, so take a look if you'd like!

Special Deliveries

I got this in an email, and since I am not a huge fan of forwarding on emails, I thought I would share it here. It is just really sweet and sad and a good reminder...Especially the last paragraph, which is what I imagine my mother telling me The cancer is all gone, and so is the pain!
___________________

She jumped up as soon as she saw the surgeon come out of the operating room. She said: 'How is my little boy? Is he going to be all right? When can I see him?'

The surgeon said, 'I'm sorry. We did all we could, but your boy didn't make it.'

Sally said, 'Why do little children get cancer? Doesn't God care any more? Where were you, God, when my son needed you?'

The surgeon asked, 'Would you like some time alone with your son? One of the nurses will be out in a few minutes, before he's transported to the university.'

Sally asked the nurse to stay with her while she said good bye to son. She ran her fingers lovingly through his thick red curly hair.. 'Would you like a lock of his hair?' the nurse asked. Sally nodded yes. The nurse cut a lock of the boy's hair, put it in a plastic bag and handed it to Sally..

The mother said, 'It was Jimmy's idea to donate his body to the University for Study. He said it might help somebody else. 'I said no at first, but Jimmy said, 'Mom, I won't be using it after I die. Maybe it will help some other little boy spend one more day with his Mom.' She went on, 'My Jimmy had a heart of gold. Always thinking of someone else. Always wanting to help others if he could.'

Sally walked out of Children's Mercy Hospital for the last time, after spending most of the last six months there. She put the bag with Jimmy's belongings on the seat beside her in the car.

The drive home was difficult. It was even harder to enter the empty house. She carried Jimmy's belongings, and the plastic bag with the lock of his hair to her son's room.

She started placing the model cars and other personal things back in his room exactly where he had always kept them. She lay down across his bed and, hugging his pillow, cried herself to sleep.

It was around midnight when Sally awoke. Lying beside her on the bed was a folded letter. The letter said:

'Dear Mom,

I know you're going to miss me; but don't think that I will ever forget you, or stop loving you, just 'cause I'm not around to say 'I Love You'. I will always love you, Mom, even more with each day. Someday we will see each other again. Until then, if you want to adopt a little boy so you won't be so lonely, that's okay with me. He can have my room and old stuff to play with. But, if you decide to get a girl instead, she probably wouldn't like the same things us boys do. You'll have to buy her dolls and stuff girls like, you know.

Don't be sad thinking about me. This really is a neat place. Grandma and Grandpa met me as soon as I got here and showed me around some, but it will take a long time to see everything. The angels are so cool. I love to watch them fly. And, you know what? Jesus doesn't look like any of his pictures. Yet, when I saw Him, I knew it was Him. Jesus himself took me to see GOD! And guess what, Mom? I got to sit on God's knee and talk to Him, like I was somebody important. That's when I told Him that I wanted to write you a letter, to tell you good bye and everything. But I already knew that wasn't allowed. Well, you know what Mom? God handed me some paper and His own personal pen to write you this letter I think Gabriel is the name of the angel who is going to drop this letter off to you. God said for me to give y ou the answer to one of the questions you asked Him 'where was He when I needed him?' 'God said He was in the same place with me, as when His son Jesus was on the cross. He was right there, as He always is with all His children..

Oh, by the way, Mom, no one else can see what I've written except you. To everyone else this is just a blank piece of paper. Isn't that cool? I have to give God His pen back now He needs it to write some more names in the Book of Life. Tonight I get to sit at the table with Jesus for supper. I'm sure the food will be great.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. I don't hurt anymore the cancer is all gone.. I'm glad because I couldn't stand that pain anymore and God couldn't stand to see me hurt so much, either. That's when He sent The Angel of Mercy to come get me. The Angel said I was a Special Delivery! How about that?

Signed with Love from God, Jesus & Me.

33 and ear drums

So, a while back, Felicity and I were talking. It was last Tuesday and we were just sitting about the house and talking. Somehow we got to talking about ages. She asked me how old I was. I told her that I was 27, but next month I will be 28. She said something like WOW...Then she went on to say the following: "You are going to be 20 and 13 when you die." I said, what? 20 and 13, so 33? She said "Yes, you will be 33 when you die!" Needless to say this was quite a shock to me. Dieing at 33 is definitely not on the agenda. (as if it ever is on the agenda!) She was so matter of fact about it. But she was also sad about it. It was heart breaking to look at her face when she said it. It was that I am going to miss you like I miss my Grandma look. It was sad.

On a different note, Tuesday night we put Felicity to bed at 8, as usual. At about 9 she woke up screaming. We went in to check on her and she said My ear hurts. We told her to go to sleep,and it would feel better in the morning (I blame my parents for this one! They always told me that! Of course usually it worked) This went on for the entire night. We gave her Tylenol at one point, children's motrin at another point, and she was up practically the entire night. You could tell she was in a lot of pain. So Wednesday morning we called her doctor and took her first thing. He looked in her ear and couldn't see anything, we thought it was ear wax,. He got a little tool thing and started cleaning out the 'wax' which turned out to be blood and puss. Turns out that Felicity ruptured her ear drum. Everyone's best guess is that she had an ear infection (with no symptoms, lucky us) that kept swelling up and eventually ruptured. It was a small tear from all the doct could tell. He put her on antibiotics for the infection and motrin when needed for the pain. It was so sad, especially when I had to hold her down while the doctor cleaned out her ear. It was sad!

My New Discovery

So with the recent completion of the Twilight Series I have discovered a new draw to more vampire books. I don't necessarily go out just to buy books. I go to the grocery store and pass their books section and it is like something jumps out and pulls me towards any book about vampires. I loved the Twilight Series. I thought it was a great story and enjoyed it start to finish. I read the first three books 5 times and I have read Breaking Dawn twice. I recently read the copy of Midnight Sun that Stephenie posted on her website. I am hoping that one day I will be able to put the hard bound copy of Midnight Sun on the shelf next to the rest of the Twilight Series. (Though I completely understand and support Stephenie in her decision regarding the continued writing).

I never liked vampires stuff. I saw Interview with a vampire once. Periodically I watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But I never really liked Vampires or anything about Vampires. Obviously Stephenie, Edward and the Cullens have changed that!

So i was walking through Walmart the other day and felt this draw to this book in the YA section. It is a book called Blue Bloods by Melissa De La Cruz. I picked it up, read the back of it and decided to spend teh 8 bucks and pick it up. I was taking a trip to Austin the next day and knew that I needed a new book to read!

So on the airplane, Thursday morning, with Collin sleeping in the seat next to me, i began to read. An hour later when the plane touched down was the first time I took my eyes off the book. I was hooked. I had a busy couple of days and unfortunately did not have much time to read while in Austin. AS I sat down in my seat Friday evening to head back to Lubbock and found Collin again, sleeping in the seat next to me, I pulled my book out of the diaper bag and began reading, again! I finished it this morning. As soon as the girls went down for naps and Justin was available to keep Collin entertained, I ran to the grocery store for food and picked up the second book in the series Masquerade.I spent the afternoon reading, about 3-5 and then 7-9 and have just finished the book. Along with the first chapter of the next book. The suspense is killing me and I have to wait until October 28 for the next book, Revelations, to come out. And I find out on her website that she is in the process of writing the next Blue Blood series book. Another series to wait for! ARGH! But the books are very good. I found them to be very different from Twilight, but in some sense similar, in the fact that you love the vampires. It isn't some scary vampire novel, but it is good!

So if you are looking for a good book to read now that your vampire fix from Twilight is complete, pick up a copy of the Blue Bloods series. It is well worth the 8 bucks! They are paperback and a quick read. If you have read them already, or read them in the future, let me know what you think of them!