All Grown Up

And we FINALLY get the picture!



Oh how hard is it to be a mom and watch your baby grow up? Just yesterday, Ashley was my little chubby tow-headed angel and today........she is all grown up.
My Ashley's first ball!

Tonight is the Military Ball. For those that don't know, Ashley is a flight commander in the Air Force JROTC program. Tonight is her big night. She is also, just for tonight, her Flight's (sort of like an Army Platoon) Sweetheart. Her Delta Flight Sweetheart sash and her escort in Full Air Force Blues were amazing.
I was speaking to her JROTC leader Chief Chambers today and after a whirlwind day, of Ashley serving pancakes for the Lions Club at 7 Am and then all the prep for the Ball, he gave her THE PERFECT compliment. He told me that she is "Very well respected among her peers". It may seem like a simple compliment. But in this day and age where respect, specially in High School, is such a rare word, it was.......the PERFECT compliment.

The Ball is held on Base, and has all the pomp and circumstance that is the ceremonial Military.

So, we had to do this right. Including the $80.00 "up-do".
Do you have any idea..........how long that took? And the hairdresser was a PSYCHO! After making us wait for an hour, she finally got her seated, then took off to wander the parking lot and chat with friends. When she was working on her hair, it took twice as long because she would not stop talking! I was STEAMED.

But all that aside, isn't she just a vision? (weeping into my iced tea).

I want my baby back!

But this vision, I can live with it. Not bad my angel. 4.0 Grade average, Flight Commander, Sweetheart, Girl of the Year, and still the sweetest kid I know. You are headed to a great future. May all your dreams come true!

Surgery for Taylor

It's time for an update. Yes, Taylor has to have eye surgery. BUT, I want to tell you about what your prayers have done.

Our last visit to the eye doctor was disheartening. We thought we would be able to get around the cataract in her eye with glasses, at least for a bit of time. That isn't going to happen. The best that her eye is correctable is to 20/200 WITH glasses. The cataract is too much of an obstruction. Added to that, Miss Invincible, who thinks she can do anything, is damaging her left eye due to the strain that she is placing on it.

Something had to be done.....NOW.

The hope was a new lens. A MANMADE lens. And a surgery that will cost upwards of $5000.00.

I have been a single mom for ever and I do not have medical insurance. The eye doctor has been kind enough to allow me to make payments but this was daunting.

And then...........A miracle................YOUR miracle. The one that so many of you praying out there made happen.

I got a call yesterday from the office manager at the eye doctor's office and she was elated!

The news:

The eye surgeon will be donating his time.

The Children's Volunteer Health Network (for those of you looking for a good charity) will be paying the surgery center .

And the Manufacturer of the lens:
Will be donating the lens.

And it's not any lens! It's a brand spanking new type of lens!

In the past, when people had lens replacement surgery, they still had to wear glasses for seeing things near to them. The lens didn't expand and retract with the eye. This one does.

Tay will have approximately 48 hrs of discomfort and when that is over, she will have 20/20 vision again! There aren't even any sutures!

The only possible downfall is, that maybe by the time Taylor is 50 or 60, she may develop glaucoma. That is a chance we are very willing to take. She will have most of her life that she will be able to see, and possibly by then, they will have a cure for that too!

All this....................from prayers.

Isn't God just amazing???????

And so are all of you!

And the Winner Is........

Congratulations Ashley!!!!!!!!!!!

BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF THE EMERALD COAST

2008 GIRL OF THE YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




You ROCK Ashley!

What a beautiful young woman you have become. I am so very proud of you.

All of your accomplishments, your grades, your desire to be the best you can be. And all of your hard work.

You will always be my baby, but I look at you now and I see the the amazing woman you will be.

I love you with all my heart!

Amazing Weekends

How many things change in a weekend.

Not many of you know, that I am a DIE HARD Steelers fan.

SIX RECORD BREAKING SUPER BOWLS BABY!

I also love spending the weekend at the beach............In FEBRUARY!

And watching my babies get chased by seagulls on the beach:


That'll teach them to keep Cheez-its in their pockets!


And this great weekend (sorry to all of you buried in snow) took place here:




It was still a bit chilly, but I just don't think any of us felt it.

There are so many facets of beauty. The laughter of children, Making Bob uncomfortable(inside joke) , the color that our worlds are, the genuine smile of true affection. The OYSTERS!~

There is one picture I missed, and it would have been perfect. Yesterday, we went to Seaside (Truman Show was filmed there).............

The day was beautiful. The skies were blue, the water was Emerald and the girls were rolling all over the kelly green grass.

There is a whole lot of stuff to get through in the world, and then one day.............you just "get it"..........and move on. Just because the beauty of it gives you the strength to go another day or week or month or year. Sometimes all it takes is that one memory.

And you savor the memory. You smell it, taste it and feel it.