Right now we have 851 heroes waiting for adoption. Even though new Angels join every day, the reinforcements headed to Afghanistan make for a continuous need. You’ve probably already adopted (if you haven’t yet, please do!), so give someone else the opportunity to enjoy the rewards of supporting a hero: Tell a stranger about Soldiers’ Angels today!

Carol Kimball is a fantastic human being! I have to let the world wide web know because Carol flies under the radar. She’s a very humble lady and gracious woman, that if you didn’t read about her somewhere else, you’d have no idea the experience that she has!

Carol is very interested in clothing being designed for ‘real’ figures and not some 14 head fashion plate! So, she makes and sells a product called Master Sketch Pads for ANY body. The kit comes with a special pad of paper that is thin enough to see through and cards containing sillouhettes of various body types.

The idea is to put the cards under a page – beginning at the back of the book – and draw your apparel ideas over top of them. You continue to turn pages down, retracing each garment design, until you get one that you like. The figures that she provides on the cards, include all the necessary reference points marked; bust lines, waist lines, etc. and body types (inverted triangles, squares, ovals, etc).

As a seamstress / alterations person, this is a great aid. I can show my clients ideas that would help them to show off their body to it’s best advantage. As someone who sews for myself and my family, I can draw out designs for all of us and know that it comes close to their proportions. As a designer, I can feed all those flutterbys that clutter my brain.

I contacted Carol to ask her how much it would cost to commission her to draw me some figures in a sitting down position like in a wheelchair. She not only drew them for me, but she included them in her body types card set and let me help pick out the ones to include. The first night I got them, I sat up until 4:30 am drawing on them! The kids hijacked my pad of paper the day I received the kit. I sent Carol pictures of what they had drawn just to show her the use the kit was getting. Yesterday, out of the blue, they received a box with their very own kits compliments of Carol! Needless to say – they were thrilled and I was thrilled! LOL Carol is just such a nice person!

If you love to sketch out clothing designs or have a family member that does, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Carol’s Master Sketch Pad – It’s the next best thing to having Carol’s arm right on your drawing table!

The doctor was stunned!!! Uncle Brian, cried and told him he had golden hands! The Doctor just shook his head, held out his hands – and humbly said “NO – These are flesh and bones. What I saw was miraculous. If I hadn’t been the one to open her up and see that cancer the first time – I never would have believed it had even ever been there!” Aunt Charl even cried when she woke up and heard the news! And that is after two doctors from John Hopkin’s told Uncle Brian – Fill her morphine prescriptions and do your best to control her pain, but she should just go home, because there’s nothing else we can do! Thank God, her daughter and Brian researched and found Sloan Kettering! She has been undergoing chemo for 5 weeks at Sloan Kettering – other than hair loss – she has been up the entire time and has said all along – it isn’t as bad as she was expecting it to be!

Mom said – Vinnie THANK YOU FOR THE VOTIVE!!!

It’s not odd. It’s God… (okay – I know – cheesy – but what can you say????) I Believe In Miracles! There’s a whole clan that will go to bed tonight – Thanking God. AND on top of that, My Step-Dad got word that his sister’s own (stage 4) breast cancer was completely removed and she won’t even radiation or chemo!

I don’t know why some people are healed – and others aren’t – but you must keep the faith – if not the will. Often the miracles are happening all throughout the battle – even if the end result means dying. It is truly the journey of life that is the gift. Maybe it’s the one’s who survive who are the ones that still need to finish wrapping their presents before going to God.

Thank you for the rosebuds, St. Therese.

Aunt Charl is up to 135 lbs. (from 97) and the doctor called her last week and said she is good to go for surgery now, so tommorrow morning they will try the first operation since her diagnosis in May of this year of serous cancer. She has finished her first 5 weeks of chemo and they removed the tubes from her kidneys last month. They will be removing her ovaries and uterus and scraping out as much of the cancer as they can. Mom talked to her tonight and she said she was scared, but that she has been ‘up’ through all of this. When we first talked to her in May, they were about to lose their home, Charl had just found out about her cancer after putting off doing anything about a tumor on her ovary they had found the year before. She wasn’t sure how they’d pay for it – so she let it go. I don’t tell that because of being judgemental – I tell that to let everyone know – You must fight cancer or the possibility of it one step at a time. It’s a long battle and early detection is truly the biggest factor! Aunt Charl was most concerned because she had not talked to her youngest son in several years over a falling out they had had. Since then, they’re managing to hang on financially, friends and family have rallied the support they can, and she has had the reconciliation with her son that they both so desperately needed. It’s not all 100% – but you know – it doesn’t really need to be! It’s the individual contacts with people, it’s a look, or a kind word, or an offer of help (no matter how small) – the baby steps that motivate us to keep on trying – just as when a toddler takes his first steps and sees the outreached arms that he can fall into if he doesn’t quite succeed. That is what Life is all about. Living to Love and what makes us all Love Living, and when the time comes that we can’t take another step – our Father will be there to hold us in his warm embrace.

When I’ve had time to stop and take things in, once again avoiding a trap of sorrow or pity, I realize – if the devil is trying so hard to take something – it must be something really special!!! God, our Father, reassures and consoles with small acts of kindness and love that truly make one’s life meaningful. We glimpse an ounce of that feeling when we become parents, or siblings, godparents or friends.

Something that I wonder about alot is when Pope John Paul was dying, he said that there was joy in suffering. It gave him the gift of glimpsing God. St. Francis also said the same thing. I’m not sure I always understand it, but if it’s the coming closer to our Father through the acts of kindness of others, I can say with confidence – I’ve seen and tasted that – and it truly is real!!

Slobo may lose his job this week, family, friends, and others I’ve hardly known, have offered us so much help this week that it overwhelms the spirit. Kindness can overcome fear and replace it with strong reassurance that everything is going to not only work out – but it’s going to work out for the better as long as we value those friendships and acts of kindness, do our share to try hard, and pay it forward.

“Yes, life is a treasure. Each moment is…an eternity seeing God face to face, being one with him.”

“I will let fall a shower of roses.
I will spend my heaven, doing good on earth.”
St. Therese, The Little Flower

Please – I ask for your prayers for Aunt Charl. I’m sure our Father is listening, and don’t forget to talk with Mother Mary – I’m sure she is there with a comforting touch.

After which a beautiful summertime sunset followed:

The trees, grass, buildings, everything – glows around the dark pines. The already dark green evergreens turn to almost black, the green grass turns to a soft brown and the sky casts a warm pink-orange glow against everything. Sometimes, the beautiful turquoise sky shines in between. I LOVE SUMMERTIME IN GEORGIA!

The day after the rain storm:

– Wild Blackberries were ready to be picked!

Today – I MAKE JAM! YUMMM

– Powered By Stuffr! –

I went on a shopping trip one evening with the family in search of “something pretty”. I told Slobo I didn’t know what I wanted to buy, just something to brighten up the house. Yeah, I had that ole’ spring bug again. We visited 2 or 3 stores, much to the chagrin of the kids. I don’t know why, but they just don’t like to look at girly stuff!

After looking at towels, a quilt, some containers, etc. everything just said to me, “Don’t buy me – you can make me if you really wanted me!” or “Rethink me, you’ll have to dust me!” The quandry was I wanted something pretty that as I passed by it each day I would think, “That’s pretty!” and not “Look how dirty I am – Don’t you ever clean me?”. Silly females!

Well, after not finding that “something pretty”, I was at Hobby Lobby the next day to get some fabric for Aunt Charl’s things and found this fabric. I fell in love with it! Sure I’d have to make something with it, but Hobby Lobby has McCall patterns at 99 cents and I needed something to keep my knitting stuff in. The temptation was too great, so I bought a couple of yards and with a little grain fudging, was able to make these three cases from it. Slobo went back and suprised me and bought the rest of what they had (about 2 1/4 yds) of each and now I have enough to make the other project case and tote bag to go with them! Isn’t he kewl?.

So, I spent the last couple of nights with my little Italian friend, Necchi, and made these cases: A 3 pouch craft project organizer, knitting needles case, and crochet needles case. The pattern is McCall’s M4728.

I fell in love with my Necchi Supernova all over again.

I got him and his singer cabinet, from a fellow Necchi lover in Tenn. I met her from the Necchi Yahoo Group.

So inspired by my new ‘something pretty’, I fixed my love’s tension assembly and replaced his motor to fix some broken toggle switches, thanks to a parts machine that was willing to sacrifice it’s life so that it’s relatives could live.

Using hs bobbin winder as a mini-lathe, I even shaved down a stretch winder belt with the edge of scissor blades, so the bobbin would work fast again. (Of course, after doing so and making a mess to clean up, I discovered the parts machine had a good bobbin winder belt on it. Hey! At least I know I can use it as a lathe when needed! Makes me wonder if my industrials’ bobbin winder that runs on a treadle belt would carve some mini bowls for a Barbie house?)

The parts machine also has the parts for his sister, my pink Necchi Supernova Ultra. You may remember her from a post in 2006. My sweet MIL gave her to me a few years ago and even paid to have her trucked to me. She needs a new bobbin case and misc. parts along with a tension assembly fixin’.

Shucks, feels like I’m playing with my Ken and Barbies again! Even my fabric is made by Brother and Sister Craft Studios. DON’T YOU JUST LOVE SPRING!

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If you read Slobo’s blog, you know that Flash, our 6 yr. old Golden has cancer. We will see a specialist on Tuesday morning to see if anything can be done.

When Pope John Paul passed away, there was so much talk about spiritual growth through suffering. Many of us don’t want to admit or think about it in those terms. Myself being one of them. Self-pity was something I abhorred. I used to get so angry when I heard a christian say, “It’s God’s Will”. No it’s not! God does not will suffering. God did not make it so my young nephew died. Or that my sister was born severely retarded. God DID give the devil reign of this earth. People do stupid things. They follow him. Simple fact. Bad things happen. But God, gives us open arms to fall into when bad things happen. God give us his grace and his love, especially in the ‘boos’ of life. There is a peace and love that comes from one person’s life as it passes through our own. We don’t have a choice when we are born and we don’t have a choice when we will die. We do make choices as we interact with eachother every day and that is where Simple Grace comes to fruition. We don’t have to stand by and accept things as God’s will. God gave us a will of our own. We should do with it what we can!

Slobo loves to refer to hilly roads in a car as taking a trip on the wee-boos….. The children laugh as the hilly weeeeee’s approach, get queasy with each boooo, then get giggly with anticipation as they round over the tops, so we must do with life’s curves, It’s not about rightness, wrongness, fairness or unjustness, it’s about the moments, the seperating of the sweet juice from the bitter rinds. Having the courage to hang in there knowing that your heart might get broken or you might be making a wrong decision – those moments when your heart sick over whether right decisions were made. I just fall into his arms and let him be my guide. Sometimes, I just can’t even think about it and he knows that. After all, he made me. He’ll help me and he’ll love me as long as I do what I can and know that I’ve done what I can.

If nothing else, I hope that our children learn to discern life’s sweet wee-boos with the innocence and courage that is theirs, for in it will be their serenity and the savory sweetness of thier lives.

And… in another of my selfish moments… I post this. lol. Just remember to kiss, hug and pet your loved ones today.

Our boys have had hero worship for him ever since he first smiled at them – as I have loved him since that first drooly toothless smile at 6months. He will be going to Camp Cupcake in Alasad, Iraq. Fun little name given by the Marines. From what we have seen online, the confectioner’s sugar used is sand. I think he’s going to need some cupcake liners.

He will be in charge of a couple of planes and have to go out on missions with them. I tell ya, the heart wrenching pangs of knowing he is going over there is nothing compared to our pride for him. I get so mad at everyone, The Iraqi government, Bush, Military Leaders, Nancy Pelosi, Ted Kennedy. But let’s face it, this aint no superbowl and yelling from the sidelines doesn’t mean a damn thing.

I must, as all of us must, remember Al Qaeda and organizations like them, are recruiting hate mongers at a rate more harmful than Hitler’s Nazi Party and from your own homeland. They aren’t in uniform. These cowardly bastards hide in our communities and towns and don’t have the courage to don a uniform.Sure, our men and women are over there fighting for us and Iraq and Afghanistan, but what the hell are we, at home, fighting for?

We had better be diligent and keep our eyes peeled at home and stop this pacifist crap. Use your common sense. After all, don’t we lock our doors at night to keep predators out? So what is so horribly inhumane about putting up a freakin’ door on the borders? And don’t we tell our children, stay away from strangers – if you get a chill from looking at someone – heed it and stay away from them? Is that profiling? Maybe we should teach our children to let the world in the front door and run up and hug and kiss that creepy looking guy – he should know the world feels for him. Come on, people, don’t let our heroes face the enemy without donning some courage and willingness ourselves.

This man, like so many thousands of other men and women makes me whisper thankful prayers to God for sending such willing guardian angels. Christopher is Christopher Michael, named after the archangel – and rightly so!

We love you Chris – God speed – and Thank You! Psst… We will be watching you from afar – so don’t do anything you don’t want Grandma to know about……. )))

Technorati Tags: Our Hero, Iraq, Christopher

We knew we needed tires on our Envoy for awhile. That’s the reason we started doing paid blogging. Just Friday, Slo added it up and we finally had enough payments due to buy the tires when they paid at the end of the month.

Yesterday, we found out it wasn’t the tires that were the biggest hazard. Just two miles out from the house, our driver side tire went flat. The tires were balding around the edges anyway. It was really no suprise. I told Slo, thank God we had a full-size spare. It could be alot worse.

When we took the tire off, it was shredded down to the wire threads on the inside edge. What was even stranger is the brakelines and some other stuff were about 1/4″ from the inside edge of that tire. I checked the other side, it was a good 4-6 inches away. So, after changing the tire, we went back home and decided we just wouldn’t drive it unless we had to, until we could find out what was wrong.

Slobo decided to go to Walker GMC dealer about an hour later, frustrated over the truck. He took our oldest with him. Now, that drive was a good 20 minutes away on back winding country roads. The mechanic was about to get off duty, but took the truck to look at it really quick anyway.

He came out from under the truck – asked Slobo – have you looked at this? He said no, why? He wanted to know how far he came to get there? Slobo – beginning to sense something was wrong, said Not too far – why? He said the tie rod was being held together by a thin sliver of metal. He was suprised that Slobo and our son even got there.

After explaining to Slobo what that meant – that the truck – on a turn (which is just about every road in Georgia) or at a high speed – the tie rod would break and we would suddenly lose the tire on the driver side. He said the axle assembly would drive into the front bumper and truck would flip end over end – Slobo started shaking. As he realized the seriousness of it, he started to cry a little, explaining to the mechanic how we had just gone on the interstate the day before. The guy said we were very lucky! It had been broken for awhile apparently, and all we noticed was a slight pull to the left – only occasionally. The only thing we can remember that could have caused it, was hitting a new pot hole that appeared after the spring freeze in April. It was going to cost about $7300.00 to fix it.

Well, Slobo left with a new truck for just about the same car payment and only $25 more a year in insurance. The sale only took a little over an hour and they never once tried to add in any gotchas. He has a pic of the truck up in his post. The salesmen were not pushy a single time, he drove the truck he wanted right off the lot. They even took the old truck with the broken tie rod in on trade less just half the cost to fix it and gave us a full tank of gas, no extra charge. Now, the money we earned can pay for dental work for all three kids (the next thing on our list). Truly, a God Guided Moment!!!

There is no doubt, if that tire rod broke, we would have all been injured or killed. Instead, that shattered tire went flat, close to home. God and his angels – undoubtedly – let our tire deflate slowly right beside a spot that a had a big place to pull off and change it so we could know something else was wrong with that truck. He led my husband and child safely to the dealership where HE made it possible for them to buy a new truck in less time than I’ve ever experienced before! The only thing people need to remember is to listen to God. He gives us tingles of consciousness all the time – we only have to heed them – and he’ll help us.

I am about 3/4 of the way through Raymond Arroyo’s book on Mother Angelica - a modern day saint! She calls herself a Dodo in the book and says that God calls on Dodo’s. Because you have to go on blind faith, you don’t have to know what you are doing – God will do that, you just have to take action – God will take care of the rest. God reminded me – once again – she was right! He looked out for this family of Dodo’s once again!

Technorati Tags: God, Angels, Miracles

Happy Birthday Gutenberg!

Several years ago, when my grandmother passed away, my mother received her quilt. It was in such terrible shape. One of the in-law family members had used most of her quilts to wash cars, dog bedding, etc. and this was the only that survived, albeit barely.

I tried to restore it a few years ago; replaced some stitching, but mostly darning worn spots and filling in where patches used to be. It seemed unethical to try and do any more than that. But having just done those few repairs, I could feel in my heart, each stitch she took, wondered what her thoughts were as she made it, the sense of humor she quietly displayed in the fabrics she chose.

The above picture shows a deeper red plaid flannel, that patch was from my nightgown as a girl. There is a pale blue calico patch to the right, that is from my mother’s nightgown. The other patches are from Granda Ward’s nightgowns and her husband’s boxers. I love the lady from his Valentine boxers with the words, Anything…. But most of all – I love my Great Grandmother and the cherished values and love that she gave to even generations she did not know for long. I can’t wait to see you one day, sweet Gram!

It’s very cold in Iraq and Afghanistan now and we are receiving a number of requests for caps, fleece blankets, and sweats from the Combat Support Hospitals (CSHs).

If you currently have any of these items ready to ship to Soldiers’ Angels Germany, I’d like to request that you send them to the CSHs instead.

- Caps: May be fleece or knit, but should be black (or other dark colors) and look like this http://www.amazon.com/Genuine-U-S-Navy-Watch-Beanie/dp/B00020C1HI

- Fleece Blankets: Preferably twin-size, but lap size also ok.

- Sweats: Sizes L and XL.

A little truly does go a long way.

—– Original Message —–
From: U.S. Department of Education’s Teacher Initiative
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 10:27 AM
Subject: The U.S. Department of Education is Launching the FREE Website for Teachers

The U.S. Department of Education is pleased to announce the newly remodeled and updated Federal Resources for Education Excellence (FREE) website. It now provides richer, more expansive resources to teachers and students alike. There are over 1500 resources to take advantage of at FREE, ranging from primary historical documents, lesson plans, science visualizations, math simulations and online challenges, paintings, photos, mapping tools, and more. This easily accessible information is provided by federal organizations and agencies such as the Library of Congress, National Archives, NEH, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian, NSF, and NASA.

Check it out today at http://www.free.ed.gov

Soldiers’ Angels has teamed up with Pacebutler to collect cell phones (handsets and batteries only). Recycled for cash, these phones will buy much needed prepaid long-distance calling cards to give military members overseas the opportunity to ‘phone home’ to families and friends. Read more here

My DH and I watched Steve Irwin’s Memorial tonight on Animal Planet. We recorded it for the kids to see tommorrow. It was a perfect memorial to Steve for all that loved him so much. There was a song played, “True Blue” by John Williamson which was Steve’s favorite song. What an absolutely perfect piece of music. John Williamson reminds me of an Aussie Gordon Lightfoot. There was another song played, just as touching, called “He changed the world” but I haven’t been able to find the link for it. A poem entitled, “The Crocodiles Are Crying” by Rupert McCall, was also read. They were all such magical words written for a hero who will live on in legends.

Steve and Terri are patrons to a wildlife organization called Wildlife Warriors. This organization puts all of their money where their mouth is. Single handedly, Steve Irwin put conservation in a place and time where no one else could. As he had described in an interview about the death of his mother, “That kind of pain never goes away, they are missed forever, but you can get up and go on – just keep going!” and that is what we all must do!

And how do we ordinary people do that? We don’t do it by sitting around waiting for someone to take the place of someone as special as Steve. We must take the time, educate ourselves to act responsibly, educate our children or better, let our children educate us! The kids instinctively know and love nature long before understanding it.

When anyone asks, are there anymore True Blues, just reply, YES! and then tell two friends!

“Embrace your Heart!”

We must never forget to stand as a United nation. We must have the courage of our convictions just as the passengers of Flight 93, ney, all of the heroes: firefighters, police officers, medical personnel, teachers, and all of the thousands of everyday heroes since then.

We’ve chosen a course of action and men and women risk their lives for it, chldren have lost their parents over it. Let’s stand by the decision. Have the courage to support it or change it. But, please, don’t abandon it!

Thank you to all who make it possible for us to live to see another sunrise and sunset.
We know every day is precious gift from God, just as each of you are.

My family and I are eternally grateful.

Soldiers Angels are currently making Blankets of Hope and Cool Down Scarfs.
If you want to help, check them out!