Abby continued

Well, we had a catastrophy last night. Thankfully my sis handled it like a champ. So Abby's dress needed to be taken in in the chest. She has to wear a 12 b/c of the length and needs a/b a 7 in the waist. Well she got it home and tried on last night, and they took it in too much. Apparently Jenn told the lady to cut the dress and it was too small. So thankfully Jenn stayed calm (not me!!!) and took the dress to a lady to do a corset style tie thingy in the back. Jenn said it will be a one of a kind dress and might get the judges attention. WE will see. I am proud of her for staying calm though. It's important for kids to know they can always count on their mom. I will keep you posted.

And, Matt P is heading out tomorrow for Tres Dias w/ our church. Please pray for guidance during this retreat. I am proud of him for stepping out and going.

Kat

Abby Pagent

GOOD LUCK ABBY!!!!

As most of you probably already know, Abby is our pagent girl. She is in one next Saturday in Ashville and March 7 in Odenville. I think we are going to use this shot in the Photogenic portion. She has been in pagents since she was a/b a year and a half old. She is the sweetest, cutest, funniest girl ever. And she loves the Lord w/ every fiber in her being. She is our princess!!!! Stay tuned to see/hear the results from this and next Saturday.

Also, pray for Abby. She has had tummy issues for some time now. Went to the doc yesterday b/c she was sick and doubled over in pain. So far we found out she has Stage 3 reflux and is Lactose Intolerant. Now they are saying they think there might be issues w/ her bowels. So on March 9 she is going for an Upper GI and a Colonscopy. Poor girl just hurts all the time. I know jenn and Matt are so tired and frustrated of seeing their girl hurting. Please pray we can get to the bottom of her problems so she can start to feel better soon.

Happy Valentines

Hello everyone. Wanted to wish you all a Happy Valentines and a great weekend. Men, get out there and pamper your wives!!! Women, remind your fella's why they married you. WE don't have big plans since Emma was gone the past 2 Saturday nights. So me and Matt had Valentines early in our house. I can't have her gone again, mom can't take it!!! So we (or I) decided to keep Mason and Abby and let Matt and Jenn have a quiet night alone. I got a friend from work to order me, matt, memaw and Papa steaks from her butcher friend and we will grill them. Since Abby is lactose intolerant w/ stage 3 reflux, we have to be real careful w/ what she eats. I think she can have chicken though. Matt always said he would rather stay in and grill than go out to eat. So we are going to get a propane tank and fire up the new grill. It should be a lot of fun I think. Mason's game is at 2:45 and we will bring the kids home w/ us after. Mason will probably stay at Me-Maw and Papa's since they have computers and a WII but you never know. He is more of an outside kid most of the time. We haven't kept them since Thanksgiving weekend, so it is overdue. I am real excited and know the girls will have a ball. I'm fortunate Matt has been w/ me 12 years and is so close to Mason and Abby. That allows me to be close to them too.
Yesterday was our 9 year Anniversary of when we got engaged. I told him Happy Anniversary yesterday and he said 'how can you remember that'? I said I'm a girl, that's what we do.
I talked to Jennifer Turley last night and she is 12 weeks and feeling good. She said she was tired but that's normal and she works 10 hr days, so to be expected. She said she bought some fanny belt thing from Mother hood. I have never heard of them and will have to check it out.
That's all from us. WE are doing well and excited a/b our weekend.
Happy Valentines Everyone!!!

Matt surgery & weekend update

Hello friends. As most of you know Matt had his right rotator cuff operated on this Thursday. We prayed together during the ride in and I think we both felt better after. He did great. Dr. Atkinson of St. Vincents Sports Medicine said it went very well. There were 2 HUGE bone spurs but no tear, so that is awesome. His left shoulder was torn bad from the bone spur and had to be stitched back together. The doc shaved off the spurs, carterized them so they wouldn't grow back, healed the bercidis (sp), put the pump in, and got out. Matt has had minimul pain but some uncomfortable feelings though.
The nurses in recovery were laughing at him b/c he was up and ready to go home so soon. They kept having to make him sit down and eat and rest. Crazy guy!!! We didn't nap that day and slept horrible that night. Emma stayed w/ Me-Maw and Papa (love them) Thursday night thinking we could get some rest. But he was up like every hour I sware. He said he just couldn't get comfortable.
He had PT Friday morning and did great. Emma went w/ us and was so worried making me take her to check on daddy like every 5 minutes.
Talked to Jennifer Turley Sat. AM while I was mopping. And she gave me a lot of insight into his recovery, what to do, not to do, and what to expect. Since she has her Masters in PT she knows her stuff. So glad she is here to help guide us. But it's a lot easier than the left one since there was no muscle/tendon damage.
We left him at home to go to Ashton's party Saturday and while I wanted to get home to him, it was so great seeing everyone and playing w/ the kids. Josie is so awesome!!! Love her!!! Then Emma spent the night w/ MaMaw and Papaw that night. (thanks guys) When I got home Matt had taken the pump out saying it was empty. I rented us a few movies and we were in bed by 9:30. Crazy Saturday night let me tell you!!!
Sunday we slept in some, met mom/frank for lunch and took a good nap. Deb and Glenn brought Emma home around 4 and man did I miss my girl!!! She is not going off again for a LONG time. Momma can't take it!!!!
He had PT this morning and seems to be ok. Hopefully he will be off until next Monday but we will see. Thanks for all the prayers. Got through it thanks to God!!!

Kat

Cards for Hailey

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/haileygraceleslie

Hey everyone. HEre is the site to keep updated on sweet baby Hailey. Now you all know her Aunt is one of my very good friends, Amy Calvin. I had the idea that we all need to get our kids to make a Get Well or Valentines card for Hailey and get the kids to sign it w/ their City/State on it. So Amy can take it to her and she can see all of the lives she is touching w/ her bravery and strength and by God's grace. If you want to do this please email me and I will give you my address:
kdrinkard@industrialchem.com
Please everyone, as a mom I really think this will touch hers and her families lives for years to come. Let's get a TON of cards to her. Doesn't have to be anything special, just from the heart.

Kat

Friends

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, 'Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd.' I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friend’s tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.

As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him... He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye. As I handed him his glasses, I said, 'Those guys are jerks.' They really should get lives!!’ He looked at me and said, 'Hey thanks!' There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude. I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived.

As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to private school before now. I would have never hung out with a private school kid before. We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends. He said yes. We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him. Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said, 'Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday! He just laughed and handed me half the books.

Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we were seniors we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown and I was going to Duke. I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor and I was going for business on a football scholarship.
Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him.

Boy, sometimes I was jealous! Today was one of those days. I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, 'Hey, big guy, you'll be great!' He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. ‘Thanks,' he said. As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began. 'Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends.... I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story.' I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile. 'Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable.’ I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize it's depth. Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person's life. For better or for worse. God puts us all in each others lives to impact one another in some way. Look for God in others.


'Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.'

Thanks Stephanie for the email and wonderful reminder today. We never have enough friends and I love you all!!! Kat

Happy Monday

Happy Monday everyone. I know ya'll are all waiting w/ baited breath as to what in the world was wrong w/ Emma last Friday. Well, Periditis (sp) which is an infected Salivary Gland. Has anyone heard of this b/c I havent? The doc said it happens and she has seen some kids get a stone in it. Emma's was fine, viral w/ no meds. She said it could hurt and be swollen up to 7 days. And we didn't do anything wrong to cause it. It just happens, no real reason. But she is already better and not swollen anymore.

We went to Deb and Glenn's Friday night to visit and surprised dad at work. Deb got us Captn D's and it was yummy and we had a nice visit. We gave Emma a bath there since MaMaw got her new jammies and we needed to get in bed for the early day on SAt.

Saturday morning early she and I got up and headed to Odenville for Mason's basketball game. And let me say when you are not cheering and it is your nephew playing, much more fun!!! Emma had a ball w/ Abby and Robins girls and Aunt Naren/Aunt Robin/Uncle Matt and of course Sishu. (that's what she calls Jennifer) I really enjoyed seeing everyone and it was a added surprise to see Naren and Robin. I feel so blessed to have such a big awesome family. And Mason did really well. HE is the tallest one on his team.
Once we left Emma stayed w/ Jenn and I went to get my hair done and grocery shopping. Spent way too much $ (when do I not?) and came home. Matt was doing our taxes and had been working in the yard all AM. The rest of the night we rested, ate Taco Bell,and rented a movie.

Sunday was church (awesome sermon on smoking/drinking) and I couldn't wait to get my Emma girl. Then we went back to Deb & Glenn for yummy spaghetti. Went home to nap and again I napped in the new recliner. Love it!!! And Cleo napped w/ me - sweet girl.
Then last night was the Superbowl and of course it was on while Emma and I got our stuff ready for the week and played Memory/Go fish. WE all went to bed kind of late since we napped well.

Mom is home from her overnight stay in the hospital and recovering. She is still tired and sleepy and pretty much sick, but is getting there. Their van messed up over the weekend and we are all holding our breath to see if it's under warranty.

Got an update on Hailey this AM. Amy said she is in her own room, mom hanging in there still pg, still on pain meds but supposed to start weaning them off soon. She said the PT came and helped her stand on her own yesterday and they think she is responding visually to her mom. She said they won't know a/b her good eye and how the vision is going to be until the bandages come off. Not sure when that will be. But she seems to be recovering well. What a brave fighter our Hailey is. Praise God!!!

BBL - God Bless - Kat