You Gotta Have Friends...

Yesterday was so wonderful - uplifting to our souls, really.  Mark has been confined to the house for 5 weeks since his accident, with the exception of doctor's appointments, and the occassional trip to the grocery store with me.  So yesterday, after getting his hair cut for the first time since the accident, we visited some of our dearest friends and had a blast.

First we stopped by to play with our buddies Jack & Luke.  Luke is a snuggle bunny so he curled up on the couch with Mark for a little while:

The kids got in the hot tub for a while, then played on a Slip-N-Slide, too. The boys love Marley and she loves them like brothers.  So cute watching them be silly together.

Then Luke got a hold of the water hose and the mud pit became their source of fun.

Later, we went over to another friend's house to play with their 3-year old twin boys.  And of course, they loved Marley, too!

And sweet little Kara made Mark play "Ring Around the Rosy" with her.  :)

We had such a great day!  Thanks friends for giving us something to smile about - we love ya'll!

Ribbon Wreath How-To

So, I wanted to get something cool for mom's birthday this year, but she's hard to shop for.  Mom likes things that are practical (so do I), so I didn't want to get her something just to get her something.  And I didn't want to spend a ton of money, well, because I can't, and she's OK with that.  So I decided to get crafty.  And I'm SO glad I did! 

Mom decorated her home in pretty blues and chocolate browns, so I used those colors as my basis for this project.  I saw something similar to this on The Polka Dot Market's site and thought, "I could make that!"  Well, guess what?  I did!  I had to give it to mom early for several reasons, and she loves it, so now I get to share - here it is:

I picked out A LOT of really beautiful grosgrain ribbon - 40 yards or so - in the color scheme that I chose for this project:

I also bought 3 yards of thick satin ribbon that I used to wrap the wreath.  I knew I didn't have to cover every inch, because I would be covering it in loops of the grosgrain ribbon.  Here's what that looked like:

Then, I started with one pattern at a time, cut 3" strips, made a loop and used a straight pin to attach it to the wreath.  I did 20 or so strips of each pattern, randomly placing each strip on the wreath....

Then, voila!  It began to take shape!  I used a long strip of one pattern of ribbon to attach a loop to the back for hanging the wreath.  I'm so happy with how it turned out!  What do you think???

Linked to Tip Junkie, Mad in Crafts

Featured on Scrapbooking 24/7

The Creative Connection Event is COMING SOON!!!

This is my dream: to one day be able to work from home being creative and crafty, while being able to focus more on my family.

The Creative Connection and BlogHer provide the information I need to jump start this dream, and I would LOVE to go!  Here's the info:

What:  The Creative Connection Event

When:  September 15-17, 2011

Where:  St. Paul, MN

Three solid days of incredible women who have taken full advantage of their creativity and business savvy, and share it with the world.  One of my all-time favorite business women is a keynote speaker - Becky Higgins!  Oh, to meet her....I'd be like a 12-year old girl meeting Justin Beiber!  *swoon*  She inspires me in so many ways. 

Anyway, there are craft classes, business classes, make-and-take crafts, seminars, luncheons, and SO MUCH MORE! 

For all the scoop, check out their site - it's packed full of all the speakers, class schedules, etc. 

And...if you want to pay my way (cuz you love me so much - *wink*wink*), let me know.  I won't turn you down!  LOL!

A Card a Day - Book Review

~Originally posted on kthompson studios photo blog on 3/15/11~

I can feel myself getting carried away in the joy and therapeutic qualities of paper crafting.  It's wonderful.  I honestly never thought I'd get sucked in, but now it seems almost like a natural extension of my photography.  It's another creative outlet for me and I'm loving it!

So, my sister-in-law is getting married this summer (YAY!) and I'm helping to plan the wedding.  There will be LOTS of DIY stuff to keep the cost down, and I'm really excited about that because I LOVE TO DIM (Do-It-Myself).  I went to Barnes & Noble today looking at craft books and wedding books and such, and I came across a really great book that I had to have:

A Card a Day - Over 365 card ideas by Wendy Sue Anderson and Jennifer Schaerer:  It's just what it says it is - over 365 card ideas packed into a beautiful and vibrant book.  It's like mini-scrapbooking!  :) 

Check it out:

Sneak peek inside A Card a Day

It's great because of the full color pages, but I also love it because there are step-by-step instructions, a shopping guide, and it even notates the cards that only take about 5 minutes to make!  Great for when you want to be creative but have little time to spare.  :)

I was so excited that I came home and made my first card tonight - here it is: 

It's not perfect, but I like it for my first card ever!  I'm really looking forward to making more.  Enjoy!



My Pictures on mytubo = LOVE!

I have seen so many pictures on facebook posted by people with iPhone's who use Instagram, and for a long time, I was jealous.  But not anymore!

I'm a Droid user - love my phone.  And a couple months ago, I discovered the "mytubo" app.  I'm hooked!  It's so nice to be able to have another way to document life without lugging my big Nikon DSLR everywhere I go (which I still do from time to time...).  It's fantastic to have pictures that I may not have otherwise had if I had to pull out my big camera and get it set up. 

If you're a Droid user - check out "mytubo".  And to give you a little photo inspiration, here are some of my ordinary pictures turned into mytubo awesomeness! 

And if you want to print these, just get them printed as a 4x6 and trim them to 4x4.  I've used several of these in my Project Life album. 

So start shooting and playing with all the cool effects.  Happy Shooting Droid users!

An organizer bug crawled up my butt today....

I can only sit around doing nothing but "relaxing" for so long before I go stir crazy.  Yesterday was about all I could take, even though I still did 2 loads of laundry, swept the downstairs, and spent a couple hours scrapbooking.  But still, I relaxed.  :)

Today, I was making my usual rounds, picking up dishes here, wiping countertops there....and when I was emptying the dishwasher, I finally became disgusted with the cabinets that hold our plastic storage containers. 

I let the organizer bug do it's thing.

Here's the "before" pictures:

This is the bottom cabinet that contained all of our random kitchen things - cookie cutters, a couple bottles of liquor that we never drink, margarita glasses, and about 30 or so miscellaneous cups, both glass and plastic.  It had become a dumping ground when I couldn't find a home for something but I knew it belonged in the kitchen.

And the top cabinets - I had already started pulling things out and trying to organize when I had the thought to grab my camera.  These 2 cabinets house all of our plastic storage containers, to-go drink containers, and lunch containers.  A bunch of mess....

I sorted all of our containers and organized them by size, then organized them in the cabinet based on frequency of use - the ones we use most often go on the bottom shelf.

I moved all of our random-sized drink containers to the bottom cabinet.  Most of them are too large to stand up in the top cabinets, so it only makes sense to stand them up in the bottom cabinet. 

I threw A LOT of stuff out - making a trip to Goodwill tomorrow.  I finally got rid of Winnie the Pooh glasses that I've been holding onto for years, and several coffee mugs (we don't drink coffee).  I have a bunch of stuff in the back of my car just waiting for a new home!

And finally, there is order where there once was chaos:

I actually have extra room up here now!

SO much easier to pull lids out - they were stacked under the containers before.

And the bottom cabinet - all the drink containers are standing up straight, easily accessible.  The plastic cups for Marley and her friends to use are right up front and within reach.  There's nothing in here that we don't use regularly - YAY!

When my house is in order, my brain is in order, and then I can really relax...and watch the USA Women play the FIFA World CUP!

Happy Sunday!

GO USA!!!

Post-it Love...and other randomness

My daughter went to my office with me the other day, and right before we left to go home, she showed me what she had so diligently been working on...

Post-it Love:

And, for me to see the next morning, to keep me focused...

Love her :)

Also want to share part of a conversation she and I had over breakfast this morning. 

We were talking about Mark's injuries, and other hospital stuff, and she began asking what body parts you can live without.  (Did I mention this was over breakfast??)  I told her a person can survive without their spleen. 

Without hesitation, she said, "Wow!  You'd be really flexible!"

I laughed so hard, then clarified - SPLEEN, not SPINE!!!!

HAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!!!!

Moving Forward...

Mark is getting plenty of rest, but the rest of us in the family are staying busy, busy!  Between scheduling doctor's visits and going back to work, lots of stuff has been going on around the Thompson household.

Marley spent a week in Savannah with her grandparents, so we were really excited when she came home on Saturday!  After the week we had, it was nice to have her little personality and big smile back in the house.  :) 

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 I had to cut the grass Sunday - first time I've pushed a lawnmower in...I don't know how long.  And Mark stood out back and pointed out to me when I missed a spot.  :)  I kept threatening to run over his good leg with the lawnmower if he kept picking on me! 

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My dear friend Brigette and her family came by last night for dinner.  This was HUGE!  Brig and I have known each other since kindergarten at Memorial Day School in Savannah, but haven't seen one another in 14 long years!  I was SO excited to see her, and meet her beautiful babies!

 This is me and Brig when we were roughly 6 years old - love her!  :)

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 Aaaannnddd....Ms. Marley lost a tooth yesterday!  It's been really loose and she's been dying for it to come out so the Tooth Fairy would come, and finally yesterday during Vacation Bible School, out it came!  So under the pillow it went last night, and this morning she woke up $5 richer! 

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Today we are visiting the Imaging Center for another CT scan of Mark's chest, just to make sure the inflammation is going away.  Later this afternoon, he will finally have surgery on his broken left wrist, so pray it goes well.  I'll update with progress later. 

Progress is made daily, and for that I am incredibly grateful.  God is so good, and I am constantly in awe of how He uses such horrible events like Mark's motorcycle accident to teach us things.  Mark is learning to slow down and rest, and we are getting closer as a family. 

This verse has been special to me since my dad passed away, but it serves as a constant reminder of how fleeting life is, and to measure our days with moments, not things.  Take nothing for granted.

"Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I will know how frail I am.  Behold, you have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing in Your sight.  Surely, every man at his best is a mere breath." - Psalm 39:4-5

One day at a time...

Everyday, progress is made.  Everyday, Mark gets a little bit better.  Everyday, I'm reminded to be completely and totally grateful for the "everyday".

Like this:

Monopoly - Mark kicked my butt, and I made him laugh, even though it was painful with his broken ribs...  But we had fun :) 

I love him soooo much!

Another day, Another doctor visit

So, we went to another doctor's appointment today - this time with Dr. Schwab, another chest doctor.  Fortunately, this was a quick visit, just a check-up.  We coordinated a small surgical procedure to correct a hernia in Mark's belly button with his wrist surgery next week.  Other than that, we were in and out.

Mark has been poked and prodded, x-rayed and scanned, 8 ways from Sunday, so I thought I'd share of few of his recent "portraits".  :) 

Mark had a good day today, pain-wise.  His doses of Percocet were spread out a lot further than normal, so that's definitely good news.  We'll be getting out of the house a little bit tomorrow to go see his mom - he's looking forward to a little change of scenery.  And, we ordered his new phone today, so hopefully by Tuesday he'll be back in business, so he should be able to receive calls.  Once we know for sure when that will be, though, I'll let everyone know.

Other than that, nothing new to report.  Thanks for your continued prayers!

Life...

I feel the need to get this out of my system...  I journal, and that's incredibly therapeutic, but we have so many friends and family members all over the country who want updates, so I think this will be a better way to keep everyone up to date.

Last Wednesday, June 29th, around 6pm, my husband Mark was in a motorcycle accident not 10 minutes from home.  He was forced to slam on his brakes, causing him to be thrown over the handlebars and onto the concrete.  His left side took most of the impact.  He was taken to the ER in an ambulance, and later admitted to the hospital where he spent 2 nights.  He was released Friday, July 1st.

Thankfully, Mark sustained injuries that will heal - nothing life threatening or permanently damaging, thank God.  However, he will be down and out for several weeks.  He has 8 broken ribs, a badly broken left wrist, and his left leg sustained blunt force trauma causing it to be badly bruised and swollen to about twice the normal size. 

I am fortunate enough to work for a company that is very sympathetic to the fact that Mark is pretty much helpless on his own right now.  I've been able to stay home with him since the accident and work from home.  This week has been incredibly busy for us, so I'm glad I can work from home. 

Monday, the 4th, we went back to the ER because Mark's left leg was really bothering him and hurting really badly.  They did a scan and x-rays and saw no blood clots or breaks, so they sent him home.  Tuesday, we had an appointment at the radiology department for more x-rays, this time of his chest.  Wednesday, we had an appointment at Dr. Swayze's office to check Mark's wrist and schedule surgery.  We were told that, because of his broken ribs, we have to get a letter of clearance from the chest doctor.  So today, we had an appointment with him, Dr. Mayfield.  The x-rays from Tuesday showed inflammation in his lungs - not terrible, but enough to warrant a prescription for an anti-inflammatory.  Dr. Mayfield also told us that Mark is extremely lucky to be alive (we knew that) because one of the ribs he broke is the top rib on his left side over his heart.  He said a lot of times when these ribs break, they puncture a person's aorta and are fatal.  Praise God this was not the case for Mark!  We got our letter of clearance so Mark has surgery scheduled for next Wednesday on his wrist.

Tomorrow, we have yet another doctor's appointment, this time with Dr. Schwab.  This is the lung doctor, who we hope not to have to see again.  He and Dr. Mayfield work together in case there is any reason to have to do surgery on Mark's ribs or lungs.  We pray that is not going to be necessary.

So, at this point, Mark is taking his Percocet and Naproxen regularly.  He sleeps 4 hours at a time, waking up when the pain meds wear off.  He can get up and move around when he needs to, but I try to keep him in his recliner so he can keep his leg and arm elevated, and just rest.  He gets really tired of being in his chair, though, but I can't let him overexert himself.  He needs help with pretty much everything since he can't bend over, breath deeply, raise his arms over his head, reach across his body, or any of that - and he only has use of his right arm. 

Prayers are greatly needed and much appreciated.  I will try to post updates as I have them.  In the mean time, just keep praying for progress and rest. 

On a side note, I just want to say this: I had no idea how much Mark did around the house until he can't do it anymore.  It's very hard to handle the day-to-day responsibilities of 2 people, plus handle my normal job duties, and take care of my 230 lb. baby.  Fortunately, this week my daughter has been out of town with her dad, so that has alleviated some of the work.  Although when she gets back, I'll be putting her to work!

Oh, and as for the bike - it's not nearly as bad as Mark.  The right side of the bike has a broken plate that is easily fixed, the right turn signal is broken off, the windshield is broken, and the seat is cracked.  Other than that, it's fine.  And no, Mark will NOT be getting back on it.  Period. 

More updates later - thanks again for the prayers!

~Kirsten