Napping with Daddy

Our Abigail is hanging in there. She started having a morning seizure again last week and so we've shifted her dosing times from breakfast and bedtime (8:30 p.m.) to 11ish a.m. and 11ish p.m. to see if that will carry her through the morning and allow her to SNEAK past that last stinking seizure that is a BEAST and doesn't want to let go. So we've tried it 4 nights and so far we are 4 mornings seizure free... HOPE! It's sometime very HARD to wake her up for the dosage but she seems to be getting better at it. Just awake enough for one swallow... and a slap at my head!

It is so hard to believe summer is almost over and she'll be in school again in less than three weeks. I am excited to see what this year will bring. She's excited too. Back to school shopping (and classroom supply list as LONG as my arm) here we come!

Loving Etsy

I am about to go crazy... my usb cord blew today! Guess I was downloading a bit much! Now I have to wait to get it in the mail because NOONE carries it in store. So I have a camera full of pics I need to download, they are lonely! Anyway, I can now focus on getting my studio a bit more organized and some marketing that needs to be done... the not-so-fun part of the business.

My friend Ryan is my Etsy buddy. We both are spending way too much time on there but both are loving discovering new things. I made my first Etsy purchase today! It is now my gift giving source... other than my jewelry. I've got a baby gift coming too... hint hint Erin!

I am OH So Happy with the site and it is an answer to being blogless and website building challenged! Now if I can just figure out why the mini-etsy icon won't appear on my blog!

georgiajewels.etsy.com

My First Class!

I taught my first jewelry class tonight at "Coffee and Cones". It's a monthly class called "Girl's Night Out" and it was a great success. I am having two classes next month and may try and squeeze a third in there. Thank you to my precious friends who support and encourage me so much... I love you!

Three Happy Girls

How wonderful it is to see such smiles on the faces of people who have just made something... I love it! Tonight was such a blessing. It was so much fun to "play" with six other girls and teach them how to make a pair of earrings. They are already asking for the next class!

Happy Birthday Daniel

I can't believe that my "little" brother keeps having birthdays! Here he is with his "little" son, Christian. It's so hard to really believe that my little brother has a son... and another baby on the way... crazy for my head to really wrap around.

Anyway, my "little" brother is no longer little... he's grown into a wonderful man who loves the Lord, his wife and his son and his family. He loves the outdoors and has a passion for fly fishing... and cooking. He has a wonderful sense of humor and a great smile and laugh. I love him dearly. Happy Birthday Nano.

ETSY, ETSY, ETSY

I am loving my "store" on the incredible website... etsy.com Haven't been there...? Gotta go!!! It's a site for people to sell things they make and it is full of FABULOUS artists and FABULOUS things. My store is at georgiajewels.etsy.com Please stop by and

take a look at some of my "favorites".

Party with the Pickett kids!

Oh how we love Emma, Claire and Shane! What precious and adorable children they are. We spent the day with them on Tuesday to "start" celebrating Abby's birthday. They started off with a couple hours of jumping at "Jump 2 It", played some games and had pizza at "Partner's Pizza" and then we ended at "Bruster's Ice Cream". Very fun, "pre-birthday" festivity.

Don and I took Abby to Six Flag's White Water theme park on her birthday for a quieter "family birthday". She, of course, had a BLAST and LOVED the water slides. It was so fun to see her have so much fun... second hand fun from your kids IS the best!

Abby's SIX years old!

I can't believe Abby is six. Yesterday, (18th) was her birthday and we started celebrating on the 17th and she had her "third" private party tonight at Josie and Abby's house. She seems like she has grown so much in the past six months... much less a year. Crazy how fast they (years) are going by. Our wish for Abby is continued health, protection and blessings.

Grammy's Gifts

Abby LOVES to open presents and Grammy, Poppy and Cynthia hooked her up with serval minutes of unwrapping fun! Thank you guys... wish you were here.

Georgia Jewels!

I miss some of my pieces! My goal is to either have a new blog up and going by the end of next month... or to have someone teach me how to do a "real" website for my gj's... OK... I am stepping away from the computer now and promise not to picture grid again... at least until next week!

OBTW... you can click on the picture and see it better!

Seaside 2007

I am going to become a collage-aholic! Thanks Teece!!! Just a glance back at the beach. Hopefully we'll go back in September!!

Halloween 2005

I couldn't resist. I just got this new software that does some fun things with photos and found these photos from Halloween 2005. We were just on cloud nine... Abby was walking again, able to eat candy, and was all about ladybugs! What a blessed and festive day! I am LOVING her haircut. I just looked over at her and said, "Think you need a haircut baby..." and she said "No, mommy...". So maybe just a trim...

Creativity Inspired

Well, this week has turned out NOTHING like I thought it was. I had plans to purge and declutter and have a big yard sale this weekend. We found ourselves deeply involved in a situation with a family we know and God needed us/me to do something else. So the week has been spent doing that instead. It has been very trying and emotional and yesterday I was bombarded with a surge of creativity and started making jewelry. I've been playing around with rings and this was my third attempt and creation. I LOVE it. New inspiration and burst of energy... yeah! Now I just need to find someone to help me build a website as I still can not access my jewelry blog... ughhh. Anyway... wanted to share!

Triple the Fun...

My three latest rings... I am addicted... need more fingers!

Our Miracle Revisited

I was in a closet, going through things... getting ready for a yard sale, and there she was... my precious miracle in May of 2005. When I pulled the pictures out of the envelope, emotions overwhelmed me in an instant... took my breath away. Then when I saw the date, I was dazed to think this was just hardly over two years ago... Abby was four.

We had just started glyconutrition in late January of that year. Abby had spent months, lying on her back, unable to sit, stand, walk, or even hold her head up. She weighed just 23 pounds. She had an average of 20- 30 seizures a day. Her hands were curling in and I'd pry them open each day... making her hold blocks or small half pound weights. The paralysis on her right side affected her face when she smiled... but you could see her... all of her... in her eyes.

When this picture was taken, she was learning to feed herself again. She was learning to walk again. She was learning to talk again. She was learning everything again. We had just been seizure free a little over two months.

Several people tell me that they never saw Abby when she was so sick and can't comprehend her being less than she is. I feel, to not know the Abby in this picture, is not to know her.

Abby is a fighter... she has a spirit that blows me away. She is so driven... and determined. Just two years ago, she faced frustrations beyond belief to bring herself back from the depths of darkness. She is a bright light from the Lord himself. She has a spirit that lights up a room and fills your heart with the purest of joys.

She is a precious gift that God has given us to love and to care for, for Him. We have been challenged with parenting lately and it is amazing how God can show you something... to remind you of what's important. Here is my God sighting for the summer. A picture. A picture that speaks a thousand and one words. And a hope that can carry us through the most troubling storms. Our God is an awesome God.

A Special Moment Caught

I totally LOVE it when I snap a picture and then later, when I go back to it, something speaks to me that I had not seen before. This is one of those pictures.

I love the way the shadow anchors them onto the ground. The shadow moves me almost as much as they do. But then I noticed, amid everyone bustling in the background... some not even looking, many talking and looking for the next thing, the police officer has stopped and is saluting. That is the coolest thing in this picture... respect... from one man... a moment of respect caught... I think he makes it a perfect picture.

The Parade is Here!

I love this parade. It is so down home... so quaint and community inspired. The BOYSCOUTS made the float with the dinosour and I was very much impressed! It moved with a certain lightness and grace as it came down the street. Very Cool.

My Little Kazak American Girl!

Abby loves the parade. I am not sure if she like the drums or the candy better... I am voting on the candy. She continues to amaze us, challenge us, and enchant us.

Praise the Lord, we are over a month now with no seizure activity! Thank you!!!! Thank you all again for your continual prayers and support for her. Your faithfulness and kindness just overwhelms me... thank you.

A Patriotic Nap!

Our new friends, Joe, Angie, Charlie and Josh, came over for pancakes and went to their first Peachtree City Fourth of July Parade. Precious Charlie just thought it was too early for so much fun! Joe was recently hired by AirTran and they have just moved here from Minnesota. We are just so blessed to have them as friends!

Our Fourth Party!


We have had a Fourth of July party for a couple years now and this year was a special one... we combined it with a retirement celebration for Don. After 21 years in the United States Navy, he officially retired on July 1, 2007!

Thank you to our friends who came and shared this day with us.

Don's Retirement

Table

I made a picture collage of pics from Don's service in the Navy... including my favorite of him as a toddler wearing his dad's Navy uniform hat! Don's father and grandfather were also in the Navy.

It means a lot to Don to have been in the Navy over 20 years and to serve our country during wartime. Fourth of July has always been his favorite holiday. He reflected on some comrades of his who have given their lives to stand for and protect the rights and freedoms this country

believes in. He was moved as he recalled the spouses and children who were left behind and moved by their courage and selflessness for the United States of America. I overheard him talking to a friend about how their lives were lost and the country as a whole... as a majority or even minority will never know what THEY did for us... and for others who long for freedom and basic rights.

War is ugly... very ugly. It is very emotional and full of opinions and ideas. But every single day we have fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters losing their lives for what America believes in and fights to protect. We need to stop for a moment and let that sink in. We need to thank them, pray for them, and support them.

Thank you Don for your pride for this country, for your fellow servicemen and women, and for your selflessness.

We love
Fireworks

We caravaned on the golf carts to City Hall and were sitting DIRECTLY beneath them when they went off. I have never been so close and was just goose pimply as the bright array of colors exploded against the dark sky (and all the ash fell on us!). Ash... who cares about ash?! I am like a small child when it comes to fireworks... they just intrigue me and make me so happy. I could watch them for hours! It was the perfect ending to a great day of festivities!!!!

Early Ride Home...

This blog section of the reunion is almost totally backwards anyway, so I am "starting" with the picture coming home! After much fun, we left Winchester at 5:30 a.m. to make an early flight home. We spent the entire afternoon Thursday trying to get out there and ended up getting up at 4 a.m. on Friday to go back and try again! So we were safe this time and Abby (and daddy) caught up on some sleep. We made the first flight!

Tecee and Me

OK, this is my precious, adorable and super fun cousin, Mary Christmas. Mary Teresa Christmas to be exact and so she has chosen to go by Tecee (spelling?)... also known as Teece!

She has been in Taiwan for a year teaching in an elementary school and it was so great to spend time with her. We decided we needed to take tons of pictures for our "sister blogs"... so here is one... one of three! She still has to tell me how to link her site to mine! Love you girley!

Sweet Cynthia and Brutie

Cyntie loves her Brutie and I love Cyntie... Brutus wasn't very excited about waiting for the family photo but we were entertained by him trying! I love you bunches Neener!

What a Turn Out!

It was such a very fun time and it was so wonderful to see everyone. Everyone except three to four people made it! I WISH you could see what went on behind the scenes to get this picture!

Jenna and Abby

Blowing bubbles....

Abby and her cousin Jenna were so cute playing together. They loved playing in the wagon... until Jenna took a tumble out (assisted by Abby).

We just returned from our weekend at my parents house for the Fourth Annual Haughton Family Reunion! What a perfectly, lovely, entertaining time we had! It was so much fun and great to see everyone in the family. We are already looking forward to next years.