Nigel

This are not the best photos of Nigel that I've taken, but they are the only ones that I could find after I put them on my computer....too bad Tim isn't here. I guess I'm lucky to just get these on here at all. Nigel is so precious. He just eats and sleeps and hardly cries at all. Laura is a good little mom and John is a good little dad. They have let me hold him some and cuddle with him. Every time I think he's smiling and get the camera set up, he's not smiling any more! But I am loving to get to cuddle with him! We went showing today for several things they needed including a bassinet so maybe Laura and John will get a better night's sleep tonight. I'll put up more photos when I get home and have Tim to show me how to pic the exact ones I want.

Welcome to our world!

Welcome to our world Nigel Timothy Hacker-Wright! He was born on May 30, weighing in at 6lbs, 15oz. He is precious according to his mommy and I'm sure his grandmother will agree when she sees him. Both Mom and Nigel are doing well. She ended up having to have a c-section - no surprise to me, she's so little and will be in the hospital until Monday. I'm leaving next Tuesday to go to Canada to be with Laura and John and Nigel for about 5 days. I can hardly wait! They just live too far away...looks like I'm going to be wracking up air miles to Canada! My only regret is that my mom and Papa Mutt didn't live to see this precious little bundle.

Party Weekend

We had a cookout here Saturday night for the music ministry. Special thanks to Ken Cox and Eric Channey for patting out the burgers. I cannot stand to put my hands in hamburger meat! After we ate, we all went upstairs and listened to the newest CD they are getting ready to do. It sounds great so you are all going to have to come to Sycamore View so you can get one for free when you turn in your visitors card.





We had a fish fry at the Inman's on Sunday night for the Pepperdine group. It was lots of fun. The food was good and the company even better. The kids had a great time playing outside and fishing in their pond. This is Brenda South making great hushpuppies and Crista cooking fish and chicken fingers for the kids. Also Fadea is in the pink pants with the pony tail and Candice Goff id there with Brenda. Sorry I don't have more close up face photos....but I never had the camera in my hand! That's Hannah Newsome fishing in the pond. The photo with the children playing in the wagon is so great. They are have a great time. The two little blonde girls in the wagon are Carlyle and Kaycee. I've got them talking Tim into buying me a big diamond ring like their mothers have. They are so funny. They call him the "purple man" or "pink man" or whatever color shirt he has on and every time they see him, they tell him that he needs to buy me a big diamond or either a swimming pool. They are cousins and they are so cute!

Oklahoma

This was the weather we enjoyed in Oklahoma when we went for Tim's aunt's funeral. This was actually a toronado....we were just too close to it to see the funnel...we were hiding under an overpass...Tim did a great job with the service and we enjoyed getting to visit with his mom and dad and cousins a little while. It was not nearly as difficult on me as I had feared it would be. God is good!

Great Week at Pepperdine!

Can you believe that this is Allen Gillespie....he used to be little Allen who threw temper tantrums and got up and walked off if no one was looking! What a handsome young man he has become! He introduced our group one night.
The Pepperdine campus was beautiful and we took photos of these deer right on campus!
This is precious little Corbin....I'm still not real good at getting these photos in the order I want them in this blog!
We had a great week at Pepperdine! The Sycamore Praise Team and Lynn Anderson did a great job of presenting the Psalms. The Psalms of Lament night was a real tear jerker, but wonderful never the less as were all their presentations. We got to see lots of old friends and it was so good to see them. This photo has Tim and me with Curt and Nedra Sparks, our former preacher. It was so good to see them and get to visit with them. Curt's presentation and the Overland Park Praise team were both great, too!
We also got to see Allen and Sara Gillespie and Brett and April and Corbin Emmerson. Allen and April grew up next door to us. Allen now works in Development at Pepperdine and Brett and April are missionaries in Togo. They just happened to be home on furlow. It was wonderful to see them and I got to play "granny" to Corbin a little while one night during the main session. He was a little fussy so I got to take him out side and let Bret and April both stay inside and listen. I loved doing that....getting ready for Nigel's entrance into the world!

HiDef BGT Charlie Green sings Summer Wind

This kid can really sing! He reminds me of a young Tony Garcia!

What a Great Day!

We had a great day of worship today! Ronnie and Jennifer Parker came to church with us today to eat lunch with Jim Woodruff who is filling in until our new preacher, Josh Ross, comes in June. We had a wonderful time reliving old memories and making new ones. I'm really sorry we forgot the camera to take a photo!

Tonight, the praise team, who is going to Pepperdine lectures sang the songs from the CD, The Psalms Project. Most of the songs are taken directly from the Psalms - many word for word and they are wonderful. Lynn Anderson will be speaking on the Psalms and the Sycamore Praise Team will be singing with him (or as Jim Woodruff calls them, the Kipettes).

I am continuing to get better as I stay "lazy" and rest and allow my emotions and brain to heal. Tim is having fun telling me I am just lazy but he knows better...he sees the results of my trying to do to much in one day! It was a great day, but now it's time for bed! Love you all!

It's been a pretty good week

Last weekend, Tim and I went to see Miss Predigrew lives for a day. It was a little different but interesting. On Saturday, I went to Corinth to see Diana. We spend several hours going through boxes of burned up jewelry looking for diamonds and other stones - we found none...of course everything was black so who could tell what we were looking at anyway and a lot of it was melted together! We found little pieces of chain that we could rub the soot of off and tell what they used to be, but they aren't good to anybody now. There were some tearful moments finding some of Mama's jewelry (all of it costume but you know how as she grew older she liked to wear a ring on nearly every finger and a pin at her neck and sometimes a necklace, too) and there were some tears mixed with laughter for the same reasons!
Today I'm going to a Scream Free Parenting Seminar. I might like to get certified to teach it one day.
Yesterday I did a talk on mental health to the Youth Leadership Bartlett group. I guess they got something out of it. They acted interested and asked lots of questions.
Hope you all are having a good weekend!

Good Movies

Tim and I went to see 21 yesterday and Leatherheads today. They were both good movies. Not too much chick flicks nor too much violence and shot-em-up kind of movies. Leatherheads did have a little more foul language but neither had the F word. I'd recommend either. I'm enjoying my resting time and I haven't had a headache yesterday or today. HOORAY!

Doctor Reports

OK, folks, it's official...I'm crazy...no, not really....the neurologist said I have something called Post Traumatic Headache Syndrome. Yes, it is real. Google it and read about it if you want. In short, people who have migraines and get a lick on the head like I got tend to have migraines more frequently and severely for 3-6 months after the head trauma and I have had a headache nearly everyday since then. He suggested that I take off 3-6 months and do nothing to allow my brian time to heal.

The psychologist told me to take at least 3 months to heal emotionally so that's what I'm going to do. Keith, the clinic director has been kind enough to find someone to take my cases for me (except for one that I want to keep) and at the end of 3 months, we will reevaluate the situation. Dr. Clement wants to see me weekly for a few weeks. I have to go back to Dr. Landy (the neurologist) in May for a recheck. We'll see what happens from here!

Easter

Easter in Searcy was wonderful as usual, but we did miss the James clan (but we didn't feel sorry for them...Mike and Beth are in Florence, Italy). Vivian and I stayed at their house anyway and we got to see Jon. All my friends in Searcy told me to go to the neurologist and get my head checked out...they all say I'm not the same as I was before the crack in my head...I really don't know if it's the crack in my head or all the other stuff I've been through in the last few months but I am going to see the neurologist tomorrow and the psychologist on Thursday so we'll see what they can come up with...I dropped my class today so that's one less thing on my plate....I might decide by the next time it's offered to take it again but right now, my brain needs a rest!

Supervision

Today is the first day since Sunday that I had to get out of bed early in the morning....had to get up to go to supervision. Tim is in Colorado skiing with Joe, Cathy, his sister, and Noah, his nephew. I love sleeping until I wake up without an alarm! It's been a great week!

Time to Remember Happy Times

This is a photo of Mama at Christmas a couple of years ago. She loved that dress with the snowmen on it. She was really happy when she was with her family and a photo of Mama and Bill. Her funeral was a week ago today. She really looked beautiful and peaceful in death. Her service was a real celebration of her life and I know it went long- probably too long for some but we children loved every minute of it. Tim lead the singing, Mama did love to sing. Several people asked him afterwards if it was a requirement to be able to sing to be a member of the Church of Christ. The singing was beautiful. She would have loved it. Of course, that's how we grew up...we never had a family gathering that didn't end in a singing. Mama and all her brothers and sisters could sing.
Paul Sparks talked about Mama's involvement in the Indianola church. He even said that if she had been a man, he would have made her an elder. The preacher from Corinth spoke also and then came the best part. People from the audience were invited to get up and say anything they wanted to say about her. My cousin, Joy, said she was Mama's favorite; however, there was some discussion about that later. Actually, I think she made every grandchild and niece and nephew feel special and worked hard not to show favorites to any of them. Mama made every child that came through the doors of our house feel special. And lots of kids did come through the doors of our house. Cousins from the city spent weeks with us in the summer (we spend weeks with them in the city, too), kids from church spent every Sunday afternoon with us. One of Robin's friends told a story at the funeral about shooting a hole in the ceiling with Robin's new shotgun...mama and daddy were so relieved that no one was hurt they didn't even get in trouble...Dale said that was the day he learned that Tracy Skelton (my dad) could be a tenor instead of a bass!
When we were talking to the preacher about our remembrances of her, Diana told him that she taught us to be good submissive wives, but it didn't take on me! We did also talk about how Mama had a revolving door at her house and so do Tim and I. She fed every visiting preacher whether they were Church of Christ preachers or from the Church of God down the road and we often kept their families at our house during the gospel meetings. Tim and I have guys from Harding grad school at our house quite often for short courses or over night during the semester when they drive in for one class a week. She set a great example of hospitality to us all!
Joy pointed out several sayings that Mama regularly said especially this one, " You scream, I scream, We all scream for ice cream!" We all quoted it with her just like Mama quoted scriptures in church with the preacher (not that it is in any way a scripture)...but is it any wonder that I love ice cream?
Thanks to all of you who came to show your love and support especially to our out of town friends and to all who have sent cards, e-mails and notes! It is such a blessing to have friends like you!

My dear sweet mama went home to be with the Lord yesterday, Friday, February 29, 2008 at 2:00 pm. While it was very hard to let her go, it was an answer to our prayers. Since Papa Mutt died in December, it seems that Mama had lost her will to live. She wouldn't eat, didn't sleep hardly at all, was in pain a great deal of the time, and just seemed lost in general with out Papa Mutt to ground her. These photos were taken this summer at a cousin's reunion. In the first one, Mama fell asleep sitting up which is what she did most of the time since Papa Mutt died. The other is of Mama with her brother, Tom and sister, Des.
This last week of her life was unbearable for her. She had been in the hospital with pneumonia, a kidney stone in each kidney, bloating in her stomach, congestive heart failure and several other medical things wrong with her that I didn't understand, but she died with all her family around her and all of us singing hymns - she loved to sing and had the most beautiful voice until the end when she couldn't talk anymore...the only time she seemed alive since Papa Mutt died was when she was in church singing or at the nursing home singing with different groups who would come in to sing with the residents and she knew every word of every song and she sang out with that beautiful, clear soprano voice. When the preacher quoted a scripture, she quoted it right along with him and when he asked a question, she answered it right out loud! She did love the Lord and I am so grateful that she taught me to love Him, too. I was talking today with my sister and brothers about how we had a "drug" problem when we were kids...Mama drug us to church every time the doors were open and to gospel meetings and singings every where in the Mississippi Delta and usually by herself because Daddy didn't become a Christian until I was in college.

You know, I know she's singing with the angels and she is not hurting anymore and that is exactly what we prayed for and we told her while she was laying in that hospital bed that she could go and that we would be OK....and we will be, but the moment she took that last breath, I wanted to take it all back...only I don't want her back the way she was but the way I knew her when I was growing up...always singing and with a smile on her face, taking care of us and taking care of our friends and others...Yep, God does answer prayers and sometimes He gives you exactly what you ask for and when you get it, you're not always ready for it! What fickle humans we are!

When it rains, it pours!

Diana, my sister, called this morning. She was at the hospital last night with Mama which is a good thing because lightening struck her house and it burned everything. Her bedroom was destroyed. They called her from the hospital about 1:00 in the morning to come out to the house. It's pretty much a total loss from what she described, but the insurance adjuster can't come until tomorrow...How stupid is that? I'm still feeling dizzy sometimes and don't trust myself to drive very far, so I can't be of much help. Just pray for our family, please! These past few months have been rough!

What I Don't Like About Getting Older!

Well, my oldest cousin, Bud Mullen, for those of you who know her, he was Carylon Mitchell's oldest brother, was buried today. He had cancer but he got pneumonia and couldn't pull through it. He's the first cousin I've lost to death (other than car wrecks) and I don't like it one bit. Bud used to have a convertible when I was a teenager and he was a lot older than me, so all the cousins my age would tell him that if he would take us for a ride in the convertible that we wouldn't go home to Aunt Becky's (of Tea Cake fame) with him to spend the weekend, so he would take us for a ride and then we would still all go home with him to spend the weekend. Aunt Becky was always glad to have us and Bud tolerated us pretty good. I didn't get to go to the funeral because of this stupid head injury. I got the staples out on Saturday, but I still feel dizzy when I stand up too fast and so I didn't feel comfortable to drive myself down there and Tim's afternoon is filled with practice for the Easter Chorus and Pepperdine Lectures Praise Team. Mama is back in the hospital with another kidney infection and I haven't been able to go down and help Diana either. I feel bad about that, but that's life, i guess.

Joe will be home from China on Thursday night late. That will be interesting to see if he's decided he wants to go back to live there or not.

Tagged by Danny Dodd

This tag is a little different from others I have received. I'm supposed to take a book and open it to page 123 and type the sixth, seventh, and eighth lines of the book. Since most of the books I am reading right now are text books for my Testing and Assessments class, these sentences might make no sense to anyone expect those in my class...but here they are from The Essentials of Testing and Assessments by Neukrug and Fawcett: Most law schools require the LSAT, which is a half-day test to access acquired reading and verbal reading skills. The LSAT has a unique scoring method that ranges from 120 to 150 and has a mean of 150 and a standard deviation of 10. Reliability estimates are quite high ranging from 90 to 95. So there you have it...If you plan on going to law school, this information may be somewhat helpful...

On an entirely different note, Tim and I went to see Sarah Pacheco at the Bartlett Performing Arts Center. It was a great concert. she did lots of Broadway hits and she had a great voice. After the show, Tim and I went to Kroger to pick up a few things...I slipped and fell flat on my back on a bottle of broken olive oil on floor busting my head open. We ended up in the emergency room and I got several staples in my head (5 or 6) and as a result, spend most of today in the bed with a headache not the usually kind, but in the back of my head where the staples are...What a mess!

I'm going back to bed!

Relaxing Week

This has been one of the most relaxing weeks of my life! Tim is gone skiing in Whistler. Joe is in China. I did not schedule any clients and so I have been sleeping when I want, reading when I want, watching TV when I want, eating when I want, etc. Still haven't gotten bored though! I put on clothes for the first time today and went and got my roots done and hair cut.

I did weather the storms last night with no problem. The tornado sirens went off constantly for about 2 hours and this thing kept flashing on the TV screen interrupting my lifetime channel which was rather irritating, but all the other stations just had news on them...I knew it was bad weather...I didn't need to watch that. I never lost power. Thanks to all of you who called last night or this morning to make sure I made it ok.

Joe did call and wake me up one morning this week. He and Luke are having a great time in China. He thinks he might want to get a job there and stay. We'll see what comes of that.

Tim is having a great time skiing. The high has been around -4 everyday...not exactly my idea of a good time! This is his annual "man trip" but this time they have Bobby's wife, Sherry, and Ben's wife, Amy, with them. I'm not sure that Sherry and Amy aren't getting the short end of the stick having to cook every night and watch movies like 310 to Yuma.

Laura has called to check on me twice. She's doing fine. She knew more about the tornados than I did...go figure....

I'm on my way to Corinth in a little bit to see Mama. Be back tomorrow in time for class tomorrow night.

Magic is amazing!

Tim and I went to the Bartlett Performing Arts Center again last night. This time to watch a, well, I would call him a magician, but he called himself a perceptionist and said that he used the power of suggestion. He was amazing. He could bend and break silverware with his mind and he could "read minds."

How he could do all of this, I have no idea how he did what he did but I know he didn't have plants in the audience because most of the people he called up there were people we knew (Bartlett is a small town, you know...) He even had 4 different people stand up and one told him what kind of car they would have if they could have any car in the world. The next told him what color, the next told him price, and the other the license plate number. He wrote them all down and then had a little boy who we happened to know come up and take a piece of paper out of his billfold and read the exact same information from it. Now, HOW DID HE DO THAT?????

Never fails to amaze me no matter how many times i see it...of course, I had been in the bed most of the time since Thursday with a migraine and was back there again today for most of the day...so it could have been the drugs, But everyone around me was amazed, too!

I you ever get the chance to see Craig Kargus, go!

BRRRRRRR!

Finally it added my photo of Tim and me with Trout Fishing in America! Great Show and like I said in my last post, go to youtube.com and look them up and you can hear some of their songs - My Hair Had a Party Last Night and Pico DeGallo are two of my favorites as well as A Prefect Cup of Coffee.

We went to see Mad Money and 27 Dresses this weekend. They were both good and funny!

It's so cold! All I want to do is stay on the couch with a cup of hot tea and bundle up in my Harding throw!