Sunshine!!!

Awesome bright clear sky with a lot of gorgeous sunshine this morning....first time in 12 days! At least we have a chance this week of drying out a little...YIPPEE!  I hope I can get to some of my plants by tomorrow and see if any are salvageable....I know my little shed under the carport will need some cleaning out as the water was at least 3-4 inches deep in it! Maybe the river in the back yard will be dry enough that the mowers can do something back there on Wednesday!  LOL!  Anyhow, we (my kitties and I) have survived the month of May with the official total of 16.9 inches of rain (we got more than that unofficially) the good thing is all the lakes are full (overfull really) the trees and grass are all very green and the humidity and mosquitoes are on the rise! Now my phone can stop sending me emergency texts about the threats of severe thunderstorms, high winds, tornadoes, lightning and flash flooding and I can get back on my computer without worrying about a strike of lightning and/or loss of electricity!  Please pray for all the lives lost (and property damage and loss) during all the Spring weather events in Oklahoma and Texas during the month of May.
I did manage to create a few freebies for Miriam's Scraps earlier in the month using her MK20 and had uploaded them to Mediafire to be able to offer them on her site.  Here is what you might have missed. Click on her site to download any you might like.

 

 

I also did a birthday page for my sister Kathy on the 27th and got it on Facebook, but not able to stay on long enough to post here and I want it in my blog book at the end of the year....LOL! So here it is using a border from CheyOkota Digital Scraps and a flower frame from Neli at Lugar Encatado da Neli, Kathy, Jim with Jayson on his shoulders, Jason, Christina, Jayson, Jade and Ruby and Tiff & Jeff (Kat's family).

Also want these 2 Mother's Day pages I made for my dear friends Nina in a QP from Neli and Kaye in a QP by Miriam...LMBO!

I had my 3 month check up on my cataract surgery....it was all super, still 20-20 in both eyes and don't have to go back for another year, now to get my teeth cleaned and my well woman check up in July and I will be through with any appointments that are scheduled.  I need some rest from the first 5 months of this year....LOL!  I am still working on a wedding album for Jannette and Mike and of course with the brand new Eliza Jane and her big sister Annabeth.  Oh, Maggie just found out Friday she is going to have another son in October....she says this is her last!  (Remember Calvin was almost 11 pounds when he was born) I am so looking forward to being able to scrap as soon as I finish cleaning up from all this rain.  I need to redo all my floors, but think I will wait for a couple more days of drying out....LMBO! ( I've grown lazy and getting used to napping each day since having to stay inside so much) !!!
Okay, about time for my NASCAR races so will close for this session...hoping all of you make lots and lots and lots of memories to share!  Chat more with you next time! Hugs, Mat

Meet my newest great niece!

My great niece, Annabeth, has a baby sister....Meet Eliza Jane....she was born yesterday afternoon about 4:11 p.m. weighing in at a big 8.8 pounds and is 20 1/2 inches long.  Baby, Mama and Daddy all doing well! Amy went into labor on my birthday (20th) but....they induced her yesterday!  My May calendar is filling up....Mother's Day, Amy & Michael's anniversary (8th), Michael's birthday (13th), Lance & Margaret's anniversary (17th), Christina's birthday (18th), my birthday (20th), Eliza's birthday (22nd), Kathy's birthday (27th)...see what I mean? Plus I have several friends with birthdays throughout the month too!

Not much else to talk about since the weather has been so crappy! Just rain, rain, rain and more rain.  We should not complain as we have had so many years of drought and need to be thankful for all we have gotten, we just don't need it all at one time....it has rained this whole month and lots of flash flooding and folks having to evacuate their homes and/or be rescued from the high waters!  The good thing is the weather has been running 10-20 degrees cooler than normal, but the humidity is astronomical and the mosquitoes are in abundance.
My friends, Jannette & Mike, got married last Monday and another of my friends officiated at the ceremony.  Nice little service, he did a fantastic job.  Here is one of the photos, I will share more later as I am working on putting an album together for their gift....LOL!

Okay, guess I need to get off here, the thunder is beginning to roll again and I need to shut down my computer. Y'all have a fantastic holiday weekend making lots and lots of memories to share!  I thank all military personnel for all they do and ask that God Bless all of them and keep them safe.  Chat more later...when the weather clears some...LOL! Hugs, Mat!

p.s. the top photo was created using freebies from Raspberry Road Designs and the lower QP is from Feli Designs.  Thanks designers I appreciate all you share!

From Drought to Flash Floods

We've been in a 4 year drought with little to no rain, now we are in flash flood alerts, all lakes are full and beginning to  release the overflow waters...last year this time we had experienced 5 inches of rain in 5 months...this year in same 5 months....20+ inches and rain in the forecast for the next 7 days.  We haven't seen the lakes over full and closed because of flooding since 2007....WOW!  The tornadoes, hail, wind and lightning strikes have been awful too, so much so that I haven't been able to be on my computer much! Finally got my AC unit repaired on Sunday afternoon after all the torrential rains...got to close all the windows and get the humidity out...! Here is what my little island looked like this past Sunday....all my flowers are suffering too from too much watering....LOL!

At my front door.....kitty igloo in lower left not affected (nor the kitty inside it)!

Down my driveway up past my ankles.....and about 1/3 way up the wheels of the Tahoe.

At my back door and close to my kitty condos....but they all stayed dry inside the condos....LOL!

Back corner to the left of my back door....Nice lake, huh? Had to wait for some of it to recede for the repairman to fix the burnt wire in the relay of my AC unit just outside my door to the left. Soggy job!

Today, there is still water in the back and on my front sidewalk, not as much, but still enough to wade in....we only got another inch of rain yesterday!  Still enough to get out and play in though and since I could do nothing else (or want to) I played in the water....lots of fun!  My neighbors now know I am crazy....LMBO!
Okay, today we only have 20% chance this morning and 40% this afternoon, so I am off here to go run a few errands before hand....I have to take my too youngest fur babies in for spay and neuter tomorrow and all their injections....fun, fun, fun...I hate driving in the rain, but....! 

So I am off...whatever you do today make it fun and crammed full of great memories to share! Hugs, Mat

Home Again!

Wow, that was a fast and furious trip!  Just home from Panama City Beach, FL to attend Dave's funeral! It was a very nice service, with a lovely eulogy by his daughter Lea Anne! Debbie needed the support of her family as well as Dave's, thus the mad dash over there.  The company he worked for treated all of us as family while there....enough delicious food to feed (and did) an army! The trip was just a really rushed and very short one!  I got back in time for the nasty weather to hit...(Hello Spring)...3 tornadoes touched down just northwest of us last evening, lots of wind, 17 cars on the train coming south jumped the tracks from the wind and high water,  lots of lightning strikes causing at least 2 fires (one a gas refinery)  and hail in some places big as softballs.  There were power outages and flash flooding everywhere, including DFW Airport.  We got a lot of heavy rain....I have mud in my driveway and all my plants were lying in mud this morning, all the hanging ones were sitting on the ground.  Today is still kind of overcast and calling for more severe weather tonight, and tomorrow and Sunday! But, no loss of lives and we still haven't had it as bad as Oklahoma! I so feel for all those folks up there.  The good thing from all this weather is it cooled off some, which is nice since my AC needs some TLC and is not cooling at the moment (repair will happen this weekend) and I have open windows...the breeze is not too bad, but the humidity is at 100%...very sticky!

Before I left on Monday, I created a page for Maggie of a photo she sent me of Calvin and Hayden walking in the cornfield....isn't this adorable?

I used some Easter freebies that I got from CheyOkota Scraps and some Wordart that I have had for a very long time.  I had started my Mother's Day pages for my sisters, my nieces and one for my mother and one from me to all of you, so here they are....

This was a double page I did for Mama's book....Top is the right side and is filled with Kathy's family, the bottom one is Penny's family and the left side of the book.  I created this as a QP for Miriam's Scraps that I will be putting up in a few minutes if you want the QP...LOL!

This is my sister-in-law, Myrl with her daughter Sebrina in a creation using Kyra's kit Fréderique and clusters by Arlene!

This is Miss Amy Jo and her family.  She is about to deliver her second daughter this month. This, too, is from Kyra at With a Russian-Dutch Heart. and cluster by Florence.

This is Margaret (Maggie) and her family in a QP by Miriam's Scraps MK20 

And this is Christina's family in a lovely frame by Neli at Lugar Encantado da Neli

This is my Mama with her 4 kids back in 1982 first and last time the 4 of us were together as adults! Now Mama and my brother are deceased...Kathy, Penny and I try to see each other often, but we live so far apart.... :(  This QP I created using CheyOkota freebies from her Believe Kit.

And here I sit in a field of bluebonnets with my family tree....LOL....I used a thumbnail of all the pages I just put on here...this frame is also one of Neli's Mother's Day Frames...!  Thanks to all the super talented designers for so generously sharing your work that makes our scrapping so much easier.  You can find a link to these designers either in the list on the right here or by placing your mouse over their names in this post.
I wish for all of you to have a FANTASTIC Mother's Day, enjoy your family and friends, make lots and lots of memories to share.  Chat more with you later, the weather is turning the sky kind of dark, so will have to get off this computer...Hugs! Mat

Tragic Loss

http://www.newsherald.com/news/crime-public-safety/update-pcb-man-killed-in-motorcycle-crash-on-state-390-1.471859

My ex brother in law (for 24 years) was tragically killed in a motorcycle crash on his way to work yesterday morning in Panama City, Florida.  He leaves behind his wife of 25+ years, Debbie, one daughter Lea Anne and her husband Adam and their 6 children, his mother Theresa, his brother James, his 2 sisters in law Jannette & Sandy and 2 brothers in law Mike & Michael.  I am so saddened for this family and their loss, I send you my sincerest condolences and deepest sympathy....May Dave forever Rest in Peace in the arms of our Lord and may HE Bless those of us left behind. We will all miss you Dave!
Hugs, Mat