A rare SNOW DAY in SC!

Here are pictures of our SNOW DAY.

5:30am - I woke the  boys up! 

 

Still very early - notice there is not much accumulation.

 

Jarrett had not yet fiqured out he needed gloves and a jacket!

 

Blooming flowers during snow.  Got to love SC.

YAY!  Daddy's home!

 

Rocky enjoyed his Snow Day as much as the boys!  Notice Jarrett now has a heavy coat, tobogan, and gloves!!!   

 

 

 

 

Vision update

I began having hemorrhages again the second week of December.  My vision was hazy over the Christmas holiday but not completely "blacked out".  I had an appointment with my retinal specialist yesterday and he could visualize the blood in my eye but could not find the vessel that was bleeding.  He took several pictures of my eye using contrast (angiograms), but just could not find the exact place from where the blood was coming.  He decided to perform laser surgery on my eye in areas that looked vunerable in an attempt to hopefully zap the bleeding vessel.  I left Charleston with instructions to call if I had further bleeding episodes but with the hope that he had successfully burned the bleeding vessel.  Well, at 8pm last night, I had another hemorrhage and can not see out of the left eye very well.  My vision today is similar to having your eye greased with vaseline and trying to see through it.  I will return next week to see my doctor, as he is out of his office today becoming a dad! 

Happy Birthday in NYC!

One of my dearest friends celebrated her 40th birthday this month and to celebrate her life, we took a trip to NYC!  We had so much fun.  It snowed one of the nights we were there and everything was just so Christmasie despite the fact that EVERYONE wished us a "happy holiday" instead of a "Merry Christmas".  Very politically correct in the upstate!  Of course, EVERY New Yorker had to ask where I was from to which I replied in my best southern drawl... "Why Manhattan of course, Why would you ask"?  Here are some pictures from our trip....

The famous Rockefeller Tree

My friend Sharon on her actual birthday!

Actual uniform of a firefighter who died on 09/11/01 - saw this at the WTC museum.

From the Staten Island Ferry

Manhattan in the background from the island where the Statue of Liberty stands.

JLO in Madam Toussard's wax museum.

Prince in Wax

The city from on top of the Empire State Building

 

We also went to see WICKED  and PHANTOM OF THE OPERA - Both were excellent and I would recommend them to anyone visiting NYC! 

The Rest of Thanksgiving Day

OK - so it is almost Christmas and I am just finishing up my Thanksgiving post...  oh well, better late than never!

We went to Charles' Aunt Patsy's home for the second feast of the day... Aunt Patsy is wearing glasses, Aunt Ann is in the front. 

After dinner we hung out and had some fun with cousins!  This is my nephew Gabe with Jarrett.

This is my sister-in-law and my nephew Andrew - yes girls, he is SINGLE!

This is my brother-in-law and I think he resembles Eric Dane - the actor who plays Dr. Mark Sloan on Grey's Anatomy! 

This is my Mother-in-law. 

My father-in-law.

Charles' grandmother and Grandfather.

We are blessed and I thank God for my family!

Thanksgiving Lunch...

The original Miss Pris made it home for Thanksgiving. 

Mama cooked.

Daddy ate. 

The boys and I posed.

Charles chilled in the chair (missed that picture oppurtunity...)

And now we are heading to the Russell's for Supper! Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving :)

Update on Grandma

 

Several people have recently asked about my grandmother, so I wanted to offer an update.  She is doing so much better than she was a couple of weeks ago.  She had to be admitted to the hospital at the beginning of this month for confusion, weakness, and extreme fatigue.  The ER doctor was more than ready to just tell us that she was old and to get over ourselves but, we insisted on having her admitted to the hospital.  The ER physician reluctantly called Dr. Steadman who graciously admitted her and took her off of ALL of the medications the nursing home had placed her on.  Now, several weeks later, she is doing so much better!  She actually can stay awake, watch TV, read, and communicate!  Apparently, she was overmedicated.  She continues to participate in physical therapy and hopefully will be able to return home by Christmas.  She is able to take some day trips back home but they really exhaust her and make my dad nervous!  I will be bringing her home for Thanksgiving so pray that we have a safe day.  She is still very weak. 

Tennis Tournament

Last weekend, Jarrett participated in a tennis tournament at Timrod Park, here in Florence.  It was his third tournment, but his first WIN!!!  He was so excited to finally have a win on his record.  His tennis coach called last night to inform me that he was now RANKED in the TOP 100 in South Carolina!  How cool is that?  Check it out HERE! Scroll to number 89!

Winning Season

 

Dalton has played in 7 football games so far this year.  Their record is 5-2! Not bad for a school's first year at hosting a B-Team.  He has been enjoying football and I think it may even be his new favorite sport.  His next game is at home this Thursday at 5:00p.  

I never did update you about his MFUGE camp experience this summer.  He did come home on a spiritual high - but he also came home with this... a huge crush on a tenth grade girl!  (He is in seventh.) Thank goodness she lives out of state. 

 

My grandmother is out of the hospital and back in Heritage where she continues her Rehab.  She has been very tired lately - I believe she is on way too much medication for her system.   I am SO READY to get her out of that nursing home.  She will need assistance once we get her home but she is NO WHERE NEAR sick enough to stay in that facility.  While I appreciate what they have done to get her functioning at a higher capacity, I really hate to know she is there.  Keep her in your prayers. 

Also, in this wonderful economy, Charles and I decided to cut my work hours!  (YIKES.)  It is just what has to be done to meet the needs of our family.   So, beginning this week, I will be working one less shift per week at McLeod.   This will help me here at home and free some of my time up to help more with my grandmother.  My schedule has been WAY to crazy since school started and since Grandma broke her hip.  (It will also help me have more time to begin Rehab. for my Facebook addiction... :)

On other Russell family news, Jarrett is sick and has been home with me this week.  He started running fever at lunchtime on Sunday.  I know he has a sinus infection.  I am just not sure if he also has strep throat.  Time will tell!  He was up some of the night and I ended up sleeping in his bed so, I am sure I will be sick by the weekend.  Charles and I have plans to go out of town this Friday through Monday for a long weekend.  It is Charles' birthday so I wanted to plan something special for him.  Mama is keeping the children and we are going to just hang out in the hot tub and chill out all weekend with NOTHING to do.  We stay SO busy.

Speaking of busy...Revolution Church is doing fantastic.  We have a regular group of attendees at our LifeGroup each Wednesday night and the kids ministry has been a blast.  Please keep us in your prayers.  We are very close to needing more space and Chris is looking into some options this week.  Rental space is SO expensive!  God has the plans - just pray with us as we seek His guidance for the right place to expand His church.

Have a great day!  Please pray for Grandmother, Jarrett and Revolution as you are exiting this post - AND that I will be WELL this weekend - Charles and I REALLY need this trip.  We are burned out, tired and in need of some re-fueling!  Thank you. 

Stressful Days...

It is with much sadness that I write this post.  My grandmother had to be hospitalized today.  She broke her hip in August.  She was in Carolina's Hospital for close to a month and was  then transferred to Heritage Nursing home where she has been residing while participating in their Inpatient Rehabilitation.  She has been doing excellent in Rehab and this past weekend, she enjoyed a day pass from the facility and joined us at Freedom Florence to watch Dalton play baseball.  How WONDERFUL it was to see her back in society enjoying life again.  It has been overwhelmingly painful to see her in the nursing home.  Our family really thought we would be able to bring her back home in a couple of weeks and then a set back...  Today, she got off balance while getting dressed and almost fell.  One of her attendants grabbed her arm to stop her from falling and tore the skin off of her arm (HUGE area).  Grandma is on Coumadin, a blood thinner, and her arm would not stop bleeding so she had to be taken to the ER where she was admitted and has been receiving plasma and Vitamin K to help her blood to clot.  In fact, her bleeding time was SKY high which indicates she was taking way too much Coumadin so we were probably lucky it was found before she bled to death internally.  It is so sad to see her back in the hospital just days before we were hoping to bring her home.  Please keep her and my family in your prayers.  My dad is stressed to the MAX and he has heart disease (he had a massive heart attack a few years ago), my mother also has heart disease (heart attacks x 2 ) and she is worried about my grandma and my dad.  My aunt is worried sick, my sister and I am worried to death.  We are all trying to work and keep a keen eye on her, so please just lift my family up in prayer.  Thank you! 

Revolution Kids

Last night, our children had a BLAST!  They danced, sang and shouted for Jesus.  We learned through the help of our Elevate Kids curriculum, how important it is to sit at the feet of Jesus.  Through the Bible story of Mary and Martha, we began to discuss the importance of daily time with God.  So many times, we as parents allow our children time for video games, time for TV, time for Homework, time for sports, etc., etc., but fail to teach our children the importance of time alone with God each day through daily Bible reading and prayer.  Last night, our children were challenged to turn on their TV's or video games only when their daily Bible reading was completed.  (I know plenty of adults who could benefit from that piece of advice...  yes I have a finger pointing in my own face!)  They are really enjoying our time together each week.  To view some pictures of this week's fun, click here.