crafting bug bite

It has been a while since my last post, so I thought I better post something, even though I am pretty sure I am the only one who reads my posts..But it is good therapy if nothing else......
I talked to my brother today One of the two that is in Iraq right now. He is doing well. It was really good to hear from him. He said that it is 130 deg. over there right now!!! Wow, I could not believe it!! I also couldn't imagine being in that kind of heat and then having all the gear that they have to wear... Oh I would just die!!!
I can't wait for them to come home....
Anyways, everything is going fine for us I guess. Just trying to live day by day without pulling my own hair out or someone elses... ha ha...
I have been crafting alot lately, the bug must of bit me again... I go through my spells I guess. Last night I made a beautiful picture to go by our door that will also hold our keys. Then I made most of a wreath, will finish it tonight... and lastly I painted an old box that I have and was a terrible color, and ModgePodge the big letter "M" on the front, for Mulkey of course. It still needs something, I will have to figure it out when its not 1 a.m., because that is what time I gave up and went to bed.
Maybe I can post pics of my stuff later. All the hairbows and pins that I have made never made the pictures either. I have got to do better about that. But most of my time is spent looking at other blogs and crafts so It don't leave me much time to post pics of my own....

Good Friday

Today is Good Friday.... and in more than the way that we usually think of Friday!! I don't know one person that doesn't love Friday. It is the last day of the work week for most of us and it is the day right next to the most favorite day of the week Saturday!!! It is the end of what you want to escape from and the beginning of what you have waited all week for. Only thing is, It goes by so very fast!!! I mean the weekends fly, don't they? You are spending time with your wonderful family and the next thing you know it is time to go to work again or time to get the kids up for school again. But not to worry, Friday comes back and the world is right again!!
Friday, I love you!!!
:)

On a much more serious note, I am praying for a very close family friend, who is in a transisition phase of his life. He is ending a long, wonderful, happy, life and getting ready to transisition to a even better life that is even more happy than anyone of us can imagine!! He is a great husband, father, grandfather, friend...He has been an example of what a christian should be to all of us. He is always so nice to us even when he is in the worst pain than we could ever imagine being in... he smiles when he is in pain, he talks of being with Jesus, and him going home.... I pray for his family, that God will give them the strength to go through this time of transisition with him and that God brings them the comfort and peace that they need to get through. He is the father in law to my niece, and a cherished friend to all that knows him!!
I want to be an example like that!! I hope when it is my time to go that I have people galore come to tell me bye and that are heartbroken to see me go, but happy for my future... I hope when I leave here, that I leave here a much better person, and that I have touched someone somewhere. I think alot about the legacy I leave behind, what will it be like? Will I even be remembered? Will I even be thought about? What if anything have I done that will leave people thinking, WOW, she was an amazing person.... Just things that are on my mind right at this time....

Almost 7

Today is Thursday and it is two days before my daughter, who is smart, cute, loving, and kind will turn 7 years old!! It is hard to think about because just yesterday she was a newborn baby laying on my chest with no worries, no fears, no troubles, just new, fresh, tiny, innocent little angel who depended on me for nothing more than food and changing. I miss the cuddle time, I miss just sitting and staring at her for hours, I miss the tiny toes and tiny nose, and even the tiny little finger that had me wrapped all up in love.... She still has all those things, just a little bigger. Time is not on our side when it comes to keeping our precious little one's little. Time does not listen when I say, slow down, I want to enjoy this... Time is stubborn, Time has no boss but God.

My Karissa, is about as tall as I am at 7 years old. She wears a size 3 shoe and is smart just like her Daddy.... She still has the beautiful blue eyes that you could dive into, she still has the beautiful smile that will melt your heart, it just has some missing teeth. She is such a beautiful spirit, such a wonderful example of the Love our God has for us. She will love you as hard as she can forever.

She is not a quiet child and definatley not the one in the class room that is the quiet little star student, but that is just because the teachers can not see her brilliance yet. She is a bright shinning star that will go far in life and do great things, maybe not the teachers kind of great things, but she will do great things for God. You should hear my child pray!!! She prays over our food and thanks God for everything she can possibly think of, and always makes sure to tell him that if it weren't for him we wouldn't have anything. I am amazed at my daughter!!! She is love, she is life, she is my life and my love.

God sent her to me and I am most appreciative of his wonderful blessing!!! No, my daughter is not like your daughter, she don't have to be, because she is like me, she is like her dad, she is like her aunt, and her cousins, she is a little piece of everyone all wrapped up in a beautiful package. But most of all she is like her creator, Her God, Our God, Our wonderful loving God!!!

Today

Today is Tuesday.. Today is cold... Today is love... Today is one day closer to the weekend... Today is God... Today is me... Today is comfort... Today is smile... Today is baby... Today is thankful....
Today, I am thankful for so many things... For life, for love, for God's love, for my health, for my kids, for my job, for comforting food.... Today is almost over and it was a good day... a good today to remember tomorrow!!!

Our unseen angels

Today, I am thinking of my two brothers as you know who have left for Iraq as of 6 days ago...I am thinking of what they might be thinking and what they might be doing right now... are they still traveling? Are they thinking of us and wishing they had never signed up to do this, or are they thinking of the job they have to do and how to do it sufficiently.... I am sure it is all of the above..
I wonder sometimes what makes a man or woman who has a family or even thinking of starting a family, sign up for such a terrible thing, but then I think of my freedom and I am thankful that they do. It is something that they should be proud of doing, for they and all the men and women that serve are all heros. Daily they serve and daily they are in danger just so I can sit in my warm house playing with my children, and complaining of all I have to do for the day. It really makes you sit back and reflect on your life and all that you have been blessed with and certianly makes me more aware of why and how I have the freedom that I do. God Bless All Our Soldiers, Men, Women, Fathers, Husbands, Wives, Mothers, Daughters, Sons, Brothers, Sisters...... They are all our angels dressed in camo, with wings unseen!!

Today, I am again faced with the reality that we really don't know how lucky we are to be here, to be healthy, accepted, warm, cared for, thought of, and undeniably loved and adored by someone or more than just one someone... Life is so short and we aren't promised a tomorrow, so why do we go to bed expecting to wake up tomorrow with our to do lists and things that just have to get done?
On your to do list, is there the words love, laugh, play? I need to really make new lists, that include play with my daughter, laugh with my sons, tell the ones you can 't live without just how much you love them!
With my job, you wouldn't think that this was just an epiphany that I have every now and then, and truly its not, but life gets in the way sometimes.... and sometimes it takes a certian someone or a certain something to shake you and wake you and make you say God I am sorry for not paying enough attention to you and to my children that you blessed me with. I am sorry for not taking the best care of me that I can... For I am yours and you gave me life and I shouldn't take that for granted... You bless me everyday with the gift of life and the gift of being forgiven for my stupitity and my carelessness and for not being up to par like I should..
Just a few things that are on my mind... I love my life, I love my family, more than ever!! They are truly my love, my passion, my every desire to see them happy... My heart longs for them to be loved like I am loved by my wonderful husband. I hope that they find a love that they treasure and never let go of! ! !

For my brothers: I thought about you all day, I don't know if it is the soldier we had an obit for here in Kingsport, that got killed in Iraq the other day, or if it is because of your time to leave is coming so quickly..

But whatever the reason that my heart feels heavy tonight, just know that I love you both very much. You are both great men for doing what you are doing. And our country is going to be served by two great men. But as a sister, it is hard to think you will be so far away, or that you might lay in your bed and be lonely, or be out somewhere and be cold without a way to get warm, or for some reason going hungry because you are working so hard you haven't had time to eat, or that you might be scared because you don't know what the next second will hold, or God forbid even injured.

I pray for you, I tell God to watch over you and bring you home safely. I also tell God to help you both with things that you need help with.

Our family is an amazing family if you really sit and think about whatall we have overcome, all the sacrafices that mom made to keep us all together, and to keep us fed and clothed. And we all came out ok. We aren't drug addicts, we don't drink or smoke. And other than the stupid family fueds we are an amazing group of people.

It is going to be hard for me to know that you are in Iraq and in harms way, but I have to trust and have faith that God is in control.
People make decisions in life that others don't understand, but we have to be thankful that they do, or else we would have no one fighting for our freedom to sit here on a computer and be free enough to not worry about being blown apart, or our families being harmed. Someday a time will come that we don't have to worry about anything or anyone, we will have that wonderful heavenly peace and eternal happiness.

I love you both with all of my heart. Please know that I do. I wished I had you both here right now to wrap my arms around and tell you face to face that I love you.

Please be safe and know of the love that I have for you will be eternally strong. You will be thought of daily and prayed for daily.

We got to babysit Gabriella today and these are some of the pictures from that adventure... Karissa just kept saying "We are good babysitters aren't we Mom" and "What if this was our baby".... So precious they both are!!!

This is a new day and has been a new week. I am trying to count my blessings and not think about how many more days we have to go this week....
Just a few things that has been sitting around....
Life is good.
God is great.
Family is love.
Home is Ahhhh.
Love is precious.
Time should be cherished.
Touch is breathtaking.

This is a video of my sons band competition when it was held here at Dobyns Bennett High School. They have the competitoins every year and most of them are out of town and I don't get to go to them, so this one I was lucky enough to get to go to.

This is my family at Bays Mountain Park. We had a great family outing at the park that day, something we need to do more often. Bays Mountain was beautiful during the fall. It was the perfect weather and a perfect day

Karissa dressed up for Halloween.. '09... She was the cutiest vampires ever!!!!

Justin on the night before he left for Kentucky...

This is Karissa playing in the snow... This is our second snow this year and the first one knocked out all the power in the area... She made plenty of angels in the yard and had a good time eating all the snow...

This is another niece that is just as sweet as her pictures... Her name is Madison.. she is the grandaughter of my sister Melissa. Her mommas name is Nikki.. She is just a joy to be around.. I wished I got to see her more often because she lives in Greeneville, Chuckey, or somewhere far enough that I don't see her alot.. But she is so darn cute.. I mean look at her!!!! And as you can see Karissa loves her too! She likes to be the little mommy...

Another wonderful blessing has happened this year... I might be having my niece, (in the pink) move home from Ga.!!!!! We are praying about it and I really think this will be her year to come home.
Words can't describe how much I love this girl. She feels like my own at times. She is the sweetest person I know and can also put you in your place just like her mamma... (my sister, in black)... Crystal, has always been so special to me. I felt like she was my baby doll when she was born.. I think I was 12(?) and she has always been so special. Just has always had a great personality and can warm your heart just by smiling at you!!!

This is all of my brothers and my sister together.. It is hard to get us all together like this but I am so very thankful for this picture now that my two brothers are gone. I love each and every one of them. (even if we do fuss, argue, and get mad) We are all my mothers children and she did a wonderful job raising all 5 of us with no money, no father, and definatley no child support. It was just her and she is amazing.

This is my wonderful sister Melissa and her husband Steve. She is my sister, my strength when I am weak, my friend who does all the girly stuff with me, my earpiece when I need to fuss about lifes struggles, and my childrens favorite person. I am sure I can go on and on and on about what she means to me but I think she has an idea. I am so thankful for her and for our sisterhood, and friendship. I would truly be missing out if God had not blessed me with a sister. But not just any sister. This sister!

And in other news... Two of my brothers are gone to Mississippi for training before leaving to Iraq... Tim my oldest of these two is the father of 3 beautiful daughters, Kayla, Brittany, and Ashley. He is married to Misaki who has a son named Tyler. I know they will miss him terribly as do I. But I pray that God watches over them and brings them home safely after they serve their year. Jeff, is the youngest Brother and he has a beautiful Daughter, Tiffany who is the same age as Tyler. And Carla his wife. It is very heart wrenching to watch these two people that I love and have grown up with, leave to such a terrible place. It is also hard to put all your trust in God and not worry about them at all. I know I shouldn't worry because God is in control and what happens is his will. God help me to have enough faith to put it all in his hands. I know my brothers don't read my posts because they don't even know I have a blog, maybe I need to change that. I love them both so very much!

We were blessed with a new niece in November of 09... Her name is Gabriella Mulkey.. She is a cutie!!! I have gotten to babysit her a few times and done some pics with her of course.. this is one of them.

Ok, I know I am so bad, that I haven't even kept up with my page, but I have no one that reads it but myself and everynow and then my sister. So it don't much matter. But I guess it helps me when I write some stuff down, I at least feel better that I made an effort.
Anyways, Alot has happened since my last post... And then also just a lot of plain ole boring days.... Just like everyone else...
Lets see, Justin our oldest is gone to school in Kentucky.. Greenville, Ky. to be exact... Where it is very very cold... He is taking Pharmacy Tech and I hope and pray that he does well with it. He needs something good to happen and for him to be the one to make it happen!!! He also has a girlfriend and her name is Kayla, he gave her a ring for Christmas.. A promise ring... Justin is now 18 years old as of Dec. 30th... He is now an adult, well at least in the laws eyes.. I am no longer legally responsible for what he does wrong. But hopefully he wont do anything wrong.

Tyler is finished up with Band for the year, it was long time coming, since he has let some of his grades go for band. He is doing well otherwise. He turned 15 on Dec. 22................

Karissa is doing well too, she is in the first grade and likes her teacher but she says she hates school. Says it is boring.. Plus she tends to get into trouble for eating things that she shouldn't or for doing stuff that she shouldn't.... I hope that gets better.
Bryan and I are both doing well. We have been happy as ever. We are hoping to start the year off right and get our debt under control and be free finally. God help us with this that we can do it!!!!
Everyone else in the family is fine. Will update more later.....