ADAD Week One

As you may or may not know I have become obsessed with doll collecting. It started out innocently enough with the purchase of a Blythe "mini-me" On the day Keira was born and has snowballed into a collection of around 40 dolls since then including many more Neo-Blythes, a vintage 1972 Blythe, some asian ball-jointed dolls, various vintage dolls from the 60's and 70's, plus some newer dolls just for fun.
I signed up for a challenge group on Flikr to take and post one photo of a doll every day for a year. These are the photos from week one.

December 2010

Most years December is a busy stressful month but this year it actually felt calm after all of the events of the previous few months! LOL
The first weekend of the month we traveled as a family to Frankenmuth to visit Bronner's and get the girls' photos with Santa. (Stephanie's mother and sister came with us but her dad and Lou both had to work so couldn't come along.)After Bronner's we had a late lunch at Tony's I-75 dinner which is know for it's BLT's made with a POUND of bacon! then the little girls and the guys hung out at the hotel while the big girls had a bit of "retail therapy" at the shops downtown. While at the hotel the babies had their first swim in a pool.







We had our Lyon Family Holiday Gathering on the 5th. Karen and Kathy threw themselves into planning a good time for all (and distracted themselves from their holidays as widows in the process). It was wonderful seeing all of the "kids" (adult nieces and nephews) that we rarely see and having so many new babies there.



I really enjoyed Christmas this year. The kids and grandkids were all here Christmas morning and I just relaxed and enjoyed their company and watching the babies open and play with their toys. We did a brunch this year instead of the big dinner so that Kim and Jason and their families could enjoy the afternoon with in-laws without as much rushing around. We gathered together again in the evening for movies and games. :)







We ended the year on New Year's Eve with a quiet evening at home with tv, snacks, champagne, and family.

November 2010

My mother-in-law, Marie Bernadine Duffy Lyon, was laid to rest on November 2nd. She lives on in the hearts of her many children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and friends.
All the chaos of the previous two weeks took it's toll on Kacie and she was hospitalized on the 4th after suffering six grand mal seizures. No definite cause was found, it was assumed that the disruption of her normal sleeping and eating routine threw her system out of whack. She was released on Sunday after her daily seizure preventative meds were increased and her blood work was back to normal.


On Nov. 13th I attended a doll show and sale in Holland where I met up with some other members of the Den of Angels doll forum. After the show we went to a late lunch where we admired each other's dolls.




Thanksgiving was celebrated with Kim preparing her first big holiday meal in her own home. She had some help from our friend Bree who made a spur-of-the-moment trip from Atlanta to spend a few days with us. After the holiday weekend Kim, Lou, and Julia moved into our home since they plan to buy a house in the spring and weren't able to find a suitable rental that didn't require signing a one year lease.

October 2010

October was a month of roller coaster emotions. Early in the month my mother-in-law was hospitalized for a tear in her esophagus. When it was determined that she was too weak to withstand surgery she was moved to a nursing home to receive hospice care. The end of the month was totally crazy including the scramble to complete plans for Jason & Stephanie's wedding. Then the unexpected passing of my brother-in-law Dick on the 24th (he hadn't been in the best of health but we were expecting him to recover, visitation, and the funeral & burial services on the 28th. The next day, Oct. 29th., my MIL passed away. The bright spot was Jason & Stephanie's wedding and Halloween themed reception on the 30th. Though we were sad that his grandmother and uncle were not there to celebrate with us, everyone seemed to enjoy the much needed break from grieving.

September 2010

September was a very busy month around here!
Kim and Lou were married in a beautiful ceremony at the John Ball Park Zoo followed by a reception in the ballroom above the zoo offices.




Keira's first birthday was September 17th. We celebrated at Chuck E.Cheese.






Later in the month Kim and I traveled by train with Julia to Chicago to meet with our friends Bree, there on business from Atlanta, and Laura, who lives in the area. We decided to go shopping in Chinatown.
(I have to track down those photos!)

August 2010

Tom and I celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary on August 1st. The weekend of the 28th found us at the Michigan Renaissance Festival cheering on Ivor in the Highland games and wishing him a safe return from his deployment. The time in between was filled with preparations for Kim and Lou's wedding.

Sneaky Peek!

Head on over to Jessica*Bree's Blog for a sneak peek at her February project- a "Life Memorabilia" mini album! If you are like me and always saving interesting bits and pieces that don't make it on to your scrapbook pages here is a way to turn them into their own little album.

July 2010

July had me attending baby showers for my niece, Kelly, and my cousin's daughter, Lisa, as well as celebrating Kacie's and Tom's birthdays.


Kacie's birthday gift was the fairy tattoo she had been wanting for a couple of years. Since we were there I got a tattoo too!



On the last Sunday in July Kim and Kacie went to a Blythe doll meet with me at Angela's home near Kalamazoo.

June 2010

June found us celebrating a very important milestone- Our baby girl, who we were told would never walk or talk because of her cerebral palsy, graduated from high school with a regular (not special!) education diploma!!!


June was also filled with wedding planning appointments with Kim, camping at SCA Border War in Ionia, and celebrating Fathers' Day with Tom, Jason, & Lou.

May 2010

In addition to celebrating my first Mother's Day as a Grandmother May also found me sending my baby girl off to her Senior Prom:


On the same day my cousin Ron married Connie:


May 21, 22, & 23 were spent at Death & Taxes in the Canton of Dun Traigh.
For Memorial Weekend Tom and I traveled to Dearborn to attend the first World Steam Expo! It was Tom's first steampunk event and my second. We had a good time but I didn't take many photos since I didn't feel like carrying my camera around (I just aquired a pocket camera so I can take more photos in 2011. :)

Long Time, No Blog

A lot has happened since my last blog entry- some very very good and some very very bad. My plan for this weekend is to post a monthly recap for each of the past seven months since my Mothers' Day post then my goal for 2011 is to post at least once a week.

Happy Scrappy New Year!

Come join the launch party at Creative Soup- a new forum full of inspiration and challenges for scrapbookers/papercrafters! creativesoup.forumotion.com

Happy (Grand)Mother's Day!

I love being a mother. There was nothing I wanted more when I was growing up than to be a mom. It hasn't always been easy. I had my days when I wondered whatever posessed me, wondered if could handle the screaming baby or defiant adolescent one more minute, wondered if I had what it took to raise a "special" kid. To any mom out there reading this I have to say that you wouldn't be normal if you didn't occasionally doubt yourself but remember that God won't give you more than you can handle or "That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger"! lol Being a mother has been the greatest blessing of my life. I am proud of the adults that my children have become. And the greatest reward for raising children?...................................................
GRANDCHILDREN! This is my first year celebrating Mother's Day as a Grandma. I've been blessed with not one but two beautiful granddaughters since last year! I would never have dreamed that it was possible to love someone that you didn't give birth to as much as I love these little girls! Keira was born to my son and future daughter-in-law last September and Julia Marie was born to my older daughter and future son-in-law just eleven days ago.