Shrinking and Disappearing - Praise God

Granny has been taking chemotherapy, and on March 23rd she had a CT scan to see if the chemo was helping shrink the tumors. The doctor reported to her that the tumors are shrinking drastically, and some of them are gone only leaving behind a scar! We give all of the praise to God! We love Granny and want her to be back to normal soon. With Spring approaching she would love to be out working in her yards. I hope that she'll be able to do that this season. Of course, she's got someone that does the hard work, the mowing and edging, but I would love to see her able to plant flowers and take care of her roses like she loves to do so much.

On another note, when the storm came through last week and the schools closed at 1:00, I took the kids to stay with Granny. She was feeling good and wanted them to visit. I took a few movies over there so they would be occupied. Granny spends a lot of time in bed so she's got a t.v. and dvd player in her room. Before I left I put on a movie and made sure everyone was good to go. When I returned they were all still laying in the bed watching t.v., so I climbed in!



(Notice Rylan's "fake" sleeping!)

Welcome My Little Brother - Kolton Gage Turvin

On February 25, 2009 my family welcomed my little brother into the world. He is so sweet and precious.

My boys don't really understand how they have an uncle that's younger than them. When I told Rylan that he was his uncle he said, "Ya, if he was like 25 or something."

Daddy, Amanda, and Kolton came to visit us on March 28th, so Kolton was a month old. We couldn't believe how much he had grown. He is now 11 lbs. Rylan and Kaden both enjoyed the company.



But Kaden was a little more "stand-off-ish". He didn't really want to help feed him or hold him much. But Rylan did. He took the baby, laid him in his lap, fed him, and watched Kungfu Panda!



My daddy and Amanda are so blessed to have this little baby in their lives. He's happy and healthy and loved, especially by his Big Sister!

The Boys' First Helicopter Ride (3/21/09)

The boys had their first helicopter ride at Ft. Rucker on Saturday. I was actually going to ride with them, until I got up to the gate and realized that the helicopter didn't have doors, so I chickened out & let Robert ride instead. After they paid to ride we waited in line for about 2 hours.




We watched several helicopters take off and land, so I decided that it didn't look that scary, but by then Robert was excited and wouldn't let me ride in his place. So I watched as my 3 boys, Robert, Rylan, and Kaden, flew off in a helicopter.



And I was so thankful when they landed! They had a great time & Robert said I would not have liked the ride b/c the pilot made the helicopter go in reverse & take a nose dive! No, I wouldn't have liked that!! But the boys loved it!

Enuff Said

Smile Rylan. Hold Still!

This is what happens when you give your boys your cell phone for entertainment in the grocery store.

Daylight Saving Time

I know it's only been a couple of days, but I'm having a hard time adjusting to this time change. I love to stay outside late, actually until the sun goes down, walking or watching my kids play and ride their bicycles. Which, of course, leads to me having to stay up later to get everything done around the house. And then, it seems like I've just fallen asleep when the alarm clock sounds. Oh! and did I mention ~ it's still dark outside! Monday morning, the first day of school for the kids after Daylight Saving Time, when Robert went to wake them they said, "Why are you waking us up in the middle of the night?" Truly, it feels like I'm waking up in the middle of the night too. I can't wait until my body ~ and mind ~ gets used to this!

Girly Girl? Not at all. You can call me a Tomboy!

All of my life I have been a Tomboy. I spent the long summer days of my childhood riding my bike (barefoot, of course!), jumping on my trampoline, climbing trees, and playing in the ditch making mud pies. Don't get me wrong, I love make-up and getting my hair done and shopping for shoes and purses. But I'm just, deep down, not a girly-girl. I am so thrilled to have been blessed with two little boys. I don't know what I would do with a girl. Friday night I helped my dear friend, Jen, with a spa party for her little girl, Nyela, who is turning 9. She had a bunch of little girls with honey and oatmeal masks on their faces, cucumbers on their eyes, soaking their feet in a foot spa, and painting each others nails. Not the kind of birthday party we have at my house! I really enjoyed spending time with the girls and with Jen, but it was just so out of my element. That same day, Kaden had to bring an orange show-and-tell to school. Out of everything in his playroom, he chose to take my orange General Lee Matchbox car from the Dukes of Hazard. He thought it was awesome that it was a toy that his mama used to play with, and even cooler that the car was as old as his dad! Too bad I don't still have my big, yellow, metal dump truck. I really enjoyed using it to run over Mandy's Barbie dolls!

3 Years Ago Today....

I lost my mom, my best friend! and Heaven gained an Angel! Pray for me today that I can be strong. I have a lot in life to be thankful for, and I am very thankful every day for my many blessings. This morning, as I was headed to take Kaden to school, the song "I Can Only Imagine" by MercyMe was playing on the radio. My cousin Tim sang this song at my mama's funeral. I have only heard the song maybe twice since then (and I turn it without listening to it every time). So, this morning, I felt like that was her way of saying "I'm still here!" Needless to say, I can't type this without tearing up, and I can't listen to that song without crying, but I know she's in a better place. A far better place than we are in. I want to live the longest life I can, but I am so thrilled that I will be able to see my mama again one day! Praise God!

Just Catching Up.....

I haven't blogged in a while, so it's time to catch up. Granny's home and doing great. She started her first round of chemotherapy yesterday. She's very optimistic, which is half of the battle. The boys finished up basketball for this season. They played with Covenant United Methodist Church. Of course, the team consisted of mostly friends, i.e. Troy and Trey.





This weekend was jam-packed with birthday parties. We went to one Friday night, two Saturday, and one Sunday. One was for Troy, but we went out to eat with him on Monday night to acknowledge his "actual" birthday. Here are the wild boys at Logan's:

And these are their silly faces:

Notice the wood slats behind them? This is known as the "cow pen" to me, Tracy H, and Melissa. This is the table we prefer to get at Logan's so we can trap the boys!

Oh, and I colored my hair brown this weekend. I haven't decided if I like it or not. But, I think I do.

But why is it that if you have a gray hair, it is gonna stick straight up?!

And, this is just a cute picture of Kaden this morning, on the way to school, wearing the glasses his daddy wore as Magnum P.I. at Halloween.

I hope all is well with all of you!!

Granny's Back Home

Granny got out of the hospital Tuesday, January 13th. She was so happy to be home. She is a little weak, but she is resting well. Of course we had to go to her house that night so that Kaden could make her "comfty". He tucked her in to bed and made sure she was o.k. before we left. Then he told her if she needed anything, just call him. Rylan told me that if Granny said she felt better it was because he prayed for her. He said that after their pledge at school they have quiet time, and he uses this time to pray for people. What wonderful boys I have!!

Slumber Party

My sweet friend Tracy had her tonsils removed before Christmas. To help her out one night, her son Troy, which is one of my boys' best friends, spent the night with us and I took them all to school the next day. Well, you can imagine what a chore it was to get 3 little boys to go to sleep at the same time. I let them veg-out in the living room and watch a movie thinking they would get sleepy. Well, they did, so I turned off the lights and left the room. Then I hear Troy calling me to tell me that he is afraid of the dark. After turning on several lights in the house to find one that was not too bright, I finally settled on turning back on the t.v. I turned it to a music channel that was playing some really boring Christmas music, which put them right to sleep. As you see in the picture, Kaden slept on the couch, Troy slept on the chair and ottoman, and Rylan got his pallet just as close to Troy as he could while sleeping on the floor. This was a fun night! Boys are great!!

CANcer

The week before Christmas my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer. She has been having pain in her stomach for about 2 years, but never had a colonoscopy. Well, she finally had one and it revealed a mass that had to be removed. So, yesterday, Monday Jan. 5th, she went in for surgery. They removed the mass from her colon and the tissue surrounding the colon. Previous tests had indicated a spot on the liver, but the doctor did not find one on further inspection. So, now she's in the hospital waiting to recover from surgery, go home, and wait for tubes to be put in for chemotherapy, probably at the end of the month. I am hopeful that she will come through this with flying colors and I am relying on God to pull her through.

Scaredy-Cat

or Chicken Little! whatever you want to call me! The shoe fits, trust me!!!

Robert, Rylan, Kaden and PaPaw (Robert's dad) left Saturday morning going to North Carolina to visit Robert's grandfather. My first thought of course was Woohoo!! I'm gonna get some rest....Eat when I want to....Sleep as long as I want to....Do whatever I want, when I want!! Yea, that lasted until about 11:00 PM Saturday night. I then realized that I was petrified to stay alone!!! I had already watched one movie and another movie came on TV so I stayed up and watched it too. Finally, around 2:00 AM I decided that I had to go to sleep. So, I pushed chairs up against all 3 of my exterior doors. Then I went in my boys' room, pushed their desk against the door with a chair in front of the desk, and slept in Rylan's bed with a can of mace beside me.

Well, I woke up Sunday morning and of course, I was still alive and no one had tried to break in, so I was stoked. Then, I went back to sleep. Why can I sleep in the daytime at home alone and not at night? That night I went to dinner with Tracy H, Melissa, and Trey. Afterwards, I decided to spend the night with my granny. So, Melissa and Trey went with me to my house to get some clothes and my puppy, Bear. Bear and I proceeded to go to granny's to try to get a good night's sleep. That didn't happen. Granny lives on a busy highway and all I could hear were the cars passing by, and the occassional whine from Bear who had to sleep in the master bathroom so he wouldn't potty on granny's floor. I woke up, drove home, exhausted, and went to work!

Monday night (last night) I was in desperate need of a good night's sleep, and I mean DESPERATE! I went to Melissa's and had dinner with her and her family, watched a movie, and headed home. When I got there, I was scared to death! I put chairs in front of the doors again, locked myself in my bedroom and pushed my chest of drawers up against the door. OK, if someone wanted to break in that bad, I should just let them get me, right?! I finally called my granny at about 10:30. I was almost in tears. She said to put Bear in the bed with me and he'd bark if he heard anything. Well, this frightened me b/c all I could think of was him barking in the middle of the night and me panicking, locking myself in my closet, trying feverishly to call 911. But, I took her advice and put him in the bed with me. We talked for a few minutes, then I heard a noise, I looked for my fearless companion to see if he was going to protect me. There he laid, on the foot of my bed, flat on his back with his paws in the air, snoozing! Great! Then granny made a mistake. She offered to come stay with me and I told her to come ONLY if she felt like it! Inside I just wanted to scream, "PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!!!" When she got to the house I was thrilled. Now, what did I think a 79 year old woman could do if a burglar broke in? Doesn't matter. I slept like a baby!!

Tis the Season to be JOLLEY

This Christmas has come and gone, and I am so thankful! I am thankful for our Lord and Savior; let's don't forget the reason for the season. I am thankful for my wonderful family. I am also thankful that I didn't get that awful virus like Jen and Melody got. I was so afraid I was going to wake up Christmas morning with that yucky stuff. But, I didn't, I woke up happy and healthy and ready to watch my boys open all of their gifts. They had a blast and each gift they opened they would say, "This is what I always wanted!!"

We had Robert's side of the family over for lunch. His mom brought a ham and turkey and I was responsible for all of the side dishes. I did pretty good, if I do say so myself. Afterwards we opened gifts and had a blast playing a boxing video game Mike and Wendy got for the boys. Rylan beat everyone in the house! At one point he even closed his eyes and was still beating us! Kaden has had the most fun with his Nintendo DS and his spy kit. He has booby trapped the entire house! I can't leave my room without a motion detector going off!

Granny came over later in the afternoon and we were all so happy to see her. She felt pretty good that day so she decided to venture out!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and I hope you all have a Happy New Year!!

Last Will and Testament

Many of you may not know, but my Granny found out last week that she has colon cancer. She also has some spots on her lungs, liver, and possibly on one of her kidneys. The first step is going to be to remove the diseased part of the colon, and then she will begin chemotherapy on the rest of the cancer. Well, thinking the worst, she decides that it's time to update her will. So, I have had the unpleasant experience of preparing my granny's will and trying to help her decide what she is going to do with all of her belongings at the time of her death. There are so many emotions that go along with this. It's painful to have to think about losing a loved one. She is my mother's mother, and you know February 5th, 2009 will mark the 3rd anniversary of my mother's passing. It is also painful to talk to someone about all of their worldly possessions, and their funeral arrangements, etc. More power to those people that do this for a living b/c I would just have to crawl under a rock somewhere. This is not fun at all!

Don't Spend It All In One PLace!!

This may not interest anyone, but I've been getting a statement from Chase for a few months that states that I have a balance of <$-.01>. Yea, that's right, they owe me a penny. Well, after getting statement after statement I thought, "You know, it's very wasteful to print a statement and then put postage on it and then send our mail carrier out to my house just to let me know that you owe me a penny. And you do this month after month". So today I called. Well, the lady informed me that I am not "primary" on this account (woohoo! big deal) so she couldn't tell me anything, but if there was a balance owed to us on this account I could have Mr. Jolley call and they could send us a check! I said, "Oh! That sounds good!! So I could take that to the bank, right?!" To which she calmly replied, "Yes ma'am!!" Can you imagine that laughter at the bank when I try to put THAT in my checking account and the clerk saying, "Thank you Mrs. Jolley, you have a nice day, and try not to spend all that money in one place!!"

Kaden had his K-4 Christmas Program last night (this is a pic of Kaden and his BFF Matt). It was very interesting to say the least. Like Mrs. Shirley (the director) said at the end of the night, "You never know what to expect when you get a bunch of kids this age together, but you're sure to be entertained!"

Kaden learned his songs very well. I was surprised because I would ask him almost daily if he had learned his songs for the program, and he would start to sing and forget the words. So, I thought he would get up on stage and just freeze. But no, he did just the opposite. He sang VERY LOUD! As you can tell by the following picture.



I always enjoy these programs. It's fun to see what the teachers have been able to get these children to do. It's hard for me to get the two of my boys to do the same thing; I can't imagine getting the entire group of K-3, K-4, and K-5 children to do the same thing. Oh, and the kids with speaking parts amaze me. There was one little boy in K-3 that had a speaking part and he did awesome. He was so loud and not shy a bit. But his little face turned so red before he was done. I don't think he took a breath until he was completely finished with his part.

Rylan got bored, to say the least, but I just reminded him how many of these programs that I have sat through for him. So, he sat there, reading the church song book, patiently waiting to go eat! You know, at this age, little boys are always starving. So, afterwards me and the boys and granny all went to Bojangle's. Robert was at the program, but he had a basketball game afterwards so he couldn't join us for supper. But, we enjoyed our time with granny.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

How old AM I?

I know I'm getting older, for those of you who don't know, I just turned 34. But, to my children, how old AM I? VERY OLD!!! I remember thinking that people my age were old too. Last night, when I picked the kids up from school, Rylan said to me that when he gets his Nintendo DS for Christmas he and his buddy, Troy, can battle. So I proceeded to tell him that if he doesn't start taking care of his other toys, he won't be getting a DS. Kaden says, "Mom, when you were little, did you have a DS?" I said, "No, I didn't". Of course he asked why to which I replied, "Because we were broke". Then Rylan chimes in and says, "Mom, were there Indians when you were little?" COME ON!! I mean, there are Indians now, but to him those are ancient people that lived in the woods or in caves! How old AM I?

Getting Ready for the Christmas program....

Kaden's K-4 group is getting ready for their Christmas program, which made me think about last year's Christmas program, his K-3 Christmas program. Kaden learned his lines very well which were:

Here is a star with bright, bright lights that shown in the sky that first Christmas night.

AND

And the Angel said, "Fear not, for I bring you good tidings of great joy!" So here goes:

Speaking Korean

Everyone probably already knows that Robert's mom is Korean. She lived 28 years in Korea and came to the United States alone. She met my father in law, got married, and the rest is history. She is a very interesting person to talk to because she's been through a lot in her 60-something years. I have told her numerous times that I want her to teach my children to speak Korean. The kids haven't picked up on any of her language, however Rylan would like everyone to believe that he has! He has started saying words that are not really words and acting like he's speaking Korean. In fact, yesterday at church he told someone that he could speak "Korea". They tried to explain to him that it was Korean, but he would not agree with them. I am just so glad that he is proud of her and their heritage. The boys are 1/4 Korean and I hope that they will learn about Korea and where their granny lived almost half of her life.