Campbell Family Update- December Edition

Sorry it has taken me so long to update! I honestly have not felt like writing for the last week, but since we only have a few more hours until the new year, I thought I should go ahead and to the December edition of our update.
Not much has changed with Hubby's job...he works as much as he is able. He did make all A's in his last session at school. Go Hubby Go!!! He is so smart! Thanksgiving at our house went extremely well and all the food tasted good too. I think everyone had a great time and now I think they will expect it every year. I was very thankful that my Mom and Mother-in-law helped me cook because I am not sure that I would have been able to pull it off otherwise.

We had a great Christmas even with Hubby working and enjoyed the family. We got many great gifts including a new Entertainment Center. Hubby got to work building it and he suddenly realized that our TV was to heavy for it(yes we still have an old, big, bulky tv). What!!!! Crazy!! So off we went to buy a new TV. We had planned to do that as our joint gift for Christmas anyway. So in our effort to be thrifty, we found a really great deal on a 50 inch plasma flat screen. Honestly, it didn't look that big in the store! But the good news was that it was under the weight limit for our new entertainment center. So we bring it home and put it up and I cried. It is way to big!!! It looked ridiculus! The entertainment center is to high and the TV is to big. UGGGHHH!! I don't like having to look up at the TV. So the entertainment center is now upstairs in the bedroom and a new, much shorter entertainment center is holding up our new tv. All in all, everything looks much better now.

I am still planning to start school in January, I am just trying to wait to the last minute. Procrastination has always been a problem of mine. Plus I am still waiting on the decision from the insurance company about the procedure I want done. We have decided that if they turn me down again, we will pay for it ourselves. So that's it for our update. Not much has changed... we just keep trucking along! I promise that there will be more interesting things going on the New Year! Happy New Year Everyone!!!

Check back in a few weeks for more exciting news!!!

Bubbles and Babies

Bubbles are a timeless, classic toy. I carry them everywhere when I see my children. Are you aware that they are magical?? They are! They can make children talk and communicate as well as allow you to put them into uncomfortable positions with little or no complaint. I have been dealing with a lot of motor kids recently and the bubbles, on more than one occasion, have saved the session. Picture this. A child that is very cognitively aware but his muscles won't work for him. I tried to get him into natural positions for play but they are uncomfortable for him. I often carry around a bench, and I used it recently to get a child into a sitting position. His feet were dangling and he had to use his upper body to sit up straight. He was not happy with me. He keep slouching over and wanting to give up. Then out comes the bubbles! Mom blows bubbles at him and he lets out this huge belly laugh and we laughed right along with him. Such a joy! He loves the bubbles and they entertained him for quite some time. After the first round of bubbles, I looked down and he was sitting up straight and with good control! Hooray for the bubbles! They saved the session yet again! Bubbles make my kids smile and smiles make my job worth it.


I take HIPPA and confidentially laws very seriously. Names, situations, gender, etc. have been changed to protect the children and their families.

Annual Christmas Traditions and Such

Wow! What a busy weekend! To start, I went on the annual Christmas shopping trip with my dad. We have been doing this for several years and we both really enjoy the time we are able to spend together. I headed over to my parents house to meet up with him. (Warning: Some of the pictures are a little blurry. Sorry!)My dad really enjoys spreading the Christmas spirit to all , so to do that, he likes to sing Christmas songs to all the employees and customers that he sees. We always see many smiles when he is around.

Here he is at our first stop. Target!
This is the guy that helped me find a hand sanitizer key chain. Dorky, I know, but you wouldn't believe some of the places I have to go into when I see kids, and I like to have it handy. Trust me, if HazMat was available, sometimes I would be tempted to use it.Next we headed over to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. We like to sit in the chairs and get a massage for free.
Us at J.C. Penney

Books-a-Million!

We went to many, many stores, but I forget to take a picture at each one. Plus that would make for a very loooong post. I was able to get everything I needed, and we ended our shopping trip with a stop at the Liquor store...draw your own conclusions!

And now for the "and Such" On Sunday I went with my mom to Nashville for the Bo Bice Christmas party. Yep you are right, I am talking about THE Bo Bice from American Idol. My mom really enjoys his music and she has taken me to a few concerts with her. I have really enjoyed spending time with my mom and getting to travel. I have also had the pleasure of meeting some wonderful people. This past weekend I was able to connect with a remarkable women that recently suffered a stroke. We were able to connect on a deeper level and share our similar experiences. She is doing extremely well considering that it has only been a short time since her stroke. I wish I had gotten a picture with her to share with everyone but I hope to keep in touch with her and see her again. Now for the pictures

So that's my weekend in a nutshell. Some time with dad and some time with mom. It was a great weekend! Come Monday morning though... I was wore out!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!!

Do you want to meet an indentical version of me??

Only she is much smarter and more beautiful than I...plus she is 8 years younger.

Meet my sister Erin!
Not only is she beautiful and smart, she is also a kind, compassionate, and a caring sister.

Many people say that we look so much alike. You be the judge, I am not nearly as pretty.
Thank you Erin for being such a wonderful sister and friend. I love you!

Disclaimer: This is NOT an ad to encourage people to contact me to try and date my sister! All cradle-robbing, gross , freaky people stay away! You haven't had the pleasure of meeting my brother and I am sure you don't want to rock that boat!

~Blessing~

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately and having great difficulty in finding the good things in my life. Maybe it is the time of year or maybe there are other reasons for it, who knows. I was greatly inspired recently by a friend of mine's post. She wrote about blessings and convictions. Please click here to read her post.
She made me realize that I needed to remind myself how blessed I am and realize that there are many worse off than my myself. I started listings the blessings in my head and realized that I needed to write them down so there would be a permanent reminder of all the wonderful things in my life. So here I go...

• I am blessed to have a job when I know that so many are struggling without one right now.
  
• I am blessed to have a job that I truly enjoy and feel that I am making a difference.
• I am blessed to have a roof over my head and food on my table, I never want to take that for granted.
• I am blessed to have a supportive, loving family.
• I am blessed to have a close circle of friends that are there for me.
• I am blessed to be healed after my stroke with a second chance to live.
• I feel blessed that God ended my son's suffering, he healed him and made him whole in Heaven.
• I am so blessed to have a loving husband that will go through the fire with me and that our marriage continues to stay strong and our love grows every day.
• Finally, I am blessed to continue through each day with my faith, growing closer to God, and doing His will.

I apologize for the over abundance of the word "blessed", but someone once told me that I shouldn't use the word lucky but use blessed so I remember where the blessing come from.

Looking back on this list reminds me that my trivial problems are just that... trivial. I have so many wonderful people and things in my life that I need not complain. Instead I would like to re-direct myself by doing things for others. Hopefully I will find my niche in some sort of volunteer work. If anyone has any suggestions please pass them onto me through email or a comment on this post, and I hope everyone has a blessed evening.

Happy Birthday Brayden!

This year November 26th, Brayden's Birthday, and Thanksgiving fell on the same day. So in memory of him, we wanted to be able to be there for the children and families that were not able to be at home for the holidays.

A little over a year ago my mother-in-law, Brayden's GG, decided to start making blankets in memory of him to give to local hospitals. The whole family got involved and the word spread quickly. We received many blankets, toys, and donations to give to children and their families. The response was overwhelming and wonderful.

So on November 26th it was arranged to give our donations to the Childrens' Hospital in Birmingham. Each blanket came with card.

We packed up the car and heading towards the hospital!

Arriving at the Hospital.

Unloading the car into wagons.

The toys and blankets will be distributed over the next few weeks. Here is a picture of all of us and the wonderful ladies that came in on Thanksgiving to accept our donations.

Hopefully we will be able to continue this project for years to come and make a difference in the lives of others that have children that are in the hospital and need encouragement to keep going to make it through each day.

If you would like to learn more please click and visit

Brayden Baby Blankets