Last Post for 2010!

Hopefeully I will do better about posting in 2011...for now here are some pics and videos from our wonderful Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!! Here is the gang at church before Daddy sang his solo on Christmas Eve - we got busy and forgot to have someone take our traditional family photo...oh well...as you can see Kassidy was NOT in the mood for pictures anyway!




After church we go home and the girls get to open one present - which is always new pajamas!

Kassidy's elf ears cracked me up!

This girl is better entertainment than cable....

She LOVES to sing!

The favorite present for the big girls was their much desired Nintendo DS lite they got from Grandma!

I like them b/c they entertain the girls and keep them quiet when it is too cold to play outside! they tend to get cabin fever after being cooped up for too long.

Kassidy was enthralled with her gifts - she LOVED to help everyone else open their gifts too!

Everyone was pleased with what Santa gave them

Happy Holidays to everyone ---- more to come in 2011! God Bless!

My Mom the Author

My mom was on the front page of the paper!! They did an article about her in the local paper, The Topeka Capital Journal today ---

http://cjonline.com/life/2010-10-03/book_details_alcoholism_marriage

And the book is for sale now at www.authorhouse.com ; www.amazon.com ; and www.barnesandnoble.com !!!

Check it out!

My Mom is a Published Author!

Just a quick note as I wanted to share the news --- my mom is now a published author! I will post more information as I get it, as the paper has interviewed her to run a story about her book launching.....but here is the link to view her book for sale on the publishers website:


http://www.authorhouse.com/Bookstore/ItemDetail.aspx?bookid=60955

You can also purchase it on amazon.com - but authorhouse is the cheapest avenue to buy it, so that is just what I recommend.

About the book:

“Karl possessed enormous stubbornness which was both an asset and a liability in his quest for sobriety.”
— Paul Stuenkel (former counselor at Menninger Hospital and St. Francis Recovery)

“Sue Pruett is living proof that the 12 Steps of Al-Anon, Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and the loving people in those programs really work for healing. No matter how deep the disease has devastated a person or their family, there is hope, there is help, and there is health available.”
— Dr. Ronald Lee Cobb (former counselor at Valeo Mental Health Center, Menninger Hospital and current Clinical Director of “Hope, Help, Health” in Holton, KS.)

“I am so honored to have known Karl and Sue. They help me remember why I have spent over 25 years working in the addiction field. Even though Karl was the identified patient, the family needed help and recovery too. I pray that their story will give others the hope and belief that recovery is possible.”
— Joyce Markham, LSCSW (former counselor, St. Francis Recovery)

* * *

As amazing as it seems, I did not know about Karl’s drinking for many years as he was a master of deception. Living with the ups and downs of the roller coaster of addiction was a painful process for all of us. Even once he started facing his problem he had multiple rehab treatments and many relapses. Both family and friends urged me to give up on him thinking he was never going to embrace sobriety. Thankfully a miracle happened, and this man who stumbled so many times found his sobriety. He became the man I always believed in, and shared his lessons unselfishly with others for years.

I was naïve and gullible enough to believe everything he told me. When I realized the truth I was stubborn enough never to give up. Oh by the way, I loved him with all my heart. The end was better than any fairy tale. This is our story, and this is our truth.


*********************************************************************************


About the Author:


Sue Pruett was born and raised in Manhattan, Kansas. She attended Kansas State University and currently lives in Topeka, Kansas. Her career has been mainly managing offices for doctors and hospitals. She is currently an administrator for a law firm in Topeka. She feels blessed to have her three granddaughters living in Topeka so that she can enjoy their sporting and school events. Her hobbies include reading and traveling.

She learned her lessons regarding addiction and recovery in the trenches and not in a textbook. Karl and Sue spent years lecturing and sharing their story after Karl's recovery and sobriety. They felt like their message needed to be heard, and were always available when asked to speak to a group or to someone on a one-on-one basis. It is Sue's hope that their story will help others in the recovery process and enjoy a loving relationship after the healing and forgiveness takes place.

Sue can be reached through Facebook.

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I am so proud of her - and I know her book will help others. I am the daughter of a published author! Woo hoo!

Day late and a dollar short...

Where did the summer go??????????? Yikes it is already September...sorry for the delay in posting...life has been crazy trying to keep up with my three girls.

Here are some pics from my sister's wedding in May -- we just got them back from the photographer this week....what a fun time it was!

Kassidy Dancing.........
The kiss

The gang

More to come...............we just got our family pics taken....will post them as soon as I can!

Karoake fun

Today is Saige's 8th birthday....and one would think I would have pictures of her, but the party is tomorrow so I will get some then....but I had to post this video of Kassidy trying out the new karoake machine with Mallory. She is a hoot!

I have been really bad about posting lately...most of my free time is going to my new business! I am a distributor for Ardyss International now --- it is a fabulous company with fantastic products that are changing my life. My website is www.ardysslife.com/figuresforfamilies I have been wearing the Body Magic since the beginning of March and have lost 12 lbs and 6 inches - I LOVE this product!

I will post more pics and videos tomorrow after the party....

No Time To Blog...

Sorry I haven't been blogging...we've been swamped lately with vacation and sports being in full swing!

Here are some pics from the girls first trip to the "real beach", as they called it, in GalvestonTexas.

Kassidy walked on the beach a little, but the wind was cool and she fell asleep pretty quickly as it was naptime. Hopefully next time we can swim!

Gotta run...will post Easter pics soon!

No time to blog...here's some pics!

Quick picture before church!

LOL...you'd think they like one another by this pic?

Aren't they so sweet when they are asleep? This is "Raffy", her best pal...

School Dance

Daddy and his girls ready for the big school dance!

I had ordered a dress for Mallory that matches Saige's but is turquoise...but it didn't get delivered in time...but Mallory was happy to wear her new ballerina dress Grandma got for her. Of course we had to do something "different" to her hair so it would bee special for her first dance!

They sure grow up fast!

Sparkly princess! Her favorite store now is Justice...

Daddy took some pics at the dance....

The parents danced too! The girls said it was the best time.

Their favorite dance is from the Hannah Montana movie - the dance is called the Hoe-down...apparently that was a popular one and they did it twice at the dance. The girls are hoping Aunt Kelly has it played at her wedding dance...

The "Parent-Child Dance" is quickly becoming one of my girls favorite things at their school - they are already talking about next year...it is fun for them to get to do something special with daddy, too. He likes it...he even danced, I hear!

Kassidy's One Year Pictures

Here's the big one year old...she is definately an Elmo lover...

You can just SEE how ornery she is?

That smile melts my heart!

Momma's Littlest Girl

She loves her Elmo Tutu outfit

She thought it was way fun to play with the petals!

These are a few of my favorites....they were all taken by my friend Betsi. (www.elizabethjacksonphotos.com)

Our Kitty Jynx has the patience of Job...

I think that Jynx must have used up his nine lives so he is stuck being patient with this wild child of mine...he is SO good with her, it is amazing. As you can see she hasn't quite grasped the concept of "be gentle"! OUCH!

We are finding that Kassidy is a jabber jaw - BIG TIME! She does try and repeat what we say a lot - and sometimes she just babbles...like this:

As you can guess life is never dull at our house...Saige is entrenched in basketball now and has found her niche. She has made an average of 3-5 baskets per game, which is pretty darn good for her first season ever playing! She loves to read and is addicted to a series about fairies...they have books about pet fairies, color fairies, days of the week fairies...she has them all, I think!But I am happy to see she shares my love of reading - and we like that the school book orders are much cheaper than Barnes and Noble!

Mallory is loving kindergarten and having friends of her own. She is enjoying her first go around with Upward Cheer and likes to perform. (she's a girly prom queen type - where did she come from?) Kassidy does well sitting through the games and watching her big sisters in action.

Cheer and teething

Kassidy is a fashion statement waiting to happen...we cleaned out the hall closet and found some treasures: a too small KSU hat and her Elmo innertube being the best of them!

Here's a lil' video I took yesterday of Mallory's cheer team in action...they are too adorable!

Little Kassidy is teething and she is a monster...poor thing. She screams and cries, so we know when the tylenol wears off! I am worried she is going to gnaw off her fingers chewing on them...

Who ordered these teeth anyway???

Giggling Goof

Kassidy is training to be a card shark....she is practicing with the girls Dora crazy eights cards.
This video makes me crack up...Kassidy just LOVES her new giraffe she got for her birithday from a dear friend, Joyce. She is a hoot.

That's all for now....gotta get Saige to basketball practice...we are always on the go!

Birthday Girl Turns One

I only have a few minutes so I thot I would quickly post the progression of Kassidy's attack on her Elmo Cupcake.....

"You want me to do WHAT?"

YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kassidy had a wonderful party at the hotel - she wasn't interested in swimming as she deemed it too noisy to be in the pool with the zillion kids. She got lots of neat presents and had a ball - she is growing up too fast!

Losing it...

This is Miss Kassidy the Elmo-Addict. Sereiously, I think she needs help. When Elmo's World comes on she sits completely still and I don't think she even breathes! It is downright hilarious! You cannot get her attention for anything...she is focused!

Ok so I am usually the one taking the pictures and not IN them...but people were bugging me to take a pic to show my weight loss so here it is - me, 74 lbs less!

I totally had to show you my load from Walgreens...utilizing all the smart gals on http://www.afullcup.com/ I was able to buy all of this shown for $46.84 and I recieved $25 back in reward bucks. As you can see by my receipt below we saved $147.45 in all!

Now you might wonder why in the world I would buy a blood glucose meter - since none of us are diabetic? They were on sale for $14.99 and I had a coupon which made it free --- PLUS I got $5 in reward bucks for buying it. So I will donate it to someone who needs it either through the VA or I have also heard that vets can use them, too. Pretty cool to be paid to help someone else out!

And I didn't take pics of the next order - we used the bucks on pop, cereal, velveeta cups, and some cookies. It was rather humerous as our second receipt is to send in for the Nabisco $20 rebate and I spent $11.12 on the things on the receipt to qualify for it! Hee hee....I LOVE COUPONS!