Ups and Downs and The Craziness Inbetween

OK, first off - may I ask you all to pray for my sweet friend Rachel and her family. Her Mom passed away this weekend. She had been dealing with many medical issues lately and they knew it was coming. Somehow that does not make it easier though. She was a believer, so what does make it easier is knowing that she is now enjoying a perfect, HEALTHY, Heavenly body and resting in the presence of Jesus! Rachel is a blogger, her site "Devoted" is listed in my link list on the sidebar (I can't get the link thingy to work!) if you would like to read about her mom. Thank you for your prayers - I know I can count on all of you!!!

Secondly, another friend and her hubby recently lost their pet dog. Now, this was no ordinary pet. My girlfriend Carol is a retired police officer and her hubby John is still active and has been on the canine unit for a while now. For the past 5 or so years he has partnered with Baloo. Last Monday they were following a bad guy through a construction site and Baloo fell in a hole and died. These people are SERIOUS pet lovers and Baloo has lived with them the entire time they have worked together. They are devastated by the loss. Please pray for them as well as for some choices regarding John's career that they are now facing.



And thirdly, today is my Paula's birthday. She would have been 38. It still seems so foreign, this world without her. I have to stop and remind myself that she never met my girls, never got to see me be a mom. That hurts. She was an AMAZING mom. At least once a week I wish, more than you could imagine, that I could ask for her advice and input and HELP!!! I miss her every Friday - we had guitar lessons, ice cream dates, movie nights and/or shopping at Walmart on Fridays. When she was doing chemo, it was on Friday and I would sleep over to help her through. More often than not, the next day she was ready to go garage saleing. I would have to explain - AGAIN - that they were FULL of germs and other people's filth. We would argue - AGAIN. She would win - AGAIN. And we would go to Einstein's Bagels for an "everything" bagel and a large "frosty beverage" and be on our way. She could sniff out a garage sale a mile away. She was great at finding a bargain, but mostly we just found some fun and a few laughs. I hate that she is not here with me anymore. I LOVE that she is in Heaven. I miss her like crazy every single day. I can't wait to walk on those golden streets and see her walking toward me. She is saving the mansion next door to hers for me - 'cause she promised she would. I can't wait to see how she painted the walls. I bet there is at least one pink room ('cause she knows I would secretly want one - though not QUITE as pink as Faith's room), one muraled wall and one sunflower SOMEWHERE!!! She wouldn't have it any other way.

Did I mention I miss her?

Yeah, I thought so.

Freedom ROCKS!!!!!

So, we had a fabulous Fourth - how was yours?

Here is how ours went down:
We spent the day at John's house (Hubby's bro). He lives right off of the lake and it was beautiful! Hattie got to show off her new "big girl" swim suit! Now that she has successfully potty trained, she does not need the swim diapers anymore. May I just say that she ROCKED that suit! She completely enjoyed the Slip-N-Slide.





She would run up to it and screech to a stop at the beginning. She tried the sliding part once and landed on her back. After that it was run, run, run, STOP and walk gingerly to the other end. Much to the amusement of her cousins!

Sophie enjoyed being spoiled by her cousins and her grandma, and then she took herself a nap.





We all enjoyed some yummy BBQ - thank you John!!! And then we went back to the fun! Hattie divided her time between the slip-N-slide and the kiddie pool.




While Sophie got to know Bella the dog.





Uncle Harry worked at Holding Sophie without her crying (which, thankfully, is working!!!).




And then the girls, the puppy and the daddy got in some quality time.






We came home before it got dark - had to avoid the mosquitoes. Didn't want a rematch from last weekend!! But the folks in our sub must've gone into debt at the fireworks stands, because we got QUITE a show right in our own front yard. We played with sparklers and then watched the rest of the fun from our living room window. It was great ... aside from the fact that Hattie has yet to learn the S.L.O.W. wave method of sparkler fun and had her sparkler going so fast it burned daddy's shirt AND some of her hair off. NOBODY was hurt in the process, her hair just aint smelling so hot!!!

We forgot the camera for sparkler fun, so we will try again tonight!

I hope you all had a great day as well. I am so very thankful to live in the freedom this country offers. I know that there is a LOT wrong with things right now. (I do not talk politics, so that is all I am gonna say about that) However, we have the freedom to make our own choices, go where ever and do what ever we like, and worship the way we choose. This is something I will NEVER take for granted. Thank you to the men and women who have given of themselves to attain and protect these freedoms. And thank you to the Father for all of the Blessings He bestows upon this nation. May we strive to Bless Him right back.

Sleep ... Not So Much

OK, I must warn you now. I am likely to ramble. I do that when I am tired. And, golly bob howdy, am I tired now! Ya see, Hattie decided at 3AM that the whole sleep thing is highly overrated. And she decided, further, that if she was gonna be up then so was everyone else! And, being the efficient girl that she is, she promptly got everyone else in the house up with her.

At 3 AM!

That is three o'clock. In the MORNING!

Still dark. Still s'posed to be sleeping.

But, oh no. Not in our house.

Hubby and I actually argued over which one of us would go up to get her to quiet down. It was something like this:

"You better go, I can't guarantee that I won't harm her sweet little self"

"Oh no, YOU better go, 'cause I can pretty much guarantee I WILL!!!"

Before you call the authorities, please know that she suffered no harm whatsoever. Which, in and of itself, is a miracle. Ya know, considering the fact that she woke us up and all.

Did I mention that it was THREE IN THE MORNING!!!!

It was!

So, now here we are at 11:32 AM and we are all still awake. Sophie is the only one who got any sleep at all. Hattie is going strong. I am fading fast and Hubby is hooked up to a caffiene IV at work. Bed time is coming early tonight!!!

So, other than that, I have some heart wrenching news to share. And, it could be the LACK OF SLEEP, but my heart is simply broken. Crushed.

Sophie is afraid of muppets. I KNOW!! This from the child of the girl who LIVED for the muppets. Who has every single muppet movie in the video collection - some still on VHS even! Who could not wait for the day that her children were old enough to justify watching Sesame Street on a daily basis.

It started yesterday when we were at the Christian's house for a playdate. They have a Hokey Pokey Elmo. And the thing scared the tarnation out of my girl.

Now, frankly, the dancing Elmo's are not my favorite either. So I didn't think much of it. But then today we were watching Sesame Street and she cried each and every time a muppet came on the screen. Cookie Monster. Grover. Rosita. Zoe. Elmo. And, the most heart wrenching of all ... Ernie.



And, I tell you, I almost cried. I loved Ernie when I was a child. And I mean LOVED him. I thought he was real and just KNEW that I would marry Ernie someday. At one point I embarrassed my entire family with my unbridled affection for Ernie.

See, my sister had just gotten married and I was her flower girl. I was four years old with an up-do to end all up-do's. I was looking good y'all! After the wedding mom and dad packed us all into the car for a road trip to Grandma's house. The dress had come up over the hair. A turtle neck sweater had gone down over the hair and I had slept - for hours in a car - on the hair when we pulled into a truck stop to eat. I still - mistakenly - thought I was lookin' good. I am told that I - in actuality - looked like a crazed orphan. Anyway, there we are, sitting in a booth on the other side of the restaurant when in walks a tall dude in a striped sweater with crazy black hair stickin' up all over the place.

I went NUTS! I started screaming at the top of my lungs "ERNIE!!! ERNIE, IT'S MEEEEEE!!!!" And with that I jumped from my seat and ran across the place to get to him. Still screaming and still calling the poor guy Ernie.

Waitresses were on the floor laughing. My siblings were under the table hiding. And my parents were having an argument that went something like this:

"You better go, I can't guarantee that I won't harm her sweet little self"

"Oh no, YOU better go, 'cause I can pretty much guarantee I WILL!!!"

Hattie and I are both alive. We HAVe to live. We have a LOT to teach sweet Miss Sophie!!!!!!

Repeat after me - "muppets are our FRIENDS!!!"

Picture Perfect Monday - Shower Fun

Hattie has discovered the joy that is in a shower (although she still overwhelmingly prefers a bath), as well as the even greater joy of shower CLEANING!!!




PS - I am pretty sure that there are child labor laws against this kinda thing. Please be aware that she did this BY CHOICE!!!

PPS - this was before the grea mosquito tragedy of '08 which left her looking like this:

PPPS - How cute is this?

OK - I am done now!

Fish Flys and Swollen Eyes

Here in our little corner of the world we get a little visitor every June. Behold, I give you the FishFly:


They come in swarms



And then they die



And they leave the town smelling like dead fish for about two to three weeks!

Isn't that fun? Yeah, we think so too. So we like to throw a little party in their honor. A little thing we like to call the FishFly Festival!!

Now, I am gonna show you pictures of us at said festival, but before I do I gotta warn ya. Hattie had herself a little run in with a few mosquitoes on Friday night. And, sad to say, but I think she lost. Ya see, it seems our girl is allergic to mosquito bites. This is why we don't go out much when they are out in force. We like to play outside when it is dry and breezy. 'Cause wet and still brings 'em out in mass quantities.

Little bump and kinda itchy you say? Oh no, it is much bigger than that...




She still had fun, even though she was hopped up on Benadryl. It may not look like it in theses photos, but she did enjoy herself!!






Yeah we had fun.

Our girlie just woke up and now cannot even open her eye. We are off to the Urgent Care.

Have I mentioned her inordinate fear of all things medical.

This is gonna be even more fun than the Festival!!!
(pray for us please!)

Then Sings My Soul - Indescribable

This song says it all - and I do mean A.L.L!!!!! There is so much that cannot be put into words ... because it is indescribable ... but this song comes pretty stinking close!



Yeah, Mr. Tomlin pretty much ROCKS it!!!!!

Visit Amy at Signs, Miracles and Wonders for more songs that speak to your soul!!!

Two Steps Forward ...

... and, maybe, half a step back - but only temporarily!

This has been a HUGE week for our sweet Miss Hattie. She has had a couple of BIG breakthroughs. And I am one proud mama!



First of all, it seems the potty boot camp idea worked. She is doing great! After the initial roughness of Monday morning wore off and we discussed that there was NO going back to diapers, she has only had two accidents. She wore panties to therapy yesterday and even used a big public restroom - although initially freaked out by the auto-flush feature. It only took her till the second trip to figure out how it worked and then she decided it was fun to watch it flush on it's own. Kinda sick if you ask me, so we RUSHED to the auto sink and auto hand dryer. Luckily they were just as fun.

The whole thing is taking a slight toll on her behavior in therapy though - remember that this is why we had to stop before. She is on sensory overload and it is all just so very much to take in. However, because of the therapy, she is able to recover quicker than before. AND, Ms Jeannie - who ROCKS - is undaunted by the whole thing. She says keep up the potty thing, she can handle the meltdowns if she has to.
Thank You, Lord, for Ms Jeannie. She is SUCH a Blessing to us!

The other big breakthrough is this:
Last night Hattie had a nightmare. She woke up screaming in fear. I know that may not seem like a good thing - and, in itself it isn't. But the good thing is WHAT she woke up screaming.

"Mommy! Daddy! Help me MommyDaddy!!!!"

She did not resort to her rote panic speech where she says "open the door", "stuck", "let go", or "ayudame" (spanish for help me). She also did not call for Dora or Diego. This is HUGE. I cannot tell you how HUGE this is. She has always, in a panic situation, reverted to safe words. Words she does not have to think about and process before saying. She though about what she needed, WHO could help her, and she used the proper language. AND SHE WAS SLEEPING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can I get an AMEN on this one?

I am crying as I type this, it is that huge!

All I can say is THANK YOU LORD. Thank you Father God, for a glimpse of the girl that she will become through Your mercies and Grace. You are doing such a great work in her. Thank You for allowing me to be her Mommy and the one she calls to for safety. Now, let me help her learn to call to You.

Fitness on Friday - still learning

Friday comes way too fast when you have resigned yourself to doing something before the next week and then you wake up and the next Friday is here and you have done NOTHING!!!!!
Have you figured out yet that I STILL have not gotten back into the swing of keeping my food journal up to date?
'Cause it is still blank.
And that aint good.
Not good at all.

However, I have been better at keeping a mental track of what I eat, so I haven't been AS bad as before. But I KNOW I have to do better. Steven (our oldest son) is getting married in November and I am resolved to looking slim and fit for THOSE family pics!!!!! So, I have to step it up. I know I CAN do it. Now I just have to KNOW that I WILL do it!!!

I have lost some more weight - I am up to 12.5 pounds total, so I can't really complain. I just have to focus - really focus.

I don't really have a tip this week. 'Cause, ya know, I am still trying to learn the last one. But I am getting there!

Gonna go get the journal now.

Potty Boot Camp

Remember a few months ago when we were gonna potty train but had to stop 'cause it was causing trouble at school? (This is where I would add a link to those posts and, you who are new, would know what I am talking about. But, I am tired, lazy and just plain fried. So, no link. Just trust me on this one!) It seems kids with language issues also, many times, have sensory issues. Since potty training uses M.A.N.Y. senses, the whole thing put our girl on sensory overload. She started melting down at school, so we had to step back.

Now that she is out of school for the summer, we are trying again. And we are going all out.

Welcome to Potty Boot Camp - all panties, all the time!!!!

We started yesterday and it looked like we were gonna be in this for the long haul - and I do mean long. Like in "this is gonna take a reeeeeaaaallllyyyy loooonnnngggg time". Every time she would have an accident - or could it be an "on purpose" - she would ask me for a diaper. I told her no diapers, only panties! She was not amused.

After about the third time we had a chat. I explained that no matter how many times she wet her panties she was NOT going to get a diaper. We talked about how she is 4 years old now and knows HOW to potty, now she needs to learn when and WHERE to potty. I reminded her that she is a big girl and it is time to start wearing the panties that she picked out on Sunday (Little Mermaid!!), and that she was NOT going to get a diaper any more. Then we went to look at the diaper cabinet where I showed her that all of her diapers were gone. Only Sophie's "little tiny baby diapers" and a supply of big girl panties remained. NO MORE DIAPERS!

So about an hour later she came to me and said "I wet". I tried valiantly to hold in my frustration as we walked to the bathroom. We got there and I stepped into a puddle and a soggy mat. She had tried to go to the potty, but had not quite made it. I praised her for trying so hard and told her we would try it again next time.

And next time, she made it.

And she has had dry panties ever since - even when we went to therapy today!!!! We used "night time panties" and "car panties" (aka pull ups) but they stayed dry last night and only got a bit wet at therapy because we couldn't get to the potty in time.

I am so proud!!!!!

And so is Hattie - which is even better :)

Picture Perfect Monday - Pretty, Pretty Princesses

Grandma B got the girls some pretty dresses that, apparently, are befitting a "princess dress" title ...



And a TWIRLING princess at that!!