Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Pictures

I hate doing posts without pictures, but I have been using my new mini laptop that I got for Christmas and I don't have pictures on here yet. So, hopefully soon I will have more pictures to post, especially from Christmas, etc. I have a fun video too of Elijah as Spiderman on Christmas morning. Speaking of which, I need to get that thing into the wash. There's nothing like wearing a cloth mask with a yucky nose. Blech! Thankfully he chose to wear Buzz Light Year yesterday to the doc instead of Spiderman.

Second Christmas

The kids usually get gift cards for Christmas to Borders and ToysRUs which is fun because they get a second Christmas, but get to do the shopping on their own.

In some ways I think it should actually be referred to as a 3rd Christmas because our first one is when Dan comes home from work the day before Christmas vacation. He brings home bags and bags of goodies that he receives as gifts from parents and teachers and students. They are so generous and it is great fun going through everything. The sweets, oh the sweets. They hang on my hips and I type this, but they are just so yummy!

I digress ...

So, we took the kids out to use their gift cards the other night. Elijah got a cute little train set and Madelyn got a digital camera from TRU. At Borders Madelyn got a few books and Elijah got a whole ton of books. He loves interactive books and at Borders they have that whole section of marked down books which are perfect for what he is interested in. We got Bible Story books with flaps that he can lift, a book where each page is a puzzle and they are all emergency type vehicles (he loves puzzles right now), a Noah's Ark book where you can actually make an ark and play with it, a numbers book that comes with a magna-doodle (perfect), a pop-up book about the insides of our bodies (more on that later), an alphabet book with flash cards (of course, he loves the alphabet), and that might be it. So, all in all a good night for all.

I actually set some of the books for Elijah aside because it will be fun to pull them out later. And, I must say I did pretty well with not trying to steer the kids in the direction of things that I wanted them to buy. If I had my way, .we would have bought the Old Yeller book. I think the book would be better to read than to watch the movie again. Oh, to see that boys face at the end when he has to shoot Old Yeller! Oh, it's awful. I have such a love-hate relationship with that movie.

Okay, anyway, back to the body parts book. Elijah loves it. It actually has an ooey-gooey feeling heart on the front of the book that feels very real so you can see why a boy would be drawn to it. We are flipping through the pages discussing bones, joints, our lungs, and then we get to the stomach and intestines page. Well, I didn't think we were ever going to get past it. Elijah was enthralled. It shows how your stomach processes your food and it travels through your intestines and of course then you poo it out. Fascinating! All of a sudden Elijah thinks he has to go potty and insists I come and watch so I can see how it all works. As much as I hemmed and hawed he wouldn't take no for an answer.

Thankfully, much to his disappointment, he didn't have to poo. I assured him he would be able to the next day. And, don't you know, the next morning first thing, I wake up to him saying, "Mommy, I am going to show you your body parts." Oh goody. At least he wasn't ready to poo.

Potty

So, I wrote about Elijah's favorite animal being a skunk. So, now he has a skunk Webkinz. Well, come to find out he's named him Potty. When Nick asked him what his skunk's name was that was his response, and somehow it seems oddly appropriate.

The Sick Holidays

Well, we are still dealing with illnesses. Madelyn still can't eat a full meal and keep it down. Elijah finally is on an antibiotic. I almost can't remember what he is like without a yucky nose. I feel awful today. I feel like I have a touch of everything we've been exposed to. So, tonight is the 3rd night in a row where we have had to cancel plans :( Huge bummer since we usually spend New Year's with Jess & Jon.

They come over, we eat, play games, kick out the old year (literally, it's quite funny) and welcome in the new one, and they spend the night. We wake up in a fog because we stay up too late, but the kids don't realize that so they wake up just as early as ever. It takes about a week to recover, but it's good fun and worth it because we laugh like crazy well into the night.

Oh, but not this year. No. This year I am hoping to stay awake past ten. Jess & Jon are scrambling to find something else to do to at least get out of the house for a bit today. I am going stir crazy even though there is no place I want to go, nor should I go since I should be done spending money for about 4 mos. Dan seems to be okay even though I am sure he has a bit of cabin fever.

It's okay though. These things happen. We'll just remember this year as the year the stomach bug hit our family and extended families and even friends. We have a lot to be thankful for even in the midst of our latest trials. And, God is good. He never changes no matter what year it is, day it is, trials we are facing ... I love that. What a privilege to serve such an awesome God.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Poor Sick Kiddos

Madelyn threw up last night. It's so sad when the babies are sick. They both have had colds and so for her to now be throwing up is a huge bummer.

She woke me up in the night b/c she threw up in her bed, the same bed Elijah was sharing with her because my in-laws are here sleeping in his room.

Elijah keeps asking why Madelyn is sick and why she threw up 3 times. I told him it's the same reason his nose is so yucky (and he will be going to the doc tomorrow because it's probably a sinus infection, but I didn't tell him that yet). Madelyn thinks that she got it from school, even though it's been almost a week since she's been in school. That's okay though.

So, here I sit on a Sunday morning, not in church, but caring for my sick babies and thinking about the laundry I should be doing.

I don't feel so well myself. I honestly feel like I have a Christmas hangover, not the alcohol induced kind, just the "I'm exhausted" kind. Come to think of it I don't think I've ever had the alcohol induced kind. Hmm. I don't think I am missing much from what I understand.

Friday, December 26, 2008

A Few Christmas 2008 Tidbits ...

Madely drew a picture for Santa. It was Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus is a manger, very sweet.


After Santa left us with gifts to open, Elijah said, "I am going to wrap up this gift and see what's inside." I told you he gets his words a little mixed up. He said it again this morning when he saw there were gifts under the tree. I stayed up really late wrapping, but not as late as Dan who was playing a computer game ...


Anyway, Madelyn also made up one line to a song last night. It goes ... "Baby Jesus you are the one ..." She kept singing it over and over to the point Dan and I had it in our heads. It sounded very much like a pop song. Should I be worried?


Elijah was so tired last night and when he gets really tired he gets really crabby and fussy when going to bed. So, to try to calm him down I told him a story. I told him the story of Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus. Well, when I got to the part about them having a baby boy and naming him Jesus he said, "No no no no. They named her Judah." I assured him the baby was a boy and they named him Jesus, and quickly moved on to the part about the star so that we didn't keep debating Jesus' name and gender.

Madelyn was thrilled to finally get a Webkinz. She opened it, checked the foot for a W and immediately hugged Mom-mom in her quiet little excited way.

Elijah received what he is now calling a "man castle." He got a pirate ship and a castle with little knights. When my mom asked him if it was a princess castle he replied no, and that it was a man castle.

Christmas day Beatrice came over for dinner and played games with us, and beat us! Aubrey stopped by too and we made her play games with us too. She's a good sport, and she brought us a pumpkin roll. Yummy.

My mom loved her album that I put together digitally. That's totally my kind of scrapbooking. Dan's parents loved theirs too.

The only part that seemed off about Christmas is not having Shannon and Todd here ... (sigh) ... very sad.


Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Santa


Santa came to our house last night. He's really our neighbor Carl. Carl is the neighborhood grandfather. He and his wife Elaine are just wonderful neighbors. They are the ones who you look out your window and you see them snowblowing your driveway. They give out the best treats on Halloween. They are just those neighbors, the ones who make your neighborhood just that much more enjoyable.


Carl totally fits the mold of Santa. I mean his suit is perfect. His personality is perfect. I really think he might be St. Nick reincarnated.

So, he dresses as Santa at Christmas time and visits the children around our block. And, brings them gifts! As much as we love Carl and Elaine, we don't really know them that well so the fact that they give our kids gifts is just so kind of them. Now, my neighbor Kate who I am friends with lives next door to them. They are super close and I am sure Elaine checked in with Kate on ideas for the kids because how else would she have known that a Christmas Morning Barbie is PERFECT for Madelyn? And, not only that, they spelled Madelyn's name correctly. Either way, it was very nice of them to go through the trouble.

So, Santa came. Madelyn, who knows this is all just pretend, told him she wanted a Webkinz bunny (she's getting a horse, but that's okay) and Elijah told him he wanted a snowman (of course).

Santa was asking the kids if they had been good this year, and then he turns to Madelyn and says, "Have you been keeping your room clean for Mom and Dad?" Oh my. If he even knew! We just laughed because that is the last thing Madelyn does. So funny. She is a great helper in so many other ways, but her room is the last thing she keeps clean.

So, it was great fun, and we were able to send Santa away with a tin of cookies (not homeade of course, but still yummy) for him and Mrs. Claus.

How great to have Santa come to your house, and not have to go wait in line (not that we would do that anyway, but still) to see some strange Santa. I love our neighborhood.

Did I write on here that when I asked Elijah what his favorite animal is he said a skunk? I said, "No, it isn't!" He assured me it was so he is getting a skunk webkinz. Of course when I went to pick out the webkinz they had just one or two of the other animals, but the skunks were a stack of 5! Now 4 because we took one home. I just love my kids ...

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Some Thoughts ...

Shaving your legs is highly overrated, especially in the winter time.

You can save yourself $8 if you have a hair dresser compliment you on your hair color while you are considering coloring it yourself at home.

Dancing around the house is good exercise.

I found my Mariah Carey Christmas CD ... happy me!

I LOVE the week of Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dogs and Poop

What is with dogs and poop?

Daisy feasts on cat poop any time she can. It's so gross. Thankfully we are able to close the door to where the litter box is so it's not often she's able to eat it.

Daisy and I try to go to the corn fields whenever we can. It's great fun, and good exercise. Plus, I feel empowered from it because it is heckin' cold out there, but I'm no wuss! My thighs are frozen by the time I get home, but it's well worth it.

Right at the end of our walk in the fields is a different section of field where Daisy likes to go and now I will call it the Poop Field because this time and the last time we went there Daisy emerges from the area with poop all over her neck. I'm guessing it's deer poop. Nice huh?

It's right at the end of our walk!! Argh. It's okay though. I come home wash her up (which she hates me for) and then she relaxes the rest of the day.

I don't know what's more of a workout though, the walk or washing Daisy. If only I could spend the rest of the day on my bed like Daisy does.

Oh, and I have pictures from our last hike. It was fun, but I can't figure out how to upload them. They are on a different type of card. I keep forgetting to ask Dan at a time when he could help me. I even did a ''field journal" video because I am easily entertained while walking in a cold field. I wanted to get Daisy on video just tearing through the fields like she does. Of course, every time I tried I couldn't get it just right and then ran out of video. Hopefully I'll get all that stuff uploaded soon though. She's so cute!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Mixed Up Words

Elijah gets words mixed up, but at least he's trying right?

For instance, he ate a candy cane tonight. He doesn't like minty things so he says, "Ow. My tongue is breathing! Mommy, can I have some milk? My tongue is breathing."

Madelyn then asks, "What does that mean?"

Always the intellectual one, that child is.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Uncle Jim



When my Dad remarried we gained a whole new family, Lisa's family. They are and always have been wonderful. They accepted me and Shannon with open arms and never made us feel as though we didn't belong. Lisa's parents became our Aunt Dorothy and Uncle Jim.




When we would go with my Dad and Lisa we would stay at Uncle Jim and Aunt Dorothy's house. Aunt Dorothy would usually leave us some kind of yummy treat in our room for us to find when we got there. She always made sure we had fun things to do at her house and yummy food to eat while we were there. Uncle Jim was always in charge of the drinks, and was always quick to ask us all about the things we were involved in.




He was a caring man, so kind and thoughtful. He was always great for conversation and he was very very funny.




Alzheimer's is a horrible disease, and Uncle Jim became a victim of it. He would still try to hold conversations with us through the disease and you could sense his frustration of not being able to find the right words to say. Yet he would still try.




One of my fondest memories of one of the last times we saw Uncle Jim is of him playing the piano while the children sat next to him on the bench. Even though the disease was taking over his mind he was still able to play a tune on the piano, and boy could he play. He played with such energy and spirit. The kids loved hearing him that day, as did we.




The Lord took Uncle Jim home yesterday. His symptoms recently got worse and it was a just a matter of weeks. We are rejoicing that he is whole again, yet we grieve because we miss him dearly. He will be spending this Christmas with the very Savior whose birth we celebrate.




Pray for Aunt Dorothy as she says good-bye to her beloved, and for Lisa and Erich who say good-bye to their dad. He truly was a wonderful man.


Thursday, December 11, 2008

My Elijah ...



I think I could write a story about him every day on here. I feel bad though because it makes me feel like I am neglecting Madelyn. Elijah just comes up with these one-liners though that kill us with laughter, including Madelyn, so I think she'll understand.





I made hot chocolate for us the other night and Elijah being the picky picky picky eater that he is pushes it away and says, "I don't like that hot chocolate. It hurt my feelings."





When Dan was having pictures taken of the inside of his eye Elijah wanted the woman to take a picture of the inside of his belly so he could see all the food broken up in it. He actually wanted to put his belly on the chin rest thinking she could then take the picture. He was pretty sad when we were leaving and we couldn't have her do it.





An older lady at the doc's office gave him a tootsie roll and after he ate it I asked him if it was good and he said, "Yeah. Now I don't feel sick anymore." Um, what?





We had this conversation in Target the other day ...





"Elijah, do you know why we celebrate Christmas?"





"Um, because we decorate for Christmas?" No.





"Because we make snow?" No.





I said, "Because it's Jesus' Birthday!" Then I went on to explain the whole gift giving thing, etc.





Later that night I said, "Elijah, do you remember why we celebrate Christmas?"





"Um, because we decorate for Christmas?" No. I said, "Whose Birthday do we celebrate?"





Madelyn tried to help by sounding out the J for him so he said, "J-j-j-Josh??"





He has an Uncle Josh and a friend Josh. No, neither of those. I reminded him it was Jesus.





"Oh, Jesus!"





I am happy to report though that the next day he was able to remember that we celebrate Christmas because it is Jesus' Birthday. Whew! It only took a full day and a half.





Madelyn, on the other hand, is a sponge. When you give her information she soaks it all in and if she's not sure about it she will ask you to confirm whether it is correct or not. She is my little intellectual. I love it. She is a reader and will have a strong mind of her own. That's a good thing for warding off those pesky adolescent boys when the time comes.





Okay now, remind me that I said she has a strong mind of her own when she is a teenager and thinks she knows everything. Thanks.




Oh, but how can you resist that sweet face?!





Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Fix-It Stage

I'm moving out of my sadness phase and into my "Fix-It Stage."

My hubby-hub cannot live on prednisone for the rest of his life so we have to look at other options.

There is a local alternative medicine clinic here that is like the one in GA that we went to. We are going to call them after his IV treatments on Monday and Tuesday. And, we will probably look into an allergist again as well, only NOT Dr. Green who was absolutely horrible. No offense to his family. I'm sure they love him and he is probably a nice husband and father, brother, son, whatever. Our experience with him was not so nice. We basically sat in a little hole of a room while he called us stupid, misguided, misled, foolish, liers (er, well, he kind of said our friend with allergies was lying. oh, and our other friend with an autoimmune disorder was lying), etc.

Okay, I exaggerate, but he was not receptive to our thoughts and ideas.

It was fine though. Well, I wanted to get our $40 co-pay back, but I wanted to get the heck out of his dingy little basement office more. But, we left saying that out of all the doctors we had seen he was the most blatently closed-minded about things. So, we counted our blessings and moved on.

Please pray with us over Dan's health. We need wisdom in dealing with doctors, meds, appts, child-rearing, being good stewards, being faithful Believers, staying in the Word, loving neighbors as ourselves ... oh, I mean, I could go on, but mainly please pray for Dan and his health along with his mental well-being with all of this. We can always use any prayers we can get.

I love this account of Peter being rescued from prison by the angel while the church prayed earnestly for him. Note too how the girl reacts after Peter goes to Mary's house where they were all praying. Can't you just picture it? So much excitement the girl doesn't know what to do with herself, and doesn't even let him in! Sweet Rhoda the servant girl.

.... Acts 12 ..... (I highlighted my favorite parts)

4After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.
5So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
6The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. "Quick, get up!" he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists.
8Then the angel said to him, "Put on your clothes and sandals." And Peter did so. "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me," the angel told him. 9Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.
11Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating."
12When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, "Peter is at the door!"
15"You're out of your mind," they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, "It must be his angel."
16But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. "Tell James and the brothers about this," he said, and then he left for another place.
18In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter.

My God, who is sovereign, does amazing things. I am going to rest in that tonight.

My Big Boy

I just saw that I had this saved as a draft. I wrote it a week or so ago ....

Elijah can put his shoes on all by himself.



I know. He's 3 1/2. He probably should already be doing that by now. Madelyn was probably doing this at 2, but he's my boy. My baby. And now he's putting his shoes on by himself.



Today he was eating waffles and when I asked him if they were yummy he said, "Yes. I do like them. And you, in fact, are my mommy."

Sadness in My Soul

Do you ever just feel sad? I mean there is sad where you cry and then there is just sadness where you kind of feel like you want to cry, but it just doesn't come. You just need to be sad and can feel it deep into your core.

That's how I feel today.

We found out yesterday that Dan has more swelling in his right eye. He hasn't lost any more vision, but the vein is really swollen. We are to go back in two weeks to see how it is then.

We have had almost 6 months of no vision loss which has been a wonderful respite from the chaos of running off to emergency appointments and then just the regularly scheduled two week appointments.

Dan's doc is close to Philly so it's an hour and fifteen minute drive, a 2 hour wait for the doc and then probably about an hour for the actual appointment if they have to take pics of his eyes, etc.

Don't get me wrong I love that we a great doctor, insurance that covers most of the costs, and many people who care for us enough to take our children in when needed and to pray for us so faithfully to get us through these times. But, I have to admit, it's hard. We have enjoyed the break from so many appointments, but it looks like they will be starting up again.

So, I'm sad. Mostly, I am sad for Dan. No matter what he does it seems his right eye just does not want to keep seeing things. Darn that right eye! Doesn't it know that seeing is a good thing??

Dan has slowly been tapering off of the prednisone which has been wonderful. While prednisone can help in so many awful illnesses, it comes with terrible side effects, none of which will make Dan sad when they go away.

Dan has also been doing monthly IVIg treatments which really seemed to be helping, but now I don't know. He has another treatment next Monday and Tuesday which will be his final treatment. These treatments are extremely expensive ($20-30,000) per treatment. Have they really just been a salve for a time?

So, I guess we'll just continue to take things one day at a time, and see what the different docs say in the coming weeks.

Now, I know that there are much worse situations out there. I mean, immediately I am thinking of families suffering through cancer treatments, the death of a child, a family killed in a terrible accident where only the father survived. Awful, awful things!

Believe me, I praise God for how much He has protected Dan's vision and has allowed him to continue reading, working, driving, etc. He truly has protected us from so much, and I am grateful.

So, even though I am feeling deeply sad from all of this I know that God continues to be faithful, He loves me more than I can understand, He is saddened by all of these things as well, and I find peace in Him while waiting for that day when I will rest in His Glory perfectly.

Until that day I will be sad for a time and will then pick myself up and keep going, doing my best to accomplish the works He has called me to do. What a great God He serve.

....

On a lighter note, my children have been entertaining each other while on the potty. First it was Madelyn. Now Madelyn is entertaining Elijah while he is on the potty. She keeps carrying over Christmas decorations and being silly with them while he giggles like crazy.

We were going to watch a Christmas movie, but they seem to just be having so much fun as they now play in water.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Hiking With My Dog

Another dream of mine fulfilled.





I always wanted a dog I could go walking with and not have her leave me. Yesterday Daisy and I hiked through the corn fields near our house. Daisy is a timid dog until you get her out in the wild. She perks up and loves life like crazy.


Since we don't have a fenced in yard I always feel kind of bad that she can't just go out and run around for a while. I try to walk her regularly, but sometimes life gets the best of me and our walks are very short. So I wanted to make it up to her yesterday.


There have been times before that I would try to let Daisy run free and she took off like a fox bit her tail and I was afraid I would never see her again. Yesterday was different though. She's my dog now. We have bonded. I love her and she loves me. We don't want to be separated.


She didn't leave me.


She would run off a little ways, but she always came back.
It made me so happy.

I even tested her by stopping for a bit to see how long it would take for her to come see me. It took a few minutes. We both waited where we were and then finally she came over to me as though she was checking to see what was going on. I had plenty of treats to reward her with too.


Don't you love those stories about dogs who protect their owners in a time of trouble? That's what I envision Daisy doing for us if she ever needed to. I know. I am a total sap when it comes to my animals. I can't help it. I can totally see God's idea of having animals as companions for Adam before Eve came along though. No one greets you as happily as a dog on a regular basis. They live and breathe according to your actions. It's so great and fulfilling.




Granted, I know dogs can drive a person crazy too. Daisy is an exceptional dog, but even she about had her little neck wrung when she got away from me at the school and pooped by the walkway. But, she's doing what dogs do. I know dogs can have terrible habits too like getting into the trash, or chewing things up. My dog Scooter who I grew up with always got into the trash. He was so ornery. We loved him though and believe me he would have protected us if the time came. He bit his fair share of people who weren't even close to attacking us.


All this to say, I love my dog. I really thank God for her. It was so therapeutic for me to be in the fresh COLD air yesterday, hiking through the fields with my puppers. I believe it was for Daisy too, running like the wind, chasing all the smells of deer, squirrels, birds, etc. I need alone time like that at times, and it's much nicer for me to spend it with my dog than to be truly alone in a desolate field.


The funniest thing about this post is that if you ever met or meet Daisy she will probably be very afraid, and you will not be able to imagine her protecting us if she can't even handle dinner guests. But, she is getting better. She doesn't hide when people are here, and she barks like crazy now when people come to our door. She's got a loud bark too which I love. It is intimidating.


And, one night there were people walking outside. The windows were open and I have never heard Daisy growl the way she did. It was great.


Okay, and recently we had a plumber come to the house. Usually when people come I will tell them, "Oh, don't worry about the dog. She's all bark no bite." Then I realized I don't really want people to know that. So, to the plumber I said ... hee hee ... I think this is so funny ... I said, "Oh, don't worry. If we tell her you are okay, she'll think you are okay." As if, with one word she would attack. It's just always a bit unnerving when you have a strange man in your house to do work. I don't like it so I want them to think if they attack me my dog will attack them.


So, that's life with my dog. We may go for another hike today. My shoes got so muddy though and now with the snow it's going to be rediculous in the field. I'll have to wear my boots. I was so sad I forgot my camera yesterday though. We were both so happy!

Daisy on alert in our yard ... isn't she pretty?
Do you know she was scheduled to be put down? A woman rescued her and got her into the Rescue that we adopted her from. I guess this woman will rescue dogs from high kill shelters if she believes they can be a good pet for someone. Daisy came all the way from Kentucky! I can't imagine such a sweet dog being put down, but I am figuring that since she was so fearful they thought she would never be adopted.



Friday, December 5, 2008

Kindness in Youngsters

My girl. My sweet sweet girl.


She wrote a note tonight to a new boy in her class. He actually had to move back from 2nd grade to 1st because he has some learning problems. So, he sits next to Madelyn and apparantly talks during class a lot. This is hard for her to understand because he was in 1st grade before so he should know the rules of first grade. She actually said that. She's my rules girl.

She wrote him a note tonight apologizing to him for ignoring him when he talks to her during class. She said she knows she's not being mean, but it "feels mean."

Okay, this is the part where as a mom I want to grab her and squeeze her until the end of my days ... (a moment, to give myself time to imagine that I could actually do that) ... but I can't. Instead she and I have a nice little chat about how yes, ignoring someone is rude usually, but we can't have discussions with people while our teacher is talking either. I recommended that she do a quiet "sshhh" to him as a reminder to him that they aren't supposed to talk.

Well, her plan is to give him the note tomorrow, sit next to him at lunch, and during lunch tell him that she needs to talk to him during recess.

Her note says, "To ______, Sorry I have it been listening to you. From Madelyn." It's written on a little (I mean little) post it note in the shape of an M. She even folded it up, but then unfolded it so it could stick in her folder.

A heart of gold I tell ya. I just love her so much it hurts.

Meanwhile, I keep getting notes from the teachers about homework issues Madelyn has that are honestly, completely my fault. UGH. When do study halls start because Madelyn will be so much better off when she is able to her homework without me sticking my nose in it.

To encourage her to do her makeup work from being sick I sat down with her and did the same work on a sheet of paper myself. Well, I paid no attention to directions and as a result she had a few things to do over. I just told her how I thought it was supposed to be done, and of course it was all wrong.

Today I get an e-mail that she didn't do the work she was supposed to do over break. I throw papers away. I had no clue there was homework to be done over break.

I didn't send the snowman in after break. I thought it was just something for them to do over break. Yet another e-mail.

And, we have no idea where her spelling sheet went Monday. Madelyn said she saw it in her cubby at school. I honestly never saw it, but who knows I probably threw it away before my eyes caught a glimpse. I actually did ask Madelyn about it and could have sworn she said she did it at school. She later said that she said she needed to do it. Either way, it's gone, I got an e-mail, we worked it out.

Ugh. I am struggling in the homework department. Thankfully Madelyn does well enough in school that the teachers seem to realize it's unusual. I just pray it's the same for Elijah when it's his turn. Oy.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Ugh, Mornings Like This

Woke up late. Scrambling to get the kids out the door. Daisy was anxious to go out so I just let her come with us.

Well, at the school she decided she would jump out of the car and roam around the parking lot, etc. Finally, she decided to poop right next to the walkway up to the school so I was able to get her collar so that when she was done I could walk her back to the car.

Thankfully we were a few minutes late to school so there wasn't the normal bus and car traffic there usually is.

Won't Dan be thrilled when he finds out our dog pooped on his school's front lawn. I did have a plastic bag in the car that I was able to use to clean it up? OH! EW! I just realized I still have a bag of poo in my car! ... Gotta go ...

Monday, December 1, 2008

Why ...

did I dream this?



I went to dinner at a friend from high school's house. When we sat down to eat they passed around matching pairs of red shorts that we were all to put on to encourage unity (or something I never quite figured it out). But, two of us realized that the sizes were a bit off. So, they decided it was okay to stick with what we had on already. Thank goodness!



Odd isn't it? They seemed to have a lot of money and it made me wonder if that was a new thing that was done among the wealthy. The funny thing is that the shorts were wrinkled like they had just been in a bag or something just waiting for the next dinner party.



Weird.

Thanksgiving Vacation

LOVED IT!



We had such a great time with family. We went to Western PA to visit Dan's family. Susan and Josh came too and we had a baby shower for Susan. Good times!



Here are some highlights ...



We decorated onesies for Baby Daisy (Susan's unborn baby). It was loads of fun. Madelyn did two. Here are pictures ...




We played games. We played In A Pickle and relationships were tense for a while. By the end we all realized it was just a game and we were fine with still being in the same room with each other. We also played Go to the Head of the Class. I haven't played that in 20 years probably. Good times, especially since I was the teacher. Dan won (no surprise there). We joke and say he beat us sleeping because he had his head down the whole time and seemed to skip each grade. He's just so smart! We started with the Senior questions then slowly worked our way down to the beginner questions. We just don't know what states the different bowling tournaments take place! You do what you gotta do.



Elijah spent a lot of time on the potty, by choice. He, for some reason, loved kickin' back on Grandma and Grand-dad's potty. One time I went in and he had Grand-dad's teeth in his hands. I just hear him saying, "Hm, teeth" as he walked around the bathroom. When I would tell him it was time to get off he would say, "Please mommy I still need to go poopy!" As if he hadn't been in the bathroom for ten minutes already.



The kids had a great time with their cousins. They are such sweet kids. I love them so much. They were so great with my kids too. Robbie Jr. got his driver's license. That was fun. It was neat to see his sisters be so excited for him too.



There's more, but I'll leave it here for now ...