Just as 3 as 3 can be!

How can she be three?! My little girl. She still lets me put bows in her hair and loves to have Grandma paint her fingernails for a treat but she won't wear dresses and always has an opinion on just how her hair is done. We usually have to negotiate the day's outfit and often one of us isn't especially happy. Several times a day she asks to change into different clothes (mean Mommy says no) I've learned to take her with me when I go shopping or else plan on making returns. Just how does a three year old get so opinionated?

Paige's most important possesions are baby and bunny blanket. Everywhere we go she asks to take them along. Usually she gets to. (I guess I'm not that mean) We actually have four "Babies" but only one of them will do. I can mix them all up in a pile or switch them behind my back and every single time she can pick out the Baby. ($5 to whoever can tell us what the difference is!) The poor thing is faded with stuffing bunched up in all the wrong places and stains that just don't come out anymore. But she is loved. I'm actually really happy to see her attached to bunny blanket. During our long wait for her I saw the fabric in Hobby Lobby one day. Initially I didn't buy it because it has only blue/periwinkle in it. But I loved it and it kept coming back to me. I eventually decided that she didn't have to have absolutely everything in pink. It was one of the blankets we took to China but it wasn't until about a year ago that it became the blanket!

Still so dependant and yet becoming more independent every day. I love watching her little brain at work and seeing her changing before my eyes. She's smart as a whip, obstinate and have I mentioned opinionated? A huge fan of Word World and Sponge Bob but love, love, loves her books too. I love my little girl! I love dressing her all up when we go out and I've learned to love not dressing her up too. I know how beautiful she is so it matters little to me what anyone else thinks anymore! Such an amazing child she is. I'm only a little afraid of the next 15 years!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

How to drive your cat crazy...

Gymboree bubbles! They are the absolute best! When you blow them they make lots of little bubbles that just float around and don't even always pop when they land. We have gotten up the next morning to find them still on surfaces! Tigger wasn't too fond of them though. He desperately wanted to catch one but of course he couldn't. It was pretty funny!

Next time you think you've had a bad day...

Just think of Caden. Yesterday afternoon he was melting down over just about every little thing possible. I finally pulled him into my lap and just waited for him to talk. Then he said, "this is the worst day of my whole life!" I asked why that was and he replied, "my shoes are too loose, I can't find a blue marker and... and I had the hiccups!" Sensing that he needed to be taken seriously I had to hide my smile and acknowledge that yes, he definitely had a lot on his plate. Oh, to be seven again and have the weight of your world on your shoulders! When he comes home from college proclaiming to have had the worst day ever I will be sure to remind him that it couldn't have been any worse than February 25, 2009!

Mr. Witt,

Interesting that you feel so comfortable leaving me a message but block messages from being left on your site. I assume you've done that to avoid having people like yourself leave posts. First of all, you suggest I hold bake sales and raise money for research. That would be a wonderful thing to do, I agree, but I can't support every cause out there. I bonded to Lydia and Abby's stories because of a common bond we have - adoption. While I would love to be able to support cancer research I would be inclined to send support to my daughter's orphanage first. This last summer I raised the money and purchased cleft palate bottles to send to China - I am doing something. Second, you suggest I not just feel bad. Would you prefer that I have apathy toward you or your son? I have a heart and I don't want to see any child hurting. I can't imagine what it is like for the parents either. So, yes, I feel bad. I wish I could be with Lydia's family and offer them comfort right now. I can't. I wish cancer didn't exist, but I also wish cystic fibrosis didn't exist, and juvenile diabetes, and food allergies. But they do and I am only one person so I have to choose and it makes the most sense for me to choose those that are closest to my heart for various reasons. My son has a life threatening food allergy - he could die without warning. A friend's daughter has diabetes she has to be ever vigilant as well. I don't feel like I should have to justify myself, but I do feel that you need to know more about someone before becoming so agitated. I pray that your son will respond well to treatment so you are never in Cody's parent's shoes. And I will always know now how many people are affected by childhood cancer - thanks to families like Lydia's and Abby's. I wish you the best.

Angel Wings

Liddy earned her angel wings today. Most of you won't know who she was and I've only known of her a very short time. But her story touched my heart so deeply and opened my eyes to the reality of childhood cancer. I had come to believe that most kids who had cancer were cured. It's not true. Beautiful children, like Liddy are dying. Part of me is deeply sad and another part is angry. Why did this little girl survive in an orphanage in China long enough for her family to find her yet couldn't grow up in that family? Why? I am so glad to know that she is out of pain but I hurt for her mother whose dreams for her have been shattered. It is always a sad day when a child dies. Yet life still goes on. I pray that Liddy's family will be able to move on soon and have some peace in knowing she is no longer in pain.

It's just so unfare that that d_ _ned pain had to be there in the first place! It makes me so mad. I'm only writing this to remind you to give your kids an extra hug tonight. Hold them close, read that extra story, let them have a dish of ice cream before bed and remember tomorrow is no guarantee for any of us.

I feel like tip-toeing. Paige fell asleep on the couch a while ago so I crept away as carefully as I could. I've actually managed a shower and changing two beds! Whoo-hoo I've accomplished something today. I'm really relishing the sound of silence right now. It's so quiet I can even hear the rain outside. All too soon I'm sure she will wake up and panic that I'm not there. Then it will be back to Word World and trying to get the darned laptop to work. I told everybody this weekend (as Paige was running a 103 degree temperature) that the next one to get sick in this house is on their own. Oh-yeah I'm the only one who hasn't been sick yet. Guess that means I'll be on my own. Just as soon as I get the laundry caught up, make a trip to the grocery store and fix a few meals...

NEWS FLASH!!

This is on my home page today:

Good News in Bad Economy: Shark attacks on decline

Ok, seriously? Is there anyone out there who really cares? I mean, we aren't sure how to pay the bills, credit cards are going through the roof (not ours though it is creeping up faster than I like), people are loosing jobs, houses and cars and that's the good news! Less shark attacks?! You've got to be kidding me.

According to my kids, we're poor. I, of course, see things much differently than a 7 and 10 year old do. I feel very fortunate to be where we are and to have the things we have right now. I suppose if I had the money to travel to shark infested waters I might find some comfort in that news. But the only shark infested waters I have to deal with these days exist in the form of bank statements and bills. Well, the laundry pile might be referred to as such but I'm talking about financial issues so I guess it doesn't count. Financially speaking, we are pretty tight these days. We are sitting on the edge of potential layoffs like so many others. And our savings is nearly gone. Yet, somehow we manage to get by each month. Our bills are all paid and on time (usually). We have food in the pantry, clothes on our backs and the kids are even able to participate in occasional extra curricular activities. If you knew our actual income you would probably wonder how we do it. The answer is not a simple one but it can be simplified with two words - God's Grace. Just when we think we are going under something happens that throws us a lifeline. We survive from one lifeline to the next. We don't eat out much - once a month? I make homemade pizza every week. Our last date Rick and I went to Applebees during happy hour and ate half price appetizers and had water. $12 (I think Rick actually had ice tea). We don't own a flat screen t.v. and our BBQ has more rust than a bucketof bolts left in the rain. In fourteen years of marriage the only new furniture we bought was our bedroom set and kitchen table. Everything else has been handed down. BUT IT WORKS! Most of the kids new clothes have come exclusively from Goodwill and Value Village. Paige's birthday gift came from Craigslist and cost less than half of the new price. I cut corners whenever and whereever I can. Something as small as leaving the laundry in the washer overnight - I don't do it because then it has to be rewashed to get rid of the mildew smell and it uses more soap and more water. It adds up. Someday I hope to not have to always be so diligent. It would be nice if it were a bit more of a choice. But for now it isn't. For now the economy is bad. For now we all worry about what's next and pray for an end. For now we all dream of the day that we might be able to go somewhere that shark infested waters are actually a concern.

A Little Update

Just a couple of cute shots of the kids from a trip to the park the other day. With everyone being sick I had to get out of the house for a while and it turned out to be a beautiful afternoon. Caden seems to be on the mend but we are still watching him like a hawk.

This morning Trace had his teeth pulled. He needed two eye teeth removed so the permanent ones could move into the correct position. Fortunately he has a much higher pain tolerance than Caden and we were in and out in an hour. I think he is actually bored sitting around here at home and he wanted to know what he could eat almost as soon as we got home! Such an easy kid he is sometimes.

Ms. P is asleep on the floor in front of the t.v. Again, I'm not lining up for any mother of the year awards here. With all the sickness and such she has seen entirely too much t.v. for any almost three year old. Apparently even she is beginning to think so.

All for One 2 16 09

Here's the entire show finally. Sorry it's a little shaky/fuzzy. Trace is once again in the red helmit. He takes a pretty hard crash at one point too!

Does the fun just never end?

Well sick husband is on the mend. Not being particularly demanding either, so I can't complain. Unfortunately I now have a sick kid. Actually he has been sick for a looong time and we are just now finally dealing with it. I took him to the ped in December for a persistent cough and congestion. The ped felt it was allergies so we tried Zyrtec, Benedryl, Triaminic, Robitussen, Delsym, Sudafed, etc, etc... nothing worked. Everyone was noticing how bad the cough sounded and it had reached the point it was waking him and me during the night. So yesterday I took him in to Urgent Care. That doctor feels he has an ongoing infection and gave us a three day antibiotic, heavy duty cough syrup and a nasal spray and the instructions that if he isn't improved by tomorrow we need to do x-rays and maybe an extra strong antibiotic. What fun! Trace is due to have his teeth pulled this week so the way I figure it I should come down with the flu right about then!

Sick husbands

I'm bored. Oh-my-gosh am I ever bored! It isn't that I don't have plenty to do. It isn't that I haven't done anything already (few loads of laundry, baked muffins and banana bread, picked up after three kids), it's just that there isn't anything else I can do that I also want to do. See, I have a sick husband. Make that VERY sick, he can't keep anything down even a few minutes! I get that, I'm sympathetic really, I am. But when he's awake he's also moaning as if he's dying but I can't keep him asleep because I have three kids in the house.
Sick husbands are worse than sick kids. Sick kids don't want much more than some juice with a straw and your lap. Sick husbands have expectations. Things their mother did - which of course is the only right way. Sick husbands are convinced the NO ONE has had what they have as bad as they have it! And their must be something they can take to feel better. Why are they so sure there is a pill that will take their cold or flu away? Don't they realize we'd have taken it ourselves when we had the exact same thing a few days earlier? Oh- thats right we didn't have it as bad, I mean we were able to get out of bed, feed the kids and start the laundry and they can barely crawl to the bathroom. Well, if there isn't a pill then they need to go to the doctor. Yeah, that's it I'm sure the doctors office wants those viral germs floating around. I refuse to take him because I don't want to stand there looking like an idiot when the doctor says in that condecending voice that it's viral and to come back in a few days if it hasn't improved. I've had that experience enough with my kids thank you very much. So here I sit. Can't vacuum. Can't put the laundry away. Can't even let the kids be kids. But afraid to move or let anyone talk for fear of waking him. Please, God, let this be a short one! The 24 hour bug would be nice, although I do realize that no man has ever only had it for 24 hours. It would just be nice to see it let up a bit. I think. Of course then that means he'll be downstairs. Laying around. Asking for things...

Happy V Day - I guess

Well, here it is again, Valentines Day. Now, I'm not a BaHumbug about this day, but I do think entirely too much is put into it. Maybe it's because I'm not an ooey-gooey, touchy-feely, mushy kinda person. I have a hard time with lots of public physical affection between adults. I have NO problem what-so-ever showering my kids with physical affection in public or private though. But for some reason the whole idea of getting things from "you lover" really turns me off. It actually makes me cringe a bit. In my mind a "lover" is what they have on soap operas and usually involves infidelity. It isn't exactly a good thing - at all.So, what do I want from this day? I want to see the smiles on my kid's faces over the one simple little gift we got for them - a candy heart full of Skittles and a small book. They can be so excited over such small things sometimes and it's nice to see. I would like the assurance that my husband still loves me despite the weight I've gained and day to day crabbiness. Some pretty flowers that will last a week or so might be nice. Maybe dinner out so I don't have to cook. But probably more than anything I'd love to hear that I do so much that he just doesn't know how he'd survive without me. Do I honestly expect to hear that? Nope. That's ok, I know it's true even if he doesn't!Some years, if I'm in the mood, I'll put more effort into decorating a little, fixing heart-shaped pancakes or sandwiches and possibly even making a cake. That isn't happening this year. Last week was a bear and the house got behind. Now I get to spend today doing laundry, picking up, cleaning bathrooms and the litter box and vacuuming. Doesn't that sound romantic? My "lover" will be home tonight and if it isn't done, he'll notice. If it is done he probably won't notice or even say anything as he drops his suitcase and clothes to be washed in the entryway. But that's ok because after almost 14 years of marriage I know he appreciates it. I guess that is more what Valentines Day is about to me. Making the people I care most about a little happier. Seeing a smile on their faces. In return, I'm a little happier too - bonus.

Public/Private

Now that I've had time to look into the situation that caused me to go private briefly, I'm pretty comfortable returning to an open blog for now. I'm relatively confident that the information I was concerned about did not in fact come from the blog. So, with all the years that I have safely behind me, I'm opening back up with a watchful eye! If you want more information on why I did it in the first place please feel free to e-mail me. It isn't a big secret, I just don't want to put the details here. Thanks for being my loyal readers...

One for All 2 12 09

I thought I was all prepared to video tape last nights performance and I was doing great too. That is, until the tape ran out! Lesson learned. I'll be more prepared on Monday night. Until then, here's a little teaser for you though...

OH! To stop the blog music scroll down until you see the player on the right then click the pause button on it!

One for All 2 12 09

I thought I was all prepared to video tape last nights performance and I was doing great too. That is, until the tape ran out! Lesson learned. I'll be more prepared on Monday night. Until then, here's a little teaser for you though...

OH! To stop the blog music scroll down until you see the player on the right then click the pause button on it!

A couple new pictures

Look at him go! Trace has three shows coming up in the next two weeks. They are the half time show for some high school basketball games. Since the entire show is all of 4 minutes I am going to try to video them and hopefully get a good enough one to post for all to see.

Look at that face! Isn't she beautiful! The clerk at Walmart last night told me she looked Asian. They hire the smart ones don't they?

This is the first good picture Tigger has ever taken! I really like it so I just thought I'd share it.

Defiance

Yup, that's it. That's the look I get when she is right about to argue with something I said. The word forming on her lips is, "well", said with a nice sharp snap to it. Let's just say she was in bed a few minutes later though! Little stinker.

Miscellaneous

The boys went outside yesterday afternoon to play with the neighbor kids. Paige wanted to go out and ride her bike too. So we put hers on the back patio and let her push herself around with her feet. She has a smaller trike coming for her birthday in a couple of weeks which will be nice. There were so many colors in this picture that I decided to make it B&W - turned out pretty good I think.

Caden is doing well at this point. He went to school the next day and lasted all day! I think being the center of attention may have been a little bit of a motivator there. Two of the spaces have closed over and are nearly healed - That just leaves four more since one tooth is coming up in another. It will be nice when he can brush his own teeth again!

Nothing else going on - at all...

Dad was in town!

Since the boys were supposed to have wrestling last night and I had a few other things on my mind, I had completely forgotten that Rick would be at the airport for almost two hours. When he called I asked Caden how he was feeling and with a huge grin he said, "GREAT!" Yeah sure, just to see Dad. Why can't I be that exciting to see? So in an attempt at distraction, if nothing else, I packed everybody up and off we went to spend a 1/2 hour with Dad. It worked out great because Caden's numbness wore off while we were gone and by the time we got home he was starving and willing to eat. He went to bed pretty late (9:30) but slept all night! This morning I took him to school. He was very excited about signing the big tooth 7 times. Now we'll just have to wait and see if he makes it through the whole day.

The sick room

Does anyone else's house look like this when there is a sick person around? I spent all morning yesterday cleaning the downstairs and within minutes of getting home this is what the living room looked like! At least Caden is upright though.

Picture Tag

I was tagged for photo tag. I'm supposed to choose the fourth photo folder and the fourth picture in it. Since I'm on the laptop I only have one folder so I just went ahead and picked the fourth picture. The regular computer would be more interesting though!
Anyway, this picture was taken the end of October. Robin and I had taken all five kids to walk the WSU campus and try to get some good pictures. She took this one of Paige and I while the other kids were throwing rocks in the creek. I don't remember what Paige was telling me but I'm thinking it was complaining that she wanted to go home! It was a beautiful afternoon and I still remember exactly where we were sitting and the way the sunlight fell through the trees.

So now I get to tag four others to do the same. How about Sue S., Robin B., Jennifer B (in MI) and Chris D. Go to the fourth folder you keep photos in and choose the fourth photo. Then tell us all about it and tag four more people! Come on, it'll be fun...

UPDATE:

I just added the fourth picture from the fourth folder on my real computer. It is a picture of a little girl named Natalie. Her parents were a part of our travel group to China and we were there to see her complete their family. Natalie has three big brothers and lives in Florida. We hope to visit with them in a year or two for a reunion.

The great adventure

Well the little patient is surviving. The dentist got him in this afternoon and took seven teeth out! They were really great with him and he even got to watch a movie! Not that he cared. According to the dentist he did "pretty well". Not too sure what that means exactly, but come on - SEVEN teeth at once?! I know I wouldn't have done well at all. I sat in the waiting room with a knot growing in my stomach. So when I finally got to talk with the doctor I just had one question. "We are doing the right thing?" His response was, "Absolutely! They have to come out. They... yeah they really need to." It was amazing how much better that made me feel. They kept me updated every few teeth (and bathroom break) and they didn't even charge us for the seventh tooth! Apparently it is a pull six get the seventh one free deal. :)

So we are home now, watching Open Season and eating ice cream (all of us). Caden doesn't like the numbness at all but we have him draped in towels to eat his ice cream and it seems to be working. Hopefully the dentist's prediction is accurate and he'll be back to normal by tomorrow. We'll see!

Well... I'm kinda speechless.

Caden told me Saturday night that his mouth hurt and he had a new tooth coming in. Knowing that he hadn't lost any teeth recently and didn't have any that were even significantly loose, I told him he was fine. Nice mom that I am I kept blowing it off and telling him it couldn't be a tooth. He persisted until I got the flashlight. Holy Cow! One little edge of a new tooth was definitely visible and completely behind the other front teeth! By Sunday afternoon the entire top of the new tooth was there. This happened with the tooth next to this one also but in that case the baby tooth was really loose. With that one the dentist told us to immediately pull the loose one to let the displaced one to move forward. This time the tooth in front is just barely loose. Fortunately we already had a date scheduled to pull seven teeth from his mouth - in three weeks. I'm guessing that may be bumped up a bit once I talk to the dentist in the morning!

The poor kid's mouth is such a mess! The three middle ones are permanent teeth and there is clearly not enough room for them let alone any new ones. Pulling teeth right now is a temporary fix but he will definitely be a regular at the orthodontist's office!