Baby Mark Moore

A family at my school had a new baby recently. His name is Mark. Mark is in need of a miracle. Mark was born with a Diaphragm Hernia (in layman's terms) His stomach and intestine came through the Hernia and up into his left lung. Mark is 13 days old today. He is on a Heart/Lung machine awaiting surgery. The Doctors tell the family the max time he can be on this machine is 21 days at which point, they will take him off the machine and allow him to pass away. Attempts to remove Mark or reduce his dependency on this machine have not been successful. You can follow Mark's path here. Please pray for baby Mark, his sisters Savannah and Payton, and his Mom and Dad. Pray without ceasing.

All Wired Up!

My baby girl got her braces yesterday...she was a bit nervous, but she got through it ok. I was a bit nervous about taking on more debt...but I got through it ok too. I was more nervous that my baby girl would be in pain last night, but I put on my best brave mommy face :) Before
Getting ready
During
After

Yes she was in quite a bit of pain last night and when I asked her...should we take them off? She replied...yes! Oh, uh, well, we can't do that honey pot, but they'll quit hurting in a few days. She made herself mashed potatoes for dinner and got through 2 hours of ball practice last night. What a trooper! I can't wait for her to have a beautiful straight smile! Of course she picked orange, pink and green for her bands. She is quite colorful!

My baby girl is all wired up!

Happy Birthday Ryan

You wanna kiss? It's my birthday!
Baby Lizzy...just too tired to sing Happy Birthday!
Yummy cake!
Fun toys!
Big Smiles :) My great nephew Ryan turned two on Wednesday. My mother-n-law made super yummy barbecue ribs. sliced up some cantaloupe and I made some hash browns with cheese, peppers and onions....yummmmmy! We got Ryan a super cute outfit with big brown Hawaiian flowers and khaki shorts, and a tug boat to play with in the tub. Kristina got him a little tykes end loader and gramma got him some crazy toy that you put balls in and they are forced out by the air. He loved all his gifts, but mostly he loved his cake....



and his family.....


Happy birthday baby RyRy!

Until next time...

Lost your best friend?

Me eldest has had the unfortunate experience of her first failed cell phone this week. My personal belief is the phone was just overworked and pooped out. Dear daughter does not believe so. The look of panic on her face when she realized the phone was dead was nothing short of hilarious to me. ;) So, Day 1...I let her use my phone for her evening texting. Day 2....I let her use my phone again so she could call for a ride from school. I thought it reasonable to use a payphone to call for a ride to which she replied..."A pay phone?!?! YUCK! We don't even have a payphone! "Ummmm, yes you do...it's by the band room, and I'll give you 50 cents to make your call. Or possibly you could borrow a cell phone from one of your 84,000 friends that have them" Now, you know that was TOTALLY unreasonable to her. She replied, "The band room?" Like she was certain her school didn't have a band room, even though she goes right by it every other day on her way to choir. So, I gave in...she had the phone yesterday. Today...my phone...safely tucked in MY purse :) :) :) Last night she told me her phone had begun working intermittently, but it freezes, turns off, flashes on and off etc. Generally, it appears she needs a new phone.

Onward to my LEAST favorite person...George Dubya. Could you please Mr. President, if it ain't too much for ya, please send my flippin stimulus check. I've been teased with two letters about it...two false dates, and now they say it'll be in the mail today. What's a person gotta do to stimulate some economy around here. Really the only economy I'll be stimulating is for the bills I already owe thanks to the rise in every price under the sun over the past few months. But hopeful, somewhere in there, we'll have a few cents left over to get my dear daughter a new best friend :)

Until next time...

Just a little Panic

Let's just throw it out there...I suffer from PTSD or post traumatic stress disorder...It has been well under control for about the past 15 years or so, except for an occasional bout here and there. Over the past 3 or 4 days...I feel it creeping in. These are times when everyday life becomes a bit too much. Gas $4.15 a gallon, tax bills, rising grocery costs, broken hand, and for me the physical symptoms that go along with the psychological ones...back ache, stomach ache, jitters, general feeling of un-well being (if that's a word). The picture of my desk right now should shoot panic through even the strongest person! And then my first book for school arrived yesterday and the syllabus that goes with it. *sigh. I am a person that is better off without a break. I find myself going through mild bouts of PTSD related crap after every school break or every vacation or every little bit of down time in my life. For those of you that are amazed at how much I do...I do it because that is what makes me function best. Now....here's the thing...some of you will say that slowing down is a good thing...that's what makes the world go 'round. And others will say...slow down so you can feel the feelings. Well, here's the deal I have felt the feelings and lived with the feelings and feel the feelings often, but physically they don't agree with me. So, I choose the breakneck pace of life and that works for me. This process keeps me focused on the positive feelings and the joy I am blessed to live with on a regular basis. But other times...the joy is taken over by panic. This time...just a little, but more than I care to experience. I have 34 weekends of school left and I am already a bit apprehensive about the 'reentry' to regular life. My dear husband says...oh don't worry about that...you'll be working two or three new jobs or something else crazy to keep you busy. Ah yes...he knows me too well. And I believe he is right. The FIRST thing I plan to do upon graduating is to get a second job...using my new skills to pay some bills and build the nest egg. (Gee, that sounds like an old person talking doesn't it?)

So, now that I've cleared my mind of that...I know that once I get through this week, once preschool graduation is over, once my desk is caught up, once my kids are done with school, once I'm back in school...it'll all be good. And I'll be back to the joy.

Until next time...

What luck!

Today, even though it was Memorial Day, I HAD to go to work...on look at this desk and you'll know why... Yes, I am coming dangerously close to being buried alive by the paperwork that is quickly piling up on my desk. It's times like these I think it'd be better if there were three or four of me. The good news is...I have free afternoons all week this week so I plan to work 10 or 11 hours a day and to be all caught up by the end of the week. Preschool graduation is this weekend and all of the details for that event MUST be completed. So, even though I was at work today, which is by far not my favorite place to be on my day off, I was lucky enough to see this...In all my 41 years I have never seen a bird leave it's nest. The birds in our nest here at home are long gone and the nest sits empty. I took a break today and decided to check on our birds that had nested on the eaves trough.Look how large baby Robin #4 looks...perhaps he was overfed? Anyway...even though his siblings seemed more than happy to stay...he was ready to fly the coupe! One last meal from mom and he was on his way! Get Ready! Get Set! Go!!!! And then there were three...Much more room in the nest now :) The little guy was off and running...and running... and running... It was by far the cutest thing ever! Just be grateful I didn't include all 47 pictures I took ;)

Until next time...

The Many Faces of Aubrey

Today I wanted to share with you the many faces of my great niece Aubrey. She shared these expressions with us over the course of about 2 minutes in the car! I was so lucky to have her yesterday and today. She is the best baby ever and it is such a joy to spend time with her. I get to care for her again next weekend :) First we start out with..."You CAN'T be serious!" Then we go to..."Just try it! I bite! I mean it!" That's right before the serious growling ensues! Next...she says "Ohhh, you're taking my picture?!? Who knew!" Right before she started the next round of peek-a-boo!