Friday, May 30, 2008

Congratulations Leslie!

Katie and I spent the day at Tim and Susan's place yesterday. It was great seeing Liz, Nolan, Maddie and finally meeting Jake. Katie and Maddie seem to hit it off the bat. They ran around the yard and played. I just hope Katie didn't teach Maddie too many bad things like throwing her tenny shoes in the pond. Ha! Ha! I have to back up. Leslie was Katie's buddy most of the day. Leslie took Katie up to the pond, while Liz was trying to get Maddie and Jake to take a nap. It wasn't long before Leslie brought Katie in the house and told me about her throwing her tenny shoes in the pond. Ugh! Sue said she saw the whole thing. That Katie was standing very quiet by the pond and looked like she was thinking "hmm! I wonder what I could do?" All of the sudden, she pulled off her shoes. She threw the first shoe in the pond and before Susan could get it out "STOP!" She threw the other shoe in as well, but a little further than the first shoe. Poor Leslie had to go fish the shoes out. Yuck!

Jon found Katie's mini bubble blower and the girls went crazy catching bubbles. Little Jake looked like he wanted in the middle of all the fun. So, I traded off Jake to Susan and I took pictures of everyone having fun. They played with bubbles until Jon ran out of solution. Leslie tried to make some more, but they didn't do as well. The girls were laughing and squealing after one another. Katie tried to teach Maddie how to play Ring-Around-the-Rosy, but I think Maddie was afraid Katie was going to hurt her, I believe. I have to tell you about these frogs, Tim and Susan have by their pond. Susan tells me that they are baby bull frogs, but they are as small or smaller than crickets. When you're walking along, you'll see them hoppy around. You have to really look to tell if they are frogs or not. On Memorial Day, Katie couldn't get over these frogs. She wouldn't touch them, just look at them. Yesterday, she loved holding the frogs. They would hop out of her hand and Leslie would have to find them and put them back in her hands. There are more pictures of our day and visit on our photosite.

While the babies took a nap together, Liz and I snuck off to the pond for some R & R. She and I grabbed a fishing pole and began to fish. Of course, we had to be taught how to cast the rods, so we wouldn't make a mess. Right off the bat, Liz caught her first fish and it wasn't long before I reeled in one as well. I thought I had the casting down, when I got a birds nest all in my reel. Ugh! My line was in the pond, but I had to pull out some more line to fix the mess I made. Right before I got it all fixed, Wade informed me that I had a fish. I looked down at my bobber and it was still there. I told Wade, "no I didn't. You're crazy!" My bobber had already made it's way to shore, so I decided to reel it up and re-cast. Well, I'll be! I did have a little Rock Bass on the other end. HA! Wade took him off my hook. I told the fish to grow up some more and threw him back in the pond. I told the guys that I'll never have that opportunity again. We stayed out there quite a while. Katie, Maddie and Jake woke up and by that time, Katie wanted me to take her to the potty. Yes! She didn't do anything, but at least she's going.

We all got ready for the Graduation at Susan and Tim's. Katie and I followed them to the school. We were not able to seat everyone of the family, but we were all pretty much together.

CONGRATULATIONS LESLIE!
We are all very proud of you!

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Happy Birthday Alise!

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I would like to wish Alise a very Happy 3rd Birthday! We love you and hope you had a wonderful birthday weekend.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Happy Memorial Day!

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HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!


I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. It's been kind of a blur to me. As you may know Nicholas graduated yesterday. CONGRATS NICHOLAS! Doug and I were running late because we thought we could squeeze in a Walmart trip for later that day. Unexpectedly, Katie's Pull-Ups leaked and got her outfit soaking wet. Ugh! We were heading out the door to go to the Graduation too. I was so disappointed, but there was nothing I could do except get her cleaned up and changed. We got to the chapel a little before 2:00 and the ceremonies started at 2:00. The church was packed, but Wade was nice enough to let me take his seat. Isn't that so sweet? We all (9) squeezed together and got Wade to sit next to me. We were all either sitting sideways or up on the edge of the pew. I couldn't keep a straight face throughout the ceremonies because Dad, Wade and Sandy. They were so funny. After everyone sang the National Anthem, Dad pipes in "play ball." Oh my gosh, how funny. He said it loud, but hopefully not too loud because the only person that acted on it (laughing) was the guy sitting in front of Dad. The guy had to turn around to see who it was saying "play ball." I have to say, Katie was very good through the whole thing. She walked up and down the kneeling bench. She was picking on Jon, Susan, Dad and myself or we would pick on her. Then, she would get into her bag and get out some snacks. She had to show everyone her "Fancy Nancy" book, she got from Walmart. I guess the ceremonies lasted 1 1/2 hours. I thought that was good because I've been to one of these things and it be closer to 2-2 1/2 hours long. I was surprised. It was humid outside, so we didn't hang around too long after the graduation. Doug and I went back home and changed into some comfortable clothes before going to June and Pat's house for Nicholas' Graduation Party. Whitney told me to bring Katie's swimmingsuit. While getting Katie's swimmingsuit, I went ahead and grabbed her floaties that she didn't use last year. Oh my gosh! She loves the swimming pool. She stayed in it as long as the cousins were in it. Whitney really worked with her on swimming from the pool stairs to her. Her little feet were kicking away. I was so proud of her. She'd get my attention, "look Mom, watch me!" She'd kick those feet and most of the time go around in a circle, until Whitney got ahold of her. At one time, we caught her wanting to climb up the ladder of the slide. Apparently, when she couldn't go that way, she decided to get on the slide closer to the pool. She did! She climbed up on the slide and sled a little ways into the pool. Whitney just so happen to be right by the slide on the swallow end, to catch her. Yes, Katiebug went under water, but luckily Whitney caught her just in time. Katie had her floaties on, so she didn't go far under water. Shoo! According to the pictures, I see she did it again and again with the kids close by to catch her. Ugh! I think Nicholas had a nice party. We were so tired by the time we got back home.

Today, we grilled out some Ribeye Steaks on Millard's new grill. Yummy! Peggy made baked potatoes, salad, baked beans and apple pie for later. Yum! Henry was able to come over and eat with us. The rest of the afternoon, Millard, Henry and Doug kept their noses to their computers. Too funny! After we ate, I tried to get Katie to lay down and take a quick nap. Nope, it wasn't going to happen today. After getting relaxed, I had a hard time waking up. I suggested us going outside and walking around, instead of sitting there watching either TV or the guys with their computers. I tried to get Katie interested in making a clover necklace, but I couldn't remember for the life of me, how to make one. I tried tying knots and the clover stems would break off. Ugh! I sat there for a long time, but was only able to make a strand long enough for a ring. What a disappointment! Later, as I was telling Susan and Sandy about my necklace inabilities, Sue reminded me to make slits in the stem. Okay, I'll try that next time.

At 3:30, we headed over to Susan and Tim's house for Leslie's Graduation Party. On the way over there, we got to see the Mule Deer again. The bucks were resting in the tall grass by the fence, next to the road. There were several because you could see their antlers sticking out. The large herd were either laying or standing around very close to the road and they were not afraid of the our car. I really wanted Katie to see them, but she fell asleep and missed out. Susan and Tim had smoked some chicken and grilled ribs. Everything was so good! A few of us were sitting by the pond, eating supper and talking. Susan told Leslie to show Katie the baby bull frogs. I couldn't understand fully what Susan was talking about. I've never seen baby bull frogs. Katie wouldn't touch the frogs. In fact, she was more comfortable if Leslie just held them and let her watch them. She finally brought one over for me to see. Oh my gosh! I've never seen such teeny tiny baby frogs before. They were about the size of a pencil eraser, if that big. After Katie had her fill with the frogs, Leslie baited her hook on a fishing pole and helped Katie catch a fish. Oh Katie was so excited that she got to reel in her first fish. She was amazed to see a big fish like that up close without any glass, but didn't want to touch it. I think Susan took a picture of her with her fish. Of course, she wouldn't look at the camera. Boy, after her and Natalie put the fish in the basket, that's all she talked about while we were at the pond. I didn't fish, instead I sat down by Sandy and watched her and Leslie fish. I was a little concerned about sitting down on the ground because there were tiny little bull frogs jumping all over the ground like crickets. I've never seen such! I was afraid I was either going to squish one or it would jump up in my shorts. It wasn't long before the rains rolled in and was set for the rest of the day. We moved our party out to the garage. I got tickled at Katie because she would inch her way outside and get wet. Leslie and her finally did the rain dance, which lasted maybe a couple of minutes. Oh, she loved that and wanted to do it again. When the rains stopped for a little bit, I let her go out and play in the puddles. She was having a ball. When she was ready to wash her hands, Leslie took her inside for a tubby. She got to bathe with Leslie's special bubble bath and Leslie had fun playing with Katie's hair. If there was some way to get Katie home tomorrow, I think Leslie would have wanted Katie to spend the night tonight. We just couldn't get it to work out. Katie was wore out by the time we got home around 9:00, but we had a great weekend.

Dad told me tonight that Mom's appetite seems to improve daily. She still has a feeding tube, but they are planning to take it out for a few days to see if she will eat good without it. She is getting bored and can't wait to get out of that bed. I believe, they are planning to get her out of the bed tomorrow and see if she will be able to start eating in the Dining Hall. They are having to take baby steps with her recovery. Thank you for the many prayers and please continue.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

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Alise, I hope you had a wonderful birthday party!

Laura - post lots of pictures


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I was able to do a little house cleaning today. Wow, what a mess! Our house is back in somewhat of an order. I dug inside the house, while Doug did all of the outside work. We were both wore out by 2:30 this evening. I made up some Ham and Cheese sandwiches for a late lunch and we all took a nap.

Katie had to wear her new Bee dress, she got from Alise. She saw her Daddy outside working and she wanted to go help him. She got her shoes on and started outside, but Doug told me not to let her out. She was so upset that she couldn't because He was spraying for bugs and spiders around the house. Right now, we have a spider problem. Are you having spider problems where you live? It scares me. We apparently have a mosquito problem as well because Katie got ate up this week, while we were working out in the yard. I didn't notice them, but we found bites all over Katie's arms and legs. I guess it's just the beginning - welcome Summer. After Katie's nap, she insisted on changing dresses. She's been begging to wear her birthday dress, yellow eyelet dress. She calls it her Belle dress, like from "The Beauty and The Beast." Well, I caved and let her wear it until it was time to eat supper because she wanted ketsup with her chicken nuggets. I had to pull her out from underneath her table in order to change her clothes. She didn't make it easy on me.

Our 3-in-1 printer died on Doug last night, while he was trying to work on his homework. He was getting aggravated with it, so he just turned everything off and tried again today. It's bad when he has to come to me and ask me to look into it. It kept saying there was a paper jam, but there really wasn't. I got the flashlight and looked all in it, but nothing. We tried restarting it and continued selecting "enter." We feel it died, but it's been a great printer. I know I've really used the heck out of it for some ten odd years. I'm just glad it decided to die after Doug's birthday party. Shoo! God was watching over me. Doug went to town tonight to get a new one. He saw where OfficeMax had their 3- in-1 printers on sale for $50 something. I told him that was a good buy because the other one, I believe, we paid close to $100. It's amazing how electronics is more reasonable now then what they cost years ago. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Wade's Flight Came In

Whitney and Natalie came over and picked up Katie for me this morning. Katie didn't wake up in the best of moods this morning, so I was kind of concerned if she would be good for Whitney and Natalie. I let her run around in her PJs, while I got ready for the day. Today was the first day to play with my new hair style, so I had a little bit of a difficult time. I did the best I could and finally left it alone. I was so aggravated because I dropped my hot spray into the floor. When I picked it up and tried to spray some on my hair, it wouldn't spray. Ugh! I must have broke the nozzle some how. I worked and worked with it before I finally gave up. I don't know what to do now. I guess I could try to see if Theresa might have an empty bottle that I could use the nozzle. I don't know. By the time Whitney and Natalie drove up, Katie was beginning to get really woke up and ready for the day. She was wound up and ready to go hang out with Whitney and Natalie. She was too cute! I forgot to give Whitney Katie's butt paste, in case she was to have diarrhea. I debated on if she would really need it or not. I knew if she did have diarrhea and a butt rash from it, I would feel terrible. I didn't have time to stop and eat at home, so I fixed a sandwich for the road.

Sandy and I went to the airport to pick up Wade. On the way to the airport, we stopped by Maryann and Kevin's to give Whitney the butt paste. The workers were there working on their Kitchen and Katie was right in the middle. Whitney and Natalie said she couldn't get over what they were doing. In fact, she would strike up a conversation with all of them. She'd come up to them and say "hey" or ask "what are you doin'?" Whitney said she even helped open the door for them as they were going in and out. The girls were amazed how Katie would sit by the workers and start talking to them. Too funny! What can I say? She's my little social butterfly.

We got to the airport without any problems and had a few minutes to spare. Sandy was pretty hungry and I needed something to drink. We found a "Golden Rule BBQ" inside the terminal. Sandy ordered fried green tomatoes, while I just got a coke with ice. We sat by the window and watched planes coming in. I was sort of amazed that there were not that many planes flying in and out today, with it being a holiday weekend and Friday. I guess with the price of gas, not every one can afford to fly places during the holiday. Wade's plane was a little late coming in, but got there safe and sound nonetheless. Sandy was so glad to see him. They have such a wonderful bond. I hope Doug and I have that type of bond after 30 years of marriage. It was good to hear Wadie's snort! I get tickled every time I hear it.

Wade felt up to seeing Mom at the Nursing Home, so we headed that way from the airport. Mom was having a bad day today. Sandy seems to think it was from all the excitement yesterday. If you didn't know, Mom and Sandy road in a stripped down ambulance working as just a transporter from B'ham to the Nursing Home. Well, the transport driver got lost on the back roads, instead of taking the interstate. Dumb idea! Sandy told me today that they ended up far East of the Nursing Home in the other county. They were taking that ambulance vehicle down pot hole infested country roads. Mom told me that she just knew, they lost a wheel at one or two of the pot holes. It was a funny story to hear about today, but I'm sure it was horrible to go through. This morning, the nurse told Dad that Mom's blood pressure was extremely high. They called Dr. King and he prescribed some meds for it. Luckily, it went down a little later this morning. Mom told us today that she kept having nightmares about their ambulance adventure all night last night. Whitney, Natalie, Katie, Susan and Dad were there as well visiting Mom. Poor Whitney. She told me that she changed Katie before they left the house to come visit Mom. They forgot to bring Katie's bag. Well, they didn't think that they would need it because they wouldn't be gone that long. Whitney said no sooner did they get to the Nursing Home, Katie pooped in her pull-up. Ha! Ha! Natalie was going on about how bad it smelled. Katie was out in the gardens with Sandy, so I didn't see her. It didn't take long after Katie came into the room, I smelled the stinky pull-up. "Oh Katie, what did you do?" I asked her. She just grinned and giggled. I asked her why didn't she go to the potty? We were all going on about how bad she smelled. Mom seemed very tired and she kept complaining about her stomach hurting. I found out later that they gave her liquid that was a little thicker than what she was use to in her feeding tube. Ryan said that they probably gave her a little too much and she got a stomach ache from it.

Sandy, Wade and Dad wanted to go to Ryan's to eat supper. So, Wade loaded his stuff up in Dad's truck and they left. I went on to Maryann and Kevin's house to visit and pick up Katie. When I got there, Maryann, Ryan and Kacy were looking through some pictures on Ryan's computer. It wasn't long before Whitney, Natalie, Katie and Susan got there. I got to see Maryann and Kevin's new floors and cabinets. Very nice! I thought they had tile put in, but it was really some kind of wood flooring. Susan and I both really liked it.

I guess it was after 6:00 before we got home. Doug was already home updating our TV computer. I've been hungry for a breakfast supper. So, I baked some biscuits, fried a few strips of bacon and scrambled some eggs. It was good! After supper, I fell asleep for a few minutes. Doug was in the computer room taking a test. So by the time, he got back into the Living Room, I put in "National Treasure 2" for us to watch. Doug was getting too tired to watch all of it, so we had to turn it off for the day.

Schedule this week
  • Tomorrow, I plan to clean the house. I don't know what Doug's got planned for tomorrow, but our yard really needs mowed. I hope he is able to cut grass because we are not going to have time this next week.
  • Sunday is Nicholas' Graduation and a party soon after at June and Pat's house.
  • Monday, we are planning to grill out at Millard and Peggy's to celebrate Memorial Day. As you know, I bought some steaks for us to eat that day. Later, we plan to go to Susan and Tim's house for a Graduation Supper Celebration for Leslie. Leslie's Graduation is on a Thursday night, so she's not really able to have a party that night.
  • Wednesday, Liz, Nolan and the kids fly in from out West. They will be staying with Susan and Tim for a couple of days. Their flight is coming in late that day, so I won't be able to go visit them that day. I'm still working out a plan to visit them on Thursday before the Graduation, but I don't think it's going to happen.
  • Thursday is Leslie's Graduation at 8:00 and Doug has to work that day. If I go out there early Thursday morning, I'm going to have to come home to get ready and pick up Doug. The cost of fuel makes that idea nearly impossible. The drive between our house and Sue's is approximately an hour. It's too far to drive back and forth. Ugh!
  • Friday, I believe, Liz, Nolan, Susan, Wade and the children are planning to come back to June and Pat's. They will all have to leave by the first of June. So, I'm hoping to get at least two days of visiting in before they have to leave.

Hope you have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Gettin' Things Done

Millard and Peggy came by this afternoon to pick up Katie for the day. My brain went into overload of all the errands I needed to run. What a perfect opportunity!

When they left with Katie, I went to June's to drop off a few things for both her and Sandy. June is throwing Nicholas a Graduation party on Sunday night. She wanted to borrow a few things I had for the party. I wanted to help Liz and Nolan with a few baby things, so they wouldn't have to pack so much on the plane. It's not much just a portable high chair, monitor, disposable bibs and toys for the Maddie and Jake. Monday, I'll get the Pack and Play from Millard and Peggy to take to Sandy. Hopefully, they will be set by the time they get here.

I couldn't really visit with Dad and June because I had to stop by The Movie Gallery to return Doug's movie. He rented the newest "Die Hard" movie with Bruce Willis. I never was a big "Die Hard" fan, but this movie was pretty good. Anyway, I had to get it back before my 2:00 hair appointment. Yes, I said HAIR appointment.

I've been growing out my hair out for the past 6 months in hopes of a new style. It was getting a little unbearable when I finally decided it was time to shape it up and color this gray. Yuck! Oh, I've got to tell you. As soon as I walked into the shop, I could smell the solution for either color or perm. Right away, it cut my air off. I was sucking on a piece of peppermint, but it wasn't phasing it. My eyes teared up and I started coughing. Honestly, I couldn't stop coughing! I had to leave the building and go back to my truck to catch my breath. Luckily, I had a cup of apple juice in the truck to sip on and try to control myself. I didn't know what I was going to do, if I couldn't take the smell without coughing. I bought a coke from the outside vending machine and explained to Theresa what was going on. We took frequent breaks, so I could get a drink and cough. I like new hairstyle, but wow do I look different. Of course, Doug said he couldn't tell, but I sure can. Theresa really thinned it out where it won't be so heavy and sticking to my head. I have a feeling though that my hair is going to stick to my head regardless. That's just the way my hair does. I told Theresa that I finally bought a flat iron this week to help shape my hair a little and she told me about spraying on this stuff by Kenra to prevent from the flat iron frying my hair. I didn't know that a flat iron could be that damaging. She said it won't, if you don't use it a lot. I went ahead and got me some of that stuff because I will probably use it a lot and I don't want to damage my hair. Today was the first time I've used a flat iron ever. I think I like it much better than a curling iron. I had to do something because I have no more curl in my hair and when I would try to slightly curl some of it under or flip it out, it would be too extreme.

Mom was finally released from the hospital this afternoon and was transferred by ambulance to a local Nursing Home. After I got my hair cut, I headed to the Nursing Home to visit her. Because I've been so sick with allergies and sinus junk, I haven't been able to see Mom in over a week. I've missed her so much and it was so good to see how well she's been doing. Sure, my sisters and Dad have kept me up-to-date on her recovery, but it's not the same as when you see her for yourself. She seems happy to be closer to home. I checked out the facility as I was walking to her room and it seemed very nice. Every staff member that I ran into or met was very friendly and everyone had a smile on their face. It didn't smell like a hospital or medicine, so that was good. When you look out the window there are some beautiful gardens with water fountains, veggie gardens, gazebo, swings and bird feeders. I've heard nothing but nice things about this place and I think Mom will be happy here. I really like that there is no restricted visitation time. I didn't stay long because she was so tired from the ride. I guess I visited with her approximately 30-40 minutes before leaving. June told me this morning that this place is in connection with a preschool, where once a week (I believe) the children come over and visit with the elderly. I think that's the best therapy. Pets and children are very welcome and you could go outside into one of the gardens and visit. Mom can't wait to see April, her little dog. She hasn't seen April for weeks, so I know that will be good therapy for her. She will be undergoing some physical therapy while she's there. I'm kind of glad about that and she's seems excited about wanting to walk again. She was trying to feed herself while I was there. She did pretty good, but still had some problems judging where her mouth was located. It's just going to take time.

On the way to the Nursing Home, I stopped by some friends of ours, Mike and Sheila's store. I've had this baby shower gift for their daughter for months and I never could either find the time to take it over or too tired. Of course, I didn't make the baby shower. Well, the baby is two months old and I finally decide to take the gift to her. Ugh! We got baby Reese one of those light up car mirrors that play music. We couldn't live without one when Katie was an infant. It helps out so much, especially when we drove at night because she was scared of the dark. Now, I've got to get Mike and Sheila's son a baby shower gift. They've already had the shower, but the baby hasn't come yet. I don't remember how long they've got before the baby gets here. If you seem a little confused about Mike and Sheila and the grandbabies. Yes, their daughter, Misty, just gave birth to a baby girl, Reese. Their son, Rusty, and his wife are expecting a baby boy. Isn't that great? When I got to the store, Mike was on the phone talking business, so I got to visit with Misty. Oh my gosh the pictures of Reese are all over that office. Too funny! I didn't get to see the baby because Sheila took the baby with her to the house for the day. Mike was a typical proud granddad, beaming with joy.

When I left the Nursing Home, I stopped off at the grocery store to grab a couple more Ribeye Steaks for Memorial Day. Warehouse Discount Grocery have a pretty good sale going on right now $5.98 lb. Normally, Ribeyes run around $9-$10 lb. I've been so hungry for a good juicy steak in quite sometime. Ribeyes are my favorite, so Monday will be a treat. We are planning to spend most of Memorial Day with Peggy and Millard. I'm thinking that maybe Katie needs to make some chocolate chip cookies for dessert. I'll have to think about it.

I started on my way home from the grocery store, when I began to wonder if maybe Maryann was home. I knew Ryan and Kacy Rae were coming in today from SC. I've never met Kacy and was excited to finally met the love of my nephew's life. Sure enough, they were all home. I couldn't stay long because of the food, but I had to stop by and say hi before going home. Ryan was right there to give me a hug. He always gives the best hugs. He's so tall and long armed that it just wraps right around you like a good bear hug. Poor Kacy looked like she was scared to death. Bless her heart, I remember meeting Doug's family for the first time. You are sweating to death and afraid to say anything for fear you might offend someone. She was standing not saying much and smiling. I didn't want to seem obvious that I wanted to met her, so I took my time getting to her. I chit chatted with Ryan for a little bit. I made it over to Whitney and Natalie. I had to ask their opinion about my hair - too late to change it if they didn't like it. I expect them to tell me the truth. Whitney and Natalie went on about it like they liked it. They did say it was going to take some getting use to seeing me with such straight hair. I had to agree with them, but I think I might like it. Poor Ryan had to tear me away from Whit and Nat to introduce me to Kacy. You know us girls, we never get tired of talking about hair styles, men and clothes. Kacy seemed very nice and so pretty. I am jealous though, she is so teeny tiny. I bet when Ryan gives her one of his good bear hugs, she disappears because she's that petite.

By the time I put up the food and checked on Katie, Doug drove up in the driveway. I thought about making breakfast for supper, but he wanted Sweet Peppers Deli. Lately, he's been addicted to their chef salads. I tried a different sandwich called BBC. It's Roast Beef, Bacon and melted Cheddar Cheese on a whole wheat hoagie bun. It was pretty good, but I love their Chicken Salad on Greens. Yummy!

Our local National Guard troops came home today from serving a little over year in Iraq. The town had a big parade type welcome home. I didn't see the parade, but Theresa told me it was impressive. I guess it was impressive because it made the news tonight.

I was so relieved to get all of these things accomplished in one day. Thank you again Peggy. I sure do appreciate all you have done for us.

My brother-in-law, Wade, flies in tomorrow. Sandy and I are going to go pick him up from the airport. It will be good to see Wadie. He is such a sweetheart and I know Sandy misses him so much. Whitney is such an angel for agreeing to watch Katie for me.

Congrats David Cook!

American Idol

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You talk about a shock! I just knew they were going to announce that David Archuleta won the American Idol tonight. I was so hoping David Cook would get it because of his whole story. Wow! I couldn't believe my ears. If I'm not mistaken, they said he won by approximately 12 million votes. Is that right? I was too busy thinking, if my ears were hearing this correctly. Nonetheless, I wasn't listening to Ryan Seacrest very well.

Dancing With The Stars
We TiVo'd Dancing with the Stars and my predictions came true. I knew several weeks ago that Christie would win and sure enough, she did. She may not have had past experience dancing, but with her skating career, she had some advantage in winning this competition. I've heard throughout this whole competition that she shouldn't have been in this contest because she was much more qualified than the other competitors. I do have to say, her and her partner did an outstanding job on the dance floor.

Mom Update
Sandy said Dr. King is still planning on releasing Mom tomorrow. She will be transported to a Nursing Home close by. He doesn't feel that she is physically ready to go back into a Rehabilitation Center, instead she needs to be some where that they can monitor her and take care of her needs until she is able to get enough strength to use a walker. Dr. King assures Mom this is a temporary thing until her strength returns. She seems pleased with the decision. Yes, she would much rather be in her own home, but she knows that she needs assistance. Sandy said today, Mom insisted on feeding herself and doing more things for herself. I was surprised when Sandy told me that Mom was reaching for the side rail and turning her own self from side to side. Also, the nurses have cut back on the feeding tube nutrients. They want Mom to get a sense of hunger, so she'll start wanting food again.

Prayer Request
As you may know, Little Jake has this re-occurring abscess on his bottom. The doctors that Liz has taken him to haven't seen anything like it - coming back so many times. The doctor drained it once again, but advised that he see a doctor in Denver. I'm not going into detail for fear I might have some information wrong. Too much going on to remember the whole layout of the events. Liz is beside herself with all that's going on (my Mother's health and her Mom in AL)and now Jake's health. I ask you to please remember Jake and his family in your thoughts and prayers. I'm sure this has to be so scary for Liz and Nolan. They are having to be strong for Maddie and Jake, which makes it even that much harder.

I spoke to my neighbor, Evelyn, last night and now that all of her company has gone, she is having a little bit of a difficult time coping with the lose of her husband, Charles. She says, she tries to stay busy because it keeps her mind occupied. Every once in a while, things will pop in her head and she thinks about Charles. I've always heard that it's harder on the loved ones when all the company is gone and reality sinks in. I ask that you please remember her as well in your thoughts and prayers.

Katie's Little Mind
Katie's little mind amazes me every day, the little things she can remember. Tonight for example as I was tucking her into bed, she told me "Nite-nite, sleep tight, Mommy." I told her "don't let the bed bugs bite." Out of the blue she said, "hit shoe." This continues the saying "if you do then hit 'em with a shoe." My daughter is so smart! She told me again yesterday that she's not getting the lotion because she be in time out and won't get to watch her TV. Is this not funny or what? When did the lotion incident happen? I know several days have passed and she's still bringing it up.

You know how kids go off and talk to themselves while they are playing. Well, I hear her talking with Cinderella the other day. She was giving her the right act. I don't know what Cinderella did, but Katie told her if she didn't stop then she was going to be in time out. I love time out and taking things away, when she acts bad. Hey, it works with me! I had to rack the gravels back into the driveway from the road. Katie thought she would get in the road. Here I am telling, yelling and begging for her to get back in the driveway. As soon as I mention time out, she straightened up and got back in the driveway. She told me that she didn't want to be in time out. I love it!

Tomorrow, Millard and Peggy are picking up Katie for the day. I've got to get caught up on some laundry and house cleaning before I go to my hair appointment. Yes, I'm finally getting my hair trimmed and colored. It needs it so bad! I have tons of gray that needs attention. I would also like to get back into my yard. I racked a little bit of died grass out of the front yard. Doug and I also hammered a few fertilizer steaks around our azaleas in the back yard. I really hope they hang in there because it will be the start of slowly remodeling the back yard. It's a disaster area! I found the hose and the roller upper thing that the hose goes on. Doug told me, we could fasten it back to the facet in the back yard. Okay, no problem. Except the hose and the roller upper have been chewed on a little. I'm guessing when Dexter and Shae were younger they teethed on these things. Ugh! I guess I'll have get new for the back of the house.

By the way, I went to Walmart and got the new "National Treasure Book of Secrets" and I love it. It's just as good as the first one. I recommend it to anyone who likes action/adventure movies. I guess I like them so much because they remind me of the "Indiana Jones" movies.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Be A Good Friend

I was reading a daily devotional by Dr. Charles Stanley (I love his teachings) called "In Touch". I wanted to share just a paragraph in today's devotion that really struck my heart.

"Being a good friend is a way to serve the Lord. He designed us to be in relationship with others, so we should give our best to every companion God places in our life."

This is so true. Yeah, I have more family in my life than close friends. The way I see it is, they are my friends just as much as family. Outside of the family, I try to make new friends every where I go. It doesn't matter if I chit chat with someone in the Walmart check out line or at church. I try to keep in mind that God has a reason for allowing perfect strangers to come into our lives every day. They might be having a bad day and your smile or a kind word could change their luck. I know if I'm having a bad day or trouble, I would appreciate a complete stranger to help me in some way.

Thank you for being my friend in good and bad times.

Your Sister In Christ :<)

American Idol

American Idol
Okay y'all. Who do you think is going to win this thing? According to my poll, it looks like most of you like David Cook. I love David Cook, but the judges were rooting for David Archuleta. In the past, if the judges were one sided that usually meant that person would get it. They say that the judges don't influence the voting, but I think they do. Either way, both Davids have a great future ahead. Don't forget to watch tomorrow to find out the results.

Laura - you are crazy, girl! You know I had to read your comment twice before it hit me what you were talking about. Honestly, I wasn't even thinking about your blog venting when I posted that FN picture. I appreciate you keeping your eyes open for me with the FN party supplies. Did you ever come down off of your caffeine high? Later, you should re-read your posting. It's funny! I had to giggle the whole time because I had this image in my mind of you being fired up and wired up.

Jennifer - Thanks for letting me know that baking cake batter in ice cream cones actually do work. This eases my mind a little more. I had this image of the cones cracking and cooked cake oozing through the cracks.

Y'all will never believe it, but it's 10:20 and Katie is actually asleep. I might get some sleep now. As most of you know, I have to fight with her to stay in bed for close to 2 hours before she finally falls asleep. To tell the story of why she fell asleep so early, I have to tell you that she got up late. I didn't get to bed until 2:00 this morning. I know, I know, but I was on a mission - Fancy Nancy party planning. Right before Doug left for work this morning, he brought Katie into my bed around 5:30. I got up around 9:30 and I tried to wake Katie up, but she just rolled over. I thought she was awake around 9:45, but I noticed her eyes shut. Ugh! I had to pounce on her at 10:00. I finally pulled her out of the bed at 10:15. She was awake, but didn't want to get out of bed. Boy, I know how that feels at times. Needless to say, I wouldn't let her take a nap today. Yeah, she got a little grumpy around 6:00, but she soon got over it when I threatened to put her in time out. I'm such a mean Momma!

Katie has really developed this attitude. Everything is "now". For instance, she's all the time saying, "Mommy, I want something to drink now!" There is no kind word and especially "please." So, today I've been telling her that she needs to stop telling me "now", instead say "please". She would just look at me and smile. The little turkey, she knows what she's saying. I didn't give in today. If she said that "now" and no "please," I wouldn't do what she told me to do. I told her I wouldn't get it unless she was more kind to her Mother and say please and thank you. She would finally say "please", but she kept adding that "now" word. I continued to correct her and explained that it was a mean word. I know where she gets it from, Me. When I mean business and want her to come to me right then and there, I'll tell her to come to me "now". I also noticed another phrase that she got from me. A while back, she started this "hush" and holding her hand over my mouth (she got this from me as well). When I'm talking to someone, while she's watching her movie, she'll come over and put her hand over my mouth and tell me "hush, Mommy". Well I started telling her not to hush me because I'm her Mommy. Now, when I tell her to hush. She'll point her finger at me and tell me "not hush me, Mommy". Ugh! It's a loosing battle! I finally started telling her this afternoon that I'm the Mommy and what I say goes. Let's see how long it will take before she remembers to say that phrase word for word. Little turkey!

My sweet husband was going to surprise me today with a copy of "National Treasure 2 Book of Secrets", but he said Walmart was all sold out of the BluRay. It must be very good. He told me that he would keep a look out for it. Isn't that the sweetest thing? Did I tell you that he surprised me on Mother's Day with "27 Dresses"? He knows just what to buy me. MOVIES! I love "27 Dresses"! I even watched it today, while Katie was in the back watching "Barbie in The Nutcracker". We are two spoiled girls.

More Fancy Nancy!


Okay, I found all kinds of cute activities on the web in connection with "Fancy Nancy." I never even knew that there was an actual doll. By the way, the doll is entirely too expensive for Katie to have right now. I'm diggin' all the dress up stuff though. I was looking through all the printables and Katie saw Fancy Nancy. I asked her if she liked Fancy Nancy for her party. Her eyes got big and she became very excited. Of course, she thinks "Fancy Nancy" is coming to her party and she thought her party was today. I went ahead and got a party supplies estimate of what it would cost from Birthday Express, to get an idea. I've got the order all ready, but I wanted to check out a few places first before I turned in the order. I spent most of the night checking out party supply places for the "Fancy Nancy." I like to get quotes and compare to see what would be the better buy. Thus far, Birthday Express is the only place you can find "Fancy Nancy." Can you tell that I'm beginning to get worked up and excited about Katie's Birthday Party? If I can't find any other place for the supplies, I'll place the order by the first week in June. You have to allow 10 days for the shipping and I want to cover the items that might be shipped separate and any other surprises that might come my way. Now, I need to decide if I want Katie's 3rd birthday pictures made before the party or after. I can't decide.

I found a neat idea through Nestle's website for having cake baked in ice cream cones. I don't think I've seen something like that before, but I like it and it's suppose to be easy. In the recipe, it suggested mixing in chopped up butterfinger candy bars and stirring it in the cake batter before baking it. After spreading the icing, sprinkle a little more butterfinger crumbs on top. Really a cute idea.

Mom Update
Sandy called me this afternoon and let me know that Mom was moved into a regular hospital room. She assured me that she was doing real well. They sat her up on the side of the bed for 10 minutes and she was able to put her arms up over her head. Dr. King hopes to have Mom released from the hospital as soon as possible. He said her levels including the Protein are back to normal. They haven't had to give her an insulin shot in several days because her sugar levels are back normal as well. She still has a feeding tube in her stomach and is on a liquid diet. Sandy said her appetite is about the same, she eating fairly well.

CPSC Recall Notices
  1. Master Toys & Novelties Inc. Recalls Little Rider Toys Due to Violation of Lead Paint Standard. Link: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08272.html
  2. Douglas Co. Recalls Children’s Blankets Due to Strangulation Hazard. Link: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml08/08275.html

American Idol

Are you watching American Idol? GO DAVID COOK! I really hope he wins!

Monday, May 19, 2008

Smartie Britches Sale!

I just receive a notice from Smartie Britches Children's Clothing, here in town. They are having a Spring Sale on most of their outfits. You might want to check it out. Here's the link: http://www.smartiebritches.com/clothing.shtml

Fancy Nancy

Laura, thank you for letting know about the Fancy Nancy dress up clothes at Target. I tried to find the clothes online, but I couldn't find them. The next time I go to Target, I'll be sure and check it out. Do you remember where you found them? Will I find them in the toy section? Please let me know.

I'm nearly positive that we are going to go with "Fancy Nancy." I had Doug look at it on my blog and he seemed to like it.

What About Fancy Nancy Party?

Guess who's sick at her stomach now? Ugh! I guess it's official, Katie did have a 24 hour stomach bug. Needless to say, I've been sticking close by the bathroom. Yuck! Oh well that's enough of that.

I've had to time to check out the birthday party stuff. I found a birthday theme that I feel, fits Katiebug to a T. Do you remember the "Fancy Nancy" books? I've introduced a couple of the "Fancy Nancy" books to Katie this past Fall/Winter and she seemed to like them. Katie reminds me a lot of Fancy Nancy, the way her imagination shores and how she loves to dress up. She even tries to persuade me to dress up with her, but I have a hard time convincing her that I can't wear her size clothes. She does insist on having me wear hat/tiaras, necklaces, bracelets, earrings & sunglasses. She is my little "Fancy Nancy."

I checked out Birthday Express' new theme parties for kids. Guess what? They have the cutest "Fancy Nancy" party supplies. Isn't it cute? Since I can't get anything out of Katie as far as what theme she wants for her birthday party. I might have to go with this theme. In fact everytime I ask her, she'll say I want a bouncer house and slide. She's a little confused with party theme and birthday gift. She loves those inflatable bounce playhouses. She wants either a bounce house or a play set, which includes: slide, swing & playhouse for her birthday gift. I receive a catalog from Step 2 Company every season and there are all sorts of play sets and bounce houses for kids in it. She'll show me which ones are her favorites from that magazine. Of course, they are all of the above. Too cute! I told her that she needs to tell her Daddy. I know for a fact, she's told him a couple of times. He asked her, which one she wants the most a bounce house or slide. She doesn't understand the question "which one?" Everytime she'll tell him, "bounce house & slide." Too funny. We found a play set a little more affordable from Walmart approximately $400 and it has good customer ratings.

Well, I'll see if I can write some more later. Tah, Tah for now!

Prayer Request

Buford Johns is a friend of mine. We got to know each other through church. We are both volunteer church greeters and anything else, no one else wants to do. tehe! Just kiddin' Anyway, Buford is such a sweet, humorous, Christian man that everyone loves because he loves life and enjoys interacting with people. His smile alone is a witness for God. He has been such a blessing in my life, getting to know him. He is in his 70's and has a history of heart problems. He had a heart attack, I guess a few years ago. He still insisted on greeting visitors and church family into God's house at least once a month. Well, a few of us that work the same time he does try to baby him and constantly watching over him. Last month, he told me that he had to have his stint replaced the week before because of problems with his heart. He assured me that he was feeling much better. One thing about Buford, you never know when he's sick because he's always bright eyed and smiling. If you don't ask him how he's doing that day, you would never know that he was/is sick.

Buford needs our prayers because I just received an email from a lady in our Sunday School class telling me that Buford passed out and the doctors don't know why. They can't do an arteriogram because of his enzymes not being high enough. Instead, they will do a tilt board test. He will be getting a new pace-maker and defibrillator. She did report that he is doing well.

Just a Quick Update

Thank God's great goodness because Katie didn't have any diarrhea this morning. Shoo! Her bottom was still a little red, but no blisters. I had to fight her tooth and nail again to put some more Smoothebutt Salve. This salve I get from our pharmacist works wonders. I recommend it to any one with children, no matter what the age. I've never tried it on me, but I've been tempted at times. If she still doesn't have any diarrhea, I plan on putting panties on her. I'm hoping it will help air out her bottom and heal her rash.

I spoke to Sandy earlier and she said Mom was doing good this morning. The doctor has approved her moving out of ICU and into a room. Sandy is planning on spending the next couple of night with her, while she's still at the hospital. I didn't get to talk with Sandy long because her and Dad were going inside Walmart. She is suppose to call me back later with another update and a room number for Mom. I passed the news along to Aunt Sherry, but she told me that Sandy said Mom would probably leave the hospital by Wednesday. I had heard rumors of her leaving that early, but nothing official. I don't know where Mom will be headed next, the Nursing Home or a Rehabilitation Center. I don't know if the Nursing Home has the capabilities to do rehab on her, while she's there. As soon as I find out more information, I'll let you know.

With that being said, I've been thinking about Katie's birthday party. Now that you guys have heard about there progress on Doug's big birthday party and it's over, you have to hear the next 2 months about plans on Katie's party. Tehe! Doug and I have agreed, we are not having anything big. In fact, I'm thinking about just having family over for cake and ice cream. Peggy gave me of her old "Southern Living" and "Taste of Home" magazines for the past couple of months. I've been thinking about making Katie's birthday cake this year, but I'm not quite sure what kind I want to make. The "Southern Living" magazines gave me some great ideas for the cake. I really like the idea of making ice cream sandwiches made out of brownies, vanilla ice cream and candy sprinkles. The one idea I liked, they cut the brownies into ice cream cone shapes with the ice cream sandwiched between the brownies. I also read how you can make pink rose petals out of gumdrops and sugar. Hmmm! I found a recipe to make an angel food cake and decorate it up with white cream cheese icing and gumdrop petals. Of course, the picture was so pretty and the recipe sounded easy. Oh and I also found an idea to make ice cream cookie truffles. You take small scoups of softened ice cream, roll them around in cookie crumbs and freeze them. When your guests arrive, you can serve the ice cream truffles in a small waffle bowls. Too cute! The big problem is finding out what Katie's theme is going to be. She likes Giselle from "Enchanted", Tinkerbell, Barbie and Hello Kitty. When we went to Party City, she saw the Disney Princess party stuff again and begged for a princess party. I had to explain to her for hundredth time that we had a BIG Disney Princess birthday party last year and we were going to wait a few more years before we have another one.

Happy Birthday Peggy & Happy Anniversary Tim & Sue!

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I would like to send out a very Happy Birthday to my Mother-in-law. Peggy - Happy Birthday! I hope you have many many more wonderful birthdays to come.

I wasn't able to get on the computer yesterday to write down my day because I didn't feel all that great. That's why I'm sending out a belated Birthday wish to Peggy. Peggy requested a homemade pizza for her birthday on Saturday. Doug had to go into work for a little bit. So, we were able to spend the late afternoon with Millard and Peggy. I was expecting Doug to make the pizzas, so I thought I would help him with the preparations. As soon as we got there, I started chopping up the bell pepper and cooking the meat. Well, Doug and Millard were outside changing the oil in the car and it was taking forever. Personally, I think Doug planned this whole thing. I figured by the time Doug was able to get back in the house and cleaned up, it would be very late. I decided to pull up my sleeves and try this pizza making thing. I had to call out to Doug a few times to make sure what he normally did, to make sure I was doing it right. I am happy to report, I made my first pizza ever this past weekend. Yes! Are you proud of me? I had absolutely no recipe to go by, so that was a little unnerving. Yeah, there are a few things that I could have done differently and it might have tasted better, but I didn't think it was that bad. We had two pizza crusts loaded with hamburger, mild sausage, bell pepper, black olives, mushrooms, pepperoni and lots of mozzarella cheese. Henry came over a little later and ate some pizza with us. Him and Doug had to give me a little smack about the food, but that's alright. I knew Doug was sucking up to me about it, so he wouldn't have to make them anymore. So, I had to zig him back about how "simple" they were to make. tehe! I had to do it because the way him and Henry were going on and on. I think Peggy had a good birthday party evening, it just didn't last very long.

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Happy Anniversary to my sister and her husband, Tim and Susan! Tim and Sue are celebrating their anniversary today.

Yesterday, I got up with the worst sinus pressure in my head and sinuses. Ugh! I felt terrible. I was afraid that I was going straight into a sinus infection because I couldn't tell at all if they were draining. All I could do is treat the symptoms and I'm happy to report that I think it worked because I feel much better this morning. On top of me not feeling well, Katie started getting sick on me as well. Ugh! I changed her pull ups around 3:00 and I noticed some diarrhea. Humm? I don't know if it was something she ate didn't agree with her or she might have had a little bug. I put a little "Smoothebutt Salve" on her because her bottom was looking red. By the time I changed her the third time, she was beginning to show little blisters. Poor baby, she wouldn't let me touch her bottom. Therefore, it was difficult to put more salve on her blisters. I felt bad, but mad at the same time because she was giving me such a fit. One of the times I cleaned her up, I put panties on her so her skin could breathe. I didn't have any diapers in the house and Doug and I wondered if maybe the pull ups were aggravating her skin on top of the diarrhea. He went out trying to get a pack of diapers, while I fought with her putting salve on her irritated skin. I know I was gambling letting her run around with panties on, while there was a risk of her making a huge mess. Before she went to bed, I put pull ups back on her and I could see the blisters were looking better. I went ahead and put a bunch more salve for the night. She did her usual routine of wanting to go potty before she went to bed. I warned her that it will probably hurt her bottom. She didn't care, she still wanted to go sit on the potty. Okay. Sure enough, she pee-peed a little and I guess it started burning her bottom. She had this look on her face, like it really hurt. All she could do was cry. I kept asking her questions - what hurt? She told me her bottom was burning. I felt so bad for her. All I could do was comfort her. As I was tucking her into bed, she told me that she'll feel better tomorrow because she has medicine on her bottom.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Thirsty For A Cold Drink?




I was putting all of Doug's birthday gifts away. Katie found this metal bucket and had a blast playing with it. She was minding her own business, playing with the bucket and I had to get a picture of it.

The Golden Compass

Okay, I know I tried to discourage you from watching this atheist originated childrens movie. Doug apparently likes for us to stay aware of anti-Christian books and movies like "The DaVinci Code" and now "The Golden Compass." He likes to stay prepared to explain the false teachings. "The Golden Compass" movie is based on the first book of three "His Dark Material" written by the world renown atheist, Philip Pullman. From the source of information that I've read about this man and his agenda for Christians is very disturbing for future generations. His main goal is to pretty much brain wash our children about the truths of God and promote atheism. As a Christian, I'm offended by this man and his stupid books/movie. If I was Catholic I would be very offended because the movie passes them off as the evil-doers. I've read that the movie is very watered down compared to the book for a specific reason. Parents wouldn't feel threatened about their children watching the movie and therefore may not feel threatened to give the books to their children to read. The last book "The Amber Spyglass" in the trilogy makes God to look like a senile, weak, old man that's trapped in the dead souls. Finally the children kill off God (Pullman's painted God as being evil and all the fallen angels, witches, and lying children are good) and everything is roses. I hope you are aware that Satan aka DEVIL is a fallen angel. Can I just say one word? SCARY!

I found an electronic book "The Golden Compass: Agenda Unmasked" put out by the Catholic League from New York, New York. After reading this booklet, it just makes me love C.S. Lewis and "The Chronicles of Narnia" more. I have the "...Narnia" movie, but I'm tempted to purchase the books and movies for gifts. I liked "The Lord of the Rings" movies, but I don't own any of them. The only thing is Pullman hates Lewis more and he hopes that his children books to be more popular than Lewis'. Ugh! That makes me mad! Parents, I think it would be wise to at least read this book from Catholic League, so you can be prepared. http://www.catholicleague.org/images/upload/image_200710053349.pdf. I felt it important to put this link on my favorite links. This way, if any of our children later down the road get wind of this atheist's books or pathetic movies, we'll be prepared.

Now that I hopefully have your juices flowing, Doug had to go into work for a little bit today. Business is booming! We are going to Peggy and Millard's tonight. Peggy wants one of Doug's personal pan pizzas for her birthday dinner tonight. The last time Doug made one of his pizzas, it was so good. Instead of making the pizza crust, he bought a pre-made crust and it was so much easier for Doug to assemble.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Hollywood News!


I loved the first "National Treasure" movie with Nicholas Cage. Honestly, I just love Nicholas Cage. Movies like this strikes my interest and can't wait to see it on DVD. "National Treasure Book of Secrets" comes out on DVD May 20th.

For those of you that like to shop at Sephora and collect Coke Rewards, I received a notice from Coke Rewards. It stated that the egift certificates are running low. So, if you were wanting to turn in some rewards for a Sephora egift certificate, you need to do so as soon as possible. I went online with intentions to get a $50 certificate, but they were out of stock. I ended up having to get 2 - $25 egift certificates. I promised Doug I would be keying in some Coke codes to hopefully replace the ones I used for the Sephora certificates.

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Did you hear the good news? Angelina and Brad are expecting twins! Despite what I personally think about either one of them, I wish them well and safe births.
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I couldn't believe my ears when I heard from the Reuters that Shania Twain and her producer husband of 14 years are officially split. They have a 6 year old child together.

"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" releases tomorrow in the theaters. I would love to see this one on the big screen. Have you seen the first "The Chronicles of Narnia?" Oh, I really liked this movie and I'm so glad they continued with Prince Caspian. What I need to do is check out these novels by C.S. Lewis from the Library and read them. The only thing that's holding me back is the length of the novels. Ugh! No time nor patience! I remember bits and pieces of the "The Witch, the Lion and the Wardrobe" stories as a child many years ago. I think I would have enjoyed them better, if it was out in the movies then.

Katie and I haven't done much today because of all the rain, so I don't have much to report. Well I hope I've updated you on all the latest Hollywood news. tehe!

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Head to Head

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Well, it's official - these two American Idol contestants meet head to head in the final next week. I'm so glad the two David's are in the final competition! I like David Archuleta. I think he has a great voice, but I really like a rocker! I would love to see David Cook win this next week. Either way, both of them will have great success and can't wait to see what becomes of them. I honestly didn't know David Cook wasn't suppose to audition for the contest until tonight. If you don't know the story, he was at the audition supporting his little brother. One of the producers met David and liked him. He was told right then that they wanted him to audition. Unfortunately, his little brother didn't make it through the first audition, but David did. Don't forget to watch it next Tuesday and Wednesday (I think) to find out who wins. They showed the high lights from when they auditioned for The American Idol through their whole journey. I don't know about you, but I always get teary eyed during this part. It's incredible how God touches the lives of others. Let's just hope and pray, they realize where their talent came from and who allowed them to make it this far. I also hope they will continue to use their talents for the greater good of the Lord.

Mom Update
Dad called this morning to let me know that Dr. King met with him and Sandy. Dr. King is having Mom's feeding tube moved from her nose to her stomach. He feels she will be able to receive the proteins and nutrients a lot quicker this way. The medical insurance very soon will be throwing a fit about Mom remaining in ICU, so Dr. King wants her to stay in ICU as long as the insurance will allow it and then move her into a room. They are having to boost her protein intake because her body is absorbing it as fast as it is being pumped into her. He still feels that as soon as her protein levels get back to normal, her swelling will go down. She still doesn't have any signs of C. difficile, but they are keeping her on antibiotics to make sure it doesn't come back. Dad said she was about the same today. He seems to think she does better in the afternoon, as far as sitting up and talking to you, then mornings.

Personal Note
We have these bushes here that look like they may be related to the Spirea family, they grow in the wild here and they have a very sweet fragrance. They are very beautiful. Boy, oh boy, do they give me sinus problems. My sinuses have been draining for the past few days, causing my throat to be aggravated. I love Spring, it just doesn't like me too much. tehe!

I need your prayers as well. It really shouldn't be a big deal, but you know me. As you may know, I had a miscarriage around November. Well, the baby would have been due around June 3rd. I know God had a reason for taking him/her on to heaven, but it still hurts at times. I've been so busy lately, thank goodness, to really think about our little baby. For the past several days, I've been thinking about him/her and in my mind I think about how big I should have been by now. Crazy sounding huh! I know God will get me through this and life will go on, but Doug and I are still trying to conceive another child. That is if I could get my timing down pat without something coming up or forgetting. I just try to think of it as it wasn't meant to be at this time. Please pray for us - that if it is God's will to comfort me and get me through June 3rd. Also that we might be able to bring Katie a little brother or sister into the world real soon. Thank you!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Leaving A Mark


Okay, let me explain why Katie has marker all over her face and hands/arm. I was working on Jonathan's belated birthday card in the computer room when the phone rang. I went to get the phone and it was Sandy. I was talking to her about Mom and Jonathan's birthday present. When I hung up, I went back to the computer room. I noticed Katie was hiding under the computer table. When she finally came out, there it was all over her face. She wrote on the computer screen, a clock, her face and arms with a red sharpie marker. She even painted her finger nails. Ugh!

Fortunately, I was able to get the marker off of the computer screen, but the clock was a lose. I put her in time out, while I cleaned up her mess. She had a fit when she found out that I took her TV away for the remainder of the day because of marking all over everything. She thought she was pretty when I showed her her reflection in the mirror. I had to take her picture. I was hoping for shame and regret, but instead I got happy and sporting. I was able to get the marker off of her face, after her tubby. You can still see a faint pink marking on her hands and arm.

In this picture, Katie is showing off her new Tinkerbell swimsuit that she received from Alise this past weekend. She insisted on wearing it all day today. Later, I was able to get her to put a dress on top of the swimsuit.

Laura - guess what Katie is now saying or asking? "Why Mommy?" Thanks Alise! Tehe! I think it's funny. She doesn't want to stay home period anymore. If we do go some where, Dad's or the store, she doesn't want to go back home. If she recognizes the route home, she starts begging for us to go some where else because she doesn't want to go home. I don't remember hearing Alise asking people what your favorite color or song is. Anyway, Katie's been asking me questions since Sunday. The one question was "Mommy, what's your favorite color?" I'll tell her pink and then I'll ask her what her's is. I don't know if she hasn't made a connection with the question and actual colors because she'll say Barbie or Kitty cat. I've been working on her about that question and I'm hoping that I'm helping her make the connection. Tonight, she was singing and out of the blue she asked me what my favorite song was. I just picked a name "You are my sunshine." I asked her the same question. She stood there and thought and thought, but never would answer me. So, I began naming off song titles like "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "Jingle Bells." She finally began singing "Jingle Bells" with me.

According to Sandy and Dad, Mom had another good day. Dad said Mom sat up in bed and talked to them the whole full hour. Mom told them that Dr. King told her, if everything goes alright, she could leave the ICU in about a week. Dad was happy that Mom ate most, if not all her lunch.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Happy 40th Birthday, Doug!


I would like to wish my husband a very happy 40th birthday today. I hope you had a great weekend of birthday activities, friends and family for your 40th birthday. I wish you many many more wonderful birthdays. I love you very much and you mean the world to me.

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to write and post pictures, but my router decided to die on us and I'm too spoiled to type on our desktop in the computer room. I never knew how much a laptop could spoil a person until yesterday. Doug went to the store after work and got another one and I'm back in business. tehe!

Wow! What a weekend. As you may know, I spent most of Thursday working on posters, signs and other birthday decorations. I wanted to be prepared because I knew we had company coming some time on Friday and wanted to have time to enjoy our visit.

It was great seeing Wayne, Laura and Alise again. I was surprised Alise came right to me when she got out of the truck. I figured she wouldn't remember me and need some time to get to know me a little better before giving me a hug. Nope, she gave me a good hello hug. I can't really say the same for Katie. For days, all I've heard is "Alise going to see me?" Katie was so excited to finally see Alise again. She stood watch at the window pane most of the morning, looking for Alise. When they finally drove into the driveway, she began squealing and giggling that Alise was here. She couldn't hardly wait for me to open the door before she ran for their vehicle. The way she was acting in the house, you would have thought she would knock Alise down hugging her and giving her kisses. Nope, she had to be shy with Wayne, Laura and Alise. It took a little while to entice the girls to hug one another. You could tell they wanted to, but really didn't know if they should or not. It was too cute. It didn't take long before they were right back where they had left off, running, giggling and having a great time. Alise spotted the sandbox and off they went to play in the sand.

Later, Millard and Peggy came by to watch the girls for us, while we went out to eat. Aunt Sherry recommended a Mexican Restaurant not far from here called "Cantina Laredo." Oh, it was delicious! I never have liked Guacamole Dipping Sauce, but this they make right at your table, was delicious. It wasn't so soupy. I liked it! I had the Tampico. It's a grilled chicken breast topped with sauteed artichoke hearts, mushrooms, spinach, bell peppers and sour-poblano cream sauce and monterery jack cheese. Yummy! For dessert, I had their crepes with vanilla ice cream. I was stuffed, but I highly recommend this restaurant to everyone. We all thought about going to the movies, but there wasn't anything of any interest on that night. Laura and I were having so much fun SHOPPING! We found some good deals at our favorite store - J.Jill's. I bought a pair of brown capri pants, lounge pants and purple top that just so happens to look nice with the brown capris. We had to go to Target before going home. I wanted to get a couple of aluminum pans for the barbeque, just in case. While we were there, Laura and I spotted their swimsuits. Yuck! I hate swimsuit season. I don't have the body like I use to have and I feel it should be outlawed for an over weight woman to wear such a small fitting suit just to swim in. We knew that we have to get one sooner or later for the beach to play with the girls in the water. I vote the men watch the girls at the pool! Anyway, we both found some cute suits and tried them on. As brutal as it was for me, I had Laura give me the final vote. I told her to be upfront and honest with me. I hope she was being honest because I ended up buying the thing. Lord willing, I'll be able to loose lots of weight by beach time. Please pray for me.

Wayne, Laura and Alise stayed at our house. We thought it would be fun for the girls to have a slumber party in Katie's room. I made a big pallet on the floor with blankets and pillows. I read them a story and before I was finished, Alise and Katie were reading their own story out loud. Laura and I just looked at each other. Laura advised me to hang it up because they were not listening. We figured if they would look at books and calm down, they might drift off to sleep. As us Moms left the room, I left the light on and closed the door. We were so hoping they would stay in the room and go to sleep. Do you think it happened? You're right. It didn't! We tried our best, but once we turned out the light around midnight (I think), both girls went their separate ways. Alise went to the Living Room, where her parents were sleeping and Katie jumped in our bed. I asked Katie what the problem was and all she would say is . . . "I scared. I want to sleep with you." Ugh! Oh well, there's always the next day to try it out.


Saturday morning, we decided to have a small birthday party for the girls. Since the girls wouldn't be seeing each other on their birthdays, we thought they could go ahead and open each others gifts. They had a blast! Katie loves Barbie, so she wanted to give Alise a Barbie. I just didn't know it was her first Barbie. I hope she likes it. If not, Laura can just put it aside until later. I know Katie loves all the Tinkerbell stuff she got from Alise (towel, swimsuit, beach bag) and the "Kaitlyn" cup was really cool. Thank you again!

Later, we headed to the park with the girls. Laura thought that Alise might like the same park Katie likes to go to with all the slides. The girls were excited to go to the park. We brought some snacks and drinks for them. When we drove into the place, there were baseball tournaments going on. This means there were quite a few people and children at the park that day. A few children had the water section going on and I told Laura that I forgot about the water being on. I guess I was thinking for a brief moment that we were still under a drought. Oops! I have to say the girls did real good refraining from the temptation of the water. I wouldn't have minded them getting in the water, but I was afraid Alise would get water in her ears and that would be a big no, no. Plus, I didn't have any towels in the car to dry them off. I just had to get on to Katie a few times for trying to sneak off to the water area. As a matter of fact, I think they had more fun without the water. It was getting pretty late and I needed to get back in time to get ready for the party. We stopped by McDonalds and grabbed some meals and headed home. We really wanted the girls to lay down for a little bit before the party. Well, we get home and the boys are no where to be found. I just knew they would be coming home any time because we told them the night before that I had to be at the lodge at 3:00 for the lady to let someone inside. We even told them it would be great, if they kept the girls while we decorated. I was more worried about Doug and Wayne getting home to watch the girls then about decorations. I called Doug and my call went straight to voice mail, so I called Wayne. He said they were not headed home like I thought they would be. Okay. I believe it was getting close to 2:45. I called Millard and Peggy's house, but no one was at home. Now, I started panic mode. What was I going to do? I called Peggy's cell phone and thankfully she answered. She was on her way to the lodge and Millard was already there. Uh Yes! I told her what was going on and she said she was coming over to keep the kids, while we went to the lodge. Okay. I could finally breathe. I still couldn't think straight because I left half the stuff I needed at home. Ugh! June, Sandy and Nicholas got to the lodge the same time I was parking the truck after unloading everything. I had Nicholas start a list of things we needed that I left at home. After a while, he left to go get the items and I continued to remember stuff that I accidentally left. Where was my brain? I asked Millard if my head was attached because it sure didn't seem that way. He just laughed.

Needless to say, I think the party was a hit. I looked like crap, but everyone went on about the location, food, entertainment, company and overall how nice it turned out. What was more important, Doug said he really liked the party and he appreciated it. Those few words meant more to me and made all of the pains and stress of it all well worth it. Later, Laura and I counted the people that attended and we counted between 48-50 people at the party. I counted again today and I got 49, so that's about right. We had barbeque pulled pork, chicken tenders, potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans, potato chips, birthday cake and vanilla ice cream with the fixings. I had a slideshow of miscellaneous picture of Doug's life growing up along with a mixture of music (country, rock, pop, and slow music). I was able to make the famous "Ode To Doug Mason" poster and three picture collage posters. I had six 8' tables lined up adjacent from the center of the fireplace, all had black table covers and a bouquet of beautifully arranged dead flowers and weeds. Tehe! In the foyer, I had a smaller table with Doug's baby picture and our most recent family portrait in frames. They were sitting on the table with a black cover and a signature book. The signature book, I thought would be a good thing for people sign and maybe write a little message in it. Normally, stores sell this huge poster for people to sign during someone's birthday, but I thought that was too big to have to keep up with. A small book would be better. The only thing is, getting people to sign it. I haven't looked at it, so I'm hoping at least half the people signed that attended the party. We'll see.



I would like to thank - Laura, Wayne, Millard, Peggy, Sandy, June, Nicholas, Maryann, Vonell, and all the others that helped decorate and clean up. You helped make this party a great success! THANK YOU!

We got home around 8:00p.m. Millard and Peggy helped us unload all the stuff. All three vehicles(Millard, Doug and mine)were filled to the brim. Doug had to drive the truck by himself because it was stuffed with decorations and gifts. Millard & Peggy were nice enough to help us unload a bunch of things before they headed back home. We were all exhausted! I had been running around every where (hot) that by the end of the night, my hair was stuck to my head. When I got home, I had to pull it back for awhile. I felt so much better. Laura and I got our laptops out. I made a copy of Alise's pictures that they had just got made, while Laura was checking her email. Laura wanted me to show her how to change her blogger layout without deleting all of her pictures & other information off to the side. Doug had to get a picture of us at work. We had a lot of fun finding a new layout for our blogger. We just love blogging! Below are some pictures of us hard at work with our laptops. You can find more photos of this past weekend on our photosite.

We gave the girls a bath, in hopes they would get tired and fall right to sleep. Well, while Laura and I were working on our blog, it came up a thunderstorm. Laura just knew Alise wasn't going to sleep in Katie's room while it is thundering and lightning outside. Sure enough, it wasn't long before here they came down the hallway. Wayne tried his best to get Alise to sleep on the pallet in Katie's floor, but it was a loosing battle. Katie, of course, went to bed with her Daddy. Laura and I were getting really tired and Wayne was wanting to go to bed because they had a long drive home the next day. I got ready for bed and snuggled up to Katiebug in our bed. By that time, Doug decided he had better turn on the news because it was really lightning and thundering outside. Sure enough, there were tornado warnings for the counties west of us. It wasn't long before the warning made their way to our county. It was around midnight when I told Doug to be prepared to hit snooze on our weather radio. He was turning it off when I heard the warning sirens going off in the back yard. As I was getting my clothes back on, I told Doug that I would go out and explain to Wayne and Laura what was going on. I no sooner got to the middle of the hallway, when Laura was meeting me and asking what was going on? I explained that there were several circulating storm cells headed our way. According to the weatherman, we had 30 minutes before the storms hit our county. I asked Doug if that would give us plenty of time to get to Millard and Peggy's house. I felt that it should, so here we go. We got to Millard and Peggy's just in time to head for the storm shelter. Millard was already down there getting things ready for us. He had the TV on along with the lights. Alise and Katie were having a ball down there playing with a popcorn popper toy and push car. We left the back room for them to play, being oblivious as to the bad weather soon approaching us. Millard and Peggy told Laura the old stories about the storm shelter, while Doug tried to figure out on the TV which gray spot represented the storm because the TV was in black and white. I believe most of the damage was south of us. We got back home around 2:00 a.m. After all the puttin' and gigglin' stopped, I guess we fell asleep around 2:30-3:00 a.m. I had to get up at 8:00 because it was my Sunday to watch the 2 year olds at church. Ugh! I was so tired. Once I got up and sturd around, I woke up. Boy, when 3:00 p.m. got here, I was exhausted.

Wayne, Laura and Alise got ready and was on the road around 10:00, I believe. While I was getting my makeup on, Doug and Katie gave me my Mother's Day gift. They gave me "27 Dresses" movie and a card. Isn't that sweet? I really liked that movie, by the way. After church, we went to the hospital to visit Mom during the 1:00 visitation. We were running a little late, but we made it. Most everyone in my family was there visiting her. We took her some of Doug's birthday cake, potato salad and cole slaw. She ate a few bites and went on how good it tasted. With her food collecting on her tongue, like it has, it's been hard for her to really taste any food at all. The doctor told her today, she needs to drink plenty of water in order to flush that food on down in her stomach. Anyway, Doug and I stayed until about 2:30 before we had to go home. For 30 minutes, we were all outside talking and visiting. I think Mom had a good visit because she was more awake and aware as to what was going on. She probably stayed awake 40-45 minutes out of the full hour, we were there. She would actually turn to you and ask questions and participate in the conversation. We read her Mother's Day cards and taped them on the wall. Maryann and Sandy both bought her flowered corsages to pin on the pillows on her bed. I could tell her swelling had come down and she was actually moving her arms around. I saw lots of good changes. While I was telling Mom all these good changes I was seeing, she told me to keep telling her that for encouragement.

Later, we took Millard and Peggy out to eat for Mother's Day. We got her a patio umbrella, to replace the old one. She was hungry for some O'Charley's. I got the Prime Rib and it was so good, but I think it upset my stomach this morning. I woke up at 5:00 this morning with a terrible stomachache. By noon, I was wore out. I didn't feel like doing anything but sipping on a Coke and laying on the couch. Ugh! I didn't feel good. I can tell I've got quite a bit of sinus drainage as well, so I'm sure that didn't help either.

Today, Sandy called me and said Mom had another good day. I guess this is the way it's going to be from now on. She told me later that Dad met with an attorney about his rights and preparation for the whole Nursing Home thing. He feels comfortable now because he knows they are not going to take his pension. He was afraid, he would have to go back to work if they got his pension. He's relieved now. I went by there tonight to drop off some food, we had left over from Saturday. Dad didn't come to the party because he wanted to go to his High School Alumni Banquet. So I thought I would take him some of what he missed at the party. He told me that he and Sandy are going to start going to the hospital in the afternoon hours because Mom's so sleepy first thing in the morning. I think he'll feel better waiting until the afternoon hours because he's so easy to get discouraged about Mom's condition. When he goes into her room, he wants her awake and alert. If he doesn't get that, he gets very sad very quick.

Tomorrow, I've got to stay home and clean. I'm still behind on laundry and I need to start on Thank You cards for Doug. I hope y'all had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend and have a great week.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

I'm Ready To Party!

I think we're ready for the big 4-0 party for Doug on Saturday. Peggy called me this morning offering to watch Katie today, while I got all the last minute preparations finished. I really appreciated it because I got everything finished and ready to go - I THINK.

When I got home, Will and Katie were playing in the house and having a blast. Evelyn came over later tonight and visited for awhile. She seems to be doing better. Her kids have been staying with her all this time, so I'm sure that helps a lot. I believe she said that they were going to stay through the weekend and head on home. I think her son was wanting to make sure everything, maintenance wise, was up-to-date before he left. Evelyn said her brother from TN offered to come get her and take her back home with him for a long visit. She said she wasn't ready right now, but she might later. I think it will do her some good later to get a way for a while.

Sandy called me this morning. She said Mom was having a good day. Her body has accepted the feeding tube and Dr. King said Mom was free of C. dif. Sandy told me she didn't seem agitated or upset all morning. She seems to think Mom's swelling has come down. Both Dad and Sandy were surprised to see Mom using her arms more, this is a very good sign. Sandy thinks it won't be long before they take her out of ICU and into a room. We are hoping once she is in a room, she'll get some strength back from the feeding tube to where she will begin eating on her own. We feel a lot of her problem with not eating is from the medicine she's been on. I've looked up the side effects and I remember seeing where she could have lose of appetite.

Either Millard or Doug watched way too many John Wayne Western movies. Check out how his cowboy's hat is cocked just like John Wayne. I love the gloves!




My little Heisman sporting off his football attire.

I hope you've enjoyed viewing Doug's old picture as much as I have. I thought I would post old photos of him as he was growing up until his birthday, which is May 12th. It's been fun!