The Mason Bunch: I've Been Tagged#links

The Mason Bunch: I've Been Tagged#links

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Happy 53rd Anniversary Mom and Dad!

We love you very much and hope you enjoyed yourselves during our little party tonight.

Katie and Anya


Aww, how sweet!

I had some errands to run this morning, plus Allison and I scheduled a play date this afternoon. I made the mistake in telling Katie this morning that we were going to Anya's house to play today. She was standing by the door at 9:30 a.m. ready to leave. She was so upset with me because I wasn't ready to go. I kept trying to explain to her that it was much too early to go. She was so excited that she grabbed a bunch of her toys to show Anya. I told her that we needed to leave them here and that Anya would come over one day and see all the toys. Nope, it wasn't acceptable in her eyes. She took her Tinkerbell tote, filled it full and at the last minute she decided to take a couple of Barbie Dolls and Barbie car. Of course, I had to load the toys into the truck because they were too heavy for her to carry. Needless to say, she forgot the toys in the back seat of the truck. Ha! Ha!

We won't mention, me getting lost trying to find Allison's house. Oops! It's my fault. I think I wrote down too many right turns. Lol. Anya and Katie had so much fun playing. They play so well together. One time Katie announced that Anya was her sister. Tehe! I thought that was so sweet. They played for 3 hours straight without a break. While the girls were playing, Allison and I got to know each other a little more. There's just so much information and not enough time. Ha! Ha! She enjoys photography, which is one of my enjoyments as well. I also found out that she has some interest in genealogy. I didn't tell her that I can trace my ancestors as far back as 1500 or 1600s. Ha! Ha! She is of the Irish decent and well most of my family are from the Ireland and England areas. What a coincidence? They have the sweetest dog, he is a German Shepard mix. He was my buddy while we were there. We had to go because Katie needed a nap before we went to the Nursing Home to celebrate Mom and Dad's 53rd Anniversary. Would you believe I had to practically pull her away from playing with Anya? Anya wasn't too pleased with me either, but Allison understood that we had to go. I just knew that if Katie didn't have a nap in this afternoon, she would be a nightmare by tonight. Ugh! Who wants that on their hands? Not me! It was so sweet. On the way home, Katie and I were talking about our fun play date with Anya and Allison. Katie told me, "Anya is my friend. I love her." Then she asked me, "do you like Anya?" When I told her that I did and how she was a good friend to Katie. She responded, "yeah, I love her. I love her so much. I think I'm going to see her again tomorrow." I believe that is the first time she has ever said anything like that, but (aww) it melted my heart. I hated taking Katie away from her friend. I told her that we will have to have Anya and Allison over at our house one day. Well, she loved that idea because then she started talking about all the toys her and Anya were going to share together. Too funny! Thanks again Allison for inviting us over. We had a good time.

As soon as we got home, a pretty loud T-storm blew right over us. Ugh! You talk about cringe when the thunder was cracking and rumbling around. Shoo! I believe I'm going through shell shock with all these lightning storms and killing all of our electronics. My word, we just got our TV back and I turned in the claim forms this morning. Ugh! Anyway, our power went off just for a moment. Poor Katie thought our TV was broke again. Ha! Ha!

Katie was able to take a 30-45 minute nap before we left, I was so relieved. I called Doug before we left and he was on his way, he was going to meet us at the Nursing Home. Quite a few people showed up. You've got Maryann and Kevin's clan (Whitney, Zayne, Natalie & Primetime), June, Pat, Nicholas, Susan, Tim, Leslie, Jon, Doug, Katie and myself. I think Mom and Dad appreciated us coming and making a special event for them, like we always do. We had cake, cheesecake, ice cream, chips, apple wedges with dip and cheese cubes. Yum Yum! Katie was absolutely useless because her favorite people were around, June, Whitney and Leslie. At one point, she was telling everyone that June was her Mommy. The nieces and nephew were looking at me and ahhing. I think Nicholas even said that I would be jealous. I told Katie that she could go home with June and let June be her Mommy. I would take Nicholas home with me and he would be my little boy. She just grinned the little stink. Nicholas even came over to me and started hugging on me, to aggravate her. Nope, she didn't care. All she did was giggle. Some how there ended up being a "make the silliest face contest" between Katie and the teenagers. Too cute! She loved it! She had to show them all the silly faces that she knew of. They were nice enough to show her a few more to add to her collection. Thanks guys (Nicholas, Leslie, Natalie & Primetime)! I told how Katie has been saying, "I not love you anymore". This past week she's been saying it to me. She's using it as a game because she'll laugh about it. We don't know where she's heard this, but I'm nipping that bad sentence right out of her vocabulary. We took lots of pictures at the party, they will be on our photosite for your viewing.
Sandy, the flowers you and Wade sent were beautiful. They were sitting pretty close to me, I tried taking a quick picture of them before it got too crazy. Mom and Dad seemed so happy and looked so good. The pictures we took, Mom looks real tired, but she held on as long as she could. She was so happy to see everyone. We had our little anniversary party in one of the dining halls, so there would be plenty of room.

I've been nominated for a Prestigious Award from Laura. I don't think I understand completely what this is all about. Maybe it's just one of those things in the blogging world that you have to achieve. She may have to explain it to me a little better (I'm a little slow). Tehe! I would like to humbly thank Laura very much for considering me for this gracious award. She is so sweet! She really didn't have to do this because I probably would have never have noticed other wise. Lol. Now, I'm suppose to nominate other bloggers for this award as well. Is this beginning to sound like one of those chain letters? I guess this will be a little easier because the cost of postal stamps will not be involved. Ha! I'm suppose to nominate seven bloggers, but I don't know that many people with a blogger account. So, I'll just have to nominate the people that I do know that has an account.

My first nominee is my precious niece, Liz. She is just adorable and life inspiring. There are not too many Moms out there that enjoy cooking homemade (from scratch) recipes with the help of her 2 year old daughter and 11 month old son, plus she has one on the way. She makes all of Jake's baby foods and still has enough strength to play a little fish game with Maddie. You are my hero!
Kudos to you my dear!

My second nominee is my nephew's wife, Sarah. She is a new Mom and going to school at the same time. Wow! She is interested in the medical field. Bravo!

My third nominee is my new friend, Allison. She loves animals! She volunteers at our local animal shelter, placing dogs and cats with their new companions. Isn't that wonderful? She is also right there continually teaching her daughter, Anya, with this experience. Kudos to you as well!

My three nominees: Liz, Sarah and Allison are officially tagged. You are in no way obligated in filling out this questionnaire. It's just for fun and a way to get to know one another. If you are interested, just copy the questions from my previous post "I've Been Tagged". Paste them on your newly created post. Once you have finished and posted the "tag", Laura suggested that you copy the above website icon onto yours and then you would nominate your seven or however many. Remember, it's just a fun thing.



Bison Advocate Wants To Re-populate the American Buffalo in the West
I bet the ranchers out West loved reading this article the next morning. It was reported yesterday that a Bison lover wants to bring the American Buffalo aka Tatanka back to the West in the large amounts from back in the Native Indian days, before they were almost slaughtered out of existence. They were slaughtered for their skins and being a nuisance for Western Settlers and Cattle Ranchers. I've seen my share of Buffalo and like any wild creature, I respect them very much. They are very big and all I think about are their very large horns. I'm not lying when I say the ground literally shakes when they are running/stampede close to you. I guess that would be the closest I've come to experiencing an earthquake. I wonder how this supporter is going to go about this idea. I know there are some Buffalo Ranches that stretch from South Dakota all the way to New Mexico. Is this supporter planning to just place the buffalo out in the wild? This will be interesting to watch how this movement unfolds.

Louisiana Boy Attacked by an Alligator
Y'all have probably heard about this story on the news. My heart and prayers go out to the little boy and parents. I hope everything turns out alright. How horrible! What I would like to know is who writes the questions for the media interviewers? This morning, I was listening to my favorite morning news channel, Fox News. Discussing the story, they were interviewing a caretaker from "Alligator World". They were wanting his opinion and point of view of the whole situation. I had to ask "What?", after the interviewer asked the guy the following: "Alligators normally hang out around lakes, but this gator attacked this little boy in a pond." If you don't know the story, this little boy and (I think) two other girls were swimming in a pond. The interviewer continues, "so, what are some measures for parents to make sure some ponds are gator safe and others are not." I can't quote word for word, but this is very close to it. Okay, what's wrong with this question? (knocking on the computer screen) Hello people, the boy was attacked by a gator in Louisiana aka "swamp country". What happened? Do they think the alligator saw a body of water and assumed that it was a lake? They don't care. Water is water, no matter if it is a lake or pond. My question would be for the parents. Were they aware the children were playing/swimming in this pond or any pond? We may not have that many gators from where I'm from, but I know Katie wouldn't be playing/swimming in any pond period. We may not be too scare of being attacked by an alligator, but we do have leaches and poisonous snakes. The safest place for those children to have been swimming is at a local water park or pool.

Scrabble & Domino Tiles as Pendants?

I guess I'm just easily amused with the creativity out in the world. I've got my babies laid down for the night and I thought I would venture over to Etsy. I like to go over there ever so often. I haven't bought anything yet, I'm waiting for that perfect moment. (tehe) I thought I would see what crafters had available for the Christmas Season. What should I discover but charms made from Scrabble & Domino Tiles. You can't even tell unless you flip the charm over onto the back side that it's made from game tiles. How creative is that? The crafter's name is "Bumblebeadzzz2007". Here are some photos from her shop. If you're interested you might want to check it out. I think they would make neat whimsical gifts for Christmas.

Notice how they easily match the Gymboree clothing line. I think they were created on purpose.

You can either string the charm through a ribbon like the above or . . .

String it through a chain like such. Pretty neat!

Now, if she would do collegiate tiles. What's so aggravating is the University of Alabama has a license on all their logos that I'm sure it would be very hard for someone like Bumblebeadzzz2007 to make charms for the fans. I would definitely get one, if I could find one like this and just as reasonable. I think I would be styling!

Katie's Bean Bag

Katie gets a bean bag!

You're so silly

Caught You!

I caught Katie reading a book to her dolls. Notice how nice and tucked in they are with their pillow and blanket. Tehe! She's such a good Mama!

Damaged Electronics Update

We got our satellite hooked up and working. We lost all the movies that we TiVo'd, but we'll just have to start over again. Of course, the internet and router are working again. Finally, the television came back from the repair shop today. Don't ask me about the cost of repairs. Thank goodness for insurance! Ahh! Life is back to normal. Or is it? Come to find out Doug had been trying to get ahold of me this morning. I know at one time, the phone rang once and then nothing. There wasn't even a phone number on our caller ID. I thought it was just a fluke that is until later tonight. We have to run to the phone and answer the phone because it will only ring once. Doug and I had our cell phones out on the counter in case someone has to get a hold of us. Doug and I have been laughing saying it was because of the lightning again. Doug spoke to Peggy and she heard that a few people have had trouble with their land line today. Hopefully that's the problem. Ha! Ha! All you can do is laugh about it!

Potty Training

We had a small set back on the potty training today. I think it's because I mentioned it in yesterday's blog. (tehe!) I know the problem. She is waiting until the last minute to go to the potty and when I ask her, she gets all mad at me. She wants to go to the potty when she wants to go. Ugh! She's so hard headed. Where does she get it? Tehe! She has a new way of going to the potty. She doesn't like using the potty with her Dora the Explorer doughnut anymore. She thinks she is big enough to sit on the big potty (balancing herself) without the doughnut. She does pretty good, but I think she does better with the seat. She came close to falling inside the toilet once today and she's only toppled over once (the evening). I made the mistake in giggling at her. She let me know right off the bat, it wasn't funny. Tehe!

I hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow.

Is God Talking To Me?

Have you ever just asked yourself after a few instances, "is God trying to tell me something?" He communicates to us in several different ways. Surprisingly, ways to get our full attention. For instance, you observe a large mural and each time you step away and look at it again, you'll always find something new. You have to be looking for it and when you do you are so surprised.

To start off my story, I try to stay in check with my purpose and path God wants me to be. A few weeks ago, during prayer time, I asked myself and God if I was where he wants me in my life. I'm I pleasing to Him in the works I do? I've been doing the regular responsibilities like tithing and volunteer work and I love doing all it, but is it enough to please God. The one thing that sticks out like a red flag is I know I need to read His Word more. It's amazing how the devil can put obstacles in your path causing you to veer away from God and His teachings. One of my Sunday School Teachers told me a long time ago that The Holy Bible is our survival/instruction manual. If you put it down for a second, you will become rusty and unprepared. If you've read my tag questions, you know by now that I like to be prepared. Tehe!

Last Sunday, our pastor talked about how we need to strive for God's Honor Role. Yes, I do mean "Role" and not "roll". We've been studying in 2 Timothy and this week was how to fulfil our purpose and bringing honor to God.
21In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. 21If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
22Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 23Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. 2 Timothy 2:20-23 (NIV).

I was reminded that I not only need to be honest with myself and God, but to others. Yeah, there's a fine line when it comes to being too honest with someone - use a little class. Yes, I'm one of God's many vessels and I need to keep it in check, so I may not bring dishonor to Him. I'm human and it's very hard to be set apart from worldly things and people. We are suppose to be set apart from these things, but it's the biggest challenge for me because it is in all my surroundings. I definitely try not to take part of the worldly things or follow in non-Christian footsteps. I strive to be right standing with God, but what a big challenge to keep at all times. One thing, this tells me is to continue striving (even if I fail at times) to honor God. The one specific words I would love to hear God say to me is "well done my good and faithful servant." What a blessing that would be? It's very hard to fathom the Almighty saying something wonderful like that to little ol' me. I'm a nobody, a mire speck in the history of human existence. This is one of many reasons why I love His graciousness and mercy on my pitiful soul. Which also reminds me to take it one day at a time. God tells us to live each day to the fullest in honoring Him. You talk about a challenge! How can I please and honor Him each and every day? Well, I believe, with me getting back into his continuous teachings and I like to think blogging about his blessings on my life might be able to touch one of these challenges He has put upon my heart. Sounds so simple. Doesn't it? God's not a difficult God. Truth be known, we as Christians sometimes make it harder than it can be. (Just my opinion). To verify my new challenge is from the daily devotion I read tonight from "Our Daily Bread". The readings again are from how God tells us to live each day in right standing with Him.

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. —Psalm 90:12

When all the pictures of our life are laid on the table, they will reveal our recurring words and actions. What story will they tell? It’s worth considering as we make our choices each day. — David C. McCasland

God has given life abundant—Live it fully every day; Though our time on earth is fleeting, He goes with us all the way. —Hess

(the following quotes are taken from "Our Daily Bread" July 30, 2008)

I've Been Tagged

Okay, so Laura graciously tagged me. Thanks girl! Now, I have to dig deep into my cranium and try to remember (lol) what I was doing 10 years ago. Oh me! Girl, you'll be lucky if I remember what I did last week. lol. Bare with me and here I go.

What were you doing ten years ago? I'm sorry to say, I don't remember a whole lot 10 years ago. I do know that I was 24 years old. Everything was great, I had been married for 3 years to a wonderful husband, Doug. I had been working as an Advertising/Marketing Secretary for a wheel/hub manufacturer for the past 3 years. Doug and I loved going golfing. I guess I should say that I loved golfing. He would probably have enjoyed it better if he was golfing with his buddies, instead of with me. We were owners of three Dalmatians: Shay(3 yrs. old), Dexter(3 yrs. old) and Montana (1 yr. old). They were our puppies and we loved them very much. We only have Montana now at the ripe old age of 11.

Favorite snacks: If anyone of you that know me, knows that chocolate (anything) is my greatest weakness. I do like Strawberry Limeades and cherry & watermelon slushes from Sonic. They are so refreshing, especially on a hot Summer day. Yum! I like the salty snacks as well, we can't leave them out. My favorite is Golden Flake Barbecue Thin and Crispy potato chips. I can't resist!

To Do List: Right now, I wish someone would PLEASE tell me where I'm going to be living in the next month. Unless I know, I'm pretty much standing still because I don't know what to do. If we do stay here, I need to get ready for our beach vacation. If we are moving, then I have to organize our new adventure.

Jobs I have had: I'm warning you right now. Sit back and be patient reading my resume. Lol! 1. My first real job was working as a clerk at Bookland (now known as Books-a-Million). 2. Receptionist/legal secretary for a law firm for three attorneys. 3. Advertising/Marketing Secretary for a wheel/hub manufacturer. 4. High School Secretary to a Prep School Headmaster. 5. Customer Service Representative for a tire company. 6. Variability Reduction for a rocket manufacturer. 7. Cost of Quality for a rocket manufacturer. 8. Last but not least and the most rewarding job ever - MOTHER!

Places I have lived: I've only lived in Alabama! Depending on if I hear something from someone, I might be able to live in Colorado some time in the future. LOL!

Bad Habits: Nag too much! If I need help or ask someone to do something, I expect it done right then. I don't like to wait a day or so before it's done. I know, it's bad. I'm sure you feel bad for my husband. Yeah, I do too. My dad ruined me growing up. It's because when he told me to do something, I had to stop everything and do it right then. I know when someone asks me to do something, I do it right then and I expect the same thing. I'm trying to re-wire myself and I'm getting better about it. I rub my feet together, my husband hates it. If I'm real excited, I'll interrupt some one's conversation. I don't mean to and I don't do it all the time. If I catch myself doing it, I'll apologize for interrupting and give them the floor.

5 Random Things people may not Know: Well, I did this segment a while back, so I might sound like I'm repeating myself. 1. I like Classical Music 2. I like to eat Funyuns with milk. 3. I've always tried to be prepared, but I never went to the first Girls Scout Meeting. My mother was a Girls Scout Leader for numerous years, just not during my existence. 4. I enjoy playing with dolls & other toys just as much as Katie. It takes me back to my own childhood; besides, I'm a big kid at heart. I love having fun and I love to laugh. 5. I love dressing up and I'm talking about the whole nine yards. Despite what we have to go through as women, I love being one.

CDs I would want if stranded on a desert island: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Beth Moore, Joyce Meyer, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Shanya Twain, Keith Urban, Michael Jackson (don't hate me), Best of the 80's, and Prince.

What I'd do if I were a Billionaire: Tithe my 10% to the church; give to organizations like St. Jude's Hospital, Jimmie Hale Mission, and Children's Hospital; put money away for Katie's college; Pay off outstanding debts; buy new house for us to live comfortably.

Back Online!

Wondering where I've been? Without any warning, we had a lightning strike our neighbor's transformer Friday afternoon. Katie and I both jumped out of our skin. You know how the hair on your body sticks straight up? Well, it happened to me. Katie was sitting in the recliner with her eyes all big. She asked me, "did you hear that?" Our power went off for a brief moment, but it didn't take long before I realized the lightning affected our electronics. I wasn't getting a signal on our television, the satellite was not cooperating and before it was over, the satellite was making really weird noises. Ugh! I tried connecting to the internet, to check on the weather. Nope, nothing was happening there. At first, I thought maybe the router was acting up because of the lightning. I turned off the router and restarted everything. Still nothing! At this point, I was getting very frustrated. The best thing for us to do is turn off everything and play dolls and trains. lol. While Katie was taking her nap, I resorted to reading my Sunday School lesson. I began asking God, if this is what he wanted me to do instead of watching "Days of Our Lives"? If this is true, more than likely it is, well I got that message LOUD and clear. lol!

I called Doug and told him what happened. He sounded so disgusted. About as disgusted as I was because we went through this very thing a couple of months ago. If you remember, lightning hit our tree. This natural disaster caused the tree to fall into our power lines, thus killing our transformer. All this action caused the following deaths: our microwave, radio, Katie's television, DVD player and VCR. As Doug did the final analysis this past weekend on all the damage, our television, satellite, router, and modem got hit. Our internet was hooked up to the television, in order for us to do online updates. He believes the lightning ran through the phone line and that's why so many things got hit. Ugh! We are limiting our hook ups to the phone lines, from now on. We've always had bad luck with cloud to ground lightning and our phone lines. In the past 13 years of living in this house, I can't count on one hand of all the phones we've had to replace because of lightning. You know what? I'd rather replace phones than our television any day.

The new satellite receiver and modem were delivered today. Doug found a pretty good deal on the router $69 through OfficeMax. If you need a router, check out OfficeMax. Maybe they'll still have their deal going on. Poor Doug got me hooked up tonight. It's 9:50 p.m. and he's still working on the satellite. The satellite as a whole wasn't completely destroyed by the lightning just the HDMI was affected. He took the television to a repair place in Decatur yesterday. We haven't heard anything about it yet. Hopefully, they'll be able to fix it. Right now, we're watching TV from Katie's 22" television. lol. Do you realize how hard it is to go from a 42" to 22" television?

Anniversary
I spoke to Maryann the other day, talking about Mom and Dad's Anniversary. They will be celebrating their 53rd Anniversary this Thursday. We've decided to get together at the nursing home this week for their anniversary. I hope Mom will like the surprise celebration. I figure, she's a little down. I have only heard through the grapevine, Dad told Mom about not being able to come home so quickly. If it's true, I don't blame Dad for keeping her in the home until the very last minute.

Apparently, if Dad brings Mom home earlier than what Medicare allows her full allowable days, she might have to start all over with Medicare and loose her room in the process. Dad wants to feel confident that he can take care of Mom full time, before the Nursing Home starts talking about her coming home. The nursing home administration are the ones that gave Mom all this hope of coming home in the first place. They told her, there is nothing left for her to learn in rehab and she is capable of living a good life as is at home. The only thing they didn't tell her is Medicare will pay up to the full 100 days, if there's a chance she can't take care of herself. I believe, she's been in the home for about 60 days out of the 100. If she leaves early (for good), she will be giving up her room. We (family) and Mom really like this nursing home and we don't want to give it up, if by chance Dad can't take care of her on his own. Now there was a time that they said, Mom could leave the nursing home for a day. One of us (family) could pick her up for the day and drop her off later that night. I don't know if they are still talking about that or not. When we visited Mom Sunday, I was afraid to ask her anything for fear that it might cause her to cry. I know she was so hoping to come home and now, she has to stay. According to Maryann, Dad told her that Mom might be able to come home the end of August. If that's the case, it won't be so bad. I'm sure in Mom's eyes, it will probably feel like forever. So, maybe this party will perk her up a little bit.

I have to tell you real quick. Sunday, I saw Mom for the first time walk quite a long distance with her walker from her scooter into the bathroom. Yay Mom! She told me that they've pretty much dismissed her from rehab, but she goes anyway once a day. I told her to keep up the good work because it will pay off in the end.

Prayer Request
A young lady, Natalie C., passed away this past week. She went to elementary school with my niece and nephew. Her family members are church members and good friends to my sisters, Maryann and June. Natalie C. was 19 years old and attended U of A. I'm not too sure about the details, but that Natalie was found dead in room (I believe). Doctors say, she died of a blood clot. That's all I can really tell you. My Natalie K. is taking it pretty bad, according to her mom. I remember Maryann talking about the two Natalies playing basketball together. I just ask you to please remember this family as they are grieving for Natalie C.

Bookstore
Katie still had a couple of birthday checks to cash, so I thought it would be a good idea for us to stop off at the bookstore. We haven't been to BAM in a long time and I know how Katie loves the bookstore. At first, when I mentioned it to her, she thought we were going to the Library. She was all confused because she knew that the Library wasn't this specific way. When we finally walked inside the store, she automatically knew where we were. Here we go! She went straight for her section. We always look at the sale aisle first and of course, there was a "Miss Spider and Sunny Patch Friends" book that Katie doesn't have. It was on sale for $1.97. After scheming through it, she tucked in right under her arm and on to the next. I was still looking through the sale books and she kept saying, "Mom, let's go over here. Com'mon Mom! My books are over here." Spoken like a little teenager. At least I'm getting a first hand glimpse as to what's to come. I made the mistake of telling her whatever books you want, go right ahead. She took it literally. She had a hand full of books within 10 minutes. She sat down on one of the chairs, did a once through to set in the decision and she became confident that was the books she wanted. I have to say, I was impressed with her choice and decision making abilities. lol. All the books were paperback, which makes it cheaper between $3.99 - $5.99 each. She made sure that they were educational, " Mickey Mouse Clubhouse", which teaches you comprehension, numbers, letters, shapes, colors, and problem solving. The other two books, besides "Miss Spider", was Angelina Ballerina. These books teaches problem solving, manners, and socializing skills as well. I was also impressed because she didn't pick out books that she already has at home. She is so bad about that. Aunt Sandy, I think you would be pleased with her choices as well. For the rest of the afternoon, all she wanted to do was look at her new books. We had to read at least 4 of them by tonight and one more before bedtime. lol! She loves books, I just hope she will keep that enthusiasm in years to come.

Traffic Light
Sandy mentioned to me a while back to start teaching Katie some words and to start off slow, like traffic lights and spell the names on signs like "STOP". Well, I've been starting off slow like Sandy suggested and Katie has caught on pretty quick. I don't want to overwhelm her, so I'm taking it very slow. Right now, we are sticking to traffic lights and the "Stop" signs. I guess we've been doing this off and on for about 3 -4 weeks. I'll ask her questions like "do you see the light?" She'll answer, "uh, huh". I'll ask her, "what color is it?" She'll hesitate, "it's green!" I'll ask, "what does that mean?" She'll respond, "green means go!" We'll do the same thing with red and she gets it right most of the time. We are a little confused as to what the yellow light means exactly. I guess it's because I bring it to her attention too late. In turn, she only sees the red signal. Now, as we are driving around town, she tells me what color the light is and what it means. It's become a game of ours. We are still working on the "STOP" sign. I guess it's because we really don't see that many on the main road, but when we do see them and I remember, I do point it out to her. Her train set comes with two "STOP" signs, so I practice with her that way. She'll put the sign right in the middle of the train track and as I'm pushing Thomas the Train, she tells me to STOP. So at least, we have that grasped. We can work on the spelling later. Right? lol.

Potty Training Update
I've been afraid to breathe a word of Katie's potty success until now. I've mentioned it here and there, but I think we are in the winning lead. This past week, if she had an accident it might have been one a day. Yesterday, she did so good and keeping dry pull ups. She's been getting better in telling me that she has to go potty. Saturday, I was on the phone with Doug when I heard Katie hollering for me. I thought she was in her bedroom. Come to find out, she was in the bathroom on the potty. She had just pee-peed and wanted me to know. I was proud of her. She got her stool up to the potty, put her Dora Doughnut on, pulled off her shorts and pull ups and went to the potty. BIG GIRL! I couldn't praise her enough. In fact, I gave her two Hershey's Kisses for such accomplishment. We are still working on the pooh-poohing in the potty. If I suspect her have a BM. I'll ask her about it. She'll answer me, "I need to hide". She has had some false reports. She'll tell me that I need to change her pull up because she pooped. I make her go get the pull up and wipes and bring them back to me. I've got to where I'll check her out first because she'll be dry as a bone. I think she passes gas and thinks that she pooped in her pull up. I promised her today I would put panties on her, if she kept her pull ups dry. Unfortnately, she had an accident this morning and had to change her. No panties today! We'll be home tomorrow, so many she'll be able to wear panties after all.

She told Doug and I Sunday afternoon that she wanted to go to the Disney Store. We don't know where this came from, but I thought I would use it. I told her that she had to keep going to the potty, stop the fits with me and Daddy and use her manners more that I would take her to the Disney Store. Well this morning, she used the potty. About 5 minutes later, she remembered the promise I made her. Her eyes all huge, she said," Mom, I'm a good girl. I went to the potty." I agreed with her and praised her. Then she adds, "Mom, I get to go to Disney Store." You talk about changing expression within a blink of an eye. She went from happy to sad within a half a second. She scuffed off into the Living Room. As we were getting ready to go to town, she just knew we were going to the Disney Store. Excited again, she asked if we were going to the Disney Store today. "Nope. We had to go to Walmart." I answered. Most of the day, she's been reminding me about our promise. I guess because I have yet to keep the last promise, but it really isn't my fault. I tried getting ahold of Air It Out, but they just wouldn't answer the phone. I think they are only open during the weekends. I hope not because Katie, more than likely, won't be going. I know a lot of teenagers like to hang out there and this is coming from my own nieces and nephews. They went right after Katie's birthday party last weekend and they are between the ages of 14-20. Why, Katie would be smooshed.

I'm sorry this was such a long post. As you can understand, I had a lot of catching up to do.

Silly Katie

Hear No Evil!

See No Evil!

Speak No Evil!

I had the camera ready to download some new pictures from this morning. Katie was asking me what I was doing. I explained to her what I was about to do. She asked me, if I would take a silly picture of her. I told her that I would. She began making silly faces and the more I showed her the preview, the more she would create new funny, silly faces. I hope you can get a chuckle out of them. She is such a little clown.

We go outside for a little bit in the back yard, so Katie could play with her play set. She loves it! Would you believe the mosquitoes were out this morning ready to attack? Yes, I'm griping about the *@!# mosquitoes again. I fired up the tiki torches, but I'm afraid it was too late. We were only out there for 10 minutes before my legs felt like they were on fire because of all the bites. Ugh! I didn't see a bite on Katie, but we didn't stay long because I was afraid she would get ate up. Evelyn was at it early again this morning, so she came over and we talked and talked. Please keep her daughter, Angela, in your prayers. As you remember, Evelyn's husband passed away last May and Angela isn't taking his death well at all. Evelyn's afraid Angela is going into a deep depression because of it. Angela symptoms are not wanting to get out of the house, going to church or getting around other people. Evelyn discussed this problem with Angela and asked her to go to a doctor about it. Hopefully, they can put her on some anti-depressants if it will help her. Angela said she would it.

Check out the new rails, PaPa Millard and Daddy installed this week.

She sits so lady like. Ugh!

Because of the bug bites, we went inside and played a game. She really likes this Cinderella Board Game. Of course, I have to help her count the spaces, but she knows what color card she's suppose to pick up. She does have to push Cinderella's shoes more times than instructed, but oh well, she's only 3 years old. Who cares?

Chicken and Dumplings Recipe

Tonight, I made a pot of chicken and dumplings. Not a lot of people have a taste for chicken and dumplings. If you happen to like this dish, here's the way I make them. You'll have to bare with me because I don't go by a recipe.

1 Young Fryer Chicken
2 cans Pillsbury Grands Biscuits Butter Flavor (not flaky)
2 cans Chicken Broth Reduced Sodium

Put chicken in a 5 qt. stockpot or slow cooker/crockpot. Pour hot water over chicken in the pot just over the chicken. Normally, I put a bay leaf or a couple of dashes of dry basil along with some seasoned pepper and salt. It all depends on the size of the bird. I'm sure fresh basil would taste better, but I don't have an herb garden. Sorry!

Cook the chicken on medium to low heat until you can put a fork all the way through without resistance. At this point, turn off heat and take off stove eye. Carefully, place the chicken in a pan to cool. When cooled enough to touch, remove the skin & bones from the meat and discard.

Drain chicken stock into a large bowl, leaving only about 1 1/2 quarts of stock in the stock pot. Set the bowl aside for later use. Open and pour 2 cans of chicken broth into the stockpot. This puts a buttery flavor to your stock. Put pot back on high heat until a rapid boil.

Place chicken into stock mixture. Bring to a boil and turn heat down to a medium (low boil).

Take biscuit dough and either pinch or cut into pieces. Place the biscuit pieces a little at a time into boiling pot. Don't put a lot of dough at a time because the dough will stick to each other. Try not to stir your pot right after you placed your pieces of dough. It can make the stock turn a little milky, but then you might like that version.

Season with pepper and salt as you go. Make sure the stock mixture is equal with the chicken and biscuit to keep it moist. Stir occasionally so the chicken won't stick to the bottom. When all the biscuits have been added, cook for another 5 minutes.

Remove from stove to cool just a little bit because it will be very hot. Makes approximately 8-10 servings.

Note: If you like more chicken and less dumplings, just use 1 can of butter biscuits. Make sure there's enough stock to keep the dish moist for leftovers. When you go to warm it up the next day and it looks a little dry, just open another can of chicken broth equivalent to the amount of chicken and dumplings. Mix together and heat up in microwave or stove.

Sites To See

Summit Lake Shelter - 12800'

Father's Day 2007 at 14270'

Juniper Pass

A guy, Doug knows through work, sent him some pictures of what to expect of our Colorado trip. They are pictures of their time at Mt. Evans, Summit Lake and Juniper Pass last year. I think the mountains are so beautiful. I believe Doug got a little excited as soon as he saw these pictures. He told me that if we have the chance to go, we'll have to visit these places. We'll have to add it to my long list of places to see. lol.

Mt. Evans - Drivers Eye View

Mt. Evans - Mile Post in May

Happy Birthday Katie!

Remembering back 3 years and 9 months, still seems like yesterday. As most of you know, Doug and I had a little difficult time conceiving a child. We went through a few years of stress and impatience. The story of Hannah (hope) kept me a float and helping me to not go completely insane. God had a plan for me and it took me a long hard time to understand what he was doing. God needed to shape and mold my spirituality, to help me grow in Him. So, now when I have a lot of road blocks or disheartened obstacles in my life, I have to stop and say to myself that God has a reason. A reason that I will see further down life's path. I will never forget, while we were in the ART Program from Brookwood, we had just gone through a lot of tests. I was having a few of my nieces and nephews over on Halloween to go Tricker Treating in our neighborhood. I received a call from my doctor's office the day before Halloween, the nurse told me that it was time. Doug and I had to be at the doctor's office on Halloween Day to do a procedure that would hopefully bless us with a baby. A baby, we had prayed and hoped for for so long. We conceived our little miracle baby on November 1st, All Saints Day. God has truly blessed us and I thank Him everyday for our little princess. Pregnancy didn't agree with me because I was sick the entire time I was pregnant. I believe I had 1 1/2 months without sickness. In fact, I ended up spending Christmas Eve in the hospital because I was so sick. You know what, it was worth every day of puking on the way to work. I think I even spilled my guts in the parking lot of my work place. Thank God, Doug drove us to and from work everyday. He might have gotten aggravated with me at times, but he was so understand and took good care of me. Nine months later, she wouldn't drop and I wasn't progressing. They did a final ultrasound of our little baby and the monitor was predicting that she was 9 lbs +/- a pound. My doctor felt it would be safer for both me and the baby, if we did a C-Section on Monday, 25th of July. The Friday before July 25th was my last day at work. I had a very nice baby shower from all of our friends and co-workers. I had not been feeling that great all day long. I was having more and more Brackston Hicks (?). On the way home, Doug took us out to eat supper and I still wasn't feeling all that great. My stomach would get so hard. We even went walking around in Walmart. When we got home, I was feeling a little worse and the hicks were not letting up. In fact, they were getting worse. Maryann just so happen to call me and I told her about my symptoms and she told me I was going into labor. When I hung up, I began spotting. Well that scared me to death. Doug called the doctor on call because my doctor was on vacation. The doctor wanted me to come in to be examined. The hicks were coming every 5 minutes, right on time. Sure enough, I was in labor, but the baby still had not dropped and I had not progressed. They kept me doped up on meds the rest of the night. The next morning, the doctor asked me if I was ready to deliver the baby. I was so ready, he didn't have to ask me twice. Kaitlyn was born by C-Section on Saturday, July 23rd at 6:00 a.m. She weighed in at 8 lbs. 8 oz. and was a whopping 23 inches long. It was great that our parents were able to hear the whole birth by the intercom system. Katie is the most precious life, God has blessed us.


I let Katie sleep in this morning because it was her birthday. lol. She didn't feel good this morning, which is a bummer because she is such a pill when she's sick. I knew she was a little constipated, but I don't know of any other symptoms. I put on her birthday shirt and had her sit in the yard to take her picture. Of course, she had to act a little silly. I then dressed her up in her Fancy Nancy clothes to show Grandma Jerry. Mom was a little surprised to see us coming in the door. Katie got a lot of attention because she was dressed to the T. I don't think she like all the attention, plus her not feeling good. Mom gave her another present for her to open in front of her. She got some more Barbie Doll clothes, which is exactly what she needed. Katie loved them and wanted me to take them out of the box right then and there. I wanted to take a picture of Mom and Katie. Unfortunately, Katie wouldn't have it today. Ugh!

Later tonight, Doug, Katie and myself went to Chik-fil-a for supper. You could tell by this time that Katie was sick. She got very quiet and wouldn't eat her chicken nuggets. I told Doug that she hasn't ate much at all today and that it was beginning to worry me. We went ahead and let her play in the indoor playground. She met a brother and sister about the same age as she. They had blast playing together. In fact, Katie didn't want to leave at all. Ugh! She received some birthday money, so we took her to Walmart to spend some of her money. I was completely with her, where ever she went, I followed. It was cute, watching her. She knew exactly what she wanted. Actually, I was surprised that she didn't start throwing every toy and book into our buggy. She made very wise choices: Barbie Doll Furniture - Table, 2 Chairs & Dinner Accessories; Butterfly Barbie Doll (Blue); and a Cinderella Board Game. I was kind of afraid to let her have the board game because it said on the box for ages 4+. When we got home, she wanted to play her new game right off the bat. After reading the directions and spending about 15 minutes telling her how to play, she got the knack of it. I guess we played with it for about 30 minutes until she got tired of it and wanted to play with her Barbie for a while. It's cute. She takes turns playing with her toys. She'll play with Barbies for a while, spend some time with her train set and then she'll be dressed up and playing with her baby dolls.


Okay, so maybe I got a little carried away with the Christmas Countdown. If you think about it, it's not that far away (5 months). It's been so hot here and with August right around the corner, I figured it might be refreshing to see a countdown and give us hope for cooler weather. I just hate it that my widget got cut off and I couldn't get it fixed. I found some other Christmas widgets, but they were not as pretty as this one.

Answering Some Previous Questions

I don't know how good y'all read my comments, so I thought I had better answer the questions asked from my comment section in this post. Wow! Long run on sentence. Shoo! Don't tell my English teacher from High School and College. Tehe!

Anyway, Laura asked if my Mom was able to come home for Katie's birthday party. The answer is no. Unfortunately, based on Medicare's policy Mom could not leave the Nursing Home. They are talking about sending her home in a couple of weeks, if everything goes as planned. Her coming home will be a trial run to see how she could make it at home and if Dad will be able to take care of her.

Allison asked me to call her this week for another playdate. I'm sure you've read about my bad bladder infection. Today, I have my moments of feeling fine and then the next, I feel yucky. I'm sure you understand when I tell you that I will call you as soon as I feel much better. Trust me, I would be much better company when I'm feeling better. I know Katie would love to get together again with Anya and play.

I would like thank everyone for the sweet sweet comments about the party and the cake. Y'all are too much and I appreciate you.

Batman Arrested!

Did you hear the latest news on Batman's Christian Bale? He was arrested this morning in London for assaulting his 61 year old mother and 40 year old sister. Wow! I didn't see that coming. The news reporter said, it was reported that the assault was because of the new movie coming out. I don't understand that fully. Christian denied the allegations and was released on bail. His sister commented that it was a family matter and his mother had no comment.

I would like to wish Wayne a very Happy Birthday! Hope you liked the card we sent. LOL!

Happy Birthday Wayne!

Well The Party's Over

Have to start out by wishing my nephew, Allan, a very Happy Birthday!

Well the party's over and Momma comes down sick. Yuck! I could tell Saturday night, during the party, I wasn't feeling myself. What would any other Momma do for her baby girl's birthday party? Suck it up, paint a smile over the pain and go on with the show. I was having symptoms of a Urinary Tract Infection/Bladder Infection. I confirmed the symptoms with a couple of my sisters and they agreed with my diagnosis. Ugh! I didn't need this right now. Like I said, I sucked it up, drank plenty of water and went to the bathroom a lot during the party. As the night went on, the worse it got and I really didn't want to go to Urgent Care. It's a personal thing. You just never know if you're going to get a wack as a doctor. I remember several years ago, I had a severe kidney infection and Doug took me to the ER because I couldn't walk (that's how bad it was). The wacko doctor gave me the wrong meds and I had a terrible reaction to the drugs. I got worse and had to wait until the next work day to go to my regular doctor and get on the right meds. Ugh! What a nightmare that was? It still haunts me from time to time, as you can tell. Anyway, at bedtime Saturday night, I was actually feeling better. I figured it was a fluke thing or maybe the water helped a lot. Sunday, I wasn't 100%, but I didn't feel real bad either. I figured that I was just really wore out. Well this morning, I woke up sick at my stomach. I couldn't get comfortable and the pressure to my bladder was back. Ugh! Because it's Monday, it's hard to find a babysitter. I looked up the treatment for UTI online and sure enough, I had to have antibiotics. Ugh! This can not be happening to me! I began drinking water again like crazy, but it wasn't getting any better. Then, I saw the blood. I had blood in my urine. Well that got my attention. This is probably serious and that I had better get a babysitter and get to the doctor ASAP. All I can say, God was again watching over me. I called Doug and asked him if it was really crazy at work today. He knew something was up because I normally don't just call him at work to see how busy they are. I told him what was going on. I asked him, if I get an appointment later in the day, could he come home for Katie? He had no problem, but he remembered Whitney mentioned Saturday that she would be home today. He asked me to ask her and then call him back. Well, it all worked out. Whitney was so sweet to come over and watch Katie for me, while I went to the doctor. I appreciated Dr. Lunsford for fitting me in his busy schedule. The receptionist, I spoke to said his calendar was booked all day. I told her about the blood I found in my urine, she asked me to wait so she could ask Dr. Lunsford. They had me come in at 1:30 to squeeze me in. I did have a bad bladder infection. Dr. Lunsford was as puzzled as I was about the blood. At first, he thought that maybe I had a kidney stone, but I didn't have any pain in my pain or abdominal area. He put me on antibiotics for the infection and wants me to come back in two weeks for another urine specimen, see if there's still blood. While I was there, he wanted my cholesterol checked, since I have a family history of high cholesterol. I'm sure once I get the meds that I need in me, I will be just fine in a couple of days.

Poor Paul Got Fired
Do you remember our friend Paul, the black cloud roofer? Well, Paul was hired by a friend of ours to do his roof as well. Paul, of course, continued to have bad luck of not hiring good roofers to do the job right. May I add, I told y'all in my overall evaluation that I would not recommend hiring this guy to do any roofing job. Okay having that said, Jim (our friend) gave him two days of excuse after excuse and finally had his fill of him. Jim told Doug that Paul and his crew kept messing up on the roof. He finally gave him some money and told him to never come back. Jim hired another crew to do the job. He said that they had to rip up the work that Paul and his crew did because it was a mess. Jim added that he had to get more shingles to replace the ones that Paul messed up. He didn't like the way Paul talked to his employees either. I believe I mentioned that in my evaluation as well. Poor Paul.

Prayer Request
Doug and I really need your prayers. It's not bad news by no means, but we have a huge, possible life changing opportunity coming up very soon. Most of the family knows, so it's okay to ask for prayers. We believe there is a good opportunity for Doug that is related to his job. I'm really beating around the bush, I know. His company is asking if there is anyone interested (in his group) in moving to CO for several months. There will be a new product line moved to AL and they need someone from Quality to be schooled on the product, how it is built. Doug asked me my opinion about the opportunity and I'm in full support. I think it would be a good opportunity for him in the future. If he is going to do anything like this, now is when it needs to happen because Katie isn't in school. Nothings happened at the moment, but we should know something soon. Doug has yet to talk to any of the big dawgs about all the details.

On that note, I've been checking out the sights online about CO. I've been to CO once before, but I was 14 or 15 years old. So, I really don't remember a lot about the sights other than the Rockies. I did find Katie a ballet school, to enroll her in this Fall/Winter. I've got a local library bookmarked. I've found several hot shopping spots and lots of scenic areas to take lots and lots of pictures. I've been talking with Sandy and Liz, getting an idea about the cost of living. If we do move, I've got to go to Aspen. This is going to sound so stupid, but this is how morbid I can be. I have to go to Aspen because of the movie "Dumb and Dumber". No it's not because of the fantastic ski resorts, but to find that hotel Harry and Lloyd stayed while they were in Aspen "California". LOL! I'm sorry, but that is a funny movie. Do I sound a little excited? I guess you could say that I might be a little. I've been aggravating Doug everyday about the assignment. As most of you know me, I've got to plan and organize. I can't help it, it's in my blood. I stressed to Doug last week that we really need to know something soon because our realtor, vacation at the Gulf, needs her money by the first week in August. If we are going to be moving, we need to cancel our trip. It would be fine if Wayne and Laura had another couple going in our place, but I don't think they do.

Katie Story
It was so cute this morning. Katie and I were in her bedroom, I was changing her sheets. With her legs crossed, sitting on her bed and acting prissy, she looks up at her Jesus picture and says, "Mom, I made Jesus happy today". "You did?" I asked her. All confident, she answers, "yes, I made Him happy." I asked her if it was because she prayed last night. "Yes, I made him happy because I prayed last night and now he's happy." You talk about your heart melting. Then she tells me that she likes Jesus. I told her that Jesus loves her. "I love Jesus too", she added. In the picture, there is Jesus surrounded around with children and a dog. So, Katie continues to talk about how the dog likes Jesus. I guess this conversation lasted about 5 minutes. I thought it was such a sweet story that I had to share with you.

Katie's Birthday Party

I believe Katie had another wonderful birthday party. I did all the last minute decorations, while Katie slept most of the morning. I figured that I had better let her sleep as much as possible because she probably wouldn't take a nap during the day. She had been so excited about this party for the past couple of days.

Millard and Peggy came up to work on the play set some more, put up the steps and measure for the hand rails. Peggy was so nice to help me out with a few things. Time was ticking and I was beginning to panic a little. I honestly didn't think I was going to make it to 2:00 p.m. Susan said she was going to try and get her family to leave around 1:00 p.m., in order to come a little early and visit.

Katie was in another mood when she got out of bed. You would think, with all that sleep, she would get up all refreshed and happy. Nope! Right off the bat, I had to put her in time out. Honestly, I think she knew it was her birthday party and she wanted to cry if she wanted to. Isn't that the way that song goes? lol. Her Daddy had to talk with her about talking back to me. I think the time out and Doug talking with her helped a little bit.

When our guests were beginning to arrive, Katie got so excited. Katie loved her special guest, Nia. Nia is Zayne's adopted 4 year old sister. She is precious! I warned Zayne about how rough Katie can play and he assured me that Nia would take care of herself. I couldn't believe how well they seemed to played with one another. No crying. No whining. No tattletaling. Do you realize how wonderful it is to not hear these things? WONDERFUL!

I did have to get on to Katie once because she put sand on Nia head and it got in her mouth. Ugh! Of course, Katie thought it was hilarious. When Nia came back outside, I told Katie to apologize and give her a hug. After that episode, we didn't have any problem. I apologized to Zayne and he said that Nia would probably get back at Katie some how. Good because I knew she would deserve it.
Another special guest arrived, Fancy Nancy, played by Maryann. She did great with the whole Fancy Nancy thing. She was dressed to a T. She had on the royal jewels, long silk gloves, tiara, silk scarf belt and dangly earrings. I had on my hat, pink beaded necklace and boas. I purchased extra necklaces and boas for people to put on if they wanted to, but no one else volunteered. Overall, we had 23 people and 3 dogs here for the party.

We just had hamburgers and hot dogs for supper, along with sides like potato salad, cowboy baked beans, deviled eggs, chips, and fruit salad. We cooked 4 packs of Bryan's Juicy Jumbos and would you believe there were 5 hot dogs left. Ha! Talk about just having enough. I could have swore 3 packs of hot dogs and 5 lbs. of hamburger meat would be plenty for our crew. Don't get me wrong, no one went away hungry by no means, but we planned it perfectly. Oh, don't forget the butterfly birthday cake and ice cream. It was a hit as well. I think we had 4 small servings of cake left. Katie did so good blowing out the candles. At first, I thought I was going to have to help her out because she was so shy. I think it embarrassed her a little when everyone began singing "Happy Birthday" to her. She became so shy and clammed up on us. It took a while, but finally she blew them out.
Us, ladies, straightened up the Kitchen after everyone ate their dessert. A few others, took all of the presents and Katie outside to open up her gifts. I made the mistake in letting Katie open up our gift first. All she wanted to do is play with Thomas the Train Engine and Barbie's accessories (couch & table). She was getting ill with me because I wanted her to open up the rest of her gifts. She decided to open up a few more, then stupid I told her to open up a few cards. She opened up our Tinkerbell musical card. Ugh! She still had two more gifts to open, but now all she wanted to do was play the Tinkerbell card. I have to say everything she got was a hit. A couple of the aunts went to Target and got her the Fancy Nancy purse, sunglasses, hat and tutu. So cute! She received Fancy Nancy books, Thomas the Train Engine toys, Veggie Tales movie, money, Barbie clothes & accessories, Play Set, and a neat adjustable rocking chair. She was still wound up late last night, playing with all of her new toys. The last guest left around 9:15 - 9:30 p.m. Katie was having so much fun, me and her playing with her new train and Barbies. I told Doug, I would let stay up a little late and let her play with her stuff. I guess it was 11:30 p.m. before Katie went to bed. She had such a wonderful time, but Mommy and Daddy are very tired. Doug is sick of messing with the play set and will be glad when it is complete. I'm glad we had a successful party, everyone had a good time and having lots of fun, but glad it's over. On to the next thing that's coming up. I have 161 photos of the event on our photosite.