THE THREE'S BEGIN

Carly woke up this morning ready to party! She had finally gotten used to the idea of it being her birthday and she decided she liked the idea. It's a concept she still doesn't fully understand. She thought today was her birthday as well--and for that matter maybe tomorrow, too. She keeps telling me "It's not gone." Hmmm. How to explain this. I'm working on it. Or, am I being worked? Maybe the latter. Lol! Below-some pictures from the festivities.

THE PARTY'S OVER AND WE OFFICIALLY HAVE A THREE YEAR OLD!

I woke up this morning and went in to Carly's room and started singing "Happy Birthday" to her. When I finished she looked up at me quizzically from her bed and said; "It's here?" I was a little bit confused about exactly what she meant but I punted. I said; "Yes, today is your birthday! It's here!" She slowly got up out of bed and walked over to her door. This is atypical for her. Normally, she flat foots it out of her room beating me to the kitchen to get her sippy of milk. So, I wasn't sure what was coming next. She slowly peered out the door of her room and down the hallway like she didn't quite trust my words. Then she turned to me and said? "It's not here. Where is it? Didn't you buy me any presents Mama?"

Suddenly, the light bulb turned on in my brain. She had been asking me if her birthday party was here. She was looking for the balloons, the streamers, the cake, presents and people! I was supposed to have that ready when she walked out her door. Hmmmm. You know I really am raising a diva! Lol!

Actually, I think that she thought birthday parties travel around and magically appeared at people's houses on their birthdays--kind of like Santa Claus does on Christmas. It's funny what our little ones are thinking when we don't realize they are thinking anything besides what we have told them.

Happy Birthday my little cutie pie! I love you!

OH HAPPY DAY! HAPPY THIRD BIRTHDAY, THAT IS!

I'd never seen myself look this happy until I saw this picture! On our way to meet and pick up our baby girl for the first time! (Feb. 2008)

(Happy tears--Rob and I holding her! Isn't she gorgeous?!) (Feb. '08)

I'm in absolute Heaven! Mama's girl in Mama's arms.

Dad's an old hand; daughter number five!

Sweet, sweet, baby girl! Happy Birthday to you! It's all gone by SO fast! You are SO LOVED!

MY BALLERINA GIRL

Carly loves to dance and her latest love is to dress up in her purple tutu and do her ballerina twirl all over the place. She especially likes to twirl now that her hair is beaded and makes clacking noises when she moves it back and forth. Thought I'd share a couple of cute pictures with you.

Our weather today was around sixty degrees. It was shirt sleeve weather and felt so nice! Hope it stays that way for awhile! Hope you are getting some of the warmth too. :)

CELEBRATIONS AND STORYTIME

I had a very nice date with my hubby today. We celebrated both our anniversary of first meeting and Valentine's Day. We went to a late lunch and a movie. It was nice to get out together just the two of us. It doesn't happen very often anymore. We had a really nice time.

Once we finished our date we went birthday shopping for Carly. She is going to turn three next Tuesday! I can't believe she's really almost three! Seems like it has all gone by so fast. My baby girl is growing up!! It makes me think of that song "Turn around, turn around . . ." Actually, I don't know if that's the name of it or not--but you get my point. The growing up happens before you know it.

I was putting Carly to bed tonight and reading her a story when Jonathon ran in and jumped on my lap, too. They were both being really cute and listening well until Rob came in with the camera. They got a little rowdy when he tried to take some pictures. The pictures didn't turn out great but I'm going to post a couple of them anyway since the Mom is usually behind the camera and not in the picture. It's kind of fun to actually have a picture of me reading to the kids. They are so darn cute and I love them so much! And they are growing up WAY TOO FAST!!

es.

JONO'S NEW HAIRCUT, BEFORE AND AFTER

NO MO' 'FRO--OH NO!

I gave Jonathon his first haircut today. It's not the first haircut I've given but it is the first haircut I've given with electric clippers. I usually use scissors. One of my friends told me it was easier to give an even haircut with clippers so I decided to try them. I went and bought a set and Jonathon was my first victim--(literally.) Uh Oh!

So, I read the directions but they leave a lot to your imagination. Seriously. In my defense, I've never been good with numbers. I wanted to trim Jon's hair but only about a half inch. So, I got Jon all ready, turned on the clippers and put on the half inch attachment. (Yes, you read that right.)

I started clipping Jonathon's hair only to have huge, long chunks of it coming off. What the heck?! Oh my gosh! I was doing something wrong but I wasn't sure what. So, quickly, I grabbed the 1/4 inch attachment and exchanged it with the 1/2 inch one! (OH YES, I DID!) I started clipping again, trying to fix what I'd done! But OH NO! HOLY CRAP BATMAN!!!! WHAT GIVES?! I AM PRACTICALLY BUZZING ALL MY BOY'S HAIR OFF!!!

Finally, I figured it out! Oh, DUH! I put the clippers down, thought for a moment what I could do and then replaced the 1/4 inch attachment with the 1/2 inch one since that was the longest one I had. I finish clipping his hair and straightened it up with scissors afterward and my boy now has his first buzz. He certainly has no mo' 'fro. :)

A THIRTY POUND CHICKEN!

Grandma baked a thirty pound chicken today! Yep, she did. Or maybe I should restate that. Grandma baked thirty pounds of chicken today. Lol. I guess it makes a difference. That would be one big, fat bird, wouldn't it?

We found a good sale on chicken and decided to buy a bunch. We have this genious idea that we can make up freezer meals for a month. I thought we would boil it but Grandma had a better idea, so we baked it. The house sure smelled good while it was baking, too. It was moist and tender when it was done and tasted so yummy. I made some chicken noodle soup with some of it for dinner.

Grandma spent hours dicing chicken today. I managed to help for the last hour or so. I can't imagine Grandma is going to want to have anything to do with chicken anytime soon. Lol!

BUNCH O' SICKEES AGAIN

Yep, it's happening again. Jono has a bug. Poor little guy has been going through diapers and jammies like they are free and plenty. I had to go get Julie from school today because she was vomiting. And my migraines and allergies have been bad all week. GAH!

Hopefully, it's like they say and things come in three's. That would mean we have hit our number and no one else gets sick! Cross your fingers! :/

TODAY

Grandpa and Grandpa went to a doctor's appointment this morning. Nothing big, just a check-up. The kids and I just hung around home today--and unfortunately didn't get much accomplished.

After Rob got home tonight we went out for dinner. We brought dinner home for Grandma but Grandpa said he wasn't hungry. I think Grandma finally got him to eat some fruit salad. I think he was just really exhausted from his outing today.

Well, wish there was something exciting to tell you but I can't think of anything. We are getting a little bit of snow at the moment! Hopefully, it is just a little! :)

WE'RE HAVING A HEATWAVE . . . A TROPICAL HEATWAVE

It warmed up here today. It was almost like a sauna outside (44 degrees) compared to what it has been lately. We thought about going having a picnic outside or even sunbathing! Seriously, it was like walking into a wall of warm air in comparison to what's been going on. I couldn't believe it! What a great feeling!

I wish everyone around the country was getting the relief we felt today. I don't know how long it will last but we will sure take whatever we can get!

We had some family over to watch the SuperBowl today. I never care about the game. I just watch for the commercials! Although, I have to admit that I napped during the first hour and a half of the game so I missed most of the good commercials. Hopefully, I will get to see them over the next few days. :)

A LOVELY TIME WAS HAD BY ALL . . . SORT OF! HEHEHE

One of my closest friends invited our family and another family for dinner tonight. It was a really nice dinner and we actually got through it without the kids trashing her house! Bonus!

Anyway, during our after dinner conversation, they were going on about how well Carly speaks--how verbal she is at her age. I agree and yet shared that I feel kind of sad that she only really has one word left of her baby talk and that is "Tartoon" or "Cartoon." Before I could make my point clear my friend turned to Carly and said, "Carly, you can say "Cartoon" can't you-(with a huge emphasis on the "C" as if she is tutoring her? Carly immediately repeats "Cartoon" perfectly. My jaw dropped and I looked at my friend like she had stolen my little girl's last moments of babyhood from me--(which she had!!!) :o (Good thing we are such good friends! Lol!)

It was at that moment my friend realized what I had been saying to her! It was not that Carly can't say it right. She hasn't chosen to say it right yet--and I am not pushing her! She's already growing up way too fast!! Babies are only babies for such a little while!

Really though, we had a truly lovely time at dinner! The company and conversation were wonderful and the menu was Mah-vuh-las! Thank you! We love you!

GOT A LITTLE BUG . . .

He's a bit of a bear . . . but he sure is a cutie!

THANKS SO MUCH!

I just want to say a very SPECIAL THANKS to all of my parents amazing friends who are taking such good care of them while they are away! You have NO IDEA what a blessing you are to them. Before they can even begin to worry about something you have it taken care of, or are on the phone to let them know it's alright, or soon will be.

I know I speak for my sisters when I say we feel so grateful for all of you and for the many years of friendship, kindness and love you've shown to our parents. We really can't say "thank you" enough!

We hope you all get some Sunshine soon! :) Love, Nancy

BRRRRRR . . . .

It's been a long time since we've had cold like this! It truly is too cold for man or beast!! It was nine below here last night and I thought that was freezing. Rob got called out around midnight and ended up in a city about three hours away. He said the temperature dropped on his way there to minus twenty and when he arrived there it was minus twenty-eight. I was so frozen at nine degrees I can't even imagine minus twenty-eight! It's time for this craziness to end! SOMEONE MAKE IT STOP!! LOL!

It was a milestone day! Jonathon said his own name for the first time. He says other people's names but he has never said his. He also seemed to get a grip on the word "NO" today. Not in the sense that he started minding us when we say it but that he understands what it means well enough now to use it on us. He also puts some real inflection and meaning into it when he says it and even some volume and length, i.e. NOOOOO)))))))!!

It just so happened that he got a little bit sick and maybe just for punctuation at the end of the day he came running to me and threw up all over my shoulder and back. Poor little guy. I know it's a day I won't soon forget!Lol! He really is such a cute little guy with such a fun personality.

It has really gotten cold here. I didn't even step outside until nearly 10 p.m. and it was only 7 degrees out. The wind is biting cold. We havent had a ton of precipitation yet but the wind will almost cut you in half. I really do feel for those who have the wind, the cold and the elements to deal with as well, especially when their electricity has been affected. I pray the Lord will bless all those who are in need right now.

Well, I'd better get to bed so I will be able to pull myself out of bed when my kids wake up. More later. :)

WE FEEL FOR OUR HOOSIER FRIENDS . . .

Who have been paralyzed by an ice storm. Our family remembers so well the ice storm and the blizzard that paralyzed our county and much of Indiana in 1978. We were out of school for almost a full month. I remember especially during the ice storm that it was illegal to be on the road. We had a houseful of people that stayed with us for nearly a week because they couldn't get back to their homes. It was both a fun and scary time. Several people perished in their homes because they lost electricity and heat as well as being in accidents on the road. We sure hope things go much better and people are safe this time. Bless you all. Know you are in our thoughts and prayers.

Grandpa had a check-up on his shoulder today. The surgeon thinks he is doing well except he is concerned that Dad is a little bit stiffer than he should be. He wants him to exercise it just a bit more. The stiffness could be from his Parkinsons. He is already really faithful with his exercises but hopefully he can combat the stiffness with a little more work.

We got a tiny bit of snow here today but it didn't last. It's in the low thirties but other than being cold it's not too bad. We don't have a whole lot going on.

Well, hope all is well with you. More later. :)

WE HAD SOME VISITORS THIS WEEKEND

Sarah and her son Ian surprised us by dropping in on Saturday. They were on their way to a wedding reception near where they used to live. So they came and spent an hour or two with us. Then they came back and spent the night with us and spent the morning today. It was fun catching up. Mom and Dad were very glad to have some company. Here's some pictures of them chilling with the little ones.

NOBODY CAN FILL DADDY'S SHOES . . . NOT EVEN ME

BUT THAT DON'T STOP ME FROM TRYIN'!

(You may have to look close to see my Daddy's black, size 14 shoes on my feet. They are so heavy I can't even lift my legs! Hahahaha!)

HAPPY ME!

Rob just got home! I'm very happy! He's been in Denver the last few days doing some training and I've missed him very much. I've got a couple of monkey's under the weather and a third one with a hurt paw. That makes single parenting pretty tough.

Carly and Jon both seem to be running low grade fevers, though Carly has been the most miserable. She keeps telling me her head hurts, too. I've been giving her Tylenol and that has been helping. Jon hasn't complained at all but he is more lethargic than usual.

Julie's wrist and hand are bugging her but she hasn't done anything to them that should make them hurt. It's not even her dominant hand so it's kind of weird. Finally took her in for XRays tonight but nothing was wrong with it. They just decided to immobilized it for awhile to see if that would help. My theory is that she is sleeping on it wrong and not realizing it. I guess time will tell.

We had a birthday party here for my niece Keelie tonight. She turned 7. Carly loves Keelie! It was fun to have her over! Especially the cake part!
Mostly, I am just so darn glad to have my hubby home! Yay for me!

Got up early today and watched my friend's little girl while she went and helped at her boys school. Her name is Ellie and Carly and Jon love playing with her. They had fun--after they all finished screaming! Oh wait, that was part of their fun. It must be the age they are all at. It's gonna drive me crazy!

When Robin came back for Ellie we took the kids out for lunch to a playland. Jono is practicing to be an escape artist. I don't know how many times I chased after him. I still don't know whether he was going for the door to leave or trying to get into the kitchen for more food. Although if I had to make a guess it would be the latter. That's my hungry boy!

Grandpa went to physical therapy today for his shoulder and worked extra on flattening out his knee. He was pretty sore afterward. He didn't seem as wornout to me as usual, though. While Grandma went and got her hair done, the kids and I went to pick him up from his workout. That was fun for the kids. They like their Grandpa.

We had blueberry pancakes, bacon and orange juice for dinner. It was really yummy. Besides that, we just kind of lazed around the house. I finally got the kids down around 8:30 and got to finish the laundry. Nothing exciting going on here. That's for sure. Well, tomorrow is another day! :)

MY LITTLE MONSTERS

are little monsters! Jonathon turned 17 months on the 24th. Carly will be three in a couple of weeks. They are on both ends of two so what else should I expect, right? I really needed a decibel meter today to measure the noise level. They are into screaming now and when one screams the other screams just to top it! And on and on it goes~ . . . So lovely! No wonder I've been having migraines! Lol!

The last couple of weeks they have been fighting their naps, too. It takes me a minimum of three times each to get them down for their nap and they are in separate rooms so that isn't the problem. If I let them stay up they are cranky as all get out!

I'm missing my cute, cuddly babies who just laid in my arms and cooed and smiled. These ones have opinions, likes and dislikes and they don't always agree with me. (Go figure.) This too shall pass, right? It's just a phase, isn't it? Where are my ruby red slippers? Aunty Em, Aunty Em! There's no place like home. There's no place like home . . .

MORE SNOW

Yesterday was a bit of a blur. I've had one of those hanger-on migraines. Bless my husband, my 17 year-old and Grandma for taking care of the babies so I could crawl in bed and take care of my head. It's better now by oh so much!

We woke up this morning to some surprise snow! There was already a good inch and a half on the ground by the time we got up and it was still coming down hard. We got about four inches total. What is funny is that none of us in the house knew it was coming. I guess we need to listen to the weather forcast more often.

We have the best neighbor. He keeps showing up to shovel our walks and our driveway when the weather is bad. It is such a wonderful blessing for him to do that! I just can't get out there during the day with two toddlers,
at least it would be very difficult to do. So, it is amazing to walk outside and find the walks and driveway cleared already! Thanks so much, Bud! You're amazing!

Grandpa has physical therapy tomorrow. Julie has a special training class for her SAT going on. Other than that there isn't much news here. That's probably a good thing. Night all. :)

OUR LAZY SUNDAY

I'm thinking it's time for the after-the-holidays diet. Now, if I can just convince my willpower and my pallette to go along! Why is it I can't seem to go through Thanksgiving and Christmas without adding between 5-10 lbs that I really don't need? Do you do that too? It's so ridiculous, too. Why can I eat fairly normal the rest of the year and then for about a month, on and off, go nuts?! Gah!

We had a lazy, lazy Sunday today. Don't think any of us felt too well. Rob and I both had headaches. Got some good sleep, though and feel a little better tonight. Thank goodness for our teenager! She is such a great helper!

We threw a roast in the crockpot in the morning and Julie made homemade buns later in the day. When the roast was done we shredded it and had Au jus sandwiches. They were NUMMY!

Well, nothing exciting going on here. It's January--what do you expect?! Lol!

DON'T REPEAT, RELOAD!

(Sorry everyone--I tried for a half an hour to post this last night and my blog site was having problems. So, I trying again right now. Here goes!)


A little bit ago I went to load the last few dirty dishes in the dishwasher and run it for tonight. I opened the door and to my surprise and horror it had been unloaded and put away. Normally, that would be a nice surprise--but these were all DIRTY dishes! ICK!

I knew immediately it was my teenager trying to be good and surprise me. Well, she did--surprise me, that is! My problem was that we hadn't done a ton of cooking for the last couple of days so it was two full days of dishes and I couldn't for the life of me remember what had been in there. There was no way I could just start pulling the right things from the cabinets. Plus, e-gads, what to do about the silverware! I had to go wake her up and have her come pull out what she had put away. Frustration!

I got her up. She said "I thought it was clean. It looked pretty clean." Well, in truth, I do rinse everything off pretty well but, that doesn't mean I'd want to eat off it again unless it had been washed really well first.

So, Julie pulled everything out of the cabinets that she'd put away and I reloaded. I decided to re-wash all the silverware too. No telling where to start and where to stop--so might as well just clean it all.

Sent Julie back to bed and restarted the dishwasher. Hopefully, we got everything and there are no germs left behind. Hey, wasn't that a government program?

MAYBE NEXT TIME . . .

Grandpa and Grandma got a new dentist today. We sent them to the one we go to and he's a pretty funny guy, too. Anyway, they both went in for a check-up. Then Grandpa had his physical therapy. By the time he got back home I thought Grandma was bringing in a rag doll! Just kidding--but he was plum wore out!

Grandma left me in charge and went to get her hair done. Grandpa, the kidlings and I just hung out, had some dinner and watched TV until Grandma came home. Rob had a late work meeting and Julie had gone to her tournament.

It was pretty loud and raucous here and I thought Dad and I were going to pull our hair out until we finally lasso'd the kiddo's and put them to bed! By that time, Grandma had come home and we were all tuckered out. Grandma and Grandpa headed to bed. I was left alone to tell the boring story and then, I'm headed to find my own pillow and sack out. Maybe next time you'll get a better story. Maybe not! :)

WHAT'S THE DEBATE?

Julie has a debate tournament tomorrow and has been asked to compete on the Varsity team! She is filling in for someone who can't be there. That's a real honor for her since this is her first year. We are so proud of her! Congrats sweetie!

Jonathon was feeling a little better today. His temp was fairly normal but his appetite still isn't totally back. Wonder how come mine is? No fair! No fair! Lol!

Grandpa got his physical therapy in today. He has more to come tomorrow and Friday. He is doing good though. Grandma gets her hair done tomorrow. She actually has her own hair stylist now. It only took a little over a year to achieve but we did it!

We took (I say that lightly. I think I only took out 2 or 3)Carly's extensions and braided her own hair over the last couple of days. I say that really lightly, too. Julie actually did all the braiding. Carly's hair grew quite a bit while it was in extensions. Although, it's not as thick. I still need to put beads on the ends but as soon I do I will take pictures and post them. She is such a little cutie.

Well, not too much else to tell. We are doing pretty good. Night all.

A SHORT REPORT

Jonathon has been fighting a fever for the last three days. Tylenol and Ibuprofen have been helping keep it down but he still doesn't feel very good. Even when he doesn't feel very good he is in a good mood. He's such a nice little boy.

Carly did lots better today. She only had a couple of those terrible two moments. Julie was braiding her hair which meant she had to sit fairly still for a few hours and she did great.

Grandma and Grandpa got out to run a few errands today. I always think that helps Grandpa feel a little better, even if it does tire him a bit. Just getting out of the house and getting some fresh air and sunshine seems to brighten things up. It's pretty much only his right shoulder that gives him any pain these days. The first two operations have been really successful! Yay!

We are supposed to get snow tonight. I'm not sure how much but I guess a little won't hurt anything. Well, that's all the news from here. Have a lovely tomorrow!

WHERE IS MY SWEET LITTLE GIRL AND WHAT HAVE YOU DON'E WITH HER?!

Had a wonderful and long overdue visit with a dear friend of mine today; one of those I miss most from my former life. That's my way of saying I don't miss my career but I do miss some of the wonderful friends I made along the way. I wish some of them lived closer because they became like family to me.

Rob was gone overnight last night and Julie is home from school due to the holiday and an administrative day tomorrow. With all the mix of schedules Carly has gotten a little bit mouthy and hasn't been minding as well. I made the mistake of letting her go to the store with Julie and me tonight and we paid dearly. She told us "NO!" She threw tantrums! She sassed and got bossy and none of my usual parenting methods to settle her down worked. None of the threats were taking effect and you just don't swat your kid anymore or someone calls the ALCU and gets them a lawyer.

I was at my wits end when Rob called to check in for the day, so I explained what was going on to him and handed the phone to Carly. Needless to say, she did not want to take the call! Lol! Well, that bought five minutes of good behavior from her. Luckily, I was still talking to Rob when things got bad again so I put her back on the phone with him and that gave me another 10. Unfortunately, I had another 20 or so minutes of shopping to do. By the time I left the store I was up to my neck in irritation. When we got home she got in trouble and got to go to bed pretty quickly!

I always heard that two's were terrible! Isn't that why we called them the TERRIBLE TWO'S?? For the last year or so, people have been saying to me, "Oh, if you think the two's are bad, wait till you get to the three's." I kept thinking, "No Way! There is no saying about the threes! We've never been warned about the threes! You can't just surprise parents with this after the fact!" Well, apparently they can!

So, I'm here to tell all of you that didn't get pre-warned! I don't know for sure but it's looking pretty much like it's true since we are only a month away from the threes and my adorable little girl's terrible's are starting to turn to horrible's. Yep, I'm here to warn ya! Apparently, there are the Terrible Two's, the Travesty Threes and I don't even want to think about the Felony Fours . . . LOL!

GOT A PARROT AT OUR HOUSE

Over heard between Carly and Grandma

Carly: "Grandma, Why you do that?"
Grandma: teasingly "Cause."
Carly: "Cause I said so, that's why?"

LOL! Funny how those words come back to haunt you--or someone else! Hee Hee! Of course, I do remember my Mom saying them to me, too!

SOME DAYS IT'S HARD TO MEASURE UP

Sometimes, I stare at this page for a long time before I write anything--like I'm a painter and it's my canvas. Well, tonight is one of those nights. Ha! Well, this is the first place I'm not measuring up. But that isn't what's on my mind tonight. It's been a frustrating, stressful week and as a mom of kids from 16 months to 27 years there are so many priorities pulling me in different directions. That's okay. I signed up for this duty. I may not have known exactly what I was getting into but I had a pretty good idea.

I rarely get everything accomplished I meant to in a day--let alone what I needed to. Sometimes I feel like I let everyone down and there is just not enough of me to go around. Ever have one of those days. Well, it has been one of those weeks.

I am going to forgive myself, pull it together and try harder next week. And if you're feeling anything like I am--GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK! :)

MY CRAZY LITTLE DUMPER!

So last night I was in the kitchen working on dishes and talking with my husband and brother-in-law when Carly comes screaming into the kitchen jumping up and down begging for help. She was crying hysterically. When she got close enough so I could see what was going on her face and hair were all wet and foamy. She was grabbing at her eyes and screaming for us to get "it" out of her eyes. None of us knew what "it" was but Rob and Steve grabbed her and rinsed her head and eyes under water until they got "it" all out.

In the meantime, I found the sippy of orange juice she had just been drinking on the floor near us. Guess she dropped it when she ran in for help. It only took me a moment to put the two together. Turns out "it" was orange juice! Yep, my child is a DUMPER! Turns out she had dumped most of the sippy of orange juice over her head. It's not the first thing she's dumped on her head. She has dumped several cups/sippy's/handfuls of water, milk, cereal, sand, dirt--you name it, she's probably dumped it--ON HER HEAD. I don't know what it is about dumping things on her head she likes but she does enjoy it. I'm guessing she wasn't counting on the acidity of OJ and it getting in her eyes! Carly has always been a texture girl. She likes to feel different textures. I knew she enjoyed feeling things with her hands but apparently her head likes trying things out too! :) Go figure! She's my crazy little dumper!

THE DRONES OF JANUARY

Tonight we got a bit of an ice storm. It started coming down as a wet snow but started to freeze as it was coming down. It got very slick really quick. I don't know whether this was an expected storm or not. I only know I wasn't expecting it!
Hopefully by morning it won't be as bad but I'm not counting on it. I sure hope no one is hurt driving in it. I'm sure the roads are really dangerous.

The big news in the house today is that that both of the babies got changed to heavy duty overnight diapers. Mommy is tired of waking up to wet kids and wet soaked through diapers and pajamas and bed clothes! BTW, Bed clothes = sheets and blankets if you didn't know that. My Grandma Flint taught me that, but that was another day and age. Wow, so much excitement and even a little learnin'! Aren't you glad you took time to read my blog this morning?! LOL!

I think I have the after-Christmas jet lag. I am tired all the time. I just want to sleep and sleep and sleep. Of course, it's January, too. That alone could explain it. Well, I drone on. So, now I will stop. I'll be back when I have something a little more interesting to say. Maybe. :)

TODAY'S NOTES NOT OF NOTE

Today was just plain uneventful. Besides being cold here and having snow on the ground there isn't much going on. At least we could be one of the 49 states with snow on the ground. Did you hear that? Even Hawaii has snow on the ground. Only Florida doesn't have any. Kind of odd, isn't it? I wonder if that is a first or not?

Grandpa had PT today and came back worn out. I think they work him pretty hard. Other than that, it is really quiet on the western front. Night all.

THAT'S DEBATABLE

We got Julie home tonight after her California trip! She did really well in her debate tournament and then got to have fun at Disneyland for a couple of days. We missed not having her here, especially Carly who looked for her all over the place while she was gone.

Wow, it has sure been cold here. It has been in the teens and lower for several days but I swear it feels colder than that. Well, that's all the news today. Night all.

BIG WEEKEND, MONDAY LULL

After the big weekend, it was nice to have a bit of a lull today. Took a good nap when I put the kids down. Enjoyed the quiet. It was so nice to just stop when the world quieted down today.

Feeling sad for those who were hurt and those who lost love ones in Tucson last week. Such a needless tragedy.

Julie comes home tomorrow night. She has been having a blast. We are glad she did well and had fun but will be very glad to get her home safely.

Well, need to get to bed. Take care.

PROUD, FOX-Y MAMA!

Julie called today from somewhere near the Magic Kingdom where she has gone with her high school debate team to participate in a large multiple high school debate. She and her partner were entered in three categories and felt they had not placed in two of them but had a slight chance in the third. They were waiting for the judges to announce the winners when she called. Those who won would go on to Semi-finals.

She was so excited when she was telling me about the category she felt they had a chance in because it was one where the judges gave the topic and they only had a couple of minutes to come up with their arguments. Their topic ended up being the Wiki leaks fiasco and Julian Assange. They had to defend him. It turned out that Julie knew all the details about him and this case. Her partner had not heard much about it but knew most of the legal terms and law that would apply to the case. So, together they made a very strong argument.

The hilarious thing to me about this is that my kids and my husband do not at all enjoy the fact that I LOVE WATCHING THE NEWS! I could watch FOX NEWS all day (and sometimes do! I do switch it up sometimes to get other points of view but I really like to know what is going on in the world. It drives them nuts! (I got this legitimately from my parents.)

One day, when I was watching the news and it was driving Julie nuts I told her it would serve her well to stop complaining and start listening to the news since she was now in debate. I guess she listened because when I asked her how she knew about the Wiki leaks case she sheepishly said: "Listening to FOX News." I giggled loudly and said: "I'm so happy right now! Oh, and I'm proud of you too sweety!" Lol! There aren't a ton of pay days in the teenage years, but ain't it great when you get one! Yay!
Oh, she did win at the Semi-finals but lost the next round! Still, did so, so, great! So proud of my girl!

SHOPPING AND DINING

Spent all day today shopping for wedding dresses with my daughter and her fiance. Then this evening Rob and I took our soon to be married couple and our daughter's future in-laws out to dinner. It was our first meeting. We had a really terrific evening with them and enjoyed ourselves a great deal. They are very down to earth and easy going. We just loved them!

Our kids have are shooting for a mid-March wedding--the date is still tentative at this moment. So, we aren't going to have a ton of planning time. Ahh! Oh, who am I kidding. I was an event planner for a lot of years. We can pull this off even if we pull our hair out doing it! I always say I can accomplish anything if I can whine about it! (Prepare to be whined to for awhile! Lol!)

SHE'S LEAVING ON A JET PLANE

Actually, she alread left and got there safely. Whew! Here's to hoping she does well in her debates!

Grandpa got a real work over today in physical therapy. He was worn out and told me so the minute he walked in the door. He also told me it's helping him so I think he considers it worth it still.

Tomorrow, Sara and I are going shopping to look at wedding dresses and then tomorrow night Rob and I are going to meet the future in-laws. We are excited! Well, that's all the news for today. More later.

YOU CAN'T HOLD THEIR HANDS FOREVER . . . CAN YOU?

Julie is going on her first airplane ride tomorrow. Don't know who is more nervous, her or her mom? She is in debate this year at school and they are going to a tournament in California. They leave tomorrow and get back early next week. She is really excited. It's her first big trip of this kind and they get to go to Disneyland while they are there. I would have been so excited to do something like this when I was in high school. So, I know how she must feel. I just never realized how the parents must feel when the kids go. It's such a different perspective from this side of things. It's interesting getting the crash course in things like this, though it's beginning to come naturally. Either way, I don't like it. I was already a pretty good worrier before I had children. Now I'm a blue ribbon champ!

BTW, think she would mind if I came along in case she gets scared and wants to hold my hand?

A SHORT REPORT ON THE DAY

My husband's aunt died this past week and her funeral was today. Sara and Stephen came up from Cedar and we took them and the little kids and went to it. She was a neat lady and it was a very sweet funeral. We did the viewing before, the funeral, the cemetery and the family dinner afterward. So, it ended up being a marathon day but it was nice time spent with family who needed to connect with each other. Each family had lost a parent this year. Rob lost his Dad, these cousins lost their mom--(Rob's Dad's sister) and his other set of cousin's lost their Dad not long after Rob's Dad passed away. Only one sister remains. It's hard seeing people you care about lose their parents. I don't think it's easy at any age.

I was surprised at how good the kids were. They weren't perfect but for as long as we hauled them around they were pretty darn good.

Sorry there wasn't a blog last night. We were up talking with the newly engaged kids until 4 a.m. and I just couldn't pull one out. We had to be up early today.

Mom got a perm, a hair cut and hair set today. Dad has his physical therapy tomorrow and Friday. Everybody is doing well, we are all just exhausted.

OUR VERY GOOD, VERY BAD, VERY LONG DAY!

This morning all was going well. Carly was watching her cartoons like normal. Jonathon was eating in his highchair and watching too. I was sitting on the couch doing the same and reading my email. Carly began dancing with one of the Dora songs and twirling around. Apparently, she twirled one too many times because she lost her balance and came crashing down hard on the edge of our glass coffee table. It shocked both of us--well, probably Bubby too, but I didn't take time to look back at him. I just grabbed her and ran to the bedroom with her where Rob was. She was crying so hard. I felt so bad for her. I couldn't tell until I got to the bedroom that she had cut her head on the table.

Her cut is near her eyebrow and is only about a half inch long but is somewhat deep and it bled pretty good. Rob cleaned her cut up and bandaged it. We got her calmed down and she was so cute after that. She kept telling me "Mommy, I O.K. and I not too hurt."

We took her to the doctor and instead of putting stitches in opted for the Super Glue. It supposedly leaves less of a scar. The Dr. Super-glued it shut in no time. It closed perfectly and she only cried a little--mostly when they were cleaning and disinfecting it. They put a Snoopy band aid over it and we were done! Carly was so cute and polite with the doctor and nurse. I just love my baby girl so much! It hurt my heart to see her scared and in pain today. But there is nothing that compares to the feeling of being the one she wants to hold her when she is feeling that way. Nope. Nothing. :)


P.S. I now know I could never have been a doctor. Never could handle my Super Glue without gluing my fingers to something or at the very least having it stuck all over my fingers for days! Should of seen how smooth this doc was with his tube of S.G.--not a drop anywhere but where he wanted it. Slick as a whistle. A true professional! Lol!

P.S.S. Grandpa went for another shoulder check-up today. He has to do more exercises. Actually, I guess we are supposed to torture him a bit. In order to get the motion or movement he has to have a little help. We have to be behind him when he is laying down and pull his arm over his head to stretch his reach a bit. The Dr. wants to see him again in a month. The good news is that this shoulder is doing well enough that Dad now says that his other shoulder has become his bad shoulder. So it sounds like this was a successful surgery to him! Yay!

Well, that's all for today. Night all! N.

MY LITTLE CHERUBS

This is Carly's new Christmas dress. She wore it to church today. Julie did her hair. She put her braids up in a darling little bun. I had her take pictures so I could show you from the front, side and back. The funniest thing is I didn't notice until I was cropping the picture that both of my Cherub's were in at least two of the pictures. Can you find Waldo, er, I mean Jonathon? Lol!

JUST A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR . . .

Carly called to me from her bedrooom today while I was in the kitchen and said; "Mama, I need some medicine, I sick. "I said, "What's wrong, "Baby girl?" She said, "I cough. I need some medicine. You give me some medicine."
I said, You come in here so I can feel your forehead and see if you have a fever. I'll give you medicine if you have a fever too but not for just a cough." Then she said; I have a fever Mama, it's in your bedroom but I cough, too.

Now just to be sure I heard that right, I had her repeat that last part. Sure enough, somewhere in my bedroom Carly has a fever. I've been cleaning my bedroom this evening and I haven't run across it yet. In fact, I'm not exactly sure what a fever looks like on it's own. But if I happen to run across it, I'm gonna give it some medicine for sure! Kind of funny the things that goe through little kids heads!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Can you believe it's 2011 already? It seems like the calendar just races past these days.

We got a lot done today but spent tonight at home with the kids and Grandpa and Grandma. We ordered pizza in, had cake for dessert and drank non-alcoholic bubbly together around 10 pm after watching the ball drop in New York. I mean it's New Year's somewhere then, right?! Why wait?

But the big news rolled in around midnight. Our middle daughter Sara got engaged just before midnight to a wonderful young man we absolutely adore. We are excited for both of them and really happy to gain a son! Rob, Jonathon and Dad will be glad to add a little testosterone to the house from time to time as well! They won't feel so outnumbered! (But they still will be! Lol!)

Here are a couple of photos of Sara and Stephen on Christmas morning. Again, Happy New Year everyone! We love you!

BRRRRR, NO REALLY, BRRRRRR!

It's cccccold here! It was 18 degrees when I came home awhile ago but tomorrow it's supposed to get all the way up to 2 degrees. We never did get the 8-10 inches of snow forecasters promised. Instead we got a modest 2-3 inches and a bunch of cold air!

We braved the cold air anyway and got out and did a few things today. Dad ended up having a physical therapy appointment today. They worked on his shoulder and his legs.

I took Mom to get her hair done and then Rob and I took Mom and Dad out for dinner. We ran out of time on her birthday to go out to eat. For some reason, restaurants close early on Christmas Eve. What's up with that?! Lol! So we went out this evening and had a good time.

Just noticed a really pretty floral arrangement downstairs Mom received for her birthday. It's really gorgeous! I guess I wasn't around when it got delivered and hadn't noticed it until today. I asked her who sent it and she said the Myers family. I just have to say the Myers family have excellent taste! And thanks for being so good to my parents!

Rob has tomorrow and then the weekend left and after that he has to go back to work. It's been so great to have him home the last couple of weeks. I love vacations but hate when they have to end.

Speaking of things that are ending . . . 2010 is almost over! Can you believe it? Me neither! More later . . .

AND MORNING BROUGHT . . .

Fresh rain! Yep, more mud! Couldn't believe it? I think the forecasters have taken a break from reality. Finally around 4:00 p.m. today the white stuff started falling. It's 25 degrees now so at least the mud should be frozen. Thank goodness!

Not much going on in this in-between holiday time frame. Rob is off work and we have been enjoying his time off at home. Grandpa doesn't even have his physical therapy this week due to the staff's vacation schedules. He is feeling pretty stiff, too so I think he will be glad to get back to his regular workouts even though they tire him.

Grandma continues to take care of nearly every need Grandpa's has. Everyone should have a spouse as selfless and amazing as she is!

Well, it's a slow Wednesday. No excitement here. :/

TO SNOW OR NOT TO SNOW . . .

The weather man got the whole week of Christmas wrong. He said we were supposed to have snow everyday that week. We got rain . . . so much rain we were yucked up in mud! It was nasty.

Tonight the weatherman said for the next two and a half days we will have heavy snow. Don't know whether to believe him this time or not. I'm on the side of snow at the moment. It would warm things up a bit, I think and it would get rid of the mud for the moment. Plus, I like the way it looks--especially if I don't have to drive in it. Rob is off this week so he doesn't have to drive in it either. So all the better!

I think the weatherman needs a chance to redeem himself, don't you?

Here's the Carly funny for the day. Since Julie is home from school she let us sleep in for a bit this morning and got Carly and Jon up for us. When I woke up I opened our bedroom door and called for Julie. She didn't answer at first so I called for her a couple more times. She still didn't hear me but Carly did. Carly came running toward the bedroom and then ran back toward the kitchen where Julie was and yelled:
"Julie, You listen to Mommy! You listen to her!" Yep, that's my girl! Lol!

THE PARTY'S OVER . . .

Now what to do with all the leftovers? Our fridge is bulging with leftovers. Our guests didn't eat as much as we planned on and of course, you can't freeze everything. Sure, we could eat it all, if we want to gain 20 lbs each. I mean, not only do we have what is in the fridge but the goodies in our stockings, train candy and neighbor gifts of candy, too. I mean, someone has to eat it all. I guess we just need to draw straws and see who has to go up a size or two in clothes this year! Lol!!

Oh wait, there is still New Years. Maybe we could pawn some off on some unsuspecting New Years guests! Wanna come to a party at our house? Sure you do! C'mon over and don't forget to wear your chubby pants and bring your suspenders! Can't wait to seee you! Lol!

WATCH WHAT YOU SAY! SOMEONE MAY PICK IT UP AND USE IT AGAINST YOU! LOL!

The other day our Seventeen year old was watching Carly (our nearly three year old) and she was doing something she shouldn't have been doing. Julie started scolding her and part way through the scolding Carly tuned to Julie and said: "Julie, give it a rest!"

Hmmmm. That's a case of Mommy's words coming back to bite someone else! Hee hee hee! Why is it they always pick up the things you don't want them to repeat?! LOL!

IMAGES OF OUR CHRISTMAS TOGETHER

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We had a nice birthday party for Mom today. Susan's family came up to celebrate with us. Took Mom to get her hair done in the morning, then came home and Susan's family got here and we had lunch, then cake and presents. Then everyone hung out for awhile. We probably did a ton more but we are in a present buying/wrapping coma so we will have to give you more info later!

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful and blessed New Year!

MILESTONES, TRADITIONS AND STRENGTH

Some milestones in our lives are happy ones, some not. They all mark an important event or passage. Today we celebrated my Mom's birthday on Christmas Eve as we always have. While that is a milestone or a marker of sorts, it's not the one I'm referring to. Grandma's birthday is one of those happy markers you are grateful to come across, be reminded of and celebrate. Some milestones you reach are not as pleasant or peace-filled.

We have had a tradition in our family ever since I was a young girl that on Christmas Eve our Dad would read Twas The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore to us girls. It continued even when we left home got married and had kids. He has always read it to us. When we lived thousands of miles away he simply called each of us and our families would gather around the phone and listen to Grandpa.

A couple of our families were together today celebrating Grandma's birthday and before my sister and her family went home, I asked my Dad if he had the book with him that had the poem in it. He just looked at me and said, "I can't." Now you have to know my Dad (and most of you do), he doesn't say "I can't. I thought he was kidding around. I went back and forth with him a little about it but he said he could not make himself heard. I said "But you had voice lessons--You can! It was to no avail. When my mom came up and I told her she thought he was kidding around, too. She tried and got the same response.

When we realized he really didn't feel his voice would make it, I sat down and cried. It was a milestone in my life and his. It wasn't just a tradition lost to our family. It is my children's generation not getting to know their Grandpa in this way. It is my Dad going through one more loss--being able to control one less thing in his life--the level of his voice when he wants to. Yes, I felt sorry for my Dad and my kids and myself for a few minutes and mourned the loss of precious years of tradition with my Dad.

A few hours later my sister Sarah texted me and asked if Dad was calling soon to read the story. I picked up my phone and called her to tell her what was going on. She was sad too. She said they had been sitting around waiting for his call. We talked for a couple of minutes and then hung up. About twenty minutes later something almost effervescent happened. I got another text from my sister Sarah. It simply said: "I just called Dad and Mom and read "Twas the Night Before Christmas to Them." I wept again--this time with a very full heart for a sister who had the grace to turn the situation around and bless my Dad with the same gift he has given us for years.

I hate Parkinson's disease. It robbed my grandfather and now my father of so much of themselves and caused them both such pain and discomfort. My Dad has been through a lot in his life but all that he has gone through has made him a stronger, better, more capable and honorable person.

Thanks Dad, for your example of strength and honor and the milestones and traditions you've provided along the way. I love you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! I LOVE YOU!

It's just after 2 a.m. and I just came home from Walmart. Yippee! I am officially done with my shopping! Now, will someone remind me not to leave this till the last minute next year? This rushing at the end is no fun. I really don't mind the shopping so much but getting everything wrapped and delivered is the hard part, especially the ones you have to send by mail.

If things keep going like they have been the last couple of days, Santa is going to need his jetski not his sleigh to deliver presents here. They forecast snow for all week but delivered rain. Then of all things this afternoon a huge wave of fog rolled in. It's pretty nasty driving out there. I wouldn't want to be traveling far.

We are all excited about Grandma's birthday tomorrow. She is going to be 29 again! She looks fabulous. So much better than the first time she was 29! I mean, she didn't really have any experience being 29 the first time she did it. Now, she is terrific at it! (Me too!) Lol!

I have the best Mom! She is always there for her kids and for my Dad and always has been. We are so blessed to have her in our lives. We love you Mom! Happy Birthday!

If you get the chance, give her a call or send her a note on email or Facebook. I know she'd love to hear from you. Merry Christmas Eve!

LATE NIGHT!

It's almost three a.m. and it's officially the twenty-third of December. Rob, me and his brother Steve have been shopping, wrapping and cleaning (I've been doing the latter--cleaning carpets.) We are crazy people! We know! But for some reason we all just got going and didn't stop! Hopefully, this will allow us to have a good night's sleep tomorrow night though. Maybe we won't be wrapping until midnight.

I did finally get to the post office to mail some things today. Lol! I waited so long I outwaited the lines. Seriously, there were only four cars in the parking lot when I got there and I think two of them were employees. I couldn't believe it!

I think maybe Grandma and Grandpa have turned off the lights in their Christmas card factory. They've been up and running all month but the lights dimmed this afternoon and I think the last batch went out around four today. I think they let the elves go home early, too. Lol!

All the snow we were supposed to get this week turned into rain and the ground turned to mud. Ick! Hopefully, Santa will bring some of the white stuff with him when he comes. Well, gotta get this girl to bed. Night all.

ARE WE THERE YET?

We wore the kids out so much last night they slept until after nine this morning. Hmmm. Now how can we do that again? And again? And again? Lol?

Speaking of worn out, they worked Grandpa pretty hard at therapy today and he is really tired tonight. I do believe he is making progress though. He is in pretty good humor too lately. I think he is feeling better. :)

Grandma's birthday is on Friday. Yep, she is a Christmas Eve baby. She's the first baby my Grandma (her Mom)had in a hospital and Grandma had to stay there with her over Christmas. I guess my Grandma cried something awful to have to be away from the rest of her kids and my Grandpa on Christmas. My mom is the youngest of five kids so her mom had four kids at home she was worrying about. (I'm sure my Auntie Kaye was the one she was most concerned about at home being that she was the next youngest and only five. You know what kind of trouble those five year olds can get themselves into. Lol! :P)

Anyway, we are looking forward to celebrating with my Mom! We are so glad to have her here with us. No more long distance parties or calls! Yay! We have the best Mom ever!

Well, I only shopped for a couple of hours tonight and probably only have a couple more stores to hit. The worst thing is I haven't wrapped a single thing! Yikes! This is when you need to put in a good movie trilogy and lock yourself in a room with wrapping paper, tape and scissors! Sure hope you are ahead of me!

BTW, Here comes Santa Claus, Here comes Santa Claus . . .

TRAINS, LIGHTS, CHRISTMAS!

Tonight Rob and I and the girls and Rob's brother Steve his kids decided to take the train into SLC to see the lights at Temple square. Carly had never been on a train before and was quite excited. It was really the first time she'd ever seen Christmas lights that she can remember either. She loved them! We had to leave Jonathon at home with Grandma and Grandpa because of his breathing difficulties. Anyway, we all had a great time but we were bushed by the time we got back!

I called mom on the way home to see how she was doing with Jonathon. She had put him in bed by that time but said she didn't know who was more worn out--them or Jonathon! I was afraid of that! He may only be 16 months old but he has entered the "Terribles!" He is into everything--and catching him these days--well, let's just say you'd better have your running shoes on! Poor Grandma!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Steve, Kaden and Keelie


Julie, Nancy, Carly, Rob and Megan


(I will repost these pics later if they come out too small. They are the only versions working right now.)

CARLY HUGS SANTA

Isn't this sweet. It was kind of unbelievable. I was pretty sure she would be good until we got close to him and then have a meltdown. But she was really good all all the way through and even talked to him and gave him a hug! See, I have proof! Lol!



We just got through having a little Family Home Evening with the kids to help them understand the real meaning of Christmas. Santa is all nice and fine and he's a pretty jolly old fellow but we want them to know the Savior is real and in their lives. We want them to know He was born and that He Lived and Died for them and that their is still Hope in the world today.

We wish all of you the Peace, Hope and True Spirit of Christmas in your lives all year long--and a little bit of Santa Claus too! Love ya, Nancy and family

MOMMY, IT'S SANTA!

True enough we woke up to about two inches of snow this morning. It was beautiful, too and it wasn't really bad to get around in. It drizzled rain most of the morning and the snow all melted it the streets. We still have some on the ground though and are expecting more of it tonight.

We shopped till we dropped today(almost literally.) Luckily, I think we are finished and just in the St. Nick of time! Now for a few days of wrapping! What were we thinking??! Lol!

We took Carly to see Santa Claus today. I didn't know whether she would sit on his lap or not. We had to stand in line for about 25 minutes and she seemed pretty positive about it the whole time. She told me she wanted to ask him for candy! (Only my kid!) In fact, the only time she seemed to get upset was when I wouldn't let her cut ahead of the families in front of us.

Finally, it got to be her turn. We walked hand in hand toward Santa. She was nervous but she put one foot in front of the other. I lifted her onto his lap and she sat there and quietly answered a couple of questions and then posed for a photo. We really had to coax her to smile for the photographer but she did. Then after he took the shot Santa asked her if he could have a hug and she leaned in and gave him a hug. It was so cute I asked the photographer really quick to snap that one and he did. That's the photo we got! So cute!

I will have to post the photo tomorrow since I haven't had a chance to scan it yet and it's late. Hope you are all done with your shopping! Hee Hee Hee!

HO, HO, HO--THE SKY SAYS SNOW!!

So glad Rob and I hit the shopping lists again today because the weather forcast for the weekend is not looking so hot! In fact, it says more cold and storms are on their way! But that's okay with me. I mean it's that time of the year, right. I mean, how will Santa get in here with his sleigh if he doesn't have enough snow? I mean you have to look on the positive side of things, don't you?!

We are very close now to finishing our shopping. Yay! That would be such a great statement if I didn't have things to mail! Yep, there will be some friends enjoying their AFTER CHRISTMAS GIFTS from us! Darn. I'm just not as jolly and quick with a baby and a toddler on my heels! Hopefully, they won't mind stretching the holiday's out a few days! (Ya Gotta love me!)

Don't have much else to add to this. Grandpa had a good session with the PT people today. He's doing well and making progress. Yay!

I think I've told you before that we had to turn the lock on Carly's bedroom door around to keep her from wandering or even leaving the house when she wakes up early.
When I say turn it around I mean put it on the outside of her door because sometimes she wakes up in the middle of the night or very, very early in the morning and if we didn't lock it she would just leave her room and do whatever she likes! (We speak from experience. Gah!) Keep in mind, she's not even three yet! Mmmmm hmmmm!

So, a couple of days ago when I got her up she said "Mommy, I couldn't open my door. It was too locked!" Kids do indeed say the darndest things! By the way, I'm in love with my little girl!! Night all. :p

HERE COMES SANTA CLAUS

Rob and I started our Christmas shopping this afternoon and we stayed with it until almost ten o'clock tonight! Go ahead laugh it up! You know you still have things to get! Wow, you already got the stocking stuffers, too?! You really are organized. Gee, not us! We have a ton more to do!

Really, it's pretty bad to be starting as late as we are. We've just had so much going on it's been near impossible to get to it until now. Well, we paid for it today and we are not through yet!

It's neat to have Carly so aware of and excited about Christmas this year. She loves the Christmas tree and Santa Claus and asks daily if she can open presents even though there aren't any under the tree yet! Lol! Mostly we are excited because she is at an age where we can share the true meaning of Christmas with her and she can begin to understand there is much more to this holiday than glitter and packages.

We're excited to see Jonathon's reaction as well. This is the first year he will really be old enough to have a reaction even though he won't understand what's happening. That will be fun for us.

Well, better rest up for another run at it tomorrow. Gonna be brutal! Lol!

GRANDPA GOT RUN OVER BY A REINDEER!

O.K. not really, he just feels like he did. For some reason he is just unusually stiff. We think it was all the sitting he did on the long ride to and from Arizona. Plus, he is still pretty worn out from the trip as well. So, he's kind of in a Catch 22. He needs to get up and move around, ride his exercise bike and do his exercises to work out the stiffness but he's almost to wornout to do much of anything. He did them the whole time on the trip. He's just a bit more wasted now that he's home.
Hopefully, with another day or two of rest he will feel like getting up and moving around more.

Hey, maybe we can get Santa to bring him another energy pack. Only we will have him FedEX it--don't want to take any chances with those reindeer, you know! :]

MIRALAX ANYONE?

Dad is campaigning to be the new poster child for Miralax! In case you haven't heard of it, Miralax is the new mover of all things manure like. Okay, I'll just say it. Forget the fiber, Miralax will make you poop!

I warned my Dad three times today that if he didn't stop torturing the nurse with his Miracle Miralax poop stories I was going to blog about it. Well, I guess you can tell how well he listened to me. Seriously, there is something wrong in the jeans of my Dad's family going way back and it's either pebbles or logjams. If you do get things moving, for Heaven's sake get out of the way!! I mean, in this family you go once every week or two whether you need it or not. It's like saving up for a Vay-cation!

So in my Dad's seventy-something year he has come across the gold at the end of the rainbow and he is telling everyone he meets about it. Okay, well maybe just his health care providers. The more this little nurse blushed the more my Dad kept talking. She was nearly on the floor holding her gut snickering and still trying to type his answers into his record. Good thing I was there to counter him or they might have locked him up.

It's true what they say. When you get older, you can say anything and get away with it. I know that nurse (her name was Jenny) is telling everyone she sees about this crazy guy she saw today that was full of crap! Lol!

BUNCH O' LAZY BUMS!

Today has been a very low key day. All of us are exhausted so we have accomplished nothing besides resting, eating and resting some more. Grandma and Grandpa are especially worn out. Emphasis on Grandpa. It was a lot for him to do such a long trip after his recent surgery but he insisted on going with us. Hopefully a few days of some serious R & R will do the trick.

It is good to be back home. So, glad we didn't drive back to snowy, messy weather. Sarah and her family got home safely as well. Nothing much other than that to report today.

Now we have got to get going on Christmas for these little ones! :P

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

After almost 1,700 miles worth of driving we are home again! Yay! It is so nice to be home. It was a very long and WORTHWHILE trip! We will are all exhausted but so grateful Sarah does not have that nasty disease to deal with.

Sarah's husband and teenage son came to pick her up at our house about an hour after we got back and it was 2 1/2 hours of driving to get back to their home. I'm sure it will be awhile until any of us want to do a road trip again.

Dad did good on the trip. He is just stiff from sitting for so long. We did have him get out and walk around whenever we stopped but it was still a long way to sit in a van. He was really good about doing his exercises on the trip even going to the workout room and riding the bicycle in our hotel.

We were really lucky on our way back not to run into any bad weather. It was a little chilly but other than that it was sunny and fairly clear.

My babies were very glad to see me. Well, they were glad to see their Grandma and Grandpa too but it was especially fun to have them get excited to see their Mama.

All in all this trip turned out to be such a blessing. Thanks for sharing it with us. We love you. :)

OH HAPPY DAY! OH HAPPY DAY!

Wow, waking up this morning and realizing it wasn't all a dream made it all the better news to us that Sarah does not have Scleroderma or any other autoimmune disease for that matter. There are moments when we think we might want to strangle the rheumatologist who made the wrong diagnosis for all the months of worry and distress he put her and the rest of us through. Then we realize the relief we feel that she isn't really sick FAR outweighs and upset we have at the false diagnois! (Lucky doctor!)

Sarah is in for her last test right now. It is about ten minutes after one p.m. here on Friday. She is having an EGD or basically a scope of the Esophogus and stomach if I understand it correctly. I've had one before but I was put under for it so I'm not sure what all they look at. Anyway, as soon as she is done with that test we will take off for home. We are all checked out of our hotel and loaded. I think we are anxious enough to get home that we may try to drive straight through. That's why I am posting tomorrow's page a little early as I will not have access to the Internet on our drive.

This trip has actually been a lot of fun for all of us, I think. (Well, maybe not as much for Sarah.) We have gotten to spend a lot of time with each other just joking around and playing like we haven't in years. Just Mom, Dad and kids. All the inside jokes, teasing and fun like we used to do to each other before we all left home. Fun stuff.

Dad has been a good sport considering he does not have the mobility he would like. That has made the trip longer and probably more painful for him because of all the sitting involved. But he is doing great and we are going home much happier and more peaceful than when we started this trip.

Thanks for all your love, prayers and support. Thanks to the Mayo Clinic and their staff and especially thanks to our Father in Heaven. :)

WE GOT OUR MIRACLE!!!

Just came back from Sarah's final conference with her Mayo Dr.'s and their finding was that she DOES NOT HAVE SCLERODERMA! Nor does she have any other type of autoimmune disease, i.e. rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, etc. We are so happy and excited!! We are doing the dance of joy all over the hotel. (People are looking at us kind of funny but we don't care. Lol!) The last little while has just been so scary and worrisome. It is nice to have this huge weight off our shoulders. I'm sure it's especially nice for Sarah!

We are so grateful to our Father in Heaven who watches over us and answers our prayers! Well, just wanted to share this quick note with you as soon as I could. Can't keep the smiles off our faces today--so don't even try! LOL! :}

TESTING 1, 2, 3 . . . 15, 16, 17 . . .

Poke, prod, plow . . . Sarah is being such a good sport. It is seriously one test after another. I really am not sure what number we are on but she has had a lot of tests with more coming tomorrow and now, possibly on Friday. We were supposed to be done tomorrow. In fact, our closing consultation with our Mayo team is tomorrow afternoon but there is one test she supposedly really needs they have not been able to schedule yet. She is on a waiting list for that test and apparently it is a distasteful enough test that people often cancel it. So, we are going to stay an extra day to see if there is an opening so she can have that test.

We had a hopeful consultation with a gastroenterologist today who couldn't find much reason to suspect that Sarah had Scleroderma either. He was quick to caution us that she could still have it even though she didn't have a lot of symptoms showing but he did say if she did have it, she definitely had a mild case. We like the "misdiagnosis" diagnosis best but if that fails we will take the "mild case" diagnosis.

We have to be up really early to have Sarah over there for a procedure so I won't make this long. I will keep you posted on any news we get.

A funny aside. Last night about 2 a.m. Dad woke up, and proceeded to wake everyone else up for no apparent reason. I don't think ge was fully awake when he started talking. Mom was rather annoyed. Anyway, when he realized he'd woken everyone up and that he was in a little bit of trouble he went into this "Walton's Mountain Goodnight John-boy routine". We couldn't help but join in and laugh. It was pretty darn funny and went on for several minutes until all of us were laughing hard. Good idea Dad, when all else fails; go for humor! Lol! :)

MORE MAYO PLEASE

Sarah and I were up bright and early this morning. She had a 7:30 a.m. test at the Clinic. That was done around 8:30 a.m. and we were hopeful they had been able to pull a rabbit out of a hat and schedule some of the tests she still needed for the rest of the day. No luck! The rest of our day ended up being free. So, we came back to the hotel and got a few things done here and then a couple of us took naps. (That would be Dad and me.) Sarah and Mom read and worked on their computers.

Sarah was able to get ahold of one of the P.A.'s on her team and found out they are still trying to get a couple of the tests they really need scheduled for her. But the P.A let her know (once again) that it is near impossible. She has asked the doctor to intervene and is hoping he can pull some strings. Please say a prayer for us that she will be able to get the tests she needs. We need all the help we can get at this point.

Tonight we got out and had a nice dinner together. It was good to get out and kind of relax and not over-think things. Dad is doing well. He is catching up on his exercises and even on his rest! Mom is holding everything together like she always does.

Well, tomorrow -- more Mayo. Hopefully, they will get Sarah into the tests she needs and there will be lots more Mayo! More later. N.

THE MAYO

DAY ONE

Our first day at the Mayo Clinic proved interesting. Sarah has her own team of Dr.'s managing her case. We spent the morning in registration and a case conference which really was kind of a tag team effort to talk to Sarah and ask her detailed medical questions and evaluate her physically. They also went over her medical records and family medical history. They then sent us to scheduling who gave us a list of tests Sarah had been scheduled for and we headed to today's appointments.

So far I have to say it is not a perfect system. They scheduled her to be here from Dec. 6 to 9. Yet the tests on her schedule had dates as far out as Dec. 15 and 20th. When we mentioned that, their first response was "Can you stay for those?" Oh, yah sure! Why not? None of us have lives or children, families or jobs? And it's not like it's almost Christmas or anything. Oh, and it's not like we are living out of a hotel either?!?! GET REAL PEOPLE! HONESTLY!

When we told them we couldn't stay that long they ended up just canceling those tests because they couldn't get them rescheduled the week we are here. The area's are supposedly too busy. Hmmmm. Frustrating. Seems to me like someone needs to do something about their test scheduling problem. It's ridiculous. One of my daughter's had a friend who came down here for two weeks and ended up not coming home for three months for just this reason. I know because Megan was going to send a package with us for her and found out the day before we were leaving to come that they had finished her tests and let her go home that day. Craziness! I guess Sarah will have to get those tests done at home and send the results back to them. Geez.

Sarah has already had six tests and she hasn't been to one area where they have seemed rushed or had lots of people waiting for tests. They just seem to have so many slots and when they are full they are completely inflexible. Sounds to me like they have an "A" personality without any organizational skills in charge of scheduling.

At any rate, we really liked our doctor team and they seem to know what they are doing. We are still hoping against hope and praying hard that she had a false positive on the Scleroderma blood test. Apparently, it is possible and it is the only thing really pointing to this diagnosis. She has no other signs of it. They checked her skin and a lot of other possible markers.

They are repeating the blood test and some other tests that were done along with some new ones. So, now the waiting game begins. Well, kind of. In the meantime, we are still showing up for more tests each day. We have tests schedule each day this week thru Thurs. morning and then Thursday afternoon we have our final conference with them. Unless, of course, something changes.

I will definitely keep you posted--especially if I need to vent about something dumb!

Also, Dad is hanging in there. He is pretty darn tired. We had him stay in the hotel room today. Well, he volunteered. We did choose to change hotels today so he got out for a bit. Other than that, he has been hanging out at the hotel. He still has only one really strong limb he can count on so the wheelchair is his best friend at the moment. He does use the walker from time to time but as tired as he is from traveling we have used the wheelchair more the last few days.

Mom is doing okay. She is a rock but we worry about her. Sarah and I are going over by ourselves for her early appointment tomorrow so she can sleep in. Well, that's the news of the day. More later, N.

EVERYONE'S A COMEDIAN!

Oh my! We are a laugh riot. No kidding. Mom, Dad and I had already been letting the jokes and funny old stories fly. But once we picked Sarah up at the airport today in Phoenix things really got going. We went from smart alec comments to puns and plain old dumb humor. From there we moved to inside jokes and on to funny family stories--you know the "gotcha" kind only your family can use against you! Lol!

In our family, between the stories Dad tells of his childhood and Sarah's stories of when she worked in a nursing home after high school they can keep us laughing for quite some time. Let me give you a for instance from the latter:

This is just one thing that happened to Sarah--and it's not even one she brought up today. I remember it from the day it happened when she came home after work and told us. She had an older female patient whose hands were crippled by a stroke. The woman rang her buzzer for assistance and Sarah responded to see what she needed. The woman said "My nose itches. Will you scratch it?" Sarah said, "Sure" and proceeded to lightly scratch the woman's nose when all of the sudden the woman got a little annoyed and said, "NO, not there! Scratch it on the inside!!" Gah!!Ewwww!! Ick! Oh My!

I think we laughed more in the car today than we have in a long time. Plus, we really enjoyed being together. This is a trip we won't soon forget. It's got all the right elements - Love, laughter, people you care deeply about (family) and just enough pain to keep you present so you truly appreciate every moment of it. (Yes Dad, you can count your numb bum as part of that pain. Lol!) Love you! N. :)

ROAD TRIP UPDATE

The first leg of our road trip today took me back to my childhood in a funny sort of way. Car chatter. So funny.

All those questions: "Are we there yet?, Where are we now?, How much farther?, How many more miles?." All the complaints and whining: "I don't have enough room., I'm hungry-when are we going to stop?, Can I lay down?, I have to potty!, I want to sit in the front--No, I want to sit in the front!" And that was just Dad and Mom --I mean I was driving. I sure hope they settle down tomorrow. Talk about role reversal!

I'M KIDDING! TOTALLY KIDDING!! LOL!!!

Actually, we are having fun together. We made great time today. Dad did pretty well, even though, we know it's probably not very comfortable for him to ride this long so soon after surgery. We did have him get out and stand or walk every time we stopped though. I think that helped some. He's doing his exercises as I write.

We only have 2 hours to go tomorrow to pick Sarah up at the airport and then head to our hotel across the city. More later. :)

ROAD TRIP!

Arizona here we come . . .

Dad, Mom and I are taking off this morning (Sat.) for AZ to meet my baby sister at the Mayo Clinic. Rob and the girls are holding down the fort at home. (I'd like to be a fly on the wall.) I'm afraid Jon and Carly are going to give them a run for their money! I am going to miss them all so much! I've never left like this for a week.

Anyway, Sarah is having some tests. There is a chance she has Scleroderma and we want the Mayo Clinic to check it out. Please add Sarah to your prayer list. We are hoping and praying it is something much simpler that can be healed with treatment--or nothing at all. Also, pray that we will have a safe trip. Love to you all. N.

MY BEAUTIFUL SEVENTEEN YEAR OLD

Well, she went and did it. She turned 17 anyway, even though I told her not too. Teenagers! What are you gonna do with them! Gah!

Seriously though, Julie is one of the best teenagers around. She is so helpful, kind and loving. I am so blessed to be her mom. She is beautiful on the inside and the outside and I just want to show her off. I love you Julie! Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

SORE GRANDPA, HAPPY JULIE, SAD MOM

Grandpa went to physical therapy today and came home really sore and worn out. Luckily he only has it three days a week. I think that is so he will have a couple of days to recover in between.

Tomorrow (Thursday) is a Huge Day. One of my baby girls is turning 17. Yep, my little Julie is actually not so little anymore. I am trying to wrap my brain around it but it is proving kind of hard. Seems like only yesterday . . . Yah, well anyway. I don't like to go there. It makes me kind of sad. But, this is a Happy occasion. Julie is excited to be turning 17 and she really is a great kid! So, Happy Birthday Julie. I love you! Mom