The Howle Clan East

The Fourth Child

2010-08-11T20:37:00.001-04:00

If you are a parent of more than one child, you might have noticed that your parenting style relaxes with each child. For those of you that know me well, you know that my parenting style was a little lax to begin with, so you can only imagine what I am like with Gretchen.

With Emma, she didn’t receive a single bite of solid food (that I know of) until she was 5 months old. Then she was allowed to have cereal made with formula. Gradually, over the course of a few weeks, vegetables and fruits were added – one at a time. All the vegetables had to be tried before fruits so that she wouldn’t get hooked on sweet things. After all possible food allergies had been ruled out (at about 9 months or so) she was allowed to get little bites of real food every now and then.

Gretchen was 6 months old (new APA guidelines) when she got solids, but it was only about a week before we were feeding her off our plates.

Now I am at that point that if it will keep her happy and QUIET for a couple of minutes, she gets it….

Yep, she’s got an Oreo. They’re her favorite. I can give her an Oreo and she is quietly concentrating on her business for a good 10-15 minutes. Of course, there are consequences.

I don’t mind the mess…because sometimes she works so hard on that cookie….

…and I get an extra few minutes of peace!

What I Did Over Summer Vacation

2010-08-05T11:09:00.001-04:00

(or, Why I can’t wait for the kids to go back to school)

I will preface this post by saying that I used to be a really light sleeper. The least little noise would have me awake for hours. Now I can apparently sleep through a nuclear holocaust. I don’t know if it is my age, my medications, or just pure fatigue from having 4 kids…Jason thinks the kids know what they are doing and go into Ninja mode when they see I am still asleep.

I think I gave birth to Dennis the Menace, or maybe Phineas and Ferb. (I even have a Candace to go along with those two!) Yesterday morning I awoke to my kitchen with food all over the floor, and the freezer door wide open. Odd, since we just installed a new, higher baby gate. Given the fog that I generally wake up in, I just cleaned up the mess and fed the boys. I observed later how they got in…(they thought I wasn’t paying attention. Either that, or they just don’t care.)

Jake got a small stool from the garage, along with a couple of towels from the laundry pile. He threw the towels over the gate and set the stool in front. Then he got Grady and stood him on the stool and “helped” him over the gate, where he landed on the towels. Grady then got one of the chairs and pushed it so that it was facing the gate. Jake could now easily climb in and out of the kitchen.

I don’t know what shocks me more – Jake using Grady as his accomplice, or Jake being the mastermind (he’s supposed to be “mentally challenged”, right?)

Later that morning, I had to put them in the tub. I went back to my room to get some laundry together and get dressed, and when I returned there was 2 inches of water on the bathroom floor. They had decided to stuff half a roll of toilet paper in the toilet, and flush it. When the toilet wouldn’t eat all the paper, they kept trying…at least they apologized profusely for that stunt.

As I was cleaning up that mess, and then trying to get syrup off the living room floor (don’t ask) They once again got into the kitchen and into the locked pantry and brought a snack into the living room….

It used to be a bag of Andes candies mint chocolate chips I had used to make fudge awhile back. Now it was a Mo-Mo gravel pit/feed trough.

All of that – before noon. And all of this really isn’t out of the ordinary. A couple of weeks ago my psychotherapist remarked that she felt sorry for me, and she didn’t know how I did it. That is when you know things are bad – your shrink feels sorry for you.

Those of you that know me well know that we have tried many forms of discipline without success. Time out, spankings, reward systems, taking away favorite toys, verbal reasoning, threats….you name it. My new trick is redirection. When the boys get to be too much and I can’t handle it anymore, I put them somewhere they (usually) can only get into a minimum amount of trouble…..

I bet I have the cleanest ~~kids~~ boys in town!

Flexibility

2010-07-22T09:05:00.001-04:00

Don’t you wish you were this flexible? And yes, he is asleep…. and he does sleep like this frequently.

Let’s Build Something Together

2010-04-25T21:35:00.001-04:00

Those of you that know me well know that I love a good bargain – and how much better can you get than FREE? I was searching the internet for freebies (one of my new hobbies) when I came across the Lowe’s Build and Grow Workshops. They are every other Saturday, and the kids get an apron, goggles, building kit, and the parents get to help their kiddos build a project….all for FREE! Quality time and a cute craft? You can’t beat that!

Last weekend was the first time we went. It was actually an “off” weekend because they were doing a special project to celebrate Earth Day. I of course, forgot the camera. It was really fun - Emma and Jake built little planters with a Plexiglas front so that you can actually see the root system as your plant grows. My mom took the kids home with her to do the planting, so I don’t know how the flowers are turning out yet. (A green thumb I am not…that’s why the plants are still at Mom’s. I would probably kill them.)

After last week, we made the decision to leave Jake at home and bring the kit to him to build later. He did great at the building part, but when we went to find seeds he found the front loader and fork lift instead. (After having to defend my son to an ignorant Lowe’s employee, I thought it best to let Jake work at his own pace in familiar surroundings…and Lowe’s, if you don’t want kids playing on your equipment, don’t park it in the middle of the aisle!) The lady that is in charge of the workshops told us that she would be more than happy to send an extra kit home with us each week, so I was glad to have this time with Emma without feeling guilty for leaving Jake out.

This week’s project was more my speed – a bird feeder. Emma was very excited to get to work.

Thankfully, the holes are pre-drilled and the instructions are clear and easy to follow. Emma needed very little help, and soon she had a bird feeder!

I love these workshops for a lot of reasons – they are free, they are fun, they promote independence and a sense of accomplishment, and they are a great place to meet some new friends. Emma is quite taken with a young man named Tyler. His apron is covered in the patches that the kids receive when they complete the project – and he has a bunch more in his pocket that him mom hasn’t had a chance to sew on yet!

So, if you want to build something together, join us at Lowe’s! This weekend’s project is a really neat schoolhouse…I wonder how we are going to work it around Primary Quarterly Activity?

My Kind of Girl

2010-04-15T13:08:00.001-04:00

She doesn’t just have her eyes closed…she’s asleep. In a bubble bath. The amazing thing about this is that her two brothers were also in the tub - with squirt guns, a boat, and cups to fill with water and dump on her.

I rescued her from torture and laid her on my bed so that I could go get stuff to get her dressed. When I came back this is what I found:

A bubble bath and then a snuggly nap in the middle of the afternoon…what a life!

You Might Be A Redneck If…

2010-04-12T12:28:00.001-04:00

You go on a “camp out” in your storage shed in the backyard.

Originally, it was supposed to be all of us, but Grady did not like the air mattress one bit . (Which explains why Jason is sleeping on Care Bear sheets with a safety rail.) After Grady was settled in his crib, I volunteered to miss out on all the fun and sleep inside with the little bits.

Turns out, I didn’t miss much. The space heater didn’t come on like it was supposed to and Emma woke up around 4:30 AM and told her dad that she was cold and the camp out was over.

Now it is time to buckle down and use the shed for its intended purpose – as a receptacle for all the junk in our garage so that it can be turned into a playroom. Of course, it would be easier just to turn the shed into a playroom….hmmmm…

Hoppy Easter!

2010-04-06T11:41:00.001-04:00

We had a wonderful Easter this year! We went down to Jason’s dad and Carol’s (Mimi and Papa) house and spent the night Saturday so that we could get up and go to church with them on Sunday.

Mimi and Papa live on the St. John’s River. Literally - the river is their backyard. They have a wonderful screen porch and deck, then there is a boat dock that the kids love to run down. We ate dinner outside on Saturday evening and just sat and talked and laughed.

We woke up early Sunday to discover that the kids had done a bit of a shuffle in the night. Grady was in bed with Jason and I, Emma was on the floor next to Jason, and Jake had made his way into Mimi and Papa’s bed.

After we all tried to get a little more sleep, the kids woke up to find the Easter Bunny had made it all the way down to St. Augustine!

They were all excited to find out what the bunny had brought them – there were crayons, books, treats, and of course, eggs! Jake quickly figured out the best way to open his eggs. He shook them to make sure something was inside, and then dropped them to the floor where they cracked open to revel their contents.

After the excitement and sugar, it was difficult to get the kids ready for church, but we made it with a couple of minutes to spare. Their church is a small community church and the spirit there is so sweet. The service was wonderful, and we got to hear Mimi sing in the choir!

We tried to get some pictures of the family after church, but the kids were not so cooperative. I did manage to get a couple…

We had a fantastic lunch, and then it was time to hunt Easter Eggs. I love to find clever places to hide them – I am especially proud of the one I put in the orange tree:

Gretchen wasn’t much into hunting eggs, so she just chilled in her sun bassinet.

It had been a fun, full day, but there was still one thing Emma wanted to do, and Jason was happy to oblige.

We are so glad that Conference fell on Easter this year, and that we got to spend it with Mimi and Papa – thanks, Easter Bunny!

Rookie Mistake

2010-03-30T22:33:00.002-04:00

Jason and I haven’t been first time parents for a long time, but we are still suffering from some of our stupidity.

When we got pregnant with Emma, it was quite a surprise. We had not been planning to have children for another couple of years, so there was quite a bit of apprehension when we found out. However, the initial shock soon wore off and the shopping began.

Back then Jason and I both worked full time, so we had two incomes. We also found out we were expecting a girl right before we got our income tax rebate. So, first time parents + money + rebate money = some stupid purchases.

Things like the infant bathtub. My sister assured me I didn’t need one, but I had to have it. I think over the course of two kids I may have used it 3 times. Then there is the bottle/baby food warmer. While this did get used frequently, a cup of hot water works just as well.

I could keep on and on, but getting to my point…when I got Gretchen out of the tub the other night I reached into the vanity and grabbed what I thought was a hooded baby towel: (Even though regular towels work just as well.)

Doesn’t she just look so happy and comfortable? Well, although it may look like a hooded towel, in reality it is the stupidest purchase we made….

Yes, that is a bathrobe. For a baby. It’s cute, but have you ever tried to put clothes on a soaking wet baby? Not to mention that it only comes to her knees, so I had to use a towel anyway.

I guess I shouldn’t feel too bad – after all, baby gear is a huge industry, and there are warehouse-size stores and websites dedicated to all the stuff and fluff we “need” to properly care for an infant. Plus, I have managed not to buy the diaper wipe warmer, the microwave bottle sanitizer, the baby food processor, the video baby monitor, pacifier wipes….but I still really want one of those Bumbo chairs!

Dress Rehearsal

2010-03-28T22:41:00.002-04:00

As it does every few years, General Conference falls on Easter Sunday this year. General Conference equals watching the feed from Salt Lake in our living room, usually in pajamas. This means that us mommies that live to dress our children in adorable clothes miss the chance to find the perfect spring dress for our little girls, and to dress our boys in pastels. No problem…we’ll just do it the weekend before! (Sorry daddies – those wallets won’t get a break this time.)

Since we are usually in our own ward on Easter, this year we decided to go to church with Jason’s dad and stepmom in St. Augustine. Today we celebrated Easter with my parents.

I dressed up the kids in their spring finery and we went to church. We discovered that although Grady’s shirt and sweater vest fit perfectly, the scrawny little thing’s shorts are waaaay to big. Guess I need to pin them before next week.

After church, we went to my mom and dad’s house and the kids found a surprise waiting for them:

There were three little baskets sitting there and a trail of eggs that lead to their Easter gift from Nina and Papa – a “gift certificate” to ride the hamster balls at the mall.

I love that in the note, my mom instructed them not to push and shove, and that it didn’t matter how many eggs they found. I wonder who she might of had in mind when she included that line….

After a wonderful breakfast that mom and I cooked together, Jake and Emma went in the backyard to hunt the eggs again. I put some in really obvious places for Jake, but I made Emma work for them – most of hers were above her head.

The kids had so much fun that I told them to have Nina help them hide eggs and then Jason and I would go hunting. There was some trash talking, but I won by default. Jake decided not to hide his eggs, so his (full) basket was sitting by the slide. Jason picked it up and declared himself the winner. I call that cheating!

Once all the eggs had been found (or claimed), Jason came up with the greatest game EVER. The rules are simple: pelt the children with plastic eggs, which they can throw back and (try) to hit you with. I think I am going to have to keep some eggs around the house…I got some aggression out, and they thought it was hysterical fun!

Unfortunately, the rain came and ended our fun. Meanwhile, Grady and Gretchen finally woke up from their naps and I was able to get a few pictures of my littlest Easter egg:

It took a couple of tries to get a good one, and as you can tell she wasn’t really into it:

I do love that picture. Some of my favorite pictures of my kids are the ones when their true feelings and personalities shine through!

As far as dress rehearsals go, this one was great - and I really can’t wait to teach Mimi and Papa our new game!

I think I need…

2010-03-22T11:18:00.001-04:00

A bigger bathtub! It’s getting kind of crowded in there!

All Aboard!

2010-03-20T21:15:00.003-04:00

Even though Jake’s birthday was last weekend, his party was today. Jake has the honor of sharing his birthday with one of his friends, so they swap weekends for thier parties!

Jake is obsessed with his Mo-Mos. (That is a whole other post…) Suffice to say that they are little train people, so his theme this year was trains. We had his party at the Main Street park in Middleburg, and he was lucky enough to share his day with a whole ton of family and friends.

Be sure to click on all the little pictures!

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To all our friends that couldn't be there due to illness, baseball games, soccer games, and family trips...we missed you! Although we had a great time, it just wasn't the same without you!

Why the Tooth Fairy has skipped our house

2010-03-18T17:21:00.001-04:00

Recently I got wondering when Emma was going to start loosing teeth. Most all of her peers have lost at least one tooth, some of them two or three. Then she came home from Nina’s house one day and my mom asked “Have you looked at her teeth lately?” Guess I should do more checks after teeth brushing because this is what I found:

Good heavens! Where did those come from? When did those come from? I asked Emma how long she had had extra teeth. She said she never noticed them. I guess I can’t feel too guilty for not seeing them, considering they are in her mouth and she never felt them.

We had a friend of ours (who is a dental assistant) take a look at them, and she assures us while it isn’t exactly normal, its common. However, the new teeth usually come in close enough behind the baby teeth that they make the baby teeth fall out. In Emma’s case, the new teeth are far enough back that the baby teeth are going to have to be pulled – just don’t tell her that!

Did I mention that she is so scared and uncooperative with dentist that she has to go completely under anesthesia before the dentist will touch her? I sure hope she has matured in the last year and a half…I don’t think any of us is ready to go through that again!

***I wrote this post as a draft a couple of months ago. Today, Emma went to the dentist. She was spectacular! No whining, no fussing, no complaining. Her new dentist told me that the office I had taken her to previously over-uses IV sedation. I guess that is why you always need a second opinion. I was right about those “shark teeth” – they have to come out, but so do the two on either side. She goes back on April 19th…I hope she is as well behaved as she was today! (Wish us both luck.)

Daddy’s Traveling Companions

2010-03-08T22:48:00.001-05:00

     As part of Jason’s new position, he has to travel to all the stores in his district at least once a month. This means that twice a month he has to go out of town, once to Tallahassee, and once to the Daytona/Melbourne area.

   Even though he is only gone for one night at a time, we miss him terribly! Jake and the little bits don’t notice too much, but Emma and I have created our own ways of dealing with his absence. I have him give me a blessing of comfort and strength the night before he leaves, and I try to go out to dinner with a friend and her kiddos the night he is gone. Emma sends friends to travel with Daddy.

Emma is the sweetest little girl. She is always bringing me her toys to cheer me up when I am feeling down, and when he first started going out of town she would send some of her stuffed animals to keep him company, and to remember her by. This evolved into her sending Pet Shops.

She has about a thousand (it seems) of these things, and the night before he goes, he asks her to pick out some new friends. She is always very careful about her choices, and then sits down with Jason and gives him detailed care instructions.   This week he has the mouse, who is a baby. Because she is a baby, she needs to be bathed three times a day (the zebra can help with this task). Zebra, who is a frequent traveler, has a hurt hoof, and will probably sleep most of the time. She also makes sure that they have everything he needs to properly care for them.

   They each have their own bed, food, and yes, that is a litter box. The baby mouse has her lovey, and in case they get bored Emma sends something for them to play with.



The first few times he went, the pets had to survive at the bottom of Jason’s suitcase, but now they have their own method of conveyance. Emma picked this out for her Daddy for Christmas. Now they travel in style!

    I love how serious Jason is about his traveling friends. He always he makes sure that he gets new ones before he leaves, and he makes sure that he has their care instructions correct.

   I am glad that Emma has this way to help her not miss her Daddy so much in the short time he is away from us, and I am really glad to know that Jason isn’t lonely on the road!

Priceless

2010-03-05T23:43:00.001-05:00

I am sure that by now you might have noticed that I have a new picture of my babies to head the blog. Eternal gratitude to my very talented friend Katheryn for taking it, which brings me to the subject of this post.

When the cousins arrived in town, Kendra and I didn’t want to miss the chance to get a picture of all of them together. We should have known that the photo shoot was not going to go well after the shopping trip to pick out the wardrobe. (Kendra and I had taken Jake, Owen, Grady and Gretchen to Target. We were chasing at least one boy through the store at all times. Kendra called it a success because the authorities were not called in.)

Even though we have identical cameras, Katheryn is a master behind the lens. She manages to capture personalities as well as great smiles. If Mandi (another talented friend) ever opens her wedding planning business, Katheryn needs to take the pictures.

The girls were perfect subjects:

The boys, not so much:

Then we tried to take them outside and get a group shot. Either Grady was whining, Owen crying, or Jake refusing to look at the camera. I actually love the shots that she got, because I laugh every time I look at them. This is one of my favorites – just look at Jake’s frown!

Then he decided he didn’t want anyone to see him, but just look at him peeking out to make sure we were all still paying attention…

Once it became obvious that the boys had had enough, Katheryn started taking individual portraits. Once again, the girls were ready to go, but our sons just wanted to play. No matter – she captured all of them perfectly!

But out of all of them, this is my very favorite:

The sweetest part? Emma wasn’t posing. This is a cropped portion of one of the pictures where none of the kids were paying attention…

One dress, five shirts, and three headbands: $50.

Photographer: $4 (payment in the form of homemade baked goods)

Capturing all the smiles, frowns, love and beauty of family: Priceless.

(Thanks Katheryn.)

Homecoming

2010-03-03T18:16:00.001-05:00

As for the last 8 weeks, all I’ll say is 4 kids + no sleep = no blog.

After 17 of the longest days of my life, we were finally able to bring Gretchen home from the NICU. It was a a different kind of celebration than when we brought Jakers home. Back then, we realized that we had only completed the first of what we thought were going to be many hospital stays. Thankfully, he has proved to be a healthy little guy! With Gretchen, we know there will be more doctors visits than with a full term baby, but hopefully the worst is over!

We didn’t know we were going to be able to bring her home until that morning. Her nurse called to tell us she had passed her car seat test, hearing test, and had finally taken all her feedings. I quickly called Jason to get him home, Misty to pick Emma up at school, and my mom to come babysit.

Once we arrived in the NICU, one of the other moms spotted me and asked if she could come see Gretchen. Her son’s isolette was right in front of the nurse’s station, and she said that all the nurses always talked about how beautiful Gretchen is and they all fought over who got assigned to be her nurse for the day!

It was finally time to get her dressed and ready to go. I had ordered some preemie tights, but they proved to be way too big.

So we just went with her booties instead and made sure she was well snuggled in her car seat before we made the momentous journey to the outside world.

The most fun about bringing her home was that we didn’t tell Emma – just walked in the door with her little sister and surprised her!

Do you see the tears in her eyes? I think she was a little excited. Gretchen big brothers were just as happy. Emma had met her though the window at the NICU, but the boys had never even seen her except in pictures. We were giving Emma and Jake turns to hold her when Grady held his arms to hold her. He had never asked to hold anything before! (Except grunting and pointing, which I don’t count.)

I think it is safe to say that she is a well-loved little girl! Emma has been a phenomenal big sister, feeding, loving, rocking, holding, and even changing her baby. Jake has even done his share of carrying and holding – more than I would like! Grady just asks to see her and then pats her little head. I personally think that he remembers her from their time together before, and is periodically making sure she is really here on this side of the veil.

We are all so glad this little spirit chose us to be her family, and that now the Howle family is complete!

Twas the night before Christmas

2009-12-24T22:21:00.001-05:00

Twas the night before Christmas, and in each isolette
Little creatures were squirming and getting all set;
Machinery sat by their bedsides with care,
In hopes that good breathing skills soon would be there.
Day shifters were home all snug in their beds,
As visions of overtime danced in their heads;
While preemies on ventilators, and some on CPAP,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap...
When out in the hall there arose such a clatter,
The residents woke up to see what was the matter.
Away from the sink I flew like a jet
To make sure all was well at my baby's isolette.
Some bilirubin lights with their powerful glow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to babies below,
When, there before my wondering eyes, it would seem,
Was an oversized stroller and a medical team.
With a handful of needles with which they could stick you,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nicu.
More rapid than eagles his specialists came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
"Now, Nurses! Now, Residents! Now, Neonatologists!
On, Social Workers! On, Respiratory and Occupational Therapists!
From the front of the unit! To the end of the hall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"
Up to each baby's cribside they flew,
With the stroller full of toys, and St. Nicu too.
And then, in a twinkling, they stopped at each bed
And tucked in the babies and got them all fed.
As I looked at my baby, and was turning around,
Down our aisle St. Nicu came with a bound.
He was dressed in red scrubs, and I could instantly tell
That his clothes had an obvious hospital smell;
A bag of stuffed animals was flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
A little red pen he held tight in his teeth,
And a stethoscope encircled his neck like a wreath.
He was chubby and plump, with a few extra pounds,
And I laughed when I saw him there doing his rounds.
A turn of his clipboard and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke few words, but came straight to my side,
And running down his face was a tear he had cried.
And laying his hand on the back of my head,
He gave me a nod, and slowly he said:
"Each night you come here you're aware of the danger,
But your baby is loved by the One in the manger."
Then the medical team gave a thumbs-up and smiled
And St. Nicu placed an animal next to my child.
But I heard him exclaim, as they rolled out of sight,
"Merry Christmas, tiny baby, and have a wonderful night!

I have so many other pictures of Jake, Emma, and Grady hanging stockings and getting ready for Santa, but I really wanted to share this poem I found. I guess the Christmas post will have to do double duty.

Gretchen is holding her own, we will get an update posted soon. Keep praying for us, and hopefully she’ll be home by New Years.

Sweet Sunday Surprise

2009-12-20T20:33:00.001-05:00

My day did not start our well at all, but it sure finished sweet. About 4 AM, my sleep deprived mind snapped and I had a little bit of a breakdown. Being pregnant, pumped full of IV fluids, fetal monitors strapped to my tummy and trying to sleep in an unfamiliar bed finally took its toll. Thankfully my wonderful doctor decided that I needed rest more than anything and disconnected all the monitors and IV fluids and I was able to sleep for a couple of hours.

I was awoken to the news that my lab work was improving, and if the numbers were the same on Monday the decision to induce labor was even less clear. The question of sending me home came up, but they still couldn’t guarantee that I would be home for Christmas. So once again, my condition was “clear as mud” – but getting murkier.

I got up to use the potty and everything changed. I won’t go into details for the fainter of tummy, but let’s just say it was obvious something was wrong. My nurse checked me and I had gone to 4 cm, so she called in Dr. Greenhaw. The pitocin was started and epidural ordered….things progressed quickly. I went from 4cm to 7cm in 45 minutes. All that time I was frantically calling Jason, who had taken the kids to church. I finally got a hold of Brother Jackson on the church phone line, who had the fun job of finding Jason and telling him the news.

After a very easy (and short!) labor, Gretchen made her way into this world screaming like a banshee at 3:05 PM. She is 6 lbs, 2oz, and 19.5 inches long. Quite the big girl for 34 weeks and 6 days – I shudder to think how big she would have been if I went full term! She is breathing on her own, and has some minor preemie issues so she is in the NICU, we hope not for too long. The neonatologist said maybe by Christmas.

I forgot to put the memory card back into the camera after downloading pictures last night, so all the great shots Jason took of her being cleaned up, weighed, and measured don’t exist. Thankfully they let him follow them to the NICU and he was able to get some there.

We both thank all of you for your prayers, well wishes, offers of meals once we get home, and babysitting! Without our extended family this would have been so much harder. We can’t wait to get her home so we can share this tiny Christmas miracle with all of you.

Family Field Trip

2009-12-19T21:47:00.001-05:00

Since I have some catching up to do, I figure I might as well start with the more recent events, since they are still “fresh” in my mind…

Last weekend we took the kids on a surprise trip to Gainesville. We didn’t tell them where or why we were going, just piled them in the car. Why Gainesville, you might ask? Because that’s the nearest Macy’s.

It all started when Emma wrote her letter to Santa. She mentioned how neat it would be to drop it in the big red mailbox at Macy’s just like in the commercial. I thought the closest one was Orlando, but thankfully I was wrong! I told Jason (World’s Greatest Daddy) about Emma’s wish and he was all for it.

So Saturday morning we loaded up and drove down to Macy’s. We had to make one stop to photocopy Emma’s letter – thankfully Jason knew a place ; ) We pulled into the parking lot and I asked Emma if she knew where she was…I told her “ ‘Yes, Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus’ ”. She said “Moooom, that’s from the Macy’s commercial with the Santa mailbox.” Then she yelled, “We’re at Macy’s! The big red mailbox!” It was all we could do to get keep her buckled in until we got the car parked. Thankfully the mailbox was right inside the door, so they didn’t have to wait long to mail their letters to Santa.

After we mailed our letters we had some lunch at the food court…It was so crazy busy! I remarked to Jason that I couldn’t remember the last time I had been at a mall on a Saturday…he responded with “let alone in December!” After lunch we took the kids to play on the playground – they had such a great time running, squealing, climbing, and carrying on that Jason and I were happy to just sit back and watch them play.

The kids hated to leave the mall, but we had one more surprise for them…but that will just have to wait until next time!

Slacker

2009-12-19T19:37:00.001-05:00

Yep, that’s me. I could use the excuse that I have been really busy, but I know all my other mommy friends have been just as (if not) busier than me. I could use the excuse that I haven’t been feeling up to par, but since the whole swine flu thing I’ve been off my game and still managed to post a couple of times. The only excuse I have this time is I’m lazy, and forgetful. Every time I powered up the computer to start blogging I would think of another website I needed to check, or an email I needed to return, or some other thing and before I knew it the laptop was turned off and I had (again) forgotten to post anything.

Well, no excuses this time. I am currently attached to a hospital bed by no less than 4 tethers (fetal heart monitor, contraction monitor, BP cuff, and IV)…and I will be until they decide to deliver this baby. I have been given a chance to catch up.

I am currently 34 weeks and 5 days pregnant. I am also having runs of high blood pressure that is breaking through the medication, and labs that slightly indicate pre-eclampsia. It is too dangerous to send me home – the condition could worsen to a coma stage in less than an hour without constant monitoring and medications. My doctor consulted with my high risk doctor last night and agreed that my course of treatment was “clear as mud”. If I were 36 weeks, they would have already delivered Gretchen, but only being 34.5…they need to wait. If my blood pressure continues to rise, or if the protein markers in my lab work increase, or if I go into labor naturally (which could happen, I am 3cm dilated) they will deliver. If not, they will consider delivering Monday, when I roll over to 35 weeks.

I can understand the caution, but if they don’t induce Monday, I will probably be here for Christmas. This especially upsets me because of the visitation rules – due to flu risks, no children under five are allowed to visit. We could bring Christmas here, but not without my whole family. It has barely been 24 hours, and already I am missing them like crazy.

At least I get to see Emma. She prepared for her visit! She made me a craft (with a little help) and picked out flowers:

And she brought me friends to keep me company:

I love the beds she created for them in my bedside table.

I am trying to be a trooper through all of this, but I miss my family and I hate all the Christmas things I am missing like the ward party, “Christmas” sacrament meeting, baking cookies with the kids, Christmas lights, and all that fun stuff. I keep telling myself that this is all happening for a reason, and it is all the will of Heavenly Father. I am just not good at accepting trials with grace! I have been shown many times though…

Ye can not behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation. For after much tribulation come the blessings. (Doctrine & Covenants 58: 3&4)

This is but a small bit of tribulation in the grand scheme of eternity, and enough of me complaining. Just say a prayer for us and hopefully I’ll (and Gretchen) be home for Christmas.

In the meantime, check back often. I just might go backwards and catch up on all the year’s excitement I never posted!

Kiddo Pride, Part 1

2009-11-10T15:07:00.001-05:00

Last Thursday I broke the rules, and I paid for it. I think I set myself back a day or two, but it was so worth it.

Halloween Friday Emma not only came home with a perfect report card, but a note stating that she was going to receive an award. The assembly was last Thursday morning, and even though I was on bed rest, I wasn’t going to miss it.

Of course, I forgot my camera. I blame the medications. Thankfully, Ms. Miskowski (Emma’s wonderful librarian) was kind enough to let me borrow hers and then email me the pictures.

I really enjoyed the program. All the children were so cute and so proud of themselves, which they well deserved! Each of the teachers gave out two awards for math, two for reading, two for citizenship, and then perfect attendance. Guess which one Emma got?

I love that Mrs. Taylor gets down on the children’s level every time she takes pictures with them – she is just the best!

We are so proud of Emma for everything she has accomplished this year – she has overcome her stage fright, you can actually read what she writes now, she has started the gifted program at school, and she has continued to astound us with her reading progress. Her math is improving, and she is even making strides in PE – not her best subject, but she tries!

I know pride is a sin, but all of my kiddos are a constant source for Jason and I. Even Heavenly Father said repeatedly, “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.” If we can’t follow His example of parental love, whose can we?

Quality Time

2009-11-05T20:38:00.001-05:00

First swine flu, now viral bronchitis. Some days I think I am a walking petri dish. Unlike my last illness, this time around my breathing is so labored that I have to do breathing treatments. It wouldn’t be bad, but the medication raises my already borderline blood pressure. This means that after the treatment I have to stay in bed so I don’t start having contractions and go into preterm labor. I just keep telling myself how much worse it could be. I am thankful that I am doing bed rest in my own bed, and not at the hospital!

However, there is always an upside….with Mommy on bed rest and being so sick lately, the kids have found new ways to spend time with me:

They love when I have to do my breathing treatments, because the mist makes me look like I can breathe fire. I thought Jake might avoid me during these times, because he had to do so many breathing treatments when he was little (hence the extra masks – the one Jake is wearing is actually a dragon.) He seems to forget how much he hated it. He even insisted that Grady join in.

After a few minutes, my wild things decided that Daddy needed to have some fun, too.

This is a game Emma invented called “Lion Pounce”. It involves jumping on someone from behind – when they aren’t expecting it. Her prey is usually her littlest brother, who seems to find it fun. I hope she is a lot more gentle with him than she is with her daddy.

As much as I enjoy these little moments, I am looking forward being able get around the house and spend more time in the living areas with my sweet family…I am just glad that right now they are coming to me!

Happy Halloween x4

2009-11-01T20:52:00.001-05:00

So how many times did you get to celebrate Halloween this year? Not counting an adult party that Jason and I went to, we did it 4 times.

The first was over a week ago, when we went to Trunk or Treat at Jason’s mom’s ward. It was a good run-thru to make sure all the parts of the costumes fit and how Grady was going to do in his Minnesota-winter Dalmatian costume.

Our next celebration was Trunk or Treat at our ward. In my opinion, this is our real Halloween celebration. We get to visit with all of our friends, see all the kids dressed up so cute, and we know any candy the kids collect is safe.

This year, we actually had a theme in the family - Jakers was a firefighter and Grady was a Dalmatian. Emma chose to be a veterinarian. (In case the dog got hurt.) Even our stroller got into the spirit and dressed up as a fire truck.

The kids had a great time playing games, and it turns out that Emma and Jake both had great aim – they made it through the clown and into the toilet!

Grady seemed to have a great time just relaxing in the stroller and sampling the candy.

The third celebration was actually two separate parties – Emma had a “Storybook Character” parade at school and Jake class went trick or treating at the office complex that is attached to the school. Well, Jake’s class went trick or treating. Jake, not so much….

Even though it was Jake’s turn to have Mommy at school, I guess he might have been better off without me.

Emma got to have Grady and Nina though, so she wasn’t too upset. At least I was able to get her ready for school before passing her off.

I love that Emma’s teacher dressed up like the Cat in the Hat! By the way – look closely and you might spot someone you know in this shot!

Finally Saturday arrived and with it the big day. Unfortunately, so did a sinus infection. I woke up just miserable, and after a long phone call to my OB, it was decided that because of my drug allergies and the baby, there were no antibiotics that were safe to prescribe. Instead, I got fluids and bed rest. I couldn’t take my babies trick or treating!

Thankfully, they have a great daddy that was brave enough to take them. Well, he got lucky and only had to take Emma and Grady. Jake wasn’t feeling well and refused to even look at his costume, so the two of us sat on the couch, ate pizza, and watched TV.

It certainly didn’t turn out to be the Halloween I had in mind, but it was sweet time for Jakers and I, and Emma got Daddy pretty much to herself. As for Grady, he sat quietly in the stroller and collected candy – and he didn’t melt in his costume.

Emma’s New View

2009-10-30T15:58:00.001-04:00

It certainly has been a momentous week around here, and today was no exception.

A couple of weeks ago Emma told me that she thought she needed glasses. Why? Because her friend Bailey has glasses. (This is really the reason she gave me. I can not make this stuff up.) Even though I thought this was a silly reason, our new vision insurance is only $10 for an exam so I made the appointment. Not to mention that she has had eye surgery twice – when she was 13 months, and again when she was four. And the fact that nearly everyone on both sides of her family tree wear glasses. My eyes were so bad – even with contacts – that I had Lasik done a couple of years ago.

Once again, it has been proven that my six-year-old is smarter than I am…she needed glasses. Her prescription is very slight, but on top of her near-sightedness, she has an astigmatism.

She was so happy! Watching her try on frame after frame was hard for me. When I got glasses I was teased unmercifully. I don’t want anybody to hurt my baby girl! Of course, I was 13, and that is an evil age. Hopefully six-year olds are more accommodating, and Emma has a stronger sense of self than I did. Anyway, she finally settled on a pair, and we went home where I was questioned everyday if her glasses had come in.

Today was the day. She is so proud of her new look, and she reports that she can see better. She seems to be adjusting to them very well, except taking them off to polish them every hour. I think it will take me a little longer to get used to seeing her in glasses, but she just looks even cuter than she did before, and if it is possible, those big brown eyes are even bigger!

We had some celebratory pizza for lunch, then she showed her new look to all her stuffed animals and doll friends. What a big day for my precious little girl!

Coppergate’s Open (& Crowded) House

2009-10-29T21:07:00.001-04:00

What a night for the Howles!

After spending last night in Labor & Delivery (just really bad pain & pressure, no pre-term labor yet, thank heavens) the last thing I really felt up to doing was going to Open House at Coppergate. I know, Bad Mommy. But there was no way I was going to disappoint my little girl, so we pawned Grady off on my mom and headed to school.

As usual, we had a wonderful time. I have been in Emma’s classroom a few times, but this was Jake’s first visit and she wanted to show him everything. It was so cute to watch her with him – she is the best big sister!

She is having a super year in school, I think it has a lot do with how much she loves her teacher Mrs. Taylor and her friends.

After we visited her classroom we had to fight the throngs of people to get to the cafeteria where were treated to a little patriotic concert. I am glad so many parents attended, but I almost passed out in the hallway. No problems, though – Emma made it well worth the crushing as once again our girl overcame her stage fright. We can’t be more proud of her!

Jake was also a source of pride tonight. This was the first time we have taken Jakers to an “unfamiliar” place without a stroller. He was such a big boy and behaved so well! He loved watching his big sister perform as much as we did:

I am so proud of both my “big” babies – I can’t believe how much they have accomplished in just the last couple of months.

She started it!

2009-10-26T20:55:00.002-04:00

Okay, Kim. This one is your fault. ;)

First our friends the Jarvis family posted their Monster Mash. Then the Shaws. Jake laughed so hard I had to make one for us. I am not as adept at pasting the faces as my friends, but it made Jake howl. (no pun intended) I think he watched it about four times in a row, and three more times before bed. Emma however, is not amused.

So my challenge to all of you is to go make one of your family. Even if you don’t have five people you can use your pets, or Jib Jab has a ton of celebrity faces. So let’s see those monsters!

I couldn’t manage to imbed the video in my post, so this is only part one - so please scroll down to see my monsters!

2009-10-26T20:51:00.001-04:00

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Primary Program

2009-10-25T21:07:00.001-04:00

Even though Emma is six years old, and has been in Primary for three years, today was her first Primary Program.

People don’t believe me when I tell them how shy she is. Emma shy?! As outgoing as she is, Emma has a terrible case of stage fright. She generally won’t get up in front of anybody to do anything unless they are family.

Emma’s first program she got up on the stand with her class and sat. She didn’t sing, she didn’t her part, I don’t think she even made it through the whole time. Her second program she didn’t even get up on the stand. Today she shined.

The program started with the children walking from the back of the church up to the stand while singing “I am a Builder”. The primary theme this year is My Eternal Family, and each child had a small part to recite about the roles they fulfill in building their eternal families. After they said their part, they went over to a very large house (that I think our bishop built) and added their family’s brick to the house.

Emma sang all the songs, and she had her part memorized:

“Each member of a family has important jobs. I like to help take care of my little brothers.”

After all the songs had been sung, and all the children had put their family bricks in the house, our sweet primary president called the names of each child or set of siblings, and when she did the family of those children in the congregation stood up. It was one of the simplest, most moving things I have ever seen. And as if that weren’t enough to get me teary, then our Bishop shared a few thoughts, and at one point he turned to the children and spoke to them. The program closed with first the children then the rest of the ward singing “Families are Forever”

In all our years of going to church, I can honestly say this was the most wonderful Primary program I have ever seen. Thanks so much to our wonderful presidency for working so hard to put it together, and to Emma’s teachers for encouraging her. But mostly, thanks so much to Emma, who practiced so hard and made Mommy so proud today.

Grady’s Grand Adventure

2009-10-22T15:56:00.001-04:00

The hardest thing about having three babies so close together is finding time and special things to do with them one on one. That is one of the main reasons I am a Girl Scout leader, so Emma and I have that time.

So far, Grady’s big adventures with mommy have been trips to Wal-Mart, and if he is really lucky, we might make it to Target. But today was Grady’s big day. We went to the Zoo!

We met up with our playgroup outside the main gate, and then it was time to have some fun!

This is Grady’s view of the zoo most of the time. Between chasing Emma and Jake, our quiet little man usually gets left in the stroller, but today I was able to get him out and let him play.

It was a great day to be at the zoo, too. Not only was the weather beautiful, but the zoo was decked out in all its Halloween splendor. There were plenty of great spots to take pictures!

He had a great time hangin’ with his friends….

Going down the slide (with some help from Mandi)…

And feeding the giraffes! (Thanks, Katheryn for taking such great pictures.)

It was a day FULL of what we call “Grady Grins”

He was so worn out that after lunch (and a much needed change of clothes) there was only one picture left to take…..

Poor little man fell asleep while I was loading the stroller in the van….Thanks so much to all of our friends that shared this great day with us - I think the cornfield is next!

Girls Gone Wild

2009-10-21T20:48:00.001-04:00

Okay, Girl Scouts gone wild. Last Saturday was the Daisy/Brownie Sock Hop for the Black Creek Service Unit. I really wish all of you could have been there to see for yourself how ADORABLE a bunch of 5-7 year olds dancing in poodle skirts really is.

If there had been an award for the best dressed troop, our girls would have won hands down. Not only were they the only matching troop, they were just stinkin’ cute.

Once they went inside, they made ice cream sundaes and then played some games.

Emma, being Emma, wasn’t much into participating. I had to force her to at least stand with her troop on the dance floor. When it came time to do the Casper Shuffle, she just stood there, so my fat pregnant butt had to get out on the dance floor with her. She wasn’t happy about it, but I physically “slid” her to the left, and made her hop, or cha-cha real slow…..

At some point she realized she wasn’t going to win and started having fun. It also helped that she found a friend from Kindergarten that had moved to a new school. Soon they were doing the YMCA and they made up a dance Emma called '”push apart, bridge together.”

I might be pretty biased, but I think my bobby soxer was the cutest pink poodle ever…

Oh, and in case you are wondering…yes, I had to go in costume as well. However, a pregnant bobby soxers are no where near as cute. (But little brothers are!)

Power cords, Poodle skirts, and Swine Flu

2009-10-18T20:15:00.001-04:00

It seems that I have trouble keeping up with the family blog. I knew when I started it that I wouldn’t be able to post every day, so I set a goal to post at least three times a week, then it went to once a week. Its not that my family doesn’t do a hundred crazy things a day to share, or that I don’t have pictures to go with them…its that every time I go to sit down with the computer there is another “crisis”…I’m wondering if once the new one comes I should set my goal for once a month.

Anyway, I do have a couple of good reasons why it has been so long. First, the power cord to our computer went bad and when we contacted HP they said it would only take 48-72 hours for a new one to arrive on our doorstep. It took two weeks, with me calling DAILY to remind them I still haven’t gotten my cord. Some of the excuses were great.

Secondly, I had to make 6 poodle skirts. That’s right, 6. Emma’s Daisy Scout troop was invited to participate in a Brownie-Daisy Sock Hop that was being sponsored by a Cadette troop in our area. Our troop leader thought it would be cute if all our girls matched for the event, and she had a simple skirt she thought we could make at one of our meetings. It was a simple skirt, but not simple enough for mommies that don’t sew to complete in an hour’s time. So I created a pattern, an my mom and I cut out the skirts and I sewed the waistbands on. At the meeting, the moms would have to thread the elastic and then my mom would run the finishing seams. The girls added the poodles and such. They all looked so cute!

And lastly, my family has seemed to stay sick for the last few weeks. First is was the stomach flu. Emma started it, and then she was kind enough to share it with the rest of us. The worst part was waking up so sick to my stomach, only to find Jakers next to me in bed getting sick. Poor Jason had to drive home from Gainesville to take care of us, only to get it himself the next day. Grady was kind enough to wait until I was fully recovered before getting it himself.

Then my saga began. By that following weekend, I was not feeling up to par. I was really tired, and my allergies were horrid. I just contributed it to the pregnancy, but by Thursday I was getting really short of breath and even more fatigued. I woke up Friday barely able to move air. By early afternoon, I was panting after speaking or just walking from room to room. I called my OB, who gave me the choice of going to a walk in clinic or ER (since the office is closed Friday afternoon.) Due to our terrible insurance, we chose Solantic. They ran a couple of tests (that were negative) and then sent me to the ER because of the baby.

We spent all Friday night in the ER. They had me hooked up to machines and ran more tests. They also didn’t want to do x-rays or MRIs because of the baby. The doc said she was pretty sure (pretty sure!?) I didn’t have a pulmonary embolism because of the sound of my cough, but to come back if my breathing got any worse. They gave me antibiotics in case of bronchitis or pneumonia, and Tamiflu for swine flu. Then they discharged me from the ER and admitted me to labor and delivery to monitor the baby for an hour (Even though I had not had any contractions, and the fetal heart tones had been perfect) I just can’t wait to get that bill.

Monday I was supposed to check in with my OB. I called and talked to one of the nurses and she said that because I had been on the antibiotics for three days with no improvement, it was Swine Flu. She said the Tamiflu takes a little longer to work, but I should be feeling better by mid week. I had to stay quarantined to the house until Thursday (3 days post treatment) But as long as I didn’t get any more fevers I was good to go. She was right. I felt much better by Wednesday, and back to my old self by the weekend – just in time for the Sock Hop, Halloween party, and Primary program practice. (I think I see some future posts there…)

It’s the little things in life…

2009-09-08T21:34:00.001-04:00

One morning last week, after making one of my tri-weekly trips to Wal-Mart, I heard Grady just chortling away in his car seat. I hadn’t backed out of my parking space yet, so I turned around to look and this is what I saw:

He would laugh and then get really quiet and just stare. I couldn’t imagine what would be so intriguing in the Wal-mart parking lot, even to a baby. So I looked around and had to laugh myself…

It was straight out of a Hitchcock movie…they just kept coming and coming. If you look closely you can see the popcorn someone had left in the upper basket.

We watched those birds and laughed together for a good five minutes. It was a bright spot on what had started off a crummy morning. I just hope I didn’t upset whoever was waiting on my parking space!

Thank Heaven for Libraries!

2009-09-03T17:27:00.001-04:00

As much as I miss Moonshine, it hasn’t been grief that has kept me away from my blog – its been volunteer work! I would like to report that I am one of those sainted women that go to hospitals and sit with patients, or write letters for veterans in the VA hospital, or sit on some committee that makes far-reaching decisions for our environment, but I just do Mom stuff. This week it has been the Bookfair and Girl Scouts.

Every year, Coppergate has three bookfairs, and I love to volunteer at them. I love to see the little faces carefully choose this book or that one, and try to figure out if they can afford just one more easer or bookmark. My favorite is watching kids literally empty their piggy banks to buy a stack of BOOKS. (Not computer games, CDs, DVDs, or other things kids love so much, but books.)

I also get a chance to browse through all the offerings. I tell myself each time that I will only buy a couple of books, but it never works. The fair ends next Wednesday, and I am already up to six. But even better than finding great books for the kids, I get to spend some extra time with Emma. We usually get to the library a little after 8, and she leaves to go to class around 8:20. Then in the afternoon I get there around 2, chat with the librarians and other parent volunteers, and then work until 3:45 or so. Emma shows up around 2:50 to tell me about her day and then scampers off to use one of the computers.

Last Monday, Emma was browsing the books and she came across the Magic Tree House series. She begged me to buy one for her, but Mrs. Crosby told her that the library had all the MTH books and she could check them out. Yeah for libraries! Since Monday, Emma has gone through 4 of those books, and I think she was about to finish the one she was working on this morning. I am so glad that she has developed a love of reading and books.

We discovered she could read about the 4th week of Kindergarten. I had bought her a small pack of beginning readers (at the bookfair, of course) and showed them to her. I sat down to start teaching her the basics when she read the books to me – all 12 of them. She has been a power reader ever since. I am so thankful to the two wonderful women that run the library at Coppergate – Mrs. Miskowski and Mrs. Crosby. They work so hard to teach kids about the library and try to give each one of them a love of reading.

Oh, and if you are wondering – Grady enjoyed the bookfair, too. He even became a “kleptoGradyac” (Jason, of course) one morning when he stole an eraser and chewed it before anyone noticed.

A sad week in the Howle house

2009-08-29T16:06:00.001-04:00

WARNING: This is not going to be a happy post. There are some humorous tidbits, but on the whole, not happy. Just something that I feel might help purge some of my sadness.

This has been a sad week for animals in our home. I should start out by saying we used to have a menagerie. 1 dog, 2 cats, and 2 fish. As of this morning, we are now down to a sometimes dog and a fish.

Stardust and Moonshine came to us a few weeks after we got married. I told Jason I needed a baby to nurture. Not wanting a real baby at that point in our marriage, we adopted two precious kittens. Of course, with the usual Howle timing, we found out we were expecting Emma about 2 months later.

A couple of months ago we made the rough decision that it was time to find a new home for the cats. Stardust had developed a bladder problem that led to puddles all over our house, and we didn’t really want to split the two apart, so we started looking. We found a nice lady who could take one of them, so Stardust went and Moonshine stayed with us.

Around the same time Sadie, our mutt, and Grady began to have a difference of opinion. Grady thought she was a pull-up toy, and Sadie didn’t. To avoid bad feelings on either side, Sadie lives with my parents for now and comes to visit occasionally.

And for the fish…Emma won two Betas a few months ago, which she named Angelina and Taylor. They did well for a couple of months, and then a few weeks ago, Taylor umm, leapt out of the tank and swam down the drain to find her family. Have you ever had a fish run away?

Taylor 1

She adopted a new fish – a female beta this time, and the new Taylor and Angelina lived happily on either side of glass for roughly 2 weeks. Then Tuesday night, Angelina suddenly um, miraculously, changed her color and looked totally different from the fish he used to look like (thanks to late night trip to Wal-Mart). The next day the new Taylor died. The newly light blue Angelina now happily swims in the whole tank without the divider all by himself.

This morning was the worst of it. Emma wanted to go outside to “check on something” She wouldn’t tell Jason what it was, but he discovered it when he looked out her window. Moonshine was laying very still in the grass. Jason went to check and reported that forensic evidence suggests the Moonshine was bitten by a snake. I won’t go into other details. I don’t know if he was lying to save my heart, but I chose to trust him on this one.

As tough as this is on Emma, I am taking it a bit harder. Moonshine was my buddy. Every night when I crawled in bed he hopped up next to me and laid against my tummy and purred while I pet and scratched him. He wouldn’t stay long – just long enough to let me know he loved me and then he curled up at my feet to sleep.

So to all of our departed friends – Taylor 1&2, Angelina 1, and Moonshine - we will miss you very much, but we will see you again on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge. I know there are plenty of our other pets there to welcome you home.

Moonshine

All it takes is faith and trust…and a little bit of Pixie dust.

2009-08-28T17:51:00.001-04:00

After school on Monday, we went over to my mom’s house for some swimmin’ time. The kids love it when Daddy gets in the pool. He plays the best games with them, like Otter Rides, Kids Stack, and Big Sea Monster. But Jake’s favorite is the Jaker Flips.

It starts by Jason asking if he wants to do a Jaker Flip. Jake pretends to be scared and fake yells “No!” all while swimming towards Daddy.

Then Jason launches him into the air.

And he flies…

…then lands with a splash.

And then he does is all over again.

Emma is not too much into getting air. She has just recently begun to put her face in the water, so she has her own way of using her Daddy as a launch pad.

She also enjoys the Super Jump, which involves starting at the back corner of the yard to get a running start and then leaping off the deck into the water.

Grady isn’t too into the flying action yet, but enjoys the water and the games as much as my other fish.

I am looking forward to the day when he can participate in Emma’s other favorite Daddy game:

I think those four would live in the water if they could, and as much as a I hate the heat I hope it stays swimming weather for a good while yet.

These are a few of my Favorite Things….

2009-08-27T20:09:00.001-04:00

Tonight Emma did her first homework assignment as a “grader”. Ms. Taylor sent home a brown bag and attached to it was a list that Emma had to find objects for. The key was that the objects were to be 3-dimensional (no pictures), they had to fit in the bag, and they had to be unique. This was Emma’s collection:

A hobby or a free time activity that you enjoy

Painting & Drawing

A favorite thing (such as a color, book, food, etc)

Chinese Food!

Something special about your family

I’m going to have a baby sister!

Somewhere you would like to visit

Sea World and Disney

Something that reminds you of a special time in your life or event

Dozing with Dinos

Something that you don’t like

Being in the dark

(Notice that my little granola girl even has a “green” night light.)

I really enjoyed spending the time with Emma as she decided what to include in her bag. It was especially challenging for her to find something that would fit in the bag. My favorite dilemma?

“Well, I really don’t like it when my little brothers mess with me when I’m trying to do something, but I don’t think we can stuff one of them in that bag.”

We Won! We’re Really Gonna be Famous!

2009-08-26T21:51:00.001-04:00

No, you’re not having déjà vu, we won again! I always knew my kids were cuties, but it seems like the folks at Conner’s Amazing Acres agree with me. For the second time, we won the weekly photo contest. I won’t make you play guessing games again, this is the picture that won:

Still not one of my favorites, but I do love the look of Pure Joy on Jake’s little face. I am glad that Emma is face front in this one, and maybe if we win again it will be the great one of her smile:

Either way, I am looking forward to seeing my kids on the Conner’s website soon, and visiting the farm in the fall….so who wants to go with us?!

Back to School!

2009-08-25T22:06:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was Emma and Jake’s first day back to school. At this point, I’m not sure who was more excited at the prospect, me or the kids.

Jake should have been in VPK this year, but trying to find a special needs VPK that isn’t a daycare is pretty tough going. He has been going to Lighthouse Learning Center since he was 17 months old, and I have been happy with it, but last year things changed. He was in a classroom with only developmentally disabled kids, and he did really well at first, but then he hit a plateau and they wouldn’t move him to a different room. I guess I raised enough cane and this year he is back in an inclusion class. His teacher, Miss Diane, has been at LLC since Jake started and has always loved him. She is so excited to have him in her class and I think he is going to do great. He was really excited to start back – so excited that he actually ran out to the bus when he heard it pull up.

He was quite proud of himself. I hope that his new teacher keeps him so happy about school, and looking forward to going every morning.

Emma was so excited that she is going to be a”grader” this year. (she says that once you’re out of kindergarten you’re a grader – 1st grader, 2nd grader, etc. I swear she made this up on her own.) She had had her clothes laid out for days, and her backpack filled with her new supplies. She ended up with the teacher she wanted and loved the classroom when we visited during orientation. She was not however, excited about mom and the camera.

This picture is one just like my mom took of me and my sister every first day. She is holding up a one for 1st grade.

She looks so little headed up to that big school!

As you can see, she was done with the camera.

After we dropped her off, Jason (who is such a great daddy that he takes the first day of school off every year to share it with the kiddos) and I headed to our annual back to school breakfast,hung out awhile, and then picked up Jakers from his school. We had to drag him kicking and screaming from his classroom. He wasn’t ready to go home yet.

We picked Emma after school and then went swimming at Nina’s and had dinner there. Emma reported that school was awesome, and even though she only had one friend from Ms. Fox’s class, she had a bunch of her playground friends in her class. Her biggest excitement about the day? The new playground equipment.

Better late than never….

2009-08-24T15:24:00.001-04:00

I have been meaning to post these pictures for a couple of days now, but other things got in the way, and yesterday I spent the day in bed with some strange sinus/stomach virus that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. Since today is the first day of school, I really should be posting those pictures, but I thought it would be more fun to get all of Emma’s commentary for that post. So instead, I am posting about our back to school trial run.

Last Wednesday, we got our playgroup pack together for one last hurrah before school started. We put our swimsuits in our backpacks, packed our lunch boxes, and headed to Nina’s house for some fun.

The kids started out craft time with a “time capsule” that they can open on the last day of school, and then they made a back pack tag out of Shrinky Dinks. After that, it was time for recess and they hit the pool! (yes, that is Jake in Emma’s pink floaty suit…do we see a pattern here?)

After a little bit of swimming, Emma rang the bell and it was time for lunch….a nice little picnic under the trees.

Grady was happy to sit with the others and have lunch, but it soon proved to be just too much for him.

After lunch time, we had some more pool time and then Emma rang the bell again for some yummy cake before dismissal. We all had a great time and it was nice to have one last splash before school started!

Breakfast of Champions

2009-08-21T11:06:00.001-04:00

This morning I thought I would fix a special breakfast for the kids, considering it is the last day of summer vacation (WHOOOO-HOOOOO) and they would be eating quick bites and grabs for the next 180 days. I offered cu-cakes (pancakes – next time you see Jake, ask him.) bacon, eggies – but no takers. This was the fantastic breakfast they each chose for themselves:

Jake went to the freezer and pointed until I brought down the waffles. He carefully selected one and took it to the toaster oven where I lovingly prepared it for him.

He took it to the living room and ate it as usual – no syrup. And yes, he is wearing pink Tinkerbelle jammies. They are one of his favorites and he picked them out himself.

Emma had one pop tart from a pack last night for dessert, so I offered her the other half for breakfast. Nope. She wanted a bowl of frosty flakes. No milk, just the flakes. She also took hers to the living room. (Will none of my babies eat with me in the kitchen?)

Grady usually shares my breakfast with me (oatmeal, toast…) but today he heard Emma reject the pop tart and quickly snatched it off the counter before she could change her mind.

He didn’t get a choice. He had to eat with Mommy.

Everyone enjoyed their breakfast, and Emma was kind enough to share her frosty flakes with Jake, who later shared them with Grady, who decided that the rug, the TV, and the floor were all very hungry. Oh well. They are only little once, and Emma loves to vacuum.

I hope all of you were as entertained at your morning meals as I was!

A continuation and update post….

2009-08-20T16:23:00.001-04:00

First for the updates.

I mentioned in our post about our surprise pregnancy that we had our ultrasound scheduled for August 7th, and I would report back about the baby’s gender and health when the results were in. Well, I guess you can say no news is good news. Apparently, the ‘anatomical scan’ ultrasound can not be completed until the baby is 22 weeks gestation. This scan was just to make sure everything is developing correctly (to this point) and to find out the gender. The doctor said that so far everything looks good. All the bone ratios are normal, the baby is moving well, and all the other measurements – cranial space, spine, etc. are on the mark, too. If anything the baby is about a week ahead, size wise. (Howles!) Of course, this baby is modest. The scan took about 30-45 minutes, and never once did the little bugger open its legs. Crossed ankles, knees tight, the whole nine yards. Jason is so proud. So we still don’t know for sure what we are having. The doctor and the ultrasound tech both agree that it is more than likely a girl from some of the other views, but until they get the money shot, I can’t get rid of any old baby clothes. The one thing we do know is that this one is going to look just like Emma and Grady. I have seen those two enough on ultrasounds to recognize the profile.

We go back on September 22 for the ‘big one’, where they will be able to do a fetal echocardiogram and get some other more technical measurements to give us even more assurance that this baby doesn’t have Down syndrome. Hopefully the kid will also give up the goods, so to speak. I really do hope its a girl – otherwise its going to have a complex. All of us refer to her as Gretchen and call her by name when we are talking to her.

In other news, for those of you that offered a guess as to which picture was going to make us famous – here it is:

I thought some of the others were much cuter, but I guess they wanted a fun-for-all-ages picture. They are having another contest, and if you are on Facebook you can help. Plus, if I win (free pass) you also win! Details on FB soon.

And now for the continuation of an earlier post: I am REALLY glad I bought those washable markers. I went out for a little while last night and this is what I found in the front hallway when I walked in:

They even got the baby this time.

I tried to punish them by making them clean it up, but they fought over the clean wipes and had waaay to much fun.

Okay, I think that is everything. If you have made it to the end, you are to be commended!

The guy Jason can hide behind

2009-08-19T08:52:00.002-04:00

Last weekend, I finally got to meet someone I have wanted to see in person for a couple of years now. His name is John, and he is bigger than my husband. Jason started working for Jon at the FedEx at the beach a couple of years ago. He came home and told me that he could hide behind his new boss. He said that one day someone came in looking for Jon – told Jason “No, I was working with the big guy.” Jason’s not the big guy? Who is this man?

Well, now that Jason is a district guy and Jon is no longer his boss, we finally planned a family outing to the zoo. We got there a little early, so we sat inside the gate and waited for our friends to arrive. There were a lot of big men at the zoo that day, but once I saw Jon there was no mistake. My husband wasn’t exaggerating.

It was tough trying to get these two shy guys to pose for a picture, but I finally did:

Notice that Jon is taller than Jason even with his feet so far apart, and Jason is actually standing up straight (for once).

Other than finally meeting Jon, we got to spend the day with his wife Jennifer and their daughter Cassie. Jake was in love:

Emma and Grady had fun, too.

Emma with HER plant – a “Queen Emma Crinum”. And Grady got his first “Zoo Sipper”.

After seeing all the animals we hit the splash park and let the kids cool off. We had a wonderful day. We got to see the new baby giraffe, we heard the Siamangs sing, and we saw the otters playing instead of sleeping. Best of all, we did it all with new friends!

Swimming, Anyone?

2009-08-15T13:14:00.001-04:00

To say we got some rain yesterday would be an understatement. It poured. It was what my mom calls a “frog strangler”. At one point Jason went outside to grab something out of his car and he came back inside and told me to get the camera. When I asked why, he told me the water was ankle deep in our driveway. It though he was exaggerating. After all, we have lived in this house for 7 years. In all that time, including one hurricane and many tropical systems, our yard has never flooded. It hasn’t even come close. So I went outside and this is what I found:

That lighter color in the bottom of the picture is our driveway.

Then we called Emma to come see all the water. She didn’t think it was as neat as we did.

Later that evening, Jason’s mom was supposed to pick Emma up to spend the night. It didn’t quite work the way we planned – instead of Grammy coming to get Emma from us, Jason had to walk her (and her multitude of stuff) up to the front of the neighborhood. When he got back, he said that there were a bunch of cars parked up there – our little subdivision was truly flooded and nobody could get home!

We Won! We’re gonna be famous!

2009-08-13T18:33:00.001-04:00

Okay, maybe not too famous.

Last year we went to the neatest place called Conner’s Amazing Acres. Its a farm and cornfield maze that also grows organic produce. There are all sorts of things to do there – from playing in the corn box, racing ducks, and riding the cow train to trying to find your way through the corn maze. Oh, and the food! Fresh grown, fresh cooked. Yummy. And to finish the day – fresh churned ice cream in all sorts of yummy flavor combinations. We had a great time and we can’t wait until this fall to go again.

I was visiting their website a few weeks ago and I noticed that they were having a photo contest. The winners would receive a free pass for this fall and the picture will be featured on the website. We won! We’re gonna be famous!

Now for the fun. I couldn’t decide which picture to put on the post, so I added an album. Now lets see who can guess which picture won. Oh, and don’t try cheating. They haven’t posted it to the website yet.

View Full Album

Why I only buy washable markers and crayons

2009-08-12T11:15:00.001-04:00

I was at Wal-Mart the other day, and I had a pack of Crayola markers in my hand. They were only $1, but they weren’t washable. The ones that were washable were $4. Did I really need to spend the extra $3? I looked around and found an knock-off brand for about $2. Good thing I did:

And my personal favorite:

I guess I am thankful that my kids are artistic, and that Jake has finally learned to draw circles.

Her “greatest day ever”

2009-08-05T22:29:00.001-04:00

I must start this post with how lazy I am. I have a freezer FULL of yummy meals just waiting to be cooked. I even have one thawing in the fridge. But tonight, I was not feeling the kitchen. I wanted comfort food – roasted meat, mashed potatoes, green beans…heaven. My sweet husband that loves to fulfill my pregnancy cravings suggested we save the stuffed pork chops in the fridge for another night and go to Cracker Barrel. (LOVE that man.) We decided it was Emma’s turn to go out with us and headed dinner.

Our normally very talkative little princess was silent in the backseat. We thought she had fallen asleep. Then Jason pointed out a rainbow over the St. John’s River. Chatty Cathy awakens. It turns out that she was so quiet because she was searching for rainbows.

By that time, the trees were in the way so Jason turned down River Road so we could see it better. It was so beautiful, and I just happened to have my camera in the car, so I had him pull over so I could take some pictures. I took a couple, then Emma asked if she could take some. I am both proud and a little embarrassed to admit that her pictures were better than mine!

I told her it was so good that I was going to send it into First Coast News. That was the beginning of the greatest day.

Once we got to Cracker Barrel, everything was great for Emma. These are the things that make a six-year old’s day:

1. The waitress brought her a glass – not a cup with a lid.

2. She beat her daddy at checkers twice, once in three moves. Jason said she had moves “unlike he had ever seen before”.

3. She ordered all by herself.

4. She got 2 scoops of ice cream with chocolate syrup, AND whip cream.

5. Mommy is sending her picture to First Coast News.

She even had to call her Grammy when she got home to tell her all about it. She is so hard to please sometimes that nights like these make all the difference.

Dozing with Dinos

2009-07-31T10:29:00.001-04:00

To let you know how behind I am in life, I am just now posting about our adventure from 2 weeks ago…

Ever so often, the MOSH has what they call public camp-ins. They have a special theme that runs through the evening, with a planetarium and laser show, an extreme science show, movies and snacks. I heard about it on the radio and thought to myself, I’ll bet Emma would love that.

I was wrong. She loved the idea of sleeping in MOSH, but she was sure the Dinos were going to eat her, the lasers were going to kill her, and in her words, the science show was “extremely too scary.” Of course, her father and I were not informed of this until we were already locked in the museum. She came out from under her blankie long enough to figure out that the planetarium show was really neat, and the lasers were just pictures on the ceiling (not flying around the room) set to music. That part she enjoyed. The science show was another story.

If you have ever been to MOSH, you know that it can get really loud inside the JEA science theater. When you add the electricity (that is visible) I guess it can be frightening to a child – but mine was the only one huddled under a blanket. The two kids that were running the camp in were really great and demonstrated some amazing things to do with liquid nitrogen – including making a thunderstorm and ice cream. They also made Dino Snot. (Green Jell-O with bits of pudding in it – I couldn’t even look at the stuff let alone try it. The ice cream was really good, though.)

Then the real fun began. Once we were let out of the theater it was a free for all. We were finally allowed to get our belongings out of the conference room and find a place to sleep – on a first come first serve basis. Our family had no desire to sleep near the dinos (the prime location), but Emma wanted to sleep next to the big whale in the Atlantic Tales exhibit. Since she had not had much fun up to this point, I was determined to get her next to that whale.

As I was setting up our bedding beneath said whale, these two boys decided they were going to sleep there as well. Now, these were not just any boys – these were the two heathens that had been LITERALLY climbing on all the exhibits and seeing how much damage they could do without anyone noticing. I began by calmly telling them that they could not sleep there because we were sleeping there. Then the snotty heathen #1 told me (in snotty heathen voice) that there was plenty of room. I (more forcefully) informed him that the only person that had the right to put their sleeping bag touching my mine was my daughter and I was not going to climb over him to get out of bed. He then told on me to his father (I am not kidding - “that mean lady said we can’t sleep here”) His father, who was not sleeping anywhere near his heathens finally decided to control his charges and told then to move. I am really glad I didn’t have to find the museum guys and be a tattletale, but by that time mama bear was going to defend her den and cub.

We slept okay and then had donuts and juice the next morning. As much as Jason and I enjoyed the sleepover, I think that we’ll leave the museum for daylight trips in the future.

Our “Wicked” Little Surprise

2009-07-22T21:46:00.001-04:00

Now that my dear husband has finally told all of his family, we can publically share the news: we’re pregnant!

It seems like the reason all our plans to go see Wicked fell into place so nicely is because this little spirit was so anxious to come to Earth. (The little prankster even seems to be able to render birth control useless). We have one heck of a souvenir from that play! I told Emma that if it is a girl we are going to name her Elphaba and if it is a boy, Fieryo. She loves the names. (I am going to hate to break her heart.)

Now for the particulars….I am 13 weeks and 2 days today. My official due date is January 25, but since my kids arrive around 36 weeks we are looking at a New Year’s baby. Maybe I’ll get lucky and have the first baby of the new year!

I had my Ultrascreen done last week and we got the results today – NORMAL. That blew my mind. With our family history and my age I was expecting them to come back like Grady’s - about a 1:300 chance of having a baby with Down syndrome. Nope. 1:1,900. Of course, Jake’s results were normal, too. (But back then they didn’t do the ultrasound measurement of the “fat patch” on the back of his neck) Like I told the nurse, we will wait until our big ultrasound on August 7th to celebrate. They will be able to measure bone length ratio, check the chambers of the heart, fluid in the brain and womb, etc. We will also know for sure the gender.

As for names, she told me her name already. Yep, I said she. Early ultrasounds indicate PINK. I will be shocked if it is a boy, for a couple of reasons. First, I always knew we had four spirits coming to our family. Even after Grady was born and Jason said we were done, I knew there was one more. I also felt very strongly it was a girl. The other reason is that while I was sitting there staring at that HPT, thinking “this can not be happening”, my mind cleared for an instant and “Gretchen” popped in. This is a name that we never discussed for the others. It never even came up. I didn’t even like the name too much until that moment. But it fits: it means pearl. A precious gem to add to our collection.

I just hope its not a boy – Fieryo really is the only name I like…..

“Ohh, It’s So Good!”

2009-07-21T21:11:00.001-04:00

First off, I am very happy to be back in cyberspace. After buying a new computer and finally getting a new modem from our ISP, we are back in business. 2 months without access to the internet was not very fun.

Now for the good stuff. I like to cook, I'm just not very good at it. I have no imagination, and my kitchen is small – which drives me crazy. I also don’t like to cook when my family is at home – I want to be with them, not tied to the stove. Consequently, we eat a lot of box dinners and drive thru (Bad Mommy!)

Many of you know that last year I found a wonderful system that helps with my shortcomings called 30 Meals in One Day. It is a collection of recipes that are freezer worthy, and easy to prepare. It compiles a shopping list based on the menus you have chosen, and you can print out recipe cards, labels, and other stuff. It was great – when I had energy and the kids were in school. It did save money, both because we ate out less and we bought all the stuff in bulk. However, between planning the menu, compiling the list, shopping day and prep day it took 2-3 full days. (Not to mention the cleanup!) Needless to say, my freezer has been pretty empty the last month or so – but no more!

I was browsing online the other day and found this wonderful place called Mr. Food’s No Fuss Meals. I knew I had to try it as soon as I read over the website, and today was the day.

I pre-ordered my choices from the menu online, and when I got there, everything was set up and waiting. All the different meals are at workstations with ALL the ingredients pre-chopped, prepared and ready for you to assemble. An instruction sheet guides you step by step, and the containers are provided. The best part? NO clean up. That’s done for you, too.

What took me three days previously took me and hour and half. No shopping! No chopping! No mess! I was really impressed. While I was building my dishes I was calculating the price difference between 30 Meals and Mr. Food. I came to the conclusion that I was only saving about .50-$1 per serving, and if you calculate shopping, prep, and clean time….there’s no contest.

There was just one question left – how did it taste? Well, tonight I made Little Italy Chicken Parmigianino. (Something I would have never made on my own – too labor intensive in my tiny kitchen.)

This is 1/6 of the entire meal. I split a “large” portion into 2 dinners, and there was plenty for all five of us. (I did add a small salad and bread). For the first time in recent memory Jake cleaned his plate. Grady ate everything I put on his tray – he even threw his bread on the floor so he could have more room for noodles. Emma gave it “five stars”. Jason also cleaned his plate and what I couldn’t finish. There’s no chicken left, but Grady has noodles for lunch on the menu tomorrow. I can’t wait to try the Snickers Cheesecake later.

So, who wants to join me for a Girl’s Night? Check out the website: www.nofussmeals.com . Browse the August menus and let me know when's good for you!

Are you 'Popular', or do you 'Defy Gravity'?

2009-05-06T23:00:00.003-04:00

Jason and I have always celebrated Cinco de Mayo, but not for Mexican independence. May 5, 1996 was the day that we went from being best friends to “us”. I had been working on a big date night for us in my mind, but yesterday morning I decided to take action.

The first call was to the Times-Union center. We are fortunate enough to have the traveling tour of a Broadway super hit here in Jacksonville. We are further fortunate that they have ticket lotteries on the day of the show for leftover tickets.

My second call was to my mom. Yes, she would keep the babies – even overnight. YES!!!

Online now. Thank you, Priceline.com. I never thought my offer would get accepted, but I guess getting 25% of the regular room rate is better than nothing for the hotels in this economy. Hello Crowne Plaza Jacksonville!

Next call to my wonderful husband and companion of 13 years -

“Are you ready to get your WICKED on?!”

I am still in disbelief that everything fell into place so easily! So I got us packed up, got the kids settled for mom, and I was headed downtown to meet Jason. After we both found the hotel, we went to the T-U center to put our names in for the lottery. They draw 10 names, and those folks get floor tickets for $25 each. Of course, the day we go they said it was the biggest turnout they had all run. We didn’t win. However, they were offering all us losers upper level tickets for $35. Deal! Jason and I ended up in the 6th row of the balcony (known as the Loge). We had great seats.

To say that the play was great is a gross understatement. Even saying it was phenomenal doesn’t come close. I can not remember ever enjoying a play, movie, or a concert more. The story was fantastic, and the music was wonderful. (have already downloaded the soundtrack and listened to it all day) I have heard the book is very dark and humorless, but the play is quite comical and has all these wonderful little backstorys of the citizens of Oz. And are great lessons about what you are, and what people think you are.

I can’t say enough about how great it was. I wish I could see it again. Jason even admitted that he thought he “would enjoy it – I never thought I would absolutely LOVE it.”

Being able to stay downtown made the evening perfect. No fighting traffic, no trying to get the kids back in bed when we got home. (no kids, for that matter ;) We sat on our balcony and looked at the beautiful Jacksonville skyline and listened to the music floating across the river from the Landing. What a night!

I didn’t have my good camera inside the theater, so the stage pics are pretty blurry. I took this one from our balcony when we got “home” for the night.

To explain the post title, and learn more about this unbelievable play check out the Wicked website here.

From the lottery, to the hotel, to the play, even the rushed dinner downstairs in the bar the whole experience was, (dare I say it) WICKED!

How Jake became a Tiger Toy

2009-04-21T22:06:00.001-04:00

On Saturday we went to this great place on the north side of Jacksonville called the Catty Shack Ranch. It is a rescue and refuge for big cats – lions, tigers, leopards, cougars, etc. It isn’t pretty like a zoo, but the animals are safe and loved there. Some of the cats have been rescued from illegal zoos, been mistreated, or even been pets that became their natural selves and “too wild” for the people who bought them.

The first cat was a lion that had been rejected by his mom after he was born. The owner of the ranch stepped in and raised him – bottle fed him, bathed him, and loved him. It was amazing to see this huge lion jump up and run over and start loving on his “daddy” when the guy walked into his enclosure. I swear that cat was purring.

The next cats were tigers. There were so many of them! Apparently, tigers are popular exotic pets, but no one really knows how to take care of them, so they end up in places like this.

One tiger really loved Jake. He would follow the stroller wherever we pushed it, even to the point of stepping on other tigers! I thought it was funny – until the keeper explained that the tiger thought Jake would make a great toy – he was the perfect size. He didn’t necessarily want to eat him, just play with him. I don’t think that’s a playdate I’ll be setting up.

Jake thought it was pretty funny. You can tell he’s really not bothered by that cat stalking him.

The next cats that chose my kids were the cougars. The keeper told Emma to meow at them. She did, and they answered! It was so neat, and they had quite a conversation. I can only imagine what they were saying.

There were so many cats there, it breaks my heart to think of the horrors some of these guys went through before they were rescued. At least they are well fed and loved at the ranch, and comfortable:

They even like to pose for pictures:

They don’t have tours all the time, only on select weekends; but if you have free time on one of those weekends I hope you’ll stop by and visit these awesome kitties. You can find more information about them and their ranch at the website: www.cattyshack.org. Maybe we’ll see you there!

Eternally Yours

2009-04-20T17:34:00.003-04:00

7 years ago yesterday, Jason and I were sealed for time and all eternity in the Orlando Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was a long journey for us both, but well worth it!

We met in January of 1996, at the University of Central Florida. Jason was a second semester freshman, and I was a transfer student (from Florida State) that should have been ready to graduate. I was out rush party hopping with my sorority sisters, newly broken up with my boyfriend of 3 years. We headed to a party where my Pi Phi sister Anna was hunting down a boy she had met in her art history class. The Phi Delta Thetas were unlike any other fraternity boys we had met – they were polite! They weren’t yelling and throwing things! I met a wonderful guy that night, and his name was….Rob! I actually didn’t meet Jason until a couple of nights later.

Soon Rob and I were dating, and all my free time was spent at the Phi Delt house. Jason became my “Big Brother”, and pool partner. He was such a great guy, I even set one of my sisters up with him. When Rob broke my heart (right before finals), Jason was there to pick up the pieces and help me study. Before long, we admitted what was going on was far more than friendship. I guess you could call that our “once upon a time”.

We had been dating a couple of months before he told me all about eternal families. I was so excited that he took me that night and showed me one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen – the Orlando Temple, with a spotlight on Moroni. I wasn’t even a member of the church at that point, but I knew we were going to get married in that beautiful place.

We had some ups and downs the next few years, but on April 19, 2002 we finally made it to the sealing room. I can not explain the comfort that I have knowing that no matter what happens in this life, no matter what this world can throw at us, our family will be together for eternity.

Because my family are not members, and most of Jason’s family aren’t members, we had a Ring Ceremony the next day. It gave my dad a chance to walk me down the aisle and all of our parents see us exchange rings.

It was a sunny day, and the “wedding” and reception were great, but nothing compared to the previous day at the temple.

I am looking forward to taking the kids to Orlando this summer and taking them to the temple grounds and showing them where Mommy and Daddy got married.

Oh, and just one of those really neat things that just happen – check out the program from Sacrament yesterday:

Emma thought it was us!

Date Night at the Cannery

2009-04-14T21:48:00.003-04:00

My sweet husband hard at work

Team work!

The Happy Hairnet Bunch

Tonight Jason and I were lucky enough to leave the kids with Nina and have fun doing something we have been counseled to do. We had dinner at Chic-fil-A and then met some members of our ward at the Jacksonville Cannery. We had a really great time and were able to add a couple of more cases to our food storage.

For me, going to the cannery is a double-edged sword. I LOVE going, and I always have a great time, but I always leave scared to death knowing my family is no where near prepared. The one quote that always gets to me is by Harold B. Lee:

"If you knew what I knew, you would pile it (food storage) in the middle of the floor, throw a cloth over it and walk around it."

I really need to get with Sister Wheeler and learn how to use that pressure canner I bought on clearance last year so I can put up some meat, and then we would be in better shape. Then we need some 55 gallon drums for water, extra bottles of propane, a solar oven....oh, we have a lot to do....

Why my daughter thinks I’m evil

2009-04-08T23:22:00.002-04:00

On Monday night, our Family Home Evening was on the body as temple. We talked about how our bodies are temples where our spirits dwell, and how we should never ingest harmful things, wear revealing clothes, or mar our skin by getting body piercings or tattoos. It was a fun lesson, finishing in a maze that had us making choices at forks, and choosing the right got us to the temple. Emma really took the lesson to heart.

Ever since Monday, she has decided that tattoos are equivalent to the mark of the beast. She informed me yesterday that there was something worse than Barbie (who is considered a trashy hooch in our house). Tattoo Barbie. There really is such a thing and I think it is pretty ridiculous, but Emma was close to storming the Wal-mart and start burning them. There have been other comments, but that was the highlight.

Tonight as we were driving home, Emma gasped and let out an “oh-no, Mom!” I thought Jake had unbuckled his seat belt (again) or something had spilled. Nope. We had passed a tattoo parlor. “But what if someone goes in?!” I tried to explain to her that as members of the church, these were only our beliefs and everyone had a right to choose what they wanted to do to their bodies, and this did not make them evil. She said that only evil people had tattoos. In my exasperation, I finally told her that mommy had a tattoo – does this make Mommy evil? My sweet, precious daughter’s reply?

“well….yes.”

I guess next week we need to talk about converts...and tolerance.

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

2009-04-06T22:56:00.001-04:00

That post title might seem odd to some of you, but as members of the LDS church, we believe that April 6th is not only the day the Lord’s true church was restored on Earth, but also the day Jesus was born. It being Monday, I told the kids we were going to bake cupcakes for Jesus' birthday and then have Family Home Evening. Emma was super excited, so off to the kitchen we went.

Even Grady helped out! While the cupcakes were baking, we had a lesson from the fantastic FHE packet Sheila Wheeler emailed us. Then we frosted the cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. Emma looked up at the ceiling the whole time. Her sweet spirit never fails to amaze me….she never once asked about Christmas and His birth. I guess we taught her well in December! It may seem to some people that baking cupcakes and singing is a little off kilter, but I don’t think Emma will forget this birthday party.

Why does Heavenly Father gives us "useless" organs?

2009-04-06T17:23:00.003-04:00

I have often wondered in my life why our bodies contain organs that we can so easily live without. I know that each organ has some purpose, but sometimes it seems like that purpose is just to get so infected that a surgeon has to remove it. I had my tonsils out when I was 19. I was in pain for weeks afterwards, and instead of getting Tonsillitis three times a year, I got Strep Throat. This time last year my poor little Jakers had his tonsils, adenoids, and part of his uvula removed. He still gets sinus infections. I have a few friends who live happily every day without their appendix(es), and when I worked on 5 Wolfson, I knew quite a few kiddos who didn't have spleens. (And I know Jason won't even want me to go near the subject of wisdom teeth.)
Last Thursday I had to have my adenoids removed. I thought it would be a simple surgery and I would recover quickly. (After the tonsil pain of 1993, I don't know why I thought this) Now you have the answer for why I am ranting. Drugs. Pain killers to be exact. If I want to swallow, I take them. Otherwise, I mumble and sometimes drool. (sorry, but its true.) I am just really thankful that this week is Spring Break and I am not responsible for getting children ready for the bus and for school. I am truly thankful that Jason's business trip is only overnight and not for two or three days. I am also really thankful for PBS kids that keep my little ones occupied while I lay in the couch and eat popsicles.

The Amazing Jake

2009-04-01T08:07:00.000-04:00

Despite his extra chromosome, Jake is a very smart little boy. He is constantly doing things that just make me shake my head and smile. I think I am going to have to rewrite the book on what Down syndrome kids can and can’t do….

Jakers is a couch potato. Other than chasing bubbles and loving on his brother and sister, his favorite thing is watching TV. Mom Disclaimer: they are only allowed to watch Disney movies, Playhouse Disney (no Hannah Montana!) , a couple of shows on Nick Jr. and PBS kids. Of course, Emma also loves to watch Jeopardy! and Mythbusters…

Anyway, as part of our morning routine, Jake watches TV while I get him dressed. If he doesn’t cooperate, I turn the TV off. (I actually have to power down the DVR because he knows how to turn the TV on.) This morning he had gotten up before I did and was watching Jungle Book in Emma’s room. I moved him to the living room and powered off their DVD player, VCR, and TV. I sat down with Jake and told him it was time to get dressed. He told me no, so I grabbed the remote to turn off the DVR. My smart little man simply got up, went to Emma’s room and powered up the TV and VCR and resumed watching the Jungle Book! I am amazed at his problem solving, as well as his electronic ability. What a kid! As you can see from the pictures, even after getting dressed, he was too busy watching TV to smile for Mommy. My little ham had to get in the picture, though!

How to Trap a Leprechaun

2009-03-17T11:31:00.001-04:00

Last night after Emma’s 20 minutes ‘till bed timer went off, she informed us that she had to make a leprechaun trap so she could steal his gold. We tried to explain to her that leprechauns were not very prevalent in Middleburg, but she was insistent. So she went and colored some gold coins and a rainbow to bait the trap with. Jason got a case box from the girl scout cookie sale and the tack hammer and the trap was ready:

Unfortunately, even though a leprechaun knocked over the hammer on his way out, he still managed to escape. He was nice enough to leave Emma some Lucky Charms marshmallows. Oh, well – maybe next year.

Happy Birthday Jakers!

2009-03-16T22:44:00.001-04:00

It’s hard to believe that our little guy is four years old! What’s even more amazing is everything he has accomplished. He can walk, run, jump, climb, swim, feed himself, dress (and undress!) himself, and he is starting to put words into sentences.

Not to mention how sweet and loving he is – there is nothing like a Jaker Monkey Hug!

We were camping this weekend, so he got to share his birthday cake with some wonderful friends, but not before taste testing it first.

We are so lucky that Heavenly Father chose to bless our family with such a strong, special spirit. Everyday is a new adventure for us, and another reason to celebrate. So, happy birthday, little man! Thanks for choosing us to be your parents.

Caravan Treasure Hunt

2009-03-09T23:20:00.001-04:00

I try to clean out my car at least once a month, usually on a Monday because if you take your church bulletin to the Goo-Goo car wash they give you a $3 discount. I love the Goo-Goo wash. They not only have free vacuums, glass cleaner, and towels, they have the most wonderful floor mat cleaners. When I take Emma with me she will usually park herself in front of the mat cleaner and send them through a few dozen times.

My sweet husband Jason is driving to the far point of his district tomorrow, so he needs to take my van – more reliable. I decided this would be a good Monday to clean it out, even if my church bulletin was still sitting on the coffee table at home. That is when my treasure hunt began.

I would like to make the disclaimer that I very rarely allow my kids to eat in the car anymore, but sometimes it happens. I also tell them as they are getting out “Grab your stuff, I’m not taking it inside with me!” Keep these two things in mind as you read the list of finds:

Two sippy cups, one with juice left
Three socks
gallon size ziplock bag
Jake’s PJ shirt (?)
Jake’s slippers
Jake’s crocs (do we see a pattern ?)
18 strands of Gasparilla beads
one ibuprofen tablet (!)
two pacifiers
1/2 chicken nugget
5 fast food drink cups (various sizes)
2 “Kitchen” cups
~~Small~~ Medium order of fries
Two Jackets
Three kids meal toys
empty gatorade bottle
three lids to gatorade bottle

I once saw a onesie that said “Do the cheerios under my carseat count as my 72 hour kit?” I think I need it for Grady.

What is so sad about that list is that the double stroller was in the back of the van, so I didn’t even make it to that compartment – and that is where the kids think their church bags live.

Anyway, you can come see my van now – its clean, has a full tank of gas, and a new oil filter with fresh oil. Aren’t I a sweet wife to pretty my van up for its date with my husband?

(And yes, that is Jake on top on the van – I tried to get him to showroom model it, but he just wanted to climb…little monkey)

Zoo Trip!

2009-03-08T22:10:00.001-04:00

We had been promising Emma all week a trip to the zoo on Saturday, so even though Grady woke up vomiting and with a fever of 103.4, we packed the diaper bag with Pedialyte and went to the zoo. (A phone call to the pedatrician assured us it was a 24-hr stomach virus) As you can tell, he was super excited for his first trip to the zoo. The poor little guy slept most of the trip, but this was about the happiest he got.

Unfortunetly, I didn’t get many pictures at all because when I packed the camera I forgot to put my memory card in it! You can only imagine the cry of dismay when I got the “No Card” message after snapping a picture of Jake trying to crawl through the fence to pet the giraffe. I didn’t even remember that my cell now has a SD card so I can take pictures with it and download them until we were close to leaving. I did manage to get a couple of cute ones on the Wildlife Carousel. I would like to point out that Jake chose to ride Renegade! We had a good time, and we are looking forward to going back soon – so Mommy can use her new camera!

In other news, my mom came home on Friday night! We are all so excited to have her home safe, and hope that the two weeks of IV antibiotics and home health will get her all the way healed. Thanks to all of you that have prayed for her and our family, visited, called, sent dinners and everything else. We are so blessed to have all of you as friends!

Where’s Jake?

2009-03-05T21:58:00.000-05:00

So even though Emma begged to have her own room back last year, the kids want to sleep together quite frequently. I gave in the other night and when I went in to check on them, this is what I saw:

So where was Jake? I could hear him snoring, but he was no where to be seen. I checked under the bed (believe me, I have found him sleeping under there more often than you would think) but no Jake. Then I pulled back the covers:

I am glad my children sleep like rocks, because otherwise my laughter would have woken them for sure. Notice how Emma’s foot is lovingly curled around her brother’s cheek, and his hand resting on her leg. Of course, you can also see that big sister has all three pillows.

I rearranged them and they slept like the sweet angels they are for the rest of the night…oh, to sleep like a child again!

Just another manic Monday....

2009-03-02T22:05:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Katheryn, I now have a pretty background. Maybe soon I can learn how to make my own and customize the whole thing. Though I should probably vacuum and finish the laundry first. (and post some pics)

We went to visit my mom tonight for Family Home Evening. She has been in the hospital now for almost two weeks, and mentally she is falling apart. She hates being cooped up, and she misses her grandbabies like crazy. The first couple of times we visited, Emma was a little scared of all the tubes and equipment. We have talked a lot about it, and tonight when we got there she curled up on the bed next to Nina and cuddled for a few minutes. When we were leaving I told Emma that I thought her cuddles probably helped Nina more than anything. Emma replied that Daddy's blessing probably helped more. There isn't a day that goes by that my five year old doesn't make me stop and thank Heavenly Father for the gift of raising her. (of course, I usually have to ask for patience as well.)

Jake's school nurse has ended up on my knit list (like Madame Defarge). This is the second week in a row that I have had to either pull him out of school or keep him home for some imagined illness. Last week it was red eyes and crustys, which the doctor assured us was not pink eye. Today he gets sent home with a note saying he has a rash and can not come back to school until he has been seen and treated for 24 hours. I still can't find the rash. So now I have to spend another $20 and rearrange my day. I love my little man, but I really need the break from him that school gives me. Plus, he has his testing at Hope Haven on Wednesday, so I will have him all day then, too. Oh, it sounds like I hate spending time with Jakers, but I don't! He is just such a handful and needs constant attention. It is almost like having a 40 lb newborn. But when he turns that smile on and gives one of his Jaker monkey hugs it is all worth it.

In happier news, Grady has two teeth now! He cut the first one (bottom right) on Thursday, and the second (bottom left) on Friday. It wasn't there before dinner, and right after dinner I rubbed his gums again and there it was! I am going to miss that toothless grin, though.

By Popular Demand....

2009-03-01T20:37:00.002-05:00

I have finally given in. One of my favorite friends keeps telling me to start a blog so I can share all the funny stories of my kids, and post some of the pictures from my new toy, a Canon Rebel.
I like the idea of blogging, keeping a journal of sorts, I just don't know if I can keep it up! But, I will do my best...
Today is Sunday, church day for our family. This morning was special because Jason assisted in blessing the new baby boy of our friends the Jammes. He said that he loved blessing babies because he loves to look down at them while they are being blessed to see how happy and content they are being bounced in the circle of Priesthood holders. He said that it was a special because it is one of the only moments daddies share with their babies that mommies won't!
Later on this afternoon, Emma wrote and illustrasted a book she called "Priesthood Power". It said that the Priesthood could help you when you are sick. She drew two pictures, one of Priesthood holders annointing a sick child, and one of a baby being blessed. She is such a sweet girl, and so bright! I just hope that I can remember to help her spirit grow and not be so hard on her when she gets in her Diva moods....