Life with Lydia

It's Been Awhile...

2011-07-24T18:08:00.004-05:00

It's been a long time since I last blogged, but not much has really happened. School didn't get out until the first past of JUNE - yes that's right, June! I'd never gone to school in June except for teaching summer school and when I was getting my masters degree. I hope that I never have to do it again!

Then end of June we were able to find out the sex of our little baby. I'm sure everyone knows, but it is a boy. We picked out a name and I started working on the nursery. I was pretty sure that Lydia was going to be a boy, so most of the nursery stuff that I had was boyish. We have red bandanna curtains and changing table cover both left from her. The crib bumper is black with white spots, also left from her. Most of the wall decorations are also from her: metal stars, cowboy hat, lanterns, mirror, and candle holders. I guess that the only new stuff I got were some red and black baskets for the changing table, a couple of blankets for the crib, and Darla got some tractor toys. Of course all of the clothing is different, but I've had several people give me baby boy clothes so I haven't had to get to much. I did pick up a really nice play pen with changing area and bassinet from a garage sale. I also bought a new car seat and really nice stroller off a friend of mine. We had these with Lydia, but the newer ones are MUCH nicer!! I guess I've made you wait for the name long enough - Lucas Gail. We are excited to meet him, but have awhile to wait.

After that we had Lydia's birthday party. We had a house full - about 50 people (20 were kids). I actually ran out of food, which I've never done. She got completely spoiled with attention, love, and gifts. Her cake was an Ariel cake. It ended up pretty good.

Since then, we've just been trucking along. Gail's been doing hay every evening after work. The summer is quickly coming to an end - BOO!!! We still have a trip to the Des Moines Zoo that we need to take before school starts. Lydia wants to go ride the camels.

Exciting News...

2011-05-16T12:38:00.002-05:00

Before I get to my exciting news, you have to read all of the background information. And to forewarn you, it is pretty detailed.

Since I was in college my periods have been irregular. I could go for months and not have one. It bothered me, and whenever I went in to the doctor for my yearly they would just put me on the pill. However, that wasn't giving me any information about why it was happening. When Gail and I got married I starting worrying about being able to have children because doctors had always put me on the pill and that obviously doesn't help when you want to have a baby. We weren't ready so I just put it out of my mind. After being married for 3 years, I wanted to start our family, but he wasn't ready yet. I talked to my sister and Gail's sister about my worries. I told them that I figured I would have to do fertility treatments to be able to have a family. Both informed me that insurance companies would not pay for those treatments unless you have been trying for a year. Gail and I talked about it and decided that I should go to the doctor so that it would be "documented". She put me on a pill that was to regulate my period. Two months later, we were expecting. I still didn't have a reason as to why I was so irregular. We were shocked and overjoyed that we were going to be parents. The local doctor does not deliver babies so he gave me the option of staying with him until I was seven months along and then going to a different doctor, or just going ahead and going somewhere at that time. We talked it over and decided to go with Dr. Carr out of Kirksville. At my first appointment he did an ultrasound and found a cyst in my right ovary. At first I thought "Wait a minute. I'm not pregnant and it was just a cyst!!" However, I had both a baby and a cyst. He monitored if for several months and over time it grew from the size of a pencil eraser to the size of a softball. It was a dermoid cyst (you'll have to look that one up) and could have been potentially deadly to the baby and myself if it burst. Plus, with it being inside my ovary, if I would have survived, the chances of having any more children would be slim to none. So, at just over 3 months pregnant it was removed. The rest of my pregnancy was smooth sailing and on July 1, 2007 (2 days overdue) little Lydia Eileen joined the world. What a wonderful day that was!! Three years later at my yearly check-up, Dr. Carr found more cysts in my ovaries. He ran some tests and I finally figured out the cause of my crazy cycle. I have polycystic ovarian syndrome. I did some reading about the syndrome and realized that I had several of the symptoms: crazy cycle, being overweight, random hairs on my face, etc. I had a name!! Dr. Carr also told me that when we were ready to have more children he suggested I go on fertility treatments. That thought worried me because I did not want more than one child. I talked to Gail about it and decided to put it off for a year and see what happens because we weren't ready to start trying again. Well, in December we had the talk and decided to start trying. I wanted to go back to Dr. Carr and start treatments because I was afraid that it would take forever. Gail did not want the treatments. He talked me into waiting until the summer by saying that we should just try naturally for awhile and if it didn't work then I could start them. We tried for three months. January and February my cycle started. (I figured that it would come regularly for awhile because I had been taking the pill.) Then in March it didn't come. I took a test after "the first day of your missed period" and it was negative. I was heartbroken. I talked to Gail about wanting to get started on the treatments, but he didn't want me to. I was furious, but didn't want to do something that major without his agreeing to it. So I decided to just wait. Later that week, I had symptoms that it was going to start, but it didn't. Those symptoms continues the entire next week. I finally talked myself into taking a test (knowing that it too would be negative). I waiting until first thing in the morning when they say to take them, and praise the Lord it was POSITIVE!! We had done it!! I sat on the toilet and cried for about 5 minutes and then started wondering if it was a false positive. So, on the way to work I called my sister to tell her (she was the first person I told with Lydia) and I stopped at Wal-Mart and bought 2 more tests. Later that morning I took another test, and it was positive as well. After school that day I went all over Kirksville to find one of the "Going to be a Big Sister" shirts for Lydia as the way to tell Gail, but I couldn't find one anywhere. I couldn't wait to tell Gail so I have to come up with a new way. I had to pick him up somewhere when I got home so I just took out the 2 positive tests and showed them to him while I was driving down the road. He just smiled and said, "I told you so." I order the shirt that night on the Internet and that is how we told our parents. The due date is November 27, 2011. After I went to the doctor (Dr. Speak now because Dr. Carr retired) he found another cyst in my left ovary this time. At the appointment it was 1 cm and five days later it was 3 cm. I'm worried about it and the possibility of having to have surgery again, but I know that the baby and I are in God's hands. So, start praying for us!!

Perfect Neighbors...

2011-01-25T13:37:00.003-06:00

When I was a little kid I would ride my bike EVERYWHERE!! We lived in the country and I would ride all over our farm, to my grandparent's house next door, and another eldery couple lived up the road from us. We never had to worry about strangers, really fast drivers, or anything happening to us. Half the time I don't even think we told out parents where we were going. We just took off. It was fun, but I secretly wanted to live in town. I wanted to be able to ride my bike to my friends' houses, go to the park, or spend the day at the pool. In college I lived in a "town" (if you can call Canton, MO a town). I loved having people around. My senior year of college I lived with my sister during my student teaching in Lancaster and later rented a little house. I liked living in town. I liked my neighbors. I liked just getting in the car and running to the store. After 3 years of town living, we bought our house and moved to the country. At first is was hard to me being alone (Gail worked evenings the first year we lived there). I kept busy with my master's classes and school work. Now, I wouldn't trade it for the world. Our neighbors are the best ever. Here are some photos.

Make Up

2011-01-19T10:48:00.006-06:00

I'm taking a break from my "catch up posts" to share with you are fun day at home for Martin Luther King Day. We just spent a lazy day at home. Well I was lazy, and Lydia played dress up - ALL DAY!!!

This is what she started with. Eye shadow on her cheeks, a little on her eyes, and a lot of lip gloss.

She was very proud of herself.

I know this is blurry, but it really shows check.

Check out all that lip gloss. It was literally dripping off her lips.

This was about half way through the day. Every time I turned around she was in her room putting on more eye shadow. I kept telling her to not put anymore on, but she didn't listen.

This is the last make up application. After this I put it high up on a shelf in her room (mommy got smart). She was really proud of herself and didn't understand why she couldn't sleep in it.

She more the dress all day to complete the outfit. It was a fun day!

Halloween...

2011-01-13T10:37:00.005-06:00

Halloween was fun for us this year. She actually kind of understood the whole concept of going house to house all dressed up. Oh, and she LOVED the candy part. We started with Trunk of Treat at the Lancaster Christian Church for Awana. She had a blast. The theme was Cowboy/Cowgirl. My mother-in-law and I bought candy and had a station. We had a lot of fun watching all the little kiddos go around. I hope that we are able to do it again next year.

Here is Lydia in her cowgirl outfit: western shirt, pink books, pink belt, pink bandanna, pink hat with sequin headband around it, and pig tails.

She's all ready to go!

For Halloween she wanted to be Cinderella. Wal-Mart had these adorable costumes in her size for $20, but I couldn't bring myself to get it. She already had 2 Cinderella dress up dresses at home (which is where the other on would have gone afterwards). So she picked one out and I got it cleaned up (sewed some tears) and that was it. I put real make up on her for the first time and curled her hair.

Look at those eyes!!

Here you can see the dress. By the way, this is the smile I always get when she is DONE with pictures and wants to do something else. It's what she does when she hears, "Come on, just one more big smile."

They lasted for about an hour - if that.

This was the finished Cinderella - My Beautiful Little Princess. Gail doesn't like this picture because it makes her look so much older. I don't think he even wants to think about that stage of her life yet.

Best Friends...

2011-01-12T13:40:00.002-06:00

Lydia has 2 best buds. One is her cousin Claudia. They are a little over a year apart, but you can't tell that my looking. Claudia is tall for her age. I hope that they will always be close - like sisters. They love playing together.

Claudia and Lydia in their matching shirts from Grandma Jerri and Papa.

Her other best friend is Faith. These 2 are like sisters. She is of one our friend/baby sitter's (Tina) daughters. Faith is 9 months older than Lydia, but you can't tell that my looking either. Faith is tiny for her age. They get to spend every day together. They are like 2 peas in a pod when they are around each other. I'm glad that they will be in the same class at school together. I think it will make it easier. I also know that Tina is able to attend class parties and such during the day that I won't always be able to attend.

Here is Lydia and Faith at my house. (I have a couple other really cute pictures of these 2 at home that I'll try to add later.)

This is what happens when all of them get together.

Photo Shoot...

2011-01-10T11:32:00.004-06:00

We had a surprise 70th Birthday Party for my mother-in-law, Mary, back on October. We told her that we wanted to take some good family pictures around town as our excuse for looking nice. We had the party at the Senior Housing. They have a really nice building there. While we were waiting for her to arrive, I look some pictures.

Actually a decent picture of us.

A family photo.

She is just so cute!!

This wasn't taken that day, but I couldn't resist sharing it. It just screams attitude.

Cutting Wood and Picking up Bales...

2011-01-07T13:34:00.004-06:00

We have a wood stove at our house. Yes, it is inside. Yes, it is messy. Yes, it saves a TON of money. The saving of money makes the mess worth it to me. Anyway, we spend several weekends in the fall cutting, hauling, and stacking wood. This was from a weekend that Lydia went to help us and then we ended up helping my brother-in-law stack square bales. It was fun to do these not so fun activities as a family.

Lydia all ready to go. Gum and a sucker are all she needs.

She and Daddy

Supervisor Lydia

Gail, hard a work.

Way to go, Daddy!!

Checking out his work.

Hauling to the truck.

She was proud of her piece of wood.

Not a full load, but enough for one day.

This was after we were finished. She loved it on top of the bales. Uncle Tim had her up there saying Mizzou cheers. It was priceless.

MIZ - ZOU - GO TIGERS!!!

She was up there pretty far.

Day of Play at Mimme's House...

2011-01-06T09:03:00.005-06:00

The grandchildren on Gail's side of the family always have called her Grandma Mary. I guess either Lydia didn't like that or she just couldn't say it because she has always called her Mimme. If fact, the other kids have started calling her Mimme as well. I think it is sweet. Lydia loves her Mimme and likes to hang out over there. She doesn't care if she is the only one or not (she may prefer to be the only one because she gets a little more spoiled that way). Here are some pictures of her and her a few of her cousins spending time together and having fun.

Here is Lydia with 3 of her cousins on Gail's side: Colin, Jonathan, and Landon.

Nothing sweeter than a bed of wildflowers and a beautiful little girl.

Take time to smell the flowers.

How precious!!

Farm girl

Colin posed this picture to have the 2 milk cans and Lydia's "body guards".

Playing Mommy

2011-01-05T13:06:00.003-06:00

Wearing Mommy's shoes .

Walking around in Mommy's shoes is not as easy.

This child LOVES to wash dishes. I didn't let her for a long time, but them I read on a friend's blog about how she let's her children and how it teaches them the importance of helping out. After that I was SOLD. I don't even have to worry about her missing any spots because she'll wash the same dish for about 5 minutes.

Awana

2011-01-05T12:35:00.007-06:00

Lydia started Awana this past fall at the Lancaster Christian Church. She loves it!! Gail and are relieved to see her coming out of her shell. She used to be very shy and not really talk to people (even if she knew them). At first I was worried about leaving her there for fear that she freaked out. We talked to her about going and that we wouldn't stay with her. A month of so after she started Gail had to drop her off because I had a late night at work. As soon as they got to the top of the steps she ran off, leaving daddy behind. He was shocked. He couldn't believe that she just walked down there and sat with her little group. So a big THANK YOU to Miss Andrea, Miss Jenn, Miss Shelley, and everyone else who works so hard to put together such a wonderful program!

Here she is all ready to go with her Cubbie vest and bag.

Tad on the Lazy Side...

2011-01-05T10:52:00.002-06:00

I have been a tad on the lazy side when it comes to getting pictures off my camera, posting them on facebook, and blogging about them. My goal this week is to get that done. So, be prepared for a LOT of pics coming soon.

Speeding Through...

2010-12-01T09:46:00.003-06:00

I can't believe that today is December 1 already. What happened to November?? Life in our house has been plugging away. I lost my voice at the beginning of the month which makes teaching difficult. I had to stay home that day. That also happened to be the day the Joe "disappeared". The next week Lydia was blessed with pink eye. I was sad to say home, but even more upset that she had to miss Awana. She loves going and spending time with other children, learning about God, and learning her verses. Her daddy and I are very proud of how well she is doing. The rest of the month went by without a hitch. We got the house all decorated, but decided to not put any up outside. Call me a Scrooge, but no one ever sees them and I freeze my toosh off taking them down each year (those that the wind or the dog haven't gotten yet). So, they stayed in the box. Black Friday shopping was fun with Darla. Although after 5:00 a.m. I just couldn't stay awake any longer and fell asleep on the way home. I got everything wrapped and under the tree already. I'm waiting for 3 books and 4 movies to come in the mail that will have to be wrapped, and I still have a gift card to purchase and then I'm COMPLETELY DONE!!!

Until next time...

"Missing" Family Member...

2010-11-04T13:43:00.002-05:00

Since my sister, Darla, doesn't really blog, I'm going to tell the story for her...

Yesterday my brother-in-law, Joe, went to work for an 8:00 training meeting which was across the street from the place he works. Darla had talked to him at 7:30 and everything was fine. At 9:30 she found out that he had never made it to work. Thinking the worse (as anyone in this situation would), his employer sent out people to start looking for him and they also reported him missing. Darla called me (I was home sick) and I of course freaked out. I called my dad who came over so we could help look also. I called Gail at work and he left work to start looking. Joe's father left to head to Eddyville to start looking as well as Joe's brother-in-law, Kenny. Joe's mom, Cindy, and sister, Sarah, started calling all the police departments in the counties that he drives through on the way to work. No one had reported any accidents, but they said they would start looking. Joe's brother, Bill, called the hospitals in the areas, but no one could find him. Everyone had been calling his cell phone, but Joe wouldn't answer. At 11:30 Joe called Darla and said that he was fine, and that he had been at work. He had gone straight to the training meeting and not clocked in (not sure if he was to do this or not). When he hadn't clocked in, his car was not in the parking lot, and he wouldn't answer the phone, they assumed that he was not there. It really freaked everyone out, but in the end it all worked out and everyone was safe. I pray that we never that to go through that again.

New Church...

2010-09-29T10:30:00.002-05:00

Gail and I have found a church that we BOTH like and enjoy attending - Mark Baptist Church. We've tried several churches in our area, but none of them felt like "home". I grew up attending church and was baptized at a young age. When I met Gail, we starting attending the Lancaster Baptist Church. Gail was baptized there and we enjoyed going. Over time pastors changed and the people changed and it started to feel more like an obligation to go rather that we really wanted to go. We stopped going for a couple of years. During that time I started to really think about what I wanted in a church. I actually had a check list.
#1 - We could enjoy worship as a family.
#2 - Had a great kids program.
#3 - Felt like home.
#4 - Great pastor.
#5 - Strong Church family.
#6 - Not to far from home. (I know that sounds bad).

I tried out a couple of churches, but they didn't meet every part of my checklist. During this entire time my sitter kept trying to get us to their church. Gail had wanted to go a couple of times, but I really didn't. Finally, one Sunday morning in early August I decided that we were going to her church. Gail couldn't go because he had something to do. I waited in the lobby for Tina and her family and they were surprised to see Lydia and I there. During that service I had so many emotions. The story really touched me. I laughed, I cried, and it was one of the best times that I've ever had. The next week, Gail went with me and he had the same feelings. We LOVE our new church. I love the feelings I have the entire week after going and I notice that my attitude has changed. I really watch the things I say and do. My check list has turned into my list of the things that we love about our church and I have also added another.
#7 - Being a Christian is not just a Sunday activity.

The church family up at our new church lives and breathes being a faithful Christian. I LOVE IT!!! I hope that all of my readers (hopefully I still have readers) have a church that they love and enjoy going to. I can honestly say that it has made a difference in our lives.

Awana Question...

2010-09-13T12:10:00.002-05:00

Lydia started Awana this past week. Gail was a little questionable on her ability to remember her verses. However, we've been practicing on 3 verses that were in her handout she brought home. After a few minutes of going over them, all I have to do is say the first word and she gets it. I'm very proud of her. She is excited to go back this week (hopefully she'll still be feeling well by then).

I have a question for you Awana leaders out there - Does perfect attendance count the singing at church on Sunday mornings or just Wednesday nights? My computer at home is messed up so I can't get to facebook or any of my e-mail contacts. So just message me on here - THANKS!!

Back Into the Swing of Things...

2010-09-02T15:34:00.002-05:00

It has taken a couple of weeks, but I've finally gotten back into the swing of things. The first week back to school (although it was only 3 days) was very straining. My yard and house work went to pot. The second week was better. That week I basically just got the yard mowed. It took for almost 7 hours and 2 days after school to get it done. This week, my yard still looks good, my house is getting cleaned, the laundry is washed (1 load is still in the dryer), and I've been pretty good at getting the dishes washed. I would complain at this point about not having a dishwasher, but I haven't had a dishwasher since I lived with my parents so I don't really miss it.

Lydia has finally gotten back into her routine also. We've had a few rough mornings, but overall pretty good. She will be starting Awana next week. I'm a little nervous about her starting because this will be her first "thing". She's not big on strangers unless Gail or I are around, and even then she really won't talk. I know that once she gets going she'll be fine and it will be good for her in many ways. She's grow socially and also learn about God. I'm also looking forward to the time when I can get things done around the house (quickly) so that we can enjoy our time together.

Gail had his yearly "August trip to the ER". It happens every August. This year he hit his hand on a table at work just kidding around and it started swelling and turning colors. He had apparently broken his hand a few weeks prior without knowing it. When he hit his hand he rebroke it. It was the 2 year anniversary of his horse accident. Next August 17, he's staying in the house!!

Until next time...

Back to Work...

2010-08-09T22:09:00.002-05:00

In my last post I listed some of the things that I'm going to miss when I head back to work. Don't get me wrong, I have loved this summer, but I'm also kind of ready to go back. So to try and convince myself of this a little more I decided to make a list of the things I'm looking forward to.

1. Being around adult again. (I have the best coworkers EVER!!!)
2. Lydia going back to the sitter's house and getting out of her attitude.
3. Getting back into responsibility mode.
4. My "meditation" that I get each day while driving to work.
5. The 7:00 a.m. phone calls to wake my parents up.
6. Not feeling guilty when it is 5:00 and I have no clue what is for supper.
7. Starting Fly Lady again. (She really keeps me on top of things.)
8. To stop my addiction to Facebook games. (I wish I would have never figured them out.)
9. Seeing students everyday and TEACHING!!!

Until next time...

Headed Back to School...

2010-08-02T13:12:00.003-05:00

I can't believe that August is here already. I completely and totally loved this summer. After my school year last year, I was in need of a nice long vacation. We haven't really done anything as a family this year. I'd still like to go to the zoo one weekend, but that doesn't look like it is going to happen with the rain and Gail trying to get the hay finished. However, Lydia and I have had a blast. I've decided to make a list of all the things I'm going to miss.

1. Watching Lydia learn and play.
2. SLEEPING IN!!
3. Staying in my pajamas all day.
4. Taking my time eating lunch.
5. Cuddle time in the middle of the afternoon.
6. Having my house clean before the weekend so I can do whatever I want to do.
7. Having the laundry caught up.
8. Laying on the couch reading a book.
9. Staying up late and have to worry about getting up in the morning.
10. Not hearing my alarm clock.
11. Lydia getting to sleep in.
12. Waking her up and her giving me a bug bear hug and smile. Not looking forward to the crying and begging to let her sleep.
13. Going for days without driving.
14. Watching movies with Lydia and not having to think about the stack of paperwork that needs to get graded.
15. ...many, many more!!

Putting This Out There...

2010-06-21T08:38:00.002-05:00

To make myself accountable, I decided that I'd put this out for all to read. I started the program "Couch to 5K" today. I have no intentions of being a lifetime runner or anything. In fact, I hate running. I decided to start it because I've known several people who have done it or are doing it. You start out pretty easy (or so I thought). When I looked at the website before the 60 seconds of jogging didn't seem hard at all. Once I started, I realized it was a little more difficult that it seemed. I finished the week 1 day 1 and felt really good (after a shower). I'm excited to build up to something. The week 3 of jogging 3 minutes at one time freaks me out a little bit, but I'll either get there or someone will have to come and save me. The reason I decided to start the program is to get into better shape. If I am able to lose weight in the process then that will be an added bonus.

I'm Still Alive...

2010-06-18T08:24:00.002-05:00

I haven't posted anything in about a month because . . . well I've been lazy. Lydia and I are relaxing, playing, and just doing whatever we (I) want to do. Sleeping in has been really nice. However, I didn't want any of my hundreds of readers to worry about me. I am still alive. So far this month I've cleaned every room of my house (except for the basement it doesn't get bed), I've kept up with weeding the flower beds (a task I HATE), kept the yard mowed between all the rain, and tried a few new recipes (some of which were actually good). Lydia and I have played tee ball, went for wagon rides, done some swinging, walking, exploring, playing in the pool (all 4 inches, but it feels pretty good on a hot day), and gotten ready for her big third birthday party. Not much has been done worth blogging about, but maybe soon.

Funny From a Co-Worker...

2010-05-28T12:17:00.002-05:00

If you've ever worked with kids, you know how important summer vacation is. Jeff Foxworthy also knows how important it is to teachers. ENJOY!!! :)

Jeff Foxworthy on School Employees:

YOU might be a school employee if you believe the playground should be equipped with a Ritalin salt lick.

YOU might be a school employee if you want to slap the next person who says, 'Must be nice to work 8 :00 to 3:30 and have summers off.

YOU might be a school employee if it is difficult to name your own child , because there's no name you can come up with that doesn't bring high blood pressure as it is uttered.

YOU might be a school employee if you can tell it's a full moon or if it's going to rain, snow, hail....anything! Without ever looking outside.

YOU might be a school employee if you believe, 'shallow gene pool' should have its own box on a report card.

YOU might be a school employee if you believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says, 'Boy, the kids sure are mellow today.'

YOU might be a school employee if when out in public, you feel the urge to snap your fingers at children you do not know and correct their behavior.

YOU might be a school employee if you have no social life between August and June.

YOU might be a school employee if you think people should have a government permit before being allowed to reproduce.

YOU might be a school employee if you wonder how some parents MANAGED to reproduce.

YOU might be a school employee if you laugh uncontrollably when people refer to the staff room as the 'lounge.'

YOU might be a school employee if you encourage an obnoxious parent to check into charter schools or home schooling and are willing to donate the U-HAUL boxes should they decide to move out of district.

YOU might be a school employee if you think caffeine should be available in intravenous form.

YOU might be a school employee if you can't imagine how the ACLU could think that covering your students chair with Velcro and then requiring uniforms made out of the corresponding Velcro could ever be misunderstood by the public.

YOU might be a school employee if meeting a child's parent instantly answers this question, 'Why is this kid like this?'

YOU might be a school employee if you would choose a mammogram over a parent conference.

YOU might be a school employee if you think someone should invent antibacterial pencils and crayons...and desks and chairs for that matter!

YOU might be a school employee if the words 'I have college debt for this?' has ever come out of your mouth.

YOU might be a school employee if you know how many days, minutes, and seconds are left in the school year!

Getting Closer...

2010-05-26T14:39:00.002-05:00

I now have 18 hours of "school" left: 2 hours of Tiger Club tonight, 7 hours of school and 2 hours of Tiger Club on Thursday, and 7 hours of school on Friday. In that 18 hours we will entirely clean the classroom, go bowling for the afternoon, watch a movie, have a game reward day, as well as plenty of recess, specials, and lunch. I'm thrilled that the end is in sight!!

Summer is Just Around the Corner...

2010-05-20T10:45:00.002-05:00

I am very excited for summer to get here. This will be the first summer since I can't even remember that I am not working. Not even a single day until sometime on August. At first, I was a little worried because I get bored being at home after a couple of weeks, but now I'm thrilled. I have my weekly cleaning lists ready to go, Lydia's birthday party to prepare, several preschool workbooks to do with Lydia, a yard to keep mowed, hopefully a garden to take care of, and a list of ballgames to attend. Lydia and I are going to do what we want and when we want it. I can't wait for the next 6 and a half days (57 hours) to pass!!!

SMILE..

2010-05-19T11:17:00.002-05:00

When you draw a smiley face, what do you draw first? I was putting some of papers today at school and realized that I always do it in the same order: eyes, smile, and circle. I tried to do it differently and I just couldn't do it. So I ask, how you do?

Cancer Does Not Stop at Nighttime...

2010-05-16T19:19:00.003-05:00

I thought I would share with you the purpose of the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. I admit to being one of the people who wished the Relay would end at 10:00 so that I could head home and get some sleep in my bed, but after reading this I look at the Relay totally differently.

Relay for Life starts at dusk and ends the next morning. The light and darkness of the day parallel the experiences of the cancer patient undergoing treatment. The Relay begins at sunset, which symbolizes the time a person is diagnosed with cancer. As the evening progresses, it gets colder and darker - this represents the patients' struggle as they endure the emotions of being a cancer patient.

The time between 1 to 2 a.m. represents when the cancer patient starts treatment. They become exhausted, some sick, not wanting to go on, possibly wanting to give up. As a participant in the Relay, you have been walking and feel much the same way. Like the cancer patient, you cannot stop of give up.

The time around 4 to 5 a.m. symbolizes the completion of treatment for the cancer patient. Once again, they are tired, but they know they will make it.

The sun rising represents the end of the treatment for the cancer patient. They see the light that life will go on. The morning light brings on a new day, full of life and excitement for new beginnings. As a participant, you will feel the brightness of the morning and know that the end of the Relay is close at hand.

When you leave the Relay, think of the cancer patient leaving their last treatment. Just as you are exhausted and weak, so is that person, but there is hope in the new day! The money raised at Relay will support patient services, lifesaving research, education, and advocacy efforts... and that is why we Relay!

REMEMBER: There is no finish life until we find a cure!!

Wishes...

2010-05-03T14:38:00.003-05:00

Do you ever wish that some people were dandelions that you could snap their head off? Yeah, me too.

Pick Your Battles...

2010-04-30T10:30:00.003-05:00

Lydia is to the stage where she tries to be very independent in everything she does. She wants to brush her own teeth (I let her start and then I take over), put her shoes away, pick up her toys (sometimes), open and shut the door, and several other things. Many of these I'm very thrilled about. However, she also is starting to want to wear certain things. If I get out a dress she wants a skirt. I get out flip flops and she wants tennis shoes. Even her under ware has to be what she wants. Over the past couple of weeks I've fought her on things like this because of the crazy weather. Yesterday morning, I gave up. I had out capris, a t-shirt and flip flops. She wanted to wear her Aerial jammies with rain boots. It then occurred to me that who really cares what she wears. The only people that see her are the people at Casey's in the morning. So, she wore her jammies and we put her clothing in a purse. I did fight the rain boots because it was supposed to be warm and her feet would get all sweaty. She looked so funny walking out of the house. I wished I had taken a picture (I may have to stage it). So, I'm slowly learning to give up control of things that really don't matter and letting her be independent.

Easter Pictures

2010-04-14T12:59:00.008-05:00

I have done several posts today of all pictures. I realized that I hadn't posted any since September. They go clear back to Christmas. I hope you enjoy them.

Lydia's Easter goodies from mommy and daddy.

Lydia waiting to see what the Easter Bunny brought her.

Checking out mom and dad's gift.

Easter Bunny candy.

More Easter Bunny.

The bunny even hid stuff on Papa while he was asleep.

The hunt is on.

The "Easter Bunny" resting. Mom helped me hide all of the candy.

Lydia with all of her candy. It didn't seem like that much when I bought it at the store.

All dresses up for church.

Hayden, Lydia, and Claudia had an Easter egg hunt after lunch. They had fun searching.

Look everywhere. They each had a different color egg to find. It was a lot of fun.

Hayden and Claudia

Lydia

Hayden

Claudia

I love this picture. All dressed up and riding on a tractor.

Watching the Chipmucks 2 with Grandma.

Mimme (Grandma Mary) bought the kids kites for Easter. Lydia got a Dora kite.

Daddy and Lydia flying her kite.

She was impressed with Dora that she could fly so high.

Watching

Giving Landon her "expert" advice.

New Couch, Lydia's Nightly Buddies, and My Little Helper

2010-04-14T11:59:00.004-05:00

Here is the "new" couch that we bought from my brother.

The "new" love seat. I didn't a picture of the recliner, but it is just dark brown. Lydia loves the new furniture and will tell people about them when they come to you house.

These are the buddies that Lydia had to sleep with each night. After she goes to sleep I go in and take most of them out.

Here is (by name) Sheep, Tall Pig, Dolly, Baby Kate, Pink Pony, Giraffe, Alice, and Bella.

Pink Baby, Green Baby, Dora, Baby Piggy, Brown Horse, Horse, and Mouse.

And here is one happy little girl to be surrounded by her buddies.

Those of you who don't know, I enjoy cleaning. Lydia also loves to dust and vacuum.

Here she is helping me vacuum under out bed. She even holds the real vacuum cord.

Valentine's Day Dinner

2010-04-14T10:33:00.002-05:00

I'm not a creative cook by any meals, but I was pretty impressed with my Valentine's Day Dinner I made for Gail.

I boiled Penni pasta.

Cut a package of Hillshire Farms sausage and sauteed it with green peppers and onions.

Added a can of diced tomatoes right at the end. Then you mix that with the pasta and spaghetti sauce in an over safe pan or bowl. Sprinkle with a little cheese.

Put in the oven until the cheese melts and YUMMO!!

New Year, New Toys, New Troubles

2010-04-14T09:28:00.006-05:00

We started off the new year by purchasing a stock trailer. Our old one was in bed shape when we bought it, but replaced a lot of the metal and repainted it. We were kinda attached to the thing. However, it started getting flat tires EVERYTIME Gail used it. Even if he hauled a few sheep for his brother the tire would go flat. He couldn't figure out what the problem was, but decided it was time for a new one. Gail was really proud of this trailer.

My Grandpa Franklin died on January 2, 2010 on his 93rd birthday. The grandsons were to carry the casket the day of the funeral. My aunt decided that they should wear sweaters. Of the 6 grandsons only 3 had sweaters. Gail hasn't worn a sweater since she was a little kid so we had to borrow one from Joe. Gail was not happy that I took his picture, but it is the only time it will happen so I had to capture it.

When I clean I usually pile the toys on the table so I can vacuum. I turned around and Lydia was up there playing away. I grabbed the camera and then got her down and told her it is unsafe to be on the table.

Our kitchen water pipes froze in January. Gail got down in the crawl space to see if he could do anything and Lydia (Little Helper) had to check things out as well.

Our first snowman of the winter was built in January and melted the very next day. A short life he lived, but he was pretty cute. I had bought a snowman kit with came with the stuff you see and couldn't wait to use it.

We exchanged one of Lydia's Christmas gifts because she got doubles and got this tee ball set instead. She loves it and it quiet the little slugger. Yes, we let her use it in the house, but there isn't much that she can break.

Batter Up!

Christmas Pictures

2010-04-14T09:08:00.006-05:00

New Christmas Jammies. She gets a new pair every Christmas Eve so they look nice in pictures.

Her stuffed dog that Santa brought.

The tree and presents on Christmas morning.

Lydia had fun helping Annie and Charlie open their stocking. They got new collars.

They also got treats and bones under the tress. Lydia had to help with that also. The dogs just stood by licking their lips. It was cute.

The BIG gift was her play kitchen. After I bought I read reviews about it on the Toys R Us website. People said that it didn't hold together and was hard to put together. I was really bummed out because I'd gotten it back in July and was excited to give it to her. It was not that hard to put together, but did take 2 of us. And it has held up really well. In fact, it looks the same now (April) as it did when she got it.

Before she even had the paper torn off she washed her hands in the sink.

Over Christmas break we went as a family to Lydia's first movie. We went to Chipmunks 2. It was a fun and Lydia LOVED it. She was dancing in the aisle.

Darla's birthday is on December 29th so the borrowed the kids and we decorated cupcakes. Claudia and Lydia wanted pink and Hayden wanted green. They had fun.

They were thrilled to show her the finished project.

Easter 2010

2010-04-05T16:03:00.004-05:00

We had a wonderful Easter this year. I spent Friday night and Saturday cleaning up my house and cooking up a storm because my family (minus my brother's family who already had plans) came to my house. Sunday morning Lydia woke up to see what the Easter Bunny had left in her basket. She got some candy, the new Chipmunks movie, gum, some Dora plates and bowls, a Dora container for snacks, and several games. My parents showed up about 8:30 and Mom helped me hide candy all over the living room, dining, and den. Lydia came out of her room and had fun picking up all of the goodies. Afterwards, we got around for church. Lydia was thrilled for Grandma and Papa to go to church with us because she was able to sit with them and Aunt Dee Dee. After church we all headed to my house for out yummy dinner. We had ham, deviled eggs, scalloped onions, mashed potatoes, gravy, cheesy cabbage casserole, green bean casserole, rolls, corn, pies, and strawberries. I get full again just thinking about it. After dinner Hayden, Claudia, and Lydia had to go play in Lydia's room while Darla and I hid eggs and candy all over the house again. They had a blast finding their eggs. They each had their own color or design to make for a not fighting egg hunt. Quickly after that Darla, Joe, and the kids had to leave and the rest of us settled down to watch "The Sqeakuel (sp)" and take a nap. It was a fun day. Pictures will be coming soon. I keep forgetting my camera cord.

Update on Us...

2010-03-19T19:57:00.002-05:00

Not much has been going on with us. Lydia is learning more and more each day. She now knows her left from her right. Pretty big step for a 2 year old. Next week we are taking her for a preschool screening at the school. I hope she gets into the program, but if not she'll still go to Tina's (which she loves) and hopefully will get in the next year. I just think she could learn a lot more in that setting. Gail has been working on a tractor and vehicles for other people. He works from 6-2 everyday and then works in the shed most evenings from 6:00 or 7:00 until usually 9:00. Last night he was out there until 3:00 a.m. He didn't have to work today so I guess it was alright. We are getting baby calves now as well. I love to watch them scamper in the pasture. We got a set of twin last week. I'm just making my way through. I currently have a student teacher. She is awesome!! I haven't had to bring a single thing home to grade since she started. I'm worried that we won't have summer school this summer (which I really need to teach). I'm about 99% sure we won't be having it, but I still hold out for that 1%. Oh, we did get a new couch, love seat, and recliner. Well, not new new, but new to us. My brother and sis-in-law got new new and we got their old for a really low price. They are is great shape compared to our old stuff. Our old couch and chair belonged to my grandparents. I remember sleeping on the couch when I was a little kid so I'm guessing at least 25 years old. The love seat belonged to my parents. We bought it off them when we moved into our house. I think it's at least 10 years old. One of these days we'll get something new that we actually go to the store and pick out rather than used, but I'm in no rush. Anyway, that is us in a nutshell for the past several weeks.

Until next time...

SPRING BREAK!!!

2010-03-05T16:26:00.002-06:00

In exactly 23 minutes, I'll be on spring break for a week!! I'm WWWWAAAAYYYY thrilled. I have a really long cleaning list, 7 really good books, and a reward day to plan for the entire fourth grade. The cleaning and books I'm looking forward to. The reward day I figure I'll screw up really badly, but not one else wanted to do it. So I guess now one should complain how bad it is - right??

It's Been Awhile...

2010-02-26T10:55:00.003-06:00

I just realized that it's been almost a month since my last post - LOSER!! There just hasn't been that much going on. Just snow, snow, and more snow. I know it sounds silly, but when the week is interrupted by something like an extra day off, my whole week is blown. The rest of the week is a whirlwind of playing catch up. I now have a 5.5 inch tall stack of papers on my desk that need to be graded and recorded. You can ask almost anyone, that hardly happens to me. My house is halfway clean so I guess it hasn't all gone to pot. However, Lydia and I have had some wonderful playing time this week. We can built one heck of a "doggy house" out of Lego's. Well, off to my stack of papers. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Until next time...

The Crazyness Continues...

2010-01-28T13:37:00.003-06:00

So mom got her last IV antibiotic treatment on Wednesday, January 20th. She went back on Thursday to get the final OK on the staff infection. She also mentioned to him that her hip is still bothering her from when she hurt it last September. (She stepped out of a grain truck really hard.) She had gone to the doctor then, but they just said that it wasn't out of place and to see if it would go away. Well, the doctor ordered a bone scan to be done in Kirksville on Tuesday, January 26th. They got the results later that day and it showed up as bone cancer in her pelvis. We all got really worried because she had just at a PET scan exactly 1 month before and everything showed up as clear. Now all of a sudden this pain that she'd had for 4 months was cancer. Well, they also sent the results to her oncologist and after looking them over he said that it wasn't cancer. He felt it was arthritis that she had aggravated back in September. He recommends that she go ahead and have radiation anyway because it could help with her mobility and pain. She has another appointment on February 3rd for her 12 week post brain surgery MRI scan. Hopefully the same spots from her 6 week scan. The woman needs a break!!

Oh the home front, we have all had the flu this weekend and week. Lydia started on Saturday, I started on Sunday evening, and Gail started early Monday morning. It took about 3 days for each of us to completely get over it. Lydia is growing like a weed. She now knows the alphabet song and will sing the entire thing with only a little help. We are all ready for warmer weather (I won't say spring, but just something about 35).

Until next time...

Crazy Beginnings...

2010-01-21T15:13:00.002-06:00

The beginning of my New Year has been pretty rough:

To start things off, my grandfather passed away on January 2. It was his 93rd birthday. His name was Paul Franklin. He lived an amazingly full life. He loved to fish, hunt, spend time with his family, and tease or joke with anyone who would listen. He'd been fighting congestive heart failure for a couple of years. I consider myself blessed to of had him in my life. I also consider myself blessed to be almost 30 (did I really just type that) and to still have a grandparent around. My Grandpa Mohr died in 1994, Grandma Mohr is 1997, Grandpa Franklin in 2010, and I still have Grandma Franklin. My husband only had 1 grandparent alive when he was born, but he doesn't remember them at all. Lydia still prays for Grandpa Franklin every night. It is sweet and brings a smile to my face each time.

A week after Grandpa died, my mother ended up in the emergency room. Her arm was bright red and she was in terrible pain. It turned out to be a sever case of staff infection in her arm that was spreading to her torso. It only took a couple of hours to get that bad. He was in the hospital for 5 days, and then had to continue to go back for IV antibiotics. She's is such a strong person. It seems like once something gets under control another thing pops up.

This past weekend went by with anything major happening. I was relieved. Hopefully the rest of 2010 will remain calm.

Until next time...

Vacation...

2009-12-30T17:34:00.002-06:00

I have absolutely LOVED this vacation. We've visited family and friends, played, watched movies, made special treats, cleaned, and had a great time as a family. The only think we haven't done that I'd like to is play in the snow and build a snowman. The days we were home were too cold to be outside and the days we were gone were beautiful. Maybe tomorrow will be the day. I'll post pics later from out Christmases. What have you enjoyed doing over the vacation?

School Christmas Gifts...

2009-12-15T12:49:00.002-06:00

At Christmas time each year it is customary to make a gift for parents. In the past we've made ornaments and picture frames. The items that I've used to make the ornaments you can no longer from from Oriental Trading. I know, I know... I thought you could get anything from that place also, but no. The frames that we've made in the past are kind of cheesy. So this year, my partner teacher and I found these really neat frames that are black. When students scratched away a design on them the background is all different colors. I thought this was a lot cooler than the other frames, but no. They are even cheesier. (Is that even a word?) So right before Christmas we were scrounging around trying to find something to do that was easy enough for students to make, cheap enough because I'm not made of money, and something that would not drive me CRAZY in the making process. I decided - candy! What is better at Christmas time than some homemade candy and snacks. We divided our classes into smaller groups. We've got pretzel dipper groups, pretzel wrapper groups, ribbon cutter groups, puppy chow making groups, puppy chow bagging groups, and pass out candy groups. I tried to think of a group for everything so I didn't have 12 people trying to make each thing. The kids are excited. The pretzels turned out great. I only burnt the chocolate in the microwave twice - smelly!! Today we are going to wrap them and make the puppy chow. Wish us luck. I've already taken extra headache meds to get me through.

Christmas is a Coming...

2009-12-13T15:04:00.002-06:00

I feel like I way behind for this Holiday Season. I've had the decorations and trees up since right before Thanksgiving, I wrapped all the gifts right after Thanksgiving, but I still feel lost. I have made Christmas cookies, but no icing yet. I've addressed all the cards, but don't have stamps to mail them. We haven't written out letter to Santa yet either. This week is busier than I even imagined at work and we have to make our parent gifts. So much to do, so little time.

Awana Program Funny...

2009-12-08T13:39:00.002-06:00

Sunday night my niece and nephew (Hayden and Claudia) were in the Awana program at the Lancaster Christian Church. Lydia was really excited to see Claudia on stage. Hayden was a tree and she didn't recognize him. She also was excited to see Aunt DeeDee playing the piano and kept calling out her name. The two funniest moments were when she realized there was a Christmas tree with lights on it. She yelled that there was a tree and wanted to go tough the lights. A little later she saw Dram-a and Papa sitting in a pew across the church and hollered that out to me. A few people down from them was a lady and a baby. Lydia goes, "Look mommy! Baby Jesus and her mommy!". It was so cute!!

Lydia's Little Funnies...

2009-12-07T13:41:00.002-06:00

I know one day I'll forget all of the cute things that Lydia says so I figured I'd write them in a place where I'll (hopefully) always have them and share them with you.

She called her pacifier her "firefire".
When you ask her if she wants something that she doesn't want, she says "NO, don't want it".
She always have to sleep with her "bankit".
When they dogs are barking she yells at them to stop.
If they are excited and barking at Gail, she yells that them that that is her daddy.
She'd eat applesauce for every meal if I'd let her.
Her names for people: Darla - DeeDee, Claudia - Claudiaudia, Grandma Jerri - Dama, Grandpa Stanley - Papa, Grandma Mary - Mimmy. There are many others.
She loves to talk on the phone to people and will just walk off with the phone talking away.
She loves to go check the cows with daddy and seeing the baby camel (Thunder - Funder).
When she wants to you carry her around she'll stand with her arms up and say "Hold you, hold you".
She likes to be in the bathroom with you while you are taking a shower or going to the bathroom. Now that she can open the doors it's a little awkward.

I'll have to add more to the list later because it's a lot of fun. Hope you enjoy.

Update...

2009-12-03T20:40:00.003-06:00

Things around our household are looking much better than a few weeks ago. Lydia's ring worm spots are practically all gone. You can still kind of see 2 of them, but much better than the 11 we did have. Her hair is also growing back in her bald spot. Gail's job is still going fine. They are expecting them to be back to 5 days a week by the first of the year. He has been working only 4 days since last spring or before. He's picked up several car jobs to work on also. He just worked on some one's transmission this week. Another guy is to be bringing two vehicles this weekend for him to put new brakes on. If anyone needs cheap car repair, give us a call. My job is good. I still get stressed out at time, feel like crawling under my desk for a good cry, and pulling my hair out. However, problems are slowly getting better. I'm looking forward to Christmas break like a kid on Christmas Eve. At home all the decorations are up, gifts are wrapped and under the tree, and I'm managing to keep up on most of the house work. If the wood stove weren't so darn dirty I'd been really good. When I figure all the money it saves us and how warm our house is, I feel much better about sweeping and moping the mess almost daily. On a random side note, I want to start a Christmas Eve tradition for our family. I want to do things like the living nativity, CE services, and other things that we can turn into tradition. What are the things that you do with your families for the traditions?

Another First...

2009-11-24T09:05:00.002-06:00

Last night was another first for Lydia, and probably the one I've most been dreading. My daughter is a wonderful sleeper at night. To bed at 7:30, up and 6:30, and not to bad of a morning person. However, she has to sleep with her pacifier. She wants it right when she crawls into bed. We give it to her and she's off to night night land. I thought it was going to be terrible when we actually did take it away. I've been telling her that at Christmas we are going to give them all to Baby Hannah (our new little cousin) and that we won't have then anymore. She shakes her head in agreement, but doesn't actually understand what I am talking about. Yes, I know she's almost 2 and a half years old and doesn't need to anymore, but she likes it. And who and I kidding, it helps her go to sleep so I like it just as much. Well, last night I just did it. She started asking for her pacifier and I told her we didn't have anymore. After telling her this for awhile and her asking for it again I just told her that Annie (one of our dogs) ate it. She looked at Annie and then asked me for a new one. I told her Annie had gotten in the cabinet and had eaten all of the of pacifiers. She really gave Annie a chewing and then went right off to night night land. No crying, no screaming, no tossing herself about... just went to sleep and slept all night long. I don't know what I was so afraid of. Hopefully it will stay this way.

Until next time...

2009-11-10T14:14:00.002-06:00

I haven't blogged for awhile so I thougth I would just catch up on on what has been going on (which isn't much).

Lydia - She is still fighting ring worm. We starting putting rubbing alcohol on it after her bath every night to help dry it up. Currently she has the bald spot, a small spot behind each ear, a spot on her ankle, a spot on her hip, and two small spots on her leg. We are on week 3 on the medicine, but I haven't noticed a positive change yet. Only more spots. She has had a couple of accidents at home with the potty. We've been being out late and it has messed her up. But hey, 2 accidents since the end of August isn't bad. She also moved into her big girl room (our spare bedroom.) It's bigger than her old one. I painted it pink and just moved her stuff right in. Several bigger toys that had been in the living and dining rooms were able to fit also. I was thrilled to get her in there. She's also understanding that that is her new room and has been sleeping fine. Now, I need to get the spare room back together.

Gail - We thought he broke his foot last Monday night. He went to see Dr. Minter the next day. Two people thougth it was broke and 1 didn't. We have a friend who broke her foot over a year ago and was told that it wasn't broken when it actually was. After several surgeries she still had trouble with it. I talked Gail into going for a second opinion for 2 reasons. #1 The x-ray machine at Minter's is older and he told Gail that it doesn't pick up fine breaks really well. #2 I didn't want the same thing that had happened to our friend to happen to him. The second opinion said that hsi foot was severally bruised, but not broken. I was happy with that answer.

Me - I just keep working, grading, cleaning, and paying bills. It seems like that is all I get done. I am almost done with my Christmas shopping. I wasn't going to go on the Black Friday shopping trip with my sister, but I was informed that I was going. I've learned to not argue with her, just do it. It's fun anyway.

Until next time...

What's the deal...

2009-10-29T16:11:00.001-05:00

Either all the raid is getting to the kids at school or there is a full moon tonight. Does anyone know which?

Diane

Sick Day...

2009-10-26T10:35:00.003-05:00

I'm home today with my little snuggle buddy. Aside from the fact that she has a terrible couch every night for the past few days and her nose is running like crazy, I'm home because of her head. My little girl brought home ring worm from the baby sitter's house back at the end of August. It started with a little spot on her belly. We treated with OTC anti-fungal cream that was recommended by the pharmacist. After the spot went away I kept treating if for several days when a spot on her ankle showed up. I've been treating that area for a couple of weeks and it is almost completely gone. Well, on Saturday after her nap I was getting ready to fix her hair when I noticed small spots behind both of her ears. (I'm still not convinced that they are ring worm, but we'll let the doctor decide. I've been putting cream on the anyway.) She also had a balk spot close to her neck. That freaked me out beyond belief. So, I'm home today to take "Wormy" (as her dad has started calling her) to the doctor. I'm hoping that they'll be able to give me some oral medication because putting the cream in her hair everyday drives her crazy and then she starts touching it. Wish me luck.

P.S. I've also told Gail that when she gets older I will be telling her about the "Wormy" name.

Changes...

2009-10-16T15:42:00.002-05:00

Gail and I are neither one big on changes. From big changes to small changes, we don't deal will with any of it. My house in one of those areas where I don't do well. When I first moved out on my own and when Gail and I first got married we lived in a rental house (the little yellow house beside the old High School in Lancaster). The furniture stayed in the same place then entire almost 4 years that we lived there. In December 2005 we bought and moved into our house now. The furniture, with the exception of Lydia's room, has been in the same spot since we moved in. Well, last night a friend helped me move our bedroom furniture around. I have always wanted all 5 pieces of bedroom furniture in there, but had never gotten around to moving it. Now our bed is in a different place, and I'm not sure how I like it. There is not other furniture option that makes room for all 5 pieces so if I can't get used to it, it all goes back. Do you all deal well with changes?

Decorations...

2009-09-28T11:01:00.002-05:00

I love to decorate for holidays. Before Lydia was born I just decorated for Christmas and a few other decorations here and there. Now I decorate for Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Spring, Fourth of July, Halloween, fall, winter, and Christmas. I'm officially decoration crazy. It's been so long since I was able to get decorations out that I think I was going through withdrawal. This past weekend I got out the Halloween and fall stuff and I have three boxes full. THREE BOXES!! I didn't realize I had so much stuff. I had fun putting it all throughout the house. There is something in every room except for our bedroom and the spare bedroom. Lydia had fun after nap time walking around and looking at everything. I'll have to put pictures on here later. What are your favorite decorations for Halloween?

Round and Round It Goes...

2009-09-15T15:03:00.002-05:00

... where it stops nobody knows! I just hope it stops soon. I feel that I just can't keep up with everything these days, and Lydia isn't even in all those activities like older children are. I get things caught up at school and things at home seem to get behind. Things get caught up at home and thing at school seems to fall behind. I really need to get back into my routine with Fly Lady. Doing that routine really works for me. Maybe I'll start tonight (maybe not)?? How does everyone else keep up with their jobs, household chores, and children's lives?

Potty Princess...

2009-09-11T11:03:00.003-05:00

Lydia is in her fourth straight day of wearing big girl pants with no accidents. She usually stays dry at night also. I'm so proud of her. CONGRATS, LIDDY!!

Lydia's New Pony...

2009-09-03T20:54:00.004-05:00

This is Lydia's new pony that we got from a guy Gail works with. He gave her to us. We named her Daisy.

Lydia was REALLY proud of her new pony.

She wouldn't get on her back, but she did enjoy leading her around the backyard.

Passing the "sniff test".

I think this picture is precious.

Brain Surgery...

2009-08-31T16:25:00.003-05:00

Last week my mother found out on Tuesday that she was going to have her brain tumor removed on that Thursday. Short notice, but it was actually a relief not to have to worry and stress about it for several weeks or days. Darla and I got up at 2:00 a.m. that Thursday and left at 3:30 to go down to Columbia. Mom's check in was at 5:45 and we wanted to get there before that. They took her back to the surgery waiting at 7:00, surgery started at 8:30 and she was done at 10:30. By 11:00 they have told us that she was moving her hands, feet, and talking. We were relieved because those were the areas of concern with the area of her tumor. When removing the tumor the doctor told us that he would have to cut around the tumor and then kinda scoop it out. After he "got in there" he discovered that there was a vein going over the top of the tumor that he was able to move to the side, cut around the edges of the tumor and just "pop it out" (in his words) because it wasn't attached on the bottom side. She was really lucky. The MRI taken the next day showed that there were no cancerous cells remaining in her brain. Currently she is CANCER FREE!!!

Update...

2009-08-22T16:13:00.002-05:00

We haven't been up to much lately. School started back last week and I'm exhausted after a three day work week. The road construction on Highway 63 is about to do me in. It adds 30-60 minutes on to my trip each day. Consider both ways and your talking 60-120 minutes just sitting or only going 2 miles per hour while you're following BIG machines for 15 miles. I've had to leave home by 6:30 (6:15 when I have to take Lydia to the sitter's house). She's going to turn into a bear before it's over. Also with school starting my house has gone to pot. I hadn't vacuumed, dusted, or swept since Monday. These usually happen every other day. I had dishes in my since, trash falling out of the trash can, dirty laundry falling out of the hamper,... I could go on, but you get the picture. I spent the morning getting everything back to normal. Other than the three loads of laundry it's looking good. This afternoon we went to the Glenwood reunion for a parade. Lydia didn't have that much fun. Probable because some really loud machine with stinky exhaust backed up right beside where we were standing. The farther we moved away, the closer they came. And of course they kept it running the entire time. (HOW RUDE!!!) Lydia was scared of it. I was very upset by the time the parade was over. Tonight we get to go to the Downing Rodeo. We've gone almost every year that they have it. This will be Lydia's second year. She enjoyed it last year so I think she'll love it this year. Tomorrow I get to finish up whatever laundry is left and can tomatoes.

Until next time...

Summer Favorites...

2009-08-08T20:16:00.003-05:00

Here are some of my favorite things from the summer.

Lydia started sleeping in her "big" girl bed. We took the rail off and now she has a day bed. She does really well with in and stays in once we put her there. In the mornings and after nap time she won't get out until we go into her room.

We went to story hour every week here in town. Each time they did two coloring projects, a craft project, listened to three stories, and then were able to check out books. This is my favorite project they made - Princess Hats.

Here she is all dressed and ready for the pool. We only went once this year because is was such a cool summer.

Once she figured out how to sit in the ring she LOVED it.

This is my favorite picture from all summer. She was so proud of this little rock.

Until next time...

Update on Us...

2009-07-19T17:07:00.002-05:00

Not much has been going on with us since summer started. We've been going to the library in Lancaster for story hour every week. Lydia really likes the crafts and sometimes listens to the stories. Other than that we haven't been doing much. I organized my photos to make it easier to start scrap booking (now I just need to start). I have 2 other big goals for the summer besides just the basic cleaning.

One is it organize the basement kitchen cabinets. Yes, our house has 2 full working kitchens. Some may find it weird, but it is actually very useful. The fridge in the basement come in really handy to store things in. Currently I think there are potatoes, 10 bricks for Velveeta (great sale), flour, sugar, and Gatorade. The freezer part is full of berries and peaches that I have ready for pies. The stove and oven down there are really handy also. The upstairs oven is a wall unit and a counter top stove. I would never recommend it to anyone. The oven is smaller than average so some pans won't fit. Therefore we end up using the one in the basement. I also do my canning down there. It keeps the extra heat downstairs and all of the canning stuff is down there. I use the cabinets to store the canned jars as well as extra food. When I go to Aldis I get an entire flat of each vegetable, put a few cans upstairs and the rest to the basement. It's wonderful. The cabinets also have all of the "stuff" that didn't have a place to go when we moved in. So this summer (before I start canning) I need to organize (toss mostly) the contents.

The second big job is to clean out the garage. We normally don't put the garage doors down so when someone drives by the dust from the road floats right it. Leave also blow in. Along with the basic clutter that needs to be thrown away and you have a very dirty garage. Someday while Lydia is asleep I'm going to take on that task.

I'll let you know when I get these down. What are your cleaning/organizing plans?

Lydia's Birthday Cake...

2009-07-09T14:25:00.004-05:00

I didn't realize until today (thanks, Jen) that I hadn't put pictures of Lydia's birthday cake on here. It didn't turn on exactly like the picture I had found. The picture had pink and green circles, but I didn't think I could match the colors. It also used fondant and had fondant ribbons on it as well as flowers. I just did it my own way and thought it turned out well. Lydia said it was "preddy" and that is all that matters.

My Baby Turned TWO!!!

2009-07-06T19:38:00.011-05:00

I still can't believe that Lydia is now two years old. On her birthday we just had her special spaghetti dinner and her party wasn't until Saturday. Last year she had a butterfly themed party. This year didn't really have a theme. Her cake was green, pink, and white and we just had summer luau decorations hanging around the house and front porch. Oh, and balloons. Can't have a party without balloons. I took tons of pictures at the party and put them on facebook. Here I'll just share with you some of her gifts.

Movies

Gail and I got her a pair of Gap jeans, 2 t-shirts, and 2 dresses.

We also got her this Keri doll from Fisher Price. It is a Snap N Style doll. You can get a lot of different outfits and the hats, clothing, shoes, and acessories just snap on.

Bubble Machine from Mommy and Daddy

Pink Horse Purse

She got an aqua doodle from a friend of mine and she LOVES it. I'd never heard of it.

Some of her Aunts and Uncles went together and got her this CD karaoke machine and some CDs. She sings and dances with it. FUNNY!!

Board Books

Several more dresses.

Pink Cowgirl boots that we have to exchange for a bigger size. I hope we can still get them.

"Rodeo - Cowboys invented it. Cowgirls perfected it" I love this shirt.

Each year we get her a Dr. Seuss book and have everyone sign it. Then she is getting a wonderful book collection as well as knows who was at her party.

It's hard to see the signatures.

Mommy and Daddy also got her a magna doodle.

My parents, siblings, and their families went together and got her this vanity. She likes to go fix her hair and pretend to put on make-up.

She had a wonderful birthday party. Thanks again to all of you who have helped us in the past 2 years and continue to be important parts in our lives. We love you very much.

First Few Days of Vacation...

2009-07-03T12:12:00.005-05:00

Lydia and I have been enjoying the first few days of summer vacation. Gail has been off also, but he is too busy trying to get the hay done so it's been just us girls. Wednesday (Lydia's birthday) we went to the Schuyler Co. Library for her first story hour. She got to color a bunny, make a pin wheel, and listened to stories. She loved the coloring, but not the listening to stories. She likes to pretend to read them herself and doesn't even like for me to read to her. Afterwards, we went to Memphis to eat lunch with my mother, sister, sister-in-laws, and their kids. It was my mom's first day of full retirement so we celebrated. That night we had her special spaghetti dinner. We did it last year and I think it will be a tradition. Thursday we took Claudia and went to the Adair Co. Library for their story in the park. The theme was Moving' and Groovin'. Claudia and Lydia just sat, but it was a nice day to be outside and get some fresh air. On the way home we stopped at the Greentop roadside park for a picnic then came home and took naps. I hope the rest of the summer is as enjoyable and fun.

All ready for story hour.

Coloring her pin wheel.

The bluish bunny is Lydia's. Claudia made the other one.

I won this for Lydia out of one of those claw video game things. It look me four tries but I was determined to get something for her for her birthday.

The two of us on hehr birthday.

Spaghetti dinner.

Yummy!

Picnic in the park.

I thought this picture was just cute.

Summer Vacation...

2009-06-30T20:54:00.002-05:00

I am officially on summer vacation as of 5 hours ago. Summer school is over and I can honestly say that (so can the rest of the summer school teachers) that we greatly deserve the rest of the summer off. I have several things planned for Lydia and I this summer. The Schuyler County Library is going to have a story hour once a week. I'm not sure if Lydia will enjoy it or if it will be too advanced for her, but we're going to try it out anyway. The first one is tomorrow. Tomorrow is also Lydia's second birthday (I'll post later about that) and my mom's first day of retirement. After story hour we are going to Memphis to have lunch with her at the Bowling Alley - taco salad here I come. The Adair County Library is also having different events at the park once a week. There are a few of those that I plan to take her to also. I'll keep you updated on our daily events (or lack there of) throughout the summer.

Until next time...

Vacation Here I Come...

2009-06-29T08:47:00.002-05:00

I have 2 days of summer school left. Every year I sign up to teach summer school because we need the money. It usually goes to purchase hay, but this year it is going towards pasture rent. I don't mind teaching (some days) and get a lot of stuff done for the next school year. However, I would love to sleep in some of these mornings. I guess I just have to be patient until Wednesday.

On Wednesday, my first official day of summer school, is Lydia's second birthday. I can't believe that she is going to be TWO!! Sniff, sniff. We have a fun day planned for that day. We are going to the library for story hour and then over to Memphis to have a birthday/retirement lunch with my mom. It is her last day of work - every!!

Until next time...

Dress Up...

2009-06-25T10:14:00.004-05:00

Lydia loves to play dresses. We have a truck that she for the Christmas that came full of stuff to play dress up with and I've added to it along the way. She'll go over to the truck, pull it out, and decorate herself. I got some pictures of her playing with it earlier this week.

This was the outcome. She ended up wearing pink flip flops, pink poodle skirt from the Relay for Life, 3 necklaces, purple wings, and a blue fuzzy hat. She didn't have the hat on until she realized that I was going to take her picture. Then she bent down quickly, grabbed it, put it on her head, and said, "cheese". She is so funny.

Until next time...

Pictures...

2009-06-24T13:50:00.003-05:00

I think I may be a mom that takes way too many pictures. I use the Wal-Mart photo website to order pictures. And though I take a ton of pictures, I don't print them too often. In fact, I haven't ordered any pictures since June 2008. I don't have any from Lydia's first birthday party and her second is next week. I typically order 2 copies of every picture I take and today I realized how silly that was. I uploaded 505 pictures taken since Easter (2 1/2 months, 74 days, that averages to 6.8 pictures a DAY!!). Normally it would have costs me $45 plus tax for single pictures. Instead, I only ordered the pics that I absolutely wanted. Several 5 x 7s also, and it only cost me $18. Smile on my face. Tomorrow I'll try to go back and upload from July 2008 until Easter and stay under $20. I love digital cameras!!

Until next time...

Weekend Results...

2009-06-21T09:40:00.003-05:00

The results of the garage sale were pretty good. I owed Darla $44 (actually $42 because I had bought her something that costs $2 somewhere) and I ended the day with a profit of $1. I was thrilled that I was able to pay her. I traded a bunch of clothing that either didn't fit her or she didn't wear in for ones that will. The entire concept of a garage sale is wonderful. I also spent $13 at another garage sale so I actually didn't make any money. Darla (AKA garage sale queen) made a lot of money. I swear that she could sell rocks and dirt and would still make money at a garage sale. Before the garage sale even started on Friday she had sold over $100.

I got the cake done for Erin. It looked really neat on Friday night when I got it finished. However, with all of the humidity the icing started melting off on Saturday. It still looked alright, but I was disappointed in it. I hope is looked good for the shower and didn't fall apart too much.

The rest of my weekend was crazy!! Lydia's schedule is way messed up with the summer. She took a nap from 1:30 until 5:00 on Saturday afternoon. She played outside all morning at the garage sale (and was wonderful) so she was really tired. I got the yard mowed and took a shower all while she was sleeping!! That never happens. Usually I'll get the yard mowed and start heading for the shower when she wakes up. I think she knows what's going on. Anyway, after I got cleaned up we went to Meme's (Gail's mom's) house with a cake I had made. She played with her cousins, played outside, and went to the pasture to feed the cows. She had a blast. Meme had fixed supper. I fixed Lydia a plate of a roll, bacon, and melon. While we were all eating she got choked (really choked) on the bacon. Gail pulled her out of the high chair, flipped her on her tummy, and started pounding on her back. Gretchen (my sister-in-law) reached in her mouth and was eventually able to pull the bacon out. I was SCARED!! If Lydia hadn't turned it into a big joke I would have broke out in tears. After we got her settled back into the chair she started "choking again". We all looked at her and then she started laughing!! I hope it never NEVER happens again.

Until next time...

Garage Sales...

2009-06-19T12:18:00.002-05:00

I think I have a garage sale addiction. I love to go to them and get good deals on clothing for Lydia. Don't get me wrong, I liked garage sales before. However, once I had her they took on an entire new meaning to me. So tomorrow Darla and I are having a garage sale at her house. It in Lancaster City Wides. I had more clothing to sell than I thought I would have. I used to keep everything she outgrew in case we had another girl in the future. After having 14 eighteen gallon tubs in our basement mud room (and she's not even 2 yet) I decided that I should really go through the clothing and purge. Now I hope I actually get rid of it all. Not that I'll get any of the money from what I sell because I looked through Darla's garage sale piles and took a lot of her stuff. So currently I owe her $44. My goal is to make enough to pay her for what I owe. I'll let you know how that turns out.

I'm also on the downward stretch of summer school. We had 22 days plus 4 work hours. We are completing day 15 today. I have so much planned for the rest of the summer and I can't wait. I have basement cabinets to clean out and organize, a garage that is a disaster, and a pretty clean house. I also plan to spend time at the Kirksville wading pools. Speaking of - Lydia got in the pool for the first time this summer yesterday. She didn't like it at first so I got in there with her. A big thank you to Darla for loaning me dry clothing!!

Until next time...

Pictures from the Relay and Around Home...

2009-06-15T12:25:00.005-05:00

Kitty at Meme's house.
I just love her face in this picture.

She loves to brush her teeth.

This picture of Hayden are Claudia is priceless.

Picking up rocks.
Watching the cows.

Yelling at the cows.

Lydia will now slide all by herself. She doesn't want any help.

This is the best pictures of the Relay for Life lip sync that we did.

Hayden the rock star.

Gail trying to keep a very tired Lydia entertained. She liked to wave the feather boa around.

Great Aunt Mary's Luminary

One of Grandma Franklin's Luminaries

One of Mom's Luminaries

Gail and Lydia walking the Supporter's Lap with our entire family.

Mom, Aunt Mary, and Aunt GeorgeAnna after mom received her Hero of Hope award.

Survivors Lap

Grandma Franklin and Mom preparing for the Survivor's Lap.

Lydia with the bird house she picked out that Uncle Gary had made to sell. She was proud of it.

Until next time...

Relay for Life...

2009-06-15T08:42:00.003-05:00

Friday night was the Scotland County Relay for Life. This event is really important for my family because my mother, grandmother, and Great Aunt are all breast cancer survivors. We have a team called "All in the Family and Then Some" because our team consists of our family and friends. Our theme this year was "Rockin' for a Cure". My uncle made 30 bird houses to sell, we had rocking chairs everywhere, and had two rocking chairs to give away. For our lip sync my mom and her two sisters "sang" Rockin' Robin while my niece, nephews, cousins, and daughter danced. The boys wore relay shirts, shorts, feather boas, and pretended to play blow up guitars. The girls wore relay shirts, pink poodle skirts, feather boas, and wore feather clips in their hair. I tried to get pictures of this, but wasn't that successful. This happened at 10:00 p.m. and Lydia's normal bedtime is 7:30 so she was WILD!!! Instead of dancing out there with everyone else she just ran around - EVERYWHERE. The audience loved it. She even went out into the audience and to pet people's dogs. She is such an animal lover. Hayden really got into playing his guitar. Towards the end of the song I think he pretended to have a solo because he ran up front and really started going. It was really funny. Their spectacular performance won out team the Best Lip Sync award.

The highlight of my night was the award my mom won. They always give out a Hero of Hope award to cancer victims who have shown great courage throughout the year. This is voted on at the Relay for Life meeting throughout the year by those people who are cancer survivors or are still fighting. This year they gave out two Hero of Hope awards. One is to a lady (I can't remember her name) who had been through cancer like no one I've ever known. She lost her husband a few years ago to cancer. After the Relay for Life in 2008 she was diagnosed with cancer. I believe they only gave her 2 years to live. They have twin daughters who are eleven. I can't imagine going through that. My mom received the second award. She fought breast cancer back in the fall of 2006 and found out she had it again in the fall of 2008. The second time it was found in her brain which is really scary because that means it had been spreading. As of now the tumor has stopped growing and she continues to take chemo pills. They won't do surgery because it greatly increases the chance of it spreading. Instead they will just leave it there and monitor it. The side effects of her medication is really hard on her body. The combination of the two chemo pills causes skin irritation. The skin on her hands and feet has basically all peeled off. Her hands and feet are bright red, really sensitive, and she has HUGE cracks all over. She can hardly eat, get herself dressed, or do common everyday things. It greatly pains her to walk because of the sensitive skin and cracks. She has band aids and gauze all over. She is just not it very good shape. However, even though she is constantly in pain from everything going on, she is still very positive, caring, loving, and strong. Mom is the strongest person I know. She continues to work, care for her family, and not feel sorry for herself. She is my HERO OF HOPE! I love you. Mom.

Bunco/Life Update...

2009-06-11T10:08:00.006-05:00

Sorry I haven't e-mailed anyone back yet, but imagine that Mark Twain Internet Service is not working. I know I hear all the gasps of shock coming from everyone. Especially Andrea!! I can only check this Blog and my school e-mail address (dmelvin@kirksville.k12.mo.us) from school. I remember that Jen was going to let me use her table and chairs, Bree was bring strawberries, Andrea was bringing homemade ice cream, Darla is bringing baked beans, and someone was going to bring fried chicken. Hopefully I can check my e-mail soon and will be able to see what everyone else is going to bring.

On another note, I have completed 9 days of summer school - 13 more!! I've been getting things prepared for Lydia's birthday party on July 4th. I can't believe the little turkey is going to be 2!! She also started new things last night. My niece teaches her funny things that I'm sure later I'll regret, but it's cute now. Ashley will look at her and say, "You're not nice". Lydia will respond, "No, you na nice." It was so funny to watch them "argue" last night. Darla has been watching her while I work at summer school and she LOVES her Aunt Deedee. While at summer school I've been doing some pre-school preparation work. I have my planned book all filled in with the dates (very time consuming), planned math for all year, Language and Spelling for the first 5 weeks, and Social Studies for the first nine weeks. All of those copies are done also. I could go ahead and plan more, but I'd just have to make changes later. So I've been a busy little bee in just 9 days. It makes coming back so much easier with Lydia so we can be in my room and not stuck in the work room. Ok, I've got to get off here so we can use the smart board.

Until next time...

Some Recent Favorite Pictures...

2009-06-05T21:07:00.003-05:00

Lydia and Daddy watching the storm one night.

Lydia watching the cows in the pasture.

Lydia playing on the swing set at Claudia's birthday party.

Claudia's Third Birthday

2009-05-31T20:46:00.003-05:00

Shaping the Barbie cake.
The final shape before frosting.

It's is cute!!

I decided we needed another cake because I wasn't sure the Barbie cake was going to be enough.

Claudia blowing out candles.

She LOVED the cake.

I couldn't write a post without adding a picture of Lydia. It was a Hawaiian theme party so the girls wore swim suits and grass skits. This isn't the suit Lydia wore but she looks so cute in it.

What's Going On...

2009-05-28T10:38:00.004-05:00

Not much is going on here. This is my week of vacation before summer school starts next week. I've been cleaning, playing, and planning parties. I wanted to make the birthday cake(s) for Claudia's birthday. She wants one of those Barbi doll cakes with the cake skirt. I searched and searched the Internet and never did find one that I liked so I decided to combine several ideas along with my own. On Tuesday I made the little flowers for her dress - 1232 little flowers to be exact. I'll show you pictures later when I go to finish the cake. I've decided that cake decoration is my new found hobby. I love to find cakes on the Internet and try to recreate them. That is how I got Lydia's cake last year. Here is a picture of it...

All of the little shapes are cut out of fondant. I can't stand the taste of the stuff, but It makes really good decorations for cakes.

This was Lydia's little personal cake.

I also make Gail's birthday cake this year. Normally I just bake a basic cake and don't put much thought into it.

Chocolate cake mix.

Pure white frosting.

Covered in colored sprinkles. It was yummy!!

My next post will be Claudia's cake - if it turns out. Until next time...

I Was Told I Needed New Pictures...

2009-05-20T19:38:00.006-05:00

Claudia, Hayden, and Lydia

Lydia "popping".

Mother's Day 2009

Lydia and Daddy napping.

Sleeping Angel

In her big girl panties.

Showing off her big girl panties.

When she uses the potty every morning she has to have her "banket" and "bunny" on her lap.

Daddy's gloves are too big for her hands.

So she puts them on her feet.

Watching TV. Something she hardly ever does so I had to get a picture of it.

Sitting in her recliner.

Playing after a busy morning of planting flowers. See how muddy her shoes are!!

She got put in time out and I was so impressed that she stayed.

First time eating corn on the cob.

Finally gave up on the fork

Lydia and her cousin, Ashley, at her graduation.

Ashley, Gail, myself, and Lydia at Ashley's graduation.

Lydia and her buddy, Faith, at Ashley's graduation. Faith is the baby sitter's daughter and is also Ashley's cousin. Faith is nine months older.

Ashley's prom 2009.

Lydia kept trying to walk the red carpet.

Until next time...

Potty Queen...

2009-05-19T12:00:00.003-05:00

That is what my daughter is right now. I decided to get her a potty last summer right after Lydia turned one. Whenever I sat her on it she would go. She would also still go in her diaper, but we were making progress. I didn't put much faith that she was going to be potty trained at one, but I was excited that she would get the concept of going on the potty and not be afraid like some children are. Hayden went for four days withing taking a poo because he was afraid of the potty. Claudia would hide in her closet or under the table to go because..., well she's just Claudia. She's a strong headed, does whatever she wants to, little curly red head. Lydia didn't seem to be like that. When she would go we would jump up and down singing "Pee pee in the potty, pee pee in the potty" and clap. She even clasp for other people. At high school graduation I took her to the bathroom me and when I stood up off the toilet she got a big grin on her face said "MOMMY!!" and clapped for me. My baby sitter also does a wonderful job at helping with the potty. Lydia is to the stage now where she normally uses the potty, but still wears her diaper. Sometimes she'll wear the same diaper all day because she doesn't have accidents. Of a night she wears a pull up, but some mornings she's still dry. When she has to go potty she'll pull at the front of her pants and make a fussing sound. You ask her if she has to use the potty and she'll take off running towards the bathroom. If she doesn't have to go she'll tell you no. The child also HATES poop. Hates to see it, smell it, or even talk about it. When she does poop she goes, "Pooooop yuck. Gross. Poop gross." My niece Ashley taught her that. It is cute when she says it. I bought her big girl panties last month (the smallest big girl panties I could find were 2T/3T so they're a little too big). Of course as soon as they were washed I put a pair on to see how they fit and her little butt looked so cute!!! On Sunday I started putting them on her when we are at home. She wore them for two hours the first time with no problems. Last night I put them on her again for about three hours. When I got home at 5:30 she said she had to go potty so I took her and put the panties on her. After supper at 6:30 I asked her if she needed to go potty and she went. Later at 8:30 when it was time for her bath she was still dry as a bone. My plan (and we all know how well plans go) is to have her potty trained by the end of the summer. Wish me luck!!!

Catch Up...

2009-05-13T10:52:00.003-05:00

This is going to be a catch up blog on what had been going on in our lives the past few days. I haven't even turned on my home computer since Saturday so I'm a little behind in what is going on. This weekend Gail's cousin came up for a visit and we were very busy. Friday night was my sister's Spring Concert at Schuyler High School. Instead of a formal concert where they perform on the floor and everyone sits in the gym seats she opted for a laid back concert. The students performed on half the gym, tables and chairs were set up in the rest of the gym, and the kids brought snack food for people to eat during the concert. Darla had asked me to help make sure there was enough food and drinks for everyone. However, instead of people "snacking" they decided to eat it as their meal. We barely had enough food and really could have used more. Then I stayed around and helped her clean up and put things away. I didn't get home until after 10:30. We made a quick trip to Memphis on Saturday morning to the bank and to see my mother and grandmother for Mother's Day. Lydia had fun playing with Papa and Great Grandma and Grandpa's dogs. That afternoon I spent mowing the yard. It took FOREVER!!! I loved Mother's Day. I think I have finally found a church that I like going to. They have an outstanding youth program, it isn't far from home, and I actually get something out of the sermons. This Sunday the sermon was on video and I still enjoyed it and Lydia was great. Give the girl some crayons and paper and you can entertain her for awhile. Monday was a busy day because we didn't have specials at school - this totally screws up the entire day. Then I went grocery shopping. Tuesday we had our class field trip to Jefferson City. You haven't lived until you spend 4 hours on a bus with 45 kids, tour the capital with 45 kids and not losing one (plus they were really quiet), and then go on a mile hike with 45 kids. And I have to admit that this year was one of my favorites for some reason. I wasn't stressed or crabby. Tuesday night we had a terrible supper. Gail grilled ribs that burnt to a crisp. He's usually a really good griller, but within 30 seconds while he was talking to Lydia through the window they flamed up and went to 700 degrees. The sweet corn (Lydia's first) was tough. The only good this was the homemade mac and cheese. I can make some killer mac and cheese. After the dishes were done, Lydia was bathed and put to bed, I folded up laundry. I hadn't folded up laundry to TWO WEEKS!!! The sad thing is that I wasn't running out of clothing. Lydia has just ran out of socks and Gail had been picking things out of the unfolded piles, but my closet was still going strong. I believe that is a sign that I have too many clothes.

Until next time...

I Guess I'm a Believer Now...

2009-05-09T12:05:00.002-05:00

I have always watched those shows where the woman is saying that she didn't know she was pregnant until she gave birth and I've always thought how. How could you carry a baby for nine months and not know? Well, my cousin was almost one of those women so I guess I'm a believer now. Paula, my cousin, has 3 daughters from a previous marriage (ages 18, 16, and 13 I think). She also has a 5 year old son with her husband now. Paula is 43 years old and hadn't had a period in over a year so she didn't even think she could get pregnant. However, she has gained a little weight but didn't think much of it because she had been dieting and usually gained a little back after she stopped the diet. What made her go to the doctor was she thought she felt a movement in her belly and started wondering. She went and they told her that she was pregnant and believed she was due on October. Don't ask me where they got the date because she hadn't cycled in so long. A few days later they did an ultrasound because of her age and found out that the baby is healthy, but that she is due on August. Six months pregnant and just found out. They are a little shocked but thrilled. They have picked the name Hannah Elizabeth Marie Montgomery. I can't wait to meet her.

Until next time...

How Many Times...

2009-05-06T10:47:00.003-05:00

I'll start out this blog by giving you the background of the first time...

On June 8, 2007 I was eight months pregnant and it was my birthday. Birthdays are supposed to be wonderful and relaxing from start to finish. This particular was far FAR from relaxing. My day started out waking up to get ready for summer school by first letting the dogs out. When I woke up I discovered that our German Shepherd (Annie) had dug in my potted plant - in my dining room!! There was dirt all over my light covered carpet. I was not very happy. I took Annie outside and hooked her up. Charlie (yellow lab mix) was still inside. When I took Annie out the door shut behind me. I had forgotten that we had put new locks on the doors that when locked you could get out, but not get back in. I ran around the house trying to find a way in the house, but couldn't get in. I should also tell that I typically just sleep in a t-shirt and underware during the summer months. As a review I was eight months pregnant, wearing a t-shirt and underware, locked out of my house, and Charlie was still inside. I tried all of the vehicles thinking maybe there were spare keys for either the door or the vehicles. No door keys were found, but I did from some "vehicle" keys. My options were a tractor and the lawnmower. I have no idea how to start the tractor so that left my the lawnmower. I also found an old beach towel in the garage that looked like it had been ran through the shredder. So I wrapped the "towel" around me, hopped on the mower, and took off towards my mother-in-laws house about a half mile down the road who had a spare key. As I neared her house I saw that she wasn't there. I went to my brother-in-laws house who had a BIG laugh at my expense, but I knew it was coming. After picking himself off the floor and his wife Tammy getting me a pair of shorts he took me to get the spare key from my MIL's house. All of this took about 30 minutes. When I was able to get back inside of my house poor Charlie was still in there and had made use of the dirt all over the floor!! It was the worst start to a day I'd ever had. After all of this you think I'd learn the lesson about the door locks. Well, no. This morning as I was letting one of our dogs back inside the house Lydia shut the door. I should have known it was coming because she always is shutting and opening the doors. She was in the middle of the kitchen and I didn't think she'd get to the door that fast. Of course this time she wouldn't open the door for me. So I was locked out again. Both dogs had been out, but my 22 month old was still inside. We did, however, learn from the lawnmower experience and do have a key hidden outside so I was able to get back in. When will I ever learn to UNLOCK THE DOOR!!!

Until next time...

"I Can Dress Myself, Mom"...

2009-04-30T19:52:00.004-05:00

That was the thought running through Lydia's mind this morning. I got the child's pants (navy blue cotton) on, but she did not want me anywhere near her with the shirt. I guess I picked out the right shirt for her today because it said "Trouble Maker" on it. I finally got it on, but she refused to wear her tennis shoes. Opting instead for her black and brown cowboy boots which go so well with navy blue knit pants. She was proud of herself. I guess she's getting to the point where she wants a say in what she wears. I couldn't resist taking a few pictures of her. Enjoy...

So proud of her outfit.

Don't the colors go nicely together.

She's usually good about getting her shoes on the right feet, but this morning they were wrong.

Here are some other pictures to enjoy...

This is what lives across the road from my house sometimes.

This is Lydia they day we decided to stay in our jammies all day.

I love her little pink piggy house slippers. She likes them too because she can get them on and off by herself.

I knew she didn't feel well this day when she crawled up in our bed and took a 2 hour nap.

Charlie (brown dog) and Annie (black dog) took a nap with her.

Until next time...

Our Party was ...

2009-04-25T14:54:00.003-05:00

...fun! My living room was full of people and we had several orders before the party actually started. I've ordered items before at previous parties. I have the Prestige Plate Stands (love them), the Welcome Home Bean Pot, and the Pomegranate candle (best scent). Last night at the party Darla and I both were able to pick out 2 items at half price, a free candle, and $140 in free items!! I felt like Christmas to me. I chose the pomegranate candle because it is just wonderful. My half price items were the Prestige Triple Server and the Simply Summer Serving Dish. My free items are the Camden Candle Centerpiece, Oval Bean Pot Basket for my bean pot, Berry Pasta Serving Bowl, Simply Summer Tray, and the Deer Valley Pillar Holder. Surprisingly, I really liked the deer candle holder in person. Gail asked me to get it for him so I couldn't say no. I'm really excited to get the stuff and thankful to those of you who ordered something. I know that times are hard for everyone, but I truly appreciate your kindness. It touched my heart.

Until next time...

One Crazy Week...

2009-04-24T10:32:00.002-05:00

You know those weeks you have when everyday seems like the next. My Monday felt like Monday, Tuesday felt like Wednesday, Wednesday felt like Thursday, Thursday felt like Friday, and here it is Friday any my body is telling me that I should be at home.

To start my week off Lydia had been getting a cold for a few weeks that kept getting worse and worse. My theory is to try to help them get over it on their own before going to the doctor. I also don't want the doctors thinking I run to them every time she has something. However, my theory ended Lydia up with a 100.6 fever on Sunday and 101.7 on Monday so I took half of Tuesday off to go to the doctor. She ended up having a sinus infection and a LOT of drainage. The 2 hour trip to the pharmacy was a disaster. I knew the pharmacy took awhile to fill prescriptions so we went to visit my mom at school first to kill some time. When I got there it still wasn't ready. Lydia kept taking things off the shelf and shaking them to see if they made noise, kept touching EVERYTHING, and I had to use the restroom. I was told the restroom was private - CRAP!! About 10 minutes later Lydia vomited all over herself and I go to use that "private" bathroom anyway - Thanks kiddo!!

I have also been getting my house "ready" for a party Darla and I are having tonight. I'm the type of person to not put something off until the last minute, but cleaning has to be last minute or it becomes a redo minute. Which one am I? The redo minute. I've cleaned all week just to turn around and clean all over again. What a vicious cycle! All the while I feel that I'm wasting my time because no one will come anyway. I always talk myself out of having parties because no one ever come, but Darla talked me into this one. I guess it isn't that bad after all because I'll have a really clean house before the weekend starts and Gail even helped by putting on our new front screen door. The last one got damaged in a wind storm earlier this year. The new screen door is the most amazing thing ever. Like a magic trick. If you come to the party I'll show you.

Until next time...

Lydia's "New" Room

2009-04-19T11:58:00.003-05:00

My sister made new bedding and curtains for Lydia's room. I wanted her to have a girlie room so I picked up this adorable pink and brown polka dots. It turned out wonderful. I also redid some of the decorations on her walls and bought some of those white paper lanterns to hang above her bed. I totally love the way it turned out. Enjoy...

Lydia started using the fleece blanket before I could even get it to her room.

Pictures from Easter Weekend...

2009-04-15T20:47:00.007-05:00

All ready for the Easter Party.

Easter Egg Hunt at Ann Dixon's house.

Hunting eggs at Mime's house (Grandma Mary).

Mime's House

Running up and down the hill at home. Too much candy!!

Going for a walk with daddy.

First tractor ride with daddy.

In Easter dress. Notice the carpet burn by here eye. It happened at Deedee's (Aunt Darla) house.

This in the only picture I could get of her standing in her dress.

Gifts from the Easter Bunny.

Easter Egg hunt at home.

Just starting.

Almost done.

Full basket.

After all of that work it is time to relax in her recliner with a snack.

Until next time...

Easter Weekend...

2009-04-14T09:47:00.002-05:00

Our family had a wonderful Easter weekend. On Thursday night I did all of the house cleaning so it would be out of the way. Then Friday morning Lydia, Hayden, Claudia, Darla, and I went to Ottumwa grocery shopping. That afternoon Lydia spent at Darla's house with kids and I went over to Memphis to help my mom with some things. On Saturday we were invited to an Easter party at Ann Dixon's house. Lydia got to have a special lunch, hunt for eggs, and make some Easter ornaments. Then we had to rush back to Lancaster for a double birthday party. On the way there I stopped by home to get the birthday gifts and the new bull that we bought was delivered. Then over to the party. Colin turned 10 and Ashley turned 18. Cheryl and Lindsay came up from Columbia along with Lindsay's nurse, Sunday. We had a yummy lunch, cake, ice cream, and another egg hunt. By this time Lydia was a pro egg huntress. We stayed for supper and then went home. On Sunday we got up early to see what the Easter Bunny had left for Lydia. She got a basket full of candy, new flip flops, necklaces, and a little kids card table with chairs. Then we got around and went to the Lancaster Christian Church. It was only the second or third service I'd been to there, but I really enjoyed it. Lydia LOVED the music. She was head banging at one point. After church we went home for our Easter egg hunt. I'd hidden eggs and candy all over the living room. In my mind I had pictured Lydia getting all excited about the candy and eggs everywhere, but no. She got excited about the candy and picked up one piece to eat. That was it. She just wanted to eat the ONE piece of candy. We had to really work with her to pick up everyone else. Eventually we just picked it up ourselves. Afterwards, we ate our Easter dinner (Casey's pizza) and all played and took naps. Monday I watched Hayden and Claudia for a while, cleaned out Lydia's closet of winter clothing, and washed all the summer clothing. She can wear 2 or 3 different outfits a day from now until September and probably never repeat any. I also had to put away her 18 months jeans that were getting too short. :( She is officially in 2T jeans, but still wearing 12-18 months in everything else. She just TOO tall. I wonder where she gets that from?? I'll post pics of our Easter weekend later.

Until next time...

25 Minutes and Counting...

2009-04-09T14:26:00.002-05:00

In exactly 25 minutes I will be done with work and we have a FOUR DAY WEEKEND!! WOO HOO!!!!!

Recent Pics...

2009-03-25T10:52:00.002-05:00

Look at those baby blues!!

Ornery grin.

She is proud of her necklaces.

Until next time...

Twilight...

2009-03-21T08:06:00.002-05:00

So I became a fan of the Twilight book series a couple of months ago. I started out reading each book quickly and not being able to put it down. Lately I've slowed way down. I don't know what I will do when I finish the fourth book and wait for the fifth. Today the Twilight movie came out. My niece, Ashley, and I stayed up until midnight and drove 25 miles to go get the movie. We didn't get home until after 2:00 a.m. I should have been smart and went to bed, but I didn't. We stayed up to watch it. It was a good movie, but not as good as the book. It was over and I went to bed at 4:00 a.m. Lydia was up bright and early at 6:30 hollering for me. Which is funny because all week I get her up at 6:30 and she looks at me like I'm the Devil and tells me NO! She didn't get to sleep until after 9:00 (over an hour late) so I was banking on her sleeping in a little. Was I wrong or what?!? Anyway, I'm running on 2 1/2 hours of sleep out of my own stupidity, my eyes are burning because I'm tired, and I can't wait until 1:00 for NAP TIME!!!

Until next time...

First Half of Spring Break...

2009-03-11T09:52:00.002-05:00

I have had a busy BUSY past four days. Last week I made a four page list of items to complete over my break. I started in on Friday night scrubbing and cleaning in the foyer. Saturday morning I emptied, scrubbed, and reorganized all the kitchen cabinets. For those of you that haven't been to my house - that's a lot of cabinets. I also completely cleaned the living room, den, spare bedroom, dining room, and Lydia's bedroom. On Sunday I cleaned our bedroom, bathroom, and the basement. I also went through the 14 tubs of children's clothing in the basement and reorganized it by size. Two of the tubs are clothing for Lydia this summer that I need to get washed. Monday I took on the task of organizing the linen closet. Tuesday I took a break from cleaning and went grocery shopping, had a doctor appointment, and make Twilight shirt with Ashley. (The movie comes out next week and we are going to watch it together. Ashley bought stuff to decorate shirts and make little flags.) Today we are going to go have lunch with my parents and wash my ever growing collection of colbolt blue glassware. The one cleaning job that I'm not looking forward to is cleaning out the "catch all" storage closet in the living room. Wish me luck in getting that done.

Until next time...

Frustrated...

2009-03-05T16:07:00.007-06:00

Why did I get to be one of the "lucky" ones to have my car hit? This is the most frustrating thing I've ever had to do. I first thought that the insurance company we were having to deal with was really good. They called me quickly, got the adjuster right way, and things were moving right along. Today the adjuster called to tell me that my car wasn't totaled - YEAH!!! He also told me that I could get a rental car for 10 days and after that I would have to pay $25 per day. Two other people in the room heard him say this to me. The body shop where we are taking my car can't even starting on it for 12 days that I wasn't going to work. I called the adjuster back and told me to just put a light in because that was the only thing bothering me. I also told him that my trunk wouldn't latch so that was more of a bother to me. To that he replied that I should just duct tape it!!! He finally said I could have the car for 16 days (how nice of him). Did I also tell you that he speaks to me like I'm a stupid 5 year old? Later in the day I heard from one of the other ladies involved that he had been complaining about me to her because I had said we could only have the rental car for 10 days (which is what he had told me). That was the final straw for me. I called and left him a message that either I was a liar of just completely misunderstood what he had told me first thing this morning on the phone, but that he needed to call me back. About an hour later he called me (FYI to all men reading this - don't put off a very upset woman because it only makes her angrier). I started out by asked him if did or did not tell me that I could only have the rental car for 10 days and he LIED!! "I never told you that. You can have the rental car for as long as it takes to get your car repaired," he said. Then I snapped. I started to tell him what he had actually told me that morning and he kept interrupting me (again wrong thing to do). After several minutes I said, "Fine, let's just call that a misunderstanding then. The thing I'm really upset about is that you went and talked about me to the other ladies." Then he said he never did that. "Is she a liar then?" I asked him. He never really answered my question. He went straight into the "this is he said she said" stuff and that he wasn't going to get involved. After several minutes of that I told him that I knew what he had told me that morning, I knew he had talked about me to the other ladies, and that he was the most unprofessional insurance person I had ever had to deal with in my life. Then I hung up on him. I'm seriously considering calling or writing a letter to the Missouri State Insurance Commissioner. What do you think? FYI - My rental car is a black PT Cruiser. It has to be the most uncomfortable car I've ever been in.

Until next time...

Strange Day...

2009-03-04T20:25:00.004-06:00

Today has to be the strangest day of all time. To start off with I over slept. Yesterday I had a faculty meeting at 7:00 a.m. so I had to get up at 5:30. Stupid me last night when changing my alarm back changed it to 6:30 instead of 6:00 - WOOOPS!! That allowed 15 minutes to get myself and Lydia ready and out the door. It's a good thing today was hat day at school. After I left the house things seemed to be going normally. Got Lydia dropped off on time, stopped for my daily fountain soda from Casey's, and got to school right on time. I had been in my room for about 15 minutes getting ready for the day when I hear people in the hallway starting taking about an accident. Then I head those dreaded words "Diane's car was hit too." It didn't sink in at first until a co-worker popped her head into my room and said that my car had been hit. I ran outside to find my car was not only hit, but had been moved several feet to the side missing the SUV next to be by about a foot. TheSUV beside me was scratched down the back. I then look over and see the vehicle that had hit me had also hit a huge black surbaban and moved it about 8 or 9 feet into a minivan. That minivan had been moved several feet into another minivan. If your keeping count that is 5 cars total. Yes, 5 parked cars got hit in a parking lot by another car. Can you say weird. We took some pictures which I'll post for your viewing pleasure. I'm afraid that my car is going to be totaled. We got an extimate tonight after school for $1980. The place where we got our estimate from thought my car would be worth about $2400 and my insurance agent thought about $3000. I hope they are right so that it won't be totaled out. We had the insurance adjuster look at it, but he wouldn't give his opinion on being totaled. Right now we just can't afford to get a differnet vehicle. We just bought several more cattle and the tractor and just can't do it. Keep praying that it won't be.

Until next time...

What Do You Think?...

2009-02-27T15:40:00.001-06:00

First of all, there are too many places for color on this thing!! I found a background I liked, but I couldn't get the colors to change so they matches. So I had to find a different one. I hope you like it because it is staying FOREVER!!! I'm not going to ever change it again because it is way too hard.

Until next time...

Blog Makover...

2009-02-27T14:09:00.003-06:00

My blog needs a makeover. I read blogs that have neat little things on them and have cool backgrounds. I can't figure out how to do that to my page. Can someone help me?

Until next time...

I'm Addicted...

2009-02-23T15:16:00.004-06:00

I have a hard time finding a book series that I actually like and will read the entire series. I read about 10 of the 12 books in the "Left Behind" series. Then I had Lydia, life got busy, and I never finished. Well about a month ago my niece gave me the book "Twilight". I had it sitting by my bed for a few weeks before I actually started to read it. Once I started I has hooked. I read then entire book in less than a week. That is pretty good for me. The last two chapters of the book had be laughing, crying, and laughing again in less than 20 minutes. Gail just looked at me like I was crazy. As soon as I finished reading that I went straight into the second book "New Moon". I read over half the book (250 pages) in less than 3 hours. I don't know if anyone else is reading them, but they are WONDERFUL!!! I wasn't too excited to start reading about vampires and such, but it is so much more than that. I would strongly recommend it to anyone.

Until next time...

Random Pictures...

2009-02-17T21:38:00.004-06:00

My big girl going potty.

New Dora sunglasses. She has no idea who Dora is, but they're pink!!

Cousin Ashley thought that fun dip was a good idea.

Look at that green face!!

Annie, Charlie, and Lydia looking out the window. They do this a lot, but I never have my camera. I was smart this time and left it by my chair.

Mommy's little helper cleaning the kitchen floor...

and the refrigerator.

What a little ham!!

Lydia and I playing a little dress up.

Lydia as a dancing dressed up queen fairy that likes to shop.

As you can see it is never boring at my house!!!

Until next time...

Valentine's Day...

2009-02-14T16:18:00.003-06:00

First of all, we went and filed our taxes today. I was really worried because we weren't really prepared. Usually we get everything done by the end of January. This year we were finishing up two days before hand. But, it's done and turned out well. We get a refund from Federal, Iowa, and Missouri. We have never gotten a refund from Missouri before so I was excited. In the past we have had to pay them.

We also gave Lydia her Valentine's Day gifts. She got two balloons on Friday and her main gift today. She got a boxed set of Disney Princess shoes. Six pairs. She couldn't wait for me to get them out of the box - which is why I don't have a picture of it. I had to rip it to get them out. Anyway, enjoy the pictures...

Until next time...

Valentine's Day Plans...

2009-02-13T16:24:00.002-06:00

Valentine's Day for me will be just another day. (Just like every year.) Some people get really upset when they loved ones forget or just don't get them anything. I am not one of those people. Our special day will be spent in Kahoka with our accountant getting our taxes done followed by a lunch from the Ayerco gas station. How romantic is that?!? We did get Lydia some fun stuff, but you'll have to wait to find out what that is. I'm excited for her to get it. I think she'll love it. I also stuffed my book bag full of books so I can get some planning done for the end of the year. I want to get it out of the way so I can actually enjoy my spring break and not have to work on anything. Although it is always my plan and I always end up taking stuff home anyway. I'm such a dork!! What is everyone else doing for their special day?

Until next time...

Just for the Record...

2009-02-09T13:06:00.000-06:00

I despise long division!!!

Water Update...

2009-02-06T21:06:00.003-06:00

With this water situation we really lucked out. Gail was able to take the tank apart and fix the broken line himself. He is becoming a little plumber these days.

Until next time...

Water Drama...

2009-02-04T15:36:00.003-06:00

Gail and I have had nothing but drama the past year with water. Back in March I got a phone call from him while I was at after school. He told me that we had a problem. When he got home our finished basement was flooded with about 3 inches of water. We had a $1,000 deductible with our insurance that we weren't expecting so that sucked. Then later that spring the south side of our yard was STANDING in water. If you remember, we had a really wet spring so we really didn't think much of it. We couldn't read out meter either because it was always standing it water. I was estimating it high the entire winter and spring think that I may end up being ahead. Well in June when we were finally able to read it that hope fell to the ground like a ton of bricks!! My estimate was 55,000 gallons off. I still owed them $463!!! I figure that total I paid an average of $750 over the normal. I'll find out for sure when I go to do our taxes this weekend. That water lea, costs us for the bill and to have someone come out and dig the line to fix. The fixing was an extra $800. In September or October Gail go the brainy idea to use the scoop in the tractor to level out the dirt. He didn't see a pipe sticking up and broke the new water line. Today after school he called me and said that the water tank that was frozen last night now has water bubbling up for underneath it. Another freaking water leak!!! I'm so sick of water. I just figured up that we paid about $2550 extra just for water that we didn't even get to use. We watered our lawn and cleaned the basement carpet with it!!

Lydia's Room...

2009-01-31T11:04:00.002-06:00

When Lydia was born I wasn't into all the pinks and girly stuff. I couldn't find bedding that I liked so we decided to go with a cowgirl farm theme. My mother-in-law had made this really cute blanket with barns, cowboys, cowgirls, boots, cactus, etc. all over it. I found some red bandanna material that I used for the changing table pad, curtains, and a bulletin board. The crib bumper was a black with white polka-dots. I hung a cowboy hat on the wall, some thin rope, a few pictures, a mirror, and some old looking lanterns. I loved it.

She still loves cows and playing outside on the farm, but she is turning into a little girly girl also. I decided to make her room a little more girly. I found some material at Wal-Mart that I fell in love with. It is pink and brown polka-dots. More girly girl that what we have now, but not all they way. I wanted to move her into the spare bedroom because it is a little bigger and paint it a light shade of pink. I had a beautiful picture in my head of what this all would look like. However, when I was talking to Gail about it he decided he didn't want to move her into the other room. "She likes her room", he said, "She knows it is her room and she'll get confused." So for now she stays in her room. Darla is going to go ahead and make the bedding, but I'm not going to paint. I did however find some really cute baskets that are pink, brown, and a creamy yellow (the current color of her room) at Dollar Tree of all places. So at least it all will go together. In a couple of years when little brother or sister comes along she'll get booted to the bigger room and Gail will have to paint it then. I guess that is one way to get out of painting duty. As soon as Darla gets the bedding done I'll post some pictures.

Until next time...