Walking in the past, join me if you'd like...

We gathered in Indianapolis this weekend to be together. To laugh, to love, to remember. Saturday was my birthday but Sunday was the anniversary. Last year at this time I blogged such sweet blessings. Knowing that my Dad is part of us, every day is a blessing. When we are together there is no uncomfortable silence about him or unfounded reverence, or sadness when his name is mentioned. He is. He is with us. He is part of us. It is so strong that we still hear his laughter, or his frustration. We knew he would not have made it through the Children's Museum trip! He would have loved dinner at Weber's. He seemed to put together the soundtrack at the restaurant. I guess he's still sending us "musical notes". Dan Page was one of a kind. One year, or many years later he'll still be here, in us, in the little grandson who climbs into Nana's bed with the remote his hand, looking remarkably like his grandfather. Yes, that dad of mine, he left a mark. Most of the time it makes me laugh, even when I feel like crying.

A Great Day to be Older...

Today I turned another year older.
Today I spent the day fighting crowds at the Indianapolis Children's Museum.
Today I had a really icky cold type thing, still.
Today it rained, hard.
Today we had to park and run in the rain and the puddles.
Today at least one of my children threw a great tantrum.

Today I got to see the beginning of a whole new year.
Today I got to celebrate another year of life with people I love dearly.
Today I got to watch my children play and learn.
Today I was feeling much better than yesterday!
Today I got to take some pretty cool pictures of a city in the rain.
Today I got to run through the rain laughing with my husband, who still offers me his jacket and holds my arm 20 years later...
Today two of my children were happy and one had the opportunity to declare his love for cotton candy in such a way that many could share in the love.
Today I laughed.
Today I cried.
Today I felt truly blessed to be living this life God has given me.

On Bacation!

We have made it to Indianapolis, in the middle of downtown's basketball mania! We are loving being in a hotel next to the stadium. There is an excitment in the air! We aren't here for the gam, we're here for a family weekend of fun, birthdays, and remembereance. Mom, (my brother and sister in law) Ryan, and Carly made it in from Ohio and (My brother and sister in law to be) Dosh and Jessy made it in from Virginia Beach at noon and had been hanging out downtown waiting for the rest of us to show up. It's such a blessing to have this weekend together!

Tomorrow we head to the Children's museum. Dax is very confused that we are not in Florida because according to him that is where you go on "bacation". He is loving the big Hotel and all the cool cars he can see from "up high". Finny has already started opening his birthday gifts and Aunt Carly hooked us up with some super cute birthday cakes!

Speaking of birthdays, Happy Birthday, Hayley!! Wish I could give you a birthday hug! Have a great night!

A Little "Home" Music

Sometime recently BooMama asked "So what about you? What music reminds you of home? What music takes you straight to your happy place? "

Three things crossed my mind. Jack Johnson. He makes me think of late nights in Mom and Dad's kitchen playing games, laughing, and just being happy. He takes me back to hotel rooms in Chicago before Dad was sick when Dosh was just at the beginning of his military career and he ate all Dax's baby munchies while we all hung out and watched Jack and Ben Harper on Austin City Limits. He also makes me smile at car rides where popping in a Jack CD would make one now almost 4 year old boy mellow into a peaceful laid back state. He just is. Listening to him makes me smile.




I began to laugh when I thought of th third type of "Home" music.(yes I said third, I'll get to the first in a moment). I'm not sure you could call this is a genre, "funny songs". You know, like Weird Al type stuff. Now Dad liked Weird Al, but he loved ones that were much more obscure than old Al. I've blogged about a couple of favorites like this performed by one of Dad's favs, Ray Stevens (if you're bored and have nothing better do do, look for his stuff on YouTube, it'll make you giggle). There are others, far less appropriate for this blog. I'm going to post this only if Mike thinks it's not so horribly inappropriate that I'll get asked to stop leading youth. Well, ok I might post it anyway just in memory of my dad. He'd get a kick out of my posting it. I'll leave the rest of his favorite Monty Python songs alone.



Back to my first taste of home. Motown. How fitting that tonight would be Motown night on American Idol. I had no doubt it would be, I prepared myself as soon as I read BooMama's blog. It seemed a warning somehow to be prepared. My dad loved to dance. He was actually on one of those local dance tv shows in Cleveland. The only good image I can conger up is one from the movie Hairspray. He was good, contest winning good and Motown was his flavor. Disco came and backed it up, our house, it was filled with Motown & Disco.

Smokey Robinson brings memories flooding back as he steps onto the AI stage tonight. I can't help but be excited, I can't help but pray that Mom and I will both make it throuugh this show in different states without breaking down. Tonight the contestants weren't all great, but there were moments.

My favorite of the night was a shock. I have admitted his signing ability, but have not enjoyed him, not at all. This song. I cried. This was a favorite of my parents. Let's just say anything by Smokey would be on that list. So here it is, my favorite of the night...



My dad would love this guy's dancing and the rest of us just love him!



Others worth mentioning ~
I do wish the videos were easier to come by this year! American Idol is cracking down!

Best Story from the Road...

I went to the mall today. Twice. This wasn't my intent. I took Finn this morning. He has learned a new skill since last time he and I went malling.(is that a legitimate verb?) Now whenever we enter a clothing store he yells "no!" and better yet, whenever he sees something in that clothing store he doesn't like he blows raspberries. Oh yes, an award winning shopper this one will be.

He and I went to look at Easter/Confirmation dresses for me and Easter clothes for the munchkins. Let's just say anyone who walked past the dressing room probably thought I had one hideous case of gas with the noises that were flowing out of there. Needless to say I didn't get a dress. Who could buy something when their dressing room critique gives them that kind of feedback? As for Easter clothes for the munchkins, it all starts with Lily's dress. Even though she and I had been here before, today I found more dresses I thought she might like better. I stressed out and bought nothing. I decided I needed her with me. Let me just tell you, this is not abnormal. I have so many friends who love shopping and find it so therapeutic. I've decided I might as well if I could a) make a decision or b) had the resources to chose multiple things and take them home to try things out or c) just has enough $$ that I didn't have to decide, I could just buy what I want. Until such time comes though, I will continue to stand glassy eyed in children's clothing stores doing massive amounts of math in my head and trying to decide if this one will itch, or this one will cause a tantrum, if this one will be too hot, if this one will keep us from buying groceries this week, or if these shades of green are too far apart to coordinate.

Coordinating. Do you do this? My kids are almost 11, almost 4, and almost 2. Do you know the difficulty level in creating coordinating ensembles for children with this age spread? There ought to be bonus bucks at Gymboree for successfully completing this challenge. It's even harder if you don't actually have any of them in matching (same exact item in different sizes) clothes, but simply an attractive mix of items that all look like they came off the same cute little catalog family. I have given up doing this anytime but Christmas, Easter, and an occasional big event, like a wedding. I do totally enjoy the challenge, if I didn't why would I go through such torture?

I came home this morning empty handed. I was rewarded by an almost 2 year old napping on the way home from the mall. He slept just long enough to pick Dax up from preschool and come home. Ah, the joy of a no nap afternoon!

Lily came home from school with her Justice (formerly known as Limited too) catalog in hand a sob story about how it was 70's week and she had no clothes that would work for 70's day or Tye Dye day and we needed to go to the mall. Most days I would have laughed. But today happened to be the day that I had already been there once and had returned home to check the status of the skirt I was sure she wanted online only to find that they were out of the right size. If she really wanted that particular one we would have to return quickly to the Children's Place to purchase the one and only one they had left in her size.

We waited for Mike. I'm not so naive as to think I could take all three and enjoy the experience. It was raining. No, it was pouring and blowing. We went back to the mall. Why does a school need to have a spirit week that involves the parents having to purchase new clothes for the kids to wear to school? We saw others there from Lily' school doing the same thing. Who knew that really unattractive polyester spandexy(is that a word??) 70ish clothes were back in the stores? I don't know if they are actually 70's. To be honest all I remember about 70's dressing is my parents love of the disco scene, what people wore on Soul Train (yes, I totally loved this show and watched in my formative years), and one long patchwork dress that I had when I was about 2. Really, I wasn't much help. I remember the fabric felt icky. I remember that I liked dresses. Lily seemed to think it was all about peace signs, although I'm sure that was the 60's. My mom validated this, but said it trickled into the early 70's so it was legit. Whatever. Lily chose a rather cute pink patchwork baby doll type top from Justice. We forgot our 25% off card from the catalog, but the chicka at the counter was nice enough to give it to us anyway. Yay, her! I'm not sure this top is very 70's. The fabric felt nice and it is actually kind of cute, but hey who was I to argue? For tye dye day I told her I was not buying anymore clothing unless it was a really cheap scarf. We found tye dye nail polish. Interesting. As for Easter clothes...

This will require a new paragraph. Lily chose a dress. It was a totally different color scheme than we originally planned. We had to change thoughts on the boy clothes. I had to call Mike and discuss fundage. We went back to Gap and bought the green, khaki, and navy dress. We went back to Children's Place to buy the khaki linen pants & green linen shirt for Dax and plaid khaki/navy/green shorts & navy polo for Finn. Guess what? The dress isn't green/navy/khaki. It's green/black/khaki. Guess what else? The boy's green and Lily's green they aren't exactly the same. Actually they clash, so much so that Lily started gagging and laughing when she say them side by side. This is the girl that feels four shades of pink in the same outfit is just gorgeous. It was bad. I didn't buy the boys clothes. I will be returning Lily's dress. I still accomplished nothing. Well I did get Mike a birthday gift. I hope he's as excited about it as his daughter. He will be. It's me who totally would have passed it by had it not been for my dear Lily and her pressure filled stares!

Ahhh...are you ready for that story yet? Or are you sleeping?
**Mom, warning, Dad is mentioned in the following paragraph**

I mentioned the rain. On the way home it was worse. It was dark. It was very windy. It was raining so hard you couldn't see the lines on the highway. Lightening blazed across the sky. I was silent, hands glued to the wheel. Lily had been very quiet, but then she leaned forward behind me and said, "I've been in weather much worse than this before. You and Dad weren't even there. It was just me and Papa. The rest of you had all gone to Lowes. There was a terrible storm. (I must mention, Lily has a terrible storm phobia, tornadoes or the threat of them make her almost nuts) The tornado alarms started to go off. Papa built a cave with pillows in the hallway at Nana's house. He made a hole just big enough for me in a place where I could still peek out and see the TV because he knew I wanted to know what was going on. He stayed close by. I was safe. We just waited for you all to come home."

If you didn't know my dad, this may not sound like the "best story from the road", but if you did, I bet you get it. When she told me he built her a cave made of pillows I started to tear up. My dad was not the patient sort. At least from my perspective I can't imagine him not finding her fear irrational. He didn't. He made her a cave of pillows. He remembered that she'd want to see the TV. He made her feel safe. I didn't know these things until tonight. He was a good Papa.

I'm so thankful that Lily has memories. I wish he'd had time to build more with the boys. Saturday is the 1 year anniversary of his death. This week has been far more emotionally charged than I thought it would be. I really thought I had a handle on it. Maybe not. Or maybe it's just normal. It's possible that in order to be in control I have not fully faced all of this past year's loses on a raw, emotional level. What I do know is that my life is full of daily joy and I am so blessed to have the family I have and these little stories that pop up out of the blue. For that I am truly grateful and the rest I will lay in God's hands, cause Lord knows I can't do it by myself!

Best Response of the Day

It was one of those days. a day of dumping toys, climbing on tables, computer keys missing, makeup dumped on the floor, 2 year olds sitting on dressers and cabinets, time outs, fit throwing, hitting, yelling of words like "stupid", and whining, oh Lord, the incessant whining!

Let me just say, thank God for nap time, "God Time", and the sweet innocence of sleeping children!

Finn climbed up the book shelf next to the couch (don't panic, it's about 2.5 feet tall, we use it as an end table and a book shelf). Mike in an exasperated, totally annoyed voice looks at him and says, "what are you, a monkey?"

Finn in all his almost two year old wisdom smiles and replies "ooo ooo ahhahha".

If you're a MckMama reader...

and even if you're not, this would be a good time to jump over there and say a prayer for baby Stellan.

Results are in...

To be honest I'm a little bummed by the number of votes! According to my ite meter I have a whopping 20ish visitors a day and only 9 of you voted. tsk tsk. Look as though most of you agreed with me on both counts. Lily will really enjoy hearing the results! =)

Praises after the venting!

There were praises before but do to rantings of a Mama and several dramatic weeping episodes of a preteen (I do apologize if you live close enough to me that you had the privilege of hearing one of these fits flow from our open windows.) These praises were put on the back burner till all little people went to bed!

It was a glorious day outside again! This little boy finally understood why wearing green today was a good thing and short sleeves even better after his little old man out burst before preschool this morning. It went a little something like this, "I hate green shirts! And I hate short sleeves! I can't wear short sleeves, I'll freeze, I'll just freeze!" How old is he, 98? In the end it was all good and my little preschool cowboy came home and had a wonderful afternoon!

We had a picnic on the side porch for lunch. It wasn't too exciting, a little peanut butter, some water, and messy orange chips (doritos, nutritious, I know) but it played to raves reviews. I can't get enough of "Thank you for this picnic, Mommy. Thank you for letting us have messy orange chips, Mommy. I just love our picnic, Mommy" Yeah, so I I'm a sucker for little boys who kiss up, what can I say?

After lunch their were moments of brotherly love writing names in the dirt.

We discovered our noon day shadows!

Then we introduced them to each other! It's amazing how such little things can be so much fun!

We decided we should put play time on hold until after a good rest! (we did take him inside, I promise!)

Everyone was bathed, fed, and done whining by the time American Idol started! Made for the perfect cuddle up evening!

Ahh...sweet spring!

Momentary Venting!

I'm stopping in the middle of the most gorgeous day, which I will return to blog about later, to vent a major frustration. I'm sure when I read back over this years from now I will laugh, since I'm sure at that point, these particular devices will in fact be somehow implanted in all children at birth. I know this, because after deep conversation with Mike we have decided that these devices are indeed the Mark of the Beast and no one is having to force anyone to be marked because we are going willingly from a very young age, far, far too young an age!

What am I talking about, you ask? Oh, you may think it's silly, mundane really, but watch, it's sucking out the brains of our youth, and our adults for that matter, I'm watching them go down at a maddening rate. I know, you're growing impatient.

Cell Phones

I hate them. Yes, you can boo, you can hiss. It's not the concept. I like them for their original purpose, emergency use. Great thought. Like most things in this world it just sort of blew up after that. I won't deny that I have one. I do, but guess what? I use it for emergencies and quick questions, simple convenience. In all honesty, I don't even give the number out very often. Why? Why you ask? Because I like to go to Walmart and walk around without talking to people. I like to not have the world be able to track me down for stuff that doesn't really matter. If it really is important, please, don't hesitate to call. Important though, is not a meeting reminder. I will admit that I am enamoured with those cool touch screen phones that do everything under the sun. Also with the idea of being cool enough to actually text, and not be totally out of the loop all the time, feeling like the "outcast" because I did not receive that mass text. Oh yes, it's tempting. Although I'm sure like Facebook, it would just suck you in, draw you to it with it's little camera, music, and net surfing ability. I could be easily taken.

Even if I could be convinced to mark myself with this evil mark, what I will never be convinced of is that my 5th grader should! For the love of all things holy, people stop! Stop giving your elementary school kids, and God forbid, younger children cell phones. It would make my life oh so much easier!! They are immediate gratification oriented enough. Now there seems to be no such thing as a plan. They call you after school from their friend's phones and ask if they can go here or there. They get irate when you are the one and only mom who says no. What is wrong with deciding on Tuesday that on Friday there is going to be a sleepover? Why is it Friday after school that someone calls on their cell phone on the way home? Am I that old? Do I really have to make decisions at that moment with no consult with the other parents? With my spouse? Why is this? Why if I let my child go to a friend's house does she insist on calling from their cell phone and and asking if she can stay longer, or telling me she's running late? Whatever happened to just being home within a minute or two of when I said to be home? Yes, I know I'm rambling...venting, let's call it the venting of an uncool mom!

I'm posting a couple of polls on parenting a 5th grader. I may not listen to you, because really, according to Lily I only do what I want anyway (like mother like daughter, I guess), but I would be very interested to see your opinions! So even if you read and never comment, vote!

Praises on a beautiful day!

Lily finally mad it home on time from a friend's house! It was close, but she booked it into the driveway just in time!


It was warm and sunny, the light was perfect for warm, sun kissed, hair glowing picture taking! (and I finally remembered to charge my battery!)

Finn has decided this new hair cut not only makes him look grown up but feel grown up too! He thought for the first time he could tackle his brother's tricycle.

Daddy came home in time to play! Or at least pull little people out of bushes!

It was so nice, two little boys couldn't help but do the happy dance! They even got so excited they were getting a little air with those jumps for joy!

Some of us felt like it was warm enough to kick off our shoes!

There were birdies flying all over, and airplanes in the sky too! What a beautiful blue sky!

We found that a volley ball will fit nicely through the Little Tikes basketball hoop. This made one almost 2 year old very happy.

He's actually a pretty good shot...although it looks like it's more of a shoot and pray technique...don't hit me don't hit me....can I open my eyes yet?

Perfect day for scooter tricks by a 3 year old Super Dax waiting to rescue his next victim!

It was wonderful just to feel the warmth! It seems like it's been too long! Today brought the feel of spring with birds singing and babies being born!

Favorite conversation of the day...

I need to preface this by stating for the record that Mike is not overly hairy and Dax is as unhairy as they come. Just didn't want anyone to think Mike was hiding some deep secret under his shirt! =)

Tonight at dinner, Dax pulled up his shirt and started talking about how his belly was getting bigger. Finn then pulled up his shirt and yelled, "bigger!". Dax then said that Daddy's was really big, and hairy! He told us his was getting hairy too, just like his Dad's! Mike then pretended to find hair on Dax's belly and tell him just how amazingly hairy he was. Dax then turned around and said "look at my back daddy!! It's really hairy too!! " He then reached for his waist line and started pulling down his pants. Yeah, we were scared as he said... "look at my really hairy Knees! Whew. Let's just say we giggled about that one for a while! That boy, he's just a gorilla! =)

Fun & Praise

A quiet Friday morning where no one got into anything, spilled anything, or broke anything (well, at least that I'm aware of...)

My kids are still healthy. I need to go find some wood to knock on! They've been exposed to some sickies in the last few days and with the water in the basement I'm holding on to healthy prayers right now! Let's just say this is a big praise!

New faces. Seems since we've changed buildings there have been a lot of new faces at church. It's nice to have an influx of new voices now and then, makes life more interesting!

A certain three year old boy who has a way with saying "thank you" and "I love you" at all the right times.

Mike getting to have a big boys night out, even if it was a bad movie. He said he would have rather stayed home and watched "Spectacular" with us. Love this guy, and I know he loves us, but it must have been a really bad movie!

Finn breaking into some very familiar looking dance moves during our movie night. Let's just say Dan Page would have been proud. It's amazing to me that this is the one child my dad did not teach to dance. Are dance moves genetic?

Finding a husband and wife who blog through American Idol with such humor that I just wanted to roll on the floor! If you are a fan of the show, they are well worth the read! If you're not a fan of the show, it probably wouldn't do you much good to visit them, although from what I see thus far, their blogs look like they might be fun! Still His Girl and Honey, I fed the kids!

Finn told me he had to "poopy" today (sorry for the graphic nature of this praise! =)
Nothing happened, but he sat on the potty for a long while. He seems to have the tearing of the toilet paper, wiping of the booty, and reading of the book parts down. Maybe this means he won't reinstitute our jail sentences once the time comes that something does happen on the potty! We did get some grand picture! I bee these would be showstoppers at his rehearsal dinner! Confirmation slide show? Maybe year book baby picture...priceless!

Praises...

American Idol. I know, I know, it's a TV show. We've been through this before, it brings me joy, I like joy! I really really like Danny. There are others I like, but right now he's totally my fav.

*I guess AI has decided to get harsh this year with the youtubing of these videos! They pulled the good one I orginally had, so I am adding one that is still up, but not nearly as good! Sorry about that!
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and for the record, I think my Dad would have liked him too.

8th graders. Ok, well maybe not all of them, but the ones I know. Our confirmation class is winding up in the next couple of months. I feel so blessed to have been able to share this with some great people!

5th grade science experiments. I'll have to post a few pictures when Lily finishes her data collection. It's funny watching her put it all together!

Healthy children at this moment. Even with lots of water in the basement this week Finn is holding his own. Thank you Lord! And thank you for Flovent! We've been doctor free for 2 months! That's the best we've done since September!

Babies. This week seems to be chock full of new births and seems talk of new babies abounds. I am grateful to God for each of these beautiful little people. It is hard sometimes, thinking of little ones lost. I think I struggle the most with those for who it all comes so easy or those who take for granted the ease at which it comes. I always appreciate when someone recognizes their gift of easily becoming pregnant, and staying pregnant! I know that each life is part of God's plan and the are exactly where they are supposed to be at the time they are supposed to be there!

God's whispers to me. His not so slight nudges that kept me up till the weee hours of the morning this morning working on a devotion for a women's meeting this morning which led to me mildly overhauling my sadly neglected other blog.

Hearing just the right song at just the right time.



Making it through that women's meeting rather smoothly even if I was shaking through the whole thing and never made eye contact with anyone.

Those amazing little ladies who didn't mind!

Kids that help pick up.

Boys who went to be after giving hugs and kisses to moms, dads, and visitors.

A husband who loves me and my friends enough to not only let them come hang out on occasion but will make them appetizers and serve them. This is why I keep this guy! =)

Thursday nights. A little George Clooney, a little snacks, a little drinks, a little chat.

Friends who will kiss my kids good night.

My warm fuzzy blankie that is waiting for me next to my warm fuzzy husband.

On being Transparent and Thank Yous

So, you know how some moms are one way in public and another way at home? Some have their "church faces"? That was one thing I appreciated about my mom. Authenticity. I don't ever remember her being two different people. Now there are others in the family, I won't mention names, but there are others that I learned had great Sunday game face. A smile that said "we're a perfect family" but the truth was when the doors closed it was far from perfection.

I think when I had Lily I had a bit more of a "game face". I was so worried that people would think she was anything other than the perfect princess she was and I was anything other than the perfect doting mother. I bought books like Teach your baby to Read, Teach Your Baby Math. I had read Charlotte's Web and Little Women to her by the time she was 2 1/2. We read all the time. She knew all of her relatives full names before she was two. By that age, she could tell you her phone number and address, the capitol of most of the 50 states, and could hear a song on the radio, name the song and the singer, and if we had the flash cards made(which we had about fifty 2000ish popular country singers) she could hear a song, tell you the song name, find the singers picture, then find their name on a separate card and bring them to me. Yes, I worked hard with that one. She was reading at three, she was quite amazing!

What I didn't know then that I know now is that no matter how hard I worked and how much I read, I could not create a child God did not create. She had those capabilities because He gave them to her. She was not perfect. I was not even close to perfect. For some reason though, I felt that I must show the world that I was, in fact, the perfect mother.

Fast forward 8 or so years to a spring ahead rainy Sunday morning. That mother I was 8 years ago, oh, that poor girl would have been horrified! Dax, he has an addiction. Candy. Any kind really will do. This is why we don't keep it in the house. Today, I'm sure everyone inside the church building heard the wrath of this addiction. His friend, who he calls , "Little Sarah" had some candy hearts, a baggie full. He, being the great detective that he is, figured out they must have come from her Sunday School class. I told him I would ask, but that if they did he could not have any because she is in a different class than he is. His sweet teacher from last year offered him a handful that she had left over. He began to thrash, to turn red, to scream that "I want the whole bag!!!!". Quickly, horribly embarrassed at his rudeness we tried to duck out.

He screamed loud enough that I'm sure he disrupted the service going on right outside the classroom door.

So, for transparencies sake, those of you in the church building, I apologize for interrupting your service. My son is not perfect and his deep addiction to candy causes him to be rude and uncaring to all those around him. We are trying to find a 12 step program for this....

Maybe if I made him some flash cards with pictures of candy and the the candymakers names. Hmmm...really, I'm kidding. I have lost all enthusiam for flashcards these days.

Moving on to the parking lot scene. For those of you who were leaving after Sunday School or entering the building for the third service I would like, to note that I was not beating or torturing my youngest son. I was however, extremely annoyed with him for continuously going limp as I was trying to walk him to the car holding his hand while my other hand was very full. I used words like "stop it, quit, you're going to hurt yourself, Finn Patrick" in a very stern, raised tone. I even dropped my Bible and picked him up under one arm to escort him the rest of the way (this was when I noticed other people around). I was not patient. I was up too early. I was flustered that Dax was acting like a heathen and I was annoyed. And there you have it people, I snap at my kids. I do this at home, and just as often in public, sometimes even at church. I wish I was better at this but truth be told, that's me, still far from perfect, but not really caring anymore if the world knows it.

God knew it with Lily. God knows it with my boys, and well so does everyone in or around our church at 10:45 this morning. Oh yes, that girl, the one from 8 or so years ago, she would have been horrified!

I'm so glad He loved her then and He loves me now. I have to be confident in th fact that He has a sense of humor, and even on our bad days he gets a little amusment!

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Thank Yous & blessings!

Mike and I went out last night. Really out! We have not been out alone together since sometime early in November. It was so nice to see a movie, have some dinner, just be. The night may not have gone according to plan exactly but it was so nice to have it!

Last night would not have been possible without two of my favorite girls stepping in and taking care of my kids! Abbey and Hayley, thank you. All three of my kids were asleep when I returned. What a nice way to come home. I've never before walked out of my house after kissing all three of my children and my two babysitters goodbye. I love you guys. I hope you'll come back soon. I'm going to have to open a savings account for you . =) PS Super Dax says you can come back and play anytime!

A special thank you to their Mamas for not killing us for being a tad later than planned and for letting us borrow these girls!

We actually made it to church almost on time and saw both of Lily's performances! This hasn't happened in a while. I was afraid that Lily might call DCFS if we missed another early morning performance. 8 is early, especially when it was really 7. But there we were, all four of us (Lily was there at 7:20), fully dressed, sitting in church by 8:05. Thank God for little miracles!

Thank you to my husband for hanging in there with me over the last couple of month. I couldn't have made it without you!

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The Story of the "Grabber Nabber"

My aunt and uncle are some of the best people you might meet. They'd do just about anything for those they love. One day they read this girl's blog about how she could not get up and down to pick up her floors after her surgery. They saw horrific pictures of messes made by boys who might just take over the house. They felt bad. They had a solution. It came in the mail this week...

Dax immediately deemed it the grabber nabber. He has a million uses for it. Reaching high things, pinching his siblings from a distance, and driving the dog nuts. Lily was mesmerized when she came home and laid eyes upon the grabber nabber. She found she could use it to empty the dishwasher. Putting away high glasses did make me a bit nervous, but for some things, it works. She used it to pick up dirty laundry, dirty diapers, and of course to pinch her siblings. Finn has learned to pick up legos, it's great for hand eye coordination. He can't quite get the pinching thing down, but it does give him a good poking range. He can get them and have a good start before they chase him down and take it from him. The grabber nabber has had several "time outs" and I did have to refuse the request to take it in the bathtub. I must admit though, I do wish I had had this a few weeks ago. Even though I now can reach the floor over and over this thing lets me get behind and under without gymnastics moves and twister positions. I can reach higher, I can throw farther, I can pinch my children! =)

Thanks Aunt Lynda & Uncle Steve. We are finding oh so many things to do with one grabber nabber! Who knew it could be so much fun!

Sunny Days and Tantrums always make me smile...

*These were supposed to be in order, but some how that didn't happen*