Christmas Chapters

PRE Christmas

The week before Christmas was a whirlwind. I made Peppernut cookies with the kids. It took me four days to bake them because they are tee tiny cookies, about as big as a fingernail. But I tried to put on my holiday spirit face and dig right in to baking. I let the kids help me mix the bowl, and they were so proud. I was trying to teach them about measuring, and they kept sneaking in extra scoops of ingredients. Little rascals!

We also refinanced our home. I had to take the kids to an attorney's office to sign the papers. Haleah declared out loud, "I pooted," in the conference room while Kaelah swiped the attorney's sticky notes and then proceeded to try to color on the glass table. I was sweating buckets in that room!

At the home front, I had to strip down my tree a week or two after decorating it because over half of the lights went out, and the tree was too small to be able to conceal another set of lights strapped on over it. During the season my kids also pulled off and/or broke about seven ornaments. I kept saying, "Don't touch them!" And Kaelah would say, "I'm just lookin...." Yeah, right.

During Christmas

I was working so hard to get everything done before Christmas, despite my tiredness, as David's family was having his brother, wife and son come to visit. We were all very excited about this. But those stinkers decided to "ambush" us and show up a few days early while we were still trying to prepare for them. My mother-in-law said they showed up at her house as she was spraying carpet cleaner on her rug. And the spray just ended up staying there all week. I had made a run to Walgreens in the pouring down rain to obtain some last minute Christmas items. Then I was going to come home and clean the house. Instead, I saw the Colorado license plate in my driveway and I was like, "Noooooooooo!" Ah, the element of surprise!

Anyhow, the time with John and Mar was so nice. I know everyone was tired by the end of the week, but it was fun. Our nephew, Joshua, is almost one, and he is the sweetest baby. He is so laid back and just loves to play with toys and is content. And he has the cutest giggle too. He also liked to tackle Bekah. They are 4 months apart.

During the week we got family portraits taken, attended a lame company party with bad food, went shopping, saw movies, ate food, played the Wii and sang Christmas carols at a nursing home. I found it sad that the view from the nursing home's dining room where we sang was a cemetery. Every day those people see where they are going to end up, on the other side of the street. I said to my niece, Cora, "Do you see the irony in this?"

We also had a family party at Aunt Annie's house. We had an ornament exchange and ate Mexican food. Christmas Eve dinner was at my house, and we had pepperoni rolls and a new recipe for homemade white hot chocolate, which was a hit. My niece, Gracyn, got to read Twas the Night Before Christmas. I gave the children some reindeer antlers to wear, and later we sang Christmas carols and then some old negro spirituals with Grandmama on the guitar. It was wonderful. We also made Frosty the Snowman sugar cookies for Santa and put the kids in their Christmas jammies. Excitement filled the night. Gracyn also assured me that she was going to stay up in her living room all night to get a glimpse of Santa.

Marlena and Joshua

Gracyn preparing to read Twas the Night Before Christmas

Kaelah decided that Santa might want a candy cane on his cookie plate.

Christmas morning was a hit. My kids were amazed at all the presents. The night before, Haleah had told me that she only wanted "just one present" from Santa. And I'm not sure why. Anyhow, she was glad that he had brought her more than one. Their favorite part was merely opening the presents. And after every gift opened, Kaelah would say, "nother one..." They got a bunch of tiny fun things and a couple a bigger gifts, not to be overdone. They loved their own personal toddler couches the best. I am thrilled with these.


Later Christmas morning, we headed to their Aunt Missy's house for Christmas breakfast. We had a pancake and egg feast. And later in the afternoon, we headed to Grandmama's for more presents and dinner. It was nice to be all together, and I kept the kids up as long as I could.

The Whitt women in matching jammies, making Christmas breakfast.

Our time with the Colorado Whitt's came to an end after celebrating Joshua's 1st Birthday party at Grandmama's. He had a Handy Manny theme, and became a sleepy head right after his cake. I guess that's a typical one year old for you. :)

Overall, it was a lovely holiday season. David and I were able to give a little to others in need, and people also helped us through where we needed help. God never fails us. And we are so thankful for His gift to us in the form a perfect baby named Jesus.

Humbug and Cold Bug Kids

Well, we stayed home from church today, and glad we did. All babies were coughing and fussing and pretty miserable in the morning, including David. They laid low in the morning and played Lincoln Logs and watched Wiggles Christmas DVD's while I cleaned and vacuumed the house. By mid-morning the plumber came to save us from our crisis in the pipes. It took him all of 10 minutes to snake out an outside drain pipe, and all of 5 seconds to swipe $135 bucks from us to pay for it. But I am happy to be able to run the dishwasher and not have poo come up through our tub. It was REVOLTING cleaning that crap up, literally.

After the kids' naps, they seemed to be in good spirits, so I donned them in their new light up Christmas shirts and ventured off to the mall to visit Santa, a family outing. Haleah told me beforehand that she was not going to cry. We happened to be the first ones in line for Santa as he arrived back from his cookie and milk break. He walked by us and said "Hello," and both girls clung to David like coal to a stocking. They were terrified! I told the people behind us that this wasn't going to be pretty... I believe that Kaelah took Haleah's lead and started to cry. We dragged them all into Santa's "circle of death," and took a seat on his lap--a fun, family affair. Haleah was bucking herself and was sure that Santa was going to attack her or something. Tears were streaming down her face. Kaelah sat on my lap, but refused to look up. This was such a nice Santa though---the nicest one I've seen in years. So, here's a picture. The only one who looks good is Bekah, as she is still oblivious to these traumatic life events...

The night ended with takeout from McDonalds. I wanted to go find "greens" for our house, to lay about, to look more festive. But David refused saying he would not pay one green dollar for one piece of greenery. What's he going to do? Find me some greenery in somebody else's woods again? That didn't work out so well the last time around.... Ergh.

Let's Just Call it ISSUES

This has been an interesting day. I was still recovering from being up half the night with Kaelah's coughing fits and Bekah's indecision to sleep and to stand up in her crib instead.

When David arrived home after working a half day, he quickly addressed the plumbing problem we're having. Two of our toilets won't flush and the tub started backing up with feces. Not pretty, but pretty awful. David got "prepared" by donning his Army fatigues, in camo, and crawled under our house to look at the pipes. Kitty followed. It was a funny sight to see. David tried to "snake" the pipes. He does have some plumbing experience, but it seemed that this task could not be done by a semi novice. We had to give in and call the plumber.

We also had a neighbor visit us today, and it's wasn't a friendly visit. It was an unexpected visit regarding wood we had taken from their property, apparently, but we were unaware that it was theirs. It was the wood that was mentioned in a previous blog that we tried to gather for a Thanksgiving fire. I guess our naivete caused us trouble, and our neighbor much grief. He was not happy with us. David tried to apologize and smooth things over and even pay for the wood that we took, which was just a few pieces. I hope we can still be civil neighbors and I hope that our action didn't cause long lasting hard feelings. It was a misunderstanding, and an embarrassing one at that...

Tonight I'm relaxing a little after cleaning the kitchen and organizing the kids Christmas present that I purchased. After going on a buying frenzy over the last couple of weeks, it's hard to recall what I got, so I like to go through it and make sure everything is "in check." They're not too spoiled! I can't wait for Christmas, though...

All in all, it's been a decent week. I took my niece, Gracyn, for a treat after school for her 9th Birthday and gave her a present. I got new glasses (long awaited), and am thrilled with them. And my kids continue to drive me crazy and make me laugh at the same time. Kaelah likes to test her limits by doing something "mean," like pinching Bekah's cheeks. And Bekah screams. Then Kaelah says, "Sorry Bekah Bear. Didn't mean to!" Ah, right.

And Haleah is so excited for Santa. I find it fun telling her all about him and his "process" of delivering gifts and where he comes from. She is a little fearful, however, that he will come into her room while she is sleeping and say, "Ho, ho, ho." She doesn't want that to happen. Silly kiddo.

Thankful Day

Even though I live just a few blocks from my in-laws, and we see each other often, it's still nice to look forward to gathering as a family for the holidays. Thanksgiving day was nice. It started off with an idea in David's head. It was sunny out, and he decided that we were going to hunt for wood to chop to build a fire at his mother's house for Thanksgiving. So, off we went down the street with David's chainsaw in hand. We found a little woods near our house and David tried to assure me, unsuccessfully, that it was okay to chop the wood there. I was prepared to book it out of there at any minute.

We met up at David's mom's house mid-afternoon, after the kids' naps. David began to create his fire, even though the day had evolved into an inexplicably warm day, near 70 degrees outside. But the man in him was determined to build fire! He had spent all morning prepping his mom's flue to make this ambiance a success.

We then gathered around the dining table and gave thanks for our blessings. Our family does have so much to be thankful for. My niece, Gracyn, was holding Bekah, and Bekah swiped three fingers across the mashed potatoes and took the first taste. I guess she approved.

See the baby finger swipe marks on the lower right corner of the mashed potatoes?

At dinner we had all the fixins. My favorites were the sweet potato casserole and the green bean casserole. I still had to eat in super speed, however, as Bekah was super fussy. It turned out she was teething and was quite miserable that day, and clingy to me, of course.


After dinner, Aunt Missy conducted a craft with Haleah and Kaelah. They made a turkey leg hat. It was so cute. We then worked on puzzles. Haleah was so intent on the puzzles. She absolutely loves them and concentrates on them so well. It's serious business with her. Kaelah, on the other hand, found trouble, and burned her hand on a hot curling iron.


The pies I made were delicious. I made a Buttermilk Chess pie, for my mother-in-law. She was looking forward to this pie, and took a bite out of it and made a sour face. Turns out I didn't warn her about the lemon taste. Ooops! But I thought it was good and "custardy", as I like it. I also made a Pecan pie, David's favorite. And I made an Apple pie for Gracyn. For my niece Cora and I, I made a French Silk pie, because we both love chocolate. And my kids simply liked whipped cream squirted into a bowl, so I let them have that treat.

Aren't these pies beautious? The only one not shown was my lovely French Silk pie.


I am truly thankful for my family and for the joy they bring me. I am striving to see that we don't need alot to be fullfilled. It's the little things that make us happy and we truly have so much, more than most. I want to focus on all the good that we do have, that God has blessed us with; and not get down on the frivolous things we don't have, or need, really. When I begin to want, then I become self centered, and that's not the person I want to be or the example I want to set for my children to see. I hope they will see that we should be givers more than takers of the blessings around us.

In and Out

David worked today, so I bundled the kids up and headed to Walmart for a few things. I let the kids ride the coin operated fire truck cause they promised me they'd be good. At home, the pipe under the kitchen sink sprung a leak. I solved the problem by putting a bucket under the pipe to catch the water till David got home. Then I deep cleaned the house (for as long and as fast as I could while the kids napped). When Haleah woke from nap she said, "Mommy, the house smells so nice!"

When David came home, we ventured off to Hobby Lobby and Panera Bread, as I had gift certificates to both from my Birthday.

I never think to go to Hobby Lobby, but it turned out I showed up on exactly the right day! All fall decor was 90% off. It was the kind of scenario where you had to elbow other snippy women to get a glimpse of the pumpkins and leaf garlands. But 90% off! The eager women were a little bit easier on me though, as I had a baby hanging on me in the baby carrier. And Bekah is too cute to be mean to. I ended up getting two fall-ish type garlands that I will use year round in my house (because that's kind of my motif). They were originally $19.99 each--but I "stole" them for $2 bucks each!

I spent the rest of the time in the Christmas department, in which everything was 50% off. I got some new jewel toned bulbs for my tree and some frosty cranberry sprigs. And David let me slip in a Christmas welcome mat too, even though that launched us beyond the gift card amount. I told him that some day, when we have load and loads of money, that I'm going to go hog wild in the Christmas department at Hobby Lobby.

We then made our way to Wendy's, to get take out for the girls, as I did not want to spend my gift card at Panera's on them because they would just waste the paninis and broccoli cheese soup.
We found a nice table to sit at, but I hardly noticed my surroundings due to my frazzliness. There was hardly anybody there, except for a young woman in the corner with her laptop and coffee. She was probably enjoying some quiet moments until we barged in. And within minutes, about four other couples, all with little kids came to sit around us. Bekah decided she did not want to eat her baby food and was adamant about trying to eat the french fry box instead. I scarfed down my turkey panini and decaf mocha latte. I thought, "Wow, this is fun..." I then got up and changed Bekah and went to the minivan to nurse before we headed home. Turned out Bekah didn't want to nurse, but instead cried (no, screamed) the whole way home.

My night turned out more enjoyable when we got home and we got the kids to bed. I got to spend time in the kitchen preparing food for a party tomorrow and some baked goods for church. I was thinking that sometimes it's fun to go out, but sometimes it's more fulfilling to just stay home.

Blue

I'm still feeling down, so tonight I'm picking a blue colored font to blog with... I have no idea how long this cough and cold of mine is going to linger, but it is absolutely miserable. I feel as if all of my duties and important To Do's have gone by the wayside, because I cannot get my act together when I'm sick. It's a poor excuse, but it's the truth. I look around my house now-- at the sleeve of crumbled Saltines on the couch cushion, at the tiny toys strewn throughout the toy room, at the clean laundry that still needs to be folded, at the dried up chili splatter on the stove--and the thought of cleaning it all up right now just exhausts me. So instead, I blog about it.

I did manage to get the kids outside briefly today again, to rake. We also raked up enough money to buy our neighbor's riding lawn mower, which is a godsend. Nothing like getting a big, cozy, wide seat on a mower to motivate a man to cut his own lawn!

David and I have been looking for ways to cut costs and save money. We shut off our Dish TV, we cut off our home phone line, we turned off the electricity to our shed, we consolidated some credit cards and now we are refinancing our home. We are also still trying to sell our pick up truck. It's been for sale for over a year with some nibbles, but no bites. Maybe now that the gas prices have gone down again, we might be able to generate some interest in it.

As for cuteness, today possessed some of that. Haleah said to me before nap: "Is Santa going to come to look at me while I sleep and say, 'Ho, Ho, Ho?'" She was very concerned that he was going to. I probably shouldn't have told her that he would do that. I think it creeps her out. I have about a month to try and bring Haleah around to seeing the jolly side of Santa.

Kaelah and Haleah, in seeing me hack my lungs out this past week, are fascinated with the cough drops I have been popping into my mouth. It looks like delectable, red candy to them. The look of the cough drop entices them so much, even though I tell them it's yucky medicine. Tonight Kaelah sat next to me on the couch and sadly said, "Belly hurts, Mommy. Need medicine." They try everything they can to get a cough drop out of me. But it's not going to happen!

Finally, Bekah decided to give me a precious gift. While I was holding her, she wrapped her arms around me and opened her drooly mouth real wide and planted a big, long baby kiss on the bottom of my cheek. Then she sat up and looked at me like she was so in love. And she touched my face with her sweet, sticky hands. So precious.

Sniffly Sunday

The sniffles seem to be lingering on in this house. And we have another bout of the coughs going around as well. We laid low, for the most part today. David also pulled his back out, so he was pretty miserable.

This morning I took some pictures. I told Kaelah to "make the face." And she proceeded to give me a sneer, being the ham that she is. It was so funny. Kaelah can hardly keep a straight face when she does it too. Then she gives me her sweet smile instead.

Haleah had fun "nursing" her baby today while wearing her hat on the chair. She likes to imitate me nursing Bekah, I guess.

I also took a video of the girls, reading on the chair in the living room. They are a bundle of fun.

Later in the day we spent some time over at Grandmama's and then came back to the house for fishsticks and corn. Oh, yum! A nice surprise ending to the evening was when Haleah and Kaelah truly helped me pick up their toy mess in each room. I was so proud of them.

Funny Things They Say

The past few nights during sleepy time were interesting. One night, Haleah screamed out in her sleep. David went in to hear Haleah saying, "No, Kinley, no!" Kinley is a little one year old friend we were watching last week for a few hours. She goes to our church. Haleah had been a little upset that Kinley was playing with her toys. I guess Kinley then came to haunt Haleah in her sleep!

Then last night, Kaelah woke up in her sleep. I went in to her room to find her standing in her crib and crying. I said, "What's wrong, Kaelah?" And she said, "Mocha come get me." Mocha is her Aunt Missy's dog. He is a BIG dog, but has a gentle spirit. Poor Kaelah was afraid that Mocha was going to eat her in her sleep. I was smiling as I settled Kaelah back down to sleep. And I was concerned that she was having nightmares over a dog.

Before bedtime tonight, Kaelah wasn't around playing when the rest of us were in the toy room. I began to walk around the house calling Kaelah's name. I finally found her in our unlit master bathroom, sitting on top of a tall bar stool type of chair back there. I said, "what are you doing?" She just said in her cute voice, "Dark. Sit on big chair." I guess she just wanted to perch up there in the dark all by herself. It kind of freaked me out though.

Potty Talk, etc. Beware!

Tonight, I sat down at my computer to type something real quick. I had laid Bekah down on the floor in the toy room beside me so that I could keep one eye on her and one eye on the keyboard. Well, when I turned around to glance down at Bekah, she was daggum standing up! Just a few days ago, when I shot this video (below), Bekah was just learning crawl by dragging herself around and scooting some. Now she is crawling faster and faster and apparently now is pulling up to stand!!! I am simply faberglasted (or however you say that word). Neither Haleah nor Kaelah crawled until they were about 10 months. And they didn't walk until 12 or 13 months. Not that this was a bad thing; I just wasn't expecting this from Bekah so soon.

In other developments, Kaelah, newly 2, has just taken to the idea of potty. She is peeing on the potty about 3-4 times a day. She is not super consistent, but shows interest. She is keeping me on my toes, though. She likes to pee both in the big potty and her little potty all in one "sitting." The problem is that she doesn't sit too long to "finish," and doesn't like to wipe! I am trying to convince a tiny 22 lb two-year-old not to sling pee around the bathroom. Not easy! But below is a pic of Kaelah putting a star on her Potty Chart on the fridge for peeing in the potty. She won't even put her diaper/pull-up back on before running out to proclaim her accomplishment. Gotta love the naked bootie!

Yesterday, I was in the middle of nursing Bekah. Kaelah walked by me saying, "poopy. poopy." I realized that she had gone by me with her diaper off and was heading to the bathroom. I thought this was a good thing. Then Haleah told me that she saw poop on Kaelah's bum and leg. I freaked out. By the time I got into the bathroom, Kaelah had poop all over the place. I had just gotten her out of the bath about 15 minutes prior, and here she was... covered in poop! Dirty again! What she had done was poop in her diaper and then realize in her brain that she had/did poop, and proceeded to take her diaper off and attempt to head to the potty to go. I am trying to explain to her that she must get to the potty before she goes potty. How do I convey this? I have no idea. But oh what a time I had cleaning up that mess! And Murphy's Law held true, because OF COURSE I had just cleaned that bathroom during their nap time that day too. Good times. And I found the hidden treasure (the poopy diaper) in the corner of the toy room.

Before the poop incident... they were clean in the tub!

Better for Birthdays

These past couple of weeks have been a bit on the rough side for our family. No matter how many times I told other sick people to wash their hands before touching my children, my kids and I came down with a bad case of the head colds. We have all been miserable, except for my husband, who never gets sick. This, however, was the first time that Bekah has been sick. She made it almost to 7 months before caving to the icky sickies. Not bad! But needless to say, I haven't gotten much done in the way of housewivery.

As my misery was nearing an end, Kaelah's and my Birthday approached. She and I share our special day together, November 10th. Kaelah turned 2 and I turned 33. I'm not ashamed to say it, as 3 is my lucky number, so I'm sure it's going to be a doubly great year.

We decided to have a Barney themed family party at my mother-in-laws house (for Kaelah, not for me). I made a baked ziti dinner and we had Barney cupcakes. The kids/cousins played fun games with balloons that we had organized. I decided to keep things rather simple for a 2 year old. I realized that they have just as much fun whether I spend $20 or $200. And I don't want to create a great monster of expectation in the mind of a little girl before it's time.

Anyhow, Kaelah, it turned out, was such a delightful Birthday girl. She ooo'd and ahhh'd at all the right places. She said, "wow!" at every present she opened. She smiled and said, "thank you" for her gifts. She ate carefully and politely and interacted with her guests. She blew out her candles and was so loving. We were so proud of her. And at the end of the night when David took her to bed, Kaelah looked up at him and said, "Good day," pulling her two fingers out of her mouth only for a second... To me, that made it all worth it- that a precious 2 year old enjoyed her party and felt loved.

Haleah was watching K.K. open her presents and was just wrought with jealousy.

Haleah finally got to open a small present of her own from Grandma that we had set aside for her. Happy at last!

Times are a Changin...

What happened to my sweet baby Kaelah? Kaelah would never hurt a fly and always seemed to be the victim of random attacks by her big sister Haleah, yet never would retaliate. She always gave me kisses and hugs and wanted to snuggle with me. But now she's nearly two and I am seeing a different side come out of her. It's not necessarily bad, but I am kind of surprised that she has developed strong opinions and a will, of sorts.

Now Kaelah will say, "Bad mood, Mommy," when I ask her a question. Or she'll say, "Don't want to Mommy," when I tell her it's time to do something in particular. She is also becoming more assertive with Haleah and says, "My try" (for my turn) or "I do it!" Miss Kaelah doesn't want help anymore and she wants to do things herself. A lot of this is very good, but what a change!

Kaelah has also started to potty train. She is growing up. Before I know it, she has her pants and diaper off and wants to sit on the potty herself. She barrels into the bathroom saying, "Myself! Myself"! She goes pee pee about 1-2 times a day. It's the start of something good.

Kaelah says funny things too. She came into the room the other day where Haleah and I were sitting, and she said, out of the blue, "Whatcha doin guys?" It was so cute to come out of the mouth of a mere 23 month old. Kaelah also told me that she wanted a bagel for breakfast the other day. She said to me, "Bagel. Big bite. Cut it up." Well, okay there, little lady!

Life is precious with growing children who surprise me every day with their cuteness and spunk. Haleah is now 3 and is seeing the world from a new perspective all the time. She said to me the other day, "Aren't I clever, Mommy?" I thought, "Well, if you are asking that, then I guess you are!" Haleah is learning to write her letters and is always asking "Why?" She wants to figure everything out. She is also doing wonderfully with the potty. She doesn't really have accidents anymore and wakes up dry (most days) from nap. And she is able to tell me when she has to go while we're out. Today we went potty in Walmart. I was proud of her.

And finally, but not least, Bekah is a roly poly. She is practically on all fours now at just six months. That child wantS to crawl! She scoots backwards and can also sit up well. She eats a lot of food, all kinds, and just loves to eat. She is even taking some liquid from a sippy cup now. Bekah is always smiling at us. I love her fluffy hair and big eyes and her exuberance. She is such a happy baby, and that makes me overjoyed!

Below are some more videos, to make my Mom happy...

Fall Fun

Today we got little accomplished in the morning, but had some fun this afternoon. David delivered two of our family's broken down riding mowers to a shop to be fixed (or trashed). Later the kids went outside to play in the leaves. It was the first real day that felt like autumn. It was cool and crisp.

After the kids' naptime, we ventured to our friends, the Davis', for football, food and fun. They rented a bouncy castle outside for the kids to jump on, and they had a blast.

There was also a huge spider (actually quite pretty too) on the stairway of their deck. We had lots of good food to eat and I brought along a shoo fly pie. It turned out to be very rich, but at least I gave it a go on baking it.

Bekah had a nice time rolling on the floor with her friend, John Michael. The babies are 10 days apart and were so cute together!

Here's to Joe

I've been spending the past couple of days looking for his photo. The one where Joe is laying on top of his bed in his one room apartment. He had an English looking hat on, as I recall, and he was smiling his big old Joe smile that would make you just want to laugh too. In the photo, his smelly cat, Ramey, who was as equally old as Joe, was sitting by his side. I couldn't find this photo, but I'm remembering Joe tonight.

Joe was born in the 1920's to a relatively loving Italian family in Quincy, MA. But during his toddlerhood, he fell down a set of stairs and broke his back. He wasn't given much hope for recovery, much less survival, so his mother sent him away to live in a tuberculosis hospital. Joe lived in the hospital for years and was told he'd never walk again. His growth was somewhat stinted (he only ended up to be about 5 feet tall). Joe also had a pacemaker and only one kidney, but Joe stunned the doctors over time and became fully healed. Joe took a job as a laborer in the water department in the City of Quincy, the only job he ever had, where he worked for over 35 years until he retired. It was at that time that I met Joe.

I worked for the City in the Personnel Dept. My focus was retirees and coordinating their health benefits. Joe came in and needed help in finding doctors and general direction. I loved his sense of humor and his bluntness right away, and over time, a friendship was formed between us.

Joe never married or had children. He only had Ramey his cat. He didn't have much, but he used his savings to buy himself a Lexus, his lifelong dream. Joe wanted people to envy him for something, I suppose. I did various things to help Joe out. I shovelled his driveway in the winter, made doctor's appointments for him and checked up on him frequently. I helped him organize his paperwork and buy turkey for his cat. One time, I recalled he had the gout in his foot and was laid up. I went to see him and, in examining his foot, I accidentally banged it with my arm, causing him severe pain, as he shouted out to let me know it! It was one of those things where you didn't know whether to laugh or cry. But I'll never forget it...

Joe worried a lot and had a way of getting me "on the bandwagon" with him. He kind of felt like the world was out to get him. He had caller ID and jumped to conclusions, always thinking someone was out to swindle him, including his doctors and his family. But he trusted me, which was nice. Joe and I enjoyed going to his favorite Italian restaurant a few towns over, where they had smooth spaghetti sauce, just like his mama made, so he said. He had to have it that way...

Then I moved to Colorado and then to Alabama, and slowly I lost touch with Joe. My Mom took over "care" of him when I left, checking up on him and having him over to her house now and then. But I just found out that Joe passed away in April. Joe was in his 80's. His cat had died a year or two before that... I was sad when I found out. Joe was a good man, who made the most of the life given to him. He always managed to use his charm to get other people to help him. It worked on me! So tonight I'm remembering an old friend, a person who holds a piece of history in my life. Here's to you, Joe!

I'm a Slacker!

I'm sure that everyone is not waiting with bated breath for me to blog again. It's been a couple three weeks since I've blogged, after I had been so faithful, daily, for so long. But I have been busy with getting my financial house in order and dealing with some family issues, so I have been a slacker!



I have felt guilty about not writing. I do love to type words out on this blog to form a story, share a memory or to make myself laugh. It's therapeutic.



So, here I go again...



Last weekend was a whirlwind of events as my friend Laura and I worked feverishly to put forth a huge yard sale. Each year on the first weekend of the month, our entire neighborhood holds garage sales during our town's annual Fiddler's Convention, so swarms of strumming bargainers come through. It's always a fun day, but it takes a lot of preparation and dedication. Laura always makes more money than I do, but it's fun for the social aspect of it as well. Each of us has a little baby this time around, so it was extra difficult to get things done; but we made it through. I didn't get to browse around at many other yard sales, but I was able to score a Brighton handbag that my neighbor had for sale when I got to preview her stuff before the barrage of crowds. I was psyched!

The kids kept getting into Laura's house that she was trying to sell at the yard sale!


On the weekend prior to last, our family ventured off to a place called Lyon Family Farms. I wanted to do something "fall-esque," that didn't cost too much. So we drove about an hour away and ended up at this quaint little farm full of fun! It had a corn maze, big slides, an animal petting area, a cow train ride, a corn box to play in, hayrides and more! We had a great time. Haleah was scared to death as a donkey brayed at her. It was hard not to laugh. We had a nice picnic lunch on the farm grounds and got to pick out mini pumpkins for the kids before we departed. See the pics below!



Look at Haleah's face! This was when the donkey was braying at her. Hilarious!

Other than our past weekend festivities, my days have been filled with cleaning out and sorting clothes, having various play dates with different friends so that Haleah and Kaelah can adapt to other kids, worrying about financial issues and working on some family relations. Life does have it's ups and downs and sometimes we need to face the challenges head on. I have been concentrating on staying positive and listening to the Wisdom that is higher than mine (mainly God's and my mother's--ha).


This was a play date with friends Jenna and Kate. Jenna has her arms around Kate and Haleah. Precious.

On a lighter note, Haleah came up to me the other day while I was nursing and said, "Mom, can I try your boob?" My response? "Ah... no." My kids make me laugh every day and lighten almost any situation. They are the truest blessings in my life.

Bekah's getting so big. She is my sweet baby, almost 6 months!

Three Days in a Haze...

Friday:

The morning began with a nice play date with my friend Laura, and kids, over at my house. I have been wanting for Haleah to get to know and play with kids more her own age, so that she can learn to progress, rather than regress. I was so happy that she and four-year-old Morgan actually played so well together and enjoyed each other's company. Laura and I will aim to do this more often.




I prepared a nice lasagna dinner for the family, but it turned out to be somewhat of a disaster. None of us ate together due to scheduling conflicts, and for those who did, it was chaos. Haleah smeared sauce on the window. In reaction, David flopped his plate down, which caused the sauce on his plate to spatter up into my face and into my eye. The acid from the sauce stung my eye, ridiculously, and it was painful.


After dinner, Kaelah decided to drag her outdoor fold-up chair into the kitchen while I was feeding Bekah her rice cereal. Kaelah tripped on the rug and fell onto her chair, collapsing it and crushing at least 8 fingers. As I was turning to get her, her Aunt Missy ran across the kitchen and swooped her up. In the process, baby food was knocked out of my hand and all over my legs, feet and the rug. Poor Kaelah was is terrible pain, and it took us basically the rest of the night to determine if her fingers were broken or not. Luckily, they were not.


When the older girls were down for bed, Grandmama came over and spent some time with Bekah. We got this cute, adorable video of Bekah laughing. There is no joy like it!

Saturday:


We ventured out to Cora's volleyball tournament. It was at a really, upscale high school a few towns over, but I was not thrilled with the spectator options. We had to watch the game from balcony bleachers, high above the court. It was ridiculous. I had never watched a game like that before and found it difficult to follow. But Cora did well and has begun to realize that tourneys are hard, because you have to pace yourself both mentally and physically, and you are usually exhausted by the end.


We took a little break with the kids between matches in the high school courtyard. We took these cute videos of them.

On the way home from the tourney, we "ran into" the Trail of Tears motorcycle ride. It's an annual ride with thousands upon thousands of riders. They travel through our town each year in remembrance of the Trail of Tears and for the suffering of the Native Americans. You can't break this line of motorcycles as they travel through, and each year since I've lived in Alabama, I seem to get myself stuck and unable to manuever until they pass. This year was no exception. We had to drive the LONG, LONG way home. And luckily David was driving and knew where we were going among the corn fields, etc.


We got home for nap time and I discovered that I pulled a muscle pretty badly in my chest and under my left arm. It was so severe, that I could hardly lift the baby. That evening, we ordered pizza and ate it at my mother-in-laws. And the final highlight of the day was when Haleah decided to quietly cut her own hair. She chopped her bangs, and now her hairdo is hacked! I don't know how I can rectify it. I did this too, to myself, as a kid. Live and learn! The funny part was when we took a picture of the clump of hair she cut off. It looks like it's in the shape of a heart. How apropo.
Sunday:


After our Sunday morning church service and nap obligations, we headed out to our cousin's ten year Birthday celebration. It was a cookout for a LARGE crowd, and it was a stereotypical Alabama party all the way! There were so many kids and people in one house, that even I was afraid to mingle... or nurse Bekah! I saw things I've never seen or done at a party before. It wasn't wild or anything, just funny. Some of the highlights included cousin Lilly showing the girls their hamster, Bear. They were fascinated, for a while.




Then we watched our cousin, David, use a strange tree climbing device to scale a tree in his back yard and hoist up his bow and arrows, and shoot at a target down below. The pics I took of him were pretty cool though. He looked like a silhouette in the sky. It would have been a peaceful scene, except for the arrows being quite dangerous.



Next, the CHILDREN were riding the quads and four wheelers in the front yard and on the street. I took a picture of my nieces "psyched out"to be riding them (of course). But I thought to myself that I wouldn't let my kids ride those in a million years. Maybe it's just me...


Then we played some volleyball in the front yard, which I participated in, while eyeing my kids to make sure they weren't going to get hit by some moving apparatus. And my David tossed a football and almost took out a tree (with his body, not the ball). And a group of 10-year-olds at the party found a lost puppy and wrapped him up in a blanket and put him in a shopping cart and wheeled him around the neighborhood to see if they could find his owners. And finally, someone called the cops on the party for child endangerment for riding the quads in the yard and in the street. But all in all, it was fun, and we had an enjoyable time seeing our family, and we made it out safe, happy and alive!