HAPPENINGS....

You would think with all that has been going on in my life I should be blogging everyday, but alas - that is not the case! My computer access has been limited, as our computer is currently on the dining room table waiting to be set back up, so I have not been able to ramble aimlessly as I have in the past. Maybe that is a good thing, but has wreaked havoc on my sanity! :-) So, I am going to catch everyone up to speed on the past few weeks....

- Charles was in England 6/30-7/11
- Zachary was at camp 7/6-7/10
- Well visits to the dr. for the girls (both doing great - Sarah is 40lbs and 40 inches tall. Ava is a whopping 25 lbs. and 30.5 inches tall. Poor thing is barely on the chart! She's okay tho - just small in stature.)
- Lots of daytime outings with friends and swimming - trying to stay busy while the hubby was gone. The weather needs to warm back up so we can get back to the pool!
- Lots of trips to see my grandmother. She has pancreatic cancer and is receiving hospice care at the Memphis Jewish Home. Praying for a quick ending to a very painful process - both for her and the family.
- Lots of laundry. Okay - so that is actually a normal thing at my house.
- Zachary came home from camp and had a bad ear infection with a blister on his eardrum. A couple of days later, the blister was gone, but he had middle ear infections in both ears. Poor guys was in lots of pain for a couple of days, but thankfully, is doing much better. Still doesn't have all his hearing back yet.
- New carpet and kitchen tile installed. Looks FABULOUS, but I think it would have been easier to move. We still don't have the house put back together yet (aka - why the computer is still in the dining room!) This whole process really called for a blog by itself - but that is all behind me now...good times (ha - NOT!)
- Scratched my car thanks to the evil set-up of the car wash at the BP gas station at Houston Levee and Walnut Grove. Looks like Edward Scissorhands got ahold of it!
- Emptied the freezer in my garage after the door to it mysteriously popped open a fraction of an inch. Hideous odor - thx to all the "mystery meat" that was in there.

(Let me interject here that the last two items happened the same night - within an hour of each other -- and Charles was still out of town. I was ready to scream...among other things!)

Okay - I guess that is all. If I think of anything else, I will update! :-)

Blessings....

Okay - so my friend Jennifer is probably going to think I stole her blog title!   ;-)  No really - I have been thinking about this all day and that is exactly how I feel right now - that my life has been blessed by so many people.

I have a great family.  My kids amaze me more and more every day!  Charles is in York England for 12 days, and the kids have been so good and so helpful.  Zachary is blowing me away!  He is always asking if there is anything he can do to help me.  He offers to help (even MAKE!) dinner, he has given Sarah her bath (washing hair included) the last 2 nights and gotten her ready for bed - the child has been the other half of my brain!  When he goes to camp next week, I will be up a creek!  (I would say Charles is paying him big bucks, but he has been doing this for several weeks now!)  Josh is a sweetheart, but he doesn't take initiative to just "do" things like Zachary does.  If I asked him to paint a room with his toes he would jump right up and say, "Yes ma'am", but he won't ask if he can do anything.  I'm learning that that is a major difference in his and Zachary's personalities.  Zachary is all over things like white on rice, but Josh lingers in the background and wants to be asked - or invited - to be a part.  You think he isn't paying attention, but oh no - he is - and gets his feelings hurt very easily if not  asked to be a part.  (Jen - I read your blog and had to laugh when you mentioned the boys losing a wallet with $45....Josh lost $20 just a couple of weeks ago.  It's here somewhere!)  Sarah has even been helpful - she has worn her "big girl" underwear all day with only one tiny mishap this morning.  She even stayed dry thru her nap!  My only obstacle is that she REFUSES to poop in the potty.  I'm not sure how to handle that -- any suggestions?  I can't leave out little Ava either....she's been very good too!

I'm blessed with an incredible husband I do NOT deserve.  He left early yesterday morning to go on his mission trip.  I hate it when he is gone so long - not like he does this often!  I can handle the daytime stuff...I just hate going to bed when he isn't here!  Time will pass quickly though, and I can't wait to see his pictures.  York is a beautiful place!

I have been blessed with amazing friends - of all ages!  These friends love me and my quirks and totally understand that when I go months without talking to them, it isn't because I am mad or don't care - they know I have a CRAZY life and don't get to connect as often as I can or should.  We just pick up right where we left off and keep on goin'!  I have older - wiser friends who I know I can call 24/7 if I need them, and that is such a good feeling!  I have younger friends who take great pride in reminding me that I am OLDER they they are (ahem - initials are TB!)  I just love my friends - all of you!  You are a constant source of strength, laughter and love for me - you are a HUGE blessing in my life!  Thank you for being you!!

Well - I am again so very tired, so I am going to finish my laundry and try to get some sleep.  I started a journal for Charles to read when he gets back, so I need to write in it as well.  Two weeks is a long time to be away from kids & family, and goodness knows my 2 remaining brain cells cannot remember all the funny and crazy stuff that goes on around here for that long!  Much love and blessings to all of you!!!   

Another Happy Birthday!

Sorry - this birthday blog is a day late!  Little Ava turned 2 yesterday and she never gave me a moments peace to write her birthday blog!  Hard to believe my little "Itsy Bitsy" is now 2 -- going on 12!  Boy does she keep me busy!  She is NEVER still - ALWAYS climbing into or onto something.  Right now she is "practicing" going potty - whereby she pulls off her diaper and goes to the bathroom only to play with the toilet paper.  She has yet to actually deposit anything in the potty...but that day will come - and I CANNOT wait!

Ava was my littlest baby (barely 6 lbs!), but she has more than made up for her size.  She is in constant motion and gives her siblings a run for their money.  It's a good thing we don't have a pet, or the poor thing would probably be tortured!  She is still a little thing, but she is gaining weight (now up to 25 lbs!), so I guess she will be caught up with her sis before long.  She & Sarah love each other, but at times they don't like each other either (big surprise).  Ava is always pulling Sarah's hair and knows just how to push her buttons.  They both share a big girl bed now, and I love to watch them sleep.  One night I walked in and (remember they are both asleep) Sarah had Ava in a headlock...Ava's head was between Sarah's knees!  I ran & got my camera, but they had already changed positions by the time I got back.  I am so glad they have each other!  I looooove my "Bitsy"!!!!

Day after she was born!

1st Birthday!
2 Years Old!

So How Did YOU Weather Out The Storm??

So here I go - thinking we were just going to make a quick trip to Target, when we ended up having to hide out in the women's dressing room! I learned last time that if I get the girl's 2 small ICEE's, that will keep them occupied long enough for me to shop. My girl's are NOT basket babies...they don't care to be confined! Shopping? - oh yes! Just don't confine them! They prefer to be free spirits who roam aimlessly around the store without adult supervision. That is of course - unless their mother fills them up with empty sugar calories! Ava is hilarious -- she sits in the basket - straw in mouth - inhaling that ICEE until she reaches the bottom. I don't know how she doesn't get a brain freeze!

I digress....back to the storm. I was almost ready to go when I heard the rain start. You know if you hear it raining from inside the store, it is REALLY raining! Then, I hear the tornado sirens....uh oh..... Josh comes around the corner right in front of me - eyes big as saucers. He's borderline freaking out. Zachary quickly picks up on this and starts downplaying the situation (as do I - he would have started bawling at the drop of a hat!) The girls? They are perfectly content with their ICEE's. Next, the Target personnel starts making a sweep of the store and asks everyone to move to the back of the store. I'm trying to stay away from everyone else b/c they are all talking about the "tornado" - one word Josh did NOT need to hear. At this point, the ICEE's are gone and the girls are ready to roam....what timing! I put Zachary in charge of Ava and let her & Sarah burn some energy. In a few minutes, all "women & children" started moving into the dressing room. Needless to say, my clan took up one whole dressing room. Zachary's job was to block the door so the girl's wouldn't escape. Not a problem though - they were fascinated with the little stool in the room, so they were perfectly happy climbing on that - for about 2 minutes, then I had to pull out various objects from my purse to entertain them....such as lipgloss, cell phone, pen & paper....WHATEVER! All the while - I had to keep reassuring Josh that all was well. I later started thinking, what would it take to actually freak ME out? Does the ceiling have to be ripped off for me to start to be concerned? I wasn't scared at all......hmmm....

So - after about 15 minutes (seemed like 5 hours) in the dressing room, we were given the "all clear" to check out and leave the store. By then the rain had stopped, but the drive home was very different from the drive going to Target! Sarah kept saying,"Mommy, we are safe in your car!" I don't know where that came from.....amazing what they pick up on. On the way home from karate (yes - they still had it!) we saw an awesome rainbow....a complete one at that...wow! I wish I had had my camera...I guess I am going to have to carry it in my purse - you never know when the perfect picture-taking opportunity will pop up!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH!!!!

So - today Sarah turned the big "3"!  I still cannot believe it!  All day today I kept thinking, "Three years ago today I was......"  I STILL cannot believe we have not one, but two girls!  Guess out of all my kids, Sarah was the biggest surprise.  I was in radiology school - last year nonetheless - so having another baby was FAR from our minds, but yet God proved otherwise.  She was so meant to be here and be a part of or lives (as was Ava - but her birthday is next week!)  When I was about 15 weeks pregnant with her, I talked to one of the radiologists and asked him to scan me (do an ultrasound) to see if he could tell the sex of the baby - that we wanted to be able to tell our family on Christmas.  He was nice enough to scan me, then write the results on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope.  I brought it home and showed it to Charles and told him that the sex of the baby was written down inside.  Well - so much for waiting until Christmas!  He tore right into it!  I was like, "What are you doing?  We were going to wait!"  He said he would look and wouldn't tell me - yeah right!  Like I could live with that!  So I opened the piece of paper (all the while KNOWING that this baby would also be a boy) and Dr. Emerson had so sweetly drawn a little girl stick figure and in a little bubble over her head wrote, "Dress me in pink!"  At some point I obviously remembered to breathe again!  A girl?  REALLY?????  It was so fun telling the family.  We bought a bib that said "Thank Heaven For Little Girls" and had our moms open it at Christmas.  I'm sure my mom's yell could have been heard all over the city!  Everyone was so excited, and it was so fun to get to play with little girl baby stuff!

So - fast forward to today - my "oldest" little princess is quickly becoming a big girl.  Potty training is in sight (working on that next week, but should be easy - she already goes most of the time anyway), she got a big girl bike for her birthday - I guess next she will get her driver's license!  :-)  No really - I so love her.  She is an incredibly strong personality, but is so full of love she could just burst!  She is very much like Josh - she has such a happy heart.  Every night she reminds me that I am her "best friend" and insists on lots of hugs and kisses before bed.  Not sure how she will feel about me 10 years from now, but for today I love every minute!  Happy Birthday 'Sissy"!

                           Day after she was born - still in the hospital!

First Birthday!

Second Birthday!

Three Years Old!

Another "First"....

So - today was another "first" in our household - Ava had her first day at MDO (Mother's Day Out).  Boy has time gone by fast!  It is so hard to believe she is almost "2"!  She had a great day - although I have no idea if she took a nap or not - I didn't get info in her bag about her day, but since I know her teachers, I guess they would have told me if she acted crazy.  Sarah moved up the big "3" room - she will turn 3 next Tuesday.  She was sooo excited about her new class and her new toys! I snapped this picture before we left this morning.  I was going to have them hold their bags, but all Ava wanted to do was try to get into her Tinkerbell lunchbox!  I'm so glad they had a good day.  They fell asleep in about 15 seconds (literally), so I guess it was a very full day for both of them.

So where are the boys?  They are at the coast with Nana visiting friends of hers.  She finished school last week and they hit the road the next day.  It sounds like they are having a blast.  They've seen all kinds of fish - even alligators!  They fish every day - Zachary even caught a stingray!  I can't wait to see those pics!  Today, he said he caught 3 crab and ate his first crab legs.  He "kind of liked them"...Ms. Paul's fishsticks they ain't!  I can't wait to hear all about what they did.  Zachary is the designated caller - I haven't even talked to Josh since he left.  They will be back Thursday or Friday, and I can't wait to squeeze them!  I miss my boys!!!

Is It Over?

SERIOUSLY!  It HAS to be over at this point!  I think everyone is on the mend and I am really hoping that light at the end of the tunnel is really sunlight - not another train about to hit me head on!   For those of you who missed last week's edition of "Robertson Hospital", let me give you a quick re-cap:  Both boys had the flu (no - not swine)...Zachary got better but Josh wasn't....took Josh and Ava (who had some sot of "funk" growing under her nose) to the dr. on Thursday....Josh had strep and I learned today that Ava had strep under her nose as well - not staph - so that was actually a good thing!  Ava woke up Sat. morning (that would be 4:30 a.m.!)  thoring up & blazing with a fever.  She was a mess all weekend, but I think she too is starting to show signs of improvement.  I am HOPING that tonight I can sleep all night - not just a couple of hours at a time.  After 10 days of this, I am about to start unravelling!  I had some major germs running amuck in my house, but I think all has been taken care of.  Sheets & linens have been washed several times, all toothbrushes and water bottles have been replaced, toys disinfected....I told someone last week that my house smelled like a kindergarden classroom!  (On a side note - Lysol "Fresh Linen" is very good.....it kills more germs than any of those other sprays....gotta read your labels people!)  It appears Sarah is the only one who has managed to escape any illness, and I am finally able to start breathing a little easier that she isn't going to catch anything.   

While everyone has been fighting off their own illnesses, Sarah has started to break out her imagination play times.  She re-enacts Dora, Blue's Clue's, she LOVES to be a fireman, she get her big Magna-Doodle and puts it on top of 2 pillows and that is her "snowboard", she is a pirate, a mommy, a rock star, a nurse/doctor......she is so fun to watch!  She loves to be creative and does not care who is around.  Love my little girl!