Thursday, April 30, 2009

A Birthday party and surprise visitors...

This Saturday we are having Max's birthday party. I've got so much to do to get ready and cleaning my house is one of those things on the list. It would be so much easier of course if I could clean a room and expect it to stay that way...HA! Oh well...

My mom called the other day and told me that my cousin who is in the Air Force and is being deployed to Iraq on Friday is flying out of Charleston! We will get to spend some time with him before he leaves! Also, my aunt and uncle (his parents) and my Granny are driving down here to be able to spend time with him before he goes. He just found out about 2 or 3 weeks ago that he was going to Iraq and barely had time to get his stuff together before he had to leave his wife and kids for training. So needless to say, his mom and dad want an opportunity to see him before he leaves. I believe he is supposed to be gone for a year. He understands that it is his duty to go and is prepared to serve his country in this capacity just as so many others have already done and continue to do. I am so proud of him and will be praying for him daily. I'm also thankful that of all the places he could have shipped out of, that it was here, so we could see him as well.

Please say a prayer for my cousin Mark, as well as all the other brave men and women who have chosen this life, to serve their country and protect our freedom. Also, pray for their families who are enduring long separations from their son/daughter, husband/wife, brother/sister, mom/dad.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Family Outings

I feel so frustrated about posting about our family outings without having pictures to go along with it. I have decided NOT to buy another Casio product ever again...Boo on their so called "Non-Warranty Repair"! Anyway...

Last weekend John and I took the kids to the Strawberry Festival at Boone Hall Plantation. This is the kickoff to strawberry picking season there. They had all kinds of rides, games, and entertainment. The kids had a blast and got SO DIRTY!!!!! Unfortunately, the strawberries weren't quite ready for us to pick so we had to buy some pre-picked. We're going back soon to pick our own!

Yesterday we headed to the Blessing of the Fleet (shrimp boats) and Seafood Festival in the Old Village. It was PACKED but we had a great time. We ate grilled shrimp tacos, shrimp and grits, BBQ sandwiches, boiled peanuts, kettle corn, cotton candy, and sweet tea. We were stuffed. Abby has proven two weekends in a row now that she can eat her weight in kettle corn!

Next Saturday we are having Max's birthday party at a "pirate park" on Daniel Island. He is looking forward to it. I can't believe my baby boy will be 6 next Tuesday!

Off to pick up Max from school, get Lucy to take a nap, clean up, cook dinner, and get Max (and the girls of course) to his soccer game at 5:30...early bedtime for mommy tonight :)

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Would you eat this?...

Abby has some interesting names for foods. A couple that have recently been tossed about...

I asked Abby what she wanted for breakfast the other morning and she said "Yucky Charms". Yes, she did mean Lucky Charms!

Vanilla wafers crack me up...
She used to call them "Nana Wipers", now they are "Banana Wipers".

Do "Yucky Charms" and "Banana Wipers" sound appetizing to you :) ?

Warranty repair vs. Non-Warranty repair

***UPDATED: Called Casio and was told the repair fee stands. I was NOT a happy camper. How do I know that if I pay this fee which is about $30 less than the cost of a new camera that it will actually work? Do I pay it to have it fixed? Do I pay $10 and just have them ship it back to me? Do I say forget Casio because they stink and find myself a new camera (although I adored my cute little pink one)? What will John freak out less about...the repair cost or the cost of buying a new one? Hmmmm.... I have 20 days to decide what to do.***

Well, I sent my camera to Casio to get it repaired. I paid $24.88 to have it boxed and shipped. I was told by the nice lady at Casio that if I could get a copy of the receipt and send it with the camera that it would be under warranty (I told her I got it as a gift around Christmas). Anyway, I got the receipt, sent a copy along with a letter stating the problem with the camera (which is what the nice lady also told me to do). They got the camera on the 15th. I got a letter on Monday stating that it would cost me...with tax and return shipping...$96 to repair...WHAT?!?!?!?!

There was also another letter in with it stating that I may want to consider an upgrade to a "refurbished" camera that may have some "cosmetic flaws"...where's the upgrade in THAT? The "upgraded, refurbished (more than likely scratched up and beat up) cameras would cost about the same as my 5 month old camera that I got BRAND NEW out of the box! Ummm, excuse me?
I, of course, was not able to get in touch with Casio on Monday but I was able to speak with someone on Tuesday. When I told her I didn't understand why there would be a repair charge if it was under warranty she said, "oh yes, it looks like the lens was crooked". Ummm, yeah, I told that to the first lady I spoke with when I called originally, when she told me it "would be under warranty". I was then told that in my case they would "evaluate" the camera to see if it would be a "Warranty repair" or a "Non-Warranty repair". Well, in my opinion, if I explained to the first lady what happened and she said it would be under warranty, what's the problem?

I asked the second lady if I would get another letter or an email letting me know and she said I should call back on Thursday...I'm waiting for them to open up and I'm getting on the phone.

What happened to the camera? I was shooting a short video and when I switched to "camera" mode to take still pictures, the screen told me to "Please Wait" while it saved the video. Then the screen went blank. I figured maybe I had accidentally pressed the power button instead so when I tried to turn it back on I got a message saying "Lens Error". When I looked at the lens it loooked crooked and wouldn't go back in, like it got stuck when trying to close.

I REALLY miss my camera! Max's birthday is coming up and it doesn't look like I'll have it back or at least working by then. Back to borrowing my dad's camera I guess...grrrrrrr!

Monday, April 20, 2009

Urgent Prayer Request...

Please click on the "Praying for Stellan" button at the top of my sidebar and read the latest update. He does have to have the very risky ablation surgery on his heart. It was originally scheduled for tomorrow morning at 8:30 but recent developments may push it up to sometime tonight. Please think of them and pray for them.

** Sorry, I meant to click publish last night but apparently only saved it to draft. As of 7am this morning Stellan has not had surgery but had a very difficult night according to MckMama's tweets.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

My oh my...How these 19 months did fly!

Has it really been 19 months since Luce the Goose came into our lives? Wow! Before I know it I'll be planning her 2nd birthday party. She has turned into such a little person now. When did that happen? I swear when I put her to bed last night she was still my baby and all of a sudden she has this big girl attitude about her (uh oh) and the baby in her is fading away too fast.


Lucy,
You are SO much fun! You love to laugh and screech at the top of your lungs to get a reaction. You talk ALL THE TIME :) You are actually speaking in sentences now and it thrills me to be able to have a conversation with you :) I am pretty sure you pick up on words a lot faster than Max and Abby did...of course, they are talking non-stop as well so I'm sure you've picked up quite a bit from them :) You say Abby's name perfectly but you call Max "Mac". Your favorite color right now is purple. When I ask you where Daddy is you say " Daddy at wuk (work)" and Max and Abby are usually "at cool (school)". Since spending a lot of time with your cousins last week you have been asking for Jack and Molly and Macy this week. You still refuse to say Sophie's name, you call her "2 Macy"...I think you may be confused since they are twins and you just think there are two Macy's...you probably keep wondering who Sophie is and why do I keep tryig to get you to say her name :)
You amaze me everyday with the things you do and the things you learn. You love to dance, especially in your carseat. You absolutely LOVE books! That makes your mama's teacher's heart swell with pride :) One of your favorite right now to look at is a Golden Book called "Dr. Dan the Bandage Man". Everytime we get in the car you start saying "Doca Dan, Doca Dan".
You love to make faces, throw toys all over the house, play with Max and Abby, and play outside. You understand so much of what we say to you and you respond appropriately. You also have a great memory for someone your age...your brother and sister do too so I guess it runs in the family. You like to play on your play phone and right now your favorite people to call are Nana and Papa. As soon as you put the phone to your ear I hear you say, "Hiiiii nana/papa!"
You are a picky eater but you LOVE your "nacks" (snacks). You have also learned from your sister that when mommy says no you pitch a fit and lay down on the floor crying. Hopefully you will also learn soon that it won't get you anywhere...unfortunately, Abby hasn't learned that yet :)
Right now you are wearing clothes in the 18 - 24 month range and a size 4 shoe. You still wake up crying in the middle of the night at least once on most nights (that's par for the course around here though...mommy and daddy were blessed with 3 beautiful, loving, healthy children, just not good sleepers :) Many times you'll go back to sleep on your own but sometimes mommy has to come in, snuggle you for a minute then put you back down and you go back to sleep.
You are still taking a pappy and although your dr. said to take it away from you now, cold turkey, I'm okay with it for now. That's something we'll deal with after you turn 2. Hey, Dr. S. doesn't have to live with the screaming, crying, and carrying on when you don't have it :) The one thing though that we will never be able to get away from you (not that we'd ever think about it) is your Bobby! Your yellow and green giraffe Bobby was a gift to you from Abby when you were born...I think she wanted you to have one so you wouldn't try to take hers :) Your Bobby can cure just about anything...from falling on the floor and busting your lip open to your brother or sister hurting your feelings, or a stomach virus that has you throwing up constantly for 2 hours! As soon as Bobby is in your arms, all is right with your world again :)
Finally, EVERYONE that sees you, whether family, friend, or stranger can't get over how much you look like me! I truly hope that's a good thing :) I have even looked at my baby pictures and can see the definite resemblance. I say it's about time I got one that looks like me though...Max is a carbon copy of daddy and Abby is the female version of Max. Since I was the one that did all the hard work getting you guys here I'd like to think at least one would look like they belong to me :)
You and Max and Abby mean the world to me and although it gets loud and crazy and wild and insane around here at times...there is an awful lot of love in this house. God blessed Daddy and me with the greatest gifts and we are honored that He chose us to be your parents.

Love,
Mommy

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Stellan Needs Your Prayers

Just as Stellan appeared to have been doing better, he flipped back into prolonged SVT. His doctors at home and the ones in Boston that they have been consulting with are in agreement that Stellan (and of course MckMama) need to head to Boston ASAP (either today or tomorrow morning) so that he can have hands on care there and, if necessary, a very risky ablation surgery. They will be flown via medical transport plane and will have to leave behind Stellan's daddy and 2 brothers and 1 sister.

Please pray for this family. I have added the "Praying for Stellan" button on my sidebar. Please click on it and read MckMama's post if you want to read her updates.

No, I do not know these people in real life. I just know that I love reading MckMama's blog. She is open, honest, loves her children and husband, funny, witty, and an awesome writer and photographer. Her children are simply adorable and all have blog nicknames from a McDonald's menu :) Through all of this, MckMama and her husband have NEVER lost their faith, love, or trust in God. They know that He has a plan for Stellan and have placed Stellan in His loving, healing hands.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Finally...another Weight Watchers Update!

Yeah, I know...it's been awhile...so sue me :)

Anyway, I went to a meeting tonight (well, for PART of a meeting, I had Lucy with me so I had to leave early).

I knew it was going to show a loss since I lost about 6ish pounds a couple of weeks agao with the stomach virus.

Drumroll please.......... tonight I showed a loss of......

3.6 pounds!

WOOHOO!!!!!

Yes, that does mean I have gained a couple back that I lost but I was sick when I lost it and now I'm better so that means I've been eating again as opposed to NOT AT ALL FOR 2 DAYS!

Learning Something New...

I am so excited for Abby. Her preschool has started a pilot program of a Spanish Immersion Class. It is for the 3 year old right now. It is 1 day a week for 5 weeks. She had her first class today. I could tell she was really nervous even though we've been talking about it for weeks now and she knew her best friend would be in her class too. She wrapped herself around my leg when we got there and didn't want to let go. I knew once I left she'd be fine so I peeled her off me and headed out the door. I did hang out in the hall for a few minutes until another mom came out and told me Abby was doing fine. I think she was nervous because she wasn't familiar with the teachers (two moms who speak fluent spanish are teaching it) and because they were speaking to her in spanish and she had no clue what to do with that :) I did say "immersion" didn't I ?

When I went to pick her up she didn't have much to say...not even adios to her teachers and friends. Oh well, she'll probably talk on the last day.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Spring Break 2009...in a nutshell

It's Over...the kids went back to school today. I was actually kind of sad to see them go but I knew they were excited to go back and see all their friends.

Let's see...our week (without pictures...grrrrrrrr)...

Friday ~ We hung out around the house mostly, which was a good thing because that was the day Max and John and Lucy all got the stomach virus... yuck-o

Saturday ~ stayed close to home since Max and John and Lucy were still recovering.

Sunday ~ pretty much the same as Saturday, Max was still feeling bad off and on because he kept trying to eat stuff that his belly just wasn't ready for yet...BOYS DON'T LISTEN (yes, that includes their dads too).

Monday ~ John had the day off and we were determined to have some family time darn it! We set off for Sullivan's Island to go to the playground and Max just happened to mention that he wanted to go back to Fort Moultrie sometime...John and I decided that this would be "sometime". Had a great time and grabbed some snacks on the way home. I took the kids up to my parents' house to play with cousins for a couple hours...John stayed home to rest and get some work done.

Tuesday ~ My mom, sister Shea, and Shea's 4 kids came over to our house to play for a couple of hours. The kids had fun and after Lucy took her nap I got brave (read "desperate") and took all 3 kids to the store to buy some MUCH NEEDED groceries...not the best trip we ever had to the store and I'll leave it at that!

Wednesday ~ headed over to my parents' house again to play with cousins. Came home late again...having lots of fun :) We thought it was their last day in town :( ...

Thursday ~ got a call from my mom in the morning asking if we wanted to go to the aquarium. Shea and the kids were staying 1 more day :) Saw lots of fish and had lunch where a VERY RUDE man (customer) made a jerk of himself in the middle of the restaurant for all (including our 7 young children) to see. I hadn't planned on going to my parents' house that day...didn't even pack pj's for the kids...but they asked and I knew they'd have more fun playing with their cousins than with each other at home...so we went. Of course, the kids had a blast!

Friday ~ relax and chill at home so I could catch up on some housework. Lucy goes to bed and we think she is having a serious case of separation anxiety...nope...stomach bug again! Another looooooooong night.

Saturday ~ Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. John takes Max and Abby to find eggs while I stay here so Lucy can nap. Max gets a haircut. I take Max clothes shopping! He is NOT a good shopping buddy. Too much like his dad...walks in the store...picks up the first shirt he sees..."Here mom. I think this will look good on me. Are we done now?" UGH. I don't get very many shopping days and he does his best to dampen my parade. Fortunately my mom was there too so he didn't drive me too crazy! Looking forward to next Saturday when I get to take Abby...she's much more fun to shop with...no, I'm being serious...she really is :) I get some one on one time with my babies and get to shop...WOO HOO!

Sunday ~ Easter Sunday. Egg hunt in the house. Max played with the neighbor's grandkids and we went to my mom and dad's for Easter dinner...shrimp and chicken. I had already planned to make sweet potato casserole and although it wouldn't go too well with the entree John insisted I make it...HE LOVES THE STUFF. I also made deviled eggs for the first time ever and they were a hit! I think the key was the crumbled bacon I mixed in :)

Shipped my camera off today to get fixed. $28 to send it! I hope it gets fixed and is back here soon. Max's birthday party is on the 2nd.

So there you have it...our Spring Break...nothing fancy...but it was fun! Oh yeah, and Max lost his 2nd tooth!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Stomach virus...take two...and other stuff

sigh...
~Lucy somehow got the stomach bug AGAIN.
~Threw up from 10 - 12 last night.
~Diarrhea too...her bottom is all red and irritated.
~Finally fell asleep about 12:15.
~We slept in the recliner until 1:45.
~She slept well until she woke up at 6:30.
~Ate some saltines...drank some water...down for a nap at 8:15...waking up now at 10:45.

~John took Max and Abby out for the neighborhood Easter egg hunt. They had lots of fun. Too bad my camera is broke and I couldn't get any pictures...sigh...
~I'll be going to the post office today to send it off to get it fixed. Hopefully it will be back in time for Max's birthday party on May 2nd.
~Now John has taken Max and Abby to go get Max's hair cut.
~Gotta go give Lucy a bath...

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

I'm a Twit(terer)!

Haha! Just thought I'd try out this twitter thing. You can follow on my sidebar (if you think I have anything interesting to say) below the buttons.

Gotta go get Lucy up!

Bedtime stories and Lullabies?????

HA!

I walked past Max's room last night at bedtime thinking John was reading Max a bedtime story...

What I saw was them looking at the map of Fort Moultrie that we got when we visited there on Monday (sight seeing in our own town kinda thing)...

I walked by again thinking the bedtime story might be happening...it was, more or less. John was reading him the history of Fort Moultrie on the pamphlet :) Max was fascinated by all the canons at the fort and wanted to know more about the war(s) that it was used in...

Abby is taking a break from having the theme to the Beverly Hillbillies as her lullaby. She now wants to sing the ABC's with as much emphasis as possible and then SHE sings to ME some of the songs she has learned in preschool.

It's not cute stories and twinkle twinkle little star for my kids! Apparently that's baby stuff now :) Yeah, Abby and Lucy were both "reading" a Dean Koontz novel the other day. Advanced I tell ya!

John and I are convinced the kids will be reading bedtime stories to us soon and tucking us in :)

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Serious.Life Magazine - April Issue

I wanted you to know about this publication I’m a part of called Serious.Life Magazine. They just published a new issue today, and I am in their Featured Blog Directory. It’s a very high quality magazine… you’ll really like it.
The magazine includes a lot of great content from bloggers you’ll appreciate, as well as great features, photos and other content. The magazine is owned and published by a family who have seven kids, three adopted and one who has Leukemia (www.riggsfamilyblog.com). The magazine gives away a bunch of ads to charities and ministries. Besides great articles on interesting people, there is a lot about family, adoption, personal finance, spiritual life, humor… all sorts of “life” topics.
Again, the subscription is FREE, and I know you’ll enjoy the magazine, so take a minute to check it out and sign up to get future issues. www.seriouslifemagazine.com

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Rough Start...

So let's try this again...


Thursday my post was titled...Spring Break 2009! WooHoo!!!!


Should have been titled...Spring Break 2009! Blaaaaaaaaaaaa (don't know how to spell the throw up sound...sorry so graphic :(


Yep, I should have known better than to think I might be the only one to get the dreaded stomach virus and to be excited that my family was spared...HAH!


Friday afternoon about 1:30ish, Max started complaining of a stomachache...I put Lucy down for a nap about 2:30 and no more than 5 minutes later Max was throwing up...in the hallway...on the carpet...on his way to the bathroom...bless his heart. Oh, did I mention he had TOMATO SOUP FOR LUNCH!!!!! You get the picture on that one...


He was in my bathroom throwing up off and on, on and off, off and on........

After a couple of hours of this the poor thing finally was able to fall asleep...

John comes home with stomach pains and seems to be going down the same road as Max....

I give the girls a bath and as I get Lucy out of the tub...yep, she threw up...this happened every 30 minutes or so from 7pm -10:30

John started about 8ish and kept it up off and on through the night.

Max finally stopped about midnight...

LONG NIGHT!

As of today, Tuesday, April 7th...

Everyone has pretty much recovered. John is still frustrated that he doesn't have his appetite back completely :) That's my guy!

Max is having some issues with diarrhea after he eats but I think his stomach is just trying to ease into food still...

Lucy was fine after her bout and slept great Friday night once I knew she wasn't going to be sick anymore (I had been holding her in recliner). She threw up once last night on the way home from my parents house but I think she just had too much apple juice...she was fine afterwards.

We were able to go out as a family and do some spontaneous sight seeing yesterday and have had some good playtime with the cousins...but I'll save that for a later...throwup free post!

Gotta go to the store and buy food since my boys are getting their appetites back now!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Spring Break 2009! WooHoo!!!

Alright everyone! Spring Break starts now!!!

I have been sick for the past couple of days with a stomach bug so I wasn't able to make it to Max's class party today :( I felt bad about that so the girls and I picked him up about an hour early...in a monsoon I tell ya. Of course, at 2:35 when we would have been sitting in the carpool line to pick him up...it stopped raining...hmmmmm.

We don't have a whole lot of set plans for the week. John is off on Monday so we are going to try to do something as a family on that day. My sister Shea is coming down for a few days with her kids so we'll definitely have some "cousin time". I think the rest of the time we'll just play it by ear...park, library, children's museum, park (did I say that already?)

For the next couple of days we will be having a couple of houseguests. My sister Mallory's dogs, currently living with my parents (the dogs...not the sister) are coming to stay with us while my parents have some human houseguests. I told Max about it and he was SOOOOOO excited!

Unfortunately I won't have any pictures to show for it because my camera isn't working!!!!!!!!! I've got to send it off to have it fixed and it won't be back in time...UGH UGH UGH.

Well, off to get dinner for the kids...and maybe try to eat something myself besides dry toast.