Clouds

"The clouds are really cool again today Mama!" This is what I heard on the way home again today. So we found more shapes in the clouds. How could you not love her?

This one is an elephant, do you see it?

Chugging right along

This week is a good week on the homeschooling trail. Sometimes I feel lost, I like the "unschooling" approach, but sometimes I get scared and feel like we need some more structure. This week so far has made me feel good about what we do.

Yesterday Doug took Ellie (and Elyza) to a storybook theater play Cinderella, then they went to the park and played for an hour or so. After I picked up the kids from Doug, and on our way home Ellie told me: "Mama, this is a great day to find picturess in the clouds!" This was her idea so we found pictures in clouds, we found a boat, a heart, cat ears, a marshmallow, a duck and a bird. We then stopped at the grocery store where Ellie had her own little coin purse and she bought two items and paid for them herself. We stopped and picked up my dad and Rosie. When we got home Ellie played on the computer a little bit. Then we ate artichokes and she kept saying how healthy they were for you, she loves them! Then we played Hi-Ho-Cherry-O with her and then my dad helped her build her land sail wooden toy from the workshop at Lowes, we skipped it on Saturday, but Doug picked one up while he was there. Right before we left to bring my dad back to his truck Ellie said "I want to draw a map for us to get there." So she sat down and drew a map for us... then she read it all the way there. Then we talked about her making a map of the inside of our house and she loved the idea, so she will work on that soon. When we got home she played with Rosie and then cuddled with her.

Today Doug is taking Ellie to a class at the Padilla Bay Estuary.
High Tide-Low Tide for Mini Explorers
Minis are the 3 to 5 year old learners. – When the tide goes out, plants and animals have lots of tricks for staying wet.

That should be nice and fun and educational!

I am not sure what the rest of the week holds for us but today I feel good about what we are doing.

She's baaaack!

When I went to pick up Rosie (and my dad for dinner) Rosie was out of the truck and when I walked towards them she started barking her I am going to eat you bark. I said "Rosie!" in a stern voice and she ran up to me and rolled onto her back to get a belly rub. She was very very excited to see me and the girls. We all got kisses (yuck) and she came into the house like she lived there. She was very confused when she did not leave with my dad. And when he put his jacket on because he was cold before we left she thought she was going out with him. That made me sad. Ellie played ball with her and layed on the floor with her after we dropped off Grandpa, I think that made Rosie feel better, she does love her kids.

She'll be comin' 'round the mountain when she comes

March 10th my dad took Rosie out on the truck with him, with the intention that he would keep her. She adjusted and they got quite attached to eachother. She was good for him, she made him walk and get exercise, and she was a companion. He was good for her, she needed someone to love, just one someone who did not have any other pets. It was a perfect match.

But then his company changed policy and said that all pets had to be off trucks by April 1st of 2009. In the few weeks they spent together they were already attached, he did not think it was fair to her or to him that she stay on the truck for another year and then have to leave.

So today she's coming home. Ellie is estatic, me, I am not so sure how I feel. I love Rosie, I really do, she is the one I favor over the other two, but having two dogs was so much easier than three.

There is nothing better than. . .

. . .a box full of packing peanuts.

I took these video of Ellie on her 5th Birthday (almost 2 months ago.) I just rewatched them today.... gotta love this kid.

The playroom halt

We started painting the playroom today. Well, since it was painted bright/dark colors we decided to use a coat of tinted primer first. So that coat is down, we are crossing our fingers that it only takes one coat of paint to cover it now. So we taped and put on the primer. That was a job itself.

We were also planning on laying laminate down, we have 4 boxes from Costco, so over $100 in laminate, and they freaking discontinud that color and now the new stuff has padding attached and I don't think we can use it with it. Since it's the playroom even if it was a close match it would work. I am so irritated. So we might just put down some foam pads instead of laminate... decisions, decisions.

It's coming along great, but with this little interruption I am not sure when we will get it done, I WAS hoping by next weekend, I don't think it will happen that soon now.

Feeling Accomplished

but now the house is a MESS.

We started three projects today. One was finishing the playroom, or the room that will be the playroom. Doug actually had been working on it, tearing out the carpet (the only room that needed laminate still.) Today we painted the ceiling, it was nasty, apparently the people who lived under the stairs (our old roommate) threw food or something on it, because it was gross. So that is painted, then we will prime and paint the walls tomorrow. They are painted really dark/bright colors right now, we are going to do a theme in there, but that's a secret for now. On the way to getting done, but not completed.

The first completed project
A few months ago I had an idea, to build a shelf in the kitchen window, but we are really not that handy with tools -- we are learning, especially since we laid laminate in our entire house last summer. Anyway, I wanted a shelf in the window so I could have more plants (love my plants) and take down the nasty mini blinds. Then one day we decided to get rid of some box springs that were in the garage (we bought platform bed) they were torn up and not really donatable so we started to disassemble then, not an easy task. I saw that some of the wood could be reused and was the perfect size to build the shelf I wanted to build in the kitchen.So today Doug built me my shelf out of the wood from the box springs -- $0 The board taken apart from the box spring



The window before the shelf



The window after the shelf. We will probably paint the shelf or at least stain it, but for now it works and I LOVE IT. Thank You Doug!




The second completed project for today My clothes line -- $10

It’s nothing fancy, but I can dry the diapers on it and some clothes and save some energy while I am at it! We put it on the deck, because in order to get to the backyard we have to go out on the deck and down a flight of stairs. It was in the yard we would not use it as much, so it's on the deck.

A quick glimpse into the mind of Ellie

I think Ellie's brain, like mine, works overtime. Sometimes she can't sleep, she's being restless and she says that her brain won't stop going. Here are some of the the things she thinks about.

Last September we were visiting my mom. I was in the bedroom nursing Elyza and Ellie was in the living room with my Nana (my mom.) My mom told Ellie to go put on her pajamas. Ellie said "I can't" When Nana asked why Ellie said: "All of my pajamas are going around in my brain like this." And she made a fast circular motion abovc her head with her hand. "And it hasn't stopped yet so I don't know what pajamas I want to wear." WOW... this was coming from a 4 1/2 year old. It was amazing she was able to communicate how her brain was working. And if you stop to think about it, this is how your brain works. You decide that you want to put on pajamas, so you think about what pair you may want to wear, your brain quickly scans your pajama inventory without you actually looking at them. And Ellie was able to put that into words.

Almost a year ago Ellie decided that when she grew up she wanted to be a firegirl. After visiting some firemen and going onto the firetruck, she decided that was the job for her. Last night we were talking about it and she still wants to be a firegirl, but she is a little worried about it. The part she is worried about is having to spend the night at the firehouse instead of at home with me. She's not worried about having to fight fires, about getting hurt, she wants to help save people and animals she said... but she is afraid of spending the night away from me.

Another night Ellie and I were talking and I told her that I hoped that when her and Elyza were older that they would be really good friends and be close to eachother. She told me "We will be close Mama, I will sleep in my bunkbed and Elyza will sleep right there with you." (Her bunkbed is in my bedroom next to my bed.) Mind you she doesn't sleep in her bunkbed, but in my bed, but it is comforting to know that when she grows up she won't be sleeping with me anymore, but in her bunkbed.

Think of the Child First

I came across a neat website today and wanted to share. It is how I try to be a parent and it's nice seeing it in official words.

Think of the child first

Small encouragements can make a big difference in the life of a child. Here are some examples of everyday things you can do to put a child first. We hope they will inspire you to put down the laundry and go to the park or take the phone off the hook and read their favorite story. A little time goes a long way.

Encourage Children, Nurture their dreams, it builds self-confidence.

Kids have big ambitions. And even though sometimes they may seem a bit lofty, there’s no harm in supporting them. Saying no to a child’s dreams can cause resentment. It’s best to support their goals rather than to laugh at them and discourage the behavior. For instance, if a child says they want to go to the moon or be the President, buy them a book or take them to a museum to learn more. Often, children grow out of their childhood dreams and develop new ones. But in the mean time, they will feel your love and support.

Here are a few ways to support a child’s big dreams:

• Ask a child what they want to be when they grow up. They will begin exploring occupations.
• Observe sports or activities a child likes, then look into lessons and clubs.
• Take them to the library or museum to find out more about the things that interest them.
• Give them a book, or read them a story to show them you support their interests.

Praise a child when they make a kind gesture. They'll grow up to be kind.

Encourage your child to make a difference in the world and always help him recognize the positive effect the gesture had on the recipient. The goal is for kids to become less dependent on adult guidance by incorporating moral principles in their lives and making them their own.

One of the easiest ways to help kids learn new behaviors is to reinforce them when they happen. This is why you should purposely catch your child when they act morally and acknowledge good behavior by describing what she did right and why you appreciate it.

How to encourage kindness:

• Be kind yourself. Say please and thank when speaking to a child.
• Point out when another child does something nice for someone.
• Teach a child to be kind to animals.
• Open the door for others. A child will model your behavior.

Remove doubt from a child's mind. They will achieve so much more.

Remember to tell a child often that you love them. Tell them when they do a good job and use positive reinforcement every chance you get. Let a child overhear the nice things you say about them to others. This will help them believe in themselves and cause them to practice these positive traits.

Ways to help a child to succeed:

• Build confidence in a child’s abilities. If they ask you to “do something for them,” reply that you’d love to see them do it instead.
• Encourage independence. Most often kids will rise to the occasion.
• When a child makes a mistake, let them know we all make mistakes – it helps us grow.
• Urge children to work on skills they are pretty good at, so they gain confidence and refine their talent.

Feed a child's imagination. It allows their mind to grow.
A child’s mind is a magical place - one of innocence and unlimited possibilities. Giving a child room to explore will foster their emotional, physical and creative development. Children find pleasure in stretching their imaginations. Give them the opportunity to draw and write or tell stories. And don’t forget that a child’s artwork doesn’t need to look like an adult’s. Unique styles should be valued. The sky does not always need to be blue. Give them the freedom to be a kid. They won’t be one forever.

How to set their imagination free:

• Celebrate a child’s creativity by displaying their art.
• When a child is bored, give them fun suggestions like flying a kite or building a snowman.
• Urge children to use trial and error to see what happens when they use their imaginations.
• Create a special art center that allows kids to creatively express themselves.

Spend time with a child, it makes them feel important

There are many things you can give a child. But what they will remember and appreciate most is your time. Learn to listen. It is easy to tune out the talk of our children. But one of the greatest things we can do for our children is to take them seriously and truly listen to them. Ask a child about their day. It’s important to know what’s going on at school. If possible, try to sit down to dinner together and take time to catch up. It’s not the quantity, but the quality that matters.

Make a child feel like a V.I.P:

• Limit television and computer games. Instead choose something productive you can continue working on together like a puzzle or a scrapbook that they can be proud of.
• Plan family outings or vacations such as hiking or swimming.
• Discourage homework immediately after school. Instead give them a break and go for a walk outside.
• Create family traditions that will make a child feel special. Pick apples together in the fall or put them in charge of choosing the Christmas tree.

Feeding the babe

I am glad that I decided NOT to use jarred baby food with Elyza. She has had baby cereal -- I feed her Earth's Best baby Cereal -- Not ONE single drop of jarred baby food, I am so proud of myself, it's really not as hard at it seems.

She still likes her food pretty pureed up, but I don't even steam her vegetables... raw veggies are the best for you, right? So....I just put them in the blender raw with some water and waaalaa, baby food.

Today I made her carrots mixed with peaches, frozen, not canned... (YUM! ok not really, but she thought it was YUM!) She loved it!

I cross my fingers-and-my-toes everyday that I end up with another great eater like Ellie is.

Spots, spots and more spots

March 10th the guy noticed that I had a rash on my back. I gave Nattie (our German Shepherd) a bath in the tub with a soap I had never used before so I presumed it was from this as I have very sensitive skin.

Over the next month I broke out with new spots continuously. They appears everywhere except my neck, my face, my palms and the soles of my feet. It started to itch and burn primarily on my legs. I saw 3 doctors and even ask the girls pediatrician while they were in for a check-up and all of them basically said "yep, spots, let's take some blood" No one really knew what was going on with me.

The third doctor was just at the walk-in-clinic who promised me that he would get me to a dermatologist the next day (since I was having a hard time getting into one, I was told anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months.) The next morning his nurse call me at 8:20am and they had me an appointment THAT DAY to see a dermatologist (ironically it was the office that told me 3 months.)

The dermatologist was on March 25 who immediately said vasculitis, but did a skin biopsy. The biopsy came back as vasculitis a week later, which is about as helpful as slug. I did my own research and the type it appears I had can be caused by anything from a medication I am on -- to an environmental factor. But no one was telling me WHAT I should do next. I went back to my regular doctor a week later (April 8th.) Apparently vasculitis is not something that general practitioners know much about. She called a Rheumatologist who said to give me prednisone - yuck. So I stopped all medications I was taking and went on prednisone.


If you know nothing about prednisone you don't want to. It makes you irritable and makes you feel like you are on sensory overload. I was on it for 8 days, I had night sweats, I was a complete grouch, I wasn't sleeping well. The medications I was taken off of were a blood pressure medication and an anti-depressant. Prednisone makes you grouchy and makes your blood pressure elevate, two things I do just fine on my own thank-you-very-much and now I was taken off the two medications I take to help with those and put on one that will make it worse. Fun times.

And it was to a point that if one-more-person told me "my husband had a rash like that and xxx helped..." or I was going to throw them off a bridge. These were the same people who did not recognize the rash when I first got it, I told them it was vacuities and they had never heard of vacuities, THEY HAD NO IDEA what I was going through.

Yesterday I finally saw the Rheumatologist, who had not much to say that I didn't already learn on my own. At least now I am not a new patient so if it happens again I hope I can get it sooner than 2 1/2 weeks. He took more blood... this time was by far the most blood I have had taken at once, 14 vials. I have had so much blood taken and so far the only things that come back as 'abnormal' are that I have a slightly elevated white blood count and another came back as I had inflammation in my body, yeah thanks, I had inflation of my blood vessels!

I have not gotten new spots since April 7th. I have old spots that are fading, I have some that are scabbed and/or irritated, but overall it looks good. Still really no answers about why I had them, ideas, but not answers. At this point I just hope I never get them again.



What is Vasculitis? Vasculitis is an inflammation of the blood vessels, arteries, veins or capillaries. When such inflammation occurs, it causes changes in the walls of blood vessels, such as weakening and narrowing that can progress to the point of blood vessel blockage.





Kids for the most part were very curious about my spots.

C (5 1/2) who I don't see often as she lives across the state and does not ask strangers questions, sweetly asked me what happened to my legs.

Because at first we did not know if it was contagious I had not been seeing my friends... when I finally saw some of them G (4 1/2) started crying and said: "Why did you let Angie come over, now we are all going to get spots."

The neighbor girl said "where did you get those spots?" I told her "The store" and then asked her if she wanted me to pick up some for her.

Adults usually cringed and they were glad that they were on me, not them.

Want to see pictures of my spots? I bet you do!

One more shot?

I have been thinking this over for a few days... I didn't want to make a hasty decision... I decided to give blogging another shot. I have all these thoughts and ideas in my head and I need a place to put them and maybe even get some feedback from my friends, family and maybe even a stranger or two!

I am constantly thinking and rethinking everything, my brain works overtime. Sometimes it's very specific thoughts, sometimes they are very random thoughts.

I admit it

I REALLY love my husband.

There I said it.

It's not everyday I feel like that, lol.

Little Update

I am so in love with our new addition and so in love with my family.
I am having a hard time coping lately though so please keep me in your thoughts.

Awww

Ellie just took my hand and said "Will you marry me"

I told her "I would love to marry you baby but I already married Daddy.'

She said: "No you marry me!"

So sweet!

Smarty-Pants

Last night I had some sunflower seed butter on a spoon (yum, it's my little treat) and she wanted some so she said "I want some seed butter dip please!"

Also last night she drew flowers, a sun and was making letter A's on the wipe board grandma brougt over last week.

Flowers (we won't say what they resemble!)

Sun

Letter A

Also last night while we were coloring she said "I need Rojo" She has been able to tell us colors in spanish but has never used like it was a normal word before! That was very exciting!

Did you know Ellie has a birthday coming up?

Just in case she hasn't told EVERYONE yet!

Ellie is so excited she is going to have a birthday. She is so precious. She will tell anyone that blinks her way "I am going to be three on my birthday." Then when they respond with a "neat" or whatever she will tell them "We are going to ride on the ferris wheel on my birthday!" And when they ask when her when her birthday is she proudly says "March six" I am so in love with her

P.S. We are having 3 parties for her I guess it makes up since we had no parties for years 1 & 2! Just as a family thing IF it's nice we are all going to go to the Seattle Center and the Science center (me, Doug, Cassie and Ellie) because she's obsessed with riding the ferris wheel. Then Doug's mom's side of the family is coming next weekend for a party for Ellie and Cassie. And we will have a kid party just for Ellie with her new little friends she's made the past couple weeks.

She has requested a Dora Bike, because big sister got a new bike for her birthday and Ellie only has a plastic fisher price tricycle, so she wants a big girl bike like Sissy. So she will be getting a new bike, my baby is growing up!!

May-toes, Yum!

Ellie has always loved Tomatoes. Well last night I cut her up one Roma Tomato and she scarfed it down, so I cut up another but she said she was done. So I ate the second one. This was while I was making dinner. A bit later I turned around and she was standing in the kitchen eating a tomato whole! I used to eat them like these as a kid but this was a first for Ellie.

Down to the last bite, I had to help her with that...

Cassie's 8th Birthday!

Cassie turned 8 yesterday!

She got a new bike, mountain bike, for her birthday along with some other things. Harley spent the night and they had fun! We went bowling and the kids had a good time.

Photo's can be found to the right under Photography, Cassie's Birthday.

Meet Cooper

This is our new baby Cooper. He's 4 years old and he's already spoiled rotten

Aquarium

Aunt Diane took Ellie to the Aquarium today, she had lots of fun!



And she got to ride onthe carousel with Marcia!

Any Harry Potter Fans?

Ellie Potter




Natalie Potter



Rosie Potter

Ellie's Artwork

When I was Ellie's age I loved to draw and color. Ellie holds a short attention span to drawing and coloring although she is starting to love drawing a bit more. She has started to make people: They have a head, hair, eyes, nose, mouth, and legs...

This one is a picture of me! (that is what she says!)


Last night I gave her a pair of scissors, a glue stick and she cut and glued for about an hour, she was so happy and content! This is what she made. This was her first try at scissors and glue too!


So maybe she will be a little artist after all, as long as I keep encouraging her. I think art is important in life.

Conjunctivitis

Ellie has conjunctivitis (pink eye)!! Poor kid. Cassie has it too but she was just starting to rub at her eyes when she went home on Monday and I don't think she got it as bad as Ellie did. I guess Cassie's brother brought it home from daycare, gave it to Cassie and Cassie gave it to Ellie.

Ellie's tear ducts and eyelids are really infected, but we have antibiotics now she she should be better in no time! She started with a fever on Monday, then it got worse and worse, nothing with her eyes until early Tueaday morning and she woke up with her eyes crusted. By that afternoon she looked like this (that's when we went to the doctor)





This was today, 1 day on the antibiotics, a bit better but still looking bad. She also has bad broken blood vessels in her eyes now (in each corner its all red)

B-O-W-L-I-N-G

In November Ellie spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa (Grandpa Doug & Grandma Angie) and went bowling with "Char-ley." Since then she's become pretty obsessive with "Char-ley", bowling, and getting a new baby in my belly.

Doing a little detective work and keeping her talking I have discovered that "Char-ley" the one she went bowling with, who is really HARLEY, her Aunt Harley, who is 10, Doug's (Daddy's) little sister, is also "Char-ley", her sister's brother.

....Aww, ding, ding, ding, I see the light! Her sister does have a brother names Charlie, he's 3. And when her sister, Cassie comes to visit Ellie hears about Charlie. Well Harley and Charlie are nearly the same name, especially to a 2 year old, right? Just a C in front of Harley and you get Charley. Well Ellie loves Harley so much she was determined to get a cool brother (or sister) just like "Charley". Get where I am going? In Ellie's head she sees Harley when Cassie talks about her brother Charlie.

Whew, anyway, now that I have totally jumbled that up, we went bowling on Saturday (two days ago) and took the kids. Aww, bowling. I haven't been bowling since I was 20 years old! It was fun, the kids had fun. We went to this tiny 6 lane local bowling alley. We spent $18 for an hour of bowling for the 4 of us including shoe rentals, that didn't seem too bad, I think we will do it again. Cassie is requesting a bowling birthday party (her birthday is coming up!) so I think that is what we will do. Ellie wants to go ice skating, that's what she says so far but we have a couple weeks to work on it, but her birthday is coming up soon too.

My Travels

I haven't traveled in a while and I think it's starting to get to me. The last time I flew was over a year ago in October 2004! Although I did fly several times in 2004, I didn't at all in 2005!

I have been to Canada numerous times, the last time was in May of 2004, my mother, Ellie and I went on a 1 night Mother's Day cruise.

I have been to Mexico twice. Once was on a Carnival ship in 1998 (yuck) and the other time was on one of the Small Ships in 2001 for the company I work for. I love Latin America.

Costa Rica, my mother and I went to Costa Rica in May of 1998 and it was awesome. We spent a week there, rented a car and had a great time. The second time I went into Panama and took a cruise (small ship again) through the canal and into Costa Rica. I love Latin America--wait have I said that before?

Doug and I took a trip to Jamaica in 1999. It was so nice. We stayed at Sandals. If I ever visit Jamaica again I would want to do the all-inclusive resort thing again.

After 26 days of rain I am longing for those warm tropical places!

What's that you said?

So my nearly 3 year old can talk pretty well and she cracks me up sometimes...

Pepperoni = Peckeroni

Ketchup = Tomato Dip I guess she's right!

She says "I don't know." In a serious tone.

"Jinger Bells, Jinger Bells, JINGLE all the way." I don't know how she can get that last "Jingle"
but not the first two, but it cracks me up.

She's been saying "Freaking!" in the right context... "Open the freakin door!"

She tells me that she can't have water at bedtime because it makes her pee but MILK is ok...
only because she wants milk, not water.

If I get hurt she gets very concerned, rubs my face and tells me she will take care of me.

She orders the dogs out of her room "Get out of Ellie's room!"

She was laying on the bed talking softly to the cat and then all of a sudden I hear "Daphne, will you marry me?"

I'll skip the chocolate ice cream..

I'll skip the chocolate ice cream and just have some tomatoes. That's what my almost 3 year old did today.

I wish it were that easy for us all!

We had already had dinner and we then decided to have a bowl of ice cream (Dreyers Light.) She was excited by this and asked for her own bowl. We made a small bowl for her. She ate two bites and said "I don't want ice cream, I will just have tomatoes."

My husband and I both laughed and I told her that there were only a couple tomatoes (grape tomatoes) left because she had already eaten the entire pound of grape tomatoes earlier today and suggested peas and corn. She said "Ok, peas and corn, yummy!" She's working on her second bowl of peas and corn... straight from the freezer, rinsed with a little water, not cooked, no butter, nothing.

I wish I could be that excited about peas and corn! It would make eating healthy so much easier.

Look I am an Elephant!

The other day my almost 3 year old got into the Q-Tips. She put on in each ear and said "Look Mama, I am an elephant!" She thought this was wildly funny...but I couldn't figure out exactly what elephants have sticking out of their ears? Lack of the adult imagination. I figured these must be symbolizing elephant tusks. It was cute but I did have to have a talk with her about why it's dangerous to stick things in your ears.

This episode got me thinking. These are not new thoughts but revisted ones. I know I am still easily entertained, by my three year old. That is the good news....

....BUT I want to be a kid again, I want to be carefree, I want to have fun, I want a 3 year olds imagination... I want to stick Q-tips in my ears and pretend I am an elephant.

Night Terrors

Last night Ellie woke up screaming. She has only been asleep for maybe 10 or 15 minutes and she woke up screaming "I want my Mama!" I kept telling her I was her mommy, I tried to hold her, I tried to comfort her, I asked if she wanted me to lay with her, or if she wanted to come to my bed. Finally I asked her if she wanted me to leave and she said "yes." But she continued to cry. My mother went in there (she was visiting) and she tried to comfort her and all she would say is "I want my Mama!" She told me so many times "I want my Mama!" Even I was beginning to wonder if I really was her mother, she was determined that I wasn't.

Finally after about 30 minutes of this she got up off her bed, looked right at me and said "I want to sleep with you!" I picked her up, cuddled her, brought her to my bed and she was just fine.
I wonder if she had a Nightmare or if she has Night Terrors?

Why is my butt sticky?

I questioned the kids as to what might be on the toilet seat.. no one knew.

After I finished making dinner I went to the bathroom and investigated. Toothpaste. It was the kids kind transparent pink on a dark green toilet seat, something you can not see.

My child (2) paints stuff with toothpaste, apparently now she paints toilet seats too, this is added to the list:

Walls
Bed
Carpet
Deck
Swingset
Dog
Grass
Outside of House
Herself

Ellie's 1st haircut

Why do I feel like I robbed her of something by cutting her hair!!

She did need a hair cut so her hair would grow thicker and nicer.. but I feel like I robbed her.

So here it is...

This was a few days ago..This was all the hair the poor thing has grown in almost 3 years... never been cut no bangs, nothing... It wasn't washed or brushed so it doesn't look its best either...





Right before I cut her hair (wet)


After I cut it still wet


All dry, it looks so much fuller

Don't eat the yellow snow

Ellie kept asking me if it were going to snow for Christmas... How do I explain this to a 2 year old? I felt so guilty (because it IS my fault ya know) that we will probably NEVER have snow for Christmas... we are lucky if it snows once a year here, chances of having it for Christmas are slim...

So I got an idea.. Let's drive to the mountains and play in the snow, so we did! It was a 2 hour drive but worth it, we played and played in the snow for 2+ hours, and then came home. We ate lunch in the car, brought the dogs and we had a blast!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a holiday in the USA when people give thanks, celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. Normally, the Americans eat turkey on this day.

The First Thanksgiving
The pilgrims invited their two key Indian helpers, Squanto, Samoset, plus Chief Massasoit, to share in their Thanksgiving since they had been so instrumental in the pilgrims´ successes that summer. The Indians brought their families, numbering over 90 people. The pilgrims were overwhelmed, and didn´t have enough food, so the Indians brought along their own supplies for the feast. The Wampanoags brought turkey, deer, berries, squash, cornbread, and beans - things that they'd farmed and that they'd shown the Pilgrims how to care for.
The first Thanksgiving had nothing to do with Pilgrims or Indians sharing meals. Much of the credit for the adoption of a later ANNUAL national Thanksgiving Day may be attributed to Mrs. Sarah Joseph Hale, the editor of Godey's Lady's Book. For thirty years, she promoted the idea of a national Thanksgiving Day, contacting President after President until President Abraham Lincoln responded in 1863 by setting aside the last Thursday of November as a national Day of Thanksgiving. Over the next seventy-five years, Presidents followed Lincoln's precedent, annually declaring a national Thanksgiving Day. Then, in 1941, Congress permanently established the fourth Thursday of each November as a national holiday.


We had a nice Thanksgiving meal. Doug was up at 5:30am getting the turkey ready. He had to leave for work at 1:30pm so that meant we had to get an early start so we could have an early dinner. It was just Doug, Ellie, Teela and I. We bought a small 10lb turkey that Doug prepared and cooked. We also had roasted potatoes, sauteed mushrooms and asparagus, artichokes and stuffing. For dessert we had cheesecake from TJ's (yum). Ellie was begging to eat turkey, it was so cute and so weird that a child of MINE could look at a dead bird carcass and think of food (yuck.) She ate a lot of turkey and also ate a whole artichoke (they were very large artichokes too.) I guess she gest the loving meat part of her from Doug and the loving vegetables from me.

Turducken Anyone?

It's a turkey! It's a duck! It's a chicken! It's ... turducken!
Turducken - Chicken Stuffed Duck Stuffed Turkey

Why would two people who know me very well, in the SAME day ask me if I have heard of Turducken?

I don't eat much meat, I never eat meat on the bone (ewww.) I sometimes eat processed turkey (I know not great for you..) and I will hardly eat chicken, if it's saucy and I like the sauce I will eat it some. I would Never Never eat duck.. So why in the world would I have heard of this nasty dish?

Ewwwwww.....

All-Knowing

Today Doug worked 11 hours of overtime so he was away from home all day (about 14 hours with the commute.) When he got home Ellie was so happy to see him, she missed her Daddy so much.

When she told him: "I missed you!"
He said teasing her: "Oh so you want me to go back to work right now?"
And she said: "NOOOOO!!! Her belly is hurt!" and pointed to me. It was like a quick excuse to get him to stay. It was too sweet.


Later in the evening he asked her if she was ready for bed and if she wanted to watch Madagascar. She always watched a movie at bedtime. She said "I've watched it for 3 days!" Which is true, she has watched if for three days straight at bedtime.. I am just astonished that a 2 year old could remember that she had watched it for 3 days straight and then put it into the correct words.

She simply amazes me everyday.


jumpin' on the bed

My clone

Today I realized that Ellie really is MY child, mine.


I never questioned it, but today as soon as we got home, from our weekly Monday trip to story time at the library followed by McDonalds and playing in the play land, she stripped down her clothes and wanted to put on a nightgown.


Then it clicked, she must be my clone.

Inconsolable

Today Ellie really scared me. She first threw a fit when we told her Cas had to go back to her mom's house and go to school. The poor thing only sees her sister 4 days a month and it's really taking a toll on her.

Then about 2 hours after she left we were sitting on the bed playing with a unicorn and a doll and having a great time. Then she left she broke out in a screaching inconsolable desperate cry. She was pretty much incoherent and wouldn't stop crying. She would only say sister and cry. At first I begged her to stop crying and then I realized she needed to cry, so I told her "It's ok to cry, kick scream, whatever she wanted." She kept buring her face in her pillow like she didn't want me to watch her cry. When I would look into her eyes they were so desperate, it was so sad and heartbreaking. This went on for about 20 minutes and I just rubbed her back and talked softly to her. I thought she was going to go to sleep but she finally snapped out of it.

Now when the doll (aka me playing with the doll) asks her what mad her so sad and cry and she says "Mama." I am not even sure she understands what happened. I know I didn't make her cry and I am not sure why she says that. When the doll asks her if Mama was mean she says no.

My poor baby is going to go through this for the rest of her life and I have NO way of protecting her from it.

Now I am heartbroken.

Desolation

For the past week I have been working at home while healing from surgery. I missed a call that came in around 11:00am from the Director of my department. I didn't get his voicemail until 1:00pm because I was in the office and my phone was upstairs. Anyway, I called him right back and apologized profusely that I missed his call.

He was calling to tell me that he had resigned. What?!?! Resigned? No, this can not be happening to us. This man is a wonderful leader, one whom we all not only learned to trust but in a sense we have loved him (I am speaking for everyone.) Several weeks ago the man who founded the company passed away, and although sad, we knew it would happen as he was in his 80's. But now this is far worse. I don't think he understands how horrible this is for us. Not only do we not have a leader, but it feels like we have lost a good friend as well. I am in shock.

He has lead us through huge battles, he's been there for the good and the bad times. He has been there for us on a professional and personal level. He's compassionate, fearless, wise... I could go on with the adjectives but I think you get my point.

This is the same man I personally hated (I'm not the only one) when he first came around, of-course you always hate the new guy right? I just hope the 'new guy' whoever that may be, can be 50% of the leader he was.

Life marches on.

Battle Wounds

So yesterday was a wonderful occassion. 13 days after my hernia surgery I had yet another follow up visit, where the surgeon removed the staples and then pulled my incision apart.

How was that you ask? Oh...so enjoyable. of-course!! NO, it hurt like hell. Why leave the staples in and then tear it all back open... well there was an explanation, whether or not I liked it.

Apparently she was concerned because it was still draining alot of fluid. She wanted it to be open and heal from the inside out, she said this will help it avoid infection and also let it properly drain. She said showering is good, not sure how I am going to feel about water going inside this open gaping hole, that's why I have yet to shower today.

So want to see pictures? Sure, I'm not shy. I'm linking them for those who don't want to look.
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My belly has had enough already. I am convinced that the tape gunk all over it will always be there, and the tape itself is irritating my skin beyond belief. I have sensitive skin anyway, never mind add and removing tape in the same areas for 2 weeks now.

Doug and I get to change the gauze every few hours, how fun is that. It hurts so bad when it's pulled out, it sticks to the tissue inside, then it kinda suction cups when it is pulled out. The gauze is bloody and yellow from the fluid. The hold looks so scary when open. Then pushing clean gauze back in is the highlight. I think Doug is going to faint when he does it, poor guy. I have changed it myself as well, it was a bit odd sticking a finger inside of your belly when there is not supposed to be a hole there. When it's pulled out and put in it shoots 'feeling' all the way to my toes, not pain, just a weird feeling.

Ellie tells me "I don't like your belly." Yeah, thanks sweetie, I don't either. Even before the surgery (hehe). But she has been taking care of me, my little peaches.

My Daughter

"I Love You So Much Mama" as she gently puts her hand under my chin and kisses my lips.

Ellie is the most wonderful little girl alive. She's loving and sweet. I am so lucky to have her in my life.