Deana's Diatribe

A blonde walks into a car dealer service dept.........

2011-08-18T20:24:00.009-04:00

A great beginning to so many jokes....
This one, however, has a twist to the punch line. Bear with me. A couple (few) months ago the check engine light came on in the Sequoia. R took it to the local "Car doctor" they ran diagnostics, nothing wrong. Turned lights off on dash (there were two others on too) "that'll be 90 bucks sir."
The next day on the way to Orlando, lights come on again...wow, it has been a while. That was before our seasonal passes blocked out for Disney. So I figured "hey, just checked yesterday...it's fine." R says he'll make an appt @ dealership. He doesn't. Recall notice comes in the mail. Sounds like it may have something to do with the other two lights that came on, so he finally makes an appt. After all, it's a recall, so fixing it will be free. RIGHT?
Fast forward to today. Noon. I drive up to service dept. Three kids, books bags, Wendy's lunch. (Don't judge me. Kid with CF. high fat, high salt is health food)
Young guy (see kid, child, embryo...he called me maam, and I don't think it was southern politeness) meets me at the service dept driveway. We go through the whole schpeel. I ask how long it will be, he gives me an "estimate". On time, not cash. As I get out and hand him the keys; as I'm opening the door to the backseat, I throw out there "BTW, I have 3 children that will be waiting with me and if I think this is taking too long, I WILL let them run through the showroom cars, honking all the horns." That was my first "...Uh, yes ma'am" (he almost saluted)
I pile my ducklings out of the car. For those of you that have piled 3 kids out of a car with schoolwork and lunch in hand, you know this takes quite a while. At this point, there is a LINE of service techs opening doors, offering to carry bags, etc.
So, my brood and I take completely over the service area waiting room. As we walk in, the other customers scatter. It was almost as if we had signs across our foreheads that proclaimed EBOLA patients! Yeah, yeah, I know, school is back in session and blah blah...its okay. I get it. If they weren't mine, I would've headed for the hills too. Just as well. I announced that the TV had to be turned off just as the last of them were leaving the room.
We ate our lunch. I started school. Employees kept walking through. A lot of coffee was retrieved from the pot...I suspect for all the other customers waiting out in the newly constructed "no children waiting area".
Those who braved the scene seemed impressed by both the kids and the schooling. Not pride this time. I myself was pleasantly SHOCKED at how well they were behaving.
So, it's time for the service guy to come "deliver the news".
This is where it gets unconventional.
Mrs. Dunlap? / Yes? / Well, the good news is your car is not affected, at all by the recall. This is the "good news"? In my head I hear, "So this won't be on the house"
Me: Okay, so what is it?
Him: The check engine light is on because of an O2 sensor problem.
Me: And this means?
Him: Well, the O2 sensor lets the catalytic converter know...blah, blah, blah....(why am I bothering to to go through this explanation with you, a WOMAN, who clearly knows NOTHING about which I speak) blah, blah, blah....
Me: Oh, so it's strictly an emissions problem
Him: (Silence, hear crickets)
Me: This has nothing to do with the safety and mechanics of my vehicle, does it?
Him:..Uh, yes maam, but the catalytic converter blah, blah, (oh shit) blah blah...nods toward my "precious cargo" blah blah safety blah blah...
Me: But, you can actually take a cc off of a car completely and not affect the safety of the vehicle. CANT YOU???
Him: head hung...yes maam.
Me (again): So, this IS only an emissions problem. RIGHT?
Him: yes maam.
Me: And when I lived in GA, I had to have an emissions test to get my tags. (Pregnant pause) I don't have to have one of those in the State of FL, do I?
Him: (head hung low, face red by now) mumbles no maam.
And there is was...Victory.
I'm old. I've mellowed. I needed no more.
Me; Okay, we're here, do it.
In the interest of full disclosure, my father is a mechanic. A jet engine mechanic by his first profession (USAF), an LC hovercraft mechanic by second career (NAVY) and a "drone" QC mechanic guy for a civilian contractor for the third. (None of our cars EVER went to "the car doctor" when I was growing up...come to think of it, no repairman ever darkened our doorstep. The man did everything!) Every mechanical term logged into this old cranium came from him. Ten thousand other things could have been wrong with this car and I would have been clueless. But it wasn't. So, for today, at least...THE BLONDES WIN!!!
(and I know what you are thinking....my hairdresser will NEVER talk!)

Tales from the backseat

2011-08-16T19:52:00.004-04:00

Okay, first and foremost, facebooking has had an effect (or is it affect, I always confuse those) on my blog. It is so much easier to just post a quick update than sit down and write an entire blog entry. To this end, I will rededicate myself (again) to more postings. Even if they are as short and sweet as a facebook post.
Today, my little students worked diligently and finished school before lunch. As a reward I decided to take them to the beach after (lunch).
This is a tale from the backseat on the way to the beach.
G states that I "must" take her to Disney to let her visit Pooh and Tink. F tells her that I only have to do what the bible says and that no where in the Bible does it say that I have to take my children to Disney. G (not missing a beat, always ready with a sassy answer) says "oh yes, it does, in Romans, Chapt 13, verse 22!She was "selling it" I had to admire her:)
W, from the third seat, happens to have his Bible that he did not take inside after church on Sunday decides to look up this passage.
Turns out Romans Chapt 13, vs 22 does not exsist. He asks her "Are you sure you didn't mean Chpt 14? There is no vs 22 in Chpt 13 of Romans."
G plays along and gives him subsequent chpts to research.
The next one he is assigned is somewhere in John. "The man went out and told others that Jesus had healed him" (I paraphrase)
This is where I chime in..."Yep, no Pooh in that passage either. G are you sure you read this in the bible?"
Of course this only serves to give my blessing to this new game of theirs and fuels the fire. W is given more passages to find and read...none of which say I HAVE to take my kids to Disney, BTW.
W is frantically thumbing through, giving G more ideas. He hits the book of Job(e). He askes her. "Is it in Job?"
F speaks up. "OH, You won't find ANYTHING enjoyable or very entertaining in Job(e)!"
Me:(thinking she's only bluffing) calls her on it."oh really Faith, and what does it say in Job?"
Faith: "That's where Satan destroys everything and everybody that Job has. His house, his family, .....and goes on and on. Keep in mind. Although I am familiar with these stories, I am sure that I have never discussed them with her. I actually find it a bit unsettling that God would play games with his poor, faithful servant in such a way. This knowledge has only been aquired by her own reading and attention to Sunday sermons.
As she's going on (and on and on) I find that my work here is done.
DONE!

We're Floridian Now!

2011-06-13T16:59:00.017-04:00

It was brought to my attention a couple of weekends ago how “Floridian” we have become. Shoes(MIL), Aunt Joey(SIL), and her two children (Sweet Jenna and Jackson who endured an entire piano recital without complaint) visited. Right here I would like to insert how blessed I am to have these two ladies in my life. I understand that not everyone feels that way about their MIL, and SIL, but I do, and yes, I DO realize my great fortune. In fact, the original plan for this blog post was to gush about them and our wonderful relationship, but that's just not nearly as entertaining. The first night Shoes was relating a scarring story from her past involving the dreaded palmetto bug. Twenty min. later, I went to the bathroom and had to kill one such bug crawling across the floor. The next day the cousins flipped out over a spider in W’s room, where my own children’s reaction was to to calmly explain that “spiders are our friends…..they eat the mosquitos.” Then Will went into a lengthy oral bookreport on Charlotte’s Web. Day three (and last of their visit) we come home to a snake crawling across the sidewalk to the front door entrance.Again, my family just steps over the thing while our guests are left to....well, not be so pleased. This was Aunt Joey's (R's sister) first trip to our house since we moved to FL. I wonder just how long it will take her to return... Here are some pics from piano recital night. It was my boy's first, and Faith's second recital. Of course beaming with pride would be an understatement.

Family vacation

2011-05-29T17:35:00.010-04:00

Have you ever had this experience? You get a puppy. It eats your shoes, pees in the floor and does other sundry annoying "puppy things". Finally it stops. You've done your job well. Mostly it's just "grown out" of these behaviours, but you pat yourself on the back just the same. You have a loyal, bonafide member of your family. Your new life companion. A little time goes by and one day you look at your loyal friend. Of course you've looked at your loyal friend everyday for the entire time you've had him, but this time you notice something different. Your loyal friend, your life companion, has a graying muzzle. You would swear it wasn't there yesterday and your heart hurts just a little. The next day you notice even more gray! Where did this all come from? And now the chest! Your loyal friend seems to be aging overnight.
This exact thing happened to me recently. Only I don't have a dog. Our family went to the Keys for vacation in early May. My husband didn't shave. Out of no where came the graying muzzle. The next day there was even more! Since we were in the Keys, most of our time was spent in swimsuits so I saw him without a shirt more than usual. There it was all over his chest! My initial reaction was the same as with the dog, but it only lasted a split second. My second thought was, "It's okay, he doesn't have a life expectancy of only 15 yrs" In the third second I reached "Well, it's about dang time!" Here I am aging all over the place and this man has seemed to be doing some Benjamin Buttons routine on me for the past few years. Seriously, the man runs marathons.....LOTS of them!
So, my love, welcome to middle age.....I've been waiting on you.
Below, I'm posting some pictures from our trip.

WARNING: The information below may be both addicting and damaging to your health.

2011-05-09T20:02:00.004-04:00

If Satan had a drink, what would it be? I know, your first guess would be tequila...who of us hasn't fallen under the spell of that magic elixer (at least in our youth) But NO! It is not tequila. (mentally hear the BUZZ, wrong answer) And if Satan had a messenger what would he/she look like? Hitler? Stalin? Pam Anderson?
I have a friend. She is beautiful, witty, articulate and a pleasure to be around. She also blogs. To all my ATL friends, think conservative, christian, Beth R. My new friend (not Beth, but that's NOT to call Beth my OLD friend) is also a home schooling mom. My new friend, we'll call her Dee Dee ('cause that's her name, and all) recently blogged about her Mother's Day gift.
Her husband, who has now elevated himself in my mind to husband/god (little "g", so as not to be blasphemas)Bought her a bottle of...drumroll, please.....
CHOCOVINE!
Yes, chocolate wine! Although, it tastes more like chocolate Bailey's than a fine merlot.
I am partaking of a glass right at this moment because my own husband/god ran to the store as fast as he could to procure a bottle of this sinful potion. (I'm assuming HE is hoping to hencefore refer to it as "love potion #9 judging by the rapidity with which the bottle found it's way into the house)
So, thank you Dee Dee, thank you Tom, thank you, Richard and thank you makers of Chocovine (Satan) I truely have a new vice. Beth, my NOT old, but allergic to chocolate friend, I both love and pity you at the same time tonight.

Happy Birthday, Grace!

2011-03-15T12:58:00.016-04:00

My amazing Grace, my baby, my GG. (Gracie girl, grumpy girl, grundgy girl) was born 5 years ago. I love that she was born on 3:16 and the name we had picked for her is Grace. Wow! It was almost midnight and the epidural was wearing off when my unexpected blessing came into this world. My third child in as many years. I wasn't sure God knew what he was doing with this one. This (statistically) medically impossible child, but I am certainly glad he sent her. Our family would not be the same without our GG. For one thing, the house would be a LOT more quiet. Faith always has her head stuck in a book, Will, well, he's got a Y chromosome...'nuff said, but Grace is in CONSTANT commentary mode. To us, to herself, it doesn't matter! Always talking, ALWAYS talking. If we were Jews trying to hide from the Nazi's in a wall, Anne Frank style, our family would be screwed! It's her birthday, so I will focus on the positive articulate qualities of my daughter. It's a sign of intelligence, right? Of my children's aspirations, GG has the most unusual. If all their dreams come to pass, I will have a Nobel winning scientist, an astronaut and......wait for it..."a stilts person". Yes, GG wants to be a person that walks on stilts when she grows up. You are thinking..hmmm...third child, tired of always being the smallest, etc. No, GG wants to be a stilts person because they make people smile. How sweet is that? In addition to sweet, my babygirl is smart and tenacious too. She was Mary in our church's production of The Christmas play last year. Yes, at four. I thought Michelle was a little out of her mind for casting a 4 yr old who'd never performed on stage in such a crucial role,(also, she can't carry a tune in a bucket and it was a musical with a solo!) but she pulled it off with flying colors. I have to say, that of the three, she took the whole production the most seriously and behaved better throughout the sememster. She LOVES to perform. GG is constantly creating plays to keep us entertained. I wish that I could bottle her energy for life, as it seems boundless! Happy Birthday to my Gracie Girl! Mommy loves you very much!

Will's first race

2011-03-05T09:06:00.004-05:00

Will ran his first race today. The Rhino Romp. It was a 3k @ our local Zoo. He was so excited. When R went in to wake him up @630AM he was already awake. He said he's been awake since 5! Faith and Daddy ran with him on his grand debut. Enjoy the pictures..

Hanoi Hilton- We've broken the code!

2011-03-02T20:25:00.003-05:00

My two girls' beds share a wall. Apparently they have worked out a code. I found this in both of their rooms, in Faith's handwriting. In case you can't see the picture clearly.
Reading 1
Playing 2
What are you doing? 3
ok 4
yes 5
no 6
I'm coming to check on you 7
I'm going potty 8
Do you have dolls in bed? 9
Stop 10
I love you 11
Goodnight 12

I can only assume the nunbers are knocks on the adjacent wall. Sneaky sneaky.... I don't hate it....

2011 so far...

2011-03-02T14:21:00.025-05:00

So, after I was halfway through all the uploads and updates, I realized I was doing this chronologically backwards! Duh? So, scoll to the bottom of the post and read from bottom to top..what can I say? It's just one of those days...

Daddy had a birthday.

Watched the next to last Shuttle Launch from the front yard.
Another Sewing project.

Faith took Communion for the first time.

DB's first Valentine's Party!

I sewed some more..

I sewed...

Back to disney!

Four funerals and a wedding...
Remember the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral? The oldest son of dear friends got married in Jan. It was a DB first. It occured to me that my children have had the opposite of that movie. Four funerals and a Wedding....way to much sadness in their short little lives.

GG got the Disney flu from the first visit!

Because I am tired of picking up their crap, and because I am into "experiences" over things these days, Christmas present this year was Disney passes...There will be a lot of these pics in the months to come.

New Year's Day -
Daddy was still here from Chirstmas. We spent a beautiful New Year's Day at Cocoa Beach.

Happy Birthday, My Faithful D!

2010-12-20T15:01:00.007-05:00

Eight years ago today my extra-ordinary girl was born. I hardly know where to start with her description. Faith is a girl of extremes. She is extremely intelligent and beautiful, extremely sweet and loving, extremely dependable, extremely trustworthy and at times, extremely difficult. Of my three, she is the one that will drive me to tears the fastest. Tears of pride; or tears of exacerbation. I guess she invokes extreme emotion, also Faith loves to play with her best friends (Will and Grace) and her dolls. Her passion however, is reading and learning, and reading and reading and reading some more. She wants to be a scientist of some sort when she grows up. She hasn’t decided what kind yet, but leans more toward marine biology than others. She started chemistry this school year and, because she doesn’t read my blog, I can admit here, that I have to read at night to keep up with her. Sometimes she gets ahead, but with her sweet eight year old heart that still thinks her Mommy knows everything, she is blinded to the fact. My Faithful is a girl of great focus and determination. The expression “dog with a bone” comes to mind. She also has a very generous heart. Just today, she offered to use her entire savings to buy Christmas presents for a family she heard about that didn’t have the money to do for themselves this year. For obvious reasons, Faith’s birthdays are always poignant for me, always a bit more emotional than with my other two. Happy Birthday my extraordinary girl! Mommy loves you!

Ready for Christmas?

2010-12-14T16:04:00.003-05:00

“Ready for Christmas,” she said with a sigh,
As she gave a last touch to the gifts piled high.
Then wearily sat for a moment and read
Till soon, very soon, she was nodding her head.

Then quietly spoke a voice in her dream;
“Ready for Christmas! What do you mean?
When just two days ago last week
You wouldn’t acknowledge your friend in the street.”

“Ready for Christmas, while holding a grudge!
Perhaps you had better let God be the judge.
Why, how can the Christ child come and abide
In a heart that is selfish and filled with pride?”

“Ready for Christmas! You’ve worked, it is true.
But just doing the things that you wanted to do.
Ready for Christmas! Your circle’s too small.
Why, you are not ready for Christmas at all.”

She awoke with a start, and a cry of despair,
“There’s so little time, and I’ve still to prepare!
“Oh, Father, forgive me, I see what you mean;
To be ready means more than a house swept clean.”

Yes, more than the giving of gifts and a tree,
It’s the heart swept clean that He wants to see,
A heart that is free from bitterness, sin,
Ready for Christmas means ready for Him!”

Around the home school lunch table

2010-11-23T12:56:00.005-05:00

Grace: How did God make this cup?
Will: God didn't MAKE the cup, Grace, he made people and gave them the knowledge to make the cup.
Grace: How did God make this water?
Will: Grace, God didn't...
Faith interrupts: Will, God DID make the water
Will continues: Grace, God took the H2O and smashed..
Faith interupts again: Will, the H is for hydrogen. It's a kind of atom. He took 2 of them. That's why there's a 2 after it. The O is for oxygen it's another kind of atom. There is only one. That's what he put together to make water.
Will: That's what I said, He took the h2o's and smashed them together. That's how God made water, Grace.

Me: Nice job. That's exactly what he did. NOW, will the three of you STOP TALKING AND EAT?

Happy Birthday Will

2010-10-11T11:13:00.011-04:00

Six years ago today my sweet boy came into this world. Not kicking and screaming like his sisters, but blue and silent. After a few anxious moments and some roughing up by the nurses, he came around and has been my source of joy every since. Of my three, he is the most snuggly and quickest to giggle. Will had a dream night before last. He dreamed he had wings. And what did he do with this new found gift? He flew around the backyard. He flew to the top of the play set. He flew up to reach the latch on the enclosure to let himself in and out. He did not fly in the house because in his words, "the ceiling fans would damage my wings". My point is this: he didn't take off exploring the vast world. He stayed in the backyard. Close to home, close to Mommy, where it was safe. He is also the most cautious of my three children. He wants to be an astronaut when "he's a Daddy". It's their term for when they are adults. If you are a child, you are a boy or girl. If you are an adult, you are a Mommy or Daddy. I'm not sure how a boy unwilling to leave the backyard when he has wings is going to go all the way to space, but he has plenty of time to figure that out.
Will is bright. Although sitting still is not his strong point, he manages to read on a second grade level even though he would have only started kindergarten this year. He likes to know how everything works. It's his thing. I used to get so mad at him for being so destructive. Even as a baby, all toys had to be immediately taken apart for inspection. He frequently asks what to me, are the most puzzling questions. Will is sensitive. I will never forget his reaction the first time I told him the Good Friday story. He was horrified and probably too young to have been exposed in such detail, but I was used to Faith, the one who reacts to the nature shows with "the lion's got to eat too, Will".
Will is my most even tempered child. If something is wrong with Will, it is easily deciphered. He's tired, hungry, or an actual injustice has been perpetrated on him. With the girls.......there's a whole laundry list of possibilities!
Will's nickname has always been Eddie. Why a nickname that is another name? It's a play on Oedipus. His Daddy gave it to him as an infant. He is the classic "Mommy's boy" and I don't care if it is dysfunctional.....I like it!
Happy Birthday my Joy Boy! Mommy loves you!

Blogging by pictures

2010-10-05T12:14:00.025-04:00

Dad came for a visit at the end of Aug/first of Sept. He kept the babies while R and I took F to Tampa for her quarterly appt. She lost weight, but aced her PFT, so we all celebrated......except the dietian. Here is a picture of how he arrived...Grizzly Grandaddy. While he was here, it was the one yr. anniversary of Mom's death. The kids wrote her letters, and drew pictures. We then, took them to the beach and released them on balloons. Then went body boarding. GG finished Level 2 of HOP. Will is mummifying a chicken as part of a History assignment. Here are a couple of pictures of him with "the Pharaoh" My angel trumpet bush in the front walkway. I love this plant. Those blooms are 12 inches! Took our first fieldtrip of the year to Kennedy Space Center. Will started piano lessons. Met up with friends from ATL @ Disneyworld...superfun day! We are planning a big trip to DC at the end of the month. R is running the Marine Corps Marathon for a charity benefitting children of fallen soldiers and we are making a family vacation out of the trip. In anticipation of the trip, I have chunked the History Curriculm they've been working on, focusing instead, on early American History and I hope to cover a bit of Government before we leave, also. F (who makes a game out of everything we study) fashioned her own "Redcoat" uniform. Here, my ragtag patriots seemed to be captured. G told me she did not have a uniform, but that she was making her "attacking face". And last, but certainly not least, Faith was able to finally cash in her 6th birthday present from Mom and Dad. They gave it to her right when Mom's cancer came back and circumstances worked against her getting to do it until now. Just as well, though, she was only barely tall enough this past weekend.
So, that should catch us up for the fall, so far. I can't believe my sweet boy will be six on Monday! More on him later....

Where I've Been

2010-08-09T21:50:00.000-04:00

It's been a month. I know. This month has been filled with busy-ness, happiness and visits from friends and family. I would love to say that has what has kept me from writing, but it's not. A cloud has been looming. Despite more company and joy than this house has seen in a long time, it's been there. Always in the background, many times in the fore. A friend of ours from ATL lost her son to a brain tumor last weekend.(I hate that phrase...lost him..we know exactly where he is) He was diagnosed right at a year ago and the prognosis was never good, however, he did well and was beating the odds until.......well, about a month ago. Jackson was seven. Faith's age....birthday's only weeks apart, actually. It has been beyond horrific for his family and those that love them. Of course, it's a parent's worst nightmare. This was my post on facebook Saturday when I found out he was gone. I know that God always answers prayers; I realize that sometimes the answer is "no". My head and faith tell me differently, but today my heart says "Then why bother"
RIP Jackson G. (forever 7)
Here is the answer I have come up with:
Because God tells us to. Sometimes (at times like these) it's nothing more than being obedient. We want our children to trust us and our judgement enough to obey even when they don't understand. They don't always obey wholeheartedly and joyfully. Sometimes it's enough to just obey...at least that's what I'm hoping (praying) for.
It's all I can come up with. It's all I have for myself and my friends, many of whom are asking the same questions this week. It's the reason I drug myself from the bed on Sunday morning and forced myself to church even though I "wasn't feeling it". I wish I could say that angels spoke to me from the alter, or even that the Bishop had some comforting words that hit at the heart of my questions. But they didn't. I'm left still waiting. I did hear a song by Jeremy Camp this afternoon that helped. The title is "There Will Be a Day". It's a song I included in my Mother's slideshow for her funeral less than a year ago. It helped then. It's helping a bit now. Ironically enough, it's a song that Jeremy Camp wrote for his first wife when she was dying of cancer. Cancer. The same thing that took my Mom and Jackson. It hit me today that it wasn't just talking about the physical pain of their illness. Before when I listened to it, that was what I took away. Today I realized it's talking about all of our pain, all of our fears and all of our tears. The pain, fear, and tears that we (the healthy ones) are all left with in the wake of their passing. Jackson and Mom are healed. Of that I'm certain. One day it will all make sense to us. Of that I am hopeful. In the meantime, we will grieve for them both...most especially Sherry, Pat, Sean and Daddy, Melissa and me too. To not grieve, and grieve deeply, diminishes the impact that J and Mom had on us and on the world. It's okay to do both. To grieve and to be hopeful.....at least that's what I'm praying for......
Below is the Youtube video of this great song:

Jeremy Camp - There Will Be A Day ~ AL (Annotated Lyrics)

2010-08-09T21:49:00.000-04:00

Family Photos

2010-07-20T22:00:00.000-04:00

Today was for Conner

2010-06-25T21:57:00.008-04:00

Today I took the kids to SeaWorld. Again. Any Occasion? No. Near Orlando? No. So, why did I step out and do such a crazy, spontaneous thing by myself during the week? Because they love it and because we could. A friend of mine posted this Mommy's blog to her FB status on June 23rd........this date will be important if you decide to follow the link (and story). http://notsobrightandshiny.blogspot.com/
All of the pictures, besides the ones with her in them, were taken by Faith. She not only fancies herself a marine biologist, but a budding photographer as well. We sat in the soak zone at the dolphin show which is why there aren't any photos of it, but it was just as spectacular the second time.

Manatee Mommy & Baby

Dolphin Mommy & Baby

Petting Sting Rays

Father's Day

The Command Post

GG's reading party and other things

2010-06-12T19:07:00.007-04:00

Grace finished the first level of Hooked on Phonics this week so we had what has come to be a family tradition and celebrated today with her reading party. We went with a luau theme. She wanted a doll cake wearing a green dress for her bday, but the kitchen was getting remodeled, so she had to settle for a publix ladybug cake. So, one guess what kind of cake she wanted for her reading party? When she liked the luau decorations, I went with a green grass skirt. She has been attending the reading parties for her "pig kids" for so long. She was REALLY fired up about the day being about her! Her attitude toward school has turned around a lot recently and is a quick learner.

Speaking of a turnaround. Will decided HE was a bookworm this week after a trip to the library. He discovered Batman early readers (basically comic books) and is reading like crazy. Yeah, I know.....lowered standards.....hey, at least he's reading. I found him some more Super Friends books like those. He likes Batman because of all his cool gadgets and is intrigued by the "super" powers of the others.

Faith had a Dr. appt. in Tampa on Thursday and it was a really great one. Her weight gain was a pound and a half and she killed her PFT's. (Pulmonary Function Test) Her lung function scored 100%, her FEV1 was 99% and her small airway function was up from 89% to 95%!

Last Saturday we took the kids to Seaworld. Seaworld has a FL/GA resident special going on that once you pay for admission for a day, you can come back for the rest of the year on that same admission. It was hot, but everyone had a great time. It still amazes me how much hotter it is in Orlando than here...we're further south, but that seabreeze makes a world of difference. SO.......

On the way home from Tampa, (thurs) we stopped at Seaworld for some marine life viewing/petting, dinner and the fireworks show....which did not start until after 10pm! The db's have never been out that late before. Who are we and what have we done with R and D? They went to Hawaii, but other people came home in their bodies :)

Better Amy... Really?

2010-06-06T20:13:00.006-04:00

There is a song in the top 10 right now (Christian) that is titled "Better than a Hallelujah" by Amy Grant.
The chorus goes:

We pour out our misery
God just hears a melody
Beautiful the mess we are
Honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a hallelujah

I was listening to this song the other day when it occured to me that, although I get her gist, I don't really agree. This is what I think God thinks as I "pour out my misery".

God: Are you kidding me with this?

Do you not realize how great you have it? Millions, no, Billions are going to bed hungry tonight and you want to whine about the extra few pounds you've put on.

Speaking of going to bed....you have one...inside! Inside your comfortably climate controlled home, that is.

Your children get on your nerves? Do you have any idea the numbers of prayers I get everyday from people who can't have any? Or people who did have them and lost?

Speaking of that..didn't you pray that same prayer at more than one point...seems like I remember you "helping" me along with fertiliy drugs for two of those "gifts". And Gracie, she's just a bonus! A reminder that you don't control it all and that I don't need help, and that, BTW, I love you and know what's best.

Husband complaints.......okay, so I don't really pour those out because I've been blessed with such an awesome one.....(another gift from you know who), that I rarely have any...
back to God:

I realize you are sad about losing your Mom, but think of all those who never knew one at all. Think of all those who did, and wish they hadn't ,and think of all of those who, like you, had a great one and lost them before they were in their 40's. And in case you didn't notice, that last two years.....another bonus. Her aggressive cancer was spotted on a last minute unplanned mamogram. She always attributed it to luck, but you and I know better. There is no such thing as luck, at least you realize that. Aside from that, she's not really lost. She's with me and cancer free. You feel her presence all the time and down there, you still have your wonderful sister, a great Daddy, who is stepping up with the kids in ways he never would have otherwise, and a super extended family. Again, stop your whining, already.

And don't give me that CF crap either. First of all, Faith has it, you don't. Stop complaining about having to do medicine and therapy all the time.....YOU don't! Be thankful for all those medicines and therapies that KEEP her healthy. Be thankful that they have been discovered and be thankful that up to this point at least, getting them for her due to lack of finances hasn't been an issue. Secondly, and more importantly, remember your dear friend Sherry. The one with the little boy the exact age as F that has an inoperable brain tumor. Do you have any idea what that poor woman would give for a simple CF diagnosis for her baby at this point?

And.....wouldya stop griping about the kids arguing? You know they all love each other when it comes down to it. I have a whole world of children that are constantly at war. REAL war, not minor skirmishes over percieved territory, although I have plenty of that going on too. You know how you always tell your kids that they don't have rooms, only rooms that you let them sleep in? Well guess what?

Let's see, all the necessities, A LOT of the luxuries, great family, friends..........what was that you were saying again about your so-called misery? I'd better ONLY be hearing the hallelujah's from you little missy!

So, Amy, this is only a small portion of what I hear God saying as I'm "pouring out my misery". This is what I hear because this is the kind of parent I am. These are the kinds of things I say to my own children as they "pour out their misery" to me. And yes, I do usually start with "Are you kidding me with this?" Thankfully for myself and the rest of the world, God is a much better parent than I am. Maybe you are right afterall.

Seaworld

2010-06-04T22:27:00.003-04:00

Still in our vacation mentality, of "taking those people more places". We are endeavoring to make it to SeaWorld in the AM. W is just now officially well enough to rejoin "population". Send lots of prayers that we don't regret this either with behavior, or, more importantly, with some new infection that we pick up there. I will post pictures soon!

The vocal stylings of G

2010-06-03T16:29:00.004-04:00

Congratulations Brittney!

2010-05-30T16:24:00.008-04:00

Today my niece is graduating from High School! I can hardly believe that she's old enough. It seems like just yesterday her mother, my BABY sister was doing the same. Yes, my baby sister has one graduating and I have a four year old.

In addition to being kind, polite, respectful, beautiful, and still a joy to be around even though she's a teenager, Brittney is uber intelligent.......I'm talking "Big Bang Theory" intelligence. She has been awarded full scholarships and is and.......I kid not, here, an aspiring rocket scientist! Congratulations Brittney! We couldn't be more proud!

Friday night

2010-05-28T23:23:00.006-04:00

Here's a picture of the kids I took before Faith's piano recital tonight. Everyone was beautiful and I could just feel Mom smiling down on us from above. She is loving all the crinoline at the Dunlap house tonight:)

Faith's piano recital

2010-05-28T22:26:00.002-04:00

Just leave the boy ALONE!

2010-05-25T19:39:00.007-04:00

Will goes to his room to play. Soon afterwards, we hear a CRASH and lots of laughing. He comes running out asking me very enthusiastically to COME SEE, COME SEE! He is using blocks to build a tower, then kicking the whole thing down. It is really bringing him such joy. After his "sharing" his sisters decide to get in on the act. I come back into the livingroom and the arguing ensues. Faith has taken over directing the construction for the best possible tower and Gracie, in her enthusiasum to insert herself into something that is obviously so much fun is prematurely kicking down the tower. Soon Richard and I are yelling at them to "JUST LEAVE THE BOY ALONE!" and forbidding them to walk into his room. (aka, our room that we let him sleep in) This has me reflecting. Faith honestly thought she was helping and that the building of the tower was about the building of the tower. Of course, to Will, the only reason to build the tower was to enjoy it's demolition. A concept she doesn't get. A concept I never got myself, until I became a mother to a boy. Gracie, wanting to join in the fun, stole all the fun. Both of them assumed they knew what he wanted and decided to "help". I wonder how many times I've decided to "help" my husband and completely stolen the joy out of one of his projects. Sometimes the "building" isn't about the "building" These insights are only a few of the gifts that come from mothering my "Joy Boy". Another is this: Yesterday, F and G both told me that when I was old and they had to take care of me that they would make me eat PIGS FEET! Not my boy..........my "favorites" rotate, based on behaviour, on a daily basis. (sometimes hourly, sometimes by the minute) but for this moment my boy has it locked down!.....

Dress shopping- who knew?

2010-05-24T17:53:00.005-04:00

I took the kids to the mall today to find a dress for Faith's piano recital Friday night. We really had fun. I make so many of their clothes that they rarely get to shop and the fact that it was for a "dressy dress" made it even more fun for her. I asked her when she finally decided on one if it made her feel like a ballerina.......or dare I say it, a Princess! She looked like one. She has such a great Daddy. He knew all the right questions/comments to make when she called him to thank him for her dress. (I swear, sometimes, the man's not straight) He even knew to assume there were some and ask about the shoes! Even W and G had a good time. I never knew they enjoyed walking around a mall so much. So, we ate in the food court and went to the cookie store afterwards. All in all, a successful day.

I will NOT call this catching up.......even though it is....AGAIN

2010-05-23T21:12:00.007-04:00

R and I just returned from a week long trip to Hawaii. Yes, the flight was LONG. Yes, HA is beautiful, but in a way I hadn't expected. We went to the "big island" which is the youngest of the HA islands. We also stayed on the dry side, which was very unexpected. The whole side that we stayed on had lava flows that were only a couple of hundred years old. Couple that with the lack of rain on that side, and the terrain was, in R's words, like Mars. To me it seemed like we were tiny people walking across a giant's grill filled with lava rocks. It was vast, it was barren and it was HOT. The resort provided beautiful landscaping and watered regularly, so that part was a lot like here with the palms and pretty tropical flowers. R's company sprang for The Four Seasons. Need I really say anymore about that? When you ordered room service for 6am it wasn't there at 5:59, or 6:01. Our room was overlooking an area that was named the King's Pond. It was fed by an underwater spring, was crystal clear, and they had stocked it with every fish you might want to see from that area of the world, including a Ray. (No stinger.......Rays with stingers are not invited to The Four Seasons:))

While lying by the pool, every need was taken care of .......lunch, Mrs. Dunlap? Another drink, Mrs. Dunlap, clean your sunglasses? Spray you with our .....and I'm not kidding here, aerosol bottle of Evian water to cool you off, Mrs. Dunlap?

And the food......ahh, the food. I almost didn't get my skirt zipped on for the farewell dinner on the last night...no kidding, REALLY almost didn't.

We didn't ONLY lie around the pool, although it would have been enough. We also went ocean kayaking, took a rental car (a red convertible Mustang, I drove) to the other side of the island. It was lush and green with beautiful waterfalls and the only active volcano on the island right now. The locals said it's common for the tourist to complain about the daily rainfall...........HELLO, tropical RAINforrest! Being from FL, we expected it and were shocked by the other side.

We also spent an afternoon at the spa getting massages. All in all it was heaven except the parts spent feeling like a rotten parent because the kids weren't with us to enjoy it.

And where were the infamous DB's you might be asking yourself...at home with my Daddy and Richard's mother. A few days a piece, not at the same time, because that would, in my MIL's words "just be unseemly!" She is such a proper southern belle. She cracks me up!

Everyone survived.....even the grandparents, we are happy to report and now we are all reunited with a renewed resolve to do more things with "our people".

So, in the spirit of our newly resolved vacation inspired attitudes, we took them kayaking today. The first thing we paddled up on was an alligator which really shook Faith up, but later we saw 3 manatees, some turtles on bank logs, another alligator and lots of giant cranes and jumping fish. The kids, of course now want to kayak every weekend for the rest of their lives. Poor guys, they really need to get out more. Oh, one of the manatees surfaced unexpectedly (to us anyway, she probably knew just what she was doing) between our boats and swimming next to us. Then it was time for Daddy's "vocabulary lesson" for the day in the "Dunlap homeschool". Thankfully, I think they were all rattled, and I haven't had to answer questions on the meaning of "shit". All in all, we are doing well and hope everyone reading this is too. I am going to attach some pictures, but they will all appear at the top and I'm not in the mood to edit the blog to pull them down into their proper places.

Oh, our big news and the main reason for our newfound resolve and freedom is that Tball finally ended this weekend. Yes, we came home just in time for the last game day and we are FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST, THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, WE ARE FREE AT LAST!

A Real Diatribe

2010-04-24T21:16:00.012-04:00

Something's been bothering me for a while. I've made friends with "everybody gets a trophy". Especially in young children's sports, but there is a ritual in Little League that is bothering me. "The Game Ball" Supposedly it is awarded on merit, based on who played the best for the team during that given game. Last fall, Will won the first game ball of the season that was given out on his team. He really did have an awesome game, and granted, he was standing in the "lucky spot" where the other team hit ALL their balls, but he caught them and got them to first base in good order. The next couple of games, he was bullied for going after balls that were coming to him by his own team mates because, clearly, in a league where everyone gets to bat and score, this is the only thing that sets performance apart...again, supposedly. Over the course of the season, it became apparent that although the coach tried to give the game ball to someone who had had an extraordinary game, eventually, everyone would get one. So, it didn't matter how hard they worked, if you had already gotten a ball, your time was over. It didn't matter how hard you didn't work, eventually you would "earn" one.
Fast foward to last week. Faith had a truly remarkable game, won, again, the first game ball that her team awarded for the season. Last night her team had a game, and again this AM. After the game last night, there was a little girl crying. The coach asked her dad what was wrong. Her Daddy said, "oh, she's unhappy that she didn't get the game ball. She's harder on herself than we are on her." I'm human, with at least one over achieving kid, feel for her etc. HOWEVER, guess who won the game ball at this AM's game? You got it.......the little girl that had a fit last night. What does this teach anyone who witnessed this affair? Now, I'm even more bothered.
So, move on to this PM. Will wins the game ball for his team. Did he have an extraordinary performance? no. It was just his turn. Is he happy? yes? Is he a little confused? Yes. Why? He knows he didn't have an extraordinary game. He knows it's not like last fall. It really just cheapens the whole experience for everyone. What's the answer? I don't know. They ARE only 5. Why don't they just call it what it is and say everyone will get a turn. Don't say it's based on performance, if it's not. Any helpful comments?

Surfing "Dunlap style"

2010-04-22T21:49:00.003-04:00

I took the kids to the beach today and Will invented their own form of "surfing". They put their bodyboards down on the wet sand when there's no water and wait for the waves to come to them. Even with the starting out on dry land, they still fall if the wave puts more than an inch of water under the bodyboard when it washes up. It's really funny to watch, but what is so hilarious is.....these people REALLY believe they are surfing!
Faith is studying the period in China when the Great Wall was built. This is her history activity for the day. Isn't homeschool great? :)
Below that is tball pictures from last weekend. Faith won the game ball for her team. She was all over the field and did a great job. She really likes her team, but I suspect a large part of it is that it is an all girl team. I'm still holding out hope for soccer in the fall.
The snake petting picture was taken at the zoo last week.

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T20:41:00.002-04:00

Happy Easter to everyone! Today was one of the good ones. Easter baskets, church, egg hunt, cookout, pool party. I posted some pictures to my photobucket acct, so if you are on my actual blog page, and not fb, you should see them streaming above. Hope everyone had as wonderful a day as we did!

How time flies!

2010-03-31T20:20:00.016-04:00

Wow no update since, February 15th. So much catching up to do!

I am going to mostly post pictures to catch this one up.

Richard spent his forty first birthday running a breastcancer marathon in memory of Mom. Daddy drove to Jax and met us for the race. Afterwards, R surprised him by giving him his medal with some heartfelt words that only my eloquent and generous husband can come up with. Yes, it was emotional......nuff said.

Tball season opener was March 6th. All of the kids are playing this season...on three different teams. Let me tell you, the American Little League is serious business. Richard is head coaching G's team and assistant coaching the other two. He gets more LL emails during the day than work emails from his boss. I am psuedo team momming, but these people act like we are paid employees or someting...Hello! VOLUNTEERS! Anyway, G is a Cub, W, a Marlin and F's team (of all girls), the Phillies.

F and W are in a bible study @ church on Wednesday evenings. It's Will's first official participation in a class like this and he is VERY big boy about the whole thing.

Speaking of big boys and girls..My GG had her fourth bday in March. Bless her heart. She soldierd through it with a double ear infection. W had a rt. ear infection, F, a left ear and G a double. R's Mom came for her birthday. That made her very happy.She has started seriously with her HOP since her bday. She is doing such a great job! She won't catch him, since W just started the fifth level, but her attention span is already four times of what he shows during a lesson. It is so nice to have a GIRL student, again with something so tedious. Maybe tedious isn't the right word. It's really only tedious when he's doing it. Good thing that boy is so pretty and LOVES his Mommy!So, I was wrong. There really is a difference in the genders. Sorry, women's movement, but it's really not a whole sexist conspiracy proliferated through the generations of our myopic society...I know, it's dissapointing for me to.

Faith had a rather disappointing visit to the CF clinic. Nothing serious, she's just been sick a lot more this winter than normal and her weight gain (or lack there of) and some tests are showing it. We had our first official day of summer (all day pool day) here today, so I am counting on nothing but clear lungs and no colds for the remainder.
We went to PC for Daddy's birthday at the end of March. It was a quick trip, but a good one. I told him that trip seems a lot shorter when he's driving it than when it's us:)

Our other big news is that the kitchen has been remodeled. The whole this is (almost) done now and here are some before and (almost) after pictures. It's gorgeous and if you live in Melbourne and want the name of our cabinet guy, he's honest, does beautiful work, timely, AND cheaper than Lowes or HomeDepot.

Happy Easter to you all!

Happy President's Day AKA the day every family in Brevard Co goes to the zoo

2010-02-15T19:43:00.004-05:00

Richard's home, Daddy went home and we are back to routine. Everyone is healed (almost) Faith is always bringing up the rear with her lungs. I didn't realize it was Presidents Day today and took the kids to the zoo to see the new cheetahs. Wow! I do believe every child in Brevard County was there. At first I just thought "Holy cow, those new cheetahs are really drawing a crowd" but then after I was there a few minutes I realized it was, in fact a holiday and every family in Brevard County decided to come out for the nice, sunny mid 70 degree day. It was a beautiful day, but so crowded, almost not worth it.
Gymnastics went well this AM. A little girl that normally attends the Wed. class showed up at ours for a make-up. Her mom pops her head in to tell the teacher "She's running a little high this morning, so if she wants some water or seems tired, just know"
WTH? All three of my kids are in there....with the little girl that's "running a little high" I thankfully, composed myself to ask the mom, "excuse me, I heard you say your daughter was running a little high this morning, What did you mean by that?" She looked at me, a little taken aback, and said "She has diabetes. Her blood sugar is a little high right now."
"oh, I'm sorry to ask but......blah blah, daughter w/CF blah blah" She immediately understood and we had the mommy of a chronically ill child moment. So, she finished juggling her 5 yr. old twin boys in the corner and came over to chat. Knowing it's a home school gymnastics class we started off talking about that which evolved into the socializing the kids, hard with infection control issues on and on. She said it was hard for Nicki, her daughter, to get playdates for because she is on a pump and no one seemed interested in learning how to take care of her. So, long story short, or long story long, at this point, I gave her my email address and we are going to get together with the kids soon. I think it will be good for Faith to have a friend with "something". Also, there are 2 boys (one of them has diabetes too) Will's age, so I'm excited for him. Maybe (hopefully) they will inflict enough emotional abuse on him after one of his drama queen episodes that he will "man up" a little.
The kids all started tball season a couple of weeks ago. Three different teams, 3 diff practice nights and ALL DAY on Saturday. Wasn't I the one blogging last fall that I was NOT going to let them do so much this spring?

Overhead in car

2010-01-28T23:10:00.002-05:00

F: No, W, that's not how it works. First, you were in heaven with God for a while..... While your Mommy was a little girl.... Then, she grew up and God decided it was time for her to have a baby. Then, he put you in her tummy and out you popped a while later......W: No, I popped out of God's tummy, then he put me in a box and gave me to Mommy because I was her gift!

Planetarium, Pool lady, mish mash

2010-01-21T20:15:00.004-05:00

The babies and I went to the Planetarium yesterday at the local Community College. They actually have a sweet set up with the planetarium, the observatory, a science exhibit hall, an astronaut memorial and an IMAX where they show all kinds of educational nature type movies. I guess the "Space Coast" should have at least one cool place like this. So, we went to the Wednesday matinee show (the planetarim show, not the movie) It was just us and some retirees. Very low key. For some reason, which TOTALLY escapes me:), they didn't look all that happy to see us. Lots of you have asked me how it is going out with the kids here. It's like you envision a town packed with grandparents ooing and ahhing all over them, all the while pinching cheeks and such.....Well, not so much. Don't get me wrong. Most are friendly enough, but there is a reason they have all chosen to move here, thousands of miles away from their own grandkids. Church is really the only place we get genuine grandparent happiness to see us.
But, I digress. So, the show starts with a prelim given by the local "astronomy professor" of the current night sky, some constellations, isn't our set up great, yada yada, thanks for your tax dollars. (oh wait, he never REALLY said that) It's true, you DO start to turn into your spouse after so many years........that was totally an R comment.
So, while he's talking, he thanks everyone for coming out........those in school, those too young (my kids) to be in school, and those out. So, clearly he thinks all three of them are too young to be in school. While in the Orion constellation we get some star name trivia which, and I quote, "the kids will appreciate" One of the stars is named Betelgeuse. (Beetlejuice) Now, this man thinks A. My children are all too young for school and B. They have seen the movie Beetlejuice! To be honest, I have never seen all of Beetlejuice, but what I do know of it, there's no way my kids have seen this movie at their ages! Mine in particular might never sleep again. DISCLAIMER: If you have a 3 yr. old that has seen Beetlejuice, do NOT hurry to the end of this blog in some big rush to extole it's virtues in some outraged defense of your poor parenting. The name of the blog is Deana's Diatribe, not " Deana's open forum to discuss your views and opinions". Just hit the red X in the corner, unfriend me, then go find your kids who are probably playing in the knife drawer right about now.
So, back to astronomy guy. A few minutes later, he shows us his fancy computer graphics by making it look like we are on some space roller coaster......again, with a prelude of how the kids will like this...Excuse me, but my kids aren't even tall enough to ride a roller coaster! Much less some huge one like he's up there simulating! My guess is astromomy guy has zero experience with children under 18....ya think?
Moving onto to the latest gossip. I believe my pool lady to be a "player". Yes, I said pool lady. R squashed my hopes of some sweet S FL latio pool boy...........bah humbug!
But back to Shelia. Her "helpers" change so often that even the kids have started noticing. F said to my yesterday. "Wow, the pool lady sure does have a lot of helpers! She must need a lot in case someone gets sick" Yes my sweet baby, like some sort of chlorine induced epidemic...."
I am envisioning Shelia going out; picking up the night before, then asking her latest conquest to join her for the day after a nice leisurely breakfast in bed. You might be asking "WTH, Deana, you were just complaining that R wouldn't let you get some eye candy to clean the pool" Well, you see, Shelia is not only a lesbian, but a very masculine one that you wouldn't even guess to be a woman did you not know her name was Shelia! And her tastes? Well, let's just say that Shelia likes what Shelia sees in the mirror.
So, how do I feel about this? Appalled? intrigued? Jealous? I haven't really decided yet, but right now I should really stop being so overly involved in my lesbian pool cleaners life and go find those kids.
"Hey! You kids, get out of that knife drawer and go watch Beetlejuice, would ya?"

Disney Marathon weekend aka the weekend I totally sold out

2010-01-11T17:44:00.007-05:00

This past weekend was the second annual Disney Marathon weekend for the Dunlap family.The kids did not run the Mickey Mile on Friday, as it was not only a record cold weekend, but it rained on Friday. So, Saturday, we drove over in a "wintery mix", went to the DWWof sports complex to pick up Richard's packet, check into the hotel, have dinner at downtown Disney etc.The kids were too excited to go to sleep. The older ones tried their best, but GG was out of control and since they were all sharing a bed, it made for a long night of ugliness and empty threats. R got up at 330AM to get to the starting line and run the Marathon. The kids woke up earlier than normal (it was worse than Christmas) and by the time R was finished with the race they were dressed, had eaten breakfast and F was almost done with her meds and therapy. After a quick shower it was off to the park. You can see in the pictures how I dressed them for the cold. It was an adorable stroke of genius, if I do say so myself:)Even all the DW employees were ooing and ahhing all over them.......and I figure they've seen it all. Other park vistors asked to take pictures of them (and WITH them) R said this must be what it's like to be Tom Cruise....I told him it was like what it would feel like if TC was your SON. Let's get the hiarchy of popularity straight here, mister. We got "fast passed" in the Pooh ride because, and I quote, "WTP should not have to stand in line in his own ride" Again, we didn't leave the Magic Kingdom, but still didn't get to everything. Maybe we will be done with the MK by the time they are all tall enough to ride the rides at the other parks.For souveniers this year, Will got the pirate Mickey ears, Grace, the Minnie headband and Faith chose a Cinderella watch. For those of you who know me and a certain psych term paper I did in college, well, you can imagine how horrified I was. Snow White is actually her favorite "ballerina" but there was no SW watch. So, in addition to happily (ever after?) buying the watch, I was holding her during the fireworks. I'm not sure if I was just hormonal or hadn't had enough sleep, but seeing the look on her face with the reflection of the fworks in her eyes and thinking of the fun they all 3 had that day, I completely sold out and got misty wishing upon a star. So, even though it was our second time to go, mentally, 2010 will henceforth be known as the year I sold out to "the Magic".Enjoy the pictures!

In the DNA?

2009-12-29T13:31:00.003-05:00

Yes, I know I'm horribly behind and haven't blogged any of the Christmas play, F's bday, or Christmas itself. I promise to catch up, but for now, I have to tell this story.
Yesterday the kids got into the waterhose outside. When they came in I asked them about it. They admitted they had done it, but promised that it wouldn't happen again. (EEEVVR, mommy) In a moment of gracefilled parenting, which is not like me AT ALL, I say "Okay, see that it doesn't" and let the whole thing go. They go out again in the afternoon. G comes in needing to change her shirt. I ask why and she tells me that it's wet. So, I asked "Have the 3 of you been in the garden hose again? Of course the answer is yes.
Now I have to pull out the nuclear bomb of parenting, complete with the whole speech on honesty and trust (LONG version) As I leave the room I am giving it in, I tell them that they need to think about how they are going to earn my trust back. I went to the kitchen and start making dinner. A few minutes later, Will comes busting into the kitchen in complete joy and enthusiasm saying "I did it! I figured out how we can earn your trust back!" Mentally patting myself on the back for my obviously superior parenting skills, I ask him just how he plans to go about this task. He smiled up at me with complete sincerity and said...."We could buy you some jewelry!"
WHH? Knowing for 100% sure that he has never seen this demonstrated in life I have to ask......"Is it in the DNA? Something in the Y chromosome, perhaps?

Another week already?

2009-12-15T22:17:00.004-05:00

Wow, Christmas makes time fly doesn't it. It seems there's never enough time to get it all done.

It has been very warm this week and the kids got to swim Sun, Mon, and Tues. It was actually so nice today that I would've liked to get in, but a Mommy's work is never done this time of year. Add on top of that all the extra rehearsals that her Christmas musical has squeezed in, the two days I spent making her stinking sheep costume, an orthodontist appt tomorrow (finally going to do something about that crossbite) R decided to have someone from work over Thurs.night for dinner (whom I've never met) F's two performances on Fri night and Sat..........then her bday on Sunday! You may be wondering what the other two are up to at this point. Will decided to put his fingers in his mouth at Aldi's after touching THE FLOOR last Monday. So, of course he started getting sick on Tuesday. I went all out with the infection control. First Will was only allowed outside his room if he put a mask on. I let him go out on the back porch around Wednesday. Gracie badgered me into letting her out with the agreement that they both stay on their respective pieces of wicker...Of course, they didn't and G started getting sick that night. So, now we hit double quarentine mode. Even F is doing her best this time to stay away as to not get sick. She doesn't want to be sick on her birthday and Christmas. Will has gotten so much better, I'm about ready to declare him cured, but GG's a little behind. She has actually learned how to do a sinus rinse with the positive pressure flow bottle. She thinks it's cool to show off her big gutches.. "Gutches" would be the medical term for globs of snot that come out of her nose into the sink or bathrub, whichever she's leaning over. So, the good news is, she should be done by the time Daddy gets here this weekend. The last time he saw us, he caught her ear infection. I told them all last week that Grandaddy wouldn't want to come and get sick again. So far, so good with F. Sunday (13th) was the tenth anniversary of R's and mine's first date. He surprised me with a beautiful diamond ring wrap to go onto my wedding set. Yes, I know, he's really too good to me, but don't tell him I said so.

Yesterday we caught a turtle laying her eggs in our backyard so now we are on baby turtle watch. My friend, Summer, was on the NBC nightly news tonight. Those are about the only things going on for us. Here are some pictures of what double quarentine looks like at our house. My swashbuckler and my Pooh bear....Oh, on the pirate note. All three were playing pirates today and they were pretending that the upsidedown mega lego blocks were their drinks...One guess what they were "drinking".....A bottle of rum! Aren't I proud...

Weekend update

2009-12-07T14:10:00.003-05:00

Busy weekend. Saturday AM R took the babies to the Home Depot for building day. Saturday afternoon I took Will and Faith to the Nutcracker ballet. This was a big year for Will because it was his first trip.
R took GG Christmas shopping for her brother and sister while we were gone. Saturday PM, I took W shopping for his sisters. (Faith bought their's a while back, wrapped and put them under the tree) I am happy to report that using their own allowances, they were very generous with one another. After church on Sunday, we braved the restaurant crowds, then more shopping. I am surprised that we still had so much to do since I've already done so much online. In short, I guess our weekend was spent like most of yours with Christmas traditions and errands.

Our Update

2009-11-29T21:16:00.005-05:00

This AM my crazy husband (out of the blue) ran the Space Coast 1/2 marathon. Why? Because it was Sunday morning and he was going to run that far anyway. W is very excited because his medal (shirt and towel) have an astronaut on it.
Friday and Saturday were spent decorating for Christmas. It was fun and stressful. How do you get beyond your kids putting 5 ornaments on one limb and not redoing the whole thing? Let me know so that I don't do it to them NEXT year:) I am going to have to sacrifice my facelift money to save for their therapy, aren't I?
It got cold enough this weekend for the kids to wear their jeans with their tshirts. The weatherman actually described Friday and Saturday's forecasts for highs in the UPPER 60's as .......and I quote.........."Bone chilling"

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T20:13:00.008-05:00

We didn't go out of town as planned, but did have a nice, relaxing holiday. We watched "the parade" cooked, watched football, cooked, ate, watched football and did some crafts with the kids. Here are our little Pilgrims:

Temperance, Stian (voyager) and Patience (yeah, right)

Will's reading party

2009-11-22T19:12:00.006-05:00

Will finished his second level of Hooked on Phonics yesteday and his "party" was today. Here are some pictures...we are very proud of you, big boy:)

End of Season

2009-11-21T20:12:00.006-05:00

Fall ball seasons ended today! I didn't dance on the fields as previously threatened, but I am glad to have the seasons behind us. ..Thanksgiving this week, then onto the Faith/Jesus birthday season:) Yes, she has one of those birthdays that gets lost in "The season". Normally I feel sorry for her, but she will be overly compensated this year............didn't I say that LAST year too? hmmm... I see a pattern emerging.....
So, G finished her first soccer season, Will his first tball and W and F wrapped up their soccer seasons. The last games were today, followed by the afterparties, a nap, and some pooltime. All in all, a good day. Church is questionable for in the AM. H1N1 has hit Prince of Peace in a pretty significant manner. In fact, all the children's programs for this past Wednesday were cancelled due to it.
One of my cousins has to have surgery the week after Thanksgiving. It is a pretty significant procedure from what I understand. She is expected to be in ICU for a few days afterward. So, keep Kristie in your prayers and have a fabulous Thanksgiving if I don't get back before then. See all of you, soon, in SC!

This week

2009-11-18T20:37:00.006-05:00

Well, first, we recieved the best news we can recieve each quarter. Faith's lung culture results came back negative for anything!

We took the day off on Monday to go to the beach. It was a nice break and the day was a good one. I tried to take some pictures for Christmas card photos, but the sun was too harsh AND girls both got knocked over by a huge wave........ in their dresses. Will saw the wave and ran to save himself. Faith said she saw the wave coming, but didn't want the picture to be blurry with her movement..She is a real pro. After I rescued the girls from the surf they were both crying. I took one picture of them with "the faces" and within just a second or so, by the time I took the second, Faith had pasted her model smile on her face. It was SO funny! Like I said, she's a real pro.

On the way home we stopped at the Christian bookstore because I wanted to buy Faith a particular book (of course it cost me 2 more, too) Faith has been saving all of her money for almost a year to buy a certain doll. Her name is Violet Travollia and she is a "Life of Faith" doll. The line is kind of like the AG dolls in that each girl has a doll and 8 books about her to read. Also, they are historical and have a Christian bent. They sell them at the Family Christian Store.

So, like I said, she's been saving for almost a year. I knew how close she was to the purchase and that her allowance on Monday night would put her over the top. So, although she didn't realize she was getting the doll that night (I bought it ahead of time) I wanted her to have the first book.

Her overwhelming happiness over this doll is so touching. She keeps thanking us and takes her everywhere...even to the next room. We have told her more than once that she earned her, saved her money and how proud we are, but she still persists. That is one girl with an "Attitude of Graditude". So, now we have a new member of the family..........Violet. Here is her picture.

Tuesday and today were normal school days. Tuesday night was the last soccer practice of the season. Gracie is bummed, but I am soooo happy! Oh, on Monday night, at shower time, after Faith had gotten Violet, she took her shower in record time so that she could play with her. The babies were in the bathtub next to her in the shower (as usual) and like I said, record time.(NOT usual. Her usual is a long hot, making her Daddy crazy shower) When she stepped out, Gracie looked at her her and said, "Faith, you took your shower in a timely fashion!" Yes, she's three. How funny is that?

Today was a difficult day of school. Faith is not doing well with her time management skills. Susanne, my MIL, called this afternoon. As I'm complaining to her about what a pain Faith was being outloud it strikes me how ridiculous I must sound gripe-ing about how my six year old hasn't gotten her narration paper on The Odessey finished in a timely manner. (Wonder where Gracie got the phrase from?)

Maybe I could afford to lighten up just a little:)

Will, who is doing a fantastic job with own reading, decided he wanted me to read Hamlet (children's version) to him today. We broke it up over two meals since even the children's Shakespere is a little lengthy. As I am wondering why I am so bushed at the end of the day, it occurs to me that I have tackled Shakespere with a five and six yr. old and Homer with the six.........In the same day. Am I a crazy woman? ..........Like I said, maybe lighten up JUST a little. At least we did take the day off on Monday to go to the beach. Otherwise, I would feel REALLY too uptight:)

Gracie is going through a Mommy phase......she is almost four, and it is about time. It's very sweet, but a little cumbersome.

Will's last tball practice is tomorrow night with the last games in both sports on Saturday. Did I mention how happy I am about this? I may just have to dance on the fields after the games...........that won't embarass the kids at all, will it?

That'll be GREAT!

Wrapping up the week

2009-11-08T19:41:00.003-05:00

Well, it's official, everyone in the Dunlap family is now in the possesion of fully intact eardrums! G's appt. went well last week. The ENT said her ears were healed and that she could swim starting this weekend. It was a little chilly, but of course she just HAD to get in, just because she could. We went to the zoo on Friday (already posted) Saturday was Tball, Soccer, the Suntree fallfest where they got to rides ponies and pet a pig! We once again, attended the Saturday evening service at church which left today with glorious NOTHING.
The only reason I even got out of my PJ's today was because we took the kids running. Faith hasn't gone in quite a while and Will and Gracie needed to work up to a mile for the Mickey Mile in Jan. There is a run here the day before F's bday called the Jingle Bell run. It's a 2 mile run that is run with everyone wearing jingle bells on their shoes. R told F about it today and she is all fired up to do it. We tried to tell her that she needed to get training if she was going to do 2 miles in December. She, recently having entered a particularly sassy phase, spouted off that she didn't need to train; that she could go out and run 2 miles this afternoon. So, her Daddy told her they would go out and see. He also told her that he was not going to let her walk any of it, which she agreed to. So, we all set out together, W G and I all ran around the neighborhood for about a 1/2 mile and circled back around to the house. R and F left us there to finish their 2.
A little while later they came back with F yelling that she had just completed her first 2 mile run without stopping once! I looked at R, who just shook his head. I asked him if he was shaking his head because she was lying or because he couldn't believe she had really done it. He said, "No, she really did it."
Later, when we were alone he said, "So, you really didn't seem all that surprised that F made the whole 2 miles without stopping." To which I had to answer. "Well, I know my girl, and I knew she'd do it or die trying, and since you came in the front door and didn't call from the emergency room...."

Zoo today

2009-11-06T19:30:00.002-05:00

It finally cooled off enough to enjoy a day at the zoo. I took a huge risk and didn't take a stroller (single or double) into a public place for the first time in six years! Wow, it was nice and all three of the children did a great job. I figured the older two would be okay since they sometimes both walk, but as usual, GG was my wild card:) I'm happy to report that she was a super big girl. We fed deer and lories, pet an alligator and road the train. Oh yeah, I was super indulgent Mommy today.

Spreading the love..

2009-11-02T19:49:00.003-05:00

Dad called today after a trip to the Dr. He has our virus with stuff in his head and lungs AND and ear infection! Poor Granddaddy......get well soon so you can come for another visit:)

Go WILL WILL!

2009-11-01T22:12:00.003-05:00

The girls had soccer games Saturday morning and Will had a Tball game. He actually won the game ball for his team for his excellent fielding! Ironically, he usually hits pretty well but can't field. Saturday he was catching almost everyball that was hit. (tball players hit to the shortstop a lot)

So, we are very proud of him and there is a picture of him with his game ball on the photos section of this blog above.

Vacation contiued

2009-11-01T21:09:00.006-05:00

Onto Washington....We arrived in the afternoon, set up the campers and went to the Mall for the evening. Of couse we were all dressed for traveling and I had no makeup on, so of course that was when the best family photos were taken:) The first full day, we did outside monuments and walking around since rain was forcast to come in on the next afternoom. The second day, we took on the Natural History Museum. All of the kids enjoyed it, but Faith was in NIRVANA! She lectured the entire time like a little professor. Of course the Ocean Hall was her favorite. We also walked around the mall some more and went to the capitol. Dad was in picture taking nirvana, himself. The next day was Saturday. R took both of the babies to the Dr...Gracie with her ears, again and Will with some unexplained rash. Gracie's ear problem from Tuesday had spread to her other ear now, so we went with yet a third antibiotic and Will's rash was a reaction to the amoxicillin. R and G stayed at the camper. Daddy, F, W and I went to the Air and Space Museum. That was Will's favorite day. (minus the Dr. visit)
R went to a hotel in DC that night to get some sleep for his race since G had him up every night that week. He got up the next AM and ran the Marine Corps Marathon, which was the whole reason we were there. By now he had the same bad cold that the rest of us had, hadn't slept, nor had he eaten well that week. Needless to say, he didn't do as well as he would've liked, but I am amazed he even does these things healthy, much less sick. We went to the American History Museum and met up with him afterwards. All the Smithsonians were great and despite the illnesses, we managed to have a really good time. On the way home however, our poor GG's eardrums both burst! She yelled "ow, my ears" and then felt much better. Of course that's when it got really scary for us. We didn't know initially that was what happened and all we knew was that greenish/brownish snot was coming out of her ears! As it turned out, that was from all the infection behind the eardrum and once they perforated, the pressure was gone. She felt better, but couldn't hear very much. So, first day back, it was a visit to the pediatric ENT. She is doing much better now. She has antibiotic eardrops in addition to the oral one she's on.
Halloween was not huge, but they did get to dress up and hand out some candy which is all that mattered to them. The pictures are on the photos section of the blog above this post. They were Charlotte, Wilber and Templeton from Charlottes Web.
We went to the Saturday evening church service, so today was a total relaxation day. We swam (yes, I said swam on the first of Nov) grilled out and played on "the monstrocity". ..the kids's, at least, played on it. Back to work tomorrow. At least we finally got all the laundry done from our trip.

Monuments Museums and ER's

2009-10-29T12:16:00.002-04:00

We are back from our family vacation/Richard's marathon and still trying to recover. Laundry coming out the ears and so forth. Two days before we left, the kids came down with some cold/ick thing. Are we the only ones that happens to? It was really good to see Richard's family on our stop to DC. Unfortunately, they were left in the wake of germs and they got sick too.The trees up north were beautiful and it was nice to have a little autumn. Daddy went with us and I think he had a good time too. It's always a fine line between loving the grandkids and having enough of them for a while. We were happy to have him along just for the visit, but his help turned out to be invaluable. R said yesterday on the way home that he didn't know if we would've made it there and back without him.So, where was I? Oh yeah, sick kids, long car rides. Another benefit to having Daddy along was that he drove his motorhome so the kids and I had the luxury of having a kitchen, a bathroom and all the comforts of home for the ride. Most helpfully, Faith could do her breathing treatments and vest on the road so we saved that time on the trip.After we infected the family in SC we drove up to Colonial Williamsburg. It was a really cool place, but a bit anticlimatic if you weren't a true early American history buff.(my husband) The kids did pick up some knowledge and thought it was cool to be "back in Felicity's time" They actually remembered some things from there that they were able to put together with the trip to the Smithsonian American History Museum. The worse thing about Williamsburg really had nothing to do with Williamsburg. It was the night trip to the ER. (Although I have to say that it was the nicest and quickest ER I've ever been to) GG was just getting worse as the trip progressed and her fever was spiking way high. Tuesday night she was just staring into space and not answering my questions so we took her in. That Dr. said her cold turned into a left ear infection and that the Amoxicillin the pediatritian put her on was not working (no duh) So we got a Zpack from there and went onto Washington the next day. I will continue this a little later. Right now there seems to be some crisis involving the "slaying of the Minotaur" in Faith's room...

Happy Birthday To My Sweet Boy!

2009-10-11T21:00:00.005-04:00

Well, it's official, my baby boy is 5. Not really a baby boy anymore, is he? Daddy came down for his birthday. We went to Medieval Times last night for the dinner/jousting show. All the the kids had a blast! It was a very long night (didn't get home until 11pm) and yes, we paid for it in drama today, but how many fifth birthdays does a little guy have? This afternoon we had cake/presents/cookout/pool day. I uploaded the pictures to my photobucket. Hopefully they are scrolling over this post as you read.
Will had a tball game that conflicted with his and the girls' soccer games yesterday. Daddy and I took W and R took the girls. No choice really, since he coaches both soccer teams and Dad filled in with his assistant coaching with the tball team. He hit the ball very well. R said F's team got creamed and that she is a little afraid of the big kids she's playing against this season. (8 yr olds) He did say that GG did a much better job of getting into the mix.
All in all, it was a really good weekend. We are off to the busy-ness of next week and somehow have to fit packing for DC into it since we leave on Friday.
I have suspended our history curriculum for the last/next few weeks in favor of American History and a bit of civics, due to the trip.
So, happy birthday "Joy Boy", Mommy loves you!

Where do they get these things?

2009-10-08T06:31:00.005-04:00

And why didn't I ever think of them. In retrospect, it seems perfectly logical. I took F to SWAP at church. R stayed home with the babies. He had them out in the front yard playing. Of course they had gotten into the garage. Why? I don't know. They have a whole cul de sac to themselves, but they always find more interesting things to do in the garage. So, apparently, this was one of those times. R told me they put on some lifejackets and got into the disassembled dog box to pretend they were at sea in a storm. After that game faded, W put on his bicycle helment (which of course means G did too) and decided he was playing football. Afterall, he had on his "pads" and helmet. So, now they are out in the front yard and cul de sac with the football playing their newest game. For those of you that don't know. Will has been enamored with Boise State every since he saw their blue turf on the fb field. W tells R "I'm playing football for Boise State!" R said G looked perplexed for just a moment then came out with "and I am playing football for Girlsy State! "
In less comical news we took all 3 to get their flu shots today. After a two hour wait, we finally got in to see the nurse. G was superbrave last year. She volunteered to go first and barely whimpered. Faith got all psyched up and had a drama event. G has been tormenting her for a year now about how she was brave getting her flu shot and F wasn't...trust me, she finds a way to work this into conversation very frequently. So, yesterday F decided she would go first. She had a little last minute anxiety and insisted that it be done in her leg (to quote her "where there's more meat"), so I held her. Anyway, she jerked, but barely make a sound! So now it's G's turn now she's insisting on having her's in the leg also, and she has the drama episode! Of course she wanted her Diddy Daddy to hold her through it all. I'm thinking W saw all of this and is really worked up by now. That little boy stepped right up, got into R's lap (who was still on the table. I had taken G for him) R: Okay big guy, do you want the leg too? W: No Sir, arm. He looked at me across the room, shot was given, and he didn't even make a face! R and I were floored with pride. I asked him, "Are you almost 5?, that was super bigboy!" He was absolutely beeming with pride over the fact that he had "manned up". As I type this story, he has gotten up, is snuggling here next to me in bed with his baby and thumb in his mouth. Alas, maybe there is still some little guy left in him afterall....I'm so glad!

Will Spelling

2009-10-05T19:40:00.002-04:00

I was looking over W's shoulder the other day when he was writting the word car. It was spelled c-o-r. I thought it was a penmanship problem and that he had forgotten to put the line on the side of his "o". I asked him... "Will, what letter is that suppose to be?" Him: "an O" Me:What word are you trying to spell? him:Car Me: And is that how you spell car? Him: yes ma'am. Me: Listen, Will.......(saying it very slowly) CAR. Is that what you've spelled? Him: yes ma'am. Me:Are you sure about that? him: yes ma'am. Me:I think you should look at that again...Are you SURE that's how you spell car? (again, very slowly) Him, very earnestly and confident: Yes Ma'am, they tried to trick me in that book over there by putting an "a" in the middle of the word, but I KNOW it's an "o" because it has the "aahh" sound. Me: Will, "that book over there" is your spelling book. They will not try to trick you, it is there to teach you how to spell correctly....WOW, and I thought FD couldn't be told anything! At least she's never questioned the validity of published work! Wish me luck, I will need it with that boy! On the same but different note, he read his first library (non HOP) book today...it was a Dr. Suess. "GO Dog Go!" I was very proud of him. There were a lot of words and letter combinations he hadn't had before, and he did a good job. It is a much longer book than you think, at first.
It was overcast today and the air was cooler than the water......yaayy, solar power, just in time!

Soccer season debut

2009-09-26T16:59:00.009-04:00

It rained for Will and Gracie's game then cleared for Faith's. The rain was less miserable.

BRING IT!

All three children had their first soccer games in Melbourne this morning. It was Grace's first ever. For a little girl that bugged us to play for 2.5 solid years, I have to say her performance was less than enthusiastic.

Faith moved up to the league that uses a goalie. She is the only girl on her team this year and not happy about it, but today she scored the first (and only) goal until someone else scored right before it ended. This seemed to make her feel better about the situation. She is in the 6-8 age catagory and I gather not the only 6 year old on the team that is used to dominating the game. I heard more than one complaint from her teamates to their parents that they hadn't scored enough. One little boy that did end up scoring at the end was still mad because he didn't score "a bunch of goals." It's tough going back to being the little fish in the big pond. Oh, Richard yelled at Faith for five minutes to "play defense" before she came to the sideline. When she got there, I gave her water, did her hands and asked her if she knew what defense was. Exactly as I suspected, that part had not been explained to her! So, Mommy explained what the word meant and how to play it. Things seemed to make a little more sense to her after that:)

As for Will, my sweet boy. Well, what can I say about him.... He's still the prettiest and least motivated boy on the team. I think he's going to enjoy tball much more than soccer. One of the reasons he's never played before is because I knew he would. I've been saying for years that boy is just too lazy to run an entire game.

so, here are some pictures. If you are on facebook, these and more are all in an album titled "soccer" on my wall.

I told you, DEFENSE!....."yes sir"

What in the hell does that mean?

Ah ha, now I get it. What happened to just "going for the ball?"

Our first Official Field Trip - KSC

2009-09-25T19:58:00.011-04:00

Today was the beginning of Brevard Co. appreciation weekend at the Kennedy Space Center. All residents get in free. Of course we went today to avoid the pig flu crowds tomorrow and Sunday.
Also, the kids all have soccer games in the AM. Gracie is pretty fired up about her first big game, but I digress.
The kids all had a blast and were actually very well behaved. I was proud of them all. It was a VERY long day for everyone.

This first picture is one of the old lunar landers. There were actually people getting to and from the moon in that piece of tin foil.

Below that is the old Saturn 5. It went up right before I turned one.

One of the launch pads from a viewing platform.

3D glasses for the IMAX movie. Gracie was so funny. She kept putting them on, reaching out to touch things and taking them back off trying to figure out why she wasn't able to grab it. She did that through at least the first half of the movie.

Early lunar rover

These are some pictures taken at the Memorial Gardens. Three pictures down is the actual capsule the first 3 went up in. They laid on their backs, but in a sitting position. The two below are the kids sitting in the mock-up. The first, they are sitting as the astronauts did.

2009-09-17T11:29:00.002-04:00

Will finished his first level of HOP a couple of weeks ago and we finally got around to having his party. Yaayyy Will, super job, big guy!

Will's first oil change

2009-09-10T22:08:00.002-04:00

Dad (Granddaddy) introduced Will to the manly world of auto mechanics....his first oil change!

Mom Memorial Video

2009-09-05T22:35:00.003-04:00

Mom

2009-09-05T22:17:00.001-04:00

Mom finally lost her battle with cancer early Friday morning. The funeral is Tuesday.

WARNING: The Bible is NOT for children!

2009-08-23T16:57:00.011-04:00

David (of David and Golith) grew up. His best friend was the King's son, Jonathan. He had also distuguished himself in battle. That's the background. Now for the story: King Saul wanted David to marry his daughter. This was actually the second daughter that he had offered to David, but David (I'm sure very politely) declined his generous offer of the first. The King's second daughter had fallen in love with David so the King made another offer. ...he really wanted David to be in the family..... In these times, David has to pay a dowry to marry the daughter. Well, if you remember from the children's story, David grew up a poor shepherd boy. This was the Royal Family...what to do, what to do? So, the King sends his emmisaries. His offer: David was to bring him the FORESKINS of 200 philistinans. Yes, I said foreskins! So David goes out, kills 200 philistinians, and brings the foreskins to the King. He marries his daughter and if you want to know whether or not the couple lives happily ever after, you should really read the book for yourselves.
And where did I hear this quaint little bedtime story you ask? In my six year old daughter's bedroom at 2AM night before last.
You see, a couple of years ago I bought Richard the entire bible on CD as a gift. He spends so much time in the car, you know. It was the NIV version...perhaps the NIV isn't the New International Version, but the Now Inappropriate Version . Well, my budding little theologan likes to listen to them at night. It never occured to me that this should be a concern. Afterall, it's the word of God....
So, two nights ago, she was having a particulary difficult night with her coughing, so I went to her room to sleep with her and this charming little gem was what was playing on her CD player.
So, in closing, just to warn you again.....THE BIBLE IS NOT FOR CHILDREN!
BTW, what did the King DO with said foreskins?

Uncle John...Guess who I am sending her to when she starts asking these questions for herself?

First week down

2009-08-17T21:20:00.007-04:00

The first week of school went very well. We had a schedule, stuck to it and got everything on it accomplished except the science experiment on Friday. F saved that to do with her Daddy on Saturday. They are growing bacteria in petri dishes......maybe now you get the picture as to why I encouraged her to do this experiment with her Daddy. Afterall, we wouldn't want him left out of these oh so special schooling moments:)
Mom continues to get weaker. She had a total body petscan on Friday and she gets the results on Wednesday. She is scheduled for an Avastin treatment next week then they are coming here. I hope to have some quality days with her and give my Dad a break. I will encourage them to stay as long as possible.
W has asked to play tball this fall, so R registered him for that tonight. They will all 3 play soccer. F wants to dance and do gymnastics too, but the homeschool class didn't make at the Satellite Beach Rec. She also wants to join a musical/acting group at church on Wednesday nights. I would like R to take the babies to Awana that same night at another local church, but this is getting all very overwhelming........Is this the age that we are to become slaves to the kids schedules? Afterall, one of the reasons to homeschool is to NOT be a slave to their schedules. R is volunteering to coach and asst. coach for all sports teams and I am volunteering for the church thing. Depending on when they practice, it is possible to have something every night! Yeah, somthin's gotta give....
GG can't decide if she's 3 or 13. One minute she wants to be "a teenie, tiny baby" and the next, she's insulted not to be called a big girl.
The kids and I are taking over the bulletin boards at church. The lady that is in charge of the children's ministry is a little overwhelmed at the moment and has asked for help in some areas. I figure it's a good art project that I won't be able to put off and they get to serve at the church at the same time. Win, win for all. So, send your creative ideas this way!
The CF center called with her followup test results. There are some crystals in her urine which may indicate kidney stones. So...for now it's more tests...
I'll keep you updated
Tomorrow is our nephew Jackson's birthday. He is turning five. W is only two months behind!
Oh, and their Great Gommer on R's side is turning 85 on Sunday.
So, Happy Birthday Jackson and Mammy!

School days

2009-08-11T20:12:00.009-04:00

First day of school

First day of school, lunchroom

playset, (latest addition to my "guilded cage") almost done

Why, yes, that IS a bay window in the back!

Crow's nest

Yes, those are GG's feet half way to the moon

School officially started yesterday. I have my letter of intent into the superintendant and everything. Faith has a pretty full schedule of Language Lessons, Language Composition, Spelling, Reading aloud, math, science, history, typing, and geography. Will has reading, writting, and 'rithmatic. Oh, and spelling and some geography too. Gracie has a workbook, but a very bad attitude to go along with it, so not much is getting done. I've told her that she doesn't have to "do school" if she doesn't want to, but that she is not allowed to distract the big kids.

The playset is done and they LOVE it! That's where they spend their 20 min. morning breaks...a recess if you will. These first two days have been completed by lunch, so the afternoons are pool/playset time. This is a good schedule and I'm hoping not to lose the pool time since it's about a thousand degrees here! So, now you have our latest. I'm attaching some pictures..

Another month?

2009-07-26T20:25:00.004-04:00

Wow, another month has gone by without a blog post. Most of it was spent with all the usual, plus helping to take care of my Mom. (and Dad) They were here for about 2.5 weeks, then the kids and I went there for another week. We rode home with them in the motorhome. The kids thought that was a blast. F said when we got to PC that it was the shortest trip we'd ever made there and that it was a much better way to travel.... That's my girl. High standards that she doesn't even realize she has yet. Do you know that girl orders a Filet Mignon every chance she gets? Mom had an MRI that last week that showed a shrinkage in her brain tumors from the Avastin treatments. She still isn't strong enough to handle another chemo treatment, so she is now in physical therapy trying to get there.

I finally settled on an outdoor playset for the kids and talked R into the purchase, so we are in the middle of putting that together. All those mornings at Home Depot are paying off now. W is being a lot of help. The girls mostly swam, but when they found out it was a photo op, they had to get in on the act. I will post some pictures. The monstrosity (which is what R calls it) is off to a good start from the weekend, although we are only about 1/3 of the way through.

All of the kids are swimming well now. Even little GG can swim the length of the pool. It is a relief not to constantly worry about someone falling in and not being able to get out. They are all very excited about the playset.

F has her quarterly appt. in Tampa this week. It is actually the one where she has to go to the hospital and get all her yearly tests so the whole family is going instead of just the 2 of us. She seems to be doing really well and staying healthy, but still, the thought of tests always makes me nervous about bad results.

Here are some cute pix from building....

We're finished throwing up!

2009-06-28T20:25:00.010-04:00

Well, Mom's birthday was a success. I think everyone had a good time and no one stayed too long so that she could get some rest afterward.

It was great to see my sister and her family. I don't get to see any of them nearly enough. The girls are getting so big.

When we were all there Dad had what he thought was a pinched nerve.......turned out to be Shingles! So, now he can't take care of Mom because she can't be exposed until he's no longer contagious. The good news is that he seems to have gotten his meds at just the right time and is healing nicely. Melissa is riding down here with them in the motorhome on Tuesday, then flying home. Mom and Dad are going to stay for an extended visit (until she has to be back for her next Dr. appt.)

In addition to all the shingle drama, we all, except R, had some sort of stomach virus this week and the entire week was spent with one or more of us throwing up in 48 hr. increments. Poor R was so tired one morning I was trying to get W to eat a cracker at about 6am in our bed (where he had "slept") R rolled over, looked at us and asked if I had given him his enzymes before I fed him that cracker! Now, mixing up which one of your kids has CF...........that's tired!

Wednesday, F had her first ballet class since she was 4. She was so incredibly excited. She loves ballet. It is a 1.5 hr. class. They do ballet 30 min, tap 30 min. and gymnastics the last 30.

I bought new patio furniture today. It is one of those all weather "wicker" conversation sets with the loveseat, 2 chairs and little coffee table. I have been looking at them for at least 6 months now and the sale was really great. (R calls that woman math......"Don't look at what I spent, honey. Look at all the money I SAVED buying this set")

They are all making leaps and bounds with their swimming. F and W go to the bottom of the 8ft side to fish out diving rings now.

It is so hot here! I went to the grocery store Tuesday. One of the things I bought was cresent rolls.......lots of cresent rolls (sale again) from the freezer section. As I stepped out of the store.....didn't even get to the curb, I heard a POP! One of the cans exploded from the temp. change. Two more popped while I was loading the groceries into the car, and another one popped taking them into the house! That last can, we had with dinner, the other 3 were trash.

Faith's vest is on it's last leg. I emailed the vest company tonight. Hopefully it will hold out until we can get another one delivered.

Yaayy WW

2009-06-15T22:28:00.009-04:00

Self fullfiling prophecy!............that's the term I was struggling with last night to describe my GG.

Given the fact that R and I are both Pisces, it shouldn't be any surprise that I gave birth to fish..., but it was to me.
More swimming today W was able to jump into the deep end of the pool and swim the distance lengthwise by himself. I am so proud of him. He has been the one that has had to overcome the most fear about the whole swimming thing, but he did it today. He also read quite a bit of his HOP this morning. At first he wanted to call Daddy and Grandaddy to tell them. He told Daddy by phone, but decided to wait to surprise Grandaddy this weekend.....(Dad, if he loses his resolve to wait and calls you, the swimming is what he is talking about)

I think our GG has an iron lung. She hasn't figured out the whole come up for air then go back under to swim thing, so she just swims underwater all the time. Never wanting to be outdone, she swims over half the length of the pool underwater. She can hold her breath longer than any of them. Oh, she is also the only one that swims without goggles and a nose plug. None of those sissy crutches for her! Of course she is still the most brave (foolhearty) one, so now she thinks she can really swim and will get into trouble easily. None of them want to ever wear their swimmies any longer, so my stress level has increased trying to watch them all at the same time.

R called me today to ask me what I thought of Detroit and/or Philly......Are you serious, really? We just closed on the house in Atlanta last week! Besides, neither one of them can compare to Melbourne, house situation not withstanding. He said he wasn't REALLY considering anything, but it was nice to be asked.

That was our day. Love to you all!

I'm Baaack!

2009-06-14T20:15:00.019-04:00

A friend of mine emailed last week to see if he was having techincal problems with the site because the last posting he could read was at the end of April. It's been a tough couple of months. In May, I went to PC to help take care of my mom for two and a half weeks. That was REALLY hard. My MIL (the greatest MIL in the world) came to help R take care of the kids while I was gone. It was hard to see my mom in her condition and it was really tough missing my babies. I haven't ever been away from any of them for even half that long before.

Mom is still hanging in there. Daddy is taking really good care of her with "shifts" of help from one of my aunts, my sister and me. My aunt came when I left and my sister arrived today with her family. She will stay two weeks. Her family will stay one. We are all going up later this week to celebrate Mom's bday on Saturday and be with Daddy on Sunday for Fday.

I do finally have some good news to post....we closed on our house in Atlanta last week! Yaaayyy! There were some last couple of weeks melodrama involved because the LP HOA was insane enough to approve a reality show being filmed in our neighborhood. What idiots! The pictures are unreal of what they've done to one of the streets. ..one that you have to drive down to get to our house. Anyway, we were really afraid that the buyers might back out if they drove in for some inspection and saw the debacle. They didn't though, and everything closed as planned. I think as far as home sales go, it was a really smooth one. There are some real nightmare stories out there right now of buyers asking for totally unreasonable and unheard of things, but they were really nice. Of course we lost money, but that was expected since we bought in 2004. There was a page of things found by the home inspector......most minor. They asked that we fix the 2 major ones, we agreed and that was that. It was nice to cancel that autopayment out of the checking acct..

We took the kids to the beach on Saturday. It was the first time since my last post of their ingratitude. The big thing that day was that we saw a sea turtle swimming about 10 yds out from where we were. I don't think I've ever seen one at the beach before, R neither. F wanted to make sure that I included that in my blog tonight. She is going to write about it in her journal tomorrow. She occasionally makes entries and always says she's blogging like Mommy.

Today's big event was W's first trip to children's chapel. It was sad, but not the melodrama that F's first visit was. He had a great time and wants to go back too.......booo! I guess it's a little easier to let go of the second one, plus, he was walking out hand in hand with F so it wasn't like I was throwing him to the wolves. I knew she would take good care of him. My lap was emtpy since both of "mine" were gone. I tried to get G to sit in my lap, but she wouldn't. Her behavior made me wish she was old enough to go, herself....probably not going to have a hard time with that one when she turns 4:) Occasionally, F lifts her hands during the singing in church (not as often as before) but it's so sweet when she does. G raised one of her hands during song today...the one that was holding her baby. For some reason, instead of the vision of the godly servant praising her Lord that F seems to look like, I got this visual of G at a rock concert holding up that baby yelling "Freebird!" Wow, I am really burdening her with some low expectations for life. I should really raise my standards for her before she live up to the potential that her mother has put upon her......and we end up paying for some REALLY expensive therapy:)

Oh, big news on the swimming front. F swims without her floaties on a regular basis now. She jumps in and swims across the pool on her own. I no longer worry about her falling in and drowning. W and G are coming along pretty well too. They can both swim half way across (lengthwise) on their own. G totally underwater and W a little of both. Of course this is really the dangerous time for them to be unattended or sneak out on us because now they all have some sort of false sense of security thinking they can really swim. At least before, they knew they couldn't swim and were afraid to go near the pool without lifejackets or swimmies on. Thankfully, R and I are both really paranoid/overprotective parents............see, I knew those traits would end up as positives sooner or later.

F and R went to their first father/daughter dance a week ago. He took her to her favorite "straunt" the Red Lobster for dinner beforehand. I will post a picture. They were both precious.

Mom, Dad and Aunt Charlene came the same weekend for a few days. It was super to have them here. I am hoping that Mom and Dad will come back after my sister leaves to stay with us for an extended visit. Mom was reluctant at first, but the visit went so well, I'm hoping she will be open to coming back for a longer time. I will post a picture of them from their visit too.

Oh, the funniest thing! The babies have new nicknames. Last week we were discussing chimpanzees. They wanted to see pictures, I found a website of a chimp sanctuary with several pictures. There were a lot of chimps. I found 2 girls and one boy.....all born in the same years as the kids and showed them the pictures. F's chimp is Charlotte, W's, Nelson and G's, Lily. Now they say that they ARE the chimps and call each other and ask others (us) to call them the names too. G messed up the word chimpanzee, so now they are Charlotte, Nelson and Lily

Ch PON' zee. (rhymes with Fonzie)

Also, I think there has been a couple of zoo visits since the end of April, so you can see a pic of that too.

That should just about bring everyone up to date. Hopefully, I can post again in a more timely manner.

Sunday night

2009-04-26T21:03:00.004-04:00

Well, I figured out last night that the CF walk, here is Saturday! Yeah, I kind of let it slip up on me this year with everything else going on. Oh, well, we do what we can do....go to the fightcfforfaith link (above) to donate, in case you are reading this and didn't get the email.

I discovered last Thursday the length of time that it takes for the honeymoon to wear off for the beach and children. Approximately six months. These are a few of the things I had to listen to after I loaded up half of this house to take those ingrates to the beach: "It's too hot" Will won't share the shade"(of the umbrella) "Sand is on your hands, I'm gonna get a sandrash" (applying sunscreen) "I don't want any suncream" (different child) "There is sand in my potato chips"...Yes, that's what happens when you dump the entire can into the sand..........FOUR times! "I wanna go home!" That last one was G for the last 25 minutes we were there.......wailing at the top of her lungs. Oh, yeah, and this is a good one.. Me:"Of course there's sun, of course there's sand..........it's the beach! What did we come here for?" Faith:"to bodyboard and go swimming" Me: "Well then, GO!" All 3 in unison: "the water's too cold" I would like to point out that these are the same maniacs that were swimming in the Atlantic in December!

I guess they have aclimated to being true Floridians and now it's too cold at the end of April:)

Friday, we went to the library. They are so funny to me: Their favorite section: The nonfiction science. F wants all the ocean books right now and W wants all the space books. I know it's the area we have moved to. I heard another Mommy at the park on Friday tell someone that her daughter wants to be an astronaut when she grows up. I can't say I really heard that a lot (at all) in Atlanta. Oh, this is the cutest and funniest thing. G wants to be a "Stilts Person" when she grows up. Ask her why, "Because I want to make people smile" Isn't that the sweetest, odd little girl in the world? Oh, I LOVE three! It's my favorite age.

Friday night I went to a clothing exchange at church. I met a few other women there and am feeling a bit more like I'm not completely alone here. (Except for R and the babies, of course)

Saturday we all just lounged by the pool and enjoyed a nice relaxing day.......Those are few and far between around here. Today, church and yardwork....oh, I saw another snake when I was weedeating. It wasn't a poisonous one, but still. What is that? Two snakes in 3 weeks? Gage was a total pain in the ass, but at least we didn't see any snakes while he was in the yard!

Maybe there's a service where you can just rent a hunting dog for the day to run through your yard....Of course, that would mean it would kill all our cute little bunnies. They are pretty brave, but not brave enough that I worry about the kids getting too close to get bitten or anything. Actually, the snake was trying to get away from me (well, the weedeater) when I saw him too. It was a big joke when we moved here, but now, I'm a little worried about the rainy season and alligators in the yard.

Lung culture results

2009-04-21T00:38:00.002-04:00

The CF center called with F's lung culture results. She, once again, only grew out normal lung flora.....YAAAYYYYYYY!
Mom seemed tired, but not yet sick from her ordeal today.
The floors are ALMOST done on the other side of the house.
All good news for today

Floor pictures

2009-04-19T22:16:00.004-04:00

Here are the floor pictures, as promised. Now, F's room is done, minus the closet, W's room is done, and G's room is 3/4 done. I painted the quarter-round to put at the edges, but none of it has been done. Overall, R's done a fantastic job!

Reality check: I'm not being too strict a disciplinarian for insisting that they NOT throw food at one another at the table am I? I didn't really think so. What are those people thinking? I know who's coming to mind here.....W and G...........Nope, it's F and W! F is going through some particularly rebellious phase right now. Not sure why, but hope I figure it out soon before I have to do bodily harm:)

Mom re-starts her chemo tomorrow. I spoke to her tonight and she is in good spirits about the whole thing. Please pray for her and my Dad.

Dr. Appts.

2009-04-18T00:01:00.002-04:00

F and Mom both had Dr. appts. yesterday.
F is up to 42 pounds, her allergies are bothering her, so Zyrtec has been added to her regiem. The PFT machine was down, so no scores there and we have to wait until next week for her lung cultures. Overall, I think it was a good appt. since they scheduled her next one for 3 months. If there were something that concerned them, we would be due back sooner. Her next appt is the yearly with all the tests at the hospital.
Mom had a somewhat positive appt. She still has cancer in 3 lymph nodes and the ribs, but is starting chemo on Monday. It is still too soon to Petscan her brain since that radiation just ended, but her swelling is down so much that they are taking her off of all the steroids. She will do chemo in 2 wk. increments instead of the normal 3. Then petscan again in 6-8 weeks.
F's bedroom, and the hall are done with the wood. We started on W's tonight. I am so pleased with the floors. I know it will not only be more pleasing to the nose, but will be so much healthier for the kids. W's allergies have been really bad every morning lately and even G has had some sniffling. I took pictures and will try to post them soon.

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T21:31:00.026-04:00

Christ has risen!...The Lord has risen indeed!

Hope you all had a good Easter. We began with the standard basket, chocolate celebration; then on to church. Why do we do that to our kids? Give them chocloate for bfast, then expect them to sit still in church for an hour and a half? After that it was lunch, egg hunting, swimming, trip to Lowes. We went to Lowes to get the wood flooring for R to install on the kid's side of the house.

Here are some pics of our day:

Maundy Thursday

2009-04-09T21:27:00.005-04:00

Well, happy Maundy Thursday, and you're probably reading this tomorrow, so Happy Good Friday. MUST we call it that? I always have a difficult time with that name. F asked me this week why we call it that. I himmed and hawwed over some official religious explanation someone told me once, but the truth is, I feel the same way, so I don't think I was that convincing. Our new church is hosting an Easterfest on Saturday for the community complete with an egg hunt, bouncy house, clowns, face painting and pony rides etc. The kids (my baby goats, I hate that word everytime I use it for them, but it's so common....) and I volunteered at the church today stuffing candy bags and preparing flyers for parents about the church. I was so proud of them...yeah, I know, one of the seven deadly's....but they really were extraordinary. F and W actually finished a job that I wasn't even sure they should've been entrusted to handle together in record time. Even GG was helpful once I gave her direction that a three yr. old could understand.
We colored eggs today...2 dozen. We are providing potato salad and deviled eggs for the above event, so I figured we could use them for that. They wanted to "play" with them afterward, so we went to Target to get plastic eggs for playing. As you know, all the packages come in the same colors: blue, orange, pink, purple, green and yellow. Of course our babies immediately divided by color. The color coding in our house does help to make life easier in a lot of ways, but sometimes it gets annoying. Oh, funny F story...she is such a literal child. I told her today to fill the bags at church with one piece of candy in every bag. She actually opened a snack package of Easter M&M's and started putting one M&M in every bag! Poor legalistic F. She is too much like me sometimes. I remember when the nurse told me to breastfeed on each side for 20 minutes with her. Of course, I did, for 20, ............everytime...not 19, not 21, but 20 exactly. I think I was actually on the second child, W, when it occured to me that the 20 minutes was an "about" 20.
Oh, I have to share the most moving youtube video with you I have ever seen. It's also very appropriate to the day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naajYZSbWdw
Please go to this link and take the few minutes...it will be worth it.
We missed out on the range. The guy sold it to someone else before we were able to get it. I am dissapointed, but am trying to see it as God intervening to save us from ourselves. We all need that sometimes.
I do still want the floors done.
Well, happy Easter in case I don't get back before then.

Palm Sunday

2009-04-05T21:01:00.004-04:00

Happy beginning of Holy week! We began the day with church and ran some errands afterwards. R is considering laying hardwood himself in the kid's wing and our room. I am really happy about the prospect of having it done, but am not sure how he's going to do this and work too. We should make friends with this project taking a while:) I'm not sure how I ended up even searching this, but I found a gas range on Craigslist that I am in love with. Me! In love with a range....actually, as soon as I saw it, I thought "Oh, R will LOVE this!" http://spacecoast.craigslist.org/hsh/1092828651.html
R called the guy today and apparently the reason this 8000.00 dollar range is available at this low price is due to a home forclosure. They must have been some of the people who's homes we looked at when shopping for a home that were forclosures and gutted as much as possible by the former owners. Of course the main problem with this range is the extended size. We will have to cut out counter and cabinet space. Then, the rest of our appliances are white, and will have to be changed to stainless. This will force the cabinet upgrade, too, then the countertops will need to be granite..... You can see where this is going, can't you? It will be "the range that the whole kitchen is designed around". We wanted to make all these changes when we bought the house anyway, so this is not completely out of left field, but all home improvements were put on hold until our house in Atlanta sells...........and yes, it hasn't sold! So, we may just get it and set it in the garage for a while. Replacing the carpet is the priority right now. Although I don't like an electric stove, I can live with the one I have more than I can live with the carpet.

We went to the beach yesterday afternoon. What a relaxing afternoon...but only because I had the beach bag packed ahead of time. I have decided to just keep the bag packed except for the cold water the same way I used to keep the kid's backpacks packed in Atlanta so that we could leave at a moments notice if need be. Also, I finally got around to finding the library this afternoon and getting a card. The children are so funny about new library books.......it's like Christmas around here. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy they love books so much and that something free can make them so happy. It's just funny to me.

Catching up.....Once again

2009-04-01T19:43:00.007-04:00

Well, last week was a nightmare. We found out that Mom's cancer has spread to her brain and almost lost her at one point, but she's a fighter, she was back and decorating before you knew it:) So, we are home again this week. My sister is with Mom and Dad. Also, my Dad's sister came to help.

F and I are both on antibiotics for some sort of throat thing.....hers has been accompanied with lots of "snotty" too. You haven't lived until you've seen a person with CF and a cold do a sinus rinse. It' hard to believe that all of that is in that child's head! G is trying to catch it, but can't really decide what she's going to do. W is surprisingly the healthy one this time.

R is back to work and things here have been pretty slow since I'm trying to nurse F. I thought I had Easter outfits picked out, but have changed. I wanted to make a bunch of pillowcase dresses for the girls to put on coming in and out of the pool, and leaving the beach. So, I got on ebay and started looking for inexpensive vintage embroidered pillowcases. I found a lot of cute ones this time including the ones I made into Easter dresses. Here are a couple of pictures:

Isn't that the most precious little pillowcase ever? It's hard to see as well in these pictures, but it has lavender crochet along the bottom and picture in the center is Jesus with a lamb in his arms and one sitting at his feet. Since they were pillowcases, there were two matching ones which was perfect. I went with lavender for the ties at the shoulders and found W the only lavender polo shirt on the entire internet in his size. So, now it's decided, lavender is the color for this Easter. What in the world will R wear?

F has her quarterly appt. in Tampa the week after Easter. I hope she is over this cold by then. I don't think I've ever taken her to this new care center without one. What an awful mother!

Summer came down with a case of tonsilitus the same day my throat started hurting so bad, so we really haven't spoken this week. Isn't that funny? She emailed me the night I couldn't speak to tell me that she had it and couldn't call the next day.

It's been really hot here this week and the pool is finally warm enough for Mommy to float on her raft IF no one splashes her:) Of course that's a big "if". That's about it for now.....I have to catch my Duggers!

Happy Birthday Aunt Joey!

2009-03-18T20:18:00.004-04:00

After a tirade to the fence salesman and someone on his staff on Monday, the fence is finally done! Yaaay! Why do some people insist on not doing the right thing until I have to get ugly? The dog ran away, TWICE today. The first time he came back on his own in about 5 minutes...I don't go after him anymore. The second time (and I was sure he was gone for good this time) some nosy do gooder neighbor brought him home. How in the world did she find us? There are no tags on his collar! At the risk of sounding ungrateful, the poor woman went door to door until she found someone that told her they thought he was ours. If the kids hadn't been behind me in the doorway, and I'd have been a little faster on my toes, I would've said "No, I've never seen him before in my life."
G has 2 favorite new songs. One is the Veggie Tales theme song and the other is Zacchius. She loves for you to sing her the song, then read the story. It goes"Zacchius was a wee little man and a wee little man was he. He climbed up in the sicamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see. And as the saviour passed this way he looked up in the tree, and said "Zacchius! You come down, for I'm going to your house today" W heard me sing the song to her this afternoon and exclaimed, " That's just rude, telling somone you're going to their house when you haven't been invited!" How funny is that? I know Jesus has been thought of in many ways, but up until now, I've never heard him be referred to as rude!
The last two days of school have been rather light. Maybe we all need a Spring Break, what a great idea! Why didn't I think of that until now? I think we are all suffering from the lack of a grandparent in the house. We have had one or two with us since Christmas all but about 2 weeks. Come on grandparents, don't you want to come live in paradise? There is a house for sale in our cul de sac......

Sunday

2009-03-15T19:46:00.008-04:00

R's mom left this morning. It was great to have her here......come back soon, Shoes! After that it was church and home for the afternoon of hanging out by the pool. Something remarkable happened this morning in church. You probably all remember the heart wrenching Children's Chapel post.....well, except for when we were out of town, she has chosen to go back every week. (BOO!) However, she is painfully shy and hasn't really spoken to anyone all this time. Well, after a pep talk from Mommy, yesterday, and a prayer this morning to Jesus to give her the strength to be brave enough to speak to another child, she came back a different child. When the kids come back into the sanctuary they all go to the front and talk about what they did and learned that morning before coming back to their seats. Needless to say, she has not chosen to participate in this little performance in front of the whole congregation and just sat off to the side. This morning she came in last, right in front of the teacher and I figured I was going to have to give the speech about how God always answers prayers, just sometimes he says "no" or "not yet". When they got to the front, they all stayed standing while the teacher asked them prompting questions. Well, she raised her hand for them all, and answered as many as the teacher would call on her to answer. Then.....THEN, she "passed the Peace" to the whole congregation. For all the non Anglicans/ Episcopalians/Catholics that's where normally the pastor says "May the peace of the Lord be always with you" and we all answer "And also with you" and then turn to our neighbors and wish them peace individually. In Baptist terms, it's more like when you are called to say "Good morning" to those around you. So, today, F was the one that said "Peace of the Lord be always with you"! Into the microphone and everything! Wow, when Jesus answers HER prayers, he REALLY comes through! Of course we (R and I) teared all up etc.....Apparently she made friends with a little girl named Sarah during CC, too.

G decided to trust her arm floaty things today. She said she wanted a pair (like her "pig kids"....no, not a typo, that's how she pronounces it) but wouldn't get off the steps with them on until this afternoon. I'm sure her "Diddy Daddy" jumping into the pool with them to play had a lot to do with it. BTW...he's a crazy man....that water is still COLD! W enjoyed playing in the pool, but other than that, had a bit of a whiny day. It started out badly when he forgot to bring his baby to church. (never had to get through a service without it before) Then lunch was a hassle, jumping in the trampoline was dramatic (still never found out what that was all about) and dinner began with tears too. He did finish strong and got a peanut butter milkshake for his reward. So, the pool was his only bright spot...poor little guy. Tomorrow is G's real bday. I cannot believe she will three. It seems like only yesterday I had three, three and under. We are going to have a light school day and then a trip to the beach.

Mom had her first chemo yesterday. (Well, for this round, anyway) She seems to feel much better with the drugs they are using this time. When I called to check on her last night, figuring I would just be talking to Daddy while she was passed out with all the subsequent drugs for nausea etc., but no, she was up.....couldn't come to the phone to speak to me because she was in the middle of cooking dinner! So, I called again this morning and spoke to her. So, all in all, a good day and fun plans for tomorrow.

Happy Third Birthday G O'Darby!

2009-03-14T19:53:00.009-04:00

We had G's little party today. She was very pleased with everything and we all had a good time. R put up the trampoline for her today, F and I went to AG bookclub this morning, and other than that, it was a really laid back day. Here are some pictures.

Getting ready for the big bday

2009-03-12T21:22:00.002-04:00

G's main present came in the mail today. I am so excited about this. She told me she wanted a girl Eddie for about a month. (She was putting in the context of when we go back to the baby hospital..) For those of you who don't know, Eddie is W's Cabbage Patch (splash) kid. I think, sure, how hard can that be to find? I am so glad I got on this last week because they have stopped making the things! I found two on amazon for 125.00 a piece and one on ebay with a 6 day auction. I emailed at the beginning of the auction asking for a BIN price because I didn't want to cut it so close to her bday. The owner emailed back saying there would be no BIN price for the item. So..I wait the 6 days and some odd hours which ended Sunday night. I came on with a couple of hours left before the end of the auction and was very pleasantly surprised to see that no one had bid on the thing all week! Of course I was still nervous for the next two hours thinking the bidding would go crazy in the last few minutes. BTW, the thing ended at 1130pm! Long story long, I ended up being the only bidder and got it for her starting price. I bet she was UNhappy. Of course I ended up paying more for the priority shipping that I needed at that point, but it was still a good deal. New and in the box! I hope she is excited as I am about the thing. I went to Target tonight and picked up a few more things for her.
G wanted to ride bikes this morning, so I took them out after we finished up with school. It was still in the AM and I was frying on the driveway pavement. Finally, I said, "Well, you kids let me know when you get too hot out here and we will go to the back and swim." Of course they all jumped on that, so it was much more pleasant after that. My point........it's only March and I was frying on the driveway like that egg (brain) on drugs! The county still hasn't come through with the building permit on the fence, so I'm annoyed about that. That's about all since yesterday.

GG's new hair

2009-03-11T22:15:00.004-04:00

Keeping up with the "Joey's"

2009-03-11T21:51:00.004-04:00

Well R's sister, Joanna updated her blog since her last posting on Halloween. Now the pressure is on. My MIL has been here for a week. We are all so happy to have her. The kids all love their "Shoes" and it has been a huge break for me! (oh yeah, I love her too:)) Thanks to Mom and Dad giving us their pool blanket, the kids have actually been swimming this week. Saturday was a day at the beach (literally) complete with sunburn! It was the first time they have really gotten to use the bodyboards they got for Christmas. F has a big motivation to stay healthy these days since she can't get into the water if she's sick. We got to go out w/out the babies on Saturday night, too, thanks again to Shoes. G's bday is the 16th, but we will celebrate this coming Sat. so that R's mom can be here for the party.....she is leaving Sunday...BOOOO! Thankfully, G's favorite color is "geen" so it's really easy to find decorations and such this month:)

Mom and Dad are still in Houston waiting for test results. Keep praying for good news.

Here are a few pics taken at the beach on Saturday.

two weeks later...

2009-03-02T20:15:00.002-05:00

We were at Mom and Dad's for the past two weeks. No blogging..no time. Here is a picture that was taken on their livingroom couch. While we were there we went to the kids favorite park in the whole world.....Under the Oaks. Where not just one, but TWO coughing kids decided to latch onto mine. I know I made the mom of the first mad, but what the heck? We went during the afternoon on a school day hoping to miss that sort of thing. My theory: The only reason he was there was because he was too sick to go to school that day! The other big event for them while there was getting to ride in the motorhome to the AFB for some errands. Mom is doing well, considering. She was in a lot of pain when we first got there, but once the radiation kicked in it seemed to lessen. She has an appt. at MD Anderson in Houston on friday. Pray for her.
Today was spent just trying to get into the swing of things. While we were gone W's first spelling book came in the mail, so he was anxious to get started on that first thing this morning. Well, our "first thing in the morning" at least. He did a really good job and it was nice to see him so excited about it. Coincidently, he was up to his next HOP book, so he had a pretty huge day. We did our first science experiment today. She worked up to it while we were there, but one of them involves keeping a running temp. chart, so we waited until we got home so that we didn't have weather from two different places messing it up. History was done up to a craft activity, so that waited until we came home too. So, F did a little spelling, then the rest of her day was just the fun stuff. R taught them how to play kickball in the cul de sac yesterday so we did a little of that too. I cut G's hair last night. It's in a short little bob like last spring and is so cute! Her hair get so ratty as it gets longer. She really looks better with it short. Shoes (MIL) comes on Wednesday and we can hardly wait! We haven't gotten to see her since the end of last summer. She hasn't ever gone this long without seeing the children. I hope she recognizes them! Anyway, she is staying almost two whole weeks. Maybe R and I could actually get away one night and go to dinner or something. Coming home to the carpet in this house has given me a renewed sense of urgency to replace it. It is so disgusting! As you can tell, my thoughts are a bit scattered tonight. I think I'll end this now and put us all out of our misery:)

Alarm!

2009-02-16T22:28:00.003-05:00

So, tonight is the first night without R and an alarm system. I didn't really expect to be nervous, but with disgusting predators just coming in and taking kids out of their beds at night, here, in central FL..........I wish I had the alarm is all. Thank goodness we didn't buy in the Orlando area.
I am trying to get everything together to get us all to PC but I forgot a major snag in my plans until the last minute. R is not here to pack the car! That has been a major setback.
We started the new science program today. I am having second thoughts about putting W in with F in the program. I had to do a LOT of "getting him up to speed" to do. He did learn a lot, but it was a concept that with all her prior knowledge of the subject would've taken about 5 minutes to do with her. Maybe I will just not worry about him getting it all. Just let him listen in, and put him through, again, with G when it's her time. They are closer in age and by the looks of things will be a lot closer to the same level until W gets over his testosterone and makes up the time. He read a whole page of his HOP and did really well today, but I have to admit that I shouldn't try to sit with him through it without my medication:) The attention span of a four yr. old boy is alarmingly PAINFUL! And I am in love with the little guy! My heart really goes out to elementary teachers that have a whole classroom of them. I should go to bed now to wait on the middle of the night G visit and the subsequent meltdown when she is reminded that her "diddy daddy" is not here.

Rest of the week

2009-02-15T18:09:00.002-05:00

Well, the other 2 ended up getting F's cold and we couldn't go to PC on Friday as planned. Not only did it move our trip back, but poor Shoes has to move her trip back, also. So, mostly this week has been snot and fevers for everyone. Gage ran away one day. He ran straight to where the kids were having a picnic in the backyard and left the food there to get out of my reach! So, it was just like in PC, minus the canal swim. He went around the back of the cul de sac in everyone's yards, then out onto the next neighborhood street. At that point I just said "Have a nice life" and the kids and I went inside. I was thinking.......we're new here, no one knows us, no one knows our dog, he has never been on a neighborhood walk, so that will be that. The kids and I came in and were cleaning their rooms when F yells out "Gage! Gage is in our backyard". Her room is at the back of the house and faces the tree where we tie him and let him back into the enclosure. She saw him out of her window. I told her to go out and get him if she could, thinking he would run away from her too as soon as he saw her. ...Well, as it turns out, he was just waiting at the door of the enclosure to be let in! So, not only am I aggravated at him, nothing unusual, but now I'm mad too. A lot of times when he gets on my nerves it is hard to actually be mad at him because afterall, he's just a stupid animal and can't help it......Not anymore! He just ran the neighborhood until he got tired and came home for a drink of water. That's not stupid...stupid is not being able to find your way home........in a new neighborhood no less. (Did I mention this is a new neighborhood for him?) That's just bad..........a bad bad dog! The good news, R did our taxes this weekend and we get to have the fence built! I have been organizing the babies clothes. A job that's needed to be done since we moved here. I really just threw everything in the closets and decided to sort it all out later.....Well, now is later. This weekend has been very low key trying to get babies well. R has a national meeting this week, so he won't be here to help after tomorrow morning. Pray for us all:)

Happy Anniversary!

2009-02-10T12:25:00.002-05:00

Today is our wedding anniversay. Eight years! It seems like only yesterday....well, actually, it seems more like 2-3 yrs. When R and I first started dating and he was so wonderful I always told him "Of course you're great now, it's still in the first 6 months......Anyone can behave for 6 months." Then very shortly after the 6 month mark we became engaged. Then I told him he was just being wonderful because we were engaged. Engaged is the best, isn't it girls? So, after we got married and he was wonderful I told him one day that it was just because we were still on our honeymoon.......I was still waiting for that other shoe to drop. He told me that day " You know, we could be married for 50 years and I remain as just as I am now, and you would say to me "yeah, well it's always that fifty first year that it all goes to hell!" So, he committed to the 50 year "I told you so, then."
This morning we woke up and said Happy Anniversay, then he said "Only 42 more to go until I can say 'I told you so!"
So, Happy Anniversay Lovie and I'm still waiting for you to blow it on that 51st:)
We went to the park yesterday to meet up with some other homeschoolers. It was nice, but the group was actually a little too big to get to know anyone. One funny thing did happen, though. W got his first "boy scolding" and you should've seen the look on his face! There were only 2 big kid swings. Another boy, a little older than F was on one. F ran over an got on the other one. W wanted to swing and F wouldn't get off and let him have it. I was watching from the edge of the playground. He was talking to her in his unkind voice telling her to get off and let him have the swing. He then picked up some mulch (this playground's covering) and threw it towards her. It didn't go very far since he thew it into the wind and he got more than she did. I got up to go over and have a close face to face about mulch throwing and just as I got there the other boy was saying to him (in HIS unkind voice) "Hey, don't you throw that at her. That's not nice. You leave that little girl alone and let her swing!" I'm not sure whether or not he realized he was rescuing her from her own brother or not, but I really seemed to have an impact on W! Oh, and he's REALLY embarassed about the whole thing, so if you see him make sure you ask him about it:)
F woke up really snotty this morning..... The a reason I don't like crowded playgrounds. I am starting on the whole aggressive treatment thing today. More later..

Big Milestone

2009-02-08T20:15:00.007-05:00

We passed a major milestone in our family today. We let F go to children's chapel during church. Yes, I finally caved to all you crazies who keep telling me that she needs more friends than just W and G. I had a talk with the teacher before the service, of course, but still........it's not like I KNOW her! It seems like just yesterday, when we did we did VBS, last summer. I called my friend, Summer crying from the church because everyone was just dropping their kids off with me and the other teachers.....and LEAVING! Those people didn't know me! How could they do it? So, church today. The kids come in for the opening prayers and songs, they all leave during the sermon then are brought back for communion. I was telling F during the opening prayers that if she got scared at the last minute and wanted to stay with me that it would be perfectly fine. R heard me and scolded.......said I wasn't being supportive or some nonsense. Anyway, it came time for them to all leave, AND SHE DID. Just left with all the other kids! I was watching her walk out and beginning to cry. Trying to stop myself, I looked over to R for some assurance that she would be okay.............and HE was crying! Not a lot of help! So, we alternated going back to peek into the classroom to check on her.

So, I know, what you're thinking.........."Enough about you, how did SHE do?" Well, that's the worst part........she had a great time and wants to go back next week. This is where it all starts, isn't it? Tomorrow, off to college........... CChurch is for 4-6 yr. olds. Now W wants to go, and of course she wants him to go with her. R doesn't want him to because he doesn't want her to have that crutch. Can you believe? Her own brother and best friend.....a crutch. Who is this man that just wants to throw my baby to the wolves? And what has he done with MY husband? Also, some scank..uh, I mean little girl in cc asked F when W was coming! What interest would she have in my WW coming? Tramp! Nothing good can come of this.....I still can't believe I let this happen. What was I thinking? Oh, and the best part.......when we were riding home G turned to her and asked her (in her best 2 yr old scolding voice) "F, why did you go off with strangers by yourself?" I said, "Thank you, G, I was just thinking the same thing!" F just turned to her and said, "I wasn't by myself, God was with me." Why didn't I think of that? In church of all places! It was only the other day, possibly my last post, that I she spoke to another kid on the playground besides W and G. Now, she's just going off with strangers. BTW, in case you didn't know, none of them have EVER done anything that R and I didn't involve ourselves in and had them in sight at all times. So, that was her (our) big milestone for today. As you can tell, I am much more scarred by the whole thing than she is. We spent the afternoon just hanging around and doing some yard work. Mom, we finally freed the oak trees from the neighboring vines at the back of the yard.

That's about all we've been up to. Oh, yesterday R took them all to the "doughnut straunt" for breakfast then to Home Depot for the monthly build. Now, that's REALLY all we've been up to the last couple of days.

School update (bragging)

2009-02-05T13:47:00.009-05:00

We've been busy rededicating ourselves to our studies this week. I went to a park this morning to meet up with the Brevard Co. HS group. We were the only ones that showed. We had record low temps last night, so I warned the kids ahead of time that might be what would happen. Another family did show that we met, though. They just moved here from Columbus, GA, had a little girl, almost 5 and a little boy that looked to be a little younger than G. Anyway, they just moved to Suntree (renting while house hunting) from GA and the dad sells medical supplies in basically the same territory as R travels. ...Different products, not competitors. Small world, huh? I was so proud of F, she went right up and introduced herself, they played and when the little girl was leaving, she told her it was nice meeting her. We've been really working on her painfully shy nature lately. Maybe some of it is finally paying off.

Will is doing very welll with his reading. His concentration still isn't what I'm used to working with.............I know, I know, don't compare them.........but he is doing well...........slowly but steadily. He is up to 5 books with his HOP program. I finally realized that he does much better first thing in the AM, so I try to catch him then. We also work with his numbers 1-100. I am going to order his first spelling book this afternoon. .....oops, maybe we should work a little more on handwritting before I start throwing written spelling work at him. I guess he reallly is doing very well for his age, and with the handicap of the testosterone, is remarkable:) G is working diligently with her ABC's. She came up to me two nights ago and said "There are too many books in here that I can't read!" She was so indignent, like there were some that she COULD read, we just didn't own them. I explained that that was the reason we did ABC's and that she could start trying soon. She really is pretty amazing. I lay out all the cards and ask her to give me a specific letter. When she picks it up, she has to tell me the sound and a word that starts with that letter. She can do that with almost all of the upper case; we haven't started lowercase yet. I don't remember exactly, since that time is all such a blur, but I think that puts her about on track with F. Now F... As I type this, I am giving her the last spelling test for the second grade. It's Homonyms......hole, whole, dear, deer, right, write. etc. She already knew them all when we got to this lesson. I'm not sure how except from just all the reading that she does (the worst punishment you can dole out to her these days is to take away her reading time when she goes to bed)and asking here and there for some clarification. I know we've never sat down and had a discussion on the subject. She's over half way through first grade language, chpt12 in first g history, and somewhere around the end of second grade math. (She's gotten into multiplication) I picked out a sciene program that is for age ranges 5-8 and I am going to start her and W together on that. Also, she knows more geography than most adults...sadly that doesn't take much these days. Now that I think about it, W may know more than most adults:) G is so funny. She is the only two year old that goes around discussing ancient history in the middle of Target. F insists that if she is going to go around saying their names that she must know who they are.......therefore, she goes around yelling Shamshi-Adaad- ancient Assyrian ruler.....Hammarabi-ancient Babylonian ruler! The only thing funnier is to see the looks that we get from fellow shoppers!

Went to Old Navy yesterday because W needed jeans and khaki pants and it finally occured to me that it would be a good place to find some decent, plain, girl LS and ss tshirts. (see earlier post) So, if you are having the same problem with your little girls, you can go there....they do still have the "stylish" (trash) but you can find some cute, decent things there too.

Must go now, the natives are getting restless........

email change

2009-01-31T14:01:00.002-05:00

We left comcast in the move, so if you didn't get the email address change yet, my new email is dunlappartyoffive@cfl.rr.com . Make sure you save it in your contacts..........

Odds and ends

2009-01-29T13:19:00.006-05:00

We rented a movie last night that I HAVE to tell everyone about. Move over "When Harry Met Sally" and "An American President" I have a new all time favorite movie! The name of it is "Fireproof" and I cannot say enough good things about this movie except that you HAVE to see it and if you need to use the bathroom, pause it and come back. Don't even miss a minute! I had heard extraordinary reviews on it, but never really imagined that it could live up to them. Well, it did and more. Everyone should see this movie, but if you are married, you can't afford not to. So, run, don't walk to your local store (skip the rental and just buy it......you'll want to anyway) and get this movie.

This is my SUPERCOOL new soap dispenser for the kitchen. I just found a wine bottle that was the right size with a label that I really liked ( this wine is called "the 7 deadly Zins" and in lighter letters that you can't see in this picture, it lists the 7 deadly sins.....hilarious) and put in a pourer that you can find in any barwear section.
Instructions:
Drink wine
rinse bottle
put in soap
put pourer in the top
Super simple, super cool and really pretty

I recovered the diningroom, kitchen and familyroom chairs (the two at the two desks) I love this fabric, and am very happy with the way they turned out.

Did you wonder why there where SO many of these beachcomber hats in the bathroom? I ordered them from Oriental Trading Co and they had to be ordered by the dozen. I left 3 out because this is just too funny! They wear these around the house singing "Welcome to Hawaii. Welcome to Hawaii" doing the hula.

Yeah, I know the post started with this paragraph, but I wanted to make sure that you read it, whether you came in on the beginning or the end.

from 5 to 6(slut)

2009-01-26T20:16:00.002-05:00

We went to the mall today to take R's shoes to the cobbler. While there, I decided to go look for a few things for the kids. Between my sewing and hand me downs, I can't tell you the last time I bought any of them clothes. (besides sweats at walmart)
So, I was hit with the style change that comes with the move from the 2-5 girls clothes into the 6-10. Wow! What a huge difference! I don't even know where to begin. I guess first of all, it was a bummer that G and F couldn't just get the same outfits in different sizes to match. That however, was not the major dissapointment. When was it decided that my baby, barely 6, should put on these clothes? I couldn't even find a decent pair of shorts with a matching tshirt! I went to Macy's (which was actually the best place because they still grouped 2-6) Dillards, Children's Place, Gap kids and JCPenney. I was so discouraged that no one got anything. Will really needed some new shorts and shirts, but by the time I got around to him, his behavior prevented him from getting anything.
So mom's.......where do I go to get my baby some clothes (besides dressy dresses) Just some playclothes.....Just a tshirt for that matter without the horrible graphics?
Something without sparkly stones or smartass sayings on them. Let me guess............the boys dept., or have the powers that be even ruined them? So, you all get the gist........I guess you even got it by the title of this post and there was no need for my further diatribe tonight.

Mom

2009-01-26T17:46:00.004-05:00

I have been debating on this post, but I guess if you read us on a regular basis, you should know something this significant.

My mom has been diagnosed with stage 4 breastcancer. It is in her bones now. She will start radiation in early February, do that for 3 weeks then onto 6 months of chemo to try to put it into remission. Yeah, it sucks as badly as you can imagine it would. Please pray for her and my dad during this time. Here is a picture of her playing "Sorry" with my kids on Christmas.

More catching up

2009-01-25T21:26:00.007-05:00

Okay, enough house stuff. You've seen the whole thing except our bedroom and a couple of boring bathrooms. Our bedroom isn't done and probably won't be until 3 months before we end up having to move from here. (That's what happened in Atlanta)

So it was the Saturday after Faith ran the Mickey Mile. We took the kids to the Magic Kingdom. Faith's favorite ride was the Winnie the Pooh house, Will's favorite thing was getting to hug Tigger and Gracie will tell you that her favorite thing was riding the monorail. They also really enjoyed the parades. We took them on the Pirates OTC ride specifically for Will because he had decided to be a pirate when he got older. About 1/4 thru the ride, not only did he no longer want to be a pirate, but he was ready for even the ride to be over. I sat beside him with my arms around him. The poor little guy's heart was about to beat out of his chest!

They also like the Swiss FR treehouse, since they know that story. Faith will tell you that she liked the "ballerinas" What are the ballerinas you ask? The Disney Princesses. Since we don't do the DP's because of their poor example, they had no idea who they were. The only frame of reference she has of girls in dresses like that is at the ballet. So, she called them the ballerinas and we went with it.

John and Kristen met us there with BabyDow and Madison. The whole reason for the weekend, in case I didn't say earlier was that it was race weekend. Richard and John ran the Marathon on Sunday. We loved being able to catch up with them a bit. BDow has gotten so big and Madison and Mary are just grown! Richard finished his marathon in four hours and eight minutes. I thought it was a super time! Well, I thought just finishing the thing was superhuman to be honest. So, now we are blessed with two winning runners and W and G are already talking about when they can run the MM. G is still a little too young and let's face it, W's too lazy. I will love giving him the chance, but he moans and whines about having to ride his bike a mile. When we would go hiking in GA, he was always the first one to start complaining. We'll see how things go when push comes to shove.

We all have colds (again) this has been the worst winter for them that I can remember. How ironic, since we now live in the warmest climate ever, for us? It is going to be 80 on Thursday! We went to the beach yesterday for a picnic and let the kids run around. I dressed them in clothes because it's been unusually cold here lately. (The man next door said it was the coldest he's seen since he's lived here.....20 years!)

We went to a new church this morning. I think we all liked it and will probably try to stick with that one for a while. It is an AMIA church named Prince of Peace. (POP) For those not familiar, the AMIA is the Anglican Mission in America. I started to try to explain it here, but decided to go the website and just copy/paste what it is........lest I really screw it up and never hear the end from John Richardson:)

The Anglican Mission in the Americas is a bold missionary strategy born seven years ago in response to a crisis of faith and leadership in North America. We are driven by a compelling vision of reaching the 150 million individuals in the U.S. and Canada who have yet to respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ by building communities of faith and transforming lives.

The crisis of faith and leadership in North America it is referring to the Anglican Church in America (AKA the Episcopal church)

It is getting late, so let me post some pictures from Disney and to to bed.

The children's bathroom!

2009-01-22T14:29:00.007-05:00

Finally, my favorite room in the house it done..........the kid's bathroom. This is the most fun I have ever had doing a room (and I was pretty stoked about Will's HD room) The pictures loaded backwards, so bear with me. This first one is the soap dispenser. I wanted a close up because it's so cute and you may not see it in the other pictures (there's a lot of other stuff going on:)) The next two are the little rugs I found. Have you ever seen a cuter bathroom rug than that little woody with the surfboard on it? Of course, the other one is a surfboard rug. The next one is from the bathroom door, then so is the next, but with the door that opens onto the enclosure. After that is the shower curtain that I found the fabric for and made. It is hot pink with light pink hibiscus and green, blue and red/yellow surfboards all over it. I also bought white towels and washclothes and sewed the same fabric onto the ends. The next few are pretty self explanetory, but see the coconut on the back of the potty? Shoes and Juddy mailed that to Faith from Hawaii when she was a baby. The other side of it actually has her name and our PC address written in magicmarker. The 3 white picture frames around the round mirror are of of 3 of them taking their first baths. They were up in the Atlanta bath. I replaced the stickers on them and now the tops say Riding my first wave with the names on the bottom corners. The white board almost at the top of the ceiling is some weird thing that I've never seen before. There are floresent lights in there and it deflects the light from coming straight down onto you. Anyway, across that board is stenciled Surf City......2 girls for every boyyyyyy! I was planning on doing some song lyrics there, but I had more of "Surfin' safari" or "Catch a wave" in mind this whole time. For some reason "Surf City" just came to me out of the blue the other day and when I got to the 2 girls for every boy part, I thought.."Perfect! That's what it HAS to be. On the shelf below the round mirror are their 3 teeth brushing cups. I found these neon green, blue and pink shot glasses at a party supply. They are little tiki poles, and so cute. Yes, I know, shot glasses? Really though, they are a great size just to rinse your mouth with after brushing.

2 long days

2009-01-20T19:29:00.020-05:00

Wow, the last two days have been long ones. Why is it my children insist on behaving inexcusably awful for about 3-4 days a month? Why is it always around the same time? Maybe it's the lunar phase........hmmmmmmmmmmmm:) Yesterday G refused to eat her breakfast, threw her food on the floor, smashed her brother across the nose with a soccer trophy that left a nice gash and pee'd in her pants TWICE! Then proceeded to pour a cup of water all over the kitchen floor and herself while I was on the phone complaing to my Mom about how awful they were behaving! F broke a lamp, so now there's glass on W's floor that I can't clean up because the vacumm cleaner that I ordered last week still hasn't arrived. His room is off limits to them all until it comes in. Will is just his usual passive/aggressive self with a lot of whining today because he got up at 530 this morning. He threw up before breakfast, but has been fine since.It really must have been something in the air because Aunt Joey called and said Jenna (G's soulmate) was having the same kind of day.

Today was a little better until I decided to take them out in public, then it was just one embarassing moment of threats and disobedience after another. I watched the inauguration today. Faith actually acted like she was 16 instead of 6 and took care of the babies for me because she knew I wanted to see it. Wow, President Obama can sure deliver a speech! Did you notice he bungled the oath, though? I am still not sure how I feel about him. I want him to be everything he seems and not the antichrist, but now Newt Gingrich is on board with him! Newt Gingrich for crying out loud! That's just another brick in the antichrist wall testifying to his charisma and how EVERYONE will buy into him.

Anyhow, here are some more pictures of the house.
These 3 are obviously of the kitchen. The red wall runs the length of back of the house. It looks burgundy in this picture, but it is really Cranberry...REALLY cranberry:)

These are the diningroom. the one facing the chinacabinet is the view you get to your right from the foyer. We brought the cranberry from the other room into here below the chair rail. I have to recover the diningroom chairs.

This is the entry foyer.

These are the livingroom. It is to the left from the foyer. The one facing the couch is taken from the familyroom. The one facing the familyroom (fireplace) was taken from that couch. The plaid chair and recliner are in the livingroom. The chaise is in the familyroom to tie the two together.

I took some more the next morning. As you can see, the familyroom is open to the kitchen. There are two sliding doors on this wall. One from the familyroom and one from the kitchen.

These are on the back porch. Top left is right outside the kitchen door taken toward our room. Our room is the third slider onto the lanai. The small door with the smoked window is the kid's bathroom.The other 4 are, obviously, the pool.

It is not heated, so I haven't been in, but my penguin children braved it the first week.

So, that's it for tonight. More later

As promised

2009-01-15T19:27:00.008-05:00

Welll, I made it back in less than another month, just as promised:) Where did I leave off? After F's race with pix, I believe. I wanted to go back to tell you a little about how the house turned out. I took some pictures tonight, but keep in mind, it's night and the kids rooms were picked up by them and the beds were made by them too. I have been wanting to take some pictures in the day to post, but the messy rooms are even worse then. These pix are after bedtime pickup. The first ones are of W's room. I really love how it came out. His theme is tools, specifically, Home Depot.These first 2 are as you are standing in the doorway. I re-did that dresser to look like a tool box and found the craftsman logo to stick in the right corner. Those brown pieces the tools are hanging on are pegboard, just like a real workshop. I put the real, more dangerous tools at the top, a couple of his projects that he has done at the HD, and his play tools at the bottom. You can't tell from the picture, but that is the cutest little toolbox lamp on the corner of the dresser.

I took the next one from sitting on the bottom bunk of his bed towards the closet, and the last is right next to his bed with the doorway just to the right. There's not one from the closet back to the bed, but it's just his bunkbed with light brown corduroy looking covers and pillow. There is a HD apron hanging on the corner of both the top bunks. This next room is G's. Of course the walls had to be painted green, but I chose what shade. She inherited the dollhouse bookcase and all of the white furniture and accessories.

This next one is from the window looking back at her bed. Daddy hung lattice work and we wove a little rose garden vine through it. The quilt is sort of a Shabby Chic patchwork with little roses. This was F's bedroom set at one time and before that it belonged to Madison....thank you Aunt Kristen. (I brought clothes for BDow to Orlando and forgot to give them to you)

These next two are taken from her doorway.

The pink and yellow is, of course, F's room. The first 2 are taken from the doorway, the next, from the closet corner (next to the Babycare center) She has butterflies and tulips. I should mention here, that every picture, shelf, curtainrod, and cornice you see was hung by my Daddy. If you know us though, that news won't shock you. There's no way we could've done all this by ourselves. That does it for the kids rooms. I'll do the living space next time.

Where to start?

2009-01-14T20:32:00.018-05:00

Okay, I know it's been a while and it might take me a few of these to catch up. When last I blogged, we were in house negotiations that got a little ugly. We ended up getting the house and closed on Dec. 19th. (Friday) We also celebrated Faith's bday that afternoon on the back porch. She had a totally Kailey (AG) birthday.

The next day, we all packed up and went to PC (the kids and I) and to Atlanta (R to meet the movers and work like a dog for the next 3 days)He came to PC on Christmas Eve, we had a great Christmas with Mom and Dad. I will post catch up pictures, too. Of course the kids got way too much. Thank you to everyone that contributed!

Right after Christmas we all came back (Melbourne) including M&D to meet the movers here. The next two weeks were nothing but a blur of boxes. We all got sick with wicked colds, (thank you patient zero.....Gracie) but didn't stop. My poor parents worked like illegal immigrants getting the house set up for us before they went home on Friday. It was all worth it in the end. I love the new house, even though it needs a fence around the yard and a heater for the pool. One reason M&D stayed until Friday was because F had a Dr. appt. in Tampa on Thursday. They stayed to watch W and G for me. They got to go to the zoo and to a park at PAFB. They left not long after we did and didn't get home until right before us. Anyways, they all had a blast, Gommer and Grandaddy, included, and were all bushed....including G&G:) F had been pretty sick and they had called in an oral steroid for her inflamation. BTW, it's not pretty! I kept waiting for her to start her period any moment with the mood swings and unreasonableness. Yes, I know unreasonableness is not a real word, but that was what she was. She had gotten mostly better by the appt., but they still put her on an antibiotic and we are giving her the adult doses of Albuterol and Pulmicort during the healing. The good new is that when I called today for her culture results, they were completely clean again! Even for the MRSA. I just knew it would rear it's ugly head since colds usually start a flare up. So that was super news! This past weekend was race weekend at Disneyworld...yes, DISNEYWORLD. Faith ran the Mickey Mile on Friday. (mom and dad stayed to watch, then went home from there) She did really well, esp. considering that she had been sick and not run but once since leaving the camper. I ran with her that day, and was sore for a week:) So, F and Daddy ran the Mickey Mile together. Of course we wouldn't have let her run alone (up against 13 yr olds) but it was a good thing he went for an unexpected reason. Apparently, some little boy was hitting on her during the race. Yes, I said DURING the race. R said he finally had to get between them running to get rid of him. Oh, and he was older too....at least 8 or 9. Is no where safe? I will post some pictures of tonight's diatribe and continue another time.

So far, on track

2008-12-03T19:54:00.009-05:00

Wow, it's been a busy week. We are set to close on the house on the 19th of December, F's bday on the 20th.......we'll be driving to Atlanta that day because the movers come to the house there on Sunday the 21st to pack. Three days there to pack the house and truck then onto PC on the 23rd for Christmas. Everyone back here (mom and dad too) by the 29th for the movers to unpack in Melbourne. In the mean time, our realtor is handling her own Christmas, the painters, the vent cleaners, the fence builders, the carpet cleaners, and professional housekeepers so that it will all be ready for us when we get back. She also found a place for us to store our camper today and got us a deal on a pool heater from her guy....Oh, and I'm also using her hairdresser...talk about above and beyond!

A Will funny: I heard him telling R about the potato chips in his laptop that Mommy told him run the computer...Too funny!

Saturday AM is the Home Depot build. I am taking Fatih to the Nutcracker that afternoon for part of her bday. I am so excited about her bday presents this year. I accidently happened on the fact that the 2004 AG girl was named Kaylie and her thing was body boarding. (F's new love) So, I found one on ebay with a bunch of her accessories in the lot. She has sunstreaked blonde hair like Faith's with brown eyes. When she came, she was even more beautiful in person than in the pictures!....R makes fun of me because I refer to the doll as a "her" instead of an it. I was able to get her little wetsuit that looks like one of F's bathing suits, another swim suit, her snorkle set with the mask, fins, and snorkle, an underwater camera, a pair of sunglasses, her "meet" dress with sandals and bag, her dog Sandy that barks when you press her paw, and the piece de resistance,,,,,,her own little bodyboard in with it's own case. I also bought her the Kailey book so that she would know who the heck she was. I was going to save some of it for Christmas, but am considering just unloading it all for her birthday. She is getting robbed even more than usual with the Christmas bday this year. Because of the house purchase and moving schedule, we are going to be on the road driving to Atlanta her whole bday.

Gracie is coming more into her own everyday. She's no longer just the little "me too" girl. She is getting her own personality and leads the trouble a lot of the time. She has started announcing her awakening every morning with "A Gace is awake!" or one morning it was "Daddy, your Gace is awake!" at the top of her voice waking everyone in the camper that isn't already awake.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T16:47:00.004-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all!
As I reflect on my gifts to be thankful for on this day, I believe I may be more thankful this Thankgiving than on any other in my life.
Two years ago this time of year Daddy had a triple bypass. Last year Mom had cancer, and of course there is the ever present worry of Faith's health. Today I got to spend this holiday with all three of them in addition to the rest of my wonderful family. Dad's annual cardio appt. went so well this month that he didn't even have to have a stress test. Mom got the all clear on the cancer earlier this fall and Faith just had the best CF check up of her life. I told before about her weight gain. R called the new center yesterday and the nurse told him the results of her sputum culture. She grew out only normal lung flora! The MRSA didn't even show up! Super news!
R got this great new job after being home since March and we will be moved into our new house before the end of the year, and of course I would be remiss not to mention my other two sweet babies, W and G. They are both growing fast. Sometimes I can even see the changes from day to day.
I have great friends and family that couldn't be with us today, and I love and miss you all, so once again, Happy Thanksgiving and onward to the celebration of the birth of our Saviour who I thank everyday for these blessings and more.

More News

2008-11-25T09:46:00.002-05:00

Faith's appt. went really well. Of course she didn't weigh as much as they wanted, but that's always the case. Her BMI was in around the 30th % which is higher than it's ever been. We really liked the new center and all the staff. They seem to really be on the ball and handled Faith very well. The respiratory therapist looks like Shoes and is a really sweet woman. We finally took the plunge and decided to put a bid in on a house even though the one in Atlanta hasn't sold yet. The camper life lost it's charm sometime around the beginning of last week and we are going with our faith in God that he'll take care of us. So, that being said, we decided on a home in Melbourne. It' s the one I spoke of before that went off the market then came back on. It is a nice house in a good, yet little older neighborhood with the best backyard in Florida. A 4/2.5 with a family, dining and living room. A great outdoor lanai with a screen enclosed pool and did I mention the great backyard?

Catching up

2008-11-16T19:29:00.010-05:00

Sorry it's been so long. Last I wrote, I was relieved that Will's illness was just a stomach thing. Well, R brought home a real cold the next day! Will went first, then Grace. Faith and I put up a good fight for almost a week, but both woke up this morning with sore throats. Poor Will ended up with both at the same time. In the meantime, the house that I have been telling you about in Melbourne went under contract without us. It was very depressing for me. We have been continuing to look in the East Orlando area, but it is some sort of haven for members of the sex offender list. The last house I liked had 19 within 2 miles and one as close as less than half a mile! Poor Jessie Lunsford still haunts me to this day, so we won't be doing that. On the fun side, we saw the last nightime shuttle launch Friday evening. I am posting the short video clip of the launch, but mostly it just looks like a bright light in the distance.

Santa was at Publix last week when we were shopping. Will asked me why that man was dressed up so funny. Later, when telling Daddy about the day he came up with "A snowman" when asked what the man was dressed like. Then Gracie said, " He was dressed like a snowman because it's Halloween!" Yeah, Yeah, I know, scarred for life blah blah blah.....I promise I've never said he didn't exist, I just don't make Christmas about him.

Oh, Faith has been practicing "The Atrocious" song. I will post that clip too. I will be so sad when she finally gets the words right.

She has her first appt. with the new CF center on Thursday. Won't it be nice that we will take her for her first appt. with a cold? Of course there will be all that news on Friday.
Okay, now the video's aren't posting. I will try again later.

Great News!

2008-11-10T20:07:00.002-05:00

No, we didn't sell our house, but in our family, this news is even better. Will's illness turned out to be totally gastro, no lung/head stuff, and he seems better now. So far, everyone else is fine. His temperature threw me off yesterday. Who runs a fever with a stomachache? Apparently, Will. Gracie tricked me with her sleepy/cranky mood with a combo of sniffy allergy stuff. Once she got her second wind, she was fine.
So YAAAAYY!
The campground cranked up the heaters on the pools today, so I guess we will be going there on a regular basis again. There is a leak under the bathroon sink that a guy is coming to fix in the AM. Not much activity today. I stayed close to the camper (camper's bathroom) this morning, but got out a little more and over to the pool once I was confident that Will was going to be okay. I will spare you the details of the midnight spontaneous combustion of our son last night, but in the lessons learned catagory, if your 4 yr old is suffering from gastro problems already, don't feed him an apple for his dinner. In this case, an apple a day, blah blah blah is not a good prescription.