Gratitude Never Fails

By the time you read this (most of you,) my grandfather will be having triple-bypass surgery, which is scheduled for early on May 19. I only have one request:

" Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God ... "

- 2 Thessalonians, vs. 17 & 18

No More Noise

Conversation of the weekend because our neighbor was using some sort of cherry picker to trim trees over his pool:

"Mom, noise gone?"

"Yes, Annie, I think he's through."

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"Noise gone?"

"I think so."

"Mom?"

"Yep?"

"Mom?"

"Uh-huh?"

"Noise gone?"

"Pretty sure."

"Mom? Mom? MOM?"

"Yes, Annie?"

"No noise?"

"Nope."

"Mom?"

Mom is not here anymore ...

Chow Time

and so it goes at mealtimes at our house ... we sit at the infamous sticker table, and Annie tries various foods ... of course it didn't take her long at all (sorry, Mom!) to figure out that what she doesn't like her sisters are more than happy to finish off! Yes, I know there are a gazillion reasons why this is not a good habit for her to get into, but it's Friday, and everyone knows anything goes on Friday, at least in our house ...

off to do only the necessary errands ... might as well just be throwing cash onto the highway since the price of gas makes me cry ...

Priorities

ok, the date for the surgery has been finalized ... June 16, so everyone put that on your calendars! most important thing about this date is that I can still make my June 7 haircut appt... so grateful!!

Will That Be With Ovaries or Without?

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Yep, so many things to discuss today ... first and foremost we did decide to put Spidey to work so that is a photo of him doing some gardening for us ... you gotta make those inflatable superheroes earn their keep ...

And yes, that is Annie's new "big girl" bed complete with bright blue "Cars" bedding ... and yes, I realize that it looks weird in her girly room but whatever. At least she loves the new bed and her Mater pillow I bribed her with in Target. Anyone remember that fateful trip?

Ok, now for the inevitable news: I will be having a hysterectomy within the next few weeks. The date is not quite firmed up, but it will be sometime in the month of June. The entire situation has taken me more than awhile to accept, but knowing that God blessed us with Annie certainly makes it a bit easier. The support of family and friends has also made it easier. A hysterectomy has always been in the cards for me, but having it actually be about to happen is a little overwhelming. I ask only for your prayers ...

Australia the Great

" I thought Europe was a country ... Is France a country?"

- American Idol season seven's Kellie Pickler on "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader"




yes, dear readers, you are seeing correctly ... that is a map at the top of this blog ... now we'll be covering geography today, and those of you who know me, are related to me or have just brushed up against me at Publix know that I am NOT a geography whiz ... however ...

Anthony and I were watching an episode of "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader" the other day, and the contestant chose a geography question ... now this is normally my cue to file my fingernails, dust the house, sweep the floor, do any necessary darning, etc. Anything to appear disinterested. But this day, well, this day was extra special.

The question was "what continent is smallest in area?" I pretty much immediately said Australia, Anthony thought for a bit and said Europe, and the contestant thought for a long, long time and finally came up with Antarctica. Anthony, who is wonderful and very smart, kicked back in his chair and said, "he is wroooong." I can still hear it reverberating in my head ...

And then the most amazing thing happened. I mean, truly amazing. Jeff Foxworthy, the host and king of dragging out giving the correct answer until everyone is about to vomit from sheer nerves, said, "the right answer is Australia." I just sat there in awe ... I, who thought Paris was a country and Omaha and New England were states, had gotten a geography question right. Truly a miracle.

Of course it was a short-lived victory as I got a little cocky this morning with my new-found geographical knowledge and told Anthony that Central America was part of South America.

Oh, well, it was nice while it lasted.

Happy Mother's Day

Dedicated to all mothers everywhere and most especially to my mom, the most beautiful and most generous woman I have ever been so blessed to know ...







"... Motherhood is the highest calling; moms are my heroes."
- Diane Sawyer

Oh, Spidey, Where Art Thou?

Gotta love Friday nights ... we spent ours outside with Anthony's parents, who are in town for the weekend. And, yes, that is an inflatable Spiderman sitting in one of our deck chairs. It went with some pool we had last chair, and now Anthony has taken to moving Spidey around so he can "get out." As long as he doesn't "get out" in the house ...

TGIF

So for me Fridays are always sort of special days, days to reflect on the prior week, on how I did as a mother, how special my child is, how much I love my husband, and time to let Annie do anything and everything she wants. Annie, like to have an entire box of kleenex to play with and throw all over the floor? Sure. No problem. Want to have Mommy read the same circular 7,000 times? Absolutely. Want to kiss your precious sister on the mouth? My father, the retired veterinarian, always says a dog's mouth is cleaner than ours, so have at it. Want to stand in a chair and laugh like a hyena? Why not? Love to watch the Doodlebops, even though we're still not quite sure what they are? Can't wait. Special times ...

Starting Over

Proof that despite a slightly rocky start to yesterday it is NEVER too late to start a day over ...

Mommy Muffin Day

And so today was Mommy Muffin Day at Annie's Moms Day Out program, which meant that all the mommies went with the kids to eat various and sundry muffins at the church. (ok, maybe that didn't need an explanation, but I wanted to share.) It was such a nice gesture, and everything was so pretty.

Too bad I was toting Sybil. Within the first two seconds, clingy Annie had fallen out of her chair (after being told 7,000 times to sit down,) started crying, flung herself at me, and in the process spilled a cup of apple juice, and then stolen some other child's napkin to clean up the mess. Oh, Mommy Muffin Day indeed.

Luckily at that point all the teachers arrived to take the kids to their respective "classes," and then the mommies really enjoyed visiting, drinking coffee, slugging back shots of vodka, etc. Was a lovely morning ...

Then I got home and opened the craft the kids had made and remembered why we had Annie in the first place.

We're insane.

Sybil Sighting

(Disclaimer: Julie, I believe Sybil may have found her way back to Spring Hill.)

Ok, already today is a hit-the-ground sprinting kind of day, and it's only 10:30. My precious child, whose entirely unpredictable behavior I will continue to blame on rupturing molars until she is at least 30, is giving me gray hair. (Incidentally, in one of the pictures you can very plainly see the drool which backs up my molar theory.)

Today has been a very, very clingy sort of day ... Annie is good at helping with things like unloading the dishwasher (not knives, of course) or at least playing while I do little chores like that. NOT today, though. She was happily playing, so I went to do the dishwasher, and she immediately came to me to cling to my leg as if the world were on the verge of ending.

I decided to just go play with whatever she was playing with because I could see this was not going to be one of her better mornings. Turns out it was Noah's Ark. Lovely -- a chance for a tiny Bible lesson. I explained about Noah and the flood and the animals and how some animals could even be on top of the ark. Well, this was her cue to sit on the ark herself. Thank God it didn't break ...

One of the other pictures is of her putting on her "toes," which is how she refers to her socks. And of course I can't leave out sweet and ever-tolerant Mary because Annie loves her so much ...

At the moment, Annie is napping, which is a good thing. I have unwrapped myself from the fetal position to write this, but I am going to return there now.

The Evolution of the Weekend

We had a nice but went by way too fast weekend ... Annie, Mary and Hope worked in the yard a LOT with their daddy, and one of Annie's most favorite friends came over to play. I did the never NEVER ending chore of laundry and trying to keep the house in some version of clean (HA!) mode (these days I'll settle for a tiny bit of tidy) with the obligatory trips to Target and Lowe's. Ah, how weekends have changed but I wouldn't change a thing ...

Southern Living

Here's Annie in her favorite "Cars" get-up ... I suppose it's technically supposed to be a boys movie, but she loves it, and we think it's hysterical, so no harm in my book.

And of course any good Southern woman would automatically pick "Southern Living" to peruse at the start of the day, so there you go. Pretty soon we'll be on the deck out back drinking mint juleps. Oh, wait, is it not ok to already be doing that now?

Then, the return to paci. Her poor little molar just needs to come on through before she chomps on every single thing in this house, but in the meantime her pacifiers seem to give her some comfort (along with every other thing we've tried.)

The Near Riot of 2008

Ok, so yesterday was Annie's beloved Moms Day Out program's Teacher Appreciation Day. Not only did I sign up to bring a dish (i.e. cook something) I also volunteered to stay with her class while the teachers went and had their program. Now this all seemed like a lovely idea however many weeks ago I volunteered ... a way to give back and what not. But yesterday I freaked out.

First, I began making a casserole, and Annie just stood in the kitchen staring, like "huh, a new activity for Mom to participate in." Then on my way to school later (another mom also volunteered to stay with the class because they wanted 2 adults since they have two teachers) I had this panic attack that the children might riot or something and we would be outnumbered. Then (and I am NOT proud of this) I thought "but they're small and we could tackle them." Ok, confession time: Annie's class has 6 children in it. This wonderful program keeps the numbers small so the kids have plenty of interaction with the teachers.

Wondering how it all turned out? Interestingly is the only word (if that's a word) I would use. It was naptime when we arrived, and of course Annie went berserk since I was there. She did fall asleep, though, but then was awakened by a child of the other mom (her kids also chose not to sleep,) so my precious child hopped up off her mat, yanked her pillowcase off her pillow and put it on her head like it was some insane partytime. I was not proud, needless to say. But we persevered, and I said an extra special prayer for her insanely kind teachers and all they do for the kids and for us.

And then I put away that casserole dish for the next time I cook, probably around a hundred years from now.

** Idol update: Brooke is gone, and I am never watching TV AGAIN **