Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Not me! Monday’s strikes me as a fun thing to participate in every now and again and well....it is time for another post. I have to confess this very morning I was thinking I had nothing of real interest with which to share. Silly, foolish, Jess. I needed to only take the family grocery shopping to Walmart whereupon I got trapped into my not me story. As with last time this definitely involves little Miss Katie.

I guess life was little too mundane around here and we needed some excitement. I mean Walmart trips are a dime a dozen, are they not? Not this time. Most certainly not this time.

Katie was just sitting in the cart hanging tight while I ordered cheese from the deli (the other two were scoping out the cakes and such). When I finished and wrangled the other two back to the cart she didn't start crying. I didn't accuse Kiersten of bumping/hurting her as she got back in the cart only to realize Katie had most certainly not gotten her sweet little ankle caught between the metal bars just outside the designated leg areas up top!

Her ankle hadn't swollen and couldn't slip right back out. She wasn't crying so loud we were drawing a crowd. I did not try to pull a Wonder Woman and attempt to pull the bars apart to see if I could gain a wee (ahh, the Scottish slip in!) bit of wiggle room in order to free her very reddening ankle. (Thankfully her toes were not turning blue- so there was no need to panic even further.)

There were not seriously 4 or more employees trying to help me. One dear lady from the deli, older lady of course, suggested some butter or oil (were we not in a grocery store for heaven's sake?!) to grease her up. Out comes another dear deli worker with a cup of oil...she did not lather Katie's ankle up so good it looked like she needed to be baked. And it didn't work so well that within 30 seconds she was free! (Thanks Lord! Seriously, I appreciate that that was all that was necessary. For a minute I was not thinking we were going to have to call the Fire Department to cut her out!)

Ah, this incident did not remind me of another time a child of mine (Kiersten) got her head stuck at Applebee's and it took us a minute to get her out- no oil or butter necessary. And people say boys are trouble!

Honestly, where would the excitement in my life lie if it were not for my children to get my heart racing every now and again? :) I certainly hope your Monday was slightly less eventful than mine! Have a blessed afternoon. :)

Father-in-law

**Update** They checked his heart and other than a very minor vein blocked (pretty sure not the cause of pain) everything looks o.k. Another concern they are dealing with is his blood pressure - it was spiked fairly high (220/1-something- sorry for vagueness) but didn't remain that high. This causes some problems for putting him on blood pressure medication because it isn't always high. So in the meantime when he is not spiking they have to make sure the dose doesn't make his pressure too low. They are also doing an MRI, I believe, to see if there are any blockages within his brain causing mini-strokes or anything to that effect.

We did stop down to see the folks after a family graduation party on Saturday. Both seem to be relieved he is in the hospital where he can receive the best care and be monitored in case something should happen. Pa looks good- although I did let him know Ma was going to give him a lickin', an over the knee one, when he gets home for not speaking up earlier in the week when he first started having chest pains. She mentioned a 2X4 would do about right! :) Boys, what are you gonna do with them?

As of today it looks like he'll head home tomorrow. It all depends on the MRI and blood pressure situation. We'll see. Thanks for all the prayers...keep 'em coming! :) Have a blessed morning

Just wanted to ask for prayer for my father-in-law. My mother-in-law took him to the hospital this morning because he was having some chest pain and just wasn't wanting to get ready or do much. She immediately became worried as he had a quadruple (I believe) by-pass just over 7 years ago now. So his heart is always something of a concern. Anyhow, he has been admitted and is being monitored. He seems to be doing okay, but they will keep him there overnight on continuous monitoring to be sure. My MIL was a bit of a wreck...with worry and stress, as you can imagine, so if you could also say a quick prayer for her as well.

I have mentioned these two before and their wonderful milestone of love... thanks again for lifting them up to the Lord with me! I'll post more as I know more.

Her First...

birthday has come and gone. I have to say it was not the way I imagined celebrating Miss Katie's birthday. To be truthful we had to celebrate the day after... I know, in all truthfulness not a big deal. To be sure she knew nothing and minded not in the least that we didn't celebrate on the actual 1 year anniversary of the day she was born.

See we took a little vacation out to North Carolina to visit with my dear Uncle Dale. The drive was a fairly long one and due to some unexpected traffic that nearly left my Beloved on the edge of a breakdown we arrived home at 8:30 the night of her birthday. Needless to say I had no cake, no presents, nothing with which to celebrate our dear Katie.

Immediately after church the next day I set off to Walmart to get the party fixin's (as you Southerner's say :)). Kiersten went with me to pick out a few small gifts and gather some groceries. One of the gifts was this fridge farm from Leap Frog. We used to have one when Isaiah was little. But as things happen, and boy do they happen when you have little ones, the pieces ended up getting thrown away one by one. It wasn't intentionally. It is just the way things happen when the garbage can is too close to the fridge.

Anyhow, you can see Katie was a bit thrilled at the gift. At the beach house in North Carolina the family had this very toy on their refrigerator and she went to play with it constantly. So we thought...wouldn't that make a lovely gift? She was hysterical to watch when she saw it. See how crazy it made her? (picture above) Who would have thought a 1 year old could flip out over a toy?! :)

As a side note Little Miss Katie is officially a walker now. As happened when we took her sister on a trip just at her first birthday, Katie took off on two feet while on our trip. Sure she had taken a few steps at home...you know 1 or 2 together before falling. But on vacation she was crossing rooms and really making headway. How sweet it is to watch them learn to navigate walking. She still looks like she has had a few too many...but that will change as every day goes by. It makes my Beloved tear up as he can't believe she is already so big and yet so small. Just doesn't seem right somehow.

But, I digress! Back to birthday fun.

This is the cake I made the little missy. It is a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Gotta love Betty Crocker! Of course I decorated it as well...but let's just not go there but rather let's discuss that the cake came out not stuck to any pan and in fabulous shape! I made a carrot cake for Kiersten's 2nd birthday and it didn't not come out well. physically speaking. (Tasted wonderful though.) When I took it to my first family birthday party (we just had moved back to state where my Beloved's family lives) my father-in-law took one look at it and said,"Who made that? Leah?" Leah is my niece and was my 1 1/2 years old at the time. Yeah, definitely not a compliment!!! Oh well, we live and learn right? My proof is the cake you see before you. :) YEAH ME!

With a little help we had the candle blown out and a piece of cake set out for Katie to enjoy.

Eating cake is serious business, don't you know? :)

Nothing beats watching a little one get the joy of tearing into their first piece of unshared birthday cake! What a sweetie.

I had to throw this picture in. What a face! This is usually the face I get when I am feeding her vegetables and she seems to be saying, "That is quite enough. Thank you very much!"

Ah, the first birthday come and gone. How quickly the time goes. My sweet Katie is such a dear girl. Only time will tell how many traits or tricks she will mimic from the older ones. Already she can fake laugh...just like her brother. She can squeal and hold 'conversations' with her sister. And how her face lights up when each of them makes their way downstairs when they wake up and come to see us. What a sweet girl she is. Truly a gem.

Belated Birthday Wishes for Grandpa

Dad- so sorry we are late getting this up. We hope you know we love you dearly and deeply! We also hope you enjoy the video...perhaps the singing will sound better when we don't all do it together. :)

A Little Birthday Love

We love you Mom. Happy Birthday! Hope you enjoy your birthday messages. Sending extra love & blessings your way. :)

Whirlwind Visit

This past week we had a most pleasant surprise -my mom and her beloved made a quick visit to see the kids. As mentioned before my mom works overseas and comes home to the states for 10-14 day visits every 3-4 months. Now, that isn't true all the time, but that is my best guesstimate to give you a feel for how short a time she is home for and how often. Combine all that with the fact she lives about 100o miles from us and you can see why a visit is truly an honor!

So, they came in late Monday and were gone before lunch on Wednesday. In and out of the state in less than 48 hours. A whirlwind visit.

But oh the things you can pack into a whirlwind visit! The kids had so much fun. Isaiah clung to Grandpa like glue. I am sure it had some thing to do with the fact that Grandpa could throw him in the air, make him touch the ceiling and took him swimming. :) Grandpa is a good rough houser and my all boy loves that.

Now Kiersten, she loves Grandpa just because. But Grandma...she says Grandma is stylish. :) I have alluded to this before, how Kiersten sees the details of my mom. When she draws Grandma she puts things in like earrings, nail polish, lipstick- stylish things. Kiersten really digs that Grandma is a girls girl too.

During their short visit G & G took Kiersten and Isaiah out for a few hours, leaving me with just the Katie girl. I met up with them for dinner...after they went out by the lake, scared a pack of seagulls (which made Isaiah laugh like a loon), each picked out a toy from Walmart and then went swimming! Seriously, G & G are into the art of spoiling their only grandchildren (thus far). :) I can tell you my kids mind not in the least.

The older two also got to stay overnight at the hotel with G & G and were treated to another swimming time with Grandpa in the morning. I did mention they spoil them, right? :)

It was just good to see their sweet faces. We were so thankful they came, even if it was a quick trip. Thanks so much Mom & Denys. Although, how you managed to spoil us all so much in such a short period of time is a bit of a mystery. You must be good at the business of spoiling! :)

Thanks again and we love you muchly!

So NOT Amused

Yep, I am not definitely not amused at being woken up just after 5am. This is the time our littlest family member has decided is their new wake-up time. Can I just share with you how super cheerful and fun I am at just after 5am? Scratch that. Can I share with you how super cheerful she is at this time of the day? I can do 6, although I prefer closer to 7. But 5?!

All I can think is that it is time for an investment into some blackout shades for Miss Katie's room. The sun is well over the horizon when I am stomping my way up to get little Miss Wakey Wakey. (We have already dug deep into our pockets once and purchased them for Kiersten & Isaiah's room as this was the same problem we had with them last year!) Sigh.

Well, I suppose these are the days you learn to lean extra hard on the Lord because you are more than well aware your attitude needs some serious adjusting. Nothing a good nap wouldn't cure, but since we all know that isn't happening God will have to be my One and Only. Aren't you glad you are merely reading the joy that is overflowing from my cup this morning instead of being here to share in it? :)

Ok, a little sarcasm and sense of humor will go a long way to making the day brighter. Although, it was plenty bright at 5. :) You've got to wonder if the Lord regrets sarcasm. Ah well, something to ponder another day. I'm off to get a warm cup of coffee and to paste a perpetual smile on my face to remind myself to count it all joy (I read and listened to your post on this Miss Pam. Now about the application.....working on it).