Speech Therapy.

Doesn't he just look like he's got plenty to say? Tooter does for sure, and he will say those things when he's ready. I'm sure of it. In the past month to six weeks or so, he has finally become willing to attempt to say words when prompted. His speech is progressing.

BUT. He is still behind the average developmentally. And, he is enough behind the average that he qualifies for our state's early intervention program - specifically their speech therapy program.

We went yesterday to fill out paperwork, and the team of people came today to evaluate his development level - both speech and motor skills. I will admit to feeling somewhat chaotic during the visit - the kids were on high performance alert (i.e. all keyed up because 5 new people walked into the house), and I also had Audrey with me. So I probably caught about 1 word out of 5 that was said to me. Thank goodness I will be getting a copy of their paperwork in a week or so.

But the gist of it is - Toot is fine with his motor skills. He's either on target or in some cases "advanced". He scored fine with his receptive communication (I think that's what it was), in that he can listen to and follow commands and name things when prompted, etc. I don't remember if that was actually at a 28 month level, but it was within at least 4 months of the desired level. His expressive communication development level is what, of course, is the concern. His overall score was actually above the recommended level for qualifying for the therapy. (Because of taking the average of his individual scores). But, because of something or other that I really wasn't able to listen to, he can still have access to a therapist.

So. That will start within a few weeks. They come to our house once a week until he meets a certain goal.

Here's my thought - Toot would probably be fine without the therapy. He is progressing, and he'll speak when he's ready. All true. BUT, since this program won't cost us anything, and because it may very well help me to recognize areas where I can be more helpful to him, and because it can't hurt - we're going to take advantage of it. Plus, these therapists have seen all sorts of issues. Tooter's situation will certainly be nothing new, and even if this only plays a small role in his progress, then it's worth it! I don't want to miss an opportunity to help, you know? Granted, there are moments that I feel like I'm being an alarmist about it all or am too focused on it. I'll have to work thru those thoughts.

Hey, maybe the speech therapy will end up being more useful for my peace of mind than anything else. That's not a bad thing. :-)

Egg-citing Art

::ahem::
(I really shouldn't be allowed to title my own posts).

MooMoo had gotten the kids some very neato egg shaped pieces of sidewalk chalk, and I let them go to it on Granny's birthday, while I was involved with doing other things for the upcoming party.

This is a picture of both of them in action. For those wondering, yes - this is the same leotard that she ended up wearing to the family party that same night. I know..... whadayagonnado?



This sort of shows most of the finished work. Now, I'm sure you can tell what every little thing is, but just in case your computer is a little wonky ;-) this is a picture of "the jungle" from the The Jungle Book movie. And Poodle showed me everything - Mowgli, Baloo, the monkeys, Bagheera, everything. Now, my van tires have precious little chalk marks on them. :-)
And, most of the jungle still remains. We have to step over it every time we load up the van. ha!

Look Ma - No Cavities!

Poodle has had an issue for the past couple of years with stains on her teeth. There's no way to know for sure what is causing the problem, but it could be a combination of particularly groovy teeth (as in - her teeth have deep grooves), genetics, and our favorite sweet treat around here (dark chocolate). :-) At any rate, we've always been able to keep it under some control until the past few months. It has gotten increasingly worse, despite consistent and vigorous brushing.

HowEVER - we have the wonderful blessing of having Aunt Amy to go to! She's a dental hygenist, and works for a WONderful dentist in a very family friendly office. He's not technically a pediatric dentist, but the office is very child friendly. So, while our regular family dentist (I've been seeing him for I'm-not-gonna-tell-you-how-many years, but since I was little) is a very nice man, he's way more intimidating than wonderful Aunt Amy. So, yesterday, we went to see her - and she was able to polish Poodle's teeth and got all the stains off! I've never seen Amy work before, and it was such a treat to watch her. Her skills are fantastic, and she really knows her way around teeth. And she was perfect with Poodle. I was so impressed with her.

Anyway, I'm so excited to see Poodle's pearly whites actually be white again that I thought I'd share some pictures from the event. :-) Thank you SO much Amy!!!

Party - A+!

I have been wanting to post a blog about Granny's party(ies) since Saturday, but have not been able to even get the pictures off of my camera yet. We have been blowing and going since then, and have yet to slow down.

But let me say that it was an incredible celebration of the life of an extraordinary woman who has seen so very much. And, I was able to videotape her singing "Twilight is Stealing" with the congregation on Saturday - so meaningful, because that has been the lullaby song on that side of my family all my life. And, in fact, has been one of the lullaby songs in our house too.

I didn't get NEARLY the pictures I needed to get, unfortunately. Between running back and forth between the kitchen and the food tables, and trying to get in a teeny bit of visiting time with family and chasing my own kids from time to time, I didn't have my camera out enough. Mom and Dad hired a photographer to come in and shoot the day, so I think I mentally got lazy on the picture thing.

Anyway, it was wonderful, and wouldn't have happened without so many people giving so much of themselves. Primarily, my mom for all the creative planning and work and my parents collectively for their dedication to making this a day to remember for Granny.

I only saw Granny tear up one time (and she never cries, btw) - and that was when she looked at a picture of herself and Grandaddy. She said "I wish he was here". But, then she said, "But I'll see him soon, and I don't want any tears when I go. Because I'll be in a much better place, and will be happy".
Mom had done a cake table with five different cakes - all depicting different pieces of Granny's life. The above conversation happened when Granny was looking at the cake that had her birthdate and her wedding anniversary date on it.

Thank you to all who sacrificed to come be a part of it and to all who worked so hard to make it a reality! Hopefully, I can get a picture or two up soon.

1908-2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANNY!!!

Tomorrow.

Tomorrow - it is a big day for our family. My maternal grandmother (and my only living grandparent, not counting my dear husband's grandmother) turns 100. 100!

She is a leap year baby, obviously, and this will be her 25th "real" birthday. What an amazing life she has had - and what amazing things she has seen. A lot of the family will be in town (she is currently living with and being cared for by my mom and dad), and we will be seeing folks we haven't seen in years. I am so excited. We'll be gathering for dinner tomorrow night, and will have a huge party at church on Saturday.

100 doesn't come around very often - we are so grateful to have seen this milestone with her! It's hard to imagine, really.

If you're within shouting distance of the Zoo, then you're invited to the party. Let me know if you need directions to the church. It's time to CELEBRATE!!!

It has happened.

The front rail of Toot's crib has been removed, and he is now officially learning how to sleep in a "big boy bed"!

We removed it yesterday. And he thought being able to climb into his bed all on his own was TOO COOL. He slept with the rail off last night for the first time. And did a fine job. Had some minor difficulties getting to sleep, but only woke up a couple of times during the night - and then, he didn't leave the bed. This morning, he woke up pleasantly and played in his room until Poodle and I came in to get him. (Patty - Toot doesn't know how to work doorknobs yet. It's the only reason he's not swinging from the chandeliers at 2:00am).

Sooo0 - time marches on. We will put him in a "real" bed as soon as we get it all together. The headboard is in the attic, but we haven't yet gathered all the pieces parts (including sheets, etc) so the whole bed can be assembled. And then I guess I'll have to quit calling him my baby boy. lol..... Yeah. Like that will ever happen. :-)

P.S. My apologies for the poor picture quality. The camera has developed gremlins that won't leave. I guess we'll have to get another one or something. Blugh.

Pout.

I know most of y'all aren't likely to get the significance of this, but it really makes me a bit sad. Bye Rapids.

Everyone, meet Fred.

Fred is my new personal assistant! Ladies and gentlemen, the iRobot Roomba vacuum. a.k.a. Fred. I wanted to name it Rosie, but Poodle insisted that the robot was a boy. And after telling her that giving it her brother's name wasn't an option, she decided that Fred was his name.

Anyway! You see Fred here taking care of Tooter's room. The decision to buy Fred came as a result of a conversation regarding the Roomba on a listserve I'm on. I've seen these for years, and never really thought they could possibly work. But, the newer models have gotten better, and..... after I compiled some Christmas money (thanks Mom/Dad and Jennifer/David!), redeemed some Discover cash back bonus points, and used one of the ubiquitous Bed Bath and Beyond coupons that pile up at our house, the kids and I went and picked up Fred this week!

Now, I know what you're wondering. Does Fred really work? Yes!!! I have to admit, it's pretty cool. The past two nights, after supper, we started it cleaning the living room/playroom/foyer area. By the time we got kitchen clean up finished, got the kids' teeth brushed, bath time finished, and got them to bed, Fred was finished with those rooms.

Two days ago, I had Fred working on our bedroom - while it was in there doing its thing, I was at the kitchen table with the kids working on puzzles.

You can see the cool factor.

Now, should you run right out and buy one yourself? Well..... if I had to describe Fred, I would describe him as the crockpot of the cleaning appliances. Know what I mean? When you need to throw in some meat and veggies, or cook a bag of black beans - and you want to do that without standing over a stove - a crockpot is fantastic. Can not beat it. You can't do intricate things with a crockpot, but for convenience, you can't beat it. Not everyone needs a crockpot, and it won't be useful for all cooking applications. But it's awful handy to have around.

Ditto the Roomba. It's not going to deeply vacuum the carpet. It's not going to pick up the floor lamp and vacuum underneath it. It can't close a door, vacuum behind it, then open the door back up. You get the idea. It's not going to finish a room as quickly as a person can.

BUT, to set it up in your daughter's room, and then go away to handle laundry, work on letters with Poodle, play with Tooter, and email your husband while her carpet is getting vacuumed is pretty darn cool. And, it handles going from carpet to hard flooring quite nicely. Added bonus, it's not terribly loud. It can be running in the living room, and it's not so loud that it will bother the kids while they're trying to go to sleep.

It does a great job on pet hair. (A must for us). And, it forces me to keep the floor "Fred Friendly". i.e. keep the floor relatively free of clutter. NOT an easy task when you're home all day with mini-tornadoes. But, this will help me to help them learn how to clean up, which is important.

And here is a neat aside for the programmer-types. The Roomba designers encourage programmers to fiddle with the Roomba's programing, as long as they abide by the end user agreement.

So.... there you have it! Fred. My newest personal assistant. (My other P.A. being the crockpot in my kitchen. See? You probably have a P.A. too!) He's a very cool gadget, and Jmk digs him. Neato mosquito!

Please feel free to ask questions if you want to know more. :-)

p.s. I should add that a Roomba won't replace a regular vacuum. You'd still need a "real" vacuum. But you probably figured that out from my post, huh?

I want to post......

...but the laundry is pulling me under..... help!!!! Save me!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!! ::glub, glub, glub::

Okay. That was a bit over the top. I do want to tell you about a new personal assistant that I'm getting used to, but that will have to wait until I get things in some semblance of order for the weekend. Yay Friday!!! Yay Nacho Night!

Sympathy.

Ever had one of those days where your four-year old won't/can't take her nap, and your two-year old somehow can't sleep either? And when you go in to let him "get up", since you might as well, seeing as how everyone is now going to have to go to bed an hour and a half early tonight anyway, you realize that he has been playing with his poo in true monkey form? And it's everywhere? And I do mean everywhere? And then you have to strip him down and take him to the bathroom to scrub his fingernails and wash his face and hair, and he screams bloody murder as though you were the most terrifying person that had EVER walked into a bathroom?

And then later that day, you manage to dump the container of pink straws all over the floor, and when you get them back into the container and stand up, you slam your head into the open cabinet door, causing a lovely headache and some interesting (and salty - you can admit it) language under your breath?

If you've ever had one of those days, then I'm right there with you. Right there with you.

sigh....

Tuesday Tickle for the funny bone.

This is a long one... but hopefully it will make up for my occasional political rambling that I tend to do from time to time. Believe me this applies to BOTH sides of the aisle! Hat tip to Jmk!

A cowboy named Bud was overseeing his herd in a remote mountainous pasture in California when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a dust cloud towards him.

The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, RayBan sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the cowboy, 'If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, Will you give me a calf?'

Bud looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, 'Sure, Why not?'

The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer,connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3 cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet,where he calls up a GPS satellite to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.

The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany.

Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response.

Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the cowboy and says, 'You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves.'

'That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves,' says Bud.

He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car.

Then the Bud says to the young man, 'Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?'

The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, 'Okay, why not?'

'You're a Congressman for the U.S. Government', says Bud.

'Wow! That's correct,' says the yuppie, 'but how did you guess that?'

'No guessing required.' answered the cowboy. 'You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew,to a question I never asked. You tried to show me how much smarter than me you are; and you don't know a thing about cows...this is a herd of sheep. . . .

Now give me back my dog.'

Test: Negative. Life: Positive.

As instructed by my OB, I took a home pg test this morning. Since it read negative, this indicates that my hormone levels are back to a pre-pregnancy state and I can assume that everything is back to "normal".

It sort of feels like reading the last page of an intense book. A book that ends with an uplifting and forward-thinking last paragraph. As I have mentioned to a few people over the past few days, this entire event has been a challenge for us, but it really hasn't been a struggle. We have both felt that for the most part, the Lord has been lifting us over the waves, because He has heard and answered the untold many prayers that were offered on our behalf. If you prayed, even just once, please know that we felt it, and we were uplifted by it. Truly. I have never felt the effect of prayer on a personal level like this, and I can not adequately explain how extraordinary it is. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.

That covers where we are emotionally. Physically, I'm doing well. Almost finished with "everything" that is involved with this process. (details are unnecessary, trust me).

Now, I'm set to enjoy life for a little while being neither pregnant nor nursing. :-) That doesn't happen much around here. ha! And as for the future, we are going to hold status quo for awhile. After "awhile" passes, then we will go where we feel led. We spent part of yesterday afternoon talking about some home improvement projects that need to happen - that's the kind of thing we're thinking about right now.

As odd as this may sound, I feel so blessed right now. I have seen a side of some people that I never would have seen, had this not happened. I have shared stories with some women with whom I *never* would have discussed this type of thing, had this not happened. I have been looked at with eyes of compassion and understanding that I never would have experienced had this not happened.
And, mostly, this experience has served as a strengthening knot in the fabric of our marriage.

God is good, and His love is so abundant. He knew from the foundation of the world that this would happen, and He has truly been preparing us all along for it. I believe that with every fiber of my being. (Thank you for that sermon yesterday Bro. David!)

And now? We have swimming today at 11:00. Life goes on, and little Poodle girls need to swim across pools. We are blessed.

Yaaaaaaahhhh!

In English, that means "we've finished our taxes!"

Well, we have compiled all our information, including the MK business stuff. We're still waiting on one form from J's office, but after that, our wonderful, fabulous, and beautiful CPA (Aunt Jennifer) will be able to do her thing.

It is SO nice to have that albatross off for the year. Although I still think everyone ought to have to pay their taxes 4 times a year (by writing a check, and not by having deductions taken from their paychecks). It would make us MUCH more aware of how much we actually pay in taxes, and then there might actually be a real revolution in government spending. But that's another conversation.

Mostly, right now, I'm glad we're done for the year, and I'm really glad that we have an accountant who is brilliant and loves us. :-)

At least it's not the flu.

Got a cold circulating through the house. Toot came down with it late Saturday night, and was prone on top of me all day (literally) on Sunday. Poodle started showing symptoms and running fever on Wednesday.

Jmk and I have been zinc'ing and vitamin c'ing all week in hopes of warding this off. Kept the kids away from our drinking glasses, etc. So far, so good. BUT, we realize there is a likelihood of our catching it. We'll just hopefully get a weakened version.

The good news, though, is it isn't the flu! And, as colds go, it's fairly mild. And why do you need to know all this? What - you don't want to know every single minor detail of our lives? ::ahem::
:-)

In other odd news, my grandfather (my dad's dad) showed up in one of my dreams last night. Appropriate, seeing as how his birthday was on Valentine's Day when he was still with us on this earth. It was really wonderful to hear his voice again. :-) It's quite amazing what the brain is capable of storing, even though we can't consciously access it at any time we want.

Anyway, jackrabbit rambling aside... Happy Friday to all - and Happy Nacho Night!

Robert Frost

Ever wanted to hear "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" the way the author intended? How about just hearing it from the source?

Big hat tip to Rebecca for this one. How cool is it to hear Mr. Frost read his own poem???

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!!!

Season's Trophy

A European mount for Jmk's trophy for this past deer season. And here are the stats:
Killed January 5, 11-pt, 13.5" inside spread. According to the taxidermist, it was about 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 years old. But, it only weighed 140lbs, which is weird for that area at that age. Should have been 180 lbs at least.

(For all my friends who are raising eyebrows and saying "what?" lol..... I had to have Jmk tell me all that stuff. I'm learning, but am not *quite* there yet.)

Good job honey!

Birthday Party Fun

Wanted to share a couple of pictures from a birthday party that both kids attended last Thursday. It was a party for Olivia and Abigail from church, and from what I understand, all the kids had a blast! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go - I had tech rehearsal for Junior Miss. But Jmk took the bunchkins.

It was at Pump It Up, which is basically a huge place full of fabulous blow up jumpy things everywhere. Add that to some cake and you have a young person's ideal of fun!

This first picture (both shot with Jmk's camera phone), has Poodle at the top of one of the big slide-y things.


Then, we have a picture of Tooter on the same slide as he is hitting the bottom. Apparently, he just climbed right up to the top all by himself and slid down without even checking up. I guess he checked all fear at the door.

He's such a dude.

Yay! And Hoorah!

Junior Miss is D-U-N done for the year. We have a simply lovely new representative, and I'm definitely sure that I don't want to ever again be the only person doing production. It couldn't be helped this year, but it shall never happen again! :-) Blugh. But it's done, the show only had some minor hiccups, and did I mention that it's DONE????

THANK YOU to SueSue and to MooMoo and GaGa for keeping the kids on Friday and Saturday nights for us. Y'all are lifesavers again!

And, Jmk, thank you again for basically being the production co-chair this year. There is NO way this would have happened if you hadn't done everything that you did. The list is too long to type. You are the best husband in the world. I love you so much!

And now! Back to real life and to getting ready for my grandmother's 100th birthday coming up on Leap Day this month. That's right, ladies and gents - 100. Doesn't surprise me, but it's still a really cool thing. Technically, my mom is pretty much handling the whole shootin' match for the big party, but I'm hoping that I'll be able to be of some assistance now that my big job is over for the month.

And, here is another book suggestion for the parents of wee ones. I know there are tons of great compilations of fairy tales out there, but MooMoo and GaGa got one for the kids at Christmas that has proven to be a bang up collection. Treasury of Bedtime Stories, Library Classics. Published by Publications International, Ltd. I'm not going to individually list the 16 different fairy tales, but it even has the more obscure ones like The Pied Piper of Hamelin and The Three Billy Goats Gruff.

It's a great compilation, and it is bound quite beautifully. Can't go wrong with this one, if you're needing a full collection!

Notice.

Sarcastic political diatribe precedes this post.

You have been duly warned. :-)