Days that begin with "F"

From a conversation in the van this morning:

Me: Poodle, what days begin with an "S"?
Poodle: Saturday and, oh of course, Sunday
Me: How about "M"?
Poodle: Monday.
Me: Which days begin with "T"?
Poodle: Tuesday and Thursday.
Me: Okay, which one begins with a "W"?
Poodle: Wednesday.
Me: Very good. And, now, which one begins with an "F"?
Poodle: NACHO NIGHT!

:-)

This might help you understand that last one. I love a girl with nachos on the brain.

Katrina Anniversary

To those who are still rebuilding - you are in our thoughts. To those who have rebuilt and are helping others now (Jennifer and David!), we are amazed with your generosity!

The Katrina experience truly brought out the best and the worst in people... but today, I hope we all celebrate the BEST that was brought to light. God WAS glorified thru the storm by the outpouring of love and support and good-will that followed the storm waters. And, at the end of the day, that is what matters the most.

Stand tall MS Gulf Coast!!!

Baby Steps

My apologies for this indulgence, but I need to do a little journaling here to keep up with baby things.

Let's see...... things I need to make note of:
Tooter is now sleeping all night, and has been for the past month or so. Go Toot!!! (All night is 7'ish pm to 6:30'ish am).
He got his first "2 year" molar, gosh - what - about 2 or so months ago, and is working on his second on the bottom right. I remember Poodle not being very noticeable during this process. Toot gets downright cranky. It's a joy. ::ahem::
According to Poodle: "Ti - a drink with jam and thread". "So - a needle going thru the thread".
"Mommy, I don't need your assistance, I need your help!"

Okay. I think that's all I had in mind to get down in print. I may have to come back and adjust this during the day, but for the most part, we can all go back to our regularly scheduled program!

Huh. I did not know that.

We just returned from spending about an hour at the neighborhood pool.

Random poll question time everyone:
Raise your hand if you knew that there is a new trend in swimming pools - forgoing chlorine for salt water.

Mmmhmmm. Salt water in a swimming pool.

Now, it's not Gulf of Mexico kind of salty, but it is honest-to-goodness salt water. Some of the other residents there were telling us that this is a new trend because it is better for skin and clothes and it keeps the water as clean as chlorine does.

I just wish we had some kind of example in nature that could have kept us from bleaching our pool water all this time.

Oh. Wait.

::wink::

Marooooon! Whiiiiiiite!

Thanks to GrandCandy, the kids are now well outfitted for football season! (Tooter's MSU sippy cup didn't make it into the pictures).

Thank you GrandCandy!!! (And we haven't been able to get the uniform off of Poodle yet. ha!)

Go Bulldogs!

Yo yo yo - it's all about the hat, man.

The proper way for a cheerleader to curtsy, as demonstrated by Poodle.

Toot and Puddle!

The kids received a darling gift from sweet Debra - these are precious books. I had never read them before. Thank you Deb!!!

(get it? Tooter and Poodle? Toot and Pudd...... sorry. I have to remember not everyone has mommy brain like me). :-)

And all is well!

Mom had a basal cell carcinoma removed from her nose today, and everything went nicely and uneventfully. They biopsied it after the removal to verify that it was, in fact, a skin cancer and to verify that they had removed everything that was necessary.

She came out about an hour later with some bandaids on her face, instructions to keep the area dry for the next couple of days (and some other things that seemed to slip out of my memory banks due to their being mixed with very tired and fussy children noises), and she will return after a certain amount of time to have the couple or 3 stitches removed.

Praise the Lord that it wasn't more serious, and that it all went so well!!!


Ahhh - you're wondering about the picture. Well, the kids and I sat in the waiting room during the procedure, so Poodle and I started taking "crazy pictures". Toot was sitting on the benches eating pretzels during this awe inspiring photography session. Then, I pulled out the computer and we watched The Sound of Music, a.k.a. the "Do Re Mi Movie". Well, Poodle watched it. I played with Tooter.

We're all so glad that Mom caught this so very early!!!

You can't make this stuff up.

The following is from an email I received from a friend who lives near us - her kids are 5 and 2 (girl is older), and are darling! But, as with all kids that age, they are prime material for some gooood stories.

Ask Jmk - while reading this, I got to laughing so hard I couldn't see the screen for the tears. This is exactly what she wrote, with only her kids' names reduced to single letters for privacy. Parents - enjoy!!! Thanks Patty!

While I’ve got a minute, I’ll share last night’s experience with someone who can truly feel for me. Speaking of THOSE days. Long ago, I had promised a neighbor that I would come to her Southern Living at Home party if she had one, because she said nobody would come. So, Rodney was stuck in San Antonio underneath that swirling red and orange blob on the radar screen until extremely late last night. I had no option but to pack up J in his PJs and G and drag them over there at the very beginning of the party time. I warned the woman we were coming! So, we get there and I demand that the party woman go back out to her car and get me one of the catalogues, immediately, before J tears down the non-babyproof house. I don’t have the time to listen to the chit chat and eat delicate treats that no kid would touch with a ten foot pole. Immediately J sees the main staircase and tears off up to the top (because he practiced on stairs at our beach house last week). I’m chasing him up them and G decides to follow because she doesn’t want to be left alone with a bunch of strange women oohing and ahing over her. She only TOUCHES the railing and the decorative newel post thing crashes off onto the ground. It wasn’t ATTACHED! It was fine and they acknowledge it’s been that way for a long time, don’t worry. She recovers from that mortification and I try to find some fruit J might at least stare at for a few seconds. But, no, he follows the neighbor woman up a different set of steps that goes to a “party room” over her garage. Her husband somehow managed to finagle a man cave complete with a fully functional margarita mixing machine that runs non-stop, a pool table, a stage with instruments, a flat screen TV, and weird blue lights that makes the man cave appear foggy. I hear J screeching in overflowing 2 year old joy and ecstasy over this amazing place to hang out. I have to take off up THAT staircase to find him and drag him down where he finds the neighbor’s delicate little toy poodle who apparently dislikes small wiggly boys and anyone who touches her food - both of which J qualifies for. I beg 3 different women to help me sit on J so I can just flip through the magazine in a blur and find something/anything to buy and get out of there. Before I can even open the pen top, J’s back up the stairs and trying to mix his own margarita. I bring him down, I write my name and part of the address on the form. G comes tearing into the room to tell me ………FLOP FLOP CRASH FLIP FLAIL FLOPPITY FLIP … grapes and cookies fly across the room and I manage to catch her before she actually hits the floor. She drags her feet and caught her flip flop on a crack between the tile and wood flooring and fell across about 5 feet of space without actually landing on anything. She was so embarrassed that she began to cry. I calm her down we all clean up grapes and I run back upstairs where J’s playing pool and trying to learn how to play the guitar. Down we go where the dog growls at us. I beg again for my nearest neighbor to watch him so I can fill in some more blanks and see J’s pajama clad body tear past the doorway heading back to the stairs. I ignore him and finish the form. The neighbor’s husband has arrived and went to defend his man cave and J runs back when faced with a male stranger. The woman figures out my total $$ while J runs laps around the kitchen island. I write out a check toss back a margarita in two gulps and head for the door all before any of the other guests even nibble their food.

I don’t know how many times I went upstairs – completely lost count. At least nobody broke anything (that wasn’t already broken – the post thing). It was full blast boy energy unleashed upon the entire house from one corner to the other, attic to mudroom. I hope I didn’t buy the most expensive thing in the book – didn’t have time to judge.

The Juxtaposition

We have attended two events at Morrison Heights Baptist Church recently.

The first was the wedding of a young, very-much-in-love couple. Jmk was a groomsman, Poodle was the flower girl. It was filled with family and friends and the whole place seemed to have love and joy spilling out from its seams.

The second, this past weekend, was the funeral for a not quite as young, very-much-in-love couple who were liked by everyone. MHBC was filled with family and friends and the whole place seemed to have love and sorrow spilling out from its seams.

And during both events, God was glorified and His love filled the hearts and minds of all that were there.

The stark difference between the two events was not what surprised me like I thought it was originally going to. The similarities did. And, to me, it was a lighthouse-in-the-storm moment of how present God is in our lives. He is with us in the good times, and He is with us in the bad times. And, like Bro. David said during the funeral - being in the house of sorrow is what is more likely to change lives. The Lord filled that place with His spirit on Saturday.

I don't know if any of you have ever been a part of a funeral for a fireman (or police officer, etc). But it was so.... honor-filled. Respectful. I don't have the right word. It wasn't dramatic, or full of artificial pomp and show. But the things that his fellow firefighters did to honor Eddie and his wife Vicki were things that I will never ever forget.

The funeral itself was relatively "normal". I lost it when the bagpipes were played, but most people have a hard time maintaining composure when they hear that beautiful, touching instrument. And, of course, seeing the two young girls in so much heartache was a tearful thing. But the memory sharing was wonderful, and the preaching was uplifting and God-honoring.

Then, it was time to leave. This is where I felt so honored to be a part of the day. I was in the very back of the line of cars leaving the church. I wasn't going to the gravesite, because I didn't want the children out in the heat. So I let most folks get ahead of me, and due to where I was parked at the church, there weren't but a handful of cars after me.

We get around the long frontage road that leads us to the highway, and the procession has been guided to the center of the road. The reason became apparent as we rounded the last curve. Two ladder trucks had their ladders fully extended and touching each other, so as to create an upside down "v". A stairway to heaven, if you will. With 7-10 firefighters on either side, in front of both trucks, standing at attention.

And this wasn't just for the deceased. And not just for the family. Or even those going to the gravesite.

But for every single person who was there to mourn the loss and celebrate the life, both here on earth and the eternal one.

Every single carload of people were shown the same respect and honor for being a part of the funeral. We were shown that honor as a tribute to the firefighter, and his wife, who had gone home to God.

And from that point on, every side street was held to a stop for us. Highway 80 was held to a stop. Lining every turn, every traffic light were firefighters and police officers and AMR workers. All at attention with somber respect. There were fire trucks from all the neighboring counties. It was a sight to behold - one for which my poor grasp of the English language does very, very little justice.

And at the risk of sounding like quite the broken record, this honor and respect was shown to every car of mourners - down the the very last one. This was a very long procession of cars in 95 (and climbing) degree heat.

And, you know, it's what these professionals do for us every day. They work hard, at a life-threatening job, and show every person they encounter the same respect. They work as hard in putting out the fire at a crack house in the slums as they would a multi-million dollar mansion on the water.

Saturday was a day I hope I hold in the forefront of my memory banks. I know the intensity of it will diminish as the days pass. But I hope I can always hold some part of what the day has brought to my mind and heart.

Lots and lots of vacation pictures!

We're off to the beach!!! Poodle had a calendar in her room where she marked off the days till it was time to go. She was SO excited!

It was a wonderful trip, and everyone involved worked so hard to make it that way. Thank you to everyone!

When we first got there, our condo wasn't ready for us, and we spent some time at David and Jennifer's office. Jennifer took us and the kids to a nearby park that had recently been built, and it was beautiful! I hate that I didn't bring my camera to show pictures of all the donated trees that came from all over the country. I think she said the park was a project of the Junior League (or Auxilliary - never can remember the difference). Beautiful grounds, tons of cool play equipment for kids - great place!

As an aside (non vacation related request), please remember our pastor the next couple of days. He will be preaching the funeral tomorrow (Saturday, Aug 18) for Eddie and Vicki McGowan. There are likely to be so many people there - please pray that he will have the words of comfort and encouragement that they will all need. That the Lord will ultimately be glorified and the hearts of all those listening will come away more peaceful.

Now, I hope you enjoy the pictures from our wonderful little vacation!

A shot of the inside of the condo - living room, dining room, part of the kitchen. This was a huge place. 3 bedrooms and 3 baths. (SueSue and Amy & Jay stayed with us). Somewhere around 1800 sq. ft - for a really reasonable price. When you have kids, condos are the way to go!!!

Shot from the balcony of our condo - the beach is in super shape, considering all the work that had to be done.

Jmk and Tooter!!!

My boys. I love them so much!

This is a shot from one of our windows. As you can see, this large house is still in need of roof repair. While there is a lot left to do down on the MS Gulf Coast, a LOT has been done already. They have really worked hard down there!

Yaaahhhhhh!!!!!

lol.... The kids were going crazy when we first got to the condo. They were doing the crazy laughing/yelling thing that kids do. "Scaring" each other from behind the curtains.

This is the master bedroom, btw. Those sliding doors led out to the balcony that you could also access from the living room.

Darling SueSue with her precious angel! Two peas in a pod, these two. They had a blast together!

Money shot!!! She flies off the side of the pool, and you can not be too close or she'll land right on your head. lol.... I just love that pointed foot. Makes me smile every time!