Lots of Easter Pictures!

I thought I'd post these before I have to post pictures of poor Tooter. He lost a fight with a flying yo-yo, and is currently in possession of a huge shiner on his right eye. More on that later.

This is pretty much what Toot thought about coloring Easter eggs this year. Big fun!








Poodle, who also had big fun, was much more "cool" for the camera. ;-)



























Okay, see, back in the day, my sibs and I colored our eggs before dying them. So, I'm passing that bit of fun on to the monkeys. That's what Poodle is doing here. Coloring her egg before it hits the dying water. :-)











The finished product! Well, the finished product minus one egg that Poodle was eating at picture time. We're doing two dozen next year. We all had much more fun this year, and I'm already looking forward to next Easter.

My favorite shot of those that we took Easter morning.












One from the ones that I tried to get inside. None of those turned out all that great, but the one of him smooching on Poodle was cute.











Poodle with some of the kids from church.
:-)













And one of the family at lunch after church. I know the kids aren't exactly looking at the camera, but we are all in a shot together as a family. That doesn't happen very often!









When we got home, Poodle decided it was time to hunt for those eggs we dyed the day before. Tooter, who really didn't understand the whole deal last year, was really into it this year. And, Poodle, of course, was all about finding the eggs. I'd like to point out, also, her fine fashion sense. Well, you can't really see the combo she came up with that well in this picture, but let me assure you - Paris couture has nothing on this girl. ::ahem:: ;-)

I take no responsiblity.

While I make an attempt to get all our Easter pictures together, I thought I might share some time-wasting material with you. I take no responsibility for the addictive'ness of this game. I will admit that I am perfectly horrible at it. Don't know the geography of Europe to save my skin. But it's still fun!

Happy Easter to all

A very happy, blessed, and wonderful Easter to all. I hope everyone's day was beautiful!

First Therapy Session

Tooter had his first speech therapy session this past Thursday. Our therapist's name is Claire, and she is a sweet, cute girl. (Picture Britney Spears, circa 5-7 years ago, but with light brown to auburn hair).

Thursday was really more of an additional evaluation period, so that Claire could have a baseline from which to work. Toot was cooperative for about the first 10 minutes, and then he just.... I don't know. Just didn't want to be good. Poodle was just full of ants in her pants, and just about couldn't stand having to be quiet and sit still so I could answer questions and try to keep Tooter from running off and doing his own thing.

I'll be honest in that I was embarrassed by their behavior, and I hate getting that way. When a child is home all day with a parent, that parent tends to take full responsibility for every single action and reaction that child has. She/he can't "blame" it on anyone else. And can have a hard time remembering that maybe said child was simply just not behaving. That maybe it isn't "all my fault". Sigh.......... Anyway, by the time Claire left, I was feeling somewhat incompetent with my discipline skills. I know I'm too hard on myself, but I get to feeling so inadequate at times.

Anyway, as far as Tooter's issues go - Claire feels that he has no physical or mental issues that are affecting his ability to talk. This is good. His issues stem from sheer stubbornness and a lack of need for verbal communication. (i.e. Mommy just gets him what he wants without encouraging him to ask for it. Poodle does all the talking for him. He just, quite frankly, doesn't have anything he feels like saying). So, the news is good in that his progress won't be hindered by problems beyond our control. I just have to get myself mentally engaged during the day to remember to do things to help him. Claire gave us (Jmk got home early and was able to be there for most of it) some quick ideas to start with and will come next Thursday with more ideas and ways for us to encourage true verbal communication.

There is a big part of me that feels like we are wasting her time with therapy since there isn't a "real" problem. But, like my mom said - this absolutely can't hurt, and it could be valuable in ways we don't expect. Maybe not now, but as a reference for when we are (Lord willing) grandparents. In other words, the value might not become apparent until that far away. At any rate, it keeps Claire in a job. ;-)

We'll continue to have weekly sessions until the time comes that he is at an age appropriate level with his speaking skills. I'm grateful that things seem to be so positive surrounding the situation!

Share The Passion

Even though Christ was not put to death on a Friday, to rise on a Sunday morning (you can not get 3 days and 3 nights out of it no matter what kind of math you use), the remembrance of "Good Friday" is what is on all Christians' minds. I hope that we all use this weekend as a jumpstart to new beginnings in our own lives. I know I have so many things that I need to do to even begin to live a more Christ-centered life.

And one of those things is to be more of a light - to share the Passion that saved every single one of God's children.

The birth of Christ was a precious, world-altering event. But the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ is why we have a hope in Heaven. Praise Him!!!

Growing up.

Big boy bed for Tooter!

We finally got his bedding, and pulled the headboard down from the attic - and he is sleeping like a champ in his big bed! The headboard (and the chest of drawers you see next to the bed) were actually Jmk's when he was growing up. We have one side of the bed up against the wall for safety for now. And that odd bump you see on the other side? It's a pool noodle! I saw that suggestion either in Parents magazine or Good Housekeeping - can't remember which - and it is a way to keep from having to put an actual bed gate up. If your child isn't a big flopper, that is. Poodle was definitely a flopper. Tooter doesn't move around a whole lot. So, the noodle is sufficient as a bumper for him.


He is really loving the bed - and is doing very well. Again, I will say that all bets are off when he learns how to work a doorknob. Obviously, I'm in zero hurry to encourage self-sufficiency in that department. :-)


This was actually this first time that the crib has been disassembled since it was first put together when I was pregnant with Poodle. We left it up when she moved to a big bed, because I was pregnant with Toot at the time, and there was no point in taking it apart. So seeing it taken down was tough - thankfully, my mom happened to call in the middle of the whole disassembly/assembly process, and she was able to commiserate with me. There may be reason for a crib in the future, and there may not be. We haven't really come to that bridge yet. But for the time being, it needed to be put away, and that was hard.

But, like I told Jmk, we are blessed to be taking the crib apart because our little boy was growing up. Not because of any other (God forbid it) reason.
We are blessed, and we probably don't fully realize even how much!
(Thank you, Father, for all you give us every single day and night.)

However, I still haven't taken down any of the other "nursery" things on the wall. (You can still see the blanket that my friend Eli made and gave to Toot when he was born still hanging on the wall. The A/B/C and 1/2/3 blocks are also still up). I'll take them down. Eventually. Later. Not yet. :-)

My Gold Medal Husband!

I am completely convinced that I have the best husband in the world.

Let me just tell you....

Okay. Poodle has had a Spring Party planned for today at a friend's house with some of the other CHEC kids for a couple of weeks now. She has been excited and so looking forward to it. (Tooter had the same party, but let's face it - he didn't really know that he had the party. So his missing it wasn't a deal at all).
Anyway, when I woke up yesterday morning feeling a little off, I was hoping that it was just allergies. Pollen is high - allergies can make one feel pretty poopy. I didn't want to believe that I had the cold that had made its way thru the house.

Woke up this morning feeling worse. Throat was bad and I was running fever. I'm not *that* bad, as colds go. But no matter how hard I tried to justify it, Jmk was right. I didn't need to go to this event and get all the other kids and mommies sick. I wouldn't have appreciated someone else doing that, so I didn't need to do it either.

But Poodle was SO looking forward to it! It would have disappointed her so very much to hear that she couldn't go because I was feeling bad. Both grandmothers were at work. It was way too late of notice to get another babysitter-type person. I even considered asking a dear church friend (you almost got called Sis. Karen!) if she would be a "surrogate mommy" for Poodle. But the idea of doing a drop-and-run just didn't feel right for some reason.

And, it didn't matter anyway. Because last night, Jmk started the grueling process of trying to get me to come to my senses about not going myself and letting him take time off from work to take her himself.

Let me set the picture. This was group of about 8 other mommies and about 18 other kids. In the middle of the day. The oldest child was probably 11. They did crafts and played games and had cupcakes and pizza. And Jmk took off 3 hours from a busy day (after having been out sick for part of last week himself) to do this - just so Poodle wouldn't miss this party.

Just so Poodle wouldn't miss the party.

Jmk - thank you so much. You are absolutely the best daddy a little poodle could ever hope for. You make jokes about "having married up". But let's face it - baby, I'm the one who married way, WAY up!!! I love you honey - THANK YOU!

Quick Blog

I'm just going to share some pictures really quickly from Granny's party and the weekend at large. Toot and Jmk have been sick with a cold and I've been a bit occupied with Toot the past few days. Didn't want you to think we'd disappeared completely!

This is one of Granny's cakes. (She had five). It's a picture of the old Beulah church where Grandaddy preached.





Granny and Grandaddy's Model T Ford. Their first car.

Cars were a part of a lot of stories in the family. In fact, that's what Granny said when I showed her the cake. "That's what I went and got married in".








Granny and Poodle on Sunday morning after the big event. This was during the song service Sunday morning. A little, um, crass of me to be taking pictures, but I did anyway.













Granny and moi at lunch after church on the same Sunday.









I should get back to things around here, but had to share one thought. One of the things that Toot likes/needs when he's sick is to literally lie on top of me on the couch during the day. I "had" to do that all day on Wednesday. (Or was it Tuesday? I don't remember). I found myself thinking about the day when he wouldn't need that from me any more. It makes me snuggle him even tighter while he restlessly sleeps with his precious head on my heart!

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....