I have never heard of that kind before....

Me: Hey Julianna, where do you want to have dinner for your birthday?

Julianna: Cracker Barrel....Oh No, I mean I want a Hot TO-MOLLY from the Chinese restaurant, Vera Cruz.....

I couldn't help but to giggle....

We are Surviving and Hoping to Soon Be Thriving...

School is back in full swing and with lunches to be made, PE uniforms to be remembered and a new year of PTA, I am officially ready for summer vacation! I am not normally so gung-ho for the girls to be underfoot and I thought I would be ready to send them back, but after my crazy spring and the crazy arrival of our new prince...I have been pining away for the company of my girls. I have been kind-of sad actually.
I had grandiose plans of walking them to school nearly everyday and am working up to it slowly--I have only walked twice out of 6 days so far. I am really out of shape and it is hard work due to my incision still not being healed completely. I am praying that it will be closed and totally healed soon...so, that is not all bad news. I am making the effort, it is just slower going than I had anticipated. I have lost 11lbs. So yay for ME!!!
I am finding creative ways to meet my commitments with a bundle of blessings attached to me all the time. That is interesting for everyone involved. I am starting to doubt God's design in mothers--I think he should have considered making us with 8 arms, like the octopus.
Other new news, both Emma and Julianna are going to be in Augusta Players Youth Theater's production of A Year with Frog and Toad, so rehearsals will be all consuming in a couple of weeks with the show opening in the middle of October...so, if you are in the area, look for the two cutest squirrels.
I am off to the store to buy some bread....I underestimated our sandwich count for this week.

You Wanna See Something Really Cute?

Under Construction

I have heeded the advice of several anonymous commenter(s). I changed my profile so the text is easier to see and read. I am mourning the loss of my cute earthy-sunflower profile. I loved it, I just couldn't figure out how to make the blog column a solid color....so here's to you anonymous commenter(s)....

The Hardest Conquest....

Okay, so here comes my humility, I am back to being plain old me, I have taken off my cape and super-turbo jets.....

I am on a mission to lose weight. A huge amount of weight. I am determined to not count calories, fat grams, and definitely won't be counting carbs. I am NOT going to be paying anyone so that I can stand on a scale and sit through a meeting weekly (not because this is a bad thing, I just can't afford a) gas to get to said meeting b) the $44 dollars a month it would cost and c) a sitter to watch my darlings while I am away). I am going to make sure that I get adequate nutrition as I am feeding my baby and plan to for awhile. My honest to goodness problem is not that I eat huge portions, though I could make them a little smaller, it is that I simply snack all the time...I have eaten like a pregnant person for the last 8 1/2 years or so. I have a head start, I weigh less than what I did when Owen was conceived, but after sitting/laying/lounging about being a baby-growing-bum (as my nurses and husband like to refer to me) at the U.H. for 5 weeks I have NO muscle tone and am still wearing my maternity clothes....my legs tremble when I walk across the shallow end of the pool or if I stand for more than 10 minutes to make dinner. I literally need physical rehab and was warned, but I doubted....now I know my OB wasn't joking me...I pant when I walk up my drive way. I get light-headed if I try to speed walk 8 doors down to my girlfriends house to visit. I am not complaining just laying out my current condition. I would put myself in this condition willingly a million times over to have my healthy boy--I am extremely grateful. I am just saying that I have a ways to go to get my body healthy, so I am around to protect this precious boy from the wrath of all things pink and frilly a.k.a his sisters.
My plan is to lose 10 lbs a month for 1 year, that's 2 1/2 lbs. a week. Not too much, too quickly. I will be closer to my 'ideal size/weight' I am going to exercise, starting slowly. My biggest goal is to walk my kids to school at least 4 mornings a week, that's 2 miles round trip, plus I may try to pick them up doing the same--this will be very good for them as well. I will also be doing some strength training, I am thinking Pilate's at home for awhile until I have my stamina back up a bit (with a friend or two I hope).

Please pray for me, this will be one of the hardest things I've ever done. I think this will be up there with incision re-opening, being away from home for 5 weeks, have a baby in the NICU, missing my little girls events and carpools and not having my husband by my side.....We are all well and whole and I am going to be clinging to the grace that is hovering over me.
Again, PLEASE PRAY for me.

Peace for now...

My Baby Girl has Just Turned 8!!!

It's a Nancy Drew Mystery Party

I think this may have been the one of the most clever things I've thought up in quite awhile! Emma turned 8 yesterday and she wanted a Nancy Drew Party. I couldn't find that in character party-ware anywhere...so, not wanting my girl dissappointed on her big day...I strapped on my thinking cap and went to work. This my friends is what a sleep deprived, crazy (about my kids) mom of four can come up with...I will work on my humility tomorrow...

The invitation was the first clue with the time and place....clue for what, you ask...The mystery was to find Emma's birthday cake and ice cream. It lead us to our Papa Gary and Nana Sara through the 'woods' across the street, through the backyards...Papa Gary wasn't to blame but we got our disguise glasses and a new clue that lead us to one of the party-participants house up the block, this time her little brothers were the guilty culprits. Then to the girls first grade teachers house, she loves sweets but she didn't steal Emma's cake. There were more clues and other stops. We were successful in breaking the case, Molly Grace was guilty as charged, she only took the cake to decorate it and to honor Emma on her day! It was hidden in the microwave and was waiting for us when we got home. Boy was I exhausted and boy all those girls were soooo NOT! It was so much fun and will not soon be forgotten.

To complete our party experience, we made headbands (Nancy Drew always wore headbands), watched the movie and ate pizza and ice cream. Everyone had a blast or so it seemed. Emma had no idea about all the clues, so this was really a big undertaking. I had so much fun, I am seriously considering copyrighting my idea and selling it to other moms. Like I said, I will work on humility tomorrow and/or read this when I am having one of those "I-am-good-for-nothin" days.

Special thanks to my great and wonderful friend Amy, she really saved the day! I had just under two hours left and no cake made and she pilfered through her pantry and gave us a cake mix and frosting...it really would've been a mystery, had she not offered. And all our special friends who we consider close family for helping me pull this off. Especially for Nana Sara who partied with the best of us and stayed around til the bitter end, you are a wonderful grandmother to my kids! In the words of my kids "YOU ROCK!!!" or as one might say "YOU WOCK!!!"

I love you, Emma and I so appreciate that you keep me on my toes and force blood flow to my brain! Thanks for giving me the opportunity to have fun! I couldn't be more blessed than to have been given you as our first-born! You're stylish and witty, plus,your beautiful and crafty...we need to work on those manners some more. You are just and pure! You want everyone to be treated kindly and you set the bar high with your example. You were so brave even though it was soo hard for you while mommy was in the hospital for those five long weeks. You are a fighter--you are a warrior for life and giving that chance to the helpless. You are so snuggly and cuddly. You are the best, most wonderful 8 year old I know. Your my princess, part of my legacy and if I were gone tomorrow, know that I would be so proud of who you are and what you stand for! You have amazing gifts and I know that you have every intention in using them for the glory of God. I love you, Emmabug....

Mommy

How the 'World' Views the Value of Life....

Have you heard the story about the runner-up for the Nobel Peace Prize?

Irena Sendlerowa1910-2008

May 12 marked the death of a 98-year-old lady named Irena.During WWII, Irena received permission from the Nazis to work in the Warsaw ghetto as a plumbing/sewer specialist.She had an ulterior motive...Being German, she knew the Nazis' plans for the Jews and smuggled infants out in the bottom of the large tool box she carried. Larger children were placed in a burlap sack in the back of her truck. Also in the back was a dog that she had trained to bark each time the Nazi guards allowed her out of the ghetto and back in.The soldiers, of course, wanted nothing to do with the dog, and its barking covered any noise made by the infants and small children. Irena managed to smuggle out approximately 2,500 children before she was finally caught. When she was captured, the Nazis beat her severely, breaking both her arms and her legs.Irena kept a record of the names of all the children she smuggled out of that Warsaw ghetto and kept them in a glass jar buried under a tree in her back yard.After the war, she tried to locate any parents who may have survived so she might reunite the child with its family. Most, of course, did not survive the Holocaust, and the vast majority of the surviving children were placed in foster homes or adopted.Last year Irena was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, but she lost to Al Gore, who won the award for presenting a slide show on Global Warming. True story. Check it out at http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/sendler.asp True!