Back in March I posted about many things that were going wrong at once. Problems with vehicles, appliances, etc. Well the fun doesn’t ever really stop, does it? Last month our dishwasher went out. I’ve become so spoiled, that my first thought was, “oh no, now what are we going to do?” My later thought was, “oh yea, we can hand wash them!” Duh! (Or as the inside joke between Zale and I goes, “big red truck!”)

Let me remind you that a pet peeve of mine is seeing dishes piled up in the sink. For the first few days I would wash something that was used right away, dry it and put it away. This got old really fast and that pet peeve isn’t so much a pet peeve anymore. Not that I like it, but I’m finding that I can wait and wash dishes once a day. And sometimes, skip a whole day all together, and guess what?! The world doesn’t end!! Amazing, right?!

Well, Saturday, I discovered a need for something that may not have ever been invented, and probably isn’t practical anyway, but I sure could have used it! As I’m hand washing the dreaded piled up dishes in the sink, several things happened in that short amount of time. First, I reach down into the soapy water, not realizing that a glass had broken, and sliced open my thumb. So from the start, one broken glass, and one bloody thumb. Now for those of you who know me well, know that I don’t do blood without getting queasy. And of course nanoseconds after I do this, Reagan comes running into the kitchen to tell me that Hannah spilled something. I throw a towel at her, tell her I can’t deal with it right now, they’ll have to clean it up themselves.And they do…hmm…save that info for later use! Mommy doesn’t have to always be the one to clean up the messes!

I was a little proud of myself that I managed to stop the bleeding (without passing out), patch myself up, and continue washing dishes. Of course band aids don’t really like soapy water, so it took about three and a much longer to wash dishes than normal. But I was determined. Before it was all over, I had also broken a bowl and cracked a beautiful Mikasa heart shaped vase. So you see where it would benefit me to have a padded sink in my kitchen!!! At least until we replace the dishwasher!

I should start this post by clarifying that I am not, in any shape, form, or fashion, a morning person. There are mornings, like this morning, when the alarm went off at 5:45 and I peered at it through blurry eyes thinking, already??

The dogs have me trained pretty well to put them out in the morning with a treat. We ran out of dog treats yesterday, so I feel my way through the kitchen (because I can’t quite open my eyes enough to see yet) to locate some crackers to satisfy them enough to get them out the door.

After my shower I can finally see and I go about my morning routine of getting Hannah ready for school. With one little hiccup. Reagan got up while I was in the shower. She normally sleeps until after I come home from taking Hannah, but not this morning. It’s all fine, it just makes things a little more rushed and can add a little extra stress to our morning.

At one point in the kitchen with Zale we have this brief exchange (keep in mind I’ve been exercising the last two days and my body doesn’t seem to be happy about it):

Zale – Did you take any ibuprofen last night?

Me – Do you mean did I take enough ibuprofen last night?

Zale – Yes

Me – No, there’s still some in the bottle.

And from the corner of my eye I see his shoulders shake with laughter. I love that even with all the chaos of the morning, we can still laugh together.

And I think this exchange happened after I got back from taking Hannah to school:

Me: It is possible for me to just drink the coffee straight from the carafe?

Zale: I don’t think there’s enough room for all the milk you use…with a smirky grin.

Me: (teasingly I say) Shut up, I don’t use that much milk…

Zale: Ok, all that chocolate powder stuff you use…

Me: (again with a teasing voice) SHUT UP! But ok, you might have point with that one.

See, for me, the best way to drink coffee is to turn it into mocha. In my big puppy mug I put two packets of low cal hot chocolate mix, along with a couple of sweeteners, add coffee, and top it off with a “little” bit of milk. Oh so yummy! And if it makes Zale smile (or laugh), then all the better.

For weeks the puppies have been doing so well when left home alone. But last week they started having little mishaps. Like leaving us a river of pee by the back door. Better than on the rug, but speaking of the rug, one of their favorite things seems to be pulling back the rug and eating / destroying the pad underneath it.

But this past Friday and Saturday they really went above and beyond, and not in a good way. Thankfully for me, I wasn’t the one to discover the destruction, Zale was the one to get home first. On Friday I got a text from Zale saying, “dog bed is dead”. I’m so glad it was one that I got for 1/2 price on black Friday last year! At least it had been well used. I figured it’s their loss, not like they used it much anyway. And look, now we can see the whole fireplace!

On Saturday, I got this text from Zale. “This time they tore our curtains down.” Our living room only has two windows, and one of those is the back door. Looking on the bright side, it was only one set of curtains. But they not only tore the curtains down, they also yanked down the nice, somewhat expensive wood rod and one of the brackets. There are now two pretty good sized holes in the wall near the ceiling.

But lets look on the bright side again, the room is now brighter, and with the dog bed and curtains gone, that side of the room seems less cluttered. AND, no curtains means one less things to collect dust. At this point I’m tempted to throw away the rug too, which has one corner chewed up anyway. But I’m afraid if I did they they would just start in on the leather couch, or even worse, my comfy recliner/bed.

Ah..the puppy stage. As cute as they are, I am looking forward to when they just sleep while we’re gone, instead of destroying our house.

Over the past few weeks, maybe it’s been more like 6, I’ve been on a quest to renew my faith with God. I hadn’t really lost my faith, but my relationship with God was definitely suffering. Something that I’ve remembered during this journey, is that I was at my healthiest size when I was making an effort to spend more time with God and put Him first. We’ll call it something of a perk. So on my new quest to reconnect with Him,  I’ve tried to pay closer attention to what I eat and how much of it, and only eating when I’m actually hungry. What a concept, right!?

Last night, after far too many days and months, I finally exercised again. (If I don’t count the MS 5K, and I’m not counting it as exercise since it was only once and I was definitely not prepared for it!) I texted my neighbor (the best neighbor ever) to see if she wanted to walk with me, but she’s gone back to school and was studying. I decided to make use of the treadmill and elliptical that are upstairs. Ignoring the fact that the air hadn’t been turned on up there all weekend. I thought, “Hey, working out in a home made sauna, can only burn more calories, right?!”

Even with the heat, I managed (with God’s help, ’cause my natural self would have much rather been sitting on the couch stuffing my face with cookies or ice cream) 20 minutes on the elliptical and 15 on the treadmill. After 35 minutes I was sweating from every pore, my legs were killing me, and I was doing my best to keep breathing. I couldn’t wait to get in the shower.

While in the shower, I had the brilliant thought of, “hmm…maybe I could get on the Wii Fit and do another 25 minutes in the comfort of the air conditioning, to make my work out time a total of an hour.” Probably should have had that thought before taking a shower. I forgot that even though the Wii Fit is pretty low impact, it’s still effective. I also forgot that the Wii Fit doesn’t forget anything. That it remembers how long it’s been since you’ve used it and it doesn’t mind telling you, with sarcasm, I might add. 98 days is how long it had been for me. Geez. Amazing how quickly time flies!!!

I’m not making a bunch of promises to myself or setting lofty goals that will make me discouraged if I don’t meet them. Did you ever see the commercial of the heavy guy at the gym? He gets on the scale, growls at it when he sees the weight, runs around the gym equipment, gets back on the scale, even more upset because the scale didn’t move any? That is so me!! Let me work out for 20 minutes and drop 20 pounds please! I’m just taking it one day, one hour, and sometimes one minute at a time as those unhealthy cravings plague me. I’m praying that this will be done with strength from God, and not on my own!

Lately, Hannah has needed extra comfort when going to bed. I find it a little weird, since she’s been sleeping in her own bed, by herself, for a long time. Usually falling asleep within a few minutes of tucking her in. But now, Zale and I have been taking turns laying down with her for a few minutes while she goes to sleep. I wonder if it’s not just her wanting a little one on one time with us.

Last night it was my turn to cuddle with her, so I did, for about 20 minutes and then went back out to the living room. Of course when one of the girls gets something, the other one wants it too, so here comes Reagan. And then Abby. On the recliner, with me. It’s getting pretty late and I’m just about to turn off my Kindle and go to sleep, when I hear Hannah’s door open. And here she comes with her Whalie (a big, over sized, white and blue stuffed whale that she sleeps with as her pillow, and her blanket. A heavy, very soft Titan’s blanket that once belonged to Zale, many years ago, before the kids claimed it. First Anthony, and for the last several years, Hannah. I’m not sure he’s going to get it back.

Poor Hannah had had a bad dream (she was killing flies but they kept coming at her, geez, that would scare me too!!) and needed some more cuddle time. Before I knew what had happened, she climbed right on top of me. So now, in my over sized recliner (yes, it doubles as my bed…long story, maybe another time), it’s me, Reagan beside me, Abby on my legs and feet, and now Hannah on top of me. Not very comfortable. I figured if I was actually going to get some sleep, I would just go sleep with Hannah. So here we go, me with my blanket, Hannah with her whale and blanket, back to her room.

Hannah and Reagan don’t have typical beds. Zale built them these amazing bunk beds with stairs leading up to the top bunk, storage under the stairs, but the best part, is that the front looks like a castle. It’s awesome for the girls to play and sleep in, but a little tricky for adults to get in and out of. Once you’re settled, it’s really cozy. I had decided to leave the bedroom door open in case Reagan woke up and needed me. But in doing that, it allowed the dogs to come in too. Not such a bad thing with Abby, she figured out how to get in the bed, curled up at my feet, grounded her teeth, because it’s what she does, and went to sleep with her head on my legs. A few minutes later, here comes Mason. I just knew he was going to snatch a toy to destroy, but at this point I was so tired I had convinced myself that it didn’t really matter. Until I heard the loud chomping sound coming from the living room and thought, yep, it’s probably one of their favorite toys and I’m going to pay for it later if I don’t go get it now. So here I go, uprooting Abby, trying not to disturb Hannah, climbing my way out of the castle.

I go in the living room and about have a heart attack when I find Zale already there getting the decapitated Polly pocket doll from Mason. I just knew Zale was fast asleep, so seeing him standing in the living room was a bit of a shock. After finally getting settled back in the bunk bed with Hannah and Abby, I began to have coughing and sneezing fits. It was AWESOME…do you hear the sarcasm?

But it’s all ok, Hannah was able to sleep nightmare free for the rest of the night (even through my coughing and sneezing), and even woke up in a good mood, it helped that Abby was still in the bed with her to give her kisses as she was waking up. This morning was one of those mornings that I was doubly grateful for being a stay at home Mom. Because after getting Hannah to school, I was able to come home and get a little morning nap while Reagan was still sleeping. Here’s hoping and praying tonight goes better!

This afternoon my Dad hosted a birthday lunch for me at his house. I had requested doing that instead of going to a restaurant. And it was wonderful. So many friends and family who love and care for me. It’s quite humbling actually. I am without a doubt blessed beyond measure, just as God promised! I won’t even get mad at the video Dad made (and showed several times while everyone was there) of pictures of me that included some from the big hair days in the 80s. Ugh! But the sound track was pretty good! Bon Jovi and Poison. Favorites from the big hair era!

There were many wonderful gifts, but I think this one was my favorite, Anthony and I both have an aversion to the camera being pointed at us, but Dad got this shot and I love it. Not only did Anthony not balk at getting his picture taken with me, but he actually smiled a little. And I will definitely treasure this one since he’s moved out and I don’t get to see that handsome face everyday anymore.

Since I wasn’t the one taking the pictures, I can’t post more from today. I tried to sneak Dad’s camera out of his house, but he caught me, so I’m at his mercy. 

As I said, today was great. The food was very tasty, but the company was even better. And somehow, I’m guessing by the grace of God, I was able to escape the horrid blowing out of the candles (pretty sure the cake wasn’t big enough anyway) and the embarrassment that comes with the singing of “Happy Birthday”.

We took Abby and Mason with us so they could play with Dad’s German Shepards, Oz and Lily (or, as I commonly refer to them, my 4 legged brother and sister. Hey, I’m an only child, I’ll take what siblings I can get!). Shortly after we got home, Zale was able to catch this picture of their total exhaustion. And they haven’t moved much since.

Yes, Abby is looking a little guilty as she has evidence in her mouth of trying to claim one of the girls’ bracelets as her own. But in Abby’s defense, they left it on the floor, which makes it fair game, right?

Thanks to everyone who made this such a special day, and for all my friends and family who’s outpouring of love makes turning 38 not so bad. Much love to you all and I pray God will poor blessings over you and your households, so much that it will overwhelm you!!

I don’t know if it’s spring fever or what, but Hannah has had an extra hard time getting up and going to school in the mornings. She’d much rather stay home and cuddle all day. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind that much either, but I know it wouldn’t be the most productive use of our time. So to keep her distracted and put a smile on her face (and who wouldn’t do almost anything to see a precious smile like that), I’ve been telling her stories about when she was a baby or a toddler. And I think they make her smile almost as much as it makes me smile to share them. Thought I’d share some on here. Truthfully, it’s because I don’t want to forget them, and since there are times that I can’t remember what I had for lunch yesterday, it seems like a good thing to do.

Since Hannah has wanted to cuddle so much lately, I thought I’d tell her about how much we cuddled when she was a baby. And it’s true, the kid was hardly ever put down. In the hospital my arms ached to hold her during the brief times she had to be taken to the nursery. At home, it wasn’t much different. And you know what? I wouldn’t change it for the world. As I look back on those days of Zale working full time and being in law school full time, I don’t remember how little money we had, or how messy the house probably got. I remember feeling blessed that I was able to stay home with the kids. Especially now that Anthony has moved out, I’m glad I was here every day when he got of the bus, or that I was able to go pick him up from school. I missed out on so much of that when he was younger.

One of Hannah’s best lines when she was a toddler was describing night and day. When it was dark she would say, “Hey, the dark is up! And in the mornings she would say, “The dark went down and the sun went up”. One of the nights I was trying to get her to go to sleep, I said, “Do you know why I need you to go to sleep?” She said, “Yeah, so the dark will go down and the sun will go up!”  Don’t you just wish we could peek into the minds of our little ones!

And my absolute favorite memory of Hannah being a toddler was after Reagan was born. My grandmother was gracious enough to come stay with us during that time and be with Hannah while Zale, Reagan, and I were in the hospital. When we came home my grandmother was changing Hannah’s diaper on the couch. I knelt down to say Hi to Hannah, she put a hand on each side of my face and said, “MOMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”  It was heartbreaking to stay away from her for those three days, and I was so glad to be back home with the whole family under one roof!

I’ve been so blessed to have such a great family!! Proof that God really does give us the desires of our heart!

Hannah and Reagan, holding their stuffed animals they got from our dear friends and neighbors.

Ahh…the good ‘ole days when they adored each other, before they could both talk, and before they learned how to fight.

(I would post a few more, especially since Anthony isn’t in these, but the computer doesn’t want to follow directions right now. I’ll have to try again later.)

I’ll finish up with my favorite memory of Hannah as a baby. She couldn’t have been more than a few weeks or a month old, but it was one of those very hard nights of very little sleep. It was before the days of having a recliner and the only thing that seemed to sooth Hannah was me rocking her. We had an old wooden rocking chair that was from Zale’s side of the family. It was very pretty and had a really comfy cushion, but at 2 or 3 in the morning when you’ve been up every hour, nothing is going to be comfortable. It didn’t matter though, I sat there half asleep, rocking Hannah so at least she could sleep, and all of a sudden she let out the most beautiful laugh I had ever heard. It jerked me fully awake and I gazed down at her in awe, she was still sound asleep (as long as I kept rocking), but had the biggest smile on her face after that beautiful laugh. I think it was the first time I heard her laugh, and it was amazing. There’s no way in the world I would trade that moment for anything.

Yep, good memories!

I have to agree with Hannah, several times today she has said that this has been the best Easter ever.

Instead of doing the traditional sit down dinner with ham and fixin’s, my Mother in law had a new grill that needed to be tried out. So Zale manned the grill and made wonderful hotdogs, brats, hamburgers, and even pork chops. Lots of sides and desserts too. Zale’s Aunt makes an amazing banana pudding and I took an ooey gooey chocolate cake. It was the ugliest cake I think I’ve ever made. I tried a different cocoa (I should have known better than to use anything other than what my Grandma used), and it just didn’t do as well as what I usually use. But it still tasted great.

The girls had an nontraditional egg hunt that included seeds to plant and bright nail polish too, which was awesome! Quite a success with lots of family, smiles, stories, and laughter. And can I just say, Thank you God, for making it such a pretty day!!! The weather couldn’t have been more perfect. Just lovely!

Abby and Mason were left in the house quite a bit longer than usual. The weather has been so great that we’ve been leaving the windows open and AC turned off. The last time we did that and left the dogs in the house, Mason tore up a screen in the kitchen and jumped through it to get in the back yard. It was a pretty long way down, thankfully he wasn’t hurt. So we don’t open the windows as wide anymore.

A few weeks ago the dogs got a hold of a screen off the deck that leads to the other side of the kitchen. They weren’t happy with just taking out the screen. They tore the whole thing out of the window, frame and all. And then today, they tried to make their own doggie door out of the window in the living room to get out onto the deck, by tearing up every inch of available screen. But the window wasn’t open high enough for them to squeeze through.

The cats we use to have tore up the screens in the front of the house, so I guess this is a project we need to take care of…as soon as Mason outgrows this “tear up everything in sight” puppy phase. They’ve also been chewing the wood off of the deck, but since it needs to be replaced anyway, I’m not too worried about it.

Mason is now as big or maybe even a little bigger than Abby, even though he’s 4 months younger. I’ll get some good pictures to post soon.

And back to Easter…if you’ve ever wondered about the deeper meaning to Easter, not just the chocolate bunnies and egg hunts, check out my other blog…www.renewingmyfaith.wordpress.com and see an amazing worship song/video that really describes what Easter is all about.

Mason (about 5 months old), after a hard afternoon of playing and digging in the back yard.

Abby (about 9 months old) , after the same afternoon of playing and digging in the back yard. Right before I took this picture she had her head on the air vent you see behind her. Of course she moved before I could get the shot.

And here’s Reagan, who stole their bed to make it her own after I wouldn’t let her sleep with me.

The other day I was in the car rider line to pick up Hannah from school. Let me back up a minute and say just how ridiculous these car rider lines are. The kids don’t get out until 2:15, but parents start lining up an hour or so early. I happened to be running early the other day and got to the school before 1:30. There were already 6 cars lined up. By 1:45 or so there’s a double line of cars wrapped around the building. It’s just craziness.

ANYWAY, we’ve been in the car all this time, and Reagan tells me 3 minutes before the kids are supposed to come out that she has to go potty NOW. I say, are you sure you can’t wait10 more minutes? She says, No, NOW! Not wanting to clean up the mess, we made a quick run inside the school, which is a long walk from the car rider line and is currently in a state of chaos as bus riders are being dismissed.  Thankfully she made it quick and we were on our way back to the car as the dismissal of the car riders was being announced.

As Reagan and I are making our way back to our car we are walking against the flow of a mob of K – 4th graders headed for the buses. As I’m scoping out the best way to get through the crowd and dragging Reagan with me I notice this little boy walking to the bus with his head down, because he was texting. I don’t know how the kid didn’t get trampled, maybe he has a 6th sense?

The oldest he could have been was 4th grade, but he looked more like 2nd or 3rd. So just how young is too young for a kid to have a cell phone? I don’t know the answer, but it’s highly doubtful that my kids will be getting them in elementary school.  I gotta hand it to that little boy though, he can probably text better than me!