Brace Yourself

I realized as I was loading these pics that I hadn't shared with you about Bee's orthopedic appointment on Tuesday! She saw a new doc for her back, and he was great. She had x-rays done first and she did wonderful while they did them. After the eye incident, I wasn't sure she'd handle it well, but we talked about it before we went in and she did great!! The x-ray showed her scoliosis to have a 40 degree curve. This is pretty significant for a 4-year-old child. The doc decided that she needs to wear a brace! Oh boy, oh boy! So today we went to have a casting of her torso made so that the brace can be made. She was able to pick how she wanted it to look. She chose a white brace with pink and purple butterflies and pink straps. We go back on Sept. 12 to pick it up! I took these pics so she'd have record of this day. She wanted them on my blog! So, here they are!!


Daddy and Bee sharing a secret while we waited for the orthotics guy to come in !


Daddy and Bee sharing a joke while we waited!


Getting her underthings on to prepare for the nasty plaster coating! She was initially very unhappy about this very ugly "dress".


Getting drawn on so the the casting could be made! I couldn't believe how still she stood and let him draw around her bones. Normally she's very ticklish.



Getting wrapped up like a mummy in wet and gooey plaster wraps!


Patiently letting the plaster harden! She was so still I thought for sure she'd pop before they were done! When the orthotics guy told her she'd have to be completely still for at least five minutes, she said "I am not able to do that." Normally she can't, but she did today!


Getting the plaster cleaned up!!

Bee's Preschool Open House

We attented Bee's open house for preschool last night. A good majority of the children there last night were also there last year, but many of them still cried and acted shy when they came into the room, although their parents were going nowhere! My Bee walked right down the hall, into the class, and started playing in the kitchen area. Not a shy bone in that child's little body!! We are so lucky! I always feel sorry for the moms whose kids are latched onto them! Prophet did that for about six months right after we moved to Kentucky when he was two. Other than that, it's never been a problem in our house.

She's the one on the left with the green shirt and pink hair thingys!

I Remember

Two years ago today, I remember watching with the rest of America and the world as the rescue efforts in the Gulf Coast regions starting happening. I remember watching as trees around my home were cleaned up. I remember watching a neighbor use a truck to pull his 20 foot pine tree back into it's hole and tie it to the fence trying to save it... it worked!! I remember the smell of freshly cut pine trees everytime I stepped outdoors for weeks because of all the fallen trees! I remember watching as "refugees" fled to our area, Birmingham, AL, and found places to live. I remember watching as school boards lifted restrictions and let them place their children in our schools so their lives could "continue". I remember watching as our store shelves sat empty in many places due to things being bought up and sent to the coast, the shelters, and in some cases because the plants manufacturing and shipping things out, were destroyed or under water. I remember watching, feeling lucky that we were far enough north in the state that we were spared the brunt of Katrina, and guilty that I wasn't doing more to help. I rememeber watching as organizations around the country came to full alert to jump in and help. I remember watching as the gathering area of our church filled up with supplies to be sent down with the team from our church and many others in our area. I remember watching and feeling guilty that we were leaving the area to head to WV for Labor Day weekend and my BIL's wedding, like we were somehow abandoning the south in their time of need. I remember watching and fearing that we wouldn't be able to find gas or afford it if we did. I remember getting gas put in our car, going in to pay, and before we pulled out of the parking lot, hearing the bells going off indicating that there was no gasoline left in that gas station. I remember the signs saying not to bother, because their gas was already gone!

As the weeks and months unfolded we were horrified as we watched and heard first-hand stories (not rumors) of the way these people were treated by our government! I've got pictures taken by Smart Guy of the devistation, the people, the broken lives, and the disgusting filth they had to live in. Some of those pictures have people wearing masks while tearing out walls because as soon as the water went down, everything around them was full of toxic mold! I also have pictures of many, many people working together for a common cause. These people slept, ate, used the restroom, and showered in primitive conditions. Tents, porta-potties, gas stoves and grills, some porta-showers (for the luckier areas), dotted the gulf coast as people moved into them because their homes were destroyed and because people were arriving to give a hand. People from all over arrived to help.

Unfortunately it was not enough. There are still many, many people without suitable homes to live in. There are many people who still have not returned home. There are many people who want to rebuild, but can't because insurance premiums have been allowed to go thru the roof. There have been many people who have had their homes foreclosed on in the midst of the worst times of their lives because they had to live somewhere else, pay for that, and couldn't afford to pay for the home they owned but couldn't live in.

Why is it that somehow our country has come up with billions and billions of dollars to continue to take care of someone else's "business", but when it comes to protecting the lives of OUR OWN IN THIS COUNTRY, the money seems to have gotten lost? I don't get it!!!

Really, I Am

I'm feeling helpless tonight. I feel like saying "I'll be praying for you" seems so inadequate. That's the typical answer when someone is struggling with an issue. It seems so cheesy. It's kinda like asking "How are you?" and not really listening for the answer. It's just something you say when you don't know what else to say. I have a friend who needs me desparately right now and there's nothing I can physically do for her right now. I told her I'd be on my knees for her tonight. I mean it. I will be. I know I can't change her situation, for it involves the freedom of choice by another human being, but I can let her know that I love her, and even more than me.... God loves her and is always there with her. I'm praying for her... really, I am.

The Ultimate in "Slug"

How's this for the ultimate in "slugness"? We had spaghetti made with ground turkey and whole wheat noodles for lunch after church this afternoon. Since it was "healthy", I gave the leftovers to Bowz. I put the skillet in front of him and he never bothered to even stand up to eat it. He ate it all laying down. He, of course, loved it! Now I can save some dishwashing soap on the pan, I just put it right back into the cupboard it was so clean and shiny!!!! (That's for Mountain Mom, who gags at the thought of allowing a dog to lick the food off of dishes!! Hey, if you put them in the dishwasher, they will get clean. Besides, dog slobber is cleaner than human slobber anyday.)

In Honor of Peggy The Brave

I found this on someone's blog a couple weeks ago and have been meaning to put it on mine in honor of Peggy or "Dreaming Again" in my comments. She is an amazing woman that Smart Guy met on one of his youth ministry boards. Between her hubby's health and hers, they live a very high-maintenance life. Thru it all they lean on the Lord to get them past the rough spots, which seem to be all the time for those of looking in from the outside. She is an amazing, courageous, brave, and honorable woman.



Isn't she cute? I love the slurping up of her drool!! Hilarious!! Surely?

You're So Vain

Well, I've apparently got some deprogramming to do. I'm all about our little people having high self-esteem and all, but this is going to far.

Today while Bee and I were shopping an awesome sale at Kohl's, a little boy who looked to be around three years old, waved at Bee. Her response?

"HE MUST'VE NOT SEEN ANYONE AS PRETTY AS THIS BEFORE?"

My jaw hit the floor. I'm so glad they had moved on and didn't hear her!! Now my work begins!

First Day of Third Grade

Well, they are off to start their first day of third grade in a new school. Prophet was so excited that it was after midnight before he fell asleep. I finally got him a snack and told him he could read by the hallway light in hopes that he'd get sleepy. It didn't work. He ended up in tears because he was afraid he wouldn't get a good enough nights sleep to have a good first day of school. They were both up and going easy this morning. We had blueberry applesauce, whole wheat pancakes for breakfast and off they went, walking to school with Daddy. They're getting so big.

School Starts Tomorrow

Okay, can I just say that I feel like shit right now? I don't know why? Well, it could be too much dessert at dinner I guess. We ended up going to Ryan's for dinner to celebrate the last day of summer vacation. I got a little tiny brownie and a bowl of banana pudding the FIRST time I went up, and then when I went up with Bee to get her dessert, I got the same thing over again. We've removed almost all refined sugar and corn syrup from our diets, using mainly honey to sweeten things, so I'm thinking that I've simply got too much sugar running thru my veins!! I fell asleep in the car on the way home from the restraunt. It's only about a 7 minute drive... that's how lousy I feel.

When we got home, we packed up the boys school supplies and walked over to the school for open house night so they could meet their new teachers and see their new classrooms. They're both excited to get school started and meet their new friends. I have no idea how they feel because I was never the new kid at school. I went to school with the same kids from kindergarten thru high school graduation. The only time I got new kids in my class was when three grade schools joined into one middle school in 7th grade. They say they arent' nervous! I hope not. Prophet just came down for the third time while I've been sitting here. He can't sleep. I asked if he was scared about school starting. He said no, he just wants to get there and meet everyone.


"Lord, please wrap your arms around my boys tomorrow as they walk into a new school year, with new friends, new teachers, a new building, new routines, new everything... Help them to feel at home. Help them to feel good about themselves. Help them to have a good experience. Help the other kids to show them kindness and include them. Please keep them safe and protect their innocence while they are away from us. Help them to remember Whose children they are and that You are always with them. Please be with their new teachers as they get to know my precious little people. Help them to be patient with Prophet as he asks a million questions a day. Help them to be kind and not harsh. Help them to have the wisdom they need to teach their class. Please be with me as I hear their absence in the house, for it's been a loud summer, but I'll miss the activity of having them with me. Hold them tight!! Amen."

Up A Creek

*Note to all grannie type people reading this... no child was put in harms way while playing in the creek today... I promise!

With all the rain we've had the last week or so, we've got soaked soil! It can't hold anymore. When we woke up this morning there were flood warnings all over our county and those around us. The boys were a little panicked because we have the creek that runs thru the park around the corner from us. I assured them that we live at the top of a hill and unless God decides to do an offical flooding of the earth again, the water will never get this high. I promised them that we'd walk down to the park and look at the creek to see how high and fast it was. We did and it didn't dissapoint us. The section everyone usually plays in was about a foot deep and flowing so fast that it was foamy. It was scarey!! D.K. wanted to get in so badly. He was just convinced that he could handle it. There was no way I was taking the chance, it was simply moving to quick. So we walked upstream on the bank until we came to a section that wasn't as deep and fast and I let them all get in!! It was fun! After awhile we got out and played on the wet playground since they were wet anyway! Then we went home, got cleaned up, put on dry clothes and went out to dinner to celebrate the last day of summer vacation!! I'm not sure what the thing in Bee's hand is. It's some kind of fuzzy bug that she'd picked up and wanted on my blog, so I obliged! Take note of her socks!!

My Little "Beeva"

Check out the shirt... it says "Queen Bee"!!

She Did It Again...

You'd think she'd learn, but no!! This time she was climbing up to get a plate. The thing with Bee is that she'll climb onto anything, she just can't get herself out the trouble she got herself into!! She's only 6 inches off the floor with her feet dangling down, but try convincing her of that!! At least she smiled for the picture!!

Library Time

The children's section of our new library! It's awesome. This is something you'd expect in a large city, not a town of 30,000 people! There's also the "grown up" section, the teen section, the "quick in and out" section (haven't used it yet, don't know what's in it), the audio visual section, the music section, the huge arts and crafts room, a multitude of small office type rooms with glass fronts and doors so you can be alone including a family room like such with a table, a couch, and a chair, and many, many cozy couches and chairs all over the place. The place is ginormous and we are so blessed to have it walking distance from our home! Since Smart Guy had a meeting last night and wouldn't be home for the evening, we stopped at the church to get him and all went for about two hours together. It was fun!!

Okay, yah I'm a crazzy blogger chick. I had to take a picture of the potty at the library to put on here. It's a "family restroom" as they call them these days. Can I just say, it seemed wierd sitting next to my daughter whiled we both peed simutaneously (sp)! When I started to sit down, Bee informed me that "Mommy, your butt is too big and will never fit on that potty seat!" Excuse me little girlfriend, but your mommy's butt is currently a size 8-10, it'll fit about anywhere these days!!

The storm raging outside while we were cozy in the library. It was loud and it was bright!!

D.K. sitting at the table reading a dino book... Bee, showin' off for the camera!

Bee wandering off to find another book to "read".

I'll leave you with this... the boy who wasn't supposed to live at one point... look, not only is alive, but he's reading at age-level with over-age-level drama added in. He's amazing!!

Horseback Riding Camp

Last week Prophet and D.K. went to horseback riding camp. Each child had one horse for the entire week. Well, D.K. started with another horse on Monday, but he wouldn't cooperate with anyone, so after stepping on D.K.'s foot twice in one day, he was sidelined for the week. Each child had to share their horse with one other child for the week. They were taught how to muck out the stalls, take care of the tack, proper arena technique for shows, riding posture, etc. They loved it and they are missing "their" horses alot. I found Prophet staring at the picture of him and "his" horse Donut all teary eyed at bedtime. For his birthday in two weeks, he's asking for money so he can go back out to the stables and ride. The last day, they did a demo for the parents of everything they had learned during the week. Here's some of the pics we took!

This is Prophet leading "his" horse Donut around the arena. I know it's blurry, but I wanted you to see what this mama saw looking at her "little boy" with that magnificent animal following his lead. It was one of those moments when I once again wanted to find those doctors and say "look at him, this is that tiny baby that you told us may never walk, feed himself, talk ...look what he can do." My heart sings when I watch him do something like this!

Prophet riding Donut.

D.K. riding Chester.

D.K. taking care of "his" horse Chester after the demonstration. He was so proud to show off his knowledge to us.

Prophet and Bee with Chester.

Eye Appointment

How do you know you're a crazy blogger? When you take pictures of your children at the opthamologist appointment just so you can post them!!

Prophet and Bee both had their appointments last Thursday. They did them at the same time, one right after the other. They both had to have their eyes dilated. Prophet sat straight up in the chair and let them put the three drops into each eye without hardly a flinch. Then it was Bee's turn. Normally I try to refrain from calling my children names, BUT she turned into the biggest brat on the planet when it was her turn for the eyedrops. It tooks three of us at one point to hold her hands, open her eyes, and put in the drops. She screamed like a little banchee! I had to laugh at her or I'd have wrung her little neck. Now before you go and feel sorry for her and assume that it hurt... it didn't. The first drops were numbing drops. Prophet told her that it didn't hurt at all. The entire time she was screaming, she never said "ouch" one time. She never said anything about it hurting. Even afterwards when we asked her if it hurt, she said "no". She simply didn't want it done. The funny thing is that that was the only time during the almost two hours we were in the office that she acted up at all. The rest of the time everyone was telling her how cute she was, that they loved her outfit, they loved her mismatched flip-flops, they loved her hairdo, they thought she had the sweetest personality, etc., and then she exploded. The two doctors and med student that had been with us for awhile were in shock that this sweet, little blond could make such a loud noise. As soon as they were done, she shut it all off as if someone had pushed a button on her nose and turned her off. Talk about the drama!! Oh my goodness! I actually took away her favorite doll for the night for the whole ordeal. In our house, it's okay to cry if your scared or don't want to do something, BUT IT IS NEVER okay to be rude or nasty to someone, especially Mommy!!

Anyway, that's done for awhile! Prophet does appear to have the same things going on with his optic nerves that Bee does, but we won't know for sure until after his MRI on Sept. 19! Hopefully it's not that bad! He was a perfect little gentleman that day. I was so proud of him. He was sure of himself and not the least bit shy with the docs and nurses. He's getting so big!

Now It's "Officially" Home

Prophet, D.K., and Bee with their Grannie and Pa and my wonderful Mom and Dad!!

Well, my mom has been in my new home. She loves it. She says it "looks like me". I know I'm 33 years old, but I still love my mother's approval and praise. I worked hard on Friday to get my house "standing tall" (my mothers term for a clean and neat home)for her. Even though I've lived in our new home for about 7 weeks now, it feels more like home now that she's been here to visit.

They got in late Friday night. Smart Guy and the boys were in Akron with a group from church at a minor league baseball game. They didn't get home until around midnight. We walked to breakfast and the farmers market Saturday morning. After that we walked home and played around at home for the afternoon. We made pork roast, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob (farmers market), and tomato slices (farmes market) for dinner. For dessert we had vanilla ice cream with organic spelt flour gingersnap cookies from the farmers market. After dinner, we walked to the playground around the corner to play until it was dark. We came home, watched some Disney, and went to bed. After church this morning, the kids and I gave Mom and Dad a tour of the church, and then we all went out to lunch at a little Greek restaurant downtown. Then we came home, took pictures, and they left for home. It was a quick and way too short visit.

We'll be going to their house for Labor Day Weekend in two weeks. After that who knows when we'll see them again. Probably not until the holidays... which sucks rocks and dirt big time!! I love our new little town, but I hate that it's so far away from Mom and Dad!!

Miss Libby Loo

I snagged this picture of one of the youngest members of our clan off of my mom's camera. She's my 2nd cousin. Her mommy is several years younger than I am, and I can remember carrying her all over the place when I was a kid. I can't believe she's got a little one now!!

Fun In The Backyard

Mom took this of all three kids playing on the new swingset!!

Monster 'Matoes

Mom and Dad came to see us for the weekend. They got in around 9:30 last night. We all got up this morning and walked downtown to a little cafe for breakfast and then walked over to the farmers market down the street. I got a bar of homemade peppermint-rosemary soap and 14 ears of yummy sweetcorn. Mom got some eggplants, greenpeppers, small tomatoes, and the tomato that this slice came from!! The thing was monstrous!

Strike Up The Band

The bill for my latest surgery was around $12,000. We only owe about $650 of that. The insurance will pay the rest! Ain't life great!! Now if I could only get these flippin' things removed from my bahooney, I'd be a happy little camper!!

I Love This Town

For those of you who have asked and/or are wondering.... Everything here in Ohio is going wonderfully. The church is treating us like royalty. They have stepped up many times already to make our lives easier. They are always willing to lend a hand when we need help with our schedules due to all of the dr.'s appointments between myself, Prophet, and Bee. Today, someone picked me up at 6:30 in the morning to go to Cleveland with me. Someone else picked up Bee at 8:10 and then picked up the boys from horseback riding camp at noon. Smart Guy had a staff retreat out of town for most of the day and he really needed to go. It wasn't one of those things he could get out of if at all possible, so two women stepped up and helped make what could have been a crazy day, run very smoothly.

Here's more pictures of the fun stuff we get to do around here. This playground is about a five minute walk from our house. We actually played on this playground before we ever moved here. My kids call it "the wood playground"!!

Shot of the entire playground from the hillside next to it! It's awesome!


Daddy pushing Bee on the tire-swing!


D.K. swingin' on the monkey bars!


Prophet while playing a game they made up with a group of kids at the park!


Bee getting a boost-up from daddy!


D.K. watching Prophet disappear underneath the mazes of wood platforms!


Prophet swinging on the swinging walkway!


Bee getting the feel of the water by hopping like a froggy!! This creek is right next to the playground. It's a gorgeous place to wade and play. There's a covered bridge right next to where we were. I took a picture of it, but it was too dark to see it by then, so we'll try again another time!!


Bee wading after taking off her shoes. Notice the filthy bahooney. She had slipped on the creek bank several times. She was soaked thru by the time we left.


Bee showing all of Mommy's friends the red rock she found in the creek! Yes, she knows that pictures will probably end up on my blog for all to see when I take them!