Prayers for my mom

I just got off the phone w/ my mom. She was just admitted to the hospital w/ cellulitis (a very bad skin infection) and abscess in her arm. She has bad excema and thinks she must've scratched too hard and it got infected. She saw her doctor today and he apparently freaked out and sent her immediately to the hospital to be admitted. They have done cultures and are hooking her up to IV antibiotics. She sounded in pretty good spirits. I'm going to wait and see what the infectious disease doctor says and then decide on whether I'll head up there (they live near Chicago). My dad doesn't like to drive in rush hour and they live about a half hour away from the hospital, so I'm not sure how he'll manage. Having aging parents really stinks.....

One more week

After tomorrow, the kids only have one more week of school. I cannot believe that another school year is over. It seriously seems like it just started. Why does the year go by so quickly for my kids, but when I was a kid it dragged by so slowly? I'm going to have to get in summer mode now and motivate myself to work my usual hours even though the kids will be home now. These kids really are spoiled, because Thornton's schedule is so flexible and the church he works at is only 2 minutes from our house, so they really have both of their parents available this summer. Of course, that doesn't mean that we'll be at their beck and call, but I'm glad that if they need to be run over to a friend's house or whatever, I'll be able to do it. And then, I'll get right back to work! Promise.

My cuties!

Rise and Shine!

My alarm clocked stopped working recently. Actually, it still worked, but you couldn't reset the time the alarm was to go off. It was permanently stuck on 6:30 a.m. That's not a huge deal, since during the week we get up at 7:00, but it was getting to be a pain. So...yesterday the girls and I went shopping for a new clock. They picked out a clock for me that had various sounds that could wake you up. You can choose from: buzzer, rooster, birds, seagulls, waterfall, crickets or seashore. I thought it would be nice to wake up to the sound of waves crashing over rocks, so I bought it. When I actually stopped long enough to read the directions, I realized that the waterfall, crickets and seashore sounds were to fall asleep by...you couldn't choose them as alarm sounds. So, I was stuck w/ either the rooster, birds or seagulls. Or the annoying buzzer and really...I don't want to start my day listening to that. So, I choose the rooster. I figured it's the sound that's been waking up farmers for generations, so it should be good enough for me. Not quite as soothing as a waterfall, but it'd have to do. But...I'll have to wait 'til tomorrow morning because Patrick woke me up this morning about 15 minutes before it was to go off to tell me that he was awake. Why does a 13 year old have to wake his sleeping mother to tell her he's awake?? Apparently I've taught him nothing in his time here on earth.

Mother's Day champs!

We spent the weekend shivering at Patrick's baseball tounament. It was about 50 degrees, windy w/ periods of drizzle. I'm still not warm! But...they won the tournament!! Patrick pitched the game to get the team into the championship game and did awesome. Not that I saw it...we were still at church. We got there in time for the championship game, though. Here's a picture of the championship team. Patrick is in the front row on the left.

Sweet Wilma

I just found out that a sweet lady from our church passed away last night from a cerebral hemmorage. She was in her 80's and had recently won a battle w/ cancer. Everyone loved Wilma...she always had a hug and a smile for you. I know my kids will be sad when they get home from school and we tell them. But, thankfully, her passing was quiet and peaceful. And I know Jesus got a big hug last night at 5 p.m.

I love my mailman!

My mailman is the best! Obviously I have lots of packages going out and coming in every day. He told me that I didn't have to schedule pick up online anymore, because if I left them on the porch, he'll get them. Well, the other day, it was pouring rain, so when I saw him pull up out front I went outside to help load up his truck. He told me not to help him, because he didn't want me to get wet. How sweet is that? Then he got my mail and brought it to the door so I didn't have to go to the mail box.

I am beginning to wonder, however, if the fact that we live in a small town slows down mail delivery. Priority mail is supposed to take 2-3 days, but packages from me to customers hardly ever gets there that fast. It's frustrating, but what's a girl to do? At least I don't have to get wet!

Stupid Oprah

Yesterday's Oprah was about marriage. Except, it didn't put a positive spin on marriage at all. Lance Armstrong's ex-wife was a guest, along w/ that psychologist person that she has as a guest a lot. They both talked about how so many woman lose themselves when they get married. And Oprah says, with this superior look on her face, "Exactly! That's why I've never gotten married!" Good grief...I'm sorry if she's so selfish that she isn't willing to share herself unconditionally w/ a man. But I am! And, let me tell you, I've become more of a person, not less, since getting married almost 15 years ago. I think both Thornton and I have grown because of each other. So, there, Oprah...you don't know everything!

40!

Thornton turned 40 today! Hard to believe my sweet hubby is 40. I'm not sure how he's taking it, actually. He's so easy to tease about being old...actually he's easy to tease about anything. But, I kind of think maybe he really isn't all that thrilled with getting older. We didn't do too much for his birthday. He and I went out for breakfast this morning. The kids had a 1/2 day of school, so we all went out for lunch. He got his presents this afternoon....just a bunch of summer shirts. Tonight he's at the Hitting Center w/ Patrick. He refused to let me throw him a party. I can't wait for 40 years from now when he's 80 and I'm 78 and we've got the time to spend w/ each other. It's nice to know you've got a love to grow old w/!

Hopscotch candy

Alison had a sucker yesterday and she told me to try it because it tasted like hopscotch. Took me the longest time to realize she meant butterscotch. 'Cause hopscotch candy would taste like chalk and rocks, right? :-)

Rachel had her first ballet company Trainee class. It wasn't a "real" class, actually, because they did a reflexology class w/ the company dancers. It sounds pretty cool...she was telling me all about where to press on your foot to relieve whatever pains you have. I just found it funny, because dancer's feet are so ugly and here they had a whole class focusing on them.

Patrick had a double header yesterday, also. He pitched 3 innings of the first game. Of course, those were the innings that I wasn't there, because I wasn't back from Rachel's ballet yet. He did really well....struck out 8 in 3 innings!!

Today is another busy afternoon and evening. Alison has gymnastics at 4-5, then we'll catch something to eat. Drop Rachel off at dance at 6, and then race across town to Patrick's baseball game, which also starts at 6. Right when his game is over, I'll have to go back and pick Rachel up. Note to self: have Alison bring homework when we leave for gymnastics or she'll never get it done!

Naptime donation

Last Sunday I was exhausted after driving back from Ohio in the night. So, after church, I took a nap. Actually fell asleep this time too! At one point one of the kids came in and told me I had a phone call. I have no idea when they'll learn that when I'm napping, I don't take phone calls, but for some reason, I picked up the phone. It was the Special Olympics looking for a donation. After my nap I said to Thornton that I thought I had donated to the Special Olympics in my sleep. Honestly, I couldn't remember what I had said to the person on the phone! I figured it was OK, since we love the Special Olympics and have volunteered our time for them in the past. Today the donation form came in the mail. Thank goodness it was only $25 that I donated. Can you imagine if I'd donated a ton of money?? I would've had to call them and tell them that I donated in my sleep and I had to reduce the amount!

Day w/ a friend

I'm driving one of my very best friends to St. Louis today for a doctor's appointment. I'm thrilled that I get to spend the day w/ her. We are both busy and don't get to connect as often as we'd like, so this is going to be awesome. She's one of those people that I aspire to me more like.

I've decided that we have the neediest cat alive. He walks around the house whining until he finds us and then he'll rub up against us and head butt us until we give him an adequate amount of attention. Normally, it's cute, but every morning at 5 a.m. is getting a little old!

Mean Girls

Rachel got into the van after dance on Monday and said, "Mommy, you know how you said that if I ever need to talk to you about anything, that I can?" She then told me that she thought two girls in her dance class were making fun of her. They were giggling and looking at Rach and then came over to her and told her about this "girl" that they didn't like that had big, ugly glasses, wore a necklace, always had a sparkly hair tie in her hair and played on the jungle gym. Well...all of these things are true of Rachel (except of course, her glasses are cool!). Rachel had *just* been talking to them about how she still loves to climb on the jungle gym at recess sometimes. Rachel was really upset, because these girls have been her friends, since they've been dancing together for years. I told Rachel that she should've said, "I think you're talking about me, and if that's true, that makes me sad, because I thought we were friends. And if you're talking about someone else, I really don't want to talk about it, because it's not nice". Of course, I know that's easy for me to say...but not so easy for a 10 year old girl to say.

I'm pretty sure I know the root of this incidence. Another girl in Rachel's dance class told Rachel a week ago or so that one of the girls involved in the teasing thought Rachel was really pretty, was a great dancer and loved her glasses. I explained to Rachel that some kids think the best way to make themselves feel better is to put other kids down. It's been my crusade since the girls were babies that they not involve themselves in this kind of behavior. I remember how hurtful it is.

Of course, as a mother, I wanna punch those mean little girls...but I guess I'll let my daughter handle it herself. She's much more civilized than her mother!

The weekend report

We had a great couple of days in Columbus, OH for the wedding of the son of friends of ours. Thornton did all the music and it was wonderful! We had some free time on Saturday, so I took the girls to the Columbus Zoo. This is the zoo where Jack Hanna used to work. We try to get to as many zoos as possible with the kids, so we've seen tons of zoos. But, wow...this one was really impressive. We only had 3 hours there and we probably only saw 1/3 of what was there.

The wedding was at so beautiful. We've known Ryan since he was in 8th grade, so we've seen him grow into a fine young man (he's 24 now). It was a joy to see him find his love. We had to leave the reception early since we had to drive back to Illinois in order to be in church for Sunday morning (since Thornton works there!). We left at 8 p.m. and got home at 2 a.m. Thornton had napped while the girls and I were at the zoo, so he was rested. I, however, was not...but I couldn't fall asleep in the van. All the kids did, so that was good! We got home, got everyone settled and then I tried to sleep....but I couldn't! Finally around 3:30, I fell asleep. Thornton had to get up at 6 to get ready for church, so I was up then. Ugh...I was so tired in church. Thornton and I both took naps in the afternoon yesterday.

Now, it's back at it...Monday morning! Patrick has a track meet after school, assuming it doesn't rain. Alison had gymnastics at 4 and Rachel has dance at 6. Thornton has to work at The Hitting Center, so I'll be doing all the chaufering.

Motivate me!

We are leaving at 7 a.m. to drive to Ohio for a wedding. I haven't packed a single thing for any of us and I really have no desire to do so. I have got to be my behind in gear and get going. I don't want to be up 'til the wee hours of the morning packing!!

Alison funny

The other day Alison was with me in the van when I dropped Rachel off at dance. As Rachel got out of the car, Alison says, "Our little Rachel...she's going to be 11 soon. Where does the time go?" She's such a goober!

Yesterday Patrick had a track meet. Problem was...it was only 45 degrees and very windy out! I was SO cold sitting in the stands watching the meet. Then I started looking around and realized that I was like the only stupid parent who was sitting in the stands! No one else was brave enough to sit out there and freeze. I thought the kids would probably run really fast, just so they could put their sweats back on!!

We bought a car!

After only having one car for 3 months or so, we finally bought a car to replace my dead car. We bought a 2003 Mazda6 w/ 37,000 miles on it. It's in awesome shape!! Thornton and I did tons of research and drove through every car lot in town. This was the first car we saw, but we felt like we needed to see everything that was out there in our price range. We had heard that new Hyundais were in our price range, so we headed there this morning. We test drove their Accent, which is their smallest car. Hyundai has a 10 year, 100,000 mile warranty right now, so that was pretty appealing. BUT...in order to get a car in our price range, we couldn't get a car w/ air conditioning, power locks or power windows. Ummm...no. I don't have very high standards, but one of them is not driving around all summer w/ sweat dripping off me. So, despite the salesman's valiant efforts (personally, I'd be embarrassed to try to convince someone to buy a car w/ no AC), we walked. The Mazda6 was a wee bit out of our price range, but Thornton's parents said they would chip in $50 a month so we could get it. We've worked so hard to become responsible w/ our money, and we were not going to ruin it on a car. I love his parents! (for many, many reasons, besides the money)

To trick the kids, we printed up the following pictures and told them that this was our new car:


Alison loved the lime green Chevy Caprice and was actually disappointed when we told her that we were kidding! She's such a unique child. Rachel couldn't believe that her father and I had gone through all the trouble to track down a picture like that to trick them. She should know better than that! She's known us for 10 years...LOL!

Play Ball!

Today is Patrick's first baseball game of the season. He plays on a competetive team. This is his first year w/ this team, and most of the kids on the team are 14 (Patrick is 13). It's been a great experience for him to have to prove himself to be able to play w/ the older kids. He's a very talented player and works really hard, so hopefully today's game will have a good outcome. I think he's kind of nervous, because they're playing another local team of kids that are all in the grade ahead of Patrick.

I just love baseball! I love being outside on a beautiful day like today is going to be. Thankfully the game is at our local fields, so there is a great playground nearby for Alison to play at. Rachel will miss half the game because of her dance classes, but then Grandpa is going to bring her out to the field.

The girls and I saw a local youth theater production of Alladin last night. Rachel hadn't been able to audition for it because of our vacation. It was so well done! What a fun evening.

Kitty love

Our cat, Ozzie, loves to wake me up at 5 a.m. He will shove his little furry face into my face and rub. Then he head butts me. This continues until I wake up enough to start scratching his face. Of course, then, he wants me to continue loving him, despite the fact that I want to sleep. He won't leave my face alone! About this time, the birds start tweeting. We live in a small town, but it's not like we live out in the country. But, man, are the birds loud! So, the past 3 days, I've been up at 5 and unable to fall back to sleep. Until this morning, when I fell back asleep at approximately 6:45. My alarm goes off at 7. I was deep in the middle of a very bizarre dream at the time about a camping trip. There were all these completely unrelated people, including people from my past and people I hardly know camping along w/ our family. I have no idea what it meant. Of course, I can't ever figure out what my dreams mean. Ozzie is now sleeping in the window sill. I think I'll go wake HIM up!

Pa

I'll admit it...I adore watching reruns of Little House on the Prairie. They are on here from 2-4 p.m. I always have it on in the sunroom while I'm working in the kitchen. I loved LHOTP when I was little and I've not outgrown it. I think part of it is that I always have wanted a dad like "Pa Ingalls". He is caring, gentle, fun, not afraid to cry....what a guy! My dad...well...he's no Pa Ingalls. So, I guess I will have to live vicariously through Laura, eh?