Greetings from the House of Funk

Funk being illness, not anything groovy or with boogy. Brian is the only semi-healthy one here. Melanie has a cold and other issues (more later on that) and I have bronchitus and a sinus infection. It makes for some fun times.

Here's a rundown:

1. We started the day by lying in my bed watching Peter Pan. Brian was already at work (he left at 4:30. AM. Not kidding.), so we just snuggled in. I kind of snoozed, and she watched the movie, up until the Mermaid part, where she said she was hungry.


2. Came downstairs, I made her some eggs. I was trying to avoid milk products due to the phlegm and other nastiness. She ate maybe 3 bites. Drank a little juice.


3. Watched Pinnochio. She was mostly up under my armpit. She's snuggly and miserable. There were a couple of trips upstairs to go potty during this time. I didn't think much of it until....


4. "Mommy! I have poopoo in my panties!" Oh great. Upstairs I head, wondering what is going to greet me. My child standing mostly naked in the bathroom, silent tears streaming down her face. Her panties full. I quickly asked her if she needed to get back up on the potty. All of a sudden, she is shocked...."YES!" I lift her up and put her on the potty, and just in time. Let me just finish this particular potty story (there's another one later) by saying that a 3 year old with the trots is no run in the park.


5. We eat a little Kraft M&C, she ate about half a bowl of that, which is the best she's done in a few days. We head upstairs to take a nap, which of course includes a trip to the potty first.


6. We walk into the bathroom. The scene I see is this. There is no toilet paper on the table. This is strange, as there was a full roll earlier. There is also a puddle on the floor. A puddle of piddle. I look in the toilet...and there is the missing roll of toilet paper...along with various other....stuff. So I do what any self-respecting wife would do. I wait until Brian gets home so he can extract the stuff.


7. She naps for 2 hours. Has a popscicle to try to get some liquids in her. Then got to go outside and play with Brian on the swing, as it was 70 degrees today. She loved that.


8. Supper...not a bit eaten. She did not like one thing (smoked sausage, buttered peas, and couscous). I don't know if the meds have her taste buds off or what...but it was a fight to get her to take a couple bites.

My day was not as fun as some others. I hope she starts feeling better soon. That toilet paper just about put me over the edge. And I can't stop coughing...it is making me so tired!!

Here's a picture from this weekend. I didn't want any photographic documentation of today. Tomorrow will be a better day, so I'll try to do happy stories tomorrow! :)

Laundry and Other Quandries

Today has been a typical Monday. Lots of crazy things to get done in the morning, and things to do here at the house. One of the things that I try to do on Monday mornings is to start a load of laundry before we leave the house, to try to get us off on the right foot.

Well, today I was in the laundry room, looking at the dirty clothes, and I realizes that we sort our laundry into 4 piles: whites, darks, sheets/towels, and PINKS.

This is a load of Melanie's clothes. I think I might have some unmentionables in there. I'm pretty sure that Brian doesn't have anything in there (or so we hope!). The child just has a mainly pink wardrobe. Here she is right now, coloring on the floor.

And just for fun, look around at past blog posts. I'd venture a guess that most of the shots you see will have her in pink. I don't know what that is; I know that if giving a choice, her dad will always pick the pink outfit. He was actually looking for pink Penn State and Panthers stuff. I remember having the same thing happen to me as a kid, until I revolted and started to wear black. I need to give her better choices more often now, or we're doomed for the goth thing.

The other thing that has really struck me lately is how "for granted" I take her speech patterns. For instance, there's this Veggie Tales song that she really loves right now that talks about this bowling professional named Art Begotti. (The "got" is like the word "got" not like the word "goat".) So today, she was singing the song, and do you know how she prounced it?

Bark O'Goddy.

Brian and I laughed so hard. I guess you'd have had to hear the song to think it's funny, but trust me, it is.

Another case in point: we're having bagetti for supper.

We go to "themnaskiks" on Monday morning.

When her undies go up her hiney, she has a "veggie".

I just asked her if she can think of anything else we should write about, and she can't "bamember" anything.

Keep on some company on you...

Which is what Melanie says when she thinks she's keeping you company. No matter how many times you correct it, or how many times you say it yourself. She only wants to "keep on some company on" when you're going to the bathroom, too. The rest of the time it's fine to be private. Figures. I don't think I've peed by myself for about 2 years now.

I miss that.

So tonight was bath night. She's a piece of work with the bathtime routine...and for some reason tonight she was a wild woman. Running around (mostly naked) singing "Bibbity Bobbity Boo" from Cinderella. If I recall, the Fairy Godmother was not naked when she sang that song, but Melanie sings it that way the most often. She was all about the towel wrapped around her hair tonight (like Mommy). She was cracking herself up.

She was too funny with that.

Brian really likes Blue Collar Comedy. Especially Bill something-or-other (who I can't remember). Anyway, he does this bit about a Dork Fish. Here are he and Melanie doing their Dork Fish faces.

My family is so classy, aren't we? Heck, I guess classy doesn't matter...but we sure do have fun!

More fun things soon, I'm sure. I have a ton of photos that I haven't uploaded yet, and some more digital scrapbooking pages. I'm having a lot of fun with that part!

By the way, my house is actually pretty clean! This day was productive!

ttfn!

Getting caught up...

That's what I feel like I've really been doing lately. The kitchen is probably as clean as it will ever be, and has ever been. Laundry is almost all caught up - folded, put away, etc. Bathroom is clean. Melanie's room is clean. My room is...NOT! But that's on the list for this week, so I'm pretty sure it will all get done. I don't know what has come over me (scary!) but I kind of like it!

I've also decided that I like to drink coffee - even by myself. I used to consider myself a social drinker, but lately I like a cup (or two) in the morning just because I can. Of course, I have to call and ask Brian how to make it when I make less than an entire pot, but that really shouldn't count. I'm converting over from tea (which I still enjoy, don't get me wrong. I think I'm going thru a phase!)

Melanie has had a good few days here. She and her daddy had some good quality time yesterday doing several different activities, and I got a little bit of a nap thru the race. Race, you say? That's correct. My husband has suddenly started to watch Nascar. Not sure where it came from...but it's really good to sleep thru. I just follow the orange Home Depot car. Tony Stewart is the only dude I know. And I know there are two brothers whose names begin with a K but that's about it. I don't get the points system, or the crashing, or the pit stops....it just doesn't click for me. I must be neglecting my heritage!

Anyway, Melanie...

She had curly hair yesterday, after a night in the rollers again. She had received a really cute outfit last year for Christmas (as in over a year ago) from one of Brian's Aunts, and even though we thought she'd be in it (it's 24 month size), it's still a little big. The skirt I don't think will ever fit because she just doens't have a waste or hiney. So, we found another skirt that looked good with the sweater and tights (the skirt is 12 months....sad!) and she was all set. Her feet have finally outgrown her size 6 shoes, too. 6 1/2 is where we are, and one pair of 7 - although that's mostly because she begged for the Strawberry Shortcake shoes that had been in her closet since the day she came home, and I just couldn't tell her no anymore - I mean they had been in there for a year! So, I think we're finally hitting a growth spurt.

So here she is in all her cuteness. I have to admit, she is a sweetheart most of the time. We're blessed with a smart, beautiful little girl.

More later...I need to go fold some laundry and make some lunch for some little wee one :)

Give Me Oyld In My Burden

Everyone should sing along, really. I mean, who can forget the name of the song that's the title of this post?

Melanie was hopping (literally) around this morning singing this at the top of her lungs. Now, the word Oyld sounds just like it looks...."oheeeyld." It's not easy to say. And the word Burden is said with a very rednecked, kind of country accent. Even my husband is not this southern. I am not even sure where she heard this.

The song is actually from Veggie Tales. It's called "Give Me Oil In My Lamp, Keep Me Burnin'" - there is nothing in there about a burden, or about putting "oyld" in your "burden". I laughed so hard - and ended up calling Brian at work to tell him about it. She's a piece of work.

We had movie night last night to watch "Cinderella 3." She loved it, wanted to watch it again today, but no go there. Tonight she's going to be with the sitter during the banquet, so she's taking a nap. Maybe they'll watch it tonight. This is of course if Brian and I GET to the banquet...as he has fallen, and we might end up at the ER or the clinic...his ribs are really hurting him. We'll keep you posted there. It's getting worse. (Story of our lives!)

Here are some other pictures from yesterday, put in a scrapbook page that I made. Credits for the supplies I used can be seen under the page. Have a good day :)

Supplies used: ScrapbookGraphics "The Basics Collection", Kate Teagues "Fun Film"

Snow Day & A Funeral

What a combination, huh? A first for both of those things for us this year.

First, the snow day. Boy, it's been fun - and it's still coming down. We actually have a combo of freezing rain and sleet right now (although technically, I don't know what the difference in those two things is - one is already frozen when it hits? I'm not sure...) But we already have several inches of snow, and are supposed to have several more tomorrow. A little girl (and a Daddy's) dream come true!

When Brian got home from work he took her out back for a while; it was starting to get dark, so they didn't have a lot of time and I didn't have a lot of light to take the photos with. But the memories are still there. She was/is totally bummed that the snow was not "crunchy" enough to make a snow man. She is also pretty ticked at me that I don't have a "real" carrot for a nose. (I guess baby carrots are not real carrots or something). Anyway, she's looking forward to more snowy play tomorrow with her dad.

I had to sing at a funeral tonight; because of the snowy nasty weather, Brian and Melanie went with, because I had to tote along the keyboard, stand, seat, etc. (You should have seen us cramming all that stuff into my tiny little car!) When we got there, Melanie hung out with Alyssa, and had a good time. We really didn't answer any questions, because she didn't go into the room where the actual funeral was taking place. But at the end, she had walked in there, and asked me, "Mom, why is that guy laying down up there in that box?" So, I explained that he had died, and that I had been there to sing a song for his family and friends to help them remember him. All the way home we had questions about why and when people die, and how Jesus gets them into heaven. Then, questions about is there a door to heaven, and do we have rooms or whole houses? Is it dark in heaven (which I got to answer a resounding NO to, which was really fun!) and does she have to take naps up there. By the end of our (hour long) car trip home, she was satisfied with the answers. At least answering all those questions helped me not be obsessed with the driving in the nasty weather!

Once we got home, Brian and Melanie took a little spill on the sidewalk on the ice. Melanie landed mostly on Brian, but Brian bounced hard on the ice, and is mighty sore. It's a bummer being in one's mid 30's - falling isn't as easy at it used to be.

Anyway, while we were putting Melanie to bed, she said to Brian, "Daddy, I'd really like to have some oatmeal tomorrow for breakfast. It will help me get the rest of the falls off of me, cause I still have some falls left on me from where you put me on the ground in the snow." I thought that was pretty dern funny.

After prayers and hugs, she was giving kisses, and told Brian, "Dad, you really need to chimp up those lips. They are WAY to tickly!" I think that "chimp" means that he needs to trim his facial hair, but I like chimp better. That might go into the Edwards' dictionary (which is growing by the day...I mean, who doesn't have some falls they need to get off?)

I leave you with a video of Melanie & Aly tonight during the funeral. Please note, they weren't with the funeral people - they were outside at "Mr. Hoover's House" (the funeral home).

Melanie's Wish

So, today we're watching Dora. Ya know - Spanish speaking Dora who is taking over the known world with her little bilingual self. We get a lot of Dora here, and Melanie speaks about as much Spanish as Dora does. It's pretty fun, actually.

I digress.

Today's episode was about making a wish with "little star." Totally an adventure, like every day is with Dora. But at the end, when they got Little Star back to where they needed to be, Dora asked everyone who "helped" to whisper their wish.

My daughter is totally into Dora. She does whatever Dora says to do - from the dance moves to the jumping to the repeating of the Spanish words. So, she whispered her wish:

"I wish I could eat eggs all day."

I just sat here and pretended I wasn't listening, because being a whispered wish, I wasn't sure I was supposed to hear. Once the show was over though, Melanie says, "Mommy, I made a wish - I wish I could eat eggs all day long!" I asked her, "What kind of eggs?" (I'm thinking at this point the chocolate eggs that are in the bag in the kitchen, because she doesn't get a lot of chocolate, and that would be a huge treat to eat those all day...) She says, "Dippy eggs or scrambled eggs or hard boilbed eggs" (yes, with the extra "b" in there). I said, "I think that's a wish we might be able to make true. Which day do you want to do this?"

You'd think I'd have given her the bag of the chocolate eggs. She is pretty thrilled with this. Don't know what day we're having eggs, but I'm sure it will be an interesting day. Wish fulfillment. Feels pretty good to be able to do that!

Today was gymnastics. I have to tell you, she is getting really good for a 3 1/2 year old girl! Now this photo has really nothing to do with the gymnastics themselves, I know. But aren't they all so cute with their little tushies all lined up in a row waiting their turns? The funny thing today was that they were all in their little pastel leotards today...except for little miss drama queen in her black one. I tried to get her to wear the pink one. No doing. She wanted the black one. And she was quite the stand out. Also, the braids...she asked for them today - and was very specific that she wanted them "on the sides" so that they didn't hurt her head when she did her backflips. Makes sense to me!

She is getting pretty tall (well, it's all relative, I know). But her 18 month clothes are getting too short for her. They fit around, just not length wise. So we went to get 24 month and 2T clothes for her (my almost 4 year old!) and went to the Children's Place, because their jeans are adjustable with this cool elastic waistband. We got 24 month jeans, and the length is pretty good (well, a little long - but not too bad) and we have the waistband adjusted as tight as it will go, and while they stay up...we still have a case of toddler crack. (That's like plumbers crack, but much cuter!) Anyway - they had a great sale with some 50% off stuff, so we ended up getting her some very cute things for a limited amount of cash money, which I love. There's something about dressing her that's so much more fun than dressing myself...maybe because I hate shopping for clothes for me. It's depressing. Anyway - it was way fun, and she looks way cute. We got all the clothes in the pictures, plus a few other things. GREAT deal!

I had a workshop on Saturday, and Melanie and Brian came along. Miss Elsa (the hostess) loves feeding my family, and Brian loves being fed! Melanie got to be a participant in the workshop, which she loved. She's getting to be a good little stamper. Here she is on her stool, in some of her new clothes.

She's getting to the point to where I am so proud to have her out and about with me; she is SO clever...and speaks with adults like she's one of them, only shorter! She was reading things off of the boxes and stamps to the ladies and talking about all sorts of things that you wouldn't expect a 3 year old to be talking about. She's a hoot.

Her new word for an answer to things is, "Possible". Like, you'll ask her if she'd like to play a game and she says, "Possible." Not sure where she got that...I wonder if I say that? I think I forget, or don't notice, the things that come out of my mouth until they come out of hers. Makes you a lot more aware!

More later!

2007

I have been so bad at taking pictures as of late, that this is the most recent that I have, I think. To be honest, I don't even know if there is anything current on the camera. The plus side is that I know where the camera is, which is saying something.

We have had a rough couple of weeks. I have had surgery - again - and Melanie has hit 3 1/2. 3 1/2 is not so much fun, really. She is just so emotional - more so than usual - and wants mom - and only mom - and mom is really feeling rough. The good news is that the new teepee is helping some. That's what's in the picture.

I'm vowing to get the camera out and do better and taking pictures. I've missed most of 2007 already. Need to get on it. It's too sad to miss that many days.

Hope everyone else is doing ok. I'll try to do better at keeping up with the good stories.

All WHAT goes to heaven?

This day has been EXHAUSTING!

The whole "picture is worth a thousand words" thing is very accurate in this photo, don't you think? Please, I'd rather you NOT comment on two things: #1 - the condition of the toilet, or #2 - the sick mind of the mother who photographs the goldfish funeral.

Today marks the (unofficial) passing of Charlotte & Wilbur. (They actually died yesterday, but we were trying to decide whether Charlotte Jr and Wilbur Jr were going to join the family.) We have decided to take a break from the goldfish way of life for a few days.

She was very confused, and very sad. Tears. Lots of tears. And a lot of questions, some that we were so heart wrenching, and some that were....well, here's a list.

1. Why do they have white spots and black eyes now mom? (the answer to this is that they had "ick" - and yes, that's a real thing).


2. How are they going to get to heaven?


3. Am I going to have to die too, since I am sick?


4. How does the toilet get into heaven?


5. Does my poop go to heaven, too?


6. Can I flush the potty?


7. Can I have a bunny now?


8. Does a bunny go in the potty when it dies too?

Now do you see why I am exhausted? Trying to think on your feet while your husband is cracking the heck up over the poop in heaven thing is not easy. We did finally come to the conclusion that one pipe under the potty leads to the place where the poopy goes, and one is just for fish. Jesus takes care of the fish line.

I think I'd like to take a break from the funeral scene for a while.

Grammy and Poppy got a set of maze/tent/things...and we hadn't opened it up until post-funeral support. The teepee is over 5 feet tall, and the little tunnel things are about 6 feet long.

Here is Brian, stuck in the tunnel.

He and Melanie were in the tent; well, Brian was in the tent, and Melanie was trying to get in the tent. She said, "Scoot over, Daddy, I want to sit on the other side!" He answered, "Melanie, there IS no other side when Daddy is in here." For some reason, I totally cracked up. It's a true statement - and the tent is tall, but not very wide. The two of them crammed in there was pretty cute. She spent over 2 hours in that little tent tonight, coloring, doing puzzles, playing cards. She also loves her princess tent. I think she likes the small, inclosed space.

Strange bird, my girl.

A Long Trip...Upstairs

She looks so sweet & innocent, doesn't she? This is Christmas Day, with Cookie the bunny. We don't own pets with fur, because of allergies, but she sure does love other people's pets with fur. She looks very cute here.

Her cuteness is one of the things that is a challenge more often than not.

Last night, she went upstairs to go to the bathroom. She does this often, as her bladder is approximetely the size of a mini-altoid tin (which are really cute, as a side note!) She is normally up there 5 minutes or less, even when there is a..."number two"...involved. Well, we had kept calling up there, because 10 minutes, passed, and then 15, and then 20. She was "still in the bathroom" each time.

Then clarity hits. She was not "still on the potty" or "still washing her hands"...she was "still in the bathroom".

Bandaids. Need I say more?

When we asked her what was up, she said, "Well, I needed some Dora bandaids because of all of the pretend booboos." Brian told her, "Melanie, you need to ask Mom and Dad each time you need a bandaid, so that we can help you and keep you safe." Sounds reasonable to me.

Her response? "Even the pretend booboos?!"

It's never dull. I was trying SO hard not to laugh during the entire thing. She has the little eyebrow lift down to a science, and she does it with charm and class. The only thing is, she also knows how to use it - to be a sassy little wench, and also to do her standup comedy routine (which I swear she works on after we go to bed!)

I can't believe how blessed we are. And how tired we're going to be.

Happy New Year!

Can't believe it's 2007 already. I'm sitting here on the sofa, waching Brian and Melanie work on handwriting skills. They're laying on the floor, working with the Alphabet Princess book. Melanie is such a perfectionist, so she gets really frustrated when she can't do the letter exactly like the example the very first time. She gets the big sigh and the chin on the fist with the rolling eyes.

I wonder who that is like? (blushing!)

She had a quiet time earlier today and was upstairs listening to music and doing Aquadoodle. She was laughing like a little loon up there listening to Sesame Street music...I'm trying to remember what song had her singing along. I think it was Farmer in the Dell. She was singing at the top of her little lungs. Love that.

Christmas was a jolly affair this year. She was much more aware this year of what was going on, and while I think she got a little bit overwhelmed with all the stuff, it wasn't as bad as last year was. We had a terrific time with Grammy & Poppy; spent a little more time at home than out running, which was very nice for everyone involved. Here are the highlights:

1. Christmas Candy Lane at Hershey Park. She wanted to get her picture taken with that Hershey bar something fierce. Whoever the dude (or dudett) in the costume was, he had her number. He kept knocking her hat off, and she would do that big deep belly laugh, and it was cracking us all up. She was all over that, man. He even hid around the corner and was playing around with her. We also did the rides, which I wasn't sure how she'd do. She was not scared of anything - I mean, she even rode the Scrambler - and it takes some talking to get Brian on the Scrambler! She loved that - well, I don't think there was anything she didn't like, actually. We even had hot chocolate, Hershey style. That was pretty dern good. Definetely a memory making night. Of course, the batteries died in every camera that we had with us. Figures.

2. Time with Grammy & Poppy - especially reading books. She got lots of new books for Christmas, and lots of craft stuff, so she did lots of fun stuff to do with Grammy & Poppy. Once again, Poppy's reading of "Dooby Dooby Moo" and "Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type" were the highlight of the reading experience (thanks to Aunt Normie for those Christmas books!) By the way, if you're a reader, get those books. They're some of my favorites. (Also, please notice my new couch there - we finally have grown up furniture!)

3. Tea parties & Dress Up - she received lots of dress up stuff, and a new tea set with Dora on it, so we had lots of fun with the tea parties. This particular one had real tea - and real milk, and real sugar (and was a real mess!). Notice Grammy right in the spirit of things in her pink boa - and Poppy not so much in the spirit, in his lovely dress-up-trunk tie. He did not like Melanie tea (which is basically warm water with a tea bag dipped in it for color). And each cup was like 1/2 a swallow - more for choking you than for drinking, truth be known. It's an exciting event - you sit in your best clothes and call each other darling the entire time. Pretty fun stuff...I am so looking forward to the next one!

4. Wilbur and Charlotte. Our newest family members were gifts from Zac & Aly, and boy, if they could just sprout legs - or get some water oxygen tanks or something - Melanie would have them doing everything with her! She really tried hard to have them take a bath with her, since they could breath in the water, and she could play with them. No matter how much logic I used, I could not disuade this - you know the argument that finally worked? I didn't want her to smell like fish. That was the deciding factor. She's such a girly girl. Seriously though, these fish LOVE her - I think because she feeds them. If she gets up in the chair beside the table, they start flipping out - all over the top of the water, and on whatever side of the bowl she's sitting at, showing off. It's pretty cute. She calls them her pets, and talks about them all the time. Definetely a hit.

5. Watching Melanie explore it all. She was very aware of what Christmas is about this year, and even though we made some people mad with our Santa explination (that he's a nice man who likes to hear what people want for Christmas, but he doesn't come to bring the presents to your house), we still had a great time together as a family. The little moments - rocking her to sleep at night, sitting beside her in church or at a meal, watching her face when she opened the things she really had been asking for - that was pure joy. We are so thankful for her - she is our greatest gift!!