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!!