Happy Mommy

FLYNN, NO FEVER + GABE, NO FEVER = HAPPY MOMMY

Deep Thoughts, by Flynn

Remember, "Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handey? We're going to start a little feature, here on Life & Times of Life at Home, called "Deep Thoughts by Flynn" (I realize that it would flow better if I used her last name, but sometimes I cautiously omit the use of our last name as there are crazies out there).

Flynn was sitting in her chair at lunch & turned around to stare out the patio door.
"I'm like the trees."
"I'm growing big and tall."

Dozens O' Cousins

It occured to me this morning,
that my kids
have approximately
1 dozen

cousins.

SPILLVILLE pop. 4

This morning, I had exactly 44 seconds to get downstairs, start a load of laundry, take out a load, grab something out of the car & bring the laundry & the thing from the car, back up the steps & into our room....
...to be back upstairs to be sure that none of the children choked on their breakfast, while they were momentarily left unattended...
OR to be sure Gabe didn't catapult himself out of his seat as he is rarely "clicked in" these days.

No easy feat for an overweight mom who is grossly out of shape.

While I was filling the washer with random, yet easy to dump, clothes, I heard Flynn scream. "Help Mom, Help!"
I just kept throwing the clothes in because I knew I was almost done.
"Help Mom."
"Nevermind Mom, I've got it."
That's the part that really alarmed me & thus, made me even faster.

I had a feeling it involved a spill. So when I came around the corner, I wasn't too suprised to see Flynn's sticky (soy) milk, all, over, the, table. A whole glass.
She was actually making matters worse by "taking care of it" & was sweeping it toward her with her napkin.

I was in a hurry. I had to leave soon for a staff meeting & still had no make up on & no one was dressed & I needed to round up my stuff. You know the drill.

So, it was all to easy for me to start getting mad. "Flynn! Darn it!" I felt my blood pressure go up & got even more mad to see her sweeping it onto her lap & into all the little grooves on her booster.

Then I remembered, 10 hours earlier, "The Great Spill of 2007", as Jeff & I have dubbed it:

The WHOLE fam was waiting out in the car & I wanted to get them each a cup of juice 'to go.'
So I quickly grabbed the GALLON JUG (you'd think we have a family of 6 rather than 4) that was BRAND NEW & VERY FULL. Pulled it out of the fridge & just as though it were filmed & played in slow motion that very full & heavy jug dropped straight down out of my hands. Down to the floor with such a ker-plop that the entire bottom literally imploded. Meaning the bottom of the jug completely dismembered itself from the rest of the jug. Like waves from the ocean the juice came GUZZLING out of the jug. It was happening so fast that I literally screamed so loud that Jeff heard me in the driveway, where he & the kids were waiting in the car.
I had no idea what to do. The juice was like a tidal wave & it was flowing so fast toward the carpeted livingroom & rolling under the appliances.
Oh yeah baby, when I do it, I do it right.

Jeff ran in & told me I needed to calm down. But all I could do at that point was to cry because a.) what a mess & b.) it was a brand new bottle of juice & we all know how much $3 means to us right now.

I cleaned the mess up while he returned to the kids but not before it rolled under the stove AND the refrigerator & found the hole where the waterline of the icemaker runs, which meant the juice poured down onto the a/c duct & then poured & dripped into the laundry room...all over the washer & dryer & a BLUES rug & all over the floor & anything in that room.

I said all that to give this Festusian Proverb:

"Don't cry over spilt milk..
or spilt juice."

Cute Cousins

Elissa, Baby Mallory, Hannah & Flynn, take a break from their stroll around St. David's gym.
High concentration of cuteness right there!

If Only I was Five

Then I could live in this house.

This is a PLAYHOUSE.

A Playhouse!

A playhouse nicer than MY house!!!

Complete with siding, bay windows, a veranda & dormer windows!

We passed this on our way home from Malden.

We did a U-turn & I, of course, whipped out my camera.

The thing is though, the playhouse was nicer than the actual adult house!

Some lucky kid!!

She's Going to be a Firefighter

For the longest time, Flynn claimed she was going to be a doctor, actually, she said, "I'm going to be like Dr Diehl" (her pediatrician).
'Fine by me!' I thought. She'll make a ton of money. It's a safe profession. It's highly revered & respected. Very rewarding.
She had plans of doctorhood for probably a year. She contantly checked our breathing with her fisher-price stethoscope. She loved giving shots. Goodness knows, she'd had enough practice being at the patient end.
Then yesterday all that changed. I'm not sure if she saw something on tv or in a book that sparked her interested, but she excitedly informed me, "Mom, When I am a firefighter, I'm going to grow up!!" (I assumed this was meant to be reversed).
I guess I was a little shocked, although, why should I be? This girl is anything but girly.
I explained to her, in case she didn't know, exactly what all firefighting entailed.
She nodded her head, like she knew it all.
Then she told me...
"I want to wear the hat."

Well, if I didn't want to diet before...

then, I certainly want to now....








This picture was taken the day after Jeff's surgery, by our church pal Chris... who came to the hospital saying he was seeing Jeff.
But now we know his real intent.

Black mail.

Blasted camera phones.

We Shouldn't Have a Problem With Self-Esteem

Flynn's new thing is to list all the people she loves. Not on paper, just outloud.
"I love you Mom. I love Dad. I love Bubby. And I love myself."

Ahh, the Smell of New Books...

Nana, being the gift expert she is, got Gabe & Flynn (among many other gifts), a giftcard each for Barnes & Noble.
I've forgotten how much fun it is to both shop & actually know you're going to be buying something and browse a bookstore.
Barnes & Noble has an excellent children's section and even has a Thomas the Train wing with a train table (doesn't matter to my kids that they have one at home they can play with) & every book & accessory to go along with Thomas.
Also, now you don't just buy your favorite book, you buy plush to go along with it, and a CD of songs that go with it, and a keychain (or something weird like that).
Books, books everywhere. And I'm just as nuts about them as they are.
Sandra Boynton is in our top 3 right now and that's what Flynn spent her giftcard on (lucky for us, today Boynton's books were buy 2 get 1 free!)
Bubby chose a chunky board book complete with swinging jungle animals in a bus. He also chose (with much influence from Daddy), Dr.Suess' Put Me In The Zoo, one of Daddy's favs, perhaps his altime favorite. Mostly, he just wanted to run down the aisles & screech a high-pitched, girly scream (we're hoping that tone lowers within the next 14 years).
See how great giftcards are?...you not only buy someone someTHING, but also the experience of going & getting it. I'm not always a fan of shopping, but this time was an exception!

Lots of Prayers Answered

Mystery swirls around abductions...
To those who track child abductions, the mystery surrounding the boys’ discovery stood out.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, about 58,000 children are the victims of non-family abductions. The vast majority of those children are returned safely.
An average of 115 cases, however, involve children taken by non-family members for long periods, put up for ransom or killed by their abductors. Of that number, about 60 come home safely, said center spokeswoman Joann Donnellan.
But what makes the boys’ case rare, Donnellan said, is the fact that a single abductor took multiple children. The case was made rarer still by the length of Hornbeck’s captivity, Donnellan said.
Investigators who made the incredible discovery turned Saturday from euphoria to some troubling questions.
• A uniquely joyful family reunionJan. 13: Craig Aker, stepfather of a 15-year-old Missouri boy who was found after being missing four years, describes his family's elation.
Nightly News“It’s hard to believe that somebody could be that brazen,” said Craig Akers, whose stepson Shawn Hornbeck was abducted in 2002 at age 11. “This has been going on four years, and he’s been right under our nose the whole time.”
Neighbors said Devlin hardly appeared to be keeping secrets. He had lifelong ties to this middle-class suburb of 26,000, family in the area and apparently no criminal record beyond a pair of traffic fines. He was often seen coming and going from his jobs at a pizza parlor and a funeral home, and nothing seemed odd about a teenager seen hanging around his place.
Neighbors didn't notice anything unusualThe landlord at the apartment, Bill Romer, said he was in the apartment once to fix a plumbing problem and saw the teen, apparently Hornbeck, sleeping.
“As far as I knew, that was his son living with him,” Romer said. “The kid’s bedroom didn’t even have curtains on the windows.”
Rick Butler, 43, said he hadn’t seen anything odd or unusual from the apartment.
Huy Richard Mach / St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Police escort kidnapping suspect Michael Devlin in Union, Mo., on Friday.
“I just figured them for father and son,” he said.
Harry Reichard, 33, who lives in the apartment directly above Devlin’s, said he would hear arguing and banging noises at all hours coming from the apartment.
Alma Rodriguez often saw the teenager riding his bike in the parking lot behind the complex. Her husband, Mario, sometimes saw him throwing a football with another boy. Hornbeck did not attend school during his time in captivity, his stepfather said.
Craig Akers said Shawn had seen benches plastered with his missing-person poster. The boy even told his stepfather that a picture intended to show how he might have aged since his kidnapping was an “insult.”
The case recalls the improbable survival of Elizabeth Smart, the Salt Lake City teen taken for nine months by a religious zealot. After her return, many questioned why she didn’t flee her captors, despite many apparent chances at freedom.
Fear used as a weaponStephen Golding, a forensic psychologist who examined the suspect in the Smart case, said captors often establish control over their victims through fear.
“People are led to believe, through someone taking advantage of their vulnerabilities, that leaving is not an option, that things will get worse for them or will get worse for others,” Golding said.
Both boys were abducted from rural areas of eastern Missouri about an hour from metro St. Louis. Hornbeck disappeared Oct. 6, 2002, while riding his bike in Richwoods in Washington County. Ownby was taken soon after getting off a school bus Monday afternoon in the Franklin County town of Beaufort, a beat-up white pickup seen by a schoolmate the only real clue.
On Thursday night, police in Kirkwood noticed a truck matching the description while serving an unrelated warrant at a nearby apartment.
‘It was quite euphoric’When FBI agents walked into Devlin’s apartment a day later, Ownby asked them, “Are you going to take me home?”, and another teenager in the modest dwelling identified himself as Hornbeck — reported missing 4½ years ago.
“Obviously it was quite euphoric,” FBI Special Agent Roland Corvington said Saturday.
Hornbeck’s parents dealt with their grief over the years by devoting themselves to bringing missing people home. They said having their son back was evidence for parents of other missing children to never give up hope.
“I still feel like I’m in a dream, only this time it’s a good dream, not the nightmare I’ve had four-and-a-half years,” his mother, Pam Akers, said at one news conference, draping her arm around her son.
At the other, Ben Ownby grinned as his mother recalled that soon after his return home, Ownby went to the computer to play video games.
“We’re just ecstatic,” Doris Ownby said. “Don’t want to let him go out of our sight.”
© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

Surprising Discovery

The song, Daniel, by Elton John makes a really good lullaby, when hummed to Gabe.

Taken Mid-Dec. @ Grama Lester's in Malden

Oh The Nerve

Jeff & I spent Saturday evening on a date, which consisted of a movie & dinner.
After the movie ended, a packed-tight theater VERY SLOWLY exited...very slowly. The few bloopers there were, were over & absolutely NOTHING was on the screen but the blackness with the white credits rolling.
So, we were standing, creeping step by step toward the end of the aisle, when we heard a loud & somewhat ogre-esque voice behind us, "Hey, you make a better door than a window!"
Immediately assuming someone was joking, or that I'd turn to see someone I knew, I whirled my head to the man who LOUDly sat behind us through the entire film.
"We can't see through you."
My reaction was a much nicer than it should've been, "We're trying to leave."
"Well, you aren't getting too far, are you?!"
Jeff then chimes in, "Have fun watching the credits..."
"We're trying to, but we can't see them."
I could quickly see this was an ignorant low-life just picking a fight & wanting to have an exhange with someone, so I ended it by pulling Jeff in the other direction & squeezing our way through the crowd toward the exit.
Now, I might not be brilliant but those who know me are aware of the gift I have of quick wit & the ability to humorously embarass someone in about 2 seconds. In a moment, I had that guy sized up & had remembered that HIS cell phone rang in the middle of the film & that he commented (quite loudly) how his 3 & 5 yr olds would've loved the movie. So, it would've been nothing for me to insult his size, his poor wife & made him embarassed about some aspect of himself that was made obvious to me so quickly.
But I didn't.
Five years ago I would've put him in his place.
10 years ago, I would've publicly humiliated him.
And 15 years ago, I would've used such brash & downright mean criticism that he would've no doubt left the theater with a need for therapy & plastic surgery.
I guess I took the high road...or the God road.

That...

and...

Jeff said to him as we were leaving,
"Do you have a ride back to the home?"

Proud of my Nieces

Mattie gives to Locks of Love.

My nieces are so generous. They have sweet & giving hearts.

If you needed anything, they'd give it to you (including their hair.)

Last year, KK donated 12 inches.

And my sister says that Hannah says she's going to grow to donate her's.

Happy 32nd Birthday Jeff

First of all, look at how gorgeous he is. I know, I know, you're all thinking, 'How did SHE get HIM?' And lest you forget, I didn't always look like this. I was once with a girlish figure, being without child. And my wardrobe consisted of stylish clothes, mini skirts, tight pants...not mom jeans, pj pants & baggy shirts.

Secondly, Jeff has this gift, this miraculous disposition, in that he sees inside. Can you believe he constantly tells me that I'm 'hot'?! He truly does act like he's more in love with me now, than when I was that chic with a girlish figure.

Thirdly, he has to be the BEST husband & father, out of all the ones God created (& I realize there are some pretty great ones out there, as my Dad is a terrific father.) He is so patient with the kids, so understanding with me. He does far more than is expected of him & does it as Colossians encourages, just like he's doing in for God.

Did you know that every single night, initiated by him, we pray before going to sleep? So, that's my way of saying what a Godly husband & father he is. Takes his family to church every week. And demonstrates, to the kids & me, what it looks like to walk in the light of Christ.

Jeff, last year was a rough year. We went through a lot...and we also experienced a ton of very cool things...an awesome vacation, our kids growing & thriving in health, Bubby turning the big one, my new job at the church. I know this coming year is going to be one of great favor. You deserve it. I hope your 32nd year is the best yet. We love you.

Grandma Weldele

Jeff's grandma, Anita Weldele passed away Sunday morning.
He's so blessed to have had two grandmothers all these years.
He has so many memories of her.
We visited her a few weeks ago & took the kids.
She said, "Let me see these 'little people'" (referring to Flynn & Gabe) & Flynn sang her a song.
Of course, I'm so glad we saw her recently and am beating myself up that I don't have a picture of her with Gabe. I guess there can always be regrets.
She was pretty neat, made sure we each got a beautiful wedding quilt when each grandkid got married. And she was quite proud of the paintings she had done before she went to live at Delmar Gardens.
Jeff has a chair in his classroom, from when she moved from her house to Jeff's aunt's house. It's a swivel rocker & we call it "Grandma's chair."
It's quite broken down at this point & getting dirty.
But I have a feeling he'll keep it a while longer.

A Rough Holiday Week

So we've had a bit of a rough week...

One week ago, Flynn was getting over a virus...103 temps, etc. Puking, etc. And Gabe was finishing up his own little thing w/ some high temps.

Then Christmas.

Then Jeff's appendicitis.
And surgery.

And now, Flynn has strept. Sheesh. And on the way to the dr's office this a.m., she puked all over everything she was wearing.
And the carseat.

I've heard a few comments. Jokes about our "luck" & our illnesses & how when we do 'it', we do it all the way. What, w/ my crazy medical, unhealthy year last year & our crowns, appendectomies, infected throats.

Here's some silver linings to our clouds this week:
Jeff having his appendicitis the day AFTER Christmas & not the day before.
Flynn having a 3-day 'sickness break' over Christmas.
We have insurance.
Everyone is here with us now.

That's a lot to thank God for!

And tomorrow, we all get to spend the day together.
That's more to thank God for!

Happy New Year!

Daddy's Appendectomy

Well, what a crazy last few days....ugh.

The day after a wonderful Christmas, Jeff started having some serious pain in his stomach & side, which I passed off as 'overdoing' it or as a virus. When he moaned & complained for about 12 hours, I was afraid of appendicitus & rushed him to the ER.

The next day after a long night in an ER folding chair, they decided to remove it.

And thank God, tonight he got to come home.

We're so excited...the kids were thrilled to see him.

And he's this happy.

Click it, you won't be sorry.

Flynnisms

Flynn was eating clementines when she started choking. I said, "Flynn...oh!, you scared me!!"

She said, "Mom, I scared myself."

I asked her what her favorite Christmas song is....she told me it's Jingle Bell Rock.

She was singing in the bathroom & Daddy said, "Flynn, are you going to go to Julliard?"

She said, "No Daddy, I'm not Julie Yard."

We've been working with Flynn on her manners.

And I think she's doing pretty well with please & thank you.

"Flynn, are you ready for nap?"

"No thanks Mom."