Saturday, November 21, 2009

New name to protect the little peeps...hope it decreases my worldwide following

So, the boys are off this weekend for a 4-wheeling, off-roading type weekend. The drove somewhere over near Chattanooga with a couple other fellows and spent a couple days just driving Jeeps and being MEN.
These photos are courtesy of James' phone.
Jeep on haul because to be trail worthy means you just can't drive it on the road. And if you did you certainly would have back issues later that day.
Here's the Jeep at work. Dirty is good.

The "little" boys - Bennett and Shannon. They were fortunate to get to go and are thrilled to be included. It's a cold weekend but they always manage. They never are lacking for food or snacks or man fun. Here they are enjoying freshly scrambled eggs for breakfast and I'd guess juice - although Shannon probably had coffee if it was available.
So while the boys were roughing it we girls decided to do a few fun things for the day on Saturday. After a "sleepover" in Mommy's bed Friday night we started a little droopy... and least Lydia and Mommy did. I think Ruth and Maggie slept just fine!
Saturday we got up and headed to the brand new Babyland General Hospital... home of the famous Cabbage Patch babies. They had property issues with the old hospital where they've been housed forever and ever and ended up moving north of the town square by a couple miles. It definitely off the beaten path but the place is much more beautiful, and big, and clean, and new, and shiny.

The inside is the same as the old place... only bigger. They have the same "birthing" tree right in the middle where we were able to see the birth of Terry Montana. Nurse Davis (in white) assisted Momma Cabbage with her delivery. :) I think I have their little spill memorized but the kids always enjoy watching more births and still long for the day when they get to pick the baby's name. Not today. Today, had they been picked, it would have been Bennett. They missed their brother in most of their activities today.
When we finished looking at all the babies and accessories and Santa (Mr. Jerry from our school) and friends - we mosied over to the local Huddle House, a place Curtis refuses to eat. We filled our bellies with a quality (?) breakfast feast. It was fun, just the 4 of us.
While we were eating we decided to continue the fun and head over to our Yonah Bowl and Skate. We just couldn't decide whether to bowl or skate. I tried to explain to the big girls that skating was probably something we should do when Bennett was home (because he loves to skate) and when Lydia had something else to do, since she doesn't skate. Poor little girl. :) So we opted for bowling.
The girls are good for about 5 frames and then it becomes very tiring. Lydia was hilarious the first few times and so stinkin cute. Then she needed to take off her bowling shoes because they made her feet feel weird. I told her she couldn't bowl without them after she tried to bowl a frame with no shoes on. I just knew she was going to bounce the 6 pound ball off her big toe and end up breaking it. She quit after frame 6 and just entertained the rest of us.
Maggie was frustrated because she couldn't figure out exactly how to roll the ball. She still can't decide if she wants to bowl right handed or left handed.. and it's hard for me to help her do it left handed. I wanted her to just do the "granny" roll (between her legs) to avoid the horrible loft thump each time she went. But she continued to try to figure it out. She even found a little heavier ball thinking it might make a difference.
Ruth got the hang of holding the ball correctly (I'm making the I love you sign!) but kept throwing it more sideways than straight. She didn't show her frustration very often. She was very pleased to knock something down... anything. And the little grin of satisfaction as she turned around to face me... priceless.
And ALL this before NOON. :)
We also went to Ingles and Rite Aid before heading home.
The big girls decided to wash the van and the car and Lydia went to play in the bedroom on her mat.
This is how I found her a little while later. She's NOT tired! :)
Ruth was actually diagnosed with strep and is on antibiotics... and Lydia was also complaining so we're treating her as well. She's NOT sick and does not need medicine! But then she can't swallow and cries at night in her sleep. Good thing I'm making her take it anyway. She slept a LONG time today... for not being sick and all. ha!
The boys will return after church on Sunday afternoon when I'm sure we'll hear lots of stories and hopefully see a few more pictures. We have to return the borrowed Rock Band we've enjoyed all week. The girls are getting very good at singing quality Beatles classic tunes. Here Comes the Sun (Ruthie) Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (Maggie) and While My Guitar Gently Weeps (ME). :) We may have to invest for Christmas... but it keeps the laundry in baskets and dishes in the sink. But it's fun quality family time!!! Right?!?! :) Sunday night we have a family commissioning of a family who are leaving for at least 3 years (last I heard). They are going to South Asia and Thomas is our friend - Lydia's age. We love him and will miss them. You too can pray for this family.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Thumb Sucking Fools!

Ok, so the title has absolutely NOTHING to do with this post. It's just that the smallest thumbsucker is snuggled up next to me this morning and she won't even let me pull it from her mouth. I'm not sure if the suction is that strong or if she uses her teeth to dig in and hold. Ok, now the title has something (albeit small) to do with this post. Love how that works? :) I should take a picture. Every now and then she'll lean over onto me or just put her tiny little hand on my arm. And then I'll lean over and sniff her head, then her arm then I end up tickling her. I'm sure she's annoyed. But she leaned first!!

So, today is Veteran's Day. We are all so thankful for those men and women who have given up so much just to serve our country. It seems so empty to say it but it's true. Someone just last week said something like... we think we're at war, but we really aren't. The soldiers are at war. We just sit in our Lazy Boys and watch the news living our normal day to day lives while they are sitting there with guns and having to watch every move they make. No, we are not at war. And it's only because our military will GO instead of having to fight on our own soil. Can you imagine what would happen around here if the action was on our own shoreline? If we had to worry about incoming bombs while driving downtown? There'sno way we would function with the mindset we have today. All this entitlement stuff. Maybe we wouldn't worry so much about our government healthcare if we had armies marching through our cities. Anywho... enough of that. I am still thankful I don't have to go to war and I can sit in my chair and watch the news because of young people who are willing to leave what they have and who they know to keep me safe.

Maggie's 2nd grade class put on a performance for the veterans around here yesterday. These videos are snippets from the show. Very cute and very good job! Thanks guys. Maggie is in solid red on the front row. (you can also hear Ruth and Lydia singing along in the background) My Mom and Dad got to come up during the day and watch the one during school. Then they got to stay for lunch with the girls. Mom just raved and raved about what a good time they had and how good the food was and what fun it was to walk down the halls with all the students lining the hallways waving flags for all the veterans. What a sight! When Ruth and Lydia get to 2nd grade I'm going to have to invite my brothers too. They started listing everyone who had served in the military because I'm supposed to send in their names and pictures for the slide show. Well, I failed this year. I usually just send in the grandfathers... but they have figured out there are many more family members who qualify to be in that slide show! 2011 boys, 2011! Mark the calendar now. Show's at 10am with lunch (FREE) following.

Oh, a little news here that I haven't shared yet. A few weeks ago during church I leaned over to see what Lydia was scribbling on her paper and realized it was actually her name. She had finally started making real letters and the ones that matter! I was so shocked that I asked her at that moment if it was her name, then I leaned over and told Curtis. I'm sure the families behind us thought I was crazy for being so loud... She's making progress!! Maybe by August she'll be able to write more letters. She's such the baby!

On the work front, I have been doing charge nursing for 2 years in the NICU and the politics of it all finally got the best of me. I put in my resignation for the charge position in August. Well, due to some HR red tape and the abundance of staff nurses and the lack of a willing soul to step up... here we are in November and I'm still doing charge. It looks like I'll be "stuck" in this role for some time so I'm trying to take it in stride and just continue to do what I'm supposed to do. I hope to be able to go back to the bedside soon. I'm miss my little babies and their families. On a good note... we have a new neonatologist on staff. Now we have 3 "normal" docs to work with. They are actually friendly and nice to work alongside. Yeah!

So, enjoy the videos... I'll do fall photos one day.

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