New Camera!

I would like to officially welcome my new camera to the family. I know.... I just got a new camera... Christmas Eve morning to be precise. But I don't take care of my material possessions, either that or I'm a huge klutz (probably both) and I think the other camera got dropped one too many times. I knew when a little piece of bright orange plastic fell out when I opened it up that it was time to start saving for a new one. I was bound and determined not to go to Yellowstone without a new camera (I mean, seriously now) so here it is, or more like here's what it does.

These are some zinnias we have growing in our garden that are now adorning my parents' dining room table. There are colors in these pretties that you only see from Crayola. I, unfortunately, am no photographer and the picture doesn't do the vivid colors justice.

Addison Paige. How adorable you are.

Some of Addie's current words:

"A Guy" - Chicken

"Bee" - Bird

"A Pain" - Airplane

"Papa" - Grandpa

"Fluffy" - Cat

"Saw Wee" - Sorry

"Too" - Me Too

"Mo Me" - More Please

"Tattoo Baby" - Thank You (Baby)

"Gabby" - Garbage

"Poopy" - Diaper

Sissy

Binkie

Toy

OK

Yeah

Baby
Yucky

If she hears an airplane (and her ears are tuned in) she shouts it out and points to the sky. She says "Get Down" when she dances. And she follows directions really well now.

You know it's summer when you have watermelon faces.

Caelen decided she was MAD today in the car. I say "decided" because it truely comes out of left field. She screws up her face and talks all grumpily announcing that she's mad over and over. Finally after joking with her couldn't get her to stop and she began taking it out on her sister, I asked her why she was so mad. She said, Because Jesus was taking so long to come back, and she just wanted some love from Jesus. I said, I did too and happily we have His Spirit in us. She said she didn't care about having the Spirit she wanted some love from Jeeeeeesuuuuuusssss. So I told her she needed to talk to Jesus about it then and quit taking it out on her sister.

Coloring for Jesus!

This morning Caelen was coloring a page out of her Princess coloring book "for the Lord," she said. It was a picture of Cinderella all dressed up in her wedding gown, I couldn't help but think that was absolutely an appropriate picture to give the Bridegroom Christ! ;) Anyway, she wrote "Lord Jesus" on the picture, opened the slider and said, "OK Lord, here it comes!" and threw the picture out the door. She shouted a little Hallelujah and closed the door.
I can't make this stuff up.

Addie Talks and Takes a Time Out

Addie says, "Thank you Baby" everytime she says thank you. I noticed it today when Caelen handed her her tabby blanket and Addie clearly said, "Thank you Baby!" She's said it alot today to other people and I realized that everytime Caelen thanks her sister she sweetly says, "Thank you Baby." Just copying big sister!


Today Addison had a short conversation with the bagger at the store. She said Hi and he said, "Hi, how are you?" and she said, "Good!" Pretty funny and unexpected.


Addison won't watch TV, never seems to be paying attention but she knows Dora. A few weeks ago she was saying, "Dory Dory Dory" over and over and I realized she was pointing to Caelen's Dora juice cup. She points her out everytime she sees her now. Go figure.
She also calls Grandpa "Papa". She saw a picture in her book of him and called him that. Now a week later she walks over to a picture of her Grandma and Grandpa and points to Grandpa and says, "Papa!" She's happy when she talks about him.

Addie had her first time out yesterday and actually ended up having another later in the day. I remember Caelen being a year and a half when I started her on time outs and she got it. I wasn't quite sure if Addison would understand, but she did. She was pitching a bratty fit and completely outta control so I took her and set her down in the entry way and told her not to move. She sat there happily (not sure about that part) talking to herself and holding her feet rocking around in the corner until I came and got her and said she could be done. Seemed to do the trick too.

In other discipline stories. Caelen has made a bad habit of coming out of bed with some excuse. So last night when she was refusing to go back to bed Thomas told her she would have to have a spanking if she didn't listen. Well she folded her arms, stared him down and didn't flinch as he counted to 3. So he sighed and walked over, administered some discipline and took her back to bed. She began crying that she needed love from her mom so I went in and lay down with her and we talked for a bit.
I told her it wasn't ok to disobey daddy like she had. And she said, "Yeah but I just wanted a swat before I went to bed." I confusedly asked, "You WANTED a swat??" "Yes" she replied. "Why?" I half-laughingly asked. She answered, "Because I just like the sound it makes."


"If you think you are seeing the same show all over again seven times a week, you're crazy. Every morning you wake up to something that in all eternity never was before and never will be again. And the you that wakes up was never the same before and will never be the same again" ~ Frederick Buechner

Prayer Time with Caelen

I have had this killer sinus infection for about a week now. Just when I thought it was on it's way out, it came back right above my eyes. As I lay on the couch with my warm rice sock over my head Caelen said, "Mommy, I'm sorry you have an owie. I'm gonna pray for you." And she bowed her little head with one hand on my knee and whispered, "Dear Jesus, Thank You....... ::whisper whisper whisper:::........ Hey-Man! Mommy, I prayed for your owie."



Caelen's prayer for our dinner tonight was: Dear Lord, thank You for this food and I didn't know that sometimes cracks have flowers in them! Hey-Man. (Apparently she had seen some cracks in the concrete out in the garden with some little flowers!)

In other Caelen Prayers: Caelen wants to be a million things when she grows up and they're all professions that help other people so I told I really loved her heart in that. She wants to be a mom, doctor, firefighter, soldier, and police girl. She asked me if she could be all those things and I've always said, "Of Course!" Well today I said, "Maybe we should pray that God show you what you should be." So she began whispering to Jesus about it. When she was done she announced, "God said I can be all those things!!"

8 is nice, but 35? You Go Guys!

I woke up to one of the sweetest sounds in life this morning; little Addison was calling, "Mommy? Mommy?" from her crib. Not distressed, just letting me know she was awake. She was wet from an overloaded diaper which was probably the reason she finally got desperate enough to call for me. She's usually satisfied to play quietly in her crib until someone hears her happy squeals and comes to say Good Morning.
Our routine goes on to me and her cuddling on the couch with our respective morning beverages. About 15-30 minutes later Caelen will open her door and Addison will begin happily saying, "Morning! Morning! Morning!" over and over until Caelen says, "Good Morning" and gives her a hug. Mornings are a sweet thing right now, it's nice to be in a good stage with the morning time instead of waking up to chaos like I have most of my parenting life.

Happy 35th Anniversary to my mom and dad! Seriously, I remember their 25th like it was just a couple years ago. We were in Maui and I had already graduated high school. We bought them a beautiful monogramed throw blanket that still rests on the back of their couch. This year I think I'll send some goofy card I ended up grabbing because the kids started screaming in the middle of Target and I had to just go with whatever was in my hand. Ah life.

Problems Solved

At the dinner table Thomas and I were discussing Caelen's recent "diagnosis" of hypersensitivity, (that's another blog for another time) and I was informing him of all the rabbit trails I went down on the internet today, looking for reasons behind it all. I was so overloaded with different ideas and opinions and I said, "I just don't know what we're gonna do" and Caelen continued filling her fork and nevering missing a beat said, "Just give me the Holy Spirit!"

Today I went to the doctor for a nasty sinus infection. When I returned after leaving the girls with my mom, Caelen told me she had called me while I was gone and I had told her to make a salad for tonight. My mom filled me in on the details of her pretend phone conversation with me. Later on the way home Caelen was getting sassy and I warned her that she would not be getting the hot chocolate she had asked for if she continued with her behavior. She told me that if I wouldn't make her the hot chocolate, then she wasn't going to make the salad I had asked her to make for dinner tonight. Guess she showed me! :)

Summer Fun & more Words

Caelen's favorite movies are her Bible stories movies. I can't read the Bible to her 24/7 (which she would prefer) and she can't read yet so I thought movies would keep her busy. She's definitely paying attention. We walked into Oliver's market and up above the aisles where they have all their decorations, they had a big ceramic cow with tie dye colors all over it. Caelen saw it, gasped and said, "Mom! They worship idols in here. I think they're wicked people."



Addison was coloring with markers next to Caelen and she put her marker back in the case and said, "Buh-bye!" Caelen asked who she was saying bye to, when I told her it was her marker she started laughing so hard! We had a good laugh about that one.



Addison can said, "Side" (Outside), "Go", "Gabbie", "Ty", "Boy", and so many other words that it seems like theres a new one or two everyday! She also knows when something is garbage and usually says "Yucky" and takes it to the kitchen garbage. If you ask her for a high five, she'll deny you though and walk right by! She's started taking stairs like a normal person instead of a baby. And if she's ready for a nap, she'll gather her "Bee Bee" (binkie) "Tabby" (tabby blanket) and say "Nigh Nigh!"

In other news, the whole family has a summer cold for 4th of July, but the show must go on. The badminton net is going up as we speak and Caelen got a new frisbee today. Thomas has been working every spare minute on the backyard and it does look pretty spiffy. I just know I'll have no voice by 4:00 tomorrow when the BBQ starts due to this chest cold. Oh well, I'll just smile and sign ;)

So Sentimental

As we're playing in the living room today, Caelen throws her arms around me in a big spontaneous hug and says, "Mom? When you die up to be in heaven..... (I'm anticipating a mushy moment where I get to explain to her that hopefully I'll be around for a long time and she doesn't have to worry about that for awhile....)... can this be my house?"

Earlier in the same day as we were listening to one of her favorite songs, "Eden" by Phil Wickham she says, "Mom, I wanna be in heaven with God." I said, "Yeah... we all do baby." "I wanna be with Jesus and God Mom." and I told her, "You will one day honey." She asks, "When I really really old like Grandma Evelyn?" "We'll see baby."

Addison's conversation isn't as deep, of course, but is getting much more diverse. She's saying things like "Bye guys." "Weee!!" (When something is fun, even coming down from her highchair.) She says her name perfectly clearly and pounds on her chest. Bye, Hi, Thank You, Mama, Dada, All Done, Help Please, Down, and No are refined and used often. And she can communicate with pointing, gestures, and head nods extremely well. It's so fun to interact with her, but even better to watch the girls interact and see Caelen understand Addie and sometimes laugh with her.

We've been sick alot

Our conversation in the car today went like this:
Me: Caelen you're sounding very angry today. Do you have an anger problem?
Caelen: Yes! Right here (pointing to her side under her left arm.)
Me: Right there?
Caelen: Yes, I have an angry germ right here and it makes me mad when I talk to you. It makes me mad when I talk to you and Ty, but not Riley, it makes me happy when I talk to Riley.... and Addie. But the angry germ makes me angry at Ty and at you Mom.

Later in Costco as she's talking about how she would like to take her new coloring book into her room and shut the door to color she's getting angrier and angrier (don't ask me why):
Caelen: And I want to take it in my room and color in there, not in the playroom, because I don't want Addie to mess it up!!!
(People staring at an angry child.)
Me: Honey, you need to tell that angry germ to calm down, and you should find your kind germ.
Caelen: My kind germ is over here (pointing to her right side) and I'll move it over here where my angry germ is so I can be nice again. See Mommy?! I can talk nicely again!

Maybe He could stop by for a BBQ?

While we were driving around town, Caelen was asking me when Jesus was "coming back in the clouds". I told her that no one knows, only God. She said she really wanted Him to come back. And it was a really fun conversation but the best was when she said, "I want Him to come back in the sky and into our yard for a visit."

Today she got a cut on her hand (with what looks suspiciously like a splinter but she won't let me touch it). About 10 minutes later while she's playing outside and I'm sweeping the patio she says, "Mom, would you pray for me?" I said, "Absolutely sweetheart. What would you like me to pray for." "My owie," she said. So I came over and put my arm around her and we asked the Lord to heal that owie and that if He chose to let it hang around for awhile that He give her the strength to endure it.
Seriously, that kid is the sweetest darn thing.

I have another sweetest darn thing, and when I get my other computer turned on I'll upload some videos of Addison and her antics. She's getting so good at communicating. Today she pushed her dinner plate away, said, "Ah Da" and as Thomas was helping her out of her very messy clothes she asked, "A Ba?" with the sweetest hopeful expression knowing that baths always come after dinner.
She says "No" clear as a bell but in a sweet little voice, almost like a question as she shakes her head vigorously from side to side. Mostly she does this if her sister gets in her face or if you ask her if she wants to go night night. Although tonight I asked her and she said, "Yeah". She calls Woodrow "Wuh Doh" and every animal is "A Ca!" (A cat). She knows where a nose is and if shes about to give you a kiss you'll know it by the big open mouth that comes at you. She never puckers!
She's obssessed with her "Bee bee" (binkie) and when I tried to carry her out of her room, pretending I didn't know what she was asking for, she finally got fed up and yelled, "Mommy!"
I think she knows she charming and when she's in trouble she just laughs. You can have the sternest face and scold her with a loud NO! and she'll stop, assess the situation and start to grin as she continues in the bad behavior. Like it's a game. Oh my Addie. I just love those girls.

I have to go potty, can I come to your house??

If you ever feel like your house is falling apart around you, can I just share with you? And I write this for the future me, as much as anyone else who may happen to glace at this post.
For the past two months, that would be the day my new garage door arrived and was installed after the old one was mutilated by a drunk driver, that day my dishwasher died. So I have been doing dishes by hand while the putred water that wouldn't drain out of the bottom just sat inside my dishwasher. I was told it would be taken care of and then 2 months of life and stagnant water happened.
Well then my toilet wouldn't plunge. My husbands strong, pretty strong. He couldn't do a thing about it. So we used the other toilet, waiting for someone to call Roto Rooter. Finally I announced that I was just gonna call them (should have done this in the first place) and they came out.
The culprit: Addison. The weapon: a miniture can of bright pink playdough flushed down our toilet. Roto Rooter fixes it "for now" he says and I have him look at the dishwasher. "Oh it's probably just clogged right here" he says as he snakes a tiny connection between my dishwasher and disposal.
After a lot of embarassment over disgusting water in the bottom of my dishwasher (oh the smell!), and half a bottle of bleach poured in for a cycle, my dishwashers working again, and I should add, "for now."
Fast forward to that evening. I'm using the toilet that hadn't been the problem in the first place. I flush and water leaks out from the bottom of the toilet all over the floor. "The seal is broken" says Thomas. So we're using the original problem toilet now.
The next day THAT toilet backs up again...... then it blub blub blubs until it's filled with black sludge. I'm scared to look in the other bathroom, but I must be brave. Yep, black sludge leaked out onto the floor and my shower is completely full of, let's be honest" raw sewage." And unless we want to pay alot of money we don't have, we have to wait it out through the weekend until Monday morning. "Sounds like the can of playdough just went further down the line and now has backed up your main line. It'll take two guys going up on your roof and down through the main vent." Fine.
As I load the girls in the car to make a Raley's run (duel purpose, groceries and toilets) I notice the washing machine has leaked sludge all over my garage floor which harkens back to our first experience with Roto Rooter 6 months ago. As I ask Thomas if he could remove our dining room table leaf and my wrapping paper from the slime, I hop in the car and drive away.
Needless to say after contemplating sleeping in the living room, we opened all the windows in our bedroom and bathroom and tried not to smell the most disgusting smell that left me falling alseep praying for all the poeple in the world who live with this sewage running down the middle of their towns and roads where their children play.
In the meantime, I've been dancing as I load my dishwasher... and then realize I better place a rag under it because it's spilling out water as it runs. Thomas asks me this morning why it's there. I explain and he points out that the hardwood floor in front of the dishwasher is now buckling at the seams a good 2 feet out in front of the machine. "And we probably shouldn't run it since it unloads into the main line." Fine.
Praise the Lord we're finally having beautiful weather, we have no guests staying with us, and one of our children doesn't even use a toilet. I'm looking on the bright side here people. I asked Thomas if he thought the Lord was preparing us for missions in countries where they have no indoor plumbing. "At this point, I'd rather live there, then I woundn't have to deal with this." he says.

They don't get hyperbole

Awana's meltdown happens almost every Wednesday night becuase Caelen is up 1 1/2 hours past her normal bedtime by the time we get her home and ready for bed, but tonight was extra drama. One thing after another was setting her off. Finally when I told her it was time to brush her teeth she stood her ground in the hall and said, "I'm not coming." So after some loving discipline I had her in the bathroom on the stool, toothbrush in my hand and she shoves a hand towel over her face and says she's not brushing her teeth. More discipline. Nothing. I tell her she's not riding her bike tomorrow. Nothing.
Finally I say, "Fine. We won't brush your teeth. If they fall out, don't cry to me." Then she bursts into a slinky fit (the one where you can't pick them up because they're slinking to the floor) screaming that she wants to brush her teeth now. I put her in bed, tell her not to get out and leave. She is screaming hysterically for 10 minutes.
She eventually braves the possible consequences and gets out of bed and hysterically sobs my name from her door. I tell her, "Baby, I told you not to get out of bed." She replies, "I know Mom but I have to tell you something." I ask what. She stands at the end of hall, the hysterical sobbing goes up another notch as she wails, "Mom if I don't brush my teeth and they fall out, I'll be a baaaaaaaaabbbbyyyy again!!!"
So this Mama had to apologize for saying something so thoughtlessly that apparently scared the crap out of her. Poor thing. After I asked her forgivness, she asked mine for "having a bad attitude." I think we ended on a positive note.

My sweet Addison is now trying to repeat all the important words that she hears and she's getting pretty good. Her new phrase is, "Help Please" which comes out Heh-Pee. She uses it very appropriately and is a lot less frustrated these days. Her four teeth are making the look of her face change, so she's talking more AND looking older.
This morning Addison was hanging out in bed with me, suddenly slid down and went into the hall. As she looked toward the kitchen she said, "A Bah!" I asked, 'Do you want a bottle?" She got so excited and we headed down the hall. I followed her to the kitchen where she went to the cupboard, pulled out an empty bottle and said, "Heh-Pee!"
She also says Baby, and even called her little face in the mirror, a baby. And she is so fun with her goofy facial expressions and gasps that she does because she knows she's hilarious. I love those girls!

More Quotes for the Archives

Caelen discovered a new site on the computer from the Disney Channel and she was playing on that one afternoon. When it was time to get off her attitude went down the drain. There were a couple of offenses before I got smart and decided to put an end to it. I said, "You're attitude is so bad, you're not playing on the computer for the rest of today or tomorrow." She thought about it, looked at me and said very respectfully, "Mom, I think I'm gonna need some possibility." With an emerging smile on my face I said, "Possibility of what, baby?" She said, "Some possibility of the computer tomorrow."
Unfortunately I had to reiterate that there really would be no possibility of the computer tomorrow.

Tonight at dinner Caelen came to the table, announced she was going to pray by saying, "Okay, I'm gonna pray. Everyone dry up their tears and let's pray!" (No one was crying and I have never heard this said anywhere before!)

Addison will play in a sandbox (mulch, dirt, sand, kitty litter....) for an hour by herself. Absolutely no one else is necessary in her sweet little world, she just busily plays non-stop. It's pretty much the sweetest thing.

Addie can say, "Hi Da!" and "Bah" (Ball). She has started shaking her head for no (like when I tried to get her to finish her banana). She knows what we're saying to her most of the time and she's begun testing what happens when she obeys, or doesn't. She's usually a good listener but I have a feeling she's also checking to see if that mischievously adorable grin of her can get her out of trouble.

The girls often play ball together now. If Caelen proposes it and Addie's in the mood she'll sit right down and spread her legs to a V shape so she can catch the ball. Both girls will face each other like this and roll the ball back and forth. They seriously have a blast!

Addison says "Hi" for Bye but she waves when it's Bye or Night Night. Always with the hugest grin on her face so you can see her, now, four teeth. The girls are so different. Caelen loves anything artistic, reading, and learning. Addison is into agility, tactile games, and has already mastered the stairs (which is amazing since we don't have any.) She's very careful. She's also very musical and loves to turn on music, play the piano or clap. Not to say that any of these things don't overlap for the girls (Caelen loves singing! and Addie fancies herself an artist with her paintbrushes on the playhouse walls) but it's fun to see them develop in different ways.

A Pig Offering?

I offered Caelen some spagetti as I was getting some for myself but she wanted an apple. A few minutes later she looked at her half eaten apple and changed her mind, asking for some spagetti. I told her she could absolutely have some spagetti after she finished her apple. She promptly turned around and headed toward the bathroom. I heard sounds and got suspicious so I called her back into the room. She not only DIDN'T come, she shut the door to the bathroom. So I headed in and she (looking very guilty) was leaning against the toilet. I asked her whatshe was doing and she shrugged her shoulders. Only after I threatened her with who-knows-what for lying to her mother did she open the toilet and show me the apple floating inside.

Two stories intertwine here: Thomas was telling some friends a couple of days ago that the first time he killed a pig was when he was about 6 years old. So today we were reading Caelen's Bible about Abraham and Isaac when God tested Abraham's faith and willingness to lay down his idol and sacrifice his only son. Of course the Lord provided a ram instead. Caelen started asking why, so we began discussing the old sacrifices God used to require before Jesus came. She was understanding, nodding her head and I said, "So now we don't have to offer those kinds of sacrifices anymore." to which she replied, "My Daddy offered sacrifices when he was six."

Preparing for Nevada

Yesterday I heard Caelen in some other room saying, "I'll baptize you if you baptize me" and rambling on and on about baptizing. Then somehow I realized she was in the bathroom and images of her dunking imaginary people into the toilet came to me.

Both the girls are sick again. In the past 5 weeks we've been to church, Bible study & Awanas one time. I'm over it. Whatever! LOL. If we make it, we make it, if we don't then I have a Bible and good friends.

We're gearing up to go to Nevada to visit missionary Larisa Craig. When her story touched my heart I didn't know if I could do anything to help except maybe collect up some women's clothing for the young women she minsters to. Women's clothing became women's clothing, kids & baby clothing, blankets, toys, books and over 50 pairs of new flip flops! Jennifer's American Heritage Girls troop adopted Larisa as their missionary and did a book drive and she's also collected up more of the same. From the sound of it she has at least five times the amount of stuff I have. I CANNOT wait to take it all to Larisa! It's gonna be way better than Christmastime! We'll feel like Santa in a big 12 seater sleigh pulling up :)
My concern is the girls going with me. Larisa really encouraged me to bring them and Jenn is bringing her girls. Plus Auntie Heather is coming, so short of Daddy being with us, it's about as perfect a situation as it gets... but the girls are unpredictable. Addison has the attitude of an experienced 2 year old at only barely a year and Caelen insisted she couldn't close her eyes at Tyler's house and therefore couldn't sleep unless she was at home. So fair warning to everyone involved in this trip, my kids have minds of their own.

I made the mistake of telling Caelen we were collecting stuff for some poor kids who didn't have much and that's why I was asking her if there were any toys or clothes of hers that she could give up. They kind of became known as the "poor kids". So while perusing all the bounty we have to take with us, Caelen once again mentioned the "poor kids" and I said, "Yes, but maybe we shouldn't call them that anymore. Let's call them....." Caelen threw her arms in the air and said, "... the kids we love!!!"

Girl Talk

Caelen thoughtfully asked me the other day, "Mom? If you want to have two babies, do you have to get married two times?" "No," I said, "You just get married once and then you can have as many babies as you want." "I want FIVE!" She exclaimed. Definitely Thomas's daughter.
When I was telling Courtney about this, Courtney then asked Caelen, "What if your husband doesn't want five babies? What will you do then?"
And Caelen replied, "Find another man and have babies!!!"

Addison knows where Fluffy hides, under the desk in the playroom. She gets down on her tummy and looks under the desk and says, "Hi Daaa! Hi Daaa!" So when Caelen and I were fishing a shoe out from under Caelen's bed, it made perfect sense why we must have been on our tummies. So Addie got down along side us and hollared, "Hi Daaa! Hi Daaa!"
She's also completely mixed up the words, "Up" and "down." She used to say Up for everything, even when she wanted to get down from a chair or a wagon or something like that. We would correct her with Down. Now she uses down for everything, even when shes standing on the ground reaching up it's, 'Dow!"

Caelen has been amazing this week - literally one time out all week so far (it's Wednesday.) Her attitude towards everyone has been so loving and she has been quick to listen, pointing out every time that she's being a good listener. I don't know if part of the incentive has been watching her baby sister start to act out, have an attitude and see consequences, but whatever it is, it's been very enjoyable! But Addison is beginning to have a toddler 'tude. She knows when she's not getting her way and if she doesn't get it quickly, she's pitching a fit! She's also fighting back with Caelen and the look of shock on Caelen's face the first few times Addison stood up for herself has been pretty funny. Caelen is a lot more thoughtful about whether or not she should strike her sister now.

Caelen said to me yesterday, "Mom, I appreciate your help, but I can do it." Seriously, she amazes me.

We eat Vitamin C like it's going out of style

In the past 3 weeks the only representative from my family of four that has made it to any church function has been me, one Sunday I made the first service but had to leave immediately following because my sister was getting sick again and needed me to drive her home. Now keep in mind that my family is at church anywhere from 3-4 times per week. The reason for our absence? Neverending illness!

Sickness Count in Past 3 Weeks

Pink Eye - 3 cases

Fever & Body Aches - 4

Sinus Infection - 1

Random Runny Noses - 2

and not one member of the family has been left unaffected.

But thankfully we were all well for Granmda Evelyn's graveside service Wednesday March 17 at 12:30.

It was very simple with the members of my small immediate family there (Grandma was an only child, married an only child and had an only child so it's not a huge family tree) along with Grandma's caregiver who was with her exactly 2 years to the day she died, Ateca who has become like a sister to my mom. Ateca served and loved my Grandma so wonderfully and her pastors and friends would come and visit Grandma too. Grandma loved them all and it was necessary and wonderful to have them there.

Pastor Moses got up and shared to start the informal service off. Next Ateca spoke about her and Grandma's 2 year journey and the days leading up to Grandma's passing. Next, I got up to say who-knows-what and in the middle of my first sentence Caelen pops up from her seat, stands where everyone else had been standing and began a speech. She spoke about shopping at Target with her mom for her new coloring desk that has a roll on sheet of princess coloring pages and places to stick the markers and crayons. Then she took her seat. After that I finished up and my Dad spoke. Thomas brought the kids back from the bathroom just in time to watch Grandma be lowered down and then we headed home for a St. Patrick's Day reception.

Mom decided she wanted to go out for dinner a little later and so we loaded ourselves into the Suburban and Auntie Heather drove us out to Negri's in Occidental.

It was a great time with family and definitely a celebratory time. The painful time was when Grandma was still alive and suffering. There was a lot of relief on Wednesday.

And then the sun came out again today and the girls got to play while I recovered from a fever I came down with as we were leaving the restaurant.

Goodbye Grandma, Hello Spring

On Sunday March 14, 2010 at about 1:05am my Grandma Evelyn got to go home to heaven. We'd been praying for a long time that she would be relieved of her suffering, by the time she went she had bedsore pain that morphine couldn't touch. What a relief for her spirit when she got to leave that all behind! Today is Grandma's graveside service, and then a St. Patty's day wake! LOL, Although, we're doing it backwards.... supposed to bury the body after the wake.....
Either way, I'm looking forward to being with very close friends and family this afternoon as we lay Grandma's body to rest. It's a relief for everybody, and now the grieving process can truly begin.

But rebirth is on it's way in the form of spring. It's just around the corner as my trees can testify.

And Mommys love spring because it means a change in wardrobe for the little ones and we get to bring out all the cutsie outfits that have been hanging in the closets teasing us.
I figured we were well over due for some pictures! So here they are. The Kline's enjoying the warming weather.

(Seriously! I know, much too cute for words!) Addie's newest words are "Yuck Yuck" and "Owie" which she uses appropriately!

(And she's turning into a beautiful little girl!)

I've been having to leave about the girls' bedtime a lot of evening these past couple of weeks and so Thomas has taken on evening duties. When I came home at about 11:00pm, every light in the house was on but there wasn't a sound to be heard. I walked into Caelen's room to this:

She had been having a night terror and once he cuddled her she had calmed down. Too sweet!

And one last photo, the garage is working!! There's all new siding, the new garage door is up and the inside is sheetrocked and painted. The only things left to do are paint our house (we have sample quarts, thanks to Doug, that we can try out as soon as we get a chance!) and building the new shelves in the garage.

So I guess we're just never bored around the Kline home, and I wouldn't trade it all for anything, joys and sorrows, it's our craziness, and I like it.

One is Fun!

I'm concerned about the Pavlovian nature of my one year old. The girl is trained to sound of my cell phone; whether it's my ringtone "Cannons" by Phil Wickham or the simple "Beep Beep" that tells me I have a new message, Addison stops whatever she's doing, looks at me, makes a acknowledging noise and then heads in the direction of the phone. It's making me think that more probably I'm the one who is like Pavlov's dogs and my kids are just learning from the master. Maybe some behavior modification is called for.

But my toddler is growing so fast! She has such personality emerging and I know Caelen catches us watching Addison a lot and is beginning to desire some of that attention for herself. So we love all over Caelen and brag on her, but watching a one year old just really is a ton of fun!
She's got a few new words that she's using regularly aside from the "conversations" we have made up of unintelligible sounds that I'm sure mean something to her. "Juice" is a very clear one. Just a couple of days ago she walked into the kitchen holding her empty cup. While looking at it, she held it up to me and said, "Juice". I knew then that that word was a keeper and no longer a possible fluke. "This" is another on she uses when talking about anything else she doesn't know the word for. Sometimes it sounds like juice, but I'm thinking it's her way of asking what something is, or discussing it.
Addison wanders around constantly, she's in perpetual motion. Her favorite thing to do is climb on and off things and always announces her accomplishment with ,"Up". When she's not climbing, she's usually walking with her hands behind her back like a little old man leisurely strolling the park. When she wants up she opens and closes both her fists way above her head and says, "Ahhhhhh-P"

I knew there would come a time when my kids would be doing homework that I just couldn't help them with, but when your 3 year old already grasps a concept that you don't, then you begin to feel strange about yourself. If you don't already know, I have always had a hard time knowing my left from my right. I know, it's silly and I blame it on dyslexia, but I literally have to think for awhile to figure out which is which, usually remembering which hand I write with helps. I'm getting a bit faster in my old age.
So Caelen come out of her room Saturday morning with full blown pink eye and says, "Mom, I had a crumb in my left eye and I picked it out." I asked, "Which is your left eye?" and she immediately pointed to it. This wasn't the first incident and has proven not to be the last but it was the moment that I realized I was inferior to my child in some way and just reaffirmed that, yes indeed, she is smart.

So with the onslaught of pink eye, sinus infections and fever, I'm beginning to feel that I will never reenter the real world. I have missed 2 Thursday Bible studies, 2 Wednesday playdates, one Thursday night Grey's night, one day of work, and 2 Sunday mornings. Forget the fact that that's the regularly scheduled programing and I most certainly am not doing anything spontaneous like dinners with friends etc. Although last Friday we were able to do dinner with the "commune", that felt like a social oasis in a lonely sick desert. But time alone with my family has been a blessing. Though the girls are sick, they're not unbearable and we've been just taking it easy. I'm feeling rested amazingly enough, calm and not frenzied with a crazy schedule. So I'll enjoy it while it's here. Soon enough the weather will warm up, the flu will hibernate (or whatever it does with itself) and we'll be social again.

I'm Drowning!

It's always the mundane drudgery of life that inevitably threatens to send me over the edge. Give me a crisis, I can handle that. But it's the days were one kid has a sinus infection and gets her fingers slammed in a door by her older sibling who was disobeying, and who herself has pink eye. You have to go to work but first you have to wait for the installation guy to come install a new garage door because a drunk crashed into your old one. And as you're trying to get everyone ready for the day amidst the screams of dissatisfied toddlers, your dishwasher finally dies on you. Not to mention you're broke, your Internet won't work on one computer, but the other is so slow and filled with viruses you'd rather just throw it out the window, and the house is complete and utter chaos even though you spent the entirety of yesterday cleaning it. Oh and it's only 8:30am. And yes, that is the exact morning I am experiencing right now.
These types of things leave me unable to compartmentalize. I know that's a man's gifting, but I can do it too. That's why when I clean, I completely clean one room and then close the door. I can say to myself, "Well the rest of the house may be a disaster, but that ONE room is taken care of." When it seems every little thing is going wrong in some little annoying way, then I'm unable to use this coping mechanism. And all these things become like a swirling vortex that begin to suck me into the chaos around me. I very easily begin to focus on all the frustration, all the things that are messed up and I forget to look up. To look up out of the swirling waters and to my Ultimate Help.
"If the Lord had not been on our side... the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away." Psalm 124: 2-5 (NIV)
But once I look up, and get my focus off of these "momentary light afflictions" I regain my perspective. This is so temporary, sometimes as short as a few hours to as short as a lifetime, but in light of eternity, I can do anything for a little while.
"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." Romans 8:18