She Lights Up My Life

A great start to the new year!

2012-01-10T18:34:00.003-05:00

School is back in full swing and Summer actually said she was looking forward to school on Monday over the weekend. Not because she likes school so much she can't wait to get back, but rather because she got to take a cuddly friend with her to school on Monday. It is one way they are rewarded for good behavior. This is the 2nd time she has chosen this sticker in particular. One of her friends had chosen smelly feet which meant she got to go shoeless in the classroom. Oh the perks of being good! She took her new bear Cupcake with her. It is almost as big as she is. She was very proud of it and showed it off as she went into the classroom, as did a few of her classmates who also chose a cuddly friend sticker last Friday.

Today when I picked her up, I was informed that her and a friend had made plans for Friday evening when I will be leaving for a youth retreat and she will be staying home with her dad. She said they are going to have a play date at the house to celebrate her friends half birthday. It was really cute, but I had to burst her bubble and let her know they could not make plans like that without talking to their parents first. She still insisted they had made some sort of deal. :) She will be getting to have a sleepover at Memaw's house with her cousins one night if things go as planned. So, it will not be a total let down when / if that play date does not happen.

Homework has not been much of a chore this week. She does not like it when I say, "Let's go do your homework." But, if a pull out a math lesson and let her see it, she will usually change her tune really quick and want to do it. This week she had to think of two words that start with snow. She had two math lessons and had to count as high as she could in a minute. The teacher asked them to draw 3 things that are cold. Summer drew a snowman, a basket full of snowballs, and a snow castle. She had to write three words that rhyme with cat and she chose bat, sat, and rat. She also had to tell me about two animals that live in Antartica (penguin and seal) and the animals in "The Mitten" story. If only homework could be this easy forever! Of course, she still write some of her numbers and letters backwards. So I usually make her erase the incorrect ones and rewrite them. She's not always enthused about this, but the purpose of homework is to learn, right?

As for the rock-a-bye baby routine, it was picked up the 2nd day back to school. :) I soooooo absolutely love that!!! Although if she grows anymore, my back might not be so agreeable to it. Until then, let the good times roll.......

Christmas highlights

2012-01-02T21:32:00.007-05:00

It's hard to believe Christmas has come and gone. I let blogging slip to the wayside with all the busyness of the holiday season. Gumdrop delivered numerous missions for Summer and I to do before Christmas. We made cookies and candy with friends. We saw the new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie "Chipwrecked" with the Lynches before celebrating Christmas with them the day before Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve, we celebrated with my dad's extended family and my mom's which I have probably not done since high school. We used to do it that way every year as a kid, but after some people moved out of town it changed. So, that was exciting for me. Summer too because at age 5 you never tire of getting presents. At my Aunt Sandra's house Summer got some clothes, a unicorn diary and a fairy in a jar. She loved them all. She also enjoyed playing with her cousins outside as it was a beautiful and sunny day. She wore the dress that she had gotten from the Lynches the day before and refused to pose for a picture for me. That's pretty much normal for her though. That evening we headed to my grandad's where I have went for the past 34 Christmas Eves. I don't ever want that tradition to end, but I'm sure at some point it will. Life can't stay the same forever, right? She got "The bippolo seed and other lost stories" from my Aunt Leisa. We have read each of the stories twice, and she just loves them. She got another outfit that she has worn two or three times from my Grandad and Ella. She really loves the outfit she gets from them every year. She got a gift card from my Uncle Billy which she used to buy a big teddy bear she named Cupcake.

Instead of making cookies for Santa with me, Summer went to bed as soon as we got home from my grandads. She fell asleep in the car so her plan to trick Santa into leaving her elf was not followed through. She had planned to put him under her pillow so she would wake up when Santa came for him. That did not happen seeing as he was left in the car when I carried her to bed. She also missed out on opening the present I had told her she could open before bed. I was tempted to wake her up since she was missing out on so many of the things we planned, but I did not. I let her sleep and set the cookies and milk out myself. Trixie tried to get into them a few times before we finally headed to bed.

She was up by 6:30 Christmas morning. I told her she had to wait on her dad to get up before she could head to the living room. She complied, anxious to get in there but knowing she had to be patient. I must say I was proud of how patient she was. Her dad is a bit of a slow mover in the mornings. The first thing she wanted was her stocking. She was excited by the treasures she found inside. The thing she liked most was the bag of marbles I think. Then she started looking for her present from Santa. The remote controlled angel she asked for turned out to just be a fairy with "cut up wings" and an invisible string you attach to a hair bow and the fairy and then control or fly with a wand that you place under the string. She was not perfectly satisfied that her order had been met, but I think in time she will enjoy the fairy/angel. Santa also left her an air pogo which she had been wanting for years but did not ask for. She did ask him for a pogo stick but her Uncle Bradley had gotten her one. She was very excited to see this although it did not get hung for a few days. Once it was, a few days later, she had the time of her life breaking it in. Paw-paw joined us for the present opening which followed Santa's presents. Summer handed out most of presents and did a fine job if I do say so myself. She started with the rainbow in my room which I had found for her. She also got a dress from me and an outfit from her dad which she loved and wore right away. I was very happy with the gifts she picked out for me. Two pairs of slippers, a very fuzzy, warm blanket, an earring and necklace set and socks. Later that evening after a family gathering at Memaw's house, she got the big gift we got for her - a hammock. She likes it and had mentioned that she wanted one big enough for the whole family a month earlier, but she refuses to let me get on it with her. I'm hoping this is only temporary, but I'm not holding my breath.

The day after Christmas we celebrated with Amanda and Josh and their kids. When Summer got up, she was surprised to see the tree full of presents again. She was happy to get more Zoobles, but I'm thinking they are not going to get played with much. Amanda gave her a magic kit which she was excited about. One of her favorite gifts was a castle tent for her and her stuffed animals to play in. We have started working on a kingdom in her bedroom which is looking pretty spiffy. Today we added a table and chairs for the "party room" and a rug which definitely improves the look of the carpet underneath the end table we moved to enlarge the castle. I'm not sure what happened to the carpets, but her older sister's teenage years scared them in ways they can never recover from. I can never remember all she got, but I'm sure it was way more than she needed. I guess that is just what happens at Christmas.

The rest of her Christmas break was spent enjoying her new things and crafting. Clint's sister came down for a brief visit. Summer played a long game of dominos with us and did a great job keeping up with us. She also showed her aunt a few games on the iPad. We tried to get her in on some dancing games on the Wii, but we were not very successful at that. She did get to experience a world of fun at Chuck E. Cheese with her though. One other highlight of the break was a trip to the movies with one of her friends from school. We went to the new Muppet movie. It was great and had us all laughing. Summer even mentioned that we should get it, but I'm not sure we will. We usually don't when she says that.

As with all good things, it came to an end before we were either one ready. But, I'm sure we will get back into the school groove in a week or two. She did ask me this morning after I walked heer back to her classroom after chapel how much longer she had today. Not a good thing since chapel is first thing in the morning. But, we did NOT do rock-a-bye baby this morning like we did almost every morning the first part of the school year. Maybe it was just a fluke and she forgot with it being the first day back in almost 3 weeks. Or, maybe we are done with that. Secretly, I hope not. But, I'm not going to bring it up until she does. I hope she remembers tomorrow!!!

11 Days and counting

2011-12-14T14:05:00.002-05:00

Gumdrop has been here a week and likes to hide in silly places while we are sleeping. Summer is always anxious to find out where he is when she wakes up. This morning he was hanging upside down on the fridge door with a new mission tucked in his shirt. He has also been on the staircase, a light fixture, a present, and in the tree. Summer thinks it's funny that he messed up the ornaments even though I think only one or two were messed up. She seems to enjoy the missions he brings and did a really good job helping shop for our angel tree child. Of course, she did want to go to Build-a-Bear and get the little girl a bear. While we were at it, she might as get one too. That was her plan anyway. And, it worked for her. She ended up with a fluffy white sheep named Lamby. I do not regret the decision to buy it so far because it is actually causing her to play with all of her other Build-a-Bear creations more frequently. However, at the time I was really feeling suckered after spending $90 before leaving the store. Two stuffed animals with outfits and shoes. Summer also had to get reindeer headband for hers which she later decided does not look as good as just the plain lamb head. Luckily, the delight on her face offset some of the guilt. I'm sure the little girl will be happy too. Her bear got Twinkle Toes to match the ones she is getting.

We've had one other shopping mission which I'm happy to report did not end up with Summer getting anything. She's been very helpful with the deliveries, carrying as many bags as she can. Today her mission is to take some puzzles, instruments, puppets and barnyard animals to a local children's shelter. She was delighted when she saw the elf had left a big box with all of the items in it right outside our garage. She helped me lift the big box into the car and hopped happily into her car seat. She has also been through her toys and got rid of two boxes of stuff. Yay! I hope these missions will help her to see ways she can help others and want to give back to her community.

She has a really fun cookie decorating mission this weekend with her friend Willow. I think Santa just might be there too. I'm lucky she doesn't ask too many questions about there being so many different Santa's. She has seen three already this month and all of course were different people. I guess him having a lot of helpers isn't such a far fetched idea in her mind. Oh, to be a kid again....

Gumdrop Arrived!

2011-12-07T17:07:00.002-05:00

The elf has returned much to Summer's delight. She started asking last week when he was coming. I was scrambling to communicate with Santa about her upcoming missions, but we finally got them all worked out. She was very excited to discover her elf this morning sitting in one of the cubbies by the fireplace. He had a scroll for her which had a letter from Santa on it. He was sure to mention the naughty and nice lists. It seems she is currently going back and forth a lot, but he is sure she will be at the top of the nice list by Christmas if she can get into the true Christmas spirit of giving to others. We will see. I have my doubts at times. But, if Santa is able to pull off the remote control angel, anything is possible! I hope she will enjoy her missions to come. The first one is tomorrow. We'll see what she thinks about it.

Tonight we are supposed to go to Rock City, but the weather is causing some concerns. Hopefully, all the precipitation is over and we will not freeze to death should we decide to venture out to meet up with our group. Tonight Lana's Love is taking us along with other local pediatric cancer patients for the yearly outing there. It is always fun to see those we have met along our journey and to also enjoy the Christmas lights. It's been two years since Summer had her last treatment. She had her last scheduled CT last week which turned out great for her. NED!!! Now she will be monitored by chest x-rays and ultrasounds which they also did last week to get a baseline for the future. She has an MRI coming up after Christmas along with an ECHO/EKG. I am hoping she will again have great results and that her heart will show no signs of damage from the chemotherapy. I'm so thankful for my healthy girl. She is truly my miracle!

2011-12-05T09:25:00.002-05:00

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last posted. The holidays are upon us and it is a mad rush from one place to another. We did manage to spend a whole day at home over the weekend though which was nice. Summer played outside in the trees and bamboo. She rode her bicycle, swung on her rope swing and had some one on one time with her Daddy. We were supposed to have a family game day, but the only games we played were on the Wii. Clint also played me one game of backgammon, doubled me, and won. Oh well....next time.

This morning I stayed in Summer's class and made snowman ornaments with the kids. It was lots of fun and very messy with all the sticker paper, but worth the time it took to clean it up. They all seemed to enjoy making their own version of the snowman. A few of them thought he should have legs, but I assured him that he just slid around on the snow. Haven't they seen Frosty the Snowman? Maybe not, but a few of them did sneak on some legs made out of scarves. Summer, being the craft girl she is, was in heaven which is always a nice way to start the week. Over the weekend we made some garland which we will send to someone special through the mail. Her attention span was not so long on that craft, but she did start a pattern that I tried to follow. It was quite a task for a five year old to do on her own so I wasn't surprised when she gave up. :)

She is anxiously awaiting the return of her elf which means I need to go ahead and write Santa and tell him what kind of elf we would like this year. I'll be asking for one that spreads Christmas cheer to others and will help us learn that it is better to give than receive. Of course, she will be receiving too on the big day because you should reap what you sow, right? I'm going to try to not go crazy this year and so far I think I'm doing pretty good. One or two more things should tide her over. The hard part is deciding what they should be. Really the only thing she has asked for that she desperately wants is a remote control angel which she asked Santa for. Let's hope he pulls through on this one! Basically, she says it is an angel flies so it shouldn't be that hard, right? Too bad she didn't ask for a helicopter because they are everywhere right now. I've also thought about a plasma car, but not too sure it would get used. Plus, I'd need to get two so her and Lexie don't have to fight over it should it be a big hit with them. She did enjoy riding it around the store the other day, but probably only got on it because I asked her to. So????

School has been going good for her. The book fair started last Friday. Summer and Lexie were excited to go by and pick out a few books before heading to their classrooms. Summer gobbled up sausage balls and grapefruit juice while Lexie munched on a mini blueberry muffin, a doughnut hole and some OJ. After school on Friday, Summer told me she had a wish list in her book bag. It turned out to be two wish lists. Her books of choice are: Bieber Fever, Leo the snow leopard, Willow Smith, and ???? I can't remember the last one. Oh well, it was pretty good to get all those considering I don't have the lists with me. The girls both love their nightly stories and love picking out the books for me to read. Sometimes we read their library books which they get every week. Other times they pick from our bookshelves. Summer also reads the books she gets from her teacher a few times a week. I can't wait until she can actually read on her own, but I know I will miss the time we spend reading together when she out grows it. Let's hope we have got a few years at least before that happens.

Teddy got new shorts!

2011-11-13T17:27:00.004-05:00

It's been a long time coming, but Teddy's original shorts have officially been retired. They were pinned to him some time during Summer's chemotherapy treatments I think. Summer was the first to wear the pink and white striped shorts, size 24 months. They were put on Teddy sometime after Summer turned 2, but I haven't been able to pinpoint when by looking through old pics yet. I do know that she has been carrying the bear around since she was 1 year old. Anyways, the shorts are now shreds and don't resemble shorts in the least. They were replaced with a 3T size pair that both Summer and Lexie have worn. The transition was surprisingly easy. I found some shorts that had what I thought would be a cool and soft material like the other pair was because that is what Summer loved so much about them. They didn't get hot when she snuggled Teddy. Summer never complained and easily got over the loss of Teddy's original shorts while on a sleepover at Memaw's house last weekend. I had already pinned the new pair onto Teddy so when the old pair fell off Memaw put them in Summer's over night bag and that was the end of them. They are now being stored in our oak cabinet which also sports items related to our wedding and various trips to the beach. I also still have some of my original dolphin collection from high school. Some have already been passed along to Amanda and now Summer who inherited her big sister's old room. Cool thing is, they both like dolphins like me.

Summer seems to be testing me lately. Either that or she has just gotten more hyper / silly over the past few weeks. Her noise level is often irritating, and I am working on accepting it as part of who she is right now. The amount of energy a 5 year old has at times is quite amazing. Jumping up and down at the end of the day! I mean, seriously, where does it come from? She's over the nap stage so it's not an after nap second wind. She is a bundle of energy for sure and keeps me on my toes.

One annoying habit that she has right now is to tease me about how she and her dad are Alabama fans. She told me this morning after a walk with her dad that he switched teams and doesn't like Tennessee anymore. She boos me when I root for Tennessee, but I refuse to stoop to her level of poor sportsmanship. I am trying to figure out how to curb it without actually forbidding her to do it. I have tried to gently sway her to be nice and let me cheer for who I want to, but she is not going for it. Today on the way home she kept repeating and motioning "Alabama (thumbs up), Tennessee (thumbs down), Georgia University (thumbs toward each other)." She tried to get me to join her, but every time she said it, my thumbs went down first and up second. She tried and tried to get me to do it her way. But, I refuse to convert give Alabama a thumbs up. I guess you just had to grow up where I did to understand why, although my brother is an Alabama fan too. Let's just say he is a little more redneck than me. No offense Brad. :) Summer is a hardcore Alabama fan even though she never even really watches the games. She knows their color is crimson. She "roll tides" with the rest of them. She taunts me to no end. And although she looks really cute with her two new pairs of earrings and hair bow her daddy got her while we were in Tuscaloosa last weekend, I really wish that she would stop. It is not nice. She even got me to sing Rocky Top today just so she could boo me while I did it. Oh my! What is a mom to do? How do you instill a sense of respect for others in kids these days?

Who is Summer? A cat, a cheerleader or a witch?

2011-11-04T10:00:00.004-04:00

Today was an unusually early morning for us. The girls both came into my room at 6:00 a.m. Lexie to snuggle and Summer to wake everyone up. So, Summer was redirected to the living room where she entertained herself for a few minutes by making something out of construction paper, tape, crayons and fuzzy sticks. Since they were up so early, they got to watch Barbie Rapunzel before school at Lexie's request. It is Summer's favorite Barbie movie too right now. We rarely ever cut the TV on in the morning because it considerably slows down the eating process so this was a treat. Summer had a frozen PB&J sandwich for breakfast and then decided that my potato soup looked yummy and dug into that too. She is such a non-breakfast food eater. The past few days it has been nachos with meat, beans, cheese and sour cream for breakfast. Unlike Lexie, she has to be forced to eat cereal.

The week started off great with Halloween parties at school. Summer wore an Alabama cheerleader uniform to school and saved her witch costume for Halloween night. We trick or treated on Carter Road and then went to a trunk or treat at Stuart Heights Baptist Church. They both were awesome. Clint was the only one not dressed up. Summer and I were witches and Trixie was a bat. We met up with some friends at the trunk or treat and the girls enjoyed playing games for candy. The inflatables were also a big hit and brought lots of smiles to the kids faces. Trixie was a little nervous although I carried her in a front carrier as we walked around. Of course everyone wanted to pet her. However, I advised against it seeing as how she sometimes gets snappy when she feels threatened. Kids are not always the gentlest dog handlers and she knows that. Summer is getting better though, and she loves being Trixie's mommy. She is thinking Santa might bring her a cat for Christmas this year, but I told her I didn't think so. She got one two years ago and it ended up getting killed. Evidently she thinks she needs another one, but I'm pretty sure Santa is going to say no to this idea.

Last week, we attended Disney on Ice for the 3rd year in a row. A lot of our friends came too, and we had twenty seats filled with friends when the show began. Summer dressed up as Tinkerbell and Lexie wore a fairy princess dress. It was a great time for the kids and adults. Time for mommies and daddies to catch up and little children to dream of magical characters. Summer left with a beautiful horse that she just would not let me walk away from. I tried to bet the guy selling it to me $16 that she would never play with it again. He didn't take me up on it, but I think I won that bet. Maybe she will surprise me though.

Summer's good friend Willow had a costume party for her birthday over the weekend. Summer wore a cat costume. Again, she did not want to wear the witch costume which she had chosen for Halloween. Luckily, it, along with the others, came out of our stash so we didn't have to buy any costumes this year. She enjoyed celebrating with her friends and is looking forward to the next birthday party which is at an indoor mini-golf place. Looks like along with school comes a slew of new party invitations!

She is really growing up so fast and learning so much in school. Her first report card was all plus signs. The teacher said only good things about her which of course made me super proud. She does need to work on some of her lowercase letters and numbers. Sometimes she gets them inverted. She also likes to start writing her letters at the wrong place and does not like to conform to correct penmanship as it is generally taught. I'm hoping she will get over her stubbornness and conform. There are times when conforming to other's ideas is good although I do understand that is not always the case. I am really impressed with things she is learning though and absolutely love both of her teachers. She is enjoying school too, but is looking forward to the next half day. She really wishes school weren't so long. Yesterday, she had a major meltdown when she left with her daddy so he could take her and Lexie to school instead of me. It was only the 2nd time he has done it so maybe she just wanted her routine drop-off with mommy snuggles and rock-a-bye baby in the hallway. But, she was not a happy camper when she left the house or when she was dropped off. I called her daddy to check on how it went and he said she whined all morning. Her teacher emailed me around ten to let me know she had been kind of weepy all morning, but that she was okay. I hated to hear it, but I am glad the teacher took the time to let me know how she was doing. I love, love, love this school!

I am a little concerned about Summer's health now. Scans are approaching and she has some urination issues which have me worried. She is urinating more frequently than normal (sometimes 3 times in thirty minutes) so I took her to get checked out. Her pediatrician says to just drink more water and cranberry juice and keep an eye on it. I hope this is all it will take, but I've got a weird feeling so I've got a call into her oncologist. I pray it will be nothing, and they will find nothing wrong with her. That way we can continue to live at peace and not in fear. Lord knows I love that little girl more than anything in the world and I don't know what I'd do if something else happened to her. With that said, I'm going to try to focus on happier things.

This weekend has a lot of fun in store for my little girl as she goes to a sleepover at her Memaw and Nanny's. I think it may even turn out to be a grandbaby sleepover which is great because she absolutely loves to spend time with her cousins too. I'll get a little down time, but it won't be as relaxing as I'd like. I'd say its a win-win though!! Bring on the good times.

Early to bed, early to rise

2011-10-11T20:54:00.002-04:00

The girls have adjusted nicely to their bedtime routine. Most nights they are sound asleep by eight o'clock. Tonight, they were both tucked in by 7:30. The first few weeks of school, they were up before the alarm clock went off except for one or two times. I did have to wake them both up this morning despite their on-time bed time, but for the most part they get up on their own and are well rested. As long as they don't get up before 6:30, I am happy. But, they have beat that once or twice. The getting ready routine seems to be working good too, and we have not yet been late for school. I hope I didn't just jinx myself. :)

Summer had another run in with the sick bug last week. She didn't have much of an appetite, complained of a headache, ran a fever and threw up twice (once at school and once in the elevator). On our visit to the doctor last week, I learned that her previous strep test had been negative. The one they did on this 2nd visit to her new pediatrician office was positive. She has been on antibiotics for a week now and has almost finished them up. She missed a day and a half of school due this illness. That makes 2 1/2 days of school missed so far this year due to sickness. Oh well, perfect attendance is overrated. After her first dose of antibiotic, she woke up the next morning feeling good but still was not allowed to return to school. Instead she sang some song with the Wii Sing It game. She also made some craft projects which she does on a daily basis it seems. The girl is so creative and crafty!! She was good to go back to school the next day and seems to be back to full health at this point. Of course now that she is in school, she is exposed to lots of germs so I'm not holding my breath that she will not be sick again soon.

The week ended early with a half day on Thursday. Then fall break was upon us. Friday morning we cleaned out pumpkins and worked on carving them. Summer was not a fan of the ooey gooey pumpkin guts, and Lexie wasn't either. Summer picked out a cat pattern for me to put on one of the pumpkins. It was pretty difficult so any help from the girls was out of the question. They did enjoy putting silly faces on some of the smaller pumpkins we got at festivals the previous weekend.

Summer got to spend two nights with her Memaw, the 2nd one being a grand baby sleepover. She told my mom that she wished they could have a grand baby sleepover every fall break. She really does love spending time with her cousins and Memaw. PawPaw too for that matter. I am glad they all bring happiness and joy to her life.

Sunday night after Summer got home from her Memaw's house, she spent some time with her PawPaw before returning home to help me decorate the other pumpkin with light bright type pegs. Again, she picked a cat pattern, but this one was much easier. To her dismay, we were out of 9 volt batteries so she did not get to see it lit up until the next day. When she did get to see them all lit up, she lit up too with excitement. Oh the good times that come with each season and holiday!

Her fall break was finished up with a quick tennis lesson and a trip to the Pumpkin Patch, a playground on Signal Mountain. She and Lexie both loved it, and I was very happy that Clint decided to join us on this adventure. The kids each needed their own adult to play with them since they are at different levels as to what they can do on the playground. Summer thoroughly enjoyed playing with her daddy, and Lexie had a blast too. After almost two hours of playing and a picnic, we headed back down the mountain. The girls played outside for a long while that evening, riding bikes, playing with horse shoes and coloring with chalk. Summer climbed the crepe myrtle tree in the front yard several times. It seems she is really into tree climbing right now. She wanted to do it again today, but I think the rain stopped her. I'm sure she'll be back up it later this week. Unfortunately, this is probably not just a passing phase. I just hope she's careful. I would hate to have a little girl with a broken bone, but kids need to be kids, right?

First field trips and fall fun

2011-10-02T20:07:00.005-04:00

Summer got to ride a bus to her first kindergarten field trip. The first graders also went to the Apple Valley Orchard, same one we went to last year with Summer's preschool. Her daddy and I followed the bus up there. Well, we might have led the way. :) The first part of our tour was the hayride which was fun for all. Then we watched apples being sorted and boxed. The kids got a glimpse of the inside of the cooler, if they could see through me and the other parent who were allowed to take a quick picture of the inside. It was really odd, but maybe they had opened the door too many times that day to give the kids a look at the inside. When we got to the cider making room, the kids and adults were all lined up and placed about the room by the "Nazi" tour guide. I'm not sure the kids realized it as much as the adults, but there was definitely some whispering going on between the parents about her lining up skills. Clint even had to leave the room it got too structured for him to bear. LOL We left as we had come, through the gift shop and headed to hear the story of Johnny Appleseed. After quite a long tale, the kids were told about the different kinds of apples and how they are pollinated, among other interesting tidbits of information. We finished the trip up with a picnic lunch and fresh apple cider. Then the kids loaded back onto the bus and it was a done deal.

Lexie visited Fire Station #7 with other PK3 & PK4 students on her first field trip. Unlike Summer, she did not get to ride a bus. Several parents helped chauffeur the kids over to check out the newest fire station in Chattanooga. It just so happened that there was not one, but rather two, fire stations at Enterprise South which is where we were told to go. We found that out the hard way when we came across the TDOT station, which at first we thought was the fire station. We quickly realized our mistake, but stopped any way to ask for directions. We were asked which fire station we were going to. I didn't know, and I was the lead car. Neither did the teacher that rode with me. No one behind me had a clue either which one we were going to. I finally reasoned that it would be a public fire station, rather than a private one. So, we headed to the white building we could see sticking up in the horizon that the nice lady at TDOT pointed us towards. Thankfully, it turned out to be the right one. It seems no one really knew exactly where we were going, but we did all end up in the right place. The kids got to tour the station and see where the firemen cook, eat, sleep, shower and relax. They really seemed to enjoy checking out the big trucks. Their faces lit up with delight when they were inside the trucks. Lexie was no different. She wore the hat and sticker they gave her with pride. Although it was a little windy and cool, the field trip was fun for all and hopefully they will all remember to stop, drop and roll if their clothes should ever catch on fire.

This weekend has brought lots of fall fun. It seems like we always have lots to do in the fall. We ended the school week with a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. The girls played and cashed in their tickets for candy, a ruler, and a purple fish (not live of course). Before bedtime, we enjoyed a nice, warm bonfire complete with marshmallows to roast. Lexie is not a fan of them, but Summer and I love some nicely toasted marshmallows!

Yesterday morning we got up and went out to eat breakfast for a change. Then we headed to the Punkin Festival in Soddy where the girls mostly played on the playground. They also enjoyed a ring toss game where we won a green finger, plastic frog, and a bracelet. Summer tried to get me to buy her a necklace with interchangeable bottle cap pendants. We also saw them at the Hamilton County Fair last weekend. But, I did not cave and buy them. We did buy 3 pumpkins for the girls to paint with Paw-Paw (which they did last night). The girls loved the inflatable slide which was free, always a bonus! The cotton candy was not a huge hit, but it, too, was free. Summer exited the slide before Lexie and colored a picture of a pumpkin. She even got an extra one to take home and color. We checked out some old cars which Summer said were too "bumpy" before we left.

Our afternoon was filled with more inflatable fun at Brody's birthday party. Pump It Up was the perfect place to celebrate with him. Several of Summer's classmates were there, so she had plenty of kids to play with. Her good friend Giada was there, and they had fun sliding and jumping together. Giada's mom and I talked and have tentatively set up a play date for sometime during their fall break. Summer is very excited about that! She ended up hurting her foot after a bad jump and has been limping on it ever since. I examined it pretty well and think she will be okay. She does not seem to be in any major pain and can move it in all directions without complaining. She is not sure that she should go to school with it hurting, but I assured her she will be fine. I may end up writing a note for PE, but only if she complains again in the morning. The day ended with another bonfire for the girls and even more marshmallows for Summer. She declared that PawPaw cooks them perfectly which will put a smile on his face should he ever read this or even better should she tell him herself.

After church today, we ate lunch and headed to the Children's Autumn Festival put on by the Ronald McDonald House. We bought a lot of tickets and did all the activities we wanted before we ran out. We even had enough tickets left to snag a few craft kits to take home for us to do later. After getting our value pack of tickets, we enjoyed free Mayfield's ice cream sandwiches. Summer wanted to head to the craft area first. The kids made sand art and decorated pumpkins with markers and stickers. They made ghost suckers, sticker art, and iced and decorated chocolate chip cookies after getting their Ronald McDonald tattoos. They went down the inflatable slide a few times and even rode a horse after patiently (well mostly) waiting in line for a good while. Summer wanted to decorate a tiara on the way out, but they ran out just before we got to the table. It was no big deal though, and we happily headed to the car. Summer was a big help, helping me carry her pumpkin and the craft kits to the car. Oh the joy it brought us both!

The weekend was busy, to say the least. But, we had fun and made some good memories during it all. I know the rest of the fall will probably be like this. Go, go go! But, I don't think I'd have it any other way. Life is too short not to enjoy it.

Rock-a-Bye Baby

2011-09-24T07:29:00.002-04:00

It continues! She still wants me to rock and sing to her everyday when I drop her off at school! I think it may be taking a toll on my back as it seems to start hurting at some point every day for the past few weeks . It seems like I will be walking her to her classroom indefinitely. The drop off line just isn't for us right now. Most days we drop off Lexie at her classroom first, but some days Summer goes to her class first. Yesterday, was one of those days because I had to take Lexie to the doctor for a check-up due to her frequent accidents at school. It seems she's just full of poop, thankfully.

Summer went to the doctor two days last week, missing one day of school due to strep throat. She ran a fever above 102 twice and complained of her limbs, shoulders, and belly hurting. She said, "It hurts when I swallow my spit." She played normally throughout it except for when her fever spiked the 2nd time which was after I picked her up from school on Monday. She sat patiently as I dropped my car off at the dealership, and we waited for our loaner car. I don't think she would've been as patient if she felt good. We left there and headed to a drug store for a thermometer and some ibuprofen. She was redfaced at 102.3, but she still insisted on going to celebrate Nanny's birthday at Ichiban. For some reason, Summer got to pick the restaurant. I guess she's good at that though. She loves to decide whether or not we will eat at our favorite sushi restaurant or Longhorn or ........

The next day I took her to her new pediatrician, and the verdict was strep. So, she stayed home that day and went in late the following day after her appointment with the surgeon who took her port out. There was a stitch that did not dissolve that was sticking out of the scar and did not seem to be going away. It seemed to be tender to her and she would not let me near it so I made an appointment to have it looked at. Dr. Smith said that she would just leave it alone and wash it with soap and water. She also said we could rub a washrag over it gently which Summer did herself. I was a little disappointed it was still in when we left the doctor's office, but it did come out earlier this week and the scar looks to be healing nicely now.

I asked Summer yesterday if she likes school better than she thought she would and she said she did. I am soooooo happy with this school. Summer has gotten almost all yellow smiley faces on her chart this month. As a reward, she picked a Show and Tell sticker from her options. The other sticker choices Summer can remember are: Bring your stuffed animal to school, Teacher's Desk (do your work at the teacher's desk), and Teacher's Pen (get to use one of the teacher's pens). On Monday, Summer will get to take something special to school with her to show her classmates. I wonder what it will be. Teddy already goes in her bookbag everyday so she can have him at rest time so I doubt it will be her. I'm so excited for her 1st show and tell. :)

She will go on her first field trip next week. The kindergarten and first grade are going to an apple orchard. The kids are riding the bus and the parents will be following in cars. Of course, Summer has already asked me to go with them. This will actually be her 2nd trip to an apple orchard. She went with her preschool last year before she dropped out. She is excited to have apple cider and eat an apple.

Her midterm progress report brought a big smile to my face when I saw it. She is doing exemplory in her social growth and behavior with peers. She enthusiatically participates in the class. She got all good remarks in her work habits and her teacher says, "Summer is doing so well! She works hard and always helps others." I guess this school thing is okay after all. She is thriving and making me proud to be her Mom!

Why does school have to last so long?

2011-09-07T21:24:00.003-04:00

Summer really wishes school days were shorter and fewer in number, but she seems to like it nonetheless. When I drop her off to school, I still walk her and Lexie to their classes. The past two days, she has had me do Rock-a-Bye Baby in the hallway after we hung up her book bag. Yes, she allows me to pick her up and rock her like a little baby in front of her peers. Oh, if only this could last!! I think I actually told her today that I hope she never outgrows it. I think she may in size before she is actually over it, but maybe not. Despite her weighing 43 pounds and standing 42 3/4 inches tall, I still manage to carry her around on occasion. And, she loves it! She's definitely my baby and always will be more than likely. Lexie pretends to be a baby at times and will put one of Summer's old pacifiers in her mouth and let me coo at her while I cuddle her in my arms. So sweet! I really hit the jackpot with these two being a part of my life.

Yesterday, Summer asked me if there was chapel and I told her no that it was today. She was disappointed stating that she liked it. So, today I attended with her and Lexie to see what it was all about. When they saw me, they ran over to sit with me. Summer's friend Brody, who just so happens to be a boy, sat down right beside her. Apparently, he follows her around most days, but I'm going to try not to read too much into it. The word boyfriend is not even going to be in our vocabulary for quite some time!!!! His mom was there too and told me she had heard a lot about Summer and had even come to eat lunch with them one day. Uh-oh! A little girl named Alex tried to wave her over to sit by her, but Summer was not leaving me. She sat quietly in front of me while Lexie climbed all over me proclaiming her love for me during the chapel service. It was quite precious, but I hope next time she will sit and listen. We sang a few songs and the rector went over a Bible lesson which was on the fruits of the Spirit. At the end, Summer got long faced and tried to fight back tears when she knew it was time to say goodbye. It was at that point that she asked me why school had to last so long. It was a sad moment, but her teacher told me she would get her busy when she got back to the room. I hugged and kissed her many times and then she was off with her class. I'm sure she was fine in no time, but goodbyes between her and me are usually not the easiest thing unless she is going with her Memaw or cousins. Then I'm chopped liver.

Instead of crying over homework this week, Summer decided she would do the whole week in one night and get it over with. She wrote B's, b's, C's, c's, D's and d's. She drew a green apple because that is the kind she likes. She counted 13 pennies and then tried to write "I counted 13 pennies" but could not get the 3 correct so we stopped at that point in the phrase. I don't think she was really trying, but I didn't push too hard and just let her move on since writing wasn't even part of the assignment anyway. Then we did a graph on the number of girls/women and boys/men in our house. She was done in no time and even wrote the letters 6 times each instead of 5 so she could get a little extra practice. So, today when she got home, she was free to do whatever she wanted which just so happened to be watching Barney goes to School and eating kettle corn. The movie was so entertaining that she and Lexie watched it twice before I got dinner ready. They were contemplating a 3rd viewing, but instead we played Carnival Games on the Wii.

Last night we had a family game / movie night. The girls had an early shower so Summer could spend as much time as possible with her dad after he got home and before bedtime. After they were all clean and dressed in their pj's, Summer won a game of Candyland while we waited on her Dad to get home for dinner. After we ate, she, Lexie and her dad headed to her room to play. I later walked in on them jumping off their beds, Summer holding an umbrella as she did. Thankfully, I only had to witness it happen once before Summer decided instead to show me and her dad a disappearing act. Lexie got a turn too, and it was funny how Summer had us close our eyes so they could sneak in and out of the room and thus disappear from under the umbrella. They both loved it and were all smiles at their trick. After they were all played out, Summer snuggled up with her dad on the couch to watch Ernest goes to Jail for the 3rd time. She has seen it several times at her cousins and always tells me how funny it is when I pick her up. So, when I saw it was going to be on TV last night, I made sure the channel was set so we could watch it with her. During the movie, Lexie and I worked a few puzzles and tried to play Chute and Ladders, but she's not quite at that level yet. When the movie was over, it was bedtime. Instead of books, we did songs because it was a little later than normal. Lexie wanted me to sing Go to Sleepy Little Baby to her. I sang that song and You Are My Sunshine to Summer. Tonight, after story time, Lexie requested Lullaby and Goodnight. I also sang You Are So Beautiful to Me to her. After one verse of I Love You, Summer, Summer wanted me to sing You Are So Pootyful to Me to her. I obliged her silly request, and she went to bed smiling. On my way out the door, she let one rip. How did she do it? I'm not even going to ask. I just love days like these. What would I do without my sweet little girl?

2nd week and we're surviving

2011-08-31T19:47:00.000-04:00

Summer had her first chapel day today. She was less than excited when she had to put on the special chapel outfit this morning. She was especially appalled by the tie, but she was dressed to code when she left the house and looked absolutely adorable if I say so myself. The uniform thing is working pretty good. She still wishes she didn't have to wear them; she also wishes school was only two days a week. Hopefully, she realizes those wishes are not going to come true. Apparently, Lexie pulled up her shirt today during chapel and her aunt Summer laughed at her, at least according to Summer's afternoon report of her day. I tried to discourage them both from repeating either of those behaviors again.

Summer had P.E. again today which is her least favorite class. The first day she had it, she came home and told me she did not like it. I haven't broken the news to her daddy yet, but maybe, just maybe, she'll change her mind about it. The first day she told me she got to sit out because her stomach was hurting. I think she said they were running. She said they did the same thing today, but I believe she was well enough to participate this time. LOL It is so funny how sudden ailments pop up out of nowhere these days - walking down the hall to class, riding in the car, going to bed. But, a few kind or silly words seems to cure them quickly.

She loves school overall. I am still walking her in every day, but tomorrow I may try to just drop them off. We'll see. She did follow her teacher up the stair to her classroom this morning while I dropped Lexie off at her class. I almost left without checking on her, but I decided it wouldn't hurt to walk by her class. She saw me and came and gave me a big hug or two before I said goodbye, took a few more pictures and left. I've gotten pictures of her everyday so far. Crazy, I know, but she's my baby. She has brought home several new creations a day - stencil art, pop-up book, cards, Christmas ornament. She definitely is getting to do things she likes at school. I need to start taking pictures of those things too because my folder will be filling up in no time at this rate!

Homework is not her favorite part of school, but she has a little every day this week. Today, we went ahead and did tomorrow's homework too so we will be done for the week. No homework tomorrow!!! :D The first day she had to write her name 3 times and count to 20. Day 2 she had to draw a picture of her teachers and count the steps in her house. Today's homework was to draw 3 things they use at school and write the words. She went ahead and wrote 5 "A"s and "a"s and sang the alphabet song to finish up all of her assignments for the week. They turn them all in on Fridays.

Today was her first time to check out a book from the library at school. She told me she was a little nervous to do it because she had never done it there before. I didn't understand why since we checked out books at the local library all summer, but I guess new things are a little intimidating at first. They told her about a late fee if the books are returned late which may be one of the reasons she was a little uncomfortable doing it. She picked out a book that was "true" she told me. It was a book about cheetahs and we read the first chapter before bedtime. She seemed to really enjoy it even though it was more informative rather than story like. Yesterday, she brought home a book with no words which was titled "The first day of kindergarten." She told Lexie and myself a story using her own words that she came up with by looking at the pictures. It was really neat to see the way she interpreted the pages and what words she used to describe them. Lexie has brought home a book the past two days that she said she got at the store. I assume she meant the library. Today, her book was about pet parakeets and yesterday's was an alphabet book with odd animals in it. Seems the library is stocked with plenty of educational books, but I guess that is what school is all about.

P.S.

2011-08-25T05:40:00.002-04:00

I failed to mention the puzzle that Summer made me on the first day of school. She told me about it on the way home from school. When we got home, she gave it to me. My dad was there too and was excited to see just what she had made for me. The envelope had a little message taped on it which I read out loud. A little over half way through it, I broke down crying. My voice cracked. I looked at Summer, and her face looked as if she might cry too. It was such a sweet moment. I went over and gave her a hug and thanked her. It took me a minute to regain my composure, but when I did, I finished reading it. Then we put the puzzle together as a team. She had traced her hand on a blank puzzle and colored it purple surrounded by a pink and orange border. It was pretty neat and will hopefully be framed one day. Summer doesn't agree with that though because then we won't be able to put it together anymore. We'll see who wins this battle. :)

School starts

2011-08-24T14:35:00.009-04:00

And, we're off to our first day of school........

Peace signs by order of Princess Summer

Headed into the school on her first day of Kindergarten

She's leading the way to her classroom.

The dreaded day (the first day of school) has come and gone. It went better than expected and with far less tears than expected. I guess that is a good thing, but for some reason I feel like the tears are just building up inside and will eventually be released. Probably next week when she and Lexie go all day . This week is just half days for Summer, and Lexie only went one day. So, I haven't fully experienced a full day of school with no kids yet. I must admit that I am not looking forward to it. I am happy that she likes it though. I haven't heard any complaints from her. That makes it a little easier on me.

On her first day, she gave me sad faces when I left. She asked how long it was going to be and seemed disappointed when I told her 3 hours. But, there was no arm clings or tears like I had anticipated. She did not by any means give me any sort of smile or act like she wanted to do any of the activities that were available. There was a baby doll area, a dress up station and a table full of legos and little boys. One little girl was playing with playdough. Summer chose the table with the markers and paper. When I left the room, she was just looking at the paper. After I left, she drew a pretty flower in a flower pot which she brought home in her Littlest Pet Shop backpack. I don't think it hit me hard when I left the room because I still had Lexie to entertain for the next 30 minutes. We headed out to her playground where she swang and explored the equipment. It is a great playground and has everything a kid could need or want in a playground, even a seesaw which is not common anymore. And, it's all just her size! As we waited for the teacher, I talked to another parent who I met years ago when I took Summer to Playgym. She has a Pre-K3 and K student. Crazy what a small world it is! Unlike me, she was jumping for joy -literally!! - when she dropped her kids off. Lexie said goodbye to me with a smile on her face. She was ready for school!

When I picked up Lexie, she was on the playground again playing on the slide in the castle. Her teacher said only good things about her, and I was happy when she informed me that she had not peed in her panties. She's not perfectly potty trained yet, but she does pretty good most of the time. We had time to waste before Summer got out for the day so Lexie had some strawberries and juice while we sat on a bench in the shade. When it was finally time to join the carpool line, Lexie was really wondering why were weren't getting Summer. I will be happy when they are on the same schedule that way the carpool line will just be me, and I can jam out on my Ipod. It could turn the worst part of the day into something I could possibly look forward to. I just hope I don't get too carried away and end up with all the parents around me staring at me like I'm crazy. LOL When Summer got into the car, she was happy and said only good things about school. She wanted to go to Ichiban for lunch, but I wasn't hungry so I told her we'd go the next day. She was a little disappointed, but agreed that a happy meal would be a good choice. We were deeply saddened to see that they were out of Smurfs. What a tragedy!!!

The rest of the day was spent watching cartoons and playing games. I couldn't talk her into a swim although the slip and slide did slightly tempt her, but we ended up not doing that either. She asked if she could do a chore and get some money. She told me she wanted to vacuum the bugs out of the loft we use as a library. I told her I'd give her a dollar if she did that and took the Netflix movies to the mailbox. She replied that she only wanted to do the vacuuming so I said no deal - all or nothing. She decided to do it, and I fetched the hose for her. She did not want me to start any vacuuming without her and kept repeating herself when she heard me plug the vacuum in (it's a central vac). It made me happy to see her want to do it all by herself. Of course, I ended up helping because there were more bugs than she could manage to get up (we don't go up there a lot and it is a bug magnet!!). After we finished that chore, we moved some children's books from there to the other loft where the playroom is. I recently got my childhood bookcase and was so happy to get to fill it with Summer's books and some of my old books too. I'll cherish it forever or as long as it lasts! Around 7:30, Summer picked a few books from its shelves and brought them to her bed for me to read. The perfect ending to her first day of school.

Day 2 of Kindergarten

This morning Summer wanted me to walk her in. I agreed to but told her I can't keep doing it all the time. Hopefully, she will be able to get herself and Lexie to their classrooms next week by herself or with the help of a teacher. I'm not really looking forward to that either. I love all the time I can get with her! When we got to her classroom, she hung up her book bag under her cubbie and sat down at a table with paper, markers and stencils. No frowns or sudden illnesses occurred unlike last year when she went to preschool for a few months. So, I kissed her on the cheek and reminded her of our lunch date and left. No tears yet again. I'm amazed at her and myself. I knew she would love it though once she started. When I picked her up today, her teacher walked her to the car and she was all smiles. She scolded Trixie for barking at her teacher and we were off to lunch with Lexie. She made another friend today which puts her up to 2 so far. She's going to totally rock at school. She moved up a color today which means she did better than yesterday. She was explaining to me that there are two bad colors: purple="Teacher's choice" (note, email or phone call to parents - this is the worst) and blue="think about it" (aka time out). There are three good colors: green ="ready to learn," yellow="good day" and orange-"great day." Yesterday, she was green which is where they start at, and today she was yellow. She was happy to inform me of her increase in status. Looks like the year is off to a good start. My little girl is growing up!!!!

5 more days of freedom

2011-08-18T14:26:00.004-04:00

I am feeling as if I'm on a deadline with school starting in only 5 days. What all can we fit into those five days? I asked Summer what she wanted to do before school started and she said go to Lake Winnie and Chuck E. Cheese. We are going to try to take care of one of those tonight. Lexie is also excited to possibly go to Chuck E. Cheese after gymnastics this afternoon. Both girls are starting back this fall and will be moving up to a new class level. Summer is very excited to go back which makes me happy since you want them to enjoy the activities they are involved in.

Summer also has aspirations to get on the slip and slide later tonight, but we will just have to see if we can fit that in before bedtime rolls around. She couldn't fall asleep for a nap today although she laid in bed for a good 45 minutes or so. That being said, she may be a little tired this evening when we get home from all of our running around. Lexie, on the other hand, was ready for a nap and didn't take too long to drift off.

The weekend brought Summer lots of time with her cousins. She got to stay with them while her daddy and I went on a little anniversary trip. The first time I called to check on her, I could hardly keep her attention. So, I made sure to call her when her cousins were at school so she wouldn't completely blow me off. They are tough competition for her attention. I am glad she loves them so much though. Before Summer and I left their house when I went to pick her up, Leah was already trying to get the next sleepover planned. They must have enjoyed each other's company over the three nights she spent with them. Though the date did not get nailed down, the plans are in the works.

My noodle was happy to see me when we got back and said she missed me, Trixie and her daddy. We let her choose our dinner location, and she chose TGI Fridays. That and Sekesui are her favorite downtown restaurants. After dinner we strolled through The Passage down to the riverfront. Summer chose to walk up the steep steps rather than along the riverfront so that we could get more exercise. It's so funny how conscious she is about exercising. On our way to the playground, we saw a boat and Summer commented she would like to go on it. It just so happened that it was a floating condo model that a company is building and selling units to (a pretty interesting concept). So we all ventured down to the boat and checked it out. Summer's interest was short because the playground was calling her name. When we got there, she ran around and did all the stuff she wanted to do. Then I played with her some before letting her lead us back towards home. She wanted us to walk under the wooden train track area they have just below the aquarium, so we did. Of course, she found her way into more water on the way home. Her daddy even joined her. Besides a slight meltdown over Teddy at dinner, which I don't have time to go into right now, it was a great way to reconnect as a family after our trip. Being a mom is such a blessing, and I'm so glad I have been blessed with such an awesome little girl.

12 days until school starts

2011-08-11T16:14:00.001-04:00

Summer asked how many days were left until school starts today. Sadly, I told her 12. I said it's like the 12 days of Christmas except instead of getting presents each day, we lose one of our last days of freedom to do whatever we please, whenever we please together. I told her I knew she was going to learn a lot though, but deep down we are both not happy about having to cut the cord which has regrown since her bout with cancer. Neither one of us still has any excitement for school starting. I guess we will just have to get over it. I am excited about volunteering at the school so there's something good. She is excited about starting gymnastics again too so we both have something we are looking forward to.

This week we have been making the most of our days although we did have a few days where we just stayed home and enjoyed the company of each other. The Wii has brought us some fun. Summer especially likes Wii Fit and plays a variety of games on it. We've watched cartoons together and several movies including Alice in Wonderland (the cartoon version), The Polar Express (much to Summer's delight), Barbie Rapunzel (her favorites movie) and All Dogs Go to Heaven. We played in the backyard on the slip-n-slide and in the pool. We've been to two playgrounds - Soddy Daisy and St. Elmo. Story time at the library was a hit with both girls again, especially the silly mask craft they did at the end.

Yesterday, Summer went to the Creative Discovery Museum with Willow and they had a great time spending two hours going from exhibit to exhibit. I thought Summer was almost not going to go since I wasn't going. During our lunch at Mellow Mushroom, she whispered in my ear and asked me if she would have to take a nap if she went home with me and Lexie. I told her yes, so she decided she would just go with her friend. Sometimes it just takes a nudge......

On Sunday we took the boat out with some friends. Summer was disappointed that she could not get into the water due to her surgery last week, but she did not put up a big fuss about it because she did not want to risk it getting infected. I sooooo hope she continues to want to follow rules as she grows up. She does love swimming in the lake now and even claims she is not afraid of snakes anymore. It seems she is not afraid of much anymore. It's so crazy how grown up she is. This morning after I brushed her hair, I told her to go look in the mirror and see how pretty she was. She came back and said that she looked really grown up. She did, especially with the dolphin earrings she was wearing that she spotted as we were going through one of my jewelry boxes. I better be careful because I don't want her to grow up to fast. I'd much rather her look younger than older. But, of course, who doesn't want to look younger? Oh yeah, teenagers.....glad we've got a while before those years hit!

Another week is gone, and so is her port!

2011-08-03T20:31:00.002-04:00

Last week ended with a 3 night sleepover with our best friends. Willow and Summer played great together, as did Lexie and Harper. The older girls did a few craft projects and the younger ones enjoyed painting and coloring. We had lots of water balloon fun. It's too bad you can buy those things pre-filled!! The driveway was covered in yellow and red balloons before the weekend was over. The girls played with chalk and rode bicycles and scooters. The big girls swung on the tree swing and the younger ones swung on the swing down by the lake (under direct adult supervision of course!). They all loved playing in the basement where Summer says she is queen. I was caught off guard when she informed her daddy and I of that fact on Monday. But, hey, I'm queen upstairs, I guess she can be downstairs. LOL They all loved the nightly bedtime stories which did not do a good job of calming them into a sleepy state the first night. They giggled and talked and who knows what all for an hour or so after we laid them down. It was funny to hear some of the stuff they were saying over the monitor. I know Summer said she was vinegar. Willow said she was a cucumber. It sounded like Summer wanted her to be a bell pepper though so she asked her if she even liked cucumbers. Willow replied that she liked the color of cucumbers. LOL Then Willow asked who liked the color of salt. It was some very randomness, but harmless sleepover girl talk so we let them have at it.

On Saturday Memaw, Nanny and Summer's cousins came up for some family fun. They swam in the lake and went on a boat ride. We cooked hamburgers and hot dogs while the kids destroyed the upstairs playroom and bedroom . This led to their lunch being delayed while they picked up the toys that covered the floors, but hey, how else are they gonna learn not to leave their mess for someone else to clean up? I guess that is just normal for kids to get into everything they possibly can and spread it everywhere. It seems I am always picking up toys that I know I did not play with, but that comes with being a mom (which I wouldn't trade for anything in the world). Summer is not too messy, but Lexie is definitely more of a destroyer. Lucky for me, I've got Summer to help me keep an eye on the messes she makes. I guess maybe it is the aunt in her that causes her to tell Lexie to pick up her toys when she sees she has moved onto something new??? I do love having little helpers, and they both help me when I ask them. Let's hope it stays that way in the years ahead.

On Monday, we had a fun day on the boat with Summer's older sister Amanda, Josh and several of their friends. Summer was excited to go to a rope swing. Even though it was a lot higher than the first one she went off, she was ready to get off the boat and into the water as soon as we got to where it was. She and I were the first to swim to the shore. After climbing up the rocks and dirt path, we looked out over about a 10 foot cliff. We decided to go exploring down another path which led to a rope swing. It was pretty high and intimidating so we headed back to the first jump off point we had found. I went first and she followed me in a minute or so later. I was surprised she wanted to jump from that high, but it wasn't any higher than the high dive I grew up with at my grandad's house so I didn't stop her. After everyone had their fill of jumping, we headed north. We stopped at a diving board which was coming off of a rock on someone's property and everyone jumped. Well, almost everyone. Summer did. Lexie almost did. Amanda surprised us all by chickening out yet again. I guess being the bigger sister doesn't mean you're always braver. Summer did not ask to jump off the bridge when we got to it which didn't really surprise me because it is at least 20 feet high. She and Lexie were ready to head home on our way to the bridge, but they managed to enjoy the rest of the ride snuggled up next to me. They both had enjoyed swimming in the lake and were not out of place despite being on a boat full of adults. It was good, clean family fun!

Bright and early yesterday morning, Summer and I headed to the hospital to have her port removed. After almost 2.5 years of pokes and needles into her upper left chest, she was ready to be be rid of it and so was I. We signed in at 6:27 a.m and only sat for a second before being whisked to registration and then room 7 in the back where we would be prepped for surgery. That was the speediest part of our visit which was too bad because all the fun toys were in the waiting room. My lap was quickly taken by my sweet, snugly, thumb sucking baby and her teddy. We waited just a second before being greeted by one of our favorite nurses from the hospital floor the year Summer had all of her treatments. Renee took great care of us and Summer was promised a treat when she got out of surgery. She did not forget about it either! :)

After we were all checked in and prepped, we had to wait on the surgeon who was running a little late. Summer started getting hungry as we waited and waited watching cartoons in our room. Finally, the nurse came back with a sedative for Summer and a man came and got us and wheeled us off towards surgery. Summer was such a champ and did not fuss or cry the whole time, of course Teddy was by her side comforting as needed. They gave her extra meds so she would wake up happy which was a nice change from the MRI wake-ups after anesthesia. After she woke up and had a few sips of water, they unhooked all of her monitors. We didn't stay in recovery long before we were delivered back to our room. When we were getting her dressed, she asked about her treat. She chose a grape Popsicle and savored every last bite of it.

She was too unsteady to walk, so I carried all 43 pounds of her back to the car in the parking garage. When we got home, she was still not able to hold her legs steady enough to walk, but that did not stop her from trying. That ended in a little head first tumble, but luckily it did not hurt her. When we walked in the condo, she pretty much dove for Trixie and tumbled one more time before being sent to the couch for her own safety. That didn't last too long.

To celebrate her new freedom from monthly port pokes, we all went out for lunch at one of her favorite restaurants - TGI Fridays. Summer seemed steady enough to walk herself, so she did. She and I ordered our usual 3 course meal: spinach florentine flatbread, bruschetta chicken pasta and Oreo madness. Clint had his favorite chicken dish too. After our bellies were full, we headed back to the condo. This time Summer wanted me to carry her. What a work out!!! I would do anything for my baby though so no complaints here.

Summer stayed up and played while I napped. About half way through the nap, she started playing with her box of instruments which I could hear seeing that our rooms are side by side. So her after nap music show was not exactly new for me like she thought it was. We watched a few episodes of Brain Surge together and played a game. Then we went through her jewelry boxes and she picked out some to give to the chemo patient and her brother that we angel. We even picked a special necklace to give Lexie and sat it to the side. A few minutes later Summer busted Trixie chewing the clasp into a non-workable state. We were very bummed, and Summer shut Trixie out of the room for her bad behavior.

After dinner Summer joined me on a volunteering excursion. While I addressed and stuffed envelopes and she colored a Littlest Pet Shop poster, she learned that it was national ice cream sandwich day. She helped lick the envelopes when I was finished getting them ready. Of course, when we were done helping out, she wanted to stop by the ice cream shop. She ended up choosing Ben and Jerry's over Cold Stone and I must say my taste buds were a little disappointed. Her ice cream of choice was Triple Caramel Chunk in a peanut and chocolate dipped waffle cone. Despite starting with surgery, overall it was a good day which ended with a snugly tucking in and lots of kisses. I will never grow tired of those!

Today we were joined again by Lexie as we headed to story time at the library. They both played on the computer a little before it started. Summer found and picked out 4 Dr. Seuss books all by herself. The kids enjoyed story time although Lexie was confused as to why they were having so many videos and not reading books like they usually do. The girls made alligator visors for their craft, and we headed home. We had some surprise guests show up to swim with us this afternoon which was nice. Summer was not supposed to go under all the way though since she has a big incision just below her collar bone. So being the rule follower she is, she was not having too much fun in the pool and decided she would rather play in the basement. Since no one else was done swimming, she got Trixie to be her loyal subject. After pool time, the kids played the Wii for a few minutes before our guests left. We ended the day watching Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue together on the couch which Summer and Lexie loved. The only bad part of the day was when we had to take the Tegaderm off. It was not a piece of cake and was very much like torturing my little girl which is never fun. I'm so thankful to be done with all of the cancer business. One more set of scans in November, and I think we are free birds. At least I hope that is His plan.

Memory Lane

2011-07-27T21:22:00.005-04:00

I love replaying the days with Summer in my head as I type these posts. But, I remember far too little. She's getting so big and I can't really believe she will be off to kindergarten in a few weeks. It doesn't seem real that she is that old already, but she is. I'm still not too enthused about school starting back, and it seems I'm not alone from talking to some of my friends. I know Summer is not too excited. But, her other friends are super excited to go. Even Lexie is excited to go to school. I guess I can blame this on cancer, but it doesn't really matter why we are not looking forward to being apart as much as school requires. We are not. We'll adjust quickly though. I'm sure. Right?????

Monday started off with Summer choosing to do some workbooks. She finished up another one and there are several more that she is close to finishing. I hope we will get them done before school starts, but we may not. She sure has enjoyed doing them although sometimes a page or two is enough for her. She was really wanting to do the maze workbook, but it was not with us. Her favorite workbooks of all were the ones with little decoder so you can check your answers. I think they were Dora and Blues Clues themed. She finished them first, of course.

A little later on Monday we met up with Clint and Lexie at the playground in North Chattanooga. Trixie came along for some exercises and fresh air too. The kids played until they were red faced, and we cooled off with some refreshing beverages. Summer ended up dumping some of her water bottle on her head. Then she went and filled the bottle up in the sink so she could cool off a little more. She was pretty wet when we left. But, she was happy and cool and so all was good.

Before we headed home, we went to eat. She wanted steak as usual. It has to be her absolute favorite thing to eat. Tacos (she had 4 for dinner tonight) and lasagna are neck and neck for second and third. She also loves fresh fruits and veggies. Tomatoes, cucumbers, or green peppers with vinegar satisfies her palate at times. Fruit-wise, she prefers strawberries, peaches, cherries or grapefruit. She also likes limes, blackberries and cantaloupe. Her cheese of choice has moved from colby jack to pepper jack. Lexie is also a big fan of the pepper jack. I'm still on the string cheese myself. But, this isn't really about me now is it? Ice cream of any sort is Summer's treat of choice, followed closely by fresh baked cookies. Her favorite Little Debbie is still Nutty Bars, but she rarely gets those.

After naps and dinner, the girls and I headed down to play in the water by the aquarium. It felt nice as we walked down the steps to the pool at the bottom. Summer made a few friends right away. She played with them until they had to leave. We left shortly after that and headed to Summer's other favorite water area in front of the aquarium. She thought she might find some money there, but she did not. They played and splashed until it looked like it was going to storm. Then we headed to Rita's for some Italian ice and custard. Summer always has to have the custard. She chose vanilla in a cone with hot fudge on top. Next time I think a cup would be better for the hot fudge because it sure was drippy which also means messy. I'm not particularly a fan of messy. LOL I'm glad Lexie is happy with the regular Italian ice because I've got 51 more free coupons to use in the next year that we got at the grand opening a month or two ago. We better get a move on it if we plan on using them all! She had the birthday cake flavor and ate almost all of it. Hopefully they weren't too spoiled as we headed home, but you only live once, right?

Tuesday we got up and headed to the zoo before it got too hot outside. They were both super excited to go and see if the animals were all awake. Somehow we managed to get through without going to the dinosaur exhibit again. I know Summer wanted to go again, but we never really saw the building where it was located so we missed it. We heard some goats making a bunch of noise and took a detour from our intended route and headed towards them. They were behind a wooden fence so we couldn't see them, but it sounded like something was really going on in there. Summer commented that the Serval, who was pacing around her cage, was her favorite animal there, but it was also the first one we saw. Next was the coyotes which she took a picture of. She led the way through the zoo like a pro. On the way, some campers stopped us and asked the girls if they wanted to pet Peanut Butter the barn dog which they were taking for a walk. Surprisingly, neither girl jumped at the chance. We headed past the snow leopards, one of Summer's other favorites, to the petting zoo. The girls and I got to brush the goats which was a first for us. Summer had fun checking out the deer and prairie dogs. She counted the turtles in the water by the bridge, but could only find five when I found six. We made our way through the rest of the zoo to the butterfly garden. She was disappointed as we strolled through the plants and flowers that have grown since the spring because we did not see even one single butterfly. I don't think she's ever seen one there, but maybe we are just not there at the right time. I think she's lost all hope now though. Talking to the parrots afterward helped distract her a little. :) Our last stop at the zoo was the chimpanzee exhibit. They always love to get in the boat and get their picture taken there. Somehow Summer convinced me into getting in there with them for a group pic...she's pretty persuasive sometimes. I know I'll be glad when I have the picture to look back on though!

Later that day we watched The Lion King. I was surprised Summer sat and watched it since she usually does not want to watch any Disney movie other than Mickey Mouse Villains. But, I did not really ask, I just put it in and she watched it. I think it might have helped that we got out all of the Lion King stuffed animals she won in a raffle a few years ago. Now, if only I can get her to do that with the princess movies....I guess it's no big deal though. They are not really educational per say and actually probably instill hopes and dreams that will never be met in reality. I'm sure I over think the whole TV thing at times when it come to her, but I really would like to preserve her innocence as much as I can. We had to take a break to go to dinner with some friends, but after we got home we finished it and then headed to bed.

That brings us to today. This morning we watched a little of Lady and the Tramp before we headed to story time at the library. We have not been in quite a long time, and Summer was excited to go back. She asked if she was going to get to do a craft at the end and an affirmative answer was all it took to get her on board. I really wish we would've gone more this summer, but we did not. So much to do....so little time to do it all! Saturday is the big party for the summer reading program at the library. Summer read (well, I read to her) 47 books since we signed up last month. That was just short of our goal of 50, but I'm sure we will read many more as the days pass. She got to pick out a few new books on the way out of the library today, two of which she enjoyed before bedtime tonight. I should probably tuck myself in right now too, but there's not much time to write when they are awake. I know they will be up bright and early in the morning. I tried to get them down at the time they will hopefully be going to bed when school starts. My goal is to start the bedtime process at 7:00 and have them dreaming sweet dreams by 8:00. I'm sure it won't happen exactly like that, but it's never too early to start the new routine with hopes for the best. School will be here before we know it!!!!

The girls were very excited to go for an afternoon swim after nap time. Summer surprised me yet again by wanting to go swimming in the lake. Our slue is definitely not my favorite place to swim, so I was not as excited as she was. Lexie did not want to get in the lake at first, but when she saw Summer and I get in, she was game. Summer wanted me to swim to the dock with her, but I just couldn't bring myself to get all the way into the murky water. Luckily, PawPaw saved the day and came out at just the right time to swim with her. Lexie and I headed to the pool which was much more appealing than the brown water at the lake. Summer joined us after swimming to the dock. They played with the water hose in the pool which needed water anyway. Summer really enjoyed putting her finger into the hose and making the water spray in all different sorts of ways.

I wish I could say the day was all smiles and giggles, but there was some whining and unkind behavior involved which resulted in a few time outs. Mostly, it was fun for us all though. I've learned to expect little tiffs which seem to always arise when there are two or more kids around. I still do not enjoy them, but hopefully they will lessen as the time outs keep getting handed out. One thing is for sure, the corners of the house have never been this well used!!! It's hard to stick to doling out the punishment at times, especially when it seems like they've been in the corner a lot. But, I know it will be worth it in the end so I always follow through. Kids need boundaries and if parents don't set them, then they will never be learned. I just wish it was easier, but nothing in life worth much is easy I guess. While I try not to set my expectations too high, I know if I don't set any at all they will be little terrors. I can't handle that! Summer and Lexie are learning to use their manners when they want something rather than demanding or whining to get it. Hopefully, they will be all pleases and thank yous and yes ma'ams and no ma'ams before too long. Fingers crossed!

Adventure on the lake

2011-07-19T17:21:00.003-04:00

The weekend brought more adventure around here. Summer decided that venturing onto the boat was not such a bad idea and could actually be fun for her. On one trip tojlet the adults jump off a bridge, she decided that she wanted to do it too. The bridge was 20 or so feet high so I decided against that for her, but she did not seem too upset not to get to do it. I was kind of happy to see her willing to do something so daring, but I know she is not big enough for that bridge yet!

The next day we went on a search for some cliffs to jump from. It had been years since I jumped off of from there, but I recognized them right away when we finally got to where they were. Summer surprised me and got in the water right away to swim and watch Mike and I jump. After I jumped from a thirty to forty foot cliff, Summer decided she wanted to jump too. I was hesitant, but decided to let her try to jump from a short distance. We swam up to one of the ropes you can use to help you climb out of the water. She pulled herself up to a small rock ledge while I gave her a boost from below. She steadied herself and jumped from probably about three feet above the water. The sad thing is, the people on the boat were distracted by some nonsense that supposedly involved a snake so they didn't see her.

After that we headed back home, but stopped when we saw some kids jumping off of a rope swing. Summer was game again and jumped and jumped and jumped. When I told her she could go two more times, she countered and asked for four. I think she might have went three more before we headed back to the boat. It was great to see her having so much fun and the other kids were nice to let her into their rotation on the swing. Clint and I went a few times too, but it was more of a kid-size swing.

The adventure should have been over at that point. But, as we headed home, the question of whether or not we had enough gas to make it arose. Everyone was trying to talk above Summer's head, but I'm not sure they pulled it off. She did not freak out or start worrying though so they didn't do too bad at keeping it low key. To be on the safe side, we headed towards a marina which ended up being closed. Clint decided to be a hero and went on a quest on land for more gas. He saved the day after hitchhiking back to the house so he could bring us more gas. Summer and I ended up driving the truck back instead of taking the boat because she was hungry. We headed back to the house throw some pizzas in the oven for everyone and on the way, she told me that everyone was saying she wouldn't get back on the boat again. But, she said they were wrong, she would. That made me happy and proud. She does that a lot though. By the time we got home, it was 10:00 p.m. and the early bedtime I had dreamed of earlier that day was a complete wash. But, it was a fun and exciting time so it was not a big deal. Sometimes its worth staying up late, but soon we will have to get into an early bedtime routine so she will be ready for when school starts. Until then, let the adventures continue.....

Where has the summer gone?

2011-07-15T14:46:00.003-04:00

I can't believe it's already the middle of July and there is only a little more than a month before Summer starts kindergarten. The fourth of July was spent with friends in the pool, hot tub, and on the slip-n-slide. Summer got to spend time with her friends Cameron, Ty and Katie. She also spent some time with her cousins at a much treasured sleepover. The older boys shot off the fireworks and the kids enjoyed sparklers. We borrowed a boat which of course came with a scandal and a little bit of fun. Summer, however, is not a fan of boats. She says they do not go fast enough for her and there is nothing to do on them so she doesn't care to ride them. I hope she will lose this attitude with time, but that is really up to her, not me. Her daddy and I had some fun times back in the day when we had our big yellow boat. Maybe if we still had that one, she would change her tune because it would go plenty fast! At one point on one of our excursions, I asked how much gas we had. That set off an alarm inside Summer's head and she was ready to go back home. She never wavered from her cautious feeling about running out of gas, but she did not freak out. She just kept telling me she was ready to go home. I am hoping this means she will not be a huge daredevil, although I do hope she will be a little of a risk taker.

Summer and I went to Lake Winnie a few weeks ago, and she was super excited to ride the rides. There were some rides she was not tall enough for and that bummed her a little, but she had fun on the ones she could ride. She barely met the 42" minimum for some of the rides, coming in at 42.5" herself. She needs to grow 5.5 inches before next summer to be tall enough to ride the bigger rides. I'm not going to hold my breathe on that one. There is one ride that goes up in the air higher than anything else in the park and then free falls. She rode it twice and I must admit I was a little scared to ride it the 2nd time, but I did. Her favorite ride was the water slide which we rode 6 times in a row. She really wanted to go on the cannonball roller coaster, but her legs are just not long enough. On a few of the rides (Tilt-a-whirl and scrambler) it was all I could do not to throw up. I'm pretty bummed about this because she is only five and we have years of riding rides ahead of us. Oh well, at least I know now to take something just in case. We both had a blast together there anyways. She would not ride the carousel though. I guess maybe she is just not interested in such a slow ride it when there are other rides around. However, if we went to Coolidge Park, I know she would want to ride it.

We went on a family adventure to Wilderness at the Smokies last week. The water slides were fun for us all, but Clint got dizzy when he went down backwards on one of the slides. I really think we are going to have to start taking Dramamine before we go on these types of excursions. One of the water slides was too big for her to ride, but she kept asking again and again to ride it. There were 6 or so other slides she could go down so it was not like she was really missing out too much. Thank goodness she grew an inch in the past few months. It seems like 42" is a common height requirement for rides. She loved the wave pools too and would ride the waves into the bank of the pool. The lazy river was also a hit and we went around and around on it. The resort had a pottery painting place which we visited twice in our three days there. She picked an angel to paint the first time we went. The second time we just painted a few ornaments and knickknacks. She was in heaven being the craft lover she is. She wakes up most days asking to do crafts so this was just icing on the cake for this trip. When we left the resort, we headed to a rafting excursion. She was not too excited about it and sat in the front of the raft sucking on her ring pop the whole time. She did not get out and swim when the rest of us did, but that was okay. The water felt awesome and she missed out, but that was her choice. She crashed on the way home, but woke before we made it back. Of course at that point, the "how much longer" began. :) It was only about another hour before we made it back and headed to our favorite sushi place. We were all in heaven then.

We are loving the summer and not looking forward to its end and the beginning of kindergarten. I am not ready to be away from my baby that much, but it's almost time. I hope the rest of the summer drags by or at least brings us many more fun times together.

Rainy day catch up

2011-06-28T08:24:00.004-04:00

Summer camp has come and gone. She made oodles of projects during the week. After the art show on Friday, we filled up a bag with all of her creations. She had a good time, but has not decided yet that she wants to go to another camp. I think we may go to Lake Winnie this week. Summer and I have been talking about a trip with just us two so we can ride all the rides together. I love this idea!!! A trip to the Discovery Museum and zoo would be fun too, as would a trip to play in the water around the aquarium. We'll have to see what we can fit in before the weekend gets here.

Yesterday, we returned her first set of library books for this summer. We have a goal to read 50 for the book club program they have going on at the library. Our first visit we got 13 books. We just checked out 18 more yesterday, so we are well on our way to achieving our goal. Lexie is lagging a little, but we did check out a few especially for her too. They enjoyed the end of the summer party last year, and I think this year will be even better since they are a year older. I just hope the weather isn't insanely hot. It makes the Popsicles and ice cream melt too fast!!

The first day of kindergarten is getting closer and closer. I must admit, I am NOT looking forward to it. I try to not think about it too much, but our life is about to drastically change. Too bad I don't have it in me to home school her, but what' s that Justin Bieber song again? LOL I guess it is time to let her go and spread her wings and fly. But, I am so NOT ready for it. She's my baby! My thumb sucking, Teddy toting, baby. I know I need to suck it up and get over it, but really the thought of school does make me tear up at times. She's going to love it though and learn so much. I just hope we don't have a repeat of her preschool days, the few she had. Sad drop offs are not my thing and I do not want to experience them again. Good thing Lexie will be going too. I think it will make it easier for Summer.

I'm sure I will quickly adjust to my new found freedom. I just hope I don't become a slave to my house! My dad has been doing a pretty good job of it though, if only I could get him to bring his labor indoors. Just kidding! Well, there is dusting, toilets.... He really is sparkling this place up though. Summer will have a swing down by the lake soon. She tried to help him paint it yesterday, but she could not operate the can. That was okay though because she joined Lexie and myself in the pool. We played with floats and all had a turn riding in the boat float. We swam through each other's legs and made whirlpools and waves. Good memories for sure!

Well, I'm being beckoned to make her hamburger helper for breakfast. We didn't get around to making it yesterday and she remembered I said something about it. The girl does not like normal breakfast foods, but she will occasionally eat cheese eggs. They must be VERY CHEESY though. I think I put 3 slices in 4 eggs for her and Lexie the other day. They ate them all up though. I wish I could remember what she's eaten the past few days, but I am drawing a blank right now. Maybe it'll come back to me while I'm cooking.

Summer Camp

2011-06-21T10:54:00.003-04:00

I was really looking forward to Summer going to art camp up until the day rolled around. Then, I was a little nervous, as was she. But, so far, so good. We have not had any major withdrawals on our parts. She left Teddy at home yesterday. I did not take him when I picked her up either and she had to endure lunch without him. Or, is it a her? She did not miss him too much, but she did notice that he was not with me when she came out of the classroom. Today I let her put him in her bag rather than me have to carry it back to the car with me. In return, she promised to leave him in the bag the whole time until I picked her up. (That was a win-win!!)

When we left camp, we took a nice stroll through the art district. She wanted to go to the sculpture garden first, but it was hot and I convinced her to go eat first so we could cool down with some ice cold water. Her favorite! We enjoyed a nice lunch of pasta and salad. No one ate the bread but me. I couldn't resist. Summer did not like the lasagna at Tony's Pasta, but that was okay because that was what I ordered. She had some kind of noodles with marinara sauce. Then we mixed in some Alfredo to make it pink and yummy. She topped it off with a scoop of chocolate ice cream. Then, we were off to see the sculptures. She led her daddy and myself to her favorite spot. She had us look off at the view. Then she led us through the rest of the garden. Her daddy and I hid from her once behind some columns since she was on a mission and leaving us in the dust. When she turned and looked for us, she was surprised not to see us. We quickly exposed ourselves and she smiled. On the way home, she got her daddy to carry her on his shoulders. I was the pack mule for everything else (my purse, Summer's camp bag, the Togo food, Clint's shirt and tea), but what's new? I was made for it!

Yesterday at camp, they made some cups out of clay. She told me she made a smaller one for Lexie and a bigger one for herself. I thought that was sweet. She usually does remember to get something for Lexie when we are at her doctor appointments too. Stickers and suckers are the usual treat and we've had our fair share of stops at the jars that hold them. I am not sure what all else they did at camp, but I think their artwork will be displayed on Friday after camp is over. I can't wait! Today they are working on self-portraits and looking at photographs in the the museum. Summer said she was not excited about that second part, but we will see what she thinks when I pick her up.

Which brings me to more exciting news. Summer is going to get to be in Chattanooga's Health Scope magazine as the model in the picture of the new CT scanner at our children's hospital. We go today after she gets out of camp. I am way more excited than she is. That is mostly due to what she is going to wear, but I hope she will just suck it up and put on the clothes and smile for the camera. We will see. She really does not like the shorts, which are super adorable and got lots of compliments when she wore them to her last MRI. Maybe the skirt she wore to camp today will work, but it is definitely not as cute as the shorts. I am anticipating a possible nap in her future should she give me a hard time and have a breakdown. I've promised her lunch anywhere she wants in return for her cooperation which means no whining or pouting. She also wanted to be able to pick a dessert place. LOL I told her she'd have to be perfect to get that. It could go either way, but I will be surprised if she manages that. In life anything is possible and as Justin Bieber's song goes: Never Say Never!

A fish in the water

2011-06-12T21:29:00.003-04:00

Summer is a little fish in the water. She's been in the pool quite a bit since coming home from Florida. Last weekend, and this past weekend, she spent a few days at her Memaw's. We got her a pair of goggles just for her house so that she will have them whenever she is there. She still does not want to go under water without them, but I guess that is because she likes to open her eyes and it hurts without the goggles. We also got into the pool in our yard a few times during the week. Today we went over to my aunt Sandra's and hung out with my dad's family. It was nice and Summer showed off her swimming skills. They were all impressed with her not having to wear floaties or anything this year. I was a proud Momma for sure!!!

She got to spend a night this weekend and last with her cousins. As usual, she had a great time with them. I'm sure they will have a few more sleepovers before the summer is over. Memaw and PawPaw have already hosted one each so now it is my turn I guess. She actually told me today that she was going to need a nap because Faith and Jonathan wouldn't stop talking all night. Then she said when she woke up she and Faith were both sideways and Faith had all the covers. Love these childhood memories she's making!!! True to her word, she fell asleep in my lap during church and had to be woken up after the last song was sung. That was the only nap today so she did not put up a fuss to stay up when I put her to bed tonight around 8:30. After she and Lexie both had their books read to them, they snuggled up in their beds, smiling as I kissed them goodnight. I tell you those are priceless moments. Of course, the nights when I sing to them are even better. They just love to hear me sing to them sometimes. Summer's favorite goes like this:

Go to sleepy, go to sleepy, go to sleepy little baby.
Momma loves you, Momma loves you, Momma loves her pretty baby.
Go to sleep pretty babe, Momma loves you so much.
Go to sleep pretty babe, Momma loves you so much.

Other favorites are "You Are My Sunshine," "You Are So Beautiful," and "I Love You, You Love Me." Good thing they don't mind if they are slightly out of tune!

We also made some memories at the zoo last week. The girls both love to go there and see all the animals. The goats were a little frisky this visit so we will see if they want to go back in and pet them again next time. Summer really wishes they would get some meerkats and I would love to see a zebra there, but I guess we don't have enough pull to get the zoo to get them. LOL The zoo has a dinosaur exhibit right now that Summer thought was pretty cool. For a minute, she thought the dinosaurs were real because they were robotic with moving heads and eyes. Some of their mouths even opened and closed. We were surprised to see that the triceratops did not have any visible teeth with their mouths open wide. Guess it's a good thing they have those horns! She enjoys both Dinosaur Train and Dino Dan cartoons so I'm sure it was cool for her to have a close up look at some dinosaurs on a life size scale. We did not get to reach out and touch them though, but I'm not sure she would've wanted to anyway. The exhibit was refreshingly cool on a hot day, but that did not stop the girls from needing something to cool them down on the way out. Lucky for them, there was ice cream in the gift shop. Summer chose on ice cream sandwich while Lexie chose a banana popsicle. They were all smiles on the way to the car which is always good.

Of course, the week was not all smiles. They both had their share of moments in the corner, but that's just part of them learning boundaries and what is and is not acceptable behavior wise. But, I'm sure this is going to be an exciting summer for us. Summer has decided art camp sounds fun so she is going to one at the Hunter Art Museum next week. She's also decided to take the summer off from gymnastics. Maybe we will start back in the fall after she is adjusted to school. I can't say I'm ready for that. Kindergarten scares the crap out of me!! But, I'm sure we will both be fine.

Another present

2011-06-03T09:20:00.003-04:00

The day after we got home, PawPaw surprised Summer with a birthday present. He had missed her birthday party due to work and was also not with us on vacation on her actual birthday. So when we returned from vacation, he got her a pool for the backyard which she loves. Once we started filling it up, she and Lexie were both ready to get in. After we got the wrinkles out of the bottom, we let them in the cold water. Summer didn't care one bit that it was freezing cold, but Lexie wasn't as enthusiastic. She did still manage to hang out in there for a little bit before getting out and heading off to her nap. Summer was in and out of it all day whenever she could get me or my dad to watch and/or swim with her. Yesterday she enjoyed it too. She got in twice - once with her daddy and once with me. After the last time, she was still wanting to play in water so she asked for a bath. She wanted me to take one with her, but my hands were to wrinkly so I opted out. She settled for a bubble bath and played happily for a while. She washed and conditioned her hair herself, but I did dispense them for her. After she was finished, she asked me to put on her pj's for her. Usually she does this herself, but I was happy to help since she doesn't need me as much as she used to anymore. That's just part of growing up though. She brushed her hair all by herself and was happy to report that the conditioner did its job and made her hair soft and not too tangly. We have just recently started using a brush on her hair and I must admit my buddy was right about it being better than a comb. :)

Today she had an MRI on her brain to make sure there is no cancer hanging out in there. We should get the results of it Monday afternoon. I'm not worried though since she shows no signs of having any problems. On Tuesday, she will have a CT scan to check out her chest and abdomen. She will get to use the new scanner they have at children's hospital so I am excited about that because it means she will be exposed to less radiation (I think). Monday she has a dentist appointment so it has been like overkill on the doctor visits coming back from vacation, but that's just part of it. We've got fun to look forward to tomorrow when Summer will go to Camp Lookout with the kids from church. Can't wait to see what she thinks of that!

Paradise is gone

2011-06-01T20:41:00.002-04:00

Our month long vacation has come to an end to mine and Summer's dismay. Neither of us were ready to leave, but after a long, long, long drive yesterday we are home. The kids were ready to be home 5 minutes into the trip which I thought was a bad sign, but we did not have any breakdowns the entire trip. Lexie did wake up from her 2nd nap crying about her ankle. The last few days we were there the bugs came out and ate us all up, her especially. So we've all had our share of itchiness the past few days. We stopped twice to eat and made a couple of pit stops at rest areas. It took us a little over 11 hours and we were lucky not to hit too much traffic when we passed through Atlanta. The car is still not unpacked, but I will get around to it eventually.

There were lots of adventures on the trip, and we all managed to avoid getting sunburned. The girls and I came home with great tans thanks to the beautiful Florida weather and good skin pigmentation. It was in the 80's the first 3 weeks and the 90's the last week. I think it only rained 2 or 3 times the whole months and that was not for very long. A lot of the days were spent in the pool and hot tub. The girls were less thrilled about the beach than I was, but they did have some good times playing in the sand, collecting shells, and building castles. The best times for them were at sunset when it was not too hot.

We took a ferry to Caledesi Island which turned out to be a 45 minutes hike north from the beach where we stayed. With the kids, I am glad we took the ferry instead. We swam in the ocean for a bit before we ate a picnic lunch at some tables they had shaded with palm trees. Then some of us hunted for pretty conch, whelk and cockle shells which were more prevalent on the island than where we were staying. The kids tried to play on the playground with Memaw and Nanny but the equipment was too hot. So, they played in the showers and sand instead.

Summer got to parasail on two different occasions. The first time she and I went with my friend Christina. She was a little nervous about doing it, but I reassured her and once we were up in the air she was all smiles loving the ride. When they dipped us down to get our feet wet, she raised her feet so she wouldn't get wet. On the way back into the bay to dock the boat, the guy jokingly told us we were going skydiving next. She asked me what that was and I told her jumping out of an airplane with a parachute. She asked if we would land in the ocean and I told her no we would land on the ground. She was ready to go! LOL She wasn't too disappointed when I broke it to her that we weren't really going to do that. ;) The 2nd time she went with her Auntie Erin and cousin Jonathan and again raised her feet so they wouldn't get wet.

On our next to last day, we headed to the pool to try out the water slide which was closed every other time we tried to go during the month. It was newly installed so they were still working out the kinks most of the month so it would be safe for riders and no one would get injured. To be able to go down it, the kids all had to take a swim test and swim all the way across the pool. Summer was intimidated at first and did not make it the first go around. I don't know if it is because I was beside her, but every few strokes she would grab the side of the pool. I knew she could do it, but she did not believe in herself. So, she gave up and just swam around enjoying the pool anyway. About an hour and a half after we got there, she got up the nerve to try again with Memaw coaching her through it. She swam across like a champ and it made my heart so proud to see her do it. Her first time down the slide was great and she did not land in the water the wrong way or get any water up her nose like I worried she would. She absolutely loved it! She and her cousins went over and over again. They could've stayed longer, but after 3 hours at the pool we headed back to the house.

We made several return trips to the playground and pier. On our last night, Summer wanted to go back to the pier for one last souvenir. But, they were not set up yet when we got there so we ended up going to a shop where she had seen something she liked before. She looked the little store over really good before picking out her treasure - a box full of shells which included a pink star fish. That was the clincher for her. It made me smile because she is a girl after my own heart compelled by the beauty of shells. We both came home with lots of those treasures from the ocean. Can't wait to get crafty with them and I know she will be all over that too!

Vacation pics

2011-05-18T14:03:00.005-04:00

Where's Summer? Oh, she's watching a Blues Clues dvd under her blanket snuggled up with Trixie. Summer's stepping stone
Lexie's got one too.

Putt-putt time! The girls have their own ways of hitting the ball. Summer had definitely improved from her 1st time which was earlier this year.

Is that an angel? The weather was perfect for some outdoor fun.

Steak, it's what's for dinner!

Did they give that pirate a tattoo?

Another pirate!!! Looking at the treasure map. Is it upside down???? Summer thinks so!
So, apparently I was the only one ready for this one. Summer's anticipating the loud horn and Lexie is slurping up her soda which she doesn't get often. Good times!
My beautiful pirate is ready for adventure!

Lazy morning

2011-05-17T10:55:00.002-04:00

It was a nice morning for a stroll down the beach. The shell bug bit me and I gathered up more than I need I'm sure. Yesterday, the girls and I went to Michaels to get some frames for the caricature of Summer and the can art we bought at the pier. The frames we got will be perfect for gluing on shells from our vacation. So, I've been trying to collect plenty so we will have a nice variety to choose from. When I got back from my walk, the girls were up as usual. Summer was curled up on her daddy's lap watching something on the history channel. With me here to take over caring for the girls, he headed out for his morning run. Shortly after Summer remembered the stepping stone craft kits we bought yesterday and was ready to do hers. She and Lexie both were very excited to get started on their own one. Summer's stone has a puppy dog theme and came with rocks and a few stamps to use. Lexie's has a moon and star theme. We ended up putting their hand prints and names on them and they both added a few shells for good measure. It was a lot of fun for us and I am glad we got them. I'm especially glad that they were on sale too. I love a good deal!

I think Lexie and I are off to the beach until lunch. Looks like Summer is going to do another painting project with one of her birthday craft kits. She never seems to get enough of creating and has even been sharing some of her work with the chemo patient we are angeling. So far she has sent 3 of her creations off - a paperoni fish, a sparkling painted rainbow and a beautifully colored picture of a few flamingos. So glad she is learning to share the wealth! :)

Big sister, big brother

2011-05-15T20:47:00.002-04:00

Summer's older siblings came to visit us at the beach house over the weekend. The girls had fun coloring with Amanda on several occasions. She wrote their names in big block letters and they colored them in. We've got several new pieces of art thanks to their efforts this weekend.

We ended up eating at Frency's Rockaway Grill for Amanda's birthday just as we did for Summer's last week. Clint and I both ordered the same thing that we did the week before. Crazy coincidences!! After filling our bellies, we headed to Pier 60 to enjoy the evening's festivities. Summer and I fell in love with a piece of can art that was being created. It was a beach scene with all the colors of the rainbow in the sky similar to the sunsets we have seen while here. Another coincidence so we bought it. While it was drying, Summer wanted to go out on the pier and pick something out for Amanda for her 21st birthday. She picked out a pretty belly ring with bright blue crystals and a palm tree. It was very cute, but Amanda lost it before she even got it out of the packaging. It did make it home because I saw it on the counter top one day, but when Amanda started looking for it, it was no where to be found. Needless to say, Amanda was disappointed. I'm not going to tell Summer. ;)

On Friday, we took a flat bottom boat ride around the bay. We were all excited to see the dolphins when we finally found where they were swimming. Summer and Lexie were not as quick to spy them when they surfaced to breathe, but they did get to see a few. The boat stopped on an island, or sand bar, and we got out and explored it for shells. Josh and I snorkeled while Lexie waded into the water with her floats on. Josh found a few sea urchins which were really cool for us to look at. Summer observed from the shore and was not excited to get in the water at all. So, she didn't. After our time was up, the captain took us around to all the celebrity homes including houses owned by Hulk Hogan and Jeff Gordon. He pointed out the Scientology headquarters which was a building that you pass on the way into Clearwater. I had been wondering about it because it has a pretty cross on it that makes it stand out.

We finally put our bikes to use over the weekend. Clint, Summer, Lexie and I all went on a nice bike ride around the neighborhood. It is perfect for Summer because it is a flat and mostly even surface for her to ride on. The only time she lost control was when one of her training wheels came off, but she caught herself with her foot and did not end up with any boo boos from the incidence. Yesterday, when it was just the girls and I riding, she found some puddles left over from the afternoon rain. She loved riding through them and would've done it longer if I would've let her. But, the street started getting busy so we headed back to the house for some snuggle time in front of the TV.

We've made lots of great memories on this vacation so far. I don't think I will ever be ready for it to end. I'm already trying to figure out how I can extend it another week. We have a few free days before more company comes. I am sure they will fly by because time usually does, especially when you are having fun.

Attack of the birds and ants

2011-05-11T15:11:00.003-04:00

The vacation continues and we are having a great time despite the fact that we are dealing with a few cases of strep throat. Looks like we will be taking Summer to the doctor this afternoon to get her prescription if we can't get her pediatrician back home to call her one in. Yesterday, I went and got mine. Today we will try a new walk-in clinic if it comes down to us taking her. Right now she is huddled up on the couch feverish and not feeling too good. Poor baby.

This morning the girls and I went to the beach to look at the sting rays along the shoreline. I saw lots of them on my sunrise walk and thought they might enjoy seeing them. So before breakfast, we headed out on our adventure. Lexie was too preoccupied with all the sand to care anything about what was in the water, but Summer did enjoy seeing them. She was fearful of getting stung by one since the babysitter we brought down for the first few days got stung the 2nd day we were here. But, I showed her the foot shuffle trick they told us about at the emergency room ( and by us I mean - Selena and Ariel - thanks for being the guinea pigs!) and they swam away from us. Not sure that is going to calm her fears much, but maybe she will get in one day when there are none around. Poor Lexie somehow found some mean ants and got bit by a few of them on her foot which caused a few tears to be shed. But, they have not bothered her since we got back from the beach so that is good. They were both swimming happily in the pool after lunch time and are now napping away. Summer actually helped me prepare the meatloaf, mashed potatoes and hamburger helper that we had for lunch. That was fun for us both and I am glad she enjoys helping me cook sometimes. Maybe she will be a chef one day or at least a "good cooker" (something she has called me before) for herself and her family should she choose to have one.

Last night, we went out to dinner at Jimmy's fish house. I had a crab stuffed lobster there last week and just had to have another. Summer ate grilled chicken and celery dipped in vinegar and all of the wheat bread they brought to the table. She would not try any lobster, even in vinegar. LOL That really seems to be something she likes. She eats tomatoes in vinegar. She dips her grilled cheese crust in vinegar claiming that is the only way she can eat the crust. Today for lunch she had bell pepper dipped in vinegar along with the hamburger helper she requested. She did not dip it in vinegar though. She's a pretty healthy eater and is very aware of food choices and if they are good for her or not. For breakfast today she had a banana and strawberry smoothie. She loves for me to make her smoothies for snacks. Before bed last night she just had to have her own bowl of apples and strawberries for her bedtime snack. I was happy to oblige.

Anyway, after dinner we headed to the pier to get the special penny I told her she could have when we went a few night before but didn't have any change on us. It is one of those machines where you put in 51 cents and get back an oval shaped penny with a picture on it. She picked a dolphin for hers. Lexie got a balloon dragon from one of the balloon artists. What suckers we are! Then the girls played on the inflatable slides and bouncy house until they were tired and I could wait no longer to get out on the pier and fish. On the way out to the bait house, a table full of bracelets caught our eyes and we picked one out for our new chemo patient. Then Summer picked one for herself. A few tables down, Lexie picked one for herself. Note to self - don't take any more money on the pier. It's all good though because we are supporting local artists who do this for their living. Summer was excited to help me catch some fish and we baited the four hooks on our line with shrimp. We caught fish very quickly which was exciting. The girls loved petting the fish and we tried to throw them back before the pelicans could get to them. I think we succeeded every time and I am glad because one of them bit Lexie on the head while we weren't looking. I was very unhappy at the pelicans at that point because they were kind of a nuisance and now had the kids scared to death. But, that did not ruin our fishing fun and we moved around the pier trying our luck in different locations. The first spot was definitely the best and I eventually made my way back to it after Clint and the kids abandoned me for the playground. Not that I am complaining because then I could actually relax and enjoy fishing without having to worry about them getting attacked by another bird. Plus, they were having fun too so it was a win-win for us all.

Well, let's hope the next few days are a time of healing and no more pain inflicted on any of us. But, that's all part of life. The ups and downs. The good and bad. Thankfully, we are still in paradise so that makes it all the unenjoyable parts a little better. Maybe we will all go watch the sunset at the beach again tonight. We did the other night and it was nice and relaxing. All the colors of the rainbow can be seen in the sky above the ocean when it sets. It is really beautiful. Last night it was kind of cloudy when the sun set and the sun was a pretty red color. I wonder what it will look like tonight.

Clearwater - our paradise

2011-05-09T08:15:00.003-04:00

Two Saturdays ago we packed up the cars and headed to Clearwater, Florida. Selena and I left a day earlier than the dads so we could break up the trip for the kids. Summer and Lexie did good pretty much the whole trip which was nice since I was alone with them in the car. They watched a few videos, and Summer played her Leapster 2. There were no whiny breakdowns to drive me crazy - thank God! Trixie did good too and mostly sat in the front passenger seat next to me except when her mommy (Summer) wanted to hold her. We stayed the night in Lake City and were happy the dog did not bark and get us kicked out of the Comfort Inn & Suites. We had a yummy breakfast before we left and headed to our final destination. We were at the house around noon on Sunday. The kids, and moms, were ready to be out of the car. They were very eager to get to the beach and swim in the pool. It was awesome to see them so excited and ready for a beach adventure.

The first week was filled with trips to the beach. Our first day at the beach was the best for the kids because the tide was low and perfect for them to play in. Lexie even warmed up to it after declaring on the way out there that she did not want the water to get her. Ever since then, they have not played in the water as much, but the sand has proved to be quite entertaining itself. On the Lynch's last full day here, we finally built a sand castle, or rather fort decorated with shells. There is definitely no shortage of shells at this beach either! Of course my camera is broken and will not focus anymore since Summer's birthday so I did not get a pic, but I'm pretty sure Selena got quite a few. We adults did most of the work, and were both pretty proud of our creation. It didn't hurt that a member of the Clearwater walking club stopped to take a picture of it for their website. As of this morning, it is still there standing strong. I'm happy we are not in a busy part of the beach where kids would just destroy it in no time.

Summer's favorite thing is the pool. The lessons paid off and she is swimming around like a fish. I think all the kids, except Lexie, like the pool the best. She is always ready to go play in the sand. She does love swimming around in her floaties though. We've got tons of floats and boats for the kids to play with. We even blew up a big float house, but it leaks air too quickly and needs blowing up before anyone is ready to do it again. It is pretty cool though and would be perfect if it would just hold it's form and not buckle at the corners. Oh well, it was on clearance so I'm not going to sweat it too much. There is also a hot tub for us to enjoy and we are extremely happy having it all our back yard.

We have made a few trips to Pier 60 where they have a huge covered playground for the kids to play on. Yesterday we tried out the other playground between here and there which just so happens to be across the street from the sushi restaurant we are falling in love with. Every evening they have a festival at the pier with street performers which are entertaining for the young and old. There are booths selling various nick knacks. I got myself a shell nightlight. Summer scored a picture frame on a shell sculpture that boats three palm trees and a beach all made from shells. On one walk on the pier, we saw two manatees swimming down the coastline. That was pretty cool to us all. Summer really enjoys the bungee trampolines they have there and has done it twice. The 2nd time she almost did a flip, but she doesn't have the power or the know-how to go all the way around. Maybe she'll get it one day. We have yet to walk out to where they fish on the pier, but Summer and I are definitely going to fish there sometime this week. Her daddy, Selena and I went deep sea fishing last week and caught some Spanish mackerel that we cooked up for a few meals. I wish I would've taken Summer on that trip since she caught 5 fish off of our dock the night before we left for Florida. She just might have my fishing gene! Oh well, next time for sure if she wants to go.

Mother's Day was awesome and Summer greeted me with Happy Mother's Day when I got back from taking my brother to the airport. During our vacation, she created a few things just for me. One is a necklace with a painted heart pendant she made with a kit she got for her birthday. She also painted the pot of the orchid Clint picked out for me. What a treasure! She even put her 5 year old hand print on it. I have a few other pots she has decorated over the past few years and am happy to have another one. Let's hope I don't kill the plant! She also made me a card that she painted with her new paints that she got for her birthday. It meant a lot to me that she made it all and just for me. She does not like to part with her creations sometimes. I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful daughter.

Well, we are off on another adventure. Until next time......

Five years ago today

2011-05-06T13:02:00.002-04:00

We are celebrating Summer's 5th birthday for the 2nd time today. Last week she had a birthday party and invited all of her friends since we were going to be out of town on her actual birthday. We had planned to go to the Chester Frost beach playground, but the day before a tornado hit our area and it was closed when we arrived about 20 minutes before party time. We quickly decided to go to Vandergriff park instead. After texting everyone but one family (Sorry Sophia), we turned around and headed that way. My friend Alicia called to inform me that the place I ordered the cake from, Baskin Robbins, was closed. Thankfully, she was willing to make another stop and headed to Dairy Queen. The ice cream cake she picked out was perfect for Summer and had a big, pretty butterfly on it. The really cool thing about that was that we got Summer a butterfly garden, feeder, net and books for her birthday. Double score for Summer!!! She had a great time playing with her friends. Leah, Jonathan, Liliana, Laila, Katelyn, Jacob, Sidda, Katie, Austin and Lexie all enjoyed the playground as much as Summer did. She loved all her gifts and received quite a few craft projects. She also got quite a few of the things she picked out for her birthday bucket at Learning Express. Memaw and Nanny got her the Pegasus she wanted and Uncle Bradley got her the Cinderalla barbie and horse. Of course when we got home it was close to bedtime so she didn't get to play with much of it, but she has enjoyed playing with it since then.

Yesterday, we let her have one of her presents early since she already knew what it was anyway and was begging for the Littlest Pet Shop bobble head that she can color and decorate with stickers. She actually also got the butterfly garden early too since the caterpillar she found on Easter decided to form a cocoon the day after. This morning we got up, ate breakfast and headed to the playground. The kids played for a little while before it started raining. Luckily, the playground here is covered so it did not spoil their fun. We walked to the ice cream shop in the rain to have some birthday ice cream instead of cake. Summer got cookie dough ice cream in a chocolate and nut dipped cone, but only ate the ice cream. Lexie and Austin both got chocolate and sprinkle dipped cones. Willow chose an ice cream sandwich. They happily chowed down on their treats before we headed out into the pouring rain to walk back to the cars. It was a wet adventure, but they didn't seem to mind too much which was nice since they were going to be getting wet anyway.

After we got home, Summer opened the rest of her presents. While she and Willow painted velvet posters, the younger kids laid down for a nap. Neither of them finished their poster before they were ready for the pool, but that was no biggie. They suited up in their bathing suits and headed out to swim. While they swam, I cooked steak, one of Summer's favorites, for her birthday lunch. She requested some homemade mac and cheese to go with them and I happily obliged. After filling up their bellies, the kids headed back out to the pool which is where they are now.

If it is pretty enough later, we might go to see Yogi Bear at Pier 60. That would be a cool way to finish off her 5th birthday. I'm so thankful she is still here with us. Just two years ago, she was fighting for her life and we didn't know if she would live to see this day. But, now she is happy and healthy and will hopefully remain that way for years to come. The past five years have really flown by and I'm sure the next five will too. Oh what a joy watching her grow!

There went Peter Cottontail

2011-04-26T21:10:00.002-04:00

This past week the girls lit up when I sang "Here comes Peter Cottontail, hopping down the bunny trail. Hippity-hoppity Easter's on its way. He's been watching girls and boys, going to bring them lots of toys. If they can be good 'til Easter day." I don't think those are the exact words to the song, but they were my version of it and the girls would both smile big and hop around the room like a bunny. It's amazing how excited the song made them. Music can truly bring so much joy at times. I know they are excited to go to music tomorrow. They both love playing with Ms. Janice's toys so we try to get there a little early so they have time to enjoy what she has set out for them to choose from. Sometimes it is puzzles, legos and a certain type of instrument. Sometimes there is a bin of books or blocks. No matter what, they always find something they enjoy. Then it is time to sing and dance and hug. I love the way they run to my arms after they return each instrument we get to use to it's box. Sometimes they knock me back they are coming with such a force, but it feels good to have them so happy to be in my arms. Precious moments for sure!

The girls had lots of Easter activities this past week. On Friday, we colored eggs. Summer got to choose 2 different kits out of the 4 we had left over from last year. She picked a tie dye kit and a sponge painting kit. They both produced beautiful eggs. She ended up coloring most of the eggs we had. Lexie only made it through one egg, but it was beautiful. After she finished it, she got distracted building a house with blankets which is something they are both really into right now. I think there are two "houses" in my living room right now. Actually, I remember Summer telling Lexie that she could come to her hotel when she got up. For some reason Summer was at Lexie's house tucking her into bed. I asked her if she worked at the hotel or owned it. She said she lived there and guessed she worked there too. It's cute to see them play house together. I remember playing house with my sister as kids and having a house (or was it a boat?) made from a blanket on the front porch. Outside the blanket was the ocean, full of sharks!! LOL We had our Cabbage Patch Kid dolls....I wonder if she remembers it the same way. Sadly, the details in life do seem to fade with time.

On Saturday we met up with Willow, Mason and Harper at the zoo for their festivities. After making our way through stinky building with Summer holding her nose pretty much the whole time, we walked through the rest of the zoo participating in several special booths that were set up. They got to pet a ferret, a tortoise, snakes, rabbits and a hissing cockroach. They posed with characters and got candy filled eggs. The baby snow leopard was very active, chasing his mom around the habitat. We all oohed and ahhed over it. After our friends left, the girls got to ride the carousel twice. Then we stopped at the playground for a little bit. I rarely can get away without letting them on it for a few minutes, but it is good for them to climb and play so no need to disapoint them if we have extra time.

I left the zoo with two hungry girls so we stopped by Wendy's for lunch on our way to the church egg hunt. The puppet show was a hit with Summer and Lexie. Then they made their way out to the playground baskets in hands and ran around picking up eggs with a few dozen kids. After emptying the candy from the eggs, the girls got to pick out a big prize (as did all the kids who attended). Summer studied the two tables carefully before choosing her prize. She was eyeballing some stuffed animals when I walked up with Lexie. I was happy when I saw her move past them, seeing as how we have more than we need already. But, instead of candy or any of the other goodies I had hoped she might choose, she found the most perfect prize for her: a pair of white teddy bear slippers with a matching teddy bear. I hadn't seen them until she picked them up. Her face said it all, this was the prize she was taking home. Lexie got a big Reese's bunny which has yet to be opened, but I do think she will enjoy it when she gets around to eating it. If she had her way, all the candy would probably be gone by now. But, I try to limit them to a few pieces a day since it isn't really a healthy food choice.

On Sunday, we went to church and then headed to my Aunt Leisa's house for Sunday dinner. It was a great time with family, and I was especially happy to see my Grandad there. After we got our bellies full, Summer found a caterpillar which she wanted to keep. She was so fascinated with it she put it in a cup so we could take it home with us. Lexie had an inch worm she played with too for a little while, but it was smushed before too long. After placing the caterpillar in the car, the kids hunted eggs until their heart's content. Then they counted their eggs and got in line to pick out prizes. The table was FULL of candy and treats. Little Debbies are always a staple at this prize table, and they were the first to go. Thankfully, we only ended up with one box. The girls don't really eat them that much so they didn't choose any at all. I lucked out and got all the unchosen Cheeto bags. They are my weakness right now. We left there with plenty of candy and headed to Selena's for our last egg hunt. After eating another yummy dinner, the kids hunted eggs in tall grass. They found 95 of the 100 eggs we hid. They blew bubbles and played on the swingset. They played with Willow and Harper's toys and dolls. It was a fun, fun time for all. Needless to say, we were all exhausted by the end of the day. Another holiday has passed and lots of great memories were made. What more could we ask for?

Time Out

2011-04-19T21:11:00.002-04:00

Oh what a place to be! I thought the uncomfortableness of the rock fireplace alone would deter the girls from repeating unwanted behaviors, but that does not seem to be the case. It never ceases to amaze me how many times Lexie can do the same thing you just told her not to do. Again and again and again. I know that the toy does not just keep moving and jumping under your feet!!! And, then when you ask her if she is going to do it again, she looks at you with those beautiful blue eyes and says she is not going to do it, all the while knowing good and well she probably is. So you let her out of timeout and there she goes. Fun times!

And, attitude? Well, that's Summer's downfall at this point in time. That and picking on Lexie. I believe they were both in time out for picking on each other today. I do think they are learning something from their time outs, but they also keep testing their boundaries to see what they can get away with. I guess that is just part of it. I really do believe consistency pays off in the long run. So, I'm sticking to my guns and doling out the consequences by the hand full it seems some days. It's not always easy to do that, but I do my best to set reasonable expectations for the kid's behavior and then make them responsible for their actions. Now don't get me wrong, it's not all consequences I'm handing out. There are praises too and treats for good behaviors. I definitely believe in building them up with words. You can never do that enough. Lexie has only one more poop to go and she gets to pick out a toy at the store. I am so proud of her and she is proud of herself too. Will it be tomorrow? And, do I burst Summer's balloon that she is not getting one too??? Oh the curve balls in life. I just love handling them. Oh to be the kid again...........this parenting stuff is hard some times.

My hands are full and I love it!

2011-04-15T20:43:00.004-04:00

The girls went down to bed just before 8:00 p.m. this evening. That is usually a goal of mine if we are home and don't have anything special going on. Sometimes I am too tired to do anything but go to bed after I get them to sleep, but it's Friday so I'm going to stay up late and record some memories while I watch a grown-up movie on TV. I really wish there was some Kardashian show to watch because the Real Housewives of New York just isn't going to do it for me tonight. But, there is not. After flipping through the guide, I settled on a CIA movie which is not something I would normally choose. Variety is the spice of life though.

The girls have kept me on my toes this week. Potty training Lexie has been somewhat frustrating. I am sooooooooooo glad Summer is past this stage. I don't remember being as frustrated with Summer, but maybe with her being my first I was a little more patient. Or, maybe she just caught on quicker. At this point, I am tired of diapers and I know she knows when she is peeing and pooping in her pants. So for the past two weeks, she's been in panties. But, I can't get her to tell me when she is going to pee. Usually it is just me taking her when I see signs or feel like it has been long enough for her to have to go. Otherwise, for the most part, she pees and poops in her pants. There are only 3 more poop spots for stickers on her potty chart before she gets to go pick out a toy. The 8 pee spots were filled up in the first few days. At the rate she has been going, it could be end of next week before she gets the poop spots filled up. And, that's wishful thinking on my part probably. Again, I am soooo happy Summer is past this stage!!!! I just wish Lexie would catch on and get on board with going in the potty, not her panties. All things in due time I guess.

Summer and Lexie seem to enjoy antagonizing each other at times. Why, oh why, can't they just get along and not pick at each other like good little girls? I guess that is just part of sibling rivalry although they are not really siblings. They are both vying for my attention, the same toy, or, better yet, my lap! If one of them gets in my lap, the other is usually not far behind her. If only there were more of me to go around! LOL Sometimes they end up pushing each other a little, wanting more of my lap for themself. It's not bad hosting the lap, but it is a little annoying when they get whiny and take the pushing too far causing the other to get defensive and/or cry. Then I have to step in and mediate. When I do something with one, the other wants it too whether it be for me to sing them a song or give them a ride on my feet through the air. When Lexie gets a piece of candy for using the potty, Summer wants one too. I wonder if they will always be competitive like that or if one day they will realize that there is enough of me and everything else to go around. Of course, who knows what the future holds? We may not even have Lexie here at some point. She could possibly fall off the face of our Earth and then Summer will have me all to herself. Life is just not predictable enough for me sometimes. But, it is, what it is, and I have learned to accept that.

The girls and I have been to visit my grandad at the hospital for the past 3 days. They were very entertaining to say the least. They got a little bit rowdy and wound up at times, but they did bring some smiles to my grandad's face which is always good. They both gave him kisses and hugs. Lexie even held his hand one time and sang Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star to him. Yesterday, Nanny took them outside for part of the visit to explore the hospital grounds and then to the cafeteria where she bought them a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. They loved it. Oh how Memaw and Nanny love to spoil their grandkids!

Summer is not one to let details go and listens even to conversations she is not directly involved in. Imagine that! LOL We have talked about the possibility of him dying because his kidneys are not working. She read between the lines and told me that if he does what he is supposed to do, meaning dialysis, he will be OK. Of course, dialysis is a choice and not a very appealing one to my grandad unfortunately. So, I have been trying to gear up for the worst, but hope for the best. I sure don't want to lose him, but then who does want their loved ones to die? We did get some good news today that his kidneys may be working again and dialysis may not be necessary so I'm a little less worried than I was, but now I realize, once again, how precious time with our loved ones is. You just never know what the future holds.

On the way to the hospital yesterday, Summer told me that when she grows up she wants to be one of the people who explores the forests. Nature is one of her things for sure. A few weeks ago, we found a freshly dead owl in our backyard. Alongside one of my friends, she checked its body and feathers out. This past week, we discovered a bird who had apparently flown into a window and injured it's wing on our back porch. Summer's first instinct was to take care of it and save it. We called one of our friends and talked about what to do. After deciding to get a cage to put it in, we left the bird and went back inside to retrieve it. When we returned, we were surprised to see that Trixie had killed it. Summer was very sad and put Trixie in her play pen. She didn't really believe it was dead at first, but I showed her how her head was limp and her eyes were not looking at us anymore. Following the lead of my friend last week who put the owl in the freezer and took it home with her, she wanted to keep the body. I explained why we couldn't do that. So in lieu of keeping it, we took note of some of its features we wouldn't normally be able to do up close. We checked out the wingspan and saw how the wings look like butterfly wings when spread. When her daddy got home, he cut the wings off of the dove for her to keep. We'll see if they end up in the back yard with the rest of the body at some point in the future. We talked a little about making something from them, but we haven't yet and that happened a few days ago. Maybe one day the time will present itself, but for now they are on a paper plate on the counter top.

Today, summer and my dad found some snails crawling around outside. She coaxed him into putting them in a jar for her. She had the best time playing with them this afternoon. It's amazing how long they entertained her. She even let me and Lexie hold one for a little while. She ended up breaking one of the shells herself, thankfully. If it had a been Lexie or myself who did it, I'm sure it wouldn't have went over as well. She sure does love all kinds of living creatures though and isn't scared to get on a touchy-feely basis with them if she can.

Our Wednesdays are a little less busy now with gymnastics being over until we return from our vacation. We actually went to class this past Wednesday unnecessarily. I didn't realize the session was up. Oops. Luckily, the girls were both dressed in something cute, so we took the opportunity to go see the Easter bunny at the mall. They had the best time sitting in his (or is it a her?) lap. The camera wasn't working and the photographer had to reboot the system so they got an extra long turn. The bunny tickled them and they giggled and smiled. Unfortunately, my camera died after a few snaps so I didn't capture it like I would've liked to. The pictures turned out cute though so all was not lost. They each left smiling with an Easter mask in one of their hands. Summer chose a bunny, and Lexie chose a lamb.

Next week Summer has her last two swimming lessons. She can already swim like a fish thanks to the first two sessions. Now she is working on learning the freestyle stroke. It's not perfect, but she is putting forth a good effort in trying do it. Goggles are a must for her to go under the water, but that's OK with me. Whatever it takes. She loves the water and that makes us both happy. I wonder if she will want to pick back up on the swimming lessons after vacation. Do I have a future competitive swimmer? Only time will tell. I try to live one day at a time and not get ahead of myself, but I do love to dream about what she will be like when she grows up. I will never know what the future holds, but I hope and plan for the best. That's all we can do, right?

Overnight guests again

2011-04-12T14:06:00.003-04:00

Today started in a very unusual way. We were woken up by Lexie rather than Summer who decided she wanted to sleep until 9:00 a.m. which is unheard of around here. She is usually up around 7:00 a.m. give or take thirty minutes. Lexie usually gets up when she does although occasionally she will sleep a little later. Never until nine though, not at this house at least. After breakfast, a quesadilla and the last sugar cookie for Summer and a poptart and fruit for Lexie, the kids and I snuggled up and watched some Curious George together until PawPaw came over to play with them. After lunch, Lexie went down for a nap and Summer started working on a ceramic paint project I found at Walmart. She chose to paint the butterfly first. That brings us to now which is my down time of the day when I can jot down little snippets of our life that we will always be able to remember. That is if the Internet does not collapse before I download a complete copy of this blog.

Last week, (long pause) Ok, fast forward 7 hours, I've got free time again. :)

So the rest of day was spent playing the Wii and building houses out of blankets. They have turned Trixie's play pen into a spooky dark house. Summer piled blankets on top of blankets to darken out all the light and make it "spooky." Lexie did not like it when Summer mades scary sounds inside of the house so Summer didn't get to make many. Lexie also kept messing the door up so Summer turned the baby bed area she had made outside the house into Lexie & Barney's room. I'm not saying that the blankets were not messed up several times more by Lexie and Trixie because they were. Summer is learning to be patient whether she likes it or not. We all are I guess. Two is definitely a mischievious age for Lexie. She is nothing like Summer for sure and has had her fair share of time outs in the past few weeks. They both have had more than I would prefer. But, if I turn my head and do nothing, what will they learn?

After dinner, Summer played in the hot tub while I painted Lexie's finger and toe nails. She chose pink with a glitter coat on top. When Summer got her pj's back on (it's been a pj day for her today), she started painting her own nails in a "pattern." Each digit on her hand/foot is a different color, but both hands and feet have the same pattern of colors. After the first hand, she asked me to finish which I gladly did. I actually did a half way decent job too, not that my friends will believe me. LOL I hope the polish does not come off too quickly, but it always seems to on the kids.

We polished off the evening with popcorn, chocolate chip cookies and a movie - Barbie as Rapunzel. After a good teeth scrubbing, it was story time. Summer was more into her story than Lexie, but that is usually the case. Then it was time for prayers and bedtime kisses. It's so sweet to hear them tell me goodnight and proclaim their love for me as I close the door and say "sweet dreams." I will never forget those sweet voices and dread the day that they outgrow it.

Last week, they had lots of company between their cousins and friends, Willow and Harper. Wednesday night was the only night they didn't have other kiddos to go to bed with. Leah and Jonathan got two spend two nights with us. The kids all played great together. There was not much down time for me with an average of 4 kids in the house, and I quickly drifted off to sleep when I finally hit the bed every night. Summer and Willow did some Easter crafts and made and decorated sugar cookies. They splashed in the hot tub and built houses on the back porch with beach towels and lounge chairs. They swang on the tree swing and enjoyed batting at tennis balls with tennis rackets. Lexie and Harper played with playdough, one of Lexie's favorite things to do. Willow and Summer played Sorry and Wii games. They jumped off the bed and enjoyed bedtime stories read by yours truly. We finally coaxed them into sitting down and watching one of the movies Selena brought one afternoon. The days flew by and fun was had by all. I can't wait to spend some more time with these people on our vacation and I know Summer can't either.

Tomorrow's our busy day - gymnastics, music, lunch, nap, swimming lessons, and church. And guess what I forgot at the grocery store -- liquid energy in the form of Starbucks mocha frappuccino. Guess I'll be hitting a drive thru at some point!

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this post is a novel.

2011-04-10T16:01:00.002-04:00

Summer and I at Fridays for a special Valentines day lunch. Grrr....it's blurry.Lexie loved her bag of goodies from me and Pop. Watch out wallet, it's the carousel again. Even though it was too cold to walk through the zoo, the girls loved riding the carousel.

They love to play in the hot tub!

Not sure if she was trying to make the same face for herself and Barney, but it looks like it.

Summer doing her balancing act. Big smile for the rocking horse.

Lexie likes blowing bubbles in her pjs. Summer makes some big bubbles.

Taking her baby out for a walk.

Chili is a favorite meal around here.

Is she happy?

Ready to roll

Summer's first time roller skating was at Sidda's 6th birthday party. Lexie's first time roller skating with Summer's training skates.Sidda and Summer are super cool girls!

Playgrounds are always a good time for Summer and Lexie.

Lexie wins playing Pretty, Pretty Princess with me and Summer.

Summer takes a picture of Lexie as we cruise down the road.

She loves taking pics of herself too.

Summer and Mason face off at the air hockey table.

This is fun!

Summer supervises Lexie's bowl.

They enjoyed strolling in the new double stroller while wearing costumes.

Always smiling on the carousel.

They absolutely love it!

The zoo has monkeys!!!

Summer and Lexie are always ready for adventure.

Summer really got into the art projects at the Creative Discovery Museum's Western Day event for preschoolers.

Giddyup cow girls!

She's ready to eat the snack she made.

Summer colored the whole poster before we left. She was very into this craft.

Time for a tea party to celebrate Karlie's birthday.

Lovely ladies enjoying the party.

Time to decorate your own heart shaped cake with icing and sprinkles.

All smiles when I came to pick them up from visiting day at St. Peters. They were playing on the playground at the school they will be attending in the fall.

Very cool seesaw!

The girls loved Leah's chorus concert that was 80's themed.

The circus was a fun time for us all.

Lots of pictures and posing from us girls.

Summer brought her hat from last year's circus.

Lexie is a rock star on the Wii.

Summer pushes Lexie with me.

Ready for books then bed.

She was so excited to help me cook.

Lexie and Barney sit on Nanny's lap.

Summer loves the clubhouse at Memaw and Nanny's house.

A little girl who prays for Summer gave her a bag full of stuffed animals. One of which turned out to be a neww Barney for Lexie.

Summer's creative with chalk. This is her walking a few dogs.

Someone missed out on this playdate with Liliana and Laila. Can you guess who?

We were all ready for Barney to come on stage.

Yay!!!! There they are!

Lexie enjoys the show with her own Barney doll.

BJ comes to great the crowd and the girls wave.

Summer loves her Trixie!

A hike sounds good to this girl.

Thumbs in the mouth everyone. :p

Summer hides from the camera behind Lexie. One happy hiker with pretzels to snack on. Don't you just love those pig tails?!?

Couldn't you just pinch those cheeks? They're better for kissing though.

Summer and Ty waiting on everyone to catch up.

Summer and Willow love posing at the zoo.

Riding the deer like she did on the last visit.

Lexie picked a tiger.

Can't leave without a stop at the playground too!

Whose ready for the Easter bunnies?

The girls attempted to count the eggs before we hid them. Harper and Lexie were quite a distraction though with wanting to help put them in the baskets as Willow and Summer counted them. They did try though looking adorable all the while.

Time for the egg hunt...and they're off!

Fun times when you dump your basket out. She didn't seem to mind though.

Time to count the eggs to see who gets to pick out the door hanger they both wanted from the craft project they made earlier. Willow wins, but Summer got the big prize egg that earned her a ring pop and saved her day from falling apart. LOL

Lexie enjoyed the hunt. I think it was good practice for all the girls. They will have another rematch on Easter. Can't wait!

I love the dress she picked out. She even fixed her own hair. She's SOOOO BIG!!!

We love company

2011-04-04T09:55:00.003-04:00

Time has been flying by and a quarter of the year has gone by already. I wanted to do a big picture update with some of the pictures I have taken over the past few months, but the Internet connection I have been using lately is too slow to support all the uploading it will involve. With two kids added into the mix, there is no way I can sit at the computer for hours on end so the update will have to wait.

Over the weekend, we had company which to Summer's delight included two extra kids. They are quite a bit older than Summer and Lexie, but they had a good time playing with them nonetheless. One of the highlights of the weekend was hot tub time. The kids spent hours it playing and splashing and laughing and having fun. They played croquet in the front yard. Summer didn't get in on any of their basketball games, but she did try, unsuccessfully, to get a game of 4 square going. The boys talked Clint into getting a few bags of potatoes for them to shoot in the tater gun last night. Summer and Lexie had no interest in joining in on that activity.

Yesterday, we went on a picnic and hiked through the woods enjoying the beauty of nature. Summer told me she needed a walking stick, so I found one for her. She peeled all the bark off of it and was proud of her now smooth stick. I gave up on the hike before the kids did due to a major allergy attack, but they didn't complain when we turned back and headed home. Summer was thirsty for something cold and the water bottle I brought with us on the hike was not cold enough for her when we got in the car. So, of course, I grabbed her something refreshing when we stopped by the gas station - grape juice. She happily drank some of it and even took a few more big drinks before I tucked her into bed for her nap. And, even though they weren't tired, she and Lexie quickly fell asleep. They woke up happy and ready to play in the hot tub again. Thank God for naps! Summer doesn't take a nap everyday, but if we have a big evening planned or she's a little whiny, she goes down when I put Lexie down for hers. There is no compromising on her naps. They are a must unless you want to listen to whining for the last few hours before bed time. I do not.

We've got company again tonight - Summer's cousins. She is super excited to see them. No telling what kind of fun things we will get into tonight after Summer has her swimming lesson. One thing is for sure though, we will all definitely need a nap today. Is it time yet?

They'll never forget Barney

2011-03-31T07:39:00.004-04:00

Or, will they?

Summer and Lexie both loved going to see Barney. They danced and jumped and smiled. Summer also did some pretty intense thumb sucking during the second half. I'm not sure what we are going to do about that, but I think she might even be doing it even more lately. I guess there is nothing we can really do but wait it out anyway. She said she was going to be too old when she was five last month when I asked her. Now, she's not sure that five is going to be the cut off. It's hard to be patient about her quitting sometimes because you don't want your child to be the 10 year old sucking their thumb. But, I guess it really is okay if they do. Two of my aunts sucked their thumbs until they were in high school, and they both turned out to have really good careers and make something for themselves. They are not backwards in the least bit, except for the fact one of them didn't know what draft beer was a few years back. But, I guess that was just innocence which is also a good trait.

Anyway, back to the show. Summer just had to have a Barney shirt on the way into be seated. She chose blue over white. Lexie was wearing Summer's only other Barney shirt. I was so happy when she picked it out of Summer's closet and Summer didn't say no. I would've let her where it anyway, but Summer has come a long way in the sharing department. They still drive me crazy with their "mine"'s sometimes, but I try to halt that rather quickly by asking them not to argue and to be nice. Still, it happens though and the process of teaching them what is and isn't okay continues. It's not the funnest part of being a parent, but a necessary one. Lexie was really proud of the shirt and stuck her belly out to show it off to Pop and PawPaw. Summer put hers on over her clothes, and they were all decked out in Barney gear and ready for a good time. Lexie even brought the Barney that sings "I love you, you love me" with her. For the first part of the performance, Lexie kept him tucked under one arm. The rest of the show he sat in one of our seats. The little boy in front of us had a smaller version that did not sing. He kept eyeballing ours and wanting to play with it.

They were both all smiles when Barney came out on stage. I hope I got at least a few good pics, but it was dark and they weren't facing me so we will see when I get them uploaded. Several times they shots streamers and confetti into the crowd and the girls loved to gather it up and bring it to me to save for later use. They crawled around in the floor in the front of the auditorium and had a grand time cleaning up. They've got a bag full colorful fun that we will be making some sort of craft out of whenever Summer discovers it in the craft cabinet.

I'm pretty sure Summer is up right now. I just heard a door open and close. I figure it was her because she is the only one that re-shuts the bedroom door when they leave the bedroom, besides me. I just called out "Summer" and got a "Yes?" So, times up for me right now.

Barbies and hats

2011-03-29T15:16:00.006-04:00

Here are a few pics of Summer dressing up in hats and playing Barbie with Lexie. I wish I had time to add more, but I do not. So, enjoy these pics of my precious angels.

The kids loved our trip to playworld down under last week, especially the merry-go-round.

Summer loves to take pics of herself. I guess I can thank her big sister for turning her onto that.

Barney's Birthday Bash

2011-03-29T10:19:00.003-04:00

Tonight we are taking Summer and Lexie to Barney's Birthday Bash. I think I may be as excited as they are, possibly even more. This morning we watched Barney in Concert, and I just had to dance along with them. I hope we get to do that tonight too. Yep, I guess I sound pretty sad a grown woman enjoying Barney, but I know the girls are going to be smiling and having a good time and I just can't wait to see their faces when Barney comes on stage. Lexie has been snuggling one of the Barney dolls we have since she came over yesterday. She just loves to sing the "I love you" song that it plays and even serenaded Clint, Summer and myself last night at dinner. She would look at one of us and say I love you, and then another you love me. It was too cute, and she was precious as always.

Over the weekend, Summer got attend a grand baby sleepover at Memaw's house. She and her cousins had two whole nights together and Summer said she didn't sleep at all, but I have a hard time believing that. She did fall asleep in my lap at church on Sunday morning which was the sweetest thing. She even slept through the last song, and I was singing my heart out too. I had to wake her to tell her it was over and she hopped up and then fell over still drowsy. After church, she and the other youth practiced their songs that they were going to be singing at St. Elmo Courts after lunch. We headed to Mr. T's where everyone but Summer ate pizza. She had chicken wings. Her buddy from church, Sidda, was there and they played with bouncy balls that Sidda kindly bought for her friends using her own money. They took the bouncy balls to the Senior community too and played with them while they waited for the festivities to start. The kids all made bookmarks and some senior citizens showed up to make them too. Most of the kids left theirs for the seniors, but my little princess had to bring hers home. I told her we could use it in the nursery rhyme book since it is so big and we could never read it all in one night. Of course, it is still in the car. :)

Yesterday, we had an early morning tea party. We ate strawberries and girl scout cookies while we sipped our tea. We had a choice of cream, sugar and butter to put in our tea. I chose cream and sugar, and she chose butter and sugar. I think she was just trying to get my goose, but it was ok because all of the serving containers were really just full of water. After we were done eating, we played Bingo with Eddie. We played it the night before too, and I guess she just didn't get enough of it. She won every time we played except the last. She had two other games laid out at the end of our place mats (which she made out of construction paper glued end to end) for us to play. They were Guess Who and I Remember. Sadly, we didn't have enough time to play them before we had to run out and meet up with her daddy. On a good note, Summer did get to eat at Friday's where she wanted to eat the day before. She loves their bruschetta chicken pasta. She ate some of my Italian wedge salad which we both agreed was delicious and hogged most of the Oreo madness we had for dessert. It's ok though because her daddy and I are trying to be good so we can have our beach bodies ready for vacation. He, as usual, was better than I and did not have any dessert at all.

Afterwards, Summer and her daddy played while I napped. She decided she could do without one, even though she had swimming lessons at 5:00. Around 4:00, I was kind of regretting my decision to not make her nap, but she did awesome at swimming lessons so I guess it was not the worst decision of the day (maybe that was eating dessert). When we arrived at swimming lessons, there were no goggles in the pool room like there always have been. She refused to go under the water without them and we almost left. But, being the supermom that I am, I found some and she happily joined in with what the instructor was telling them to do. When her daddy and I returned to watch the last 5 minutes, she swam all the way across the endless pool doing the stroke they had learned that day. We were so proud of her. Clint is wanting to get her into tennis or golf lessons. Not sure she is up for either, but she verbally said she wanted golf lessons when we gave her the options. There is no telling what she will end up taking, if either. But, I am excited to see what her future brings. I love watching her grow up every day and wouldn't know what to do without her. She's my sunshine!!

All the colors of the rainbow

2011-03-23T07:37:00.005-04:00

We spent most of the day yesterday hanging out at the house. Summer got to enjoy her PawPaw's company while I did some things around the house. She loved playing with him outside drawing pictures with chalk and riding bikes around the driveway. She will not go out in the street right now which is probably a good thing anyway. At least I know I don't have to worry about her taking off and getting ran over, right? She has had a couple of topples the last few days, a few of which were on the street, and her knees are not looking their best right now. We can't find her knee and elbow pads anywhere. We have been searching though and I'm sure they will turn up eventually, probably sooner if I go out and buy some new ones. :)

Yesterday, when we were in Walmart, she saw a bell for a bike on a helmet we walked past. Of course, now she wants one. I thought I got her one for Christmas, but if so it got lost before I gave it to her. Her birthday is coming up though so I guess I can add it to the list of a million things she wants. What she needs is a different story all together, but as they say, "out with the old, in with the new." It's time to donate some toys again!

I can't believe she is almost 5 years old. It's such a milestone: old enough to have to go to school. But, at least she is ready now. I told her yesterday she had to wear uniforms to school and she did not seem too excited. She definitely has her own fashion sense and likes to pick out what she wants to wear. I, on the other hand, am relieved it won't be a big hassle everyday. I don't actually know what the uniforms are exactly, but I hope to find out soon so I can start looking for them.

This morning when Summer got up, I asked her if she had some bad dreams because I thought I heard her cry out a few times in the night. She said she didn't remember any bad dreams. She did remember having one about a unicorn. She is drawing a picture of one for her book right now. The other day she started a book that will be filled with pictures that she colors. Now it looks like there will be drawings in the book too. I'm not sure if she decided she was going to make a book because I outlawed tearing pages out of coloring books a while back or if she really just wanted to make a book. She has made a few books before so I wouldn't be surprised if it were the latter. She picked out a yellow folder for the cover of the book from the rainbow of options we had. I'm sure it will be full of masterpieces in no time. PawPaw has made some contributions as well. He and Summer love to color and paint together.

Well, it looks like she is taking a break from the unicorn. Time for breakfast. I wonder what she will eat today. Grilled cheese, turkey sandwich, sausage biscuits? With my luck, probably none of the above. One things is for sure, she won't be eating the blueberry pancakes I'm making for myself and my dad. She says she doesn't like them.

P.S. All the colors of the rainbow is Summer's favorite color :D

Girls day out

2011-03-21T20:23:00.002-04:00

This morning Summer woke up and crept down the stairs like she usually does holding a squirming puppy. Trixie has been sleeping with her more and more the past two weeks. I am hoping there have been no accidents in the bed (from the dog) and so far I have seen no signs of any. I guess she sleeps through the night and holds it. So every morning she is super wound up and ready to go out for a potty break and Summer carries her down to me so I can supervise and dole out treats for pee and poop. I think we are porgressing in the potty training for her; Lexie, on other hand, is a different story. Candy has seemed to lose it's appeal although at times she will request to go in order to get a piece. I hope these doggie treats don't lose their charm too!

After a little snuggling, Summer decided that she wanted to do mosaics with me. When we sat down at the table, she changed her mind and decided she wanted to write the words that go with the pictures on the flashcards we made last week. That seemed like a more educational idea to me anyway, so I went with it. After going through about 6 cards, she was done and ready for breakfast. She ate on a bowl of cereal and then hopped in the shower with me. She washed her own hair and bathed herself. When she got out, she picked out her outfit for the day and then brushed her own hair. I swear she becomes more and more independent every day. I commented to her that one day she won't even need me at all anymore except for kisses and hugs and she smiled and agreed. When her hair was all smoothed out, she looked for a hairbow. The headband she wanted was no where to be found so she went without until we got to the car and she spotted a white headband in the floor. Not the white head band, but one that would do.

We cranked up the "cool car" and headed to meet up with some friends for a playdate at Pump It Up. We also decided we would hit the mall and shop for hairbows. We mentioned getting our nails done too, but we never got around to it. On the way to meet the Lippards, Summer chose Miley Cyrus for our listening pleasure. She really wanted the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack, but we couldn't find the tape in the car so she picked something off of her Ipod. We met up with our friends at Barnes & Noble. Summer scored a Justin Bieber puzzle and an oatmeal raisin cookie before we left. As we walked through the mall, we spotted a hairbow stand. Summer picked herself out a metal head band with purple flowers on it. She didn't want any ribbon bows, although several animal print ones caught her eyes. The only other thing she wanted was a comb-type hairbow, but her hair is too fine to hold it at this point. At our next stop, we found some sparkly silver flip-flops that matched the shoes I was wearing. It was kind of a coincidence because she had told me this morning she wanted some shoes like mine. She also spotted some animal print sunglasses, but they were too big. She settled for sparkly, rainbow colored butterfly ones. I hope she wears them because usually she doesn't. If you ask her, she will say she always wears them though. Not true!

We stopped in the food court and Summer chose teriyaki chicken and white rice for lunch. After the kiddos were all fueled up, we headed to Pump It Up. They jumped and bounced and slid. Alicia and I even got in with them for a little while and played some games. We did Ring Around the Rosies which left us all smiling. We tossed balls and played tag. It was lots of fun and good exercise too.

Our playdate continued onto a consignment sale where we found several things we just couldn't pass up. Summer got some new books and movies - Bambi, Pinnochio, E.T., and a few Barbie movies. We didn't find many clothes she couldn't live without, only two shirts and a skirt. Summer wanted to check out the shoes before we left and I agreed even though she has 0% need for any more shoes right now. We got out without getting any toys or shoes which was awesome. Summer was way past ready to leave before we were out the door, but we did eventually make it out and said good-bye to our friends.

She spent her evening riding bikes and playing with her Daddy. She wanted tacos for dinner so I whipped some up and we all ate like pigs. Summer and I had 3 tacos each. We all watched E.T. together before bed. Summer only wanted to watch half, but she ended up making it all the way through it with a brief "bop it" game somewhere during the middle. "Bop it" in our house is played with a blue balloon that has somehow been inflated for months. Summer says how you play is to "keep the balloon up in the air and don't let it touch a thing except the ceiling." She seems to like it more than anyone else does. :)

We ended the day reading two Manners Always Matter books that she picked. They were "Excuse Me" and "Thank You." Wouldn't it be nice if everyone used those words? I left her and Trixie snuggled up in bed and hopefully drifting off into sweet dreams.

Acceptance Letters

2011-03-21T06:56:00.003-04:00

Over the weekend, we got letters telling us that Summer got accepted into both The Bright School and St. Peter's Episcopal School. Needless to say, I'm happy and proud. Clint and I had both already decided pretty much on St. Peter's, but I asked Summer which school she wanted to go to anyway. She said the second one she visited, so we are all in agreement on where she will be attending school next year. Now we just have to send in a deposit, and we will be sitting pretty. We are not exactly sure why she likes this school better. Just in case it was the playground, I told her that they playground she enjoyed on visiting day wasn't the playground she would normally be playing on when in school. It is mostly for the preschoolers, but the teachers said they do occasionally visit it since the kids like it so much. The older kids have another playground that neither one of us has yet to see. I think we might do a drive by sometime this week and check it out. She still did not seem detered from her desire to go to school so that's good news too.

We attended a Vice family dinner yesterday. She really enjoyed seeing her cousins, as I did mine. Together, they checked out the loft in the new pavilion my uncle built. They played with Trixie, taking turns walking her on her leash through the woods. It was more like her running them, but whatever. After they left, she and I played a bean bag toss game. Then she headed to my grandad's newly plowed pasture to look for arrowheads with Memaw and Nanny. Her daddy and I caught up with them as they walked through they pasture searching. Summer had her pockets filled with flint as we walked back to the car. To her delight, it wasn't through the "bumpy" pasture where she started the hunt for remnants left from when Indians lived on the land. She was very thirsty when we got back to the car and told her Memaw she wished she had a bottle of water to drink, claiming she would drink it all and not share it if she had it. Unfortunately, the water leftover from breakfast was hot, as was the bottle of Propel we found. I did have some tea left over from lunch which was cool, but not as cold as she wanted it to be. She did, however, drink it and then asked why we didn't have an ice cold drink in the car. Yep, I guess she is just a little bit high maintenance. I think she gets that from her daddy. Or, maybe it is because I have always pretty much waited on her hand and foot. Usually when she wants something to drink, she asks for "ice cold water." I've been told Nanny makes the coldest water around. I think it's because she shakes it up before she gives it to her. She rarely complains if it is not actually ice cold, but that is the way she asks for it. At bed time, she likes to have a drink of water before she goes to sleep. I usually forget to bring it up with us so one, or both, of us has to trek back to the kitchen for it. She almost always asks for it though so you'd think I would just make it a habit and carry it up with me.

Her favorite bedtime story right now is "The Chicken of the Family." We have read it the past 3 nights, and one night, when I wasn't too tired, twice. When I picked out the book the first night, she was not excited to hear it. But, she quickly found out that it was a book she liked. One of the other books we read at night right now are "Lull-a-bye, Little One." Both she and Lexie enjoy that one. Also, "Baribie: On Her Toes" is one they both pick. It is a step into reading level 1 book and Summer can mostly read it. Some of it is memorization I'm sure, but she definitely is learning to recognize/read some words. That is so exciting to me because I loved to read as a child and still have a lot of the books I grew up reading. I wonder if she will love it too.

The past few days, she has rediscovered her Leapster. I got her a new game, "Animal Genius," at a consignment sale a few weeks ago. I found it over the weekend and gave it to her to play. She enjoyed it and even got her daddy to play with her for a while. I'm glad she enjoys playing the games on it, but I'm also glad that she is not so addicted to it that she won't put it down. The games are educational which is great for her, but so is playing outdoors which she also loves.

Today, we've got a playdate lined up at Pump It Up with Liliana and Laila. I can't wait to see the smiles on their faces and also catch up with my friend Alicia. I feel so fortunate that a lot of my friends had kids when I did. It works out really good at keeping us from losing touch with one another for too long. Plus, the kids always have a good time together. And, that's what I call a win-win!

Birthday cake

2011-03-20T19:55:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, Summer and I were heading to a birthday party with Lexie and I asked Summer what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday. I named off different flavors and she told me she wanted a cake batter cake. I asked her where she had one at, and she didn't know. I told her I wasn't sure how to make that kind of cake so she explained. First, she said, we need to make an angel food cake. Then we go to Cold Stone and get some cake batter ice cream. Then she old me we needed to warm the ice cream up in the microwave. Then we put it in the fridge for "6 minutes" and it will be icing. After the icing is ready, we put it on the cake and viola - cake batter birthday cake. I just love her imagination.

Get your tickets

2011-03-18T17:30:00.003-04:00

Last weekend we took the kids to the Ringling Brother's Barney & Bailey Circus. They had a great time and were dazzled with all of the performances. Their friends, Willow, Harper, Gavin and Nicholas came too and we all sat in the first row of the gold circle - our favorite seats at the arena. The magic tricks were awesome and truly magical. There were some really cool stunts performed by cats and dogs. I think Lexie enjoyed those the best. She did not really care for the loud music and kept her hands on her ears for a lot of the show. Summer's favorite part was the motorcycle with a man and two woman balancing while riding on a tight rope. We managed to get away without buying any souvenirs which disappointed Summer. It is crazy how much they charge for their spinning light-up toys - $20!!! We did bring along the hat she got with her cotton candy at the circus the year before which she wore for part of the show.

The girls will get to attend Barney's birthday bash later this month. The tickets were pricey at $110 for the 4 of us, but I know the girls will really enjoy it. They have both always been big Barney fans although we no longer watch Barney everyday. For a while, Lexie wanted to watch it non-stop, but over the past few months we have definitely seen a drop in her requesting to watch it. We may only get in one or two episodes a week. She still loves toting around the Barney dolls and got a new one today from a bag of toys a little girl gave to Summer. I'm not sure exactly who the girl is, but I think one of her parents might work with my mom. She is 4 years old and has a picture of Summer on her nightstand. My mom told me she prays for Summer every night. She made Summer a card to go with the toys. It was a very sweet gesture and I think I will have Summer write her a thank you card. Maybe one day they will get to meet and play together.

Well, the girls are wanting to get in the hot tub. Oh what little fish they are!

Outdoor fun and a check up

2011-03-17T11:55:00.004-04:00

Summer is outside planting some trees with her PawPaw. She loves being outdoors and will probably be having the time of her life tonight when she goes to her Memaw's. I know the clubhouse that my dad built for us kids years ago will be fun for her and Lexie. Add to that some beautiful weather and it will truly be a paradise for Summer at least. Earlier this week Summer helped me plant some seeds to see if we can grow some pretty flowers in the pots we have. I am hoping they will start sprouting sometime next week so she can see the fruits of her labor.

The girls have been thoroughly enjoying the hot tub. Summer swims around like a little fish and seems to lost all fear of going under water. I am so happy with the swimming lessons she took and how much she progressed in the two sessions. She asked yesterday when they start up again and if she was going to have a new teacher. She'll find out in a week or two when her advanced beginner classes start. I am really thinking about getting her a swim cap, but I never seem to get around to shopping. That is not usually a fun task with two kids in tow and we never seem to have time either. There are just too many other things to do with them.

Summer had a port flush this week. She was a little squirmy when the nurse was accessing her port. She still sits in my lap when she is accessed/deaccessed. I don't think it really hurts since the area is numbed, but I know it is not like a trip to the playground either. Luckily, the rest of the clinic time is usually spent doing something fun like making a craft or playing with toys. She and Lexie had blast playing and having some chocolate pudding for a treat. They draw blood for a CBC when they access the port and all of her blood counts came back good. She doesn't have any problems that we know of from the treatment she received in 2009. She will have another CT scan in June and another in September. Then in December she has an MRI, Echo and EKG too. After that, she has no more CT scans or MRI's. She will go for chest xrays for a few years though and they will monitor her heart yearly too. The children's hospital has just gotten a new CT scanner for the kids. This means they will be getting less radiation when they have their scans which is awesome. Emily's Power For a Cure raised the money and bought it. Summer will have her first scan in it next month. I can't wait to see it even though scans are not a fun time for us.

A change of heart

2011-03-13T11:47:00.003-04:00

This past week was a big week for Summer with 3 trips to school. On Monday she went to a kindergarten assessment at the Bright School. She was not excited at all about going, but did end up having a good experience. I'm not sure exactly what they did, but she said they counted and drew stuff. The following day she visited a classroom for 2 hours. When we got there, she was not excited again. We walked down to the classroom and were pleasantly surprised when we saw her teacher from summer camp last year. She remembered Summer and greeted her cheerily with a big hug and I was off. I am glad I got to slip out so easily and while she had a smile on her face. When I came to pick her up, she was happy to see me. She had done several crafts/projects and had a bag full of things to bring home. She was very excited about the paper that had her name, "Summer Cobb," written on it so we may hang it on her door. She seemed to have enjoyed the day, but was still not liking the idea of school. On Friday, she had a classroom visit at St. Peter's. When we pulled into our parking space, she started pretending she was asleep. I thought she was just pretending to not feel good, but she told me later what she was actually doing. She was "nervous," all the while Lexie was excited to be getting to visit a classroom too. We were welcomed with some fruit and cake. Summer munched on strawberries and strawberry cake while Lexie ate apple slices. They both sipped on the Capri suns that were offered until it was time for them to head to their classrooms. Lexie was up and ready to go before Summer, but Summer was actually taken first. She walked down the hall with her head drooping and it made me a little sad. I walked behind her, unbeknown st to her, watching her sulk down the hallway. After I dropped Lexie off in the 3 year old classroom, I went to check on Summer. I'm not sure if it was more for me or her because I actually felt a little empty knowing I wasn't going to see her for a few hours. This will be an everyday thing come the fall, and I'm sure I will adjust quickly. Just as she will to going to school. I left the school not knowing what to do for two hours with no kiddos to tend to, but that time was quickly spent on the Internet booking airline tickets for my family. I fully intended to buy tickets to Barney too, but I ran out of time. When I picked the girls up, they were playing on the playground having an awesome time. It was such a relief to see them having so much fun. I talked to their teachers and both got great reports. Summer's teacher thought she was already in school which made me feel good. When I asked Summer if she liked it, she said she did. She liked it better than the classroom visit earlier this week. The biggest surprise of all was that when we left, Summer had changed her mind about school. She now says she is ready for school and can't wait until it starts. I am hoping they can both get into this school because they both loved it and so did Clint and I. I am not really looking forward to the restrictive aspect school will place on traveling and just everyday life in general, but I'll get over it. The girls will learn so much and I'll still get them every afternoon and on weekends. I sure do love having them in my life.

Fun and changes

2011-03-06T07:37:00.003-05:00

Summer and Lexie went to a tea party birthday party for their friend Karlie last weekend. They had a great time. There were flowery hats, feather boas and lots of jewelry for them to wear while they enjoyed jelly beans, miniature marshmallows, fruit, heart shaped sandwiches and cookies. They sipped on punch and pink lemonade and only one little girl actually asked where the tea was. The girls got to decorate their own little heart shaped cake with icing and sprinkles. They had freshly spun cotton candy which was also a real treat. There was a tea pot shaped pinata full of candy for them to take turns trying to bust open. They left with plenty of goodies in hand. I'm starting to feel like I am taking the easy way out by having Summer's birthday party at a playground, but that is what she has chosen.

We also went to the Discovery Museum over the weekend to enjoy the Western Day they had for preschool age kids. There were saddles to mount and wanted posters to color. In fact, there were so many different crafts to do we didn't even do them all. They had a snack for the kids to make with a slice of bread, green cream cheese, a horse cookie cutter to cut for a slice of American cheese and pretzel sticks. You put all those things together and you've got a horse in a fenced pasture. It was a cute idea. Summer only ate the pretzel sticks, but Lexie ate some of the sandwich too. She absolutely adores cheese, especially "orange cheese" as she calls it. Summer will only eat Colby jack sometimes, but never a slice of American or string cheese. Her eating habits sure do change a lot it seems. Her favorite cereal is strawberry frosted mini-wheats. She loves sausage and biscuits for breakfast. Her favorite pop-tart flavor right now is blueberry. It used to be strawberry. She loves fruit and especially when I hand feed her grapefruit. She has even started eating bananas again recently. A favorite of both girls is blackberries. They will gobble them up in no time. She does not like green beans, or "string beans" as she calls them, anymore. She will still eat broccoli and insists she only likes corn on the cob -- not off. Chili is something she and Lexie both love whether we get it from Wendy's or if I make it myself. She loves the pop-ice kind of Popsicles and blue and green are her favorite colors to eat, followed by red. Lexie always wants yellow. Summer doesn't like the healthy real fruit ones that I buy. She will eat them sometimes, but not often. They taste a lot more fruity in my opinion, but I guess sugary sweet is just as good to kids. She won't hardly eat spaghetti with sauce on it anymore, but will usually eat it plain with Parmesan cheese. She used to eat jarred baby food spaghetti a few times a day, but that was years ago now. She's getting so big and changing more and more every day. Her favorite restaurants are Longhorn and Olive Garden. She prefers Krystal cheeseburgers to any other fast food burger. I could go on and on, obviously. But, that might bore some of you so I'll stop.

Nicknames and silly songs

2011-02-28T12:37:00.004-05:00

Summer has gone through lots of nicknames over the years. I think the one I use most right now is Noodle. A few days ago, I decided Lexie should be Toodle since she is two. When I told Summer, she thought she should be Fourdle instead of Noodle. I convinced her that it wasn't even close to being a word and she has been my Noodle for a long time, probably since she was 2, so I'm going to stick with it for now. We don't use Mogo Noodle much anymore. When she was going through her cancer treatments, she came up with that one. There is this song I sing that goes "Oh toodle my noodle, oh toodle my noodle..." I guess you really have to be there to hear it, but I think it goes perfectly with the two nicknames I sometimes call the girls now. I've been singing it for quite a while and it has a real catchy tune. LOL The girls love it when I make up silly songs and sing them to them. Sometimes when I bathe them, I sing a song about the different parts as I wash them. Their faces are always all smiles when I do it that way.

It looks like Lexie is all better now. She started eating again yesterday and has not been laying around so much. She and Summer are playing right now which makes my heart happy. It is usually Summer telling Lexie what to do, but in time maybe Lexie will have a little say in the way they play. I'm just happy that they have each other to play with. I do love playing games and Barbies with them, but as a mom I've got a lot to do around the house so I can't play all day long like they sometimes want. So far Summer and I have had no sickness, and if we can just get through tomorrow with it that way, I will be cool if we do end up getting it. Tomorrow she visits the Bright School for two hours. She hasn't invented any illnesses or reasons not to go yet, but I do remember the preschool days and how they usually came up before bedtime or when she got up so to quote Justin Bieber, "Never say never."

This morning Summer helped me make some banana bread for our church dinner tonight. She loves mixing the ingredients and even cracked the eggs for me. She's still not a pro at it, but the 2nd egg was done almost perfectly. Her pinkie got shut in the cabinet door when I was getting out the shortening. She did not cry or anything, but it did get a cut on it which she claimed was bleeding. So we got her a waterproof Hannah Montana bandaid to protect it. She showed it to Trixie and told her not to bite it because it hurts.

I really wish that dog could understand what we say because then she would know that under Summer's bed is not an acceptable place to pee or poop. Last night, when I was putting Summer to bed, I thought I smelled poop. So, I looked under her bed and to my surprise, there were several pee and poop spots. Needless to say, that delayed bedtime a little because I just had to pull the bed out and scrub the floor. This morning I covered the floor under her bed with pillows, games and her big shoe storage thing so that there is no where for Trixie to potty on the carpet. I'm really not wanting to look under my own bed, but I probably should. The crazy thing is we mostly keep her out of the bedrooms because I want to get her potty trained so this very thing won't happen all over my carpet. We seem to take two steps forward, and one step back. We all love the dog so it will be worth it when she is finally fully trained. Summer definitely enjoys being her mommy and is happy that Santa knew the perfect thing to put in her stocking.

Nicknames

2011-02-28T12:37:00.001-05:00

Go away stomach bug!!

2011-02-28T10:30:00.004-05:00

This week is not starting off promising with my "big baby" waking up with a stomach bug during the night. Sometimes she is a little baby, but mostly she calls herself a big baby. Last night, Lexie woke up between 11 and 12 and had soiled her clothes and sheets. After cleaning it up, she moved to my bed where she stayed until about 5 a.m. After her 4th time of getting sick, she was ready to go back to her bed. Good thing we have lots of replacement blankets because she took 3 out early in the game. So far today she is just laying around mostly, but does have her moments of playfulness. Summer has showed no signs of sickness yet, but I'm not going to get my hopes up too high. My buddy and her family have had it this weekend and we were with them Saturday night at the bowling alley, so who knows whose next?

We had an awesome weekend though. We headed out to the lake on Thursday and enjoyed the beautiful outdoors. We rode bikes, colored with chalk, played 4 square, grilled out, and played in the hot tub. One night, we had Memaw and Nanny over for a bonfire. We roasted lots of marshmallows and the girls and I all had it in our hair. That's what happens when you roast three at a time and everyone gets a bite. It all came out easily in the shower the next day which was nice because combing their hair is not the most fun task in the world. Summer wakes up everyday with a "rat's nest" in the back of her hair which is always a pain to get out. Even trying to be extra gentle will cause a few ouches to fall from her lips. I really would like to get a bonnet for her to wear to bed. I wonder if that would help. As a kid, I think a used to where panties on my head to bed at times. I'm not sure if that was to keep it from sticking up or what, but it's definitely crossed my mind as a solution to our nest problem. We still haven't tried it though I have mentioned it to her several times.

Last week, the girls went to the roller skating rink for the first time. Sidda celebrated her 6th birthday party there and invited them to come join the fun. Summer liked it better than ice skating, but she still needs a helping hand to get around the rink. She really enjoyed it when I held both of her hands and sort of pushed her around at a faster speed than she could manage on her own. We only wiped out together once and it was less painful than I anticipated. I wasn't even sore the next day. Summer wiped out lots of times, but she never complained of it hurting her. Lexie used Summer's beginner skates, that she got for her birthday a few years ago, for the first time and really enjoyed it too. Of course, they had to play some of the arcade games too so there were tickets to be cashed in for prizes which Summer always loves. She picked a fun dip which she did share. Maybe we will go back on family night sometime where we aren't so rushed and halfway preoccupied by a birthday party. It would really be cool to get them skating at a young age. It is good exercise and lots of fun, even for me.

Tonight we are going to volunteer for IHN and play games with kids. I think it will be fun for both Summer and I and hope it will be something we can continue to do together. I really want to instill a sense of community and giving to others in both girls. It is important to learn that the world doesn't revolve around you. That's a lesson that cannot be learned too soon in life. It's too bad Lexie will have to miss out tonight, but I don't want to risk passing this stomach bug around. It is no fun for anyone, but it does bring about lots of snuggling which makes it tolerable.

Bicycles and music

2011-02-24T18:43:00.002-05:00

Today was filled with bicycle rides and Wii games. Cookies and Popsicles too. The girls sang and danced at music this morning. They had fun playing different instruments (egg shakers, one bell jingle, rhythm sticks) during some of the songs. During family band time, they got to play a wider variety of instruments at their choice. One of the songs we have done the past two weeks is actually to teach them to help their mom out and clean with a dust rag. Let's hope they really pick up on this one because my house needs some dusting! LOL Their teacher, Janice Bond, is awesome. She used to teach Kindermusik, but set up her own music studio for kids about two years ago. She has been teaching Summer since she was 2 years old. Summer always listen closely at story time, but Lexie has yet to sit on a heart on the blanket. She prefers my lap / crawling all over me. Today Summer had a problem sharing my lap with Lexie a few times. It has been an adjustment for her with Lexie staying with us all the time, but she is learning to accept her and they do play together perfectly at times. Plus, she loves her "except for when she messes up" what she is playing with. It has definitely left her sharing her mommy more than she would want to, but all in all I think it has been a good thing for them both. I hope so anyway. I wouldn't want to traumatize her and give her some sort of complex like sometimes I imagine could happen. I try not to worry about that too much, but I do wonder how the present situation will affect the futures of these children.

They are always wanting me to "come here" - Lexie's favorite words. Or, show me something they made or did. I can barely even sit to blog without them coming to find me. Well, they found me again. I must run to be at their beck and call. A mother's job never ends, and hopefully neither do the fun times with the kids.

She's not ready, at least in her mind

2011-02-21T09:17:00.003-05:00

But, then again, will she ever be? School starts in the fall, and Summer is still not excited about going to kindergarten. She has two school visits and a kindergarten assessment coming up in the next two weeks. I really hope she enjoys the visits and catches some enthusiasm for school. She has been really doing well on her preschool work lately and seems to be liking math worksheets that involve counting and addition. She can count pretty high, almost to 100 if she really tries. She never seems to get the 100 when we count by 10's though. I know she is really smart and will flourish in school. One of the schools we are looking at seems to have a more loving / nurturing environment and I really hope she gets in there. She definitely seems like the type that would enjoy a little coddling every day. Not that the other school isn't awesome too, but it does not have the same values at our #1 choice. Plus, Lexie might get to go to school too if they can both get in at school #1.

She seems to have developed a bad habit which I plan to nip in the bud. She used to grow her nails long. But, in the past few weeks, I have noticed they are short and seem to have been bitten off. We've had a talk about not biting them anymore where she said "I guess" I won't do it anymore. Oh my, I might just have to go buy some of that yucky tasting polish. I hope not, but if it comes to that I will.

Last week, we went to a playground 3 days in a row. The girls absolutely always want to go to the playground. I'm glad there are so many around town. Variety is the spice of life, right? We were going to go to the zoo one day, but it was colder than I had anticipated it would be and I didn't bring a jacket for myself. After our picnic lunch, the girls played on the playground there and then rode the carousel a few times. Maybe it will be warmer this week and we will try again. We are really excited about seeing the baby snow leopard when they bring it out for visitors to see.

Summer has been excelling in her swimming lessons and will be moving up to advanced beginner in the next session. She doesn't mind going under and swimming anymore. She will jump in and go under the water. She really loves swimming around our hot tub. She can almost float on her back by herself. In her class she glides, rolls over to her back and goes back to her stomach and swims to side. I am really excited about her new skills and so is she. She always looks forward to her lessons now. Gymnastics too. Those two activities, along with music keep our days pretty full. But, not too full for the random trip to Chuck E. Cheese. I think we might just have to go there sometime this week.

Vegas Family vacation

2011-02-17T07:46:00.007-05:00

Two weeks ago, we headed out to Vegas to visit Clint's family. Summer loves spending time with her cousins out there. Here too for that matter. Every morning Nona would cook a big breakfast and then Summer would excuse herself, wash her hands and face and scamper off to Glen's house to see who would play with her. Lexie enjoyed them too, especially the playground in their back yard.

Our last afternoon was spent at the Mirage's Dolphin Habitat and Secret Garden. The dolphins did some tricks which we all enjoyed watching. There was no petting which would've been a major plus, but I imagine it is not really safe for every one to be touching the dolphins. There were some odd looking animals called alpacas to look at.

There were also several species of big cats. White tigers, Bengal tigers, African lions, white lions, and black panthers were some of them. They were all so pretty. I didn't notice any of them looking at Lexie as lunch like I did at Tigers for Tomorrow a few weeks ago. I assume they are well fed living at a casino.

Of course, no vacation is complete without climbing trees. Summer had fun in one of Nona's trees and even wanted to carve her and Lexie's name into it. I think at some point they were actually going to write on it with a marker, but I don't think it ever happened.

Summer had some batting practice with her dad throwing her tennis balls while she swatted them, or rather at them, with a racket. She has no interest in playing t-ball this year, but maybe we could try to head over to the tennis courts and see if she has any interest in it. I think I'm going to put Clint on that job because I stink at tennis.

Summer and Mia totally rocked it out on the Wii playing Just Dance 2, MJ: The Experience, and Rock Bank. Of course, I was right there with them. We all took turns playing the drums, guitar and singing. They both total nailed this move on a duet dance. A trip to Circus Circus could not be skipped. There is not a lot for kids to do in Vegas, but this is one place which will definitely put a few smiles on their faces. Unfortunately, the Adventurdome closed for a week of repairs the day we went. But, the arcade was still open and dispensing tickets so Summer was happy about that. There were also circus acts to watch, but we didn't get to watch a whole show. Next time I will have to check the schedule more closely because Summer was pretty disappointed in that. No worries though because the circus is coming to town soon and we are going.

There is a horse boarding/riding place right down the street and the kids made several trip down there to pet the horses and pony. One horse actually tried to eat Summer's hair which I thought was odd and a bit gross seeing as how he left grassy slobber all over the top of her head. Fortunately, she was not hurt or even scared after the incident. I can't wait for her to get to ride her friend Willow's new pony. I know Lexie will love it too. We've got to make a trip up there one day when it warms up. Hint, hint Buddy.

Jet Lag **edited

2011-02-14T09:02:00.003-05:00

Summer and Lexie finally slept in this morning (later than 8:30), something that did NOT happen on vacation. They were both up before 7:30 every morning. They even made it to one 6 a.m. walk on the beach with me and Paw-Paw. It was fun although the stroller had to be carried across the very wide beach to the packed sand at the shoreline in order to be pushed. Paw-Paw toted Lexie while I hauled the stroller. When we got to the sand, it was a nice stroll down the rock and shell spotted beach. Summer is officially following in my footsteps as a shell collector. That makes me smile. It really is not worth very much to have boxes full of shells, but the hunt is sometimes addictive and fulfilling. Luckily, I have learned to control some of my picking up urges and don't bring home huge bags of them anymore. On our walk, Lexie asked for a shell so I picked her out two. When we got to the playground, which just so happens to be on the beach, she had taken a little bite off of one of them and was chewing it up. Then, she wouldn't spit it out. Kids. After we got the slides dried off, the girls were ready to play in the chilly morning air. Summer loves to climb all over the equipment and slide down the slides on her feet and other "non-normal" ways. She is not very fearful, and I think gymnastics has given her some confidence in her abilities. Lexie always loves the swings the best. On the way home, we stopped at Starbucks and got a morning beverage. Summer had to have something, so she got a bottle of mocha frappuccino. My dad and I got a caramel mocchiato. Yum!

After a big home cooked breakfast, we showered up and headed to Malibu. We paid to park at the pier and then walked down the beach. After only a few minutes on the beach, the girls shoes and socks were both wet and needed to be taken back to the van. I know it's crazy, but I didn't see that one coming. Then we took a leisurely stroll, looking for shells and chasing birds. Lexie really wanted to pet one, but soon discovered that they do not want her to pet them. Summer learned that lesson a few vacations ago. I still have not learned to stop daydreaming about living in one of the houses we walk by, but it takes longer for some of us than others. We walked to the end of the pier and took a look around the gift shop. There was a beautiful great dane that the girls loved. They gave it lots of attention, chasing it around the store until they were scolded and asked to not torture the dog. Good times. They both got a shark tooth which is probably lost by now. I think they were actually in my possession last, but I can't remember where I stashed them. As long as Summer doesn't remember getting it, I'm OK. But, her not remembering something would be completely uncommon and out of the norm so I better get to looking for them. :) We had lunch on the pier which was lovely for everyone but Summer whose pants were a little wet from the ocean. Next time, I'll have to pick out what she wears. She has become so independent in dressing herself that I rarely question what she wears. She does sometimes like for me to do it for her, but those days are getting rare. On a side note, she is also going to the bathroom more by herself and not needing me to wipe her. Usually it is just poops that she needs me, but sometimes, like during the night, she wants me to help with either. OK, so back to the vacation.

On our second day in California, we went to Disneyland. It was awesome and the kids were so excited to ride the rides. The lines were not too bad. The weather was perfect. As soon as we got there, the characters were taking their places to pose with tourists. We got pics with Minnie, Mickey & Donald in the first 10 minutes after our arrival. We started the day with a ride on the Astro Orbiter where the girls each got to control their own plane. Then we headed to the Mad Tea Party which was Summer's favorite ride at Disney World last year. They rode Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo, King Arthur Carrousel (several times), Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Peter Pan's Flight, Pinocchio's Daring Journey, Snow White's Scary Adventures. Casey Jr. Circus Train was the last ride before lunch. After lunch we headed to Toon Town and visited Goofy, Mickey's, and Minnie's houses. Lucky for us, both Minnie and Mickey were home for pictures although Lexie missed Mickey due to a temper tantrum when leaving his house to go into his production barn. Summer rode her first roller coaster of the day, Gadget's Go Coaster, and fell in love. She was so excited the whole ride and had to ride it again with her dad after we went together. Last year, she wouldn't get any where near the kiddie coaster at Disney World, but this year she loved it. After that, we rode two more coasters which she also loved - Splash Mountain was her favorite. We finished up the day with Pirates of the Caribbean and Tarzan's Treehouse. On our way out of the park, the girls picked out their souvenirs. Summer got Minnie dressed as a fairy and Lexie picked a 2011 Mickey Mouse. To our surprise, neither girl fell asleep on the way home, although Summer almost did. It was a long, exhausting day, but so fun and one I hope they will remember.

The rest of the trip was spent visiting Hollywood and Venice beach. The girls played in the sand and loved mixing the ocean water with sand in buckets. Summer even got Lexie to try her "soup." No one else would take her up on it though. Despite the freezing cold ocean water, Summer loved playing in the surf and jumping over small waves. She and I would run hand in hand towards the incoming waves and then turn and run back towards the sand. Our sand castle turned out on the dumpy side, as usual. I don't know what it is, but I really haven't been able to build an awesome sand castle in a long time. I remember building some pretty good ones as a child.

We hit the playground a few more times. Summer wanted to throw a party one night, but even after making invitations and handing them out, she did not get around to it. They read, "Party 2nite Rock on 7:00." She made one for her dad, Paw-Paw and Amanda. I told her Amanda had the party without us after we went to bed, but she informed me that she did not turn in her ticket so she didn't. LOL Our last night we went to the Santa Monica pier, my main inspiration for the trip. Summer again loved the rides. She wanted to go on the roller coaster twice, but the line was too long. She really loved the scrambler and said it was her favorite. Lexie enjoyed the ferris wheel ride with Summer and Paw-Paw. We didn't make it to all the rides, but Summer doesn't know that. It was late and we were all tired and ready to go to bed....except her. Of course, she could ride forever. Oh to be a kid again...

I'll have to update on the first part of our trip later. It's late and time for bed. Summer's got her 3 month CT scan in the morning. Praying for NED!!! I haven't started worrying yet, but it does set in once the scan is over and we are waiting on the results. No spots please!

Another sleepover

2011-01-29T18:53:00.003-05:00

Last night, my mom had a grand baby sleepover at her house. There were 5 kids in attendance - Leah, Jonathan, Summer, Lexie and Austin. Summer had been counting down ever since the last one was postponed two weeks ago. Even Lexie was excited to go. I guess she knew sleepovers were fun since they also had one last weekend with some of their friends. Before we met up with my mom for the drop off yesterday, Summer had her 8th swimming lesson which went great. This week she finally warmed up to them and is excited for her next lesson on Monday. She is ready to do some "alligators" she says. I think that is where they swim across the pool with their arms straight and hands stacked, face in the water blowing bubbles and kick. Anyways, I am so happy she finally turned the corner and is ready to learn to swim. As a special treat, the teacher lets the girls jump in the big pool at the end of class. Their actual class is done in an endless pool. She jumped off the side 3 times and swam to the teacher. I was so proud because until these classes, she would not jump off the side without holding my hands and wearing a floatation device. Her first 8 class session is over and the next one starts Monday. She is still in the beginner class and on her certificate the teacher told her she needed to work on blowing bubbles with her eyebrows in the water. The girls were excited to go off with Memaw afterwards.

This morning they were both having a great time when I showed up to help transport them to Tigers for Tomorrow to see some big cats. Lexie enjoyed watching Barney on the drive there. Summer and her cousins rode with Memaw and Nanny. There were more cats than we could've imagined there: tigers, African lions, mountain lions, black leopards and servals. There were also a few wolves, some coatimundis, foxes, bears, emus, a zebra, a camel, a llama, a turkey, a chicken, a rooster and tons of goats. It was a very cool experience for us all. Little Lexie looked like the perfect snack to some of the cats and it was crazy to see them eyeballing her and ready to pounce on her if they could've gotten to her. She had no clue though and was not the least bit afraid. We got there just in time to see them being fed which made the experience even cooler. There were no pics allowed though which was the only bummer. Well, that and the car ride home was too long for Summer. Thankfully, she fell asleep before she drove me crazy. Lexie crashed not long after we got in the car. I just love seeing their cute little faces - awake or sleeping. They are precious girls!

Sleepover hangover

2011-01-24T07:50:00.002-05:00

Summer must be making up for lost sleep today. It is almost 8:00 and she is still not up. I should be showering and getting ready for our school visit this morning, but the couch has caught me. On Saturday night, my friends Selena and Alicia came over with their girls. Of course, one dad just had to tag along, but he escaped most of the party and watched UFC while tending to the baby. Summer was playing Sorry with her dad when her friend Sidda showed up. She has really enjoyed that game a lot since getting it from her friend Katie for Christmas. Clint doesn't know the rules, so he has to run every move by me it seems. You would think he could read the box sitting in the floor beside him, but I guess it does feel good to be cooking dinner and yet involved in the game. So, I won't complain too much.

Not long after Sidda got there, Selena and her gang showed up. The girls were all introduced and the playing began. Alicia and her girls arrived and we all gathered in the kitched to make pizzas and quesadillas. The Wii dance games were a major hit. Summer did not put up too much of a fuss when she had to share the #1 remote. Each time the kids came back to the game after doing whatever, someone new ended up with the Wii remote and not by accident. They "called it," you know? I was happy to see her share and also to not put up a big fuss about winning or losing. However, I she and Liliane definitely hung up their remotes before Sidda and Willow. They were the dance queens. Well, until the adults started dancing. Then, they were toast. :)

The girls got hair and nail makeovers. They all loved getting their finger and toe nails painted. Surprisingly, Summer did not do "rainbow colors" on her fingers. She stuck with pink with white cat and flower stamps. On her toes, she varied the color on each toe and got some flower stickers on her big toe. I think two of the other girls did different colors on each finger nail and solids on the toes. They were pretty patient considering there were 3 moms and 6 girls getting painted. Lexie was the first to request her toes being painted. Her mom did her fingers and toes a few weeks ago and she loved to show them off. The older girls also picked out colors for their hair to be sprayed with. They also highlighted the color with a little glitter paint. I'm sure they all have a few flakes of it left in their hair. The paint comes out easily, but glitter is glitter and seems to have a mind of its own.

The girls were in bed around eleven, but did not finally go to sleep until midnight when Alicia decided she would sleep with them. When I tucked Summer in, she said "What about my bedtime story?" Love it! I told her that I'm sure they would be telling their own stories and she was happy with that. They had a great time in that hour jumping on beds and whispering and just being silly girls. They were up by 8 and ready for breakfast and more Wii games. After gobbling down cinnamon rolls, sausage biscuits and yogurt, they got dressed and danced until it was time to go. It was a great experience which I definitely think needs to be repeated. Girls just want to have fun!

Swimming lessons

2011-01-23T18:40:00.003-05:00

I can't believe my little girl will be 5 years old in a few months. I've mentioned her birthday party to her, but we haven't decided on anything yet. I know we will be doing it early due to a vacation. I am soooo ready for the vacation. The main reason Summer is in swimming lessons right now is because we will have a pool in our backyard for a month, and I want her to be able to swim or at least have some basic water survival skills. Her last lesson was definitely her best. She was not happy to have to go to 3 lessons this week to make up a snow day. The first two days we went she was upset and not happy at all to be there. She really does not want to put her face in the water or go underwater at all for that matter. The last few classes, we have tried goggles and they seem to be helping her to loosen up and relax. Now if only we can get her to keep them on. The other little girl has always happily worn goggles, but she pulls them off everytime she finishes a task. I guess at that age it is hard to just leave them on for more than a few minutes. By the end of the last lesson, she was smiling and seemed more confident and relaxed. I hope this week she doesn't dread going, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

We are visiting two schools this week. I am nervous, but excited. I don't know which one I want her to go to more at this point, but maybe after the tours I will have a better idea. It really depends on where she is accepted too. I know there is limited space at least one of the schools. We might possibly have to add other schools to our list, but I really hope not. Here's hoping for happy school hunting!

The new kid on the block

2011-01-16T07:13:00.003-05:00

Is there a saying that dogs don't pee in the same place twice? Or, poop for that matter. It looks like I've got another child to potty train. Darn Santa. LOL Shortly after I let Trixie out this morning, she peed on the rug. I know she pooped in "her room" aka the laundry room last night. Not on the pee pad though, but in her usual poop spot in that particular room. Maybe it's time to put down another pee pad in there. It is clear that I MUST have an artificial grass pee pad for the condo unless I make a habit of taking her out. It really isn't that much of a bother and fresh air is always nice for the girls. She doesn't really seem to mind going outside too much now that she is a few weeks older and a little bit bigger, even in the cold. She loved the ice in the driveway earlier this week. Summer is always game for a trip outside, unless she is on the phone with her cousins and Auntie like she was yesterday. I'm not even sure she noticed me and Lexie leaving with Trixie. She was very enthralled in the conversation she was having.

There was supposed to be a grandbaby sleepover on Friday, but it got cancelled due to illness. On Thursday, Summer woke up coughing, very warm and with one slightly matted eye. She had been rubbing her eyes all evening before bed, even after a bath to wash and rinse it out. Around midnight, she came and got me to potty and I noticed she was warm. Her temperature was 100.5, so I found the newly bought children's ibuprofen tablets and got her 1 1/2 to chew up. They were orange flavored, and she didn't put up too much of a fuss about it. But, she did say later that they made her throat feel funny or hurt; I can't remember which. Anyways, we got dressed right away and headed to the doctor. The girls had breakfast in the waiting room - cheese, turkey and pretzel goldfish. Summer surprised me that morning and actually asked for chocolate milk. I can't remember the last time she has willingly, without a fuss, drank chocolate milk. I knew then, she was sick. The next day she definitely put up a fuss about it and only drank the 1/2 glass she was asked to. Well, almost. I let it go since she was sick and not feeling well. She didn't eat very much at all for the next few days. She was diagnosed with some sort of virus, including conjunctivitis -- pink eye. Not the treatable kind of course, this being a virus and not a bacteria. Summer has been pretty good about washing her hands, but has not and will not touch a drop of hand sanitizer. I'm pretty sure this has something to do with her thumb sucking and having tasted it on several occasions via her thumb. My nephew was also sick with pneumonia and unable to go outside. So, the plans for the sleepover were put on hold for two weeks. Summer is counting down the days. She loves, loves, loves, to spend time with her cousins. She also hoping there will be two extra grandbabies at this next sleepover. 2 adults vs. 5 kids -- the odds are great! I might have to join in on this sleepover if I can get permission. LOL

Despite the snow and being away from home, we managed to get through 4 more letters (g, h, i & j) this week. She got a new game, "Sorry," from Katie for Christmas. It is a lot of counting and she loves it so she has been working on her numbers too. Shows like Word World, Sesame Street and Super Why have also played a part in her educational growth this week. I love PBS channels and the quality shows they provide for kids. Sprout, Nick Jr. and Disney also provide some educational type shows, but I still don't let her watch just anything on them. The kids comedy/ soap opera like shows that come on are off limits. No Hannah Montana, iCarly, Wizards of Waverly Place, or The Suite Life in this house. Kids learn too much too fast in my opinion so I like to shelter mine when I can. I like shows that focus on positive values and behaviors rather than violence and negativity. Barney is the supreme master of them all around here. Summer was always a fan and now Lexie is too. At least there is one thing they can pretty much always agree on and that's Barney. Summer does like to watch something other than that, but if Barney is on and she walks into the room, chances are she's going to watch it.

I emailed two schools this week to see about setting up visits so we can finalize where Summer will be going. I've only heard back from one, but I think most schools were closed all week so I'm sure I will hear from the other this next week. The two we are looking at are Bright School and St. Peter's Episcopal School. But, we are not definitely set on either. I'll admit Summer's not the only one who's not looking forward to the school year ahead. But, she's growing up and that's what has to happen. I hope our campus tours give us a clear picture of what would best suit her. Okay, my nerves are starting to twitch. I must move on.

Snowed in

2011-01-12T10:55:00.001-05:00

It snowed as predicted Sunday night, and we awoke to a winter wonderland on Monday at Memaw's house. Sledding was first on the list after breakfast. The snow was so deep though, that it needed to be packed down before any good sledding happened. After lunch, we headed to the gorge with Clint, Josh, Amanda and her friend. The road had been plowed, but was still covered in snow and ice. It was a very fun and fast ride. Summer only went down it 2 or 3 times because she prefers the slower rides. After all of our toes and hands were freezing, we headed back to my mom's house. Over the next few days, we hung out and played games, watched cartoons, and played in the snow. We tried to build a snowman, but the snow was not good packing so it ended up being a snow castle. We couldn't find a flag, but Summer added trees to it with sticks. Scratch, one of their dogs, wanted to help, but she was only tearing it down. I think she might be the culprit who got the snowman we built in the last snow. Summer didn't seem to mind the cold outside as much as Lexie who was not a fan of walking in deep snow or wearing gloves which led to cold hands and short stays outside for her. We were all happy to see the snow and were not ready for it to end when it did. Clint came out and moved my car down the street on Wednesday so we could come home to him. It was sad to leave our winter wonderland where we were secluded and surrounded only by those we love.

In a way it was nice to be home and have the puppy pooping on a different floor. LOL She does pretty good using the pee pad for peeing, but pooping is hit or miss....mostly miss. Luckily, her poop is pretty small and solid so not too disgusting if you don't think about it and worry about germs too much. Summer really loves her dog. This morning she said again, that she was the best puppy and was so happy Santa found the perfect gift. Too bad her daddy hasn't found that affection yet. He did hold her yesterday which is a step in the right direction. Amanda even snapped a pic of the momentous occasion with her phone. But, then Trixie lost all her points again when she peed on our bed while he was watching TV in there. Oops! Summer loves to kiss her puppy, but is not too good about just letting the dog snuggle on her lap. It must be hugged and flopping/flying around in her arms. So far, the dog seems OK with everyone and I think she is really well socialized since she goes most places we go....even church a few times. She is getting really good at running and darting out of your hands too. I think maybe the kids want her more than she wants them sometimes which leads to a game of chase. She's pretty fast and wins most of the time until her hunter takes a slower approach at getting her.

Maybe today we will get in a little more sledding. Summer had gone once since we got back from my mom's. Yesterday, her daddy took her and she only went once. I'm guessing it was too fast of a ride. Cross your fingers for slow rides today so Summer can really enjoy the rest of the snow while we have it. She's already asked to go in the hot tub later and I'm a little iffy since she has some sort of virus. But, maybe we can work on her bubble blowing before her 3rd swim lesson tonight. I'm hoping she will play a dancing game with me on the Wii today. Usually, she won't play against me because I always win. Last time, she did tell me I cold play without the remote though. Her favorite song right now is "Earth Song" on the Michael Jackson game. She really rocks it out and it is so cute to watch her, but even more fun to dance along. Who knows what all the day will bring? Good times, I'm sure!

On the Agenda

2011-01-08T06:15:00.002-05:00

This week was a success workbook wise. Summer worked on lowercase letters a-f. She is still not overenthusiastic about repetitive writing of the same letter, but somehow we make it through it. The reading readiness book seems to be more fun for her. Right now we are working on ending and beginning sounds. I hope we will use her Tag system sometime over the weekend and work on short vowel sounds. But, she has a friend over so that might be asking too much. It is funny how when there is someone else here for her to play with I am chopped liver. Well, maybe not funny, but that's the way it is. I didn't even get to read her a bedtime story last night because her and Katie were finishing up crafting and she didn't ask when I told her I was going to bed. I'm sure they had their own stories though. Hopefully, she will not come down this morning saying "You're phone ringing. Hey, you're phone ringing...." Last time we had a sleepover with Katie and her cousins, they stayed up late listening to Katie's phone ringers and repeating the ones they really liked. I heard the one above again yesterday, and for some reason it is slightly annoying to me and makes me cringe. Maybe one day it will leave her memory, but I'm not going to count on it.

We've also worked on numbers up to 25. Now when we do dot-to-dot number pictures, I have her say the numbers out loud so she will associate the word with what the number actually looks like. I think it is helping her because she still doesn't really know above 10 just by looking at the numbers. She also had to count backwards from 10 on one of her math worksheets. These things seem small, but it is neat to see her learning them.

Her first swimming lessons were this week. To be honest, she was not looking forward to them --at all. She has a fear of going under the water because she doesn't want to get water in her nose. She doesn't like it at all apparently. I hope she will overcome this. To get her used to it, the teacher has them blow bubbles. First, with their mouth in water. Then, with mouth and nose. And last, with their eyebrows in the water. We may have to have a couple of practice sessions this weekend in the bath to even get the nose in there. I'm not going to count on eyebrows for sure. I could probably bribe her into doing it by letting her get in the hot tub. I hope she will just do it in the bath tub though. Maybe Lexie will jump aboard and blow some bubbles too. After her first class, she let me know that she was not excited that she had gotten water in her nose during class. But, other than that there were no complaints and I think she enjoyed the parts where her head was above water. At the beginning of the 2nd class, she looked more nervous than the first. I kept a smile on my face and a cheer in my body language to try to give her a little more confidence. She didn't complain after class and at the end even swam a little by herself -- head above water. The teacher was trying to get her to blow bubbles, but Summer insisted on doing it the hard way with her head above water. One day.....

Gymnastics also started back after a two week break for the holidays. She was very excited to go to her class. I'm glad she is enjoying it. When I watch her, I see her not doing some things and taking the easy way out. It is a good thing we are not in the room or I am sure I would find myself scolding her. Sometimes, it is just better to step back and let her get out of the class what she will. I'm glad I realized that because I could've very easily been one of those parents who yells across the gym at their kid to do better. Lexie thought she was ready to start back, but she did not make it through the whole class and was ready to just go watch Summer before it was over. Her attention span just isn't long enough for the whole 45 minutes yet. She did really good on the first station and was all gung-ho and leading the way. There are 4 stations at each class and they spend about 10 minutes on each one. On the 2nd station, she was ready to head over to where Summer was. I think she wants to be in Summer's class. Maybe then she would be able to stay on track the whole class, but she is not ready to do it without someone holding her hand and leading her yet. In Summer's class, she wouldn't have that.

Next week music is added to the mix. Summer and Lexie both love it and enjoy being in the same class. Summer has even learned to share my lap with Lexie without a fuss. In addition to all of the classes we have lined up, I'm sure we will still find time to go to their other favorite places -- the Creative Discovery Museum, Chuck E Cheese, playgrounds and ice cream shops. This week we went to the aquarium to check out the new octopus. We started at the end and went backwards which felt pretty weird the whole way. But, they really enjoyed the underwater viewing area a lot more than usual. I guess their attention span had not been depleted since it was the first stop on our visit. Afterwards, we went to the snack place across from the aquarium and we all three fell in love with their chili Frito thing that has cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, chives, chili and Frito's. I had initially gotten it for me, but Summer and Lexie ate at least half of it. They quickly set their brownies down when it got to the table. Summer said it was delicious, and I think Lexie agreed. They both like chili so I'm not surprised. We may also try to start going to story time at the library again. I know Summer used to enjoy it, especially the craft at the end. Not sure if it will be a firm commitment though since we already have so much on our plate. I sure am glad I get to spend my days with my little girl. I know it is truly a blessing to be able to do it, and I am thankful for every moment of it.

Happy New Year and Travels

2011-01-05T14:18:00.012-05:00

When Summer heard me wish someone that a day or so before the new year, she asked me why. It was cute, and I explained what it meant to her. She is always excited about holidays. They mean something exciting is bound to happen. I can't blame her though, it is fun to have special days in our lives. Not that every day isn't special, but some definitely seem more special than others.

We spent a few days in Gatlinburg to visit some of the attractions on her Give Kids the World Passport which will expire in March. It's hard to believe that it has been almost a year since her Make-A-Wish trip to Disney World. Time sure flies when you grow up. I remember as a kid thinking it all went by so slowly. Our first stop after lunch at Ruby Tuesdays and an energy kick from Starbucks, was Ripley's Old MacDonald Farm. I was surprised when we showed up and it was a putt-putt place, but it was all good, and free, so no complaints were heard from us. Summer did a pretty good job getting through the course. She was most excited about the ramps they build for the balls to go down and would drop her ball over and over again. There were a couple of holes like that. On one, her ball got wet because it goes through water. She wasn't too excited about that, but got over it when we moved on to the next hole. She really wanted to go back again on our trip, but the other course we could go to was closed until the weekend. Afterwards, we left through the arcade and had to cash in a few bucks for tokens. After her 8 tokens were gone, she was ready to cash her tickets in for a prize. Trixie went on a little potty break while she chose what she wanted. Oh yeah, we brought the new puppy along for the trip. She was snuggled up in the red purse I was wearing the whole game. It was definitely an experience wearing her around for two days. I'm not sure if she got motion sickness the first day, but she had some "issues" when we got back to the hotel room. Luckily, she was back to normal the next day so no worries there. She is snuggled up in my lap now. Oh what a cuddly thing she is! It is kind of sad, but I think she prefers me to Summer at least when it comes to snuggling. It must be that I don't fly her through the air or bounce her around the house all day. LOL Her intentions are good though and she knows she needs to be gentle with the puppy. She's much better than Lexie who, although she doesn't realize it, really puts the death grip on. Her playing with the puppy is definitely a situation that needs to be supervised!

Next, we headed into Gatlinburg to get a hotel room and see some more of the attractions included in her passport. Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum was a much greater hit than Ripley's Moving Theater, which neither Clint or Summer enjoyed. Trixie either for that matter. She woke up and climbed out of the purse. We all got off after the first movie - a sled ride. The theater spit snow/water at you along the way so it wasn't just the moving they disliked. Oh well, like I said, the museum made up for it. It was one of the best attractions Ripley's has in my opinion.We also went to their Mirror Maze and The Guinness Book of World Records (my least favorite). The mirror maze was fun for us all and one of Summer's favorite things. At least she said it was before we went to Ober Gatlinburg. Then we did so much there she said she couldn't decide, but that she liked everything we did on the trip. I'm sure she wasn't including the moving theater though. We also went to the Ripley's Aquarium which had some pretty cool things our hometown aquarium doesn't have. Summer really enjoyed it; I think we all did.

Once we got up the mountain via the tram, our first stop was the wildlife exhibit which had 3 black bears, 3 otters, some snakes, a snapping turtle, several species of owls, a gold eagle, a falcon that was blueish purple, fish, raccoons, lizards, skunks, and squirrels. Summer enjoyed watching the otters and turtles eat their lunch. We even saw lizards eating crickets. Next stop was the carousel. Then ice skating. Summer was a little wary going into it seeing as how she has never done it before. When she got her skates on, she wasn't feeling any better. She quickly realized that walking in them was not easy, nor was skating. But, before we got off the ice, she was a little more confident and could at least go a few feet without falling. It was rough on my back trying to keep her from falling by holding her hands, but it was worth it to help her out. Once she accidentally did a twirl, and she wanted to repeat it over and over. That was easier said than done though. Our ice adventure ended when she fell and hit her head. After that, we talked about how you have to practice and keep trying to learn things sometimes. I can't say she left there gung-ho on trying it again, but I'm sure in a few years she will get the hang of it if she tries. She actually has an upcoming skating party so we need to pull out her training skates and get to rolling.

After we refueled with pizza, burgers, fries and ice cream, we were on our way to the chair lift. Yes, she ordered ice cream as her main course, but she surprised me by eating a piece of my personal pan pizza. So, it was not a complete junk fest. Or, maybe it was. :) It was nice that we all three could ride the chair lift together. She rode in my lap which she may be too big to do next time. On the way up the mountain, we looked for things that people had dropped - flip flops, gloves, scarves, etc. It was pretty chilly and when we got to the top, and Summer finally agreed that gloves were a good idea. Her daddy and I were already on board with that one. We snapped a few shots and headed back down to the car where Trixie was waiting on us. She had wiggled her way out of her sweater which I've learned is no big surprise. Summer picked out two outfits for her while we were shopping to help keep her warm should we venture outdoors. Unfortunately, Trixie doesn't like them nearly as much as we do, but we'll work on that.

Happy New Year! Let's all toast to many safe travels for us in the year ahead!

"And the gift goes on..."

2010-12-29T08:50:00.002-05:00

Summer is snuggled up on the couch with Trixie learning about dinosaurs. She has been enjoying her Christmas presents. I think her favorite thing, besides the puppy, is her Leapster 2. She played it for hours the first day and almost ran the batteries down. We are definitely going to have to look into an adapter or rechargeable batteries if it continues to be a hit. I hope it will because the games she has are educational. She also got a Tag reading system which she likes. I'm glad I got one of the sets of 6 books that focuses on short vowel sounds. It will be easier for her to actually learn to read than with the Disney books which have a lot more words. She got a bit frustrated with the Tinkerbell book when she tried to get the pen to read each word. If you were lucky enough to have missed out on the commercials for it this holiday season, I'll explain how it works. There is a pen which reads each word as you move it over the words. It sounds them out phonetically and is actually a pretty cool invention. Anyways, she ended up pushing a button that had the narrator read the whole page rather than her doing it herself word by word. This mutes the point in my opinion, but she was still able to play a game on each page after hearing the story read to her. I hope she will learn to read before she goes to Kindergarten, and I think this may help her get there. I'll have to do my part in helping her too.

We really need to get into some sort of schedule with her workbooks. We've definitely been slacking this month. Of course, there are lessons to be learned in every day life, not just workbooks. But, writing and following directions is an especially important thing for her to learn right now before she goes to school next fall. She is starting swimming lessons in January. I really hope she gets on board with these and will learn to swim before we go to Florida in May. She's still going to be going to gymnastics and music too. We stay busy, busy around here. But, we only live once. So, we might as well try to do all we can to live it to the fullest!

The day after

2010-12-26T12:22:00.002-05:00

Well, Christmas has come and gone. Summer and I ended up spending the night with my mom last night, along with Summer's new best friend - Trixie. She didn't even open all of her Christmas presents yesterday morning. After two or three, she was over it and ready to spend the day with her new puppy. She's not too good at sharing it yet and always wants to be the one holding it. She's already been working on teaching her some tricks so that she can live up to her name. At first, she wanted to name her Pixie like our friend's chihuahua. Then when Trixie came up, it stuck.

Summer was not the first one up on Christmas morning. I was so excited, that I was up and down all night long. I finally gave up on sleeping and got ready for Summer to wake up. It didn't take her long to discover the puppy whining in the crate. Santa left it for Summer in her stocking which she told me she wanted Santa to fill, not me. On Christmas Eve, she helped me fill the rest of the stockings and specifically told me not to do hers. I guess it was a good thing since Santa had a special little puppy to go in it.

Not only did she get a great present from Santa, she also got a white Christmas. Our friend pulled us down the street behind his truck on the sled that Clint had bought the day before. We all got a turn and it was fun. But, the most fun was when we got to my mom's house and got to sled, make snowballs and build a snowman with her cousins. The snow was perfect for packing. Today when we went out, it was colder and better for sledding. Summer really hit it big this year because she told me last week or sometime it was going to snow on Christmas and I told her probably not. Guess she is a good forecaster!

On Christmas Eve, we picked up Josh, Amanda and Lexie and headed to my Grandad's farm for some exploring before our Christmas celebration with the Vice family. We saw chickens, cows and puppies. The horses were in a different part of the pasture and it was too cold to walk to them. Or, maybe we were just too lazy. We climbed up in the hay loft of one of the barns where the chickens hangout sometimes. There was a trap, not a cage as Summer quickly pointed out, for some kind of animal. Gumdrop went on this adventure with us too since he was supposed to go back to the North Pole on Christmas. However, Summer hid him under her covers and Santa forgot to pick him up. She was very happy about that. She isn't looking forward to his departure, but I've got a feeling it will be very soon.

4 days to Jesus' birthday

2010-12-21T17:18:00.003-05:00

The other day I asked Summer if she knew whose birthday was on Christmas and she said "No." I was surprised because the Christmas story is all about the birth of Jesus, but her mind never put the two together making Christmas Jesus' birthday. Even with the nativity scene decorations she put up, it didn't sink in. Before bed last night, we pulled out a book about the story of Jesus' birth that her Nona gave her a few years ago and read it last night with her cousins. They all listened and even chimed in certain information that was not in the book. For example, the fact that Mary and Joseph weren't married. And, that the wise men never really made it to the stable. Got to love kids and the things they remember being told.

Yesterday, Summer's cousins and my sister came up for lunch at Mellow Mushroom and then went to the Imax with us to see The Polar Express. We all enjoyed it. Summer started the movie in between her cousins, but did eventually crawl into my lap when it got "scary" to her. I love the fact that she still does that. Cuddly moments definitely rock in my book! When her cousins are here, she won't let me love on her or hold her too much like she normally does. If it were just Lexie here, she'd be all over it though. But, then they would both be fighting over my lap. After the movie, we headed down to the Discovery Museum. I couldn't see any reason to say no to their pleas to go there. Of course, each child wanted to do a different part of the museum. The girls did a good job staying together while I ran between them and Jonathan.

Not too long into the visit, they were all in ready to leave and head to the lake house so they could play the Wii. They did a good job entertaining each other and playing together all night and amazingly did not drive me anywhere near insanity like I had anticipated they might. Summer would not play against me on the Wii game Just Dance. She hates the fact that I always win, even when I try not to. Fortunately my niece had a better attitude and knows that it is just about having fun and not who wins and loses so I did get to play some. I really hope Summer will realize this before too long. There was a request to make cookies at one point which I granted. The chocolate chip cookies were swiftly eaten and then the kids rushed off to use up some of the energy they got from them. We finished off the evening with popcorn and a movie, "Santa Buddies," in my bed. Then I tucked them all in Summer's bed and waited for them to go to sleep. Let's just say that took forever and the two big kids scared Summer by being scared themselves to sleep in her room which she usually has no problem at all sleeping in by herself. Seemed kind of backwards to me, but I guess they heard some noises that spooked them. They finally all gave it up sometime around eleven and drifted off to sleep in time for the elf to run off to the North Pole to fetch them all surprises.

The kids woke up before me and searched for the elf. But, he was no where to be found so they sent Summer in my room to see if it was okay for them to be up and looking for the elf. This was after they had already done a full search. LOL After I was up for about five minutes, Summer finally discovered the elf and their presents in the fireplace. Silly elf was hiding. :) They were all happy to have a surprise, but only Summer played with hers right away. She got a Disney Princess scrunch art set, Leah got a metal puzzler game, and Jonathan got a box of magic tricks. Clint was surprised the kids all got gifts from the elf and is so jealous that he says the elf better bring him something tomorrow. What a big kid he is! We've actually got one more kid tonight, so I hope the elf is prepared to bring 4 gifts in the morning.

Now, if only I can get these kids in the bed. They've been playing the Wii all evening long and should be just about ready to pass out. I bet it will take at least an hour for them to wind down once in bed though. You know how sleepovers go.....

A family tradition

2010-12-16T07:44:00.002-05:00

This week we made our annual trip to the Opryland Hotel to enjoy the Christmas festivities it offers. Gumdrop, our elf, came along for the fun. Summer has enjoyed swimming in the pool and hot tub, although Gumdrop and Teddy didn't get to do those activities. The horse drawn carriage ride around the hotel was very cold, but one that could not be skipped. Summer and Lexie both enjoyed petting the horses afterwards, followed by a trip to the outdoor nativity. It is truly beautiful and this was the first year we actually walked up to it. Last year, we just viewed it from our carriage and then hurried back inside to beat the cold. Not that it wasn't cold this year, but this is the first time Summer had the interest to walk up to it. Lexie definitely wanted to go see baby Jesus. It is so cute the way she says "baby Jesus" whenever she sees a nativity. I actually bought her a small snow globe last night with the nativity scene in it, knowing good and well it would probably get broken. It did, within the first five minutes. Oh well, I'll get all the glass out and let her play with it then. When Summer saw the snow globe, she was jealous and wanted something for herself. I tried reminding her of the 3 ornaments she had already gotten on this trip, but that didn't calm her any. I didn't cave though seeing that she needs to learn that she doesn't always have to get something when someone else does.

Summer really enjoyed walking through the enormous hotel and seeing all the decorations they have. At night, they have a fountain that puts on a show while you listen to Christmas music. She really liked it and got to enjoy it both nights of our stay. She also enjoyed the trip through the ICE exhibit which was themed "Santa Claus is Coming to Town." We got lucky because we watched that movie last week so she was familiar with the characters. Lexie, however, did not enjoy the coldness of the exhibit and refused to get out of the stroller the whole time. She cried when we tried to get her to go down the slides they have in there, but I think it was just because her hands were freezing. It was cold in there, below 10 degrees and possibly below zero. We were bundled up, but her gloves just weren't enough to keep her hands from being cold. The fact that Clint picked some icicles off of the hotel on the way there and gave them to the girls to eat probably didn't help because her gloves were a little damp when we got there. Oh well, they sure did enjoy the icicles. The SNOW exhibit, where you play in the snow, go through a snow maze, see live reindeer, make snow angels and throw snowballs, was something Summer was really looking forward to, but it didn't open until 6 p.m. so we didn't get to do it. Hopefully, she won't remember on our way out today because I know she will be bummed to know she isn't going to get to do it. Maybe next year.

Last night, after a second trip to the train which both girls loved, we toured the craft show. Amazingly enough, we left there empty handed. We then made our way to dinner which was followed by watching the Rockabilly Christmas singers and dancers. It, too, was a hit with both girls. We danced like crazy, although no one else was. Earlier in the day when I mentioned going to the show, Summer said we were going to "break it down." I guess she gets that from me. :)

Although Summer was not the nicest on Tuesday (I thought for sure she should be on the naughty list), she woke up Wednesday morning to another surprise from the elf. She got a kids charades game which she really enjoyed playing. She caught on very quickly and I can tell it is something we will definitely enjoy as a family. He brought Lexie something too -- a book called "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear." She loved it, just as she does most any book. Today when she wakes up, her elf has left her a movie about dogs. A Benji movie I think. Lexie will get a Christmas book. Both girls will be delighted I'm sure. Summer tries to take the elf where ever we go because she said he likes adventures. I hope she doesn't wear him out on his stay, but he will be off to the North Pole again on Christmas Eve so it's good she is dragging him along where ever we go. It is cool to see her believe in the magic and I can only hope it lasts for years to come.

The elf is back

2010-12-14T06:41:00.003-05:00

Summer was super happy to see her elf, Gumdrop, yesterday. So much so, she did not even noticed the present he was sitting on. She was more worried about feeding him a jelly bean, which is his favorite food. Last night he got to listen to the bedtime story with us, but she would not let him sleep with her for fear he might take her to the North Pole in the middle of the night. I guess I shouldn't have told her she wasn't allowed to go with him if he asked her. LOL She really liked the spiral stencil art kit he brought her. She is worried he won't bring her a gift tonight when we are in Nashville, but I don't think she has anything to worry about. :)

Yesterday, when I got home from my weekend escape with my best buddy, she was so excited to see me. She hugged and hugged me. It was very sweet and made my heart melt yet again. I had thought we would make a gingerbread village with her friend Willow, but she preferred to play in the snow with me. It is pretty crazy we already have snow here. I don't remember ever having it before Christmas, but maybe we did when I was a kid. Let's hope this snowing in Chattanooga thing stays for the years to come because she really loves it. We got to sled on the new sleds her Memaw and Nanny bought. We had a few snowball fights. She probably could've stayed out there much longer than we did, but my gloves got wet and my hands were getting cold. It was fun though and I wouldn't have traded those special moments together for anything else in the world. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful little girl.

No more spots!

2010-12-09T16:10:00.002-05:00

Summer's CT scan this morning showed that the spots they saw a few weeks ago have disappeared. It was long morning for me, and when I finally saw the Dr. my nerves were getting the better of me. He checked the results on the computer and came over to me smiling. I knew then we were in the clear. He called it our "Christmas miracle" and it truly was. He already had me prepared to do it all over again and the relief of knowing we don't have to was overwhelming. It wasn't until then that I think Summer knew something could have seriously been wrong with her. Of course, I didn't go into all the details, and she didn't ask too much so it was win-win all the way around. Anyways, time to breathe again and with a happy heart!

22 days and counting

2010-12-03T09:09:00.002-05:00

Summer changed the Christmas countdown calendar to 22 days this morning. She is ready for her elf to get here. He won't be here until there are only 12 days until Christmas left. Lucky for us, she didn't get one of those mischievous elves. We surely don't need any extra messes around here anyway. Her elf brings her a gift everyday for 12 days. I know she is going to be very excited to see him. She's already told me we need to get some more jellybeans for him. He eats them everyday. Well, really she will eat them, but we pretend they are for him. Her friend Gavin, who she had a play date with the other day, has already got his elf for the season. She got to hear about some of his antics when they were decorating gingerbread pops last weekend. I think the kids loved eating the cookies and icing the best, but they also had fun putting the little candies on the cookies. Yesterday, Summer and my dad decorated a gingerbread house. They did a great job, and it looks great on our counter top.

We have been decorating all week it seems like. Monday we decorated the condo. Tuesday we did the trees at the lake house. Yesterday, she was asking to do more decorating, but we are all out of ornaments to go on the tree, well almost. ;) Maybe we will hang more lights around the house or make a few more things to go on the tree. Nothing spells fun like homemade ornaments. :) The sand dollars we found in Tybee have almost all been painted and are hanging on the tree. She really enjoyed painting those although hers are painted with a single color and then gone over with a glitter paint. Nothing too artsy, but there are still a few left to do.

There are 6 days until her next CT. It's next Thursday for all you non-counters. I am not too anxious about it, but I'd be lying if I said that I don't think about it and worry at times. It's like her life is on the line. And, that sucks! Parents should never have to have these thoughts about their kids. But, they do. Every day. I know I am not alone. There are so many sick and hurt people in the world today, but it's just part of life. Although it is not always easy, the best thing to do is to accept what you get and make the best of it. And, that's what we do.

MRI is clear!!!

2010-11-29T21:05:00.003-05:00

After waiting all weekend, I called the Dr. today to find out the MRI results. I was so happy to get a call back with good news. They called Summer in a prescription since she is still coughing which will hopefully clear up the spots if they are infection. I don't think she really had any idea about the spots until bedtime tonight. She was complaining about how bad the medicine they gave her tastes and how she is not going to take it again. I told her she was going to take it 4 more times so hopefully the spots would go away. "What spots?" she replied. I didn't go into details and never mentioned the awful "C" word. But, I did tell her it was for her cough when she said she would cough a lot if she had to take it again. LOL

Today she had her 2nd dentist appointment. She did not want to go, but she did great once she got there. Her teeth still look good. They will do x-rays next time to check for in between the teeth cavities. I doubt she will have any though since she is a pretty good brusher.

This afternoon we watched Christmas movies and made some reindeer ornaments at her request. How lucky she was that I had already found some to make in a Christmas craft book!?! Tomorrow we are going to decorate our big tree. She also is going to decorate her new white tree and has said she is going to let Lexie help her. She has come a long way when it comes to Lexie. She used to be jealous, but now she is used to her and even misses her when she is not here. When Lexie came home with Clint tonight, she ran up to her and gave her a hug. It was sweet. I'm not saying she will let Lexie play with everything of hers, but she is doing better.

Well, she wants to go to bed with me so I will sign off. She told me I can blog tomorrow. :) Sweet dreams everyone!

MRI Jitters

2010-11-23T08:54:00.003-05:00

Well, my stomach is in a thousand knots this morning. Summer is on the couch watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and complaining of hunger. I really didn't expect it to start this early, but it is almost 9 a.m. We stayed up late last night and I got her to eat around 10:30 so that maybe she wouldn't wake up hungry. Unfortunately, that did not happen. "I can't not eat. I'm going to eat. I have to eat." Yep, that's what she just walked in here and told me. First, she asked me what time her scan was and I told her not for 2 1/2 more hours. This is not going to be a fun day. "If I don't eat, then I'll die. I need to eat right now." Oh my. I don't think I'll be repeating this appointment time for an MRI. I'll just have to insist on earlier next time.

Yesterday, we spent the whole day together which really isn't unusual. I had planned on going for a bike ride, but the tires on my bike were flat. Just my luck (at least lately). So instead, she rode her bike around the garage. She and her daddy raced from one end to the other. Then we headed to the dollar store and post office to fill and send a package to our chemo patient (we are chemo angels). Summer picked a reindeer decoration for the lady. Of course, she just had to have a snowflake globe that had a light up nativity in it for her self. She still has not perfected the art of just giving, but I'm trying to help her. We made some ornaments for a Christmas present, and she had to have two for herself. We made candle/pen holders which luckily she didn't put up a fight about giving away. She really enjoyed doing the crafts and I hope we will do lots more in the weeks ahead. We also watched some Christmas movies and Miley Cyrus's new movie "The Last Song." I don't know if she understood it (the dad dies of cancer), but it hit a little close to home in my book. It was still a good movie though and Summer and I just sang the song at the end of the movie together. I guess it's a good thing we both have some Miley on our Ipods.

Limbo land

2010-11-22T07:43:00.005-05:00

It really does feel like we are slipping and sliding right now. Our feet have been knocked out from under us and we are in for some sort of ride. Dr. Gratias called on Saturday to say that her CT scan showed something in the lungs. While they are not certain it is cancer, it is a big possibility. My heart was broken all over again at the thought of more suffering for her. Another surgery. More hospital stays. More chemotherapy. More radiation. Of course that lovely hair she has been growing for the past year, which she wants to be longer than it is, would fall out. When she was 2 it was no big deal, but now at age 4 it might be. She doesn't know. Or if she does, she hasn't said anything. At church yesterday, as we were surrounded by those who love us, there were some tears shed. Memaw, Nanny and myself were tearing up all through the beautiful Thanksgiving music service too. But, she never said anything. She's smart though so I'm sure she knows something is up with somebody. I want to wait until we know for sure though to bring the blow down on her. That doesn't even sound right. I should never have to do that. But, if it is cancer, it will be ~~fight~~ war.

There is hope though. It's like a ray of light shining through the dark clouds. We got copies of the last two CT scans and took them to our neighbor who does Clint's scans. His first impressionwas not cancer. However, he is not familiar with the Rhabdoid tumor that Summer was diagnosed with. Two other doctors, who are familiar with it, told Dr. Gratias that they were concerned so he sent a copy of her CT scans to Chicago. That doctor should be getting it today. Our neighbor said he would not rule out infection and would definitely want a biopsy if it was up to him. So, now I am hoping for a fungus or something. Anything, but cancer!!!

Summer has an MRI of the brain tomorrow. On Wednesday, we should have a clearer picture of what is really going on with her. For now, we wait and pray.

"Slip and slide watch me glide!"

2010-11-15T07:31:00.005-05:00

Yesterday, while looking for a thermometer, we found a penguin that should've been in the bathtub. I'm not sure how it ended up in the end table in the living room, but it was crammed into the back of the catch all drawer aka "junk drawer." We must love those around here. LOL So, she transported it to the bathtub for future use which just so happened to be this morning. She also showed off her super slip and slide skills. Ouch!! I remember when I used to slide down the back of the tub and what fun it was. We even soaped it up to get extra speed. Of course, I didn't mention that to her. I can't even imagine it being remotely fun now; more like painful. But, she was having the time of her life, splashing down into the water. She even made up a few different slides which were really all basically the same but with new words.

Speaking of the thermometer, she had a slight fever yesterday morning which got up to about 100.5. Her Memaw medicated her with grape-bubblegum flavored Ibuprofen (a mix) which she did not put up a fuss about. Grape absolutely has to be the best flavor invented for medicine. When I was a kid, it was the orange Triaminic and baby aspirin flavors that I liked best. I don't understand the awful cherry kind though. Do some kids actually enjoy it? Her fever went down and only went up to 99.2 later in the day. She mostly laid around all morning watching TV with me and Lexie. Her first pic was "Frosty the Snowman." Lexie got the next few pics with various Barney movies. I am so glad Summer still enjoys him too. He is so wholesome and also educational. Plus, I know all the songs. LOL Later in the day, I chose the movie "Elf" since it is one of my favorite Christmas movies. Summer enjoyed it too. She has not mentioned decorating for Christmas again, so we may actually hold off until after Thanksgiving this year. That is, unless I find the perfect tree while out shopping one day.

The home-preschooling is going good. She usually always likes to work in her workbooks. She even asked to do that first thing this morning, but then decided a bath with the newly found toy would be more fun. She is getting dressed now which she usually always does by herself. Sometimes she will ask me to help her, but she almost always picks out her own clothes. She definitely has a style of her own. She absolutely loves to stand on her toy box and dig through all the clothes in the closet which are usually new or dresses. She always manages to find the ones I hang in the back that are too big or off season. I'm never surprised when I see her walk out of her room in a dress that won't actually fit for a year or two. She wears a 5 or 6, but sometimes will even wear a 7/8. It's my fault though. I love to shop ahead and usually buy all of her clothes on clearance or at consignment sales. I guess that's one reason I don't care if she has too many because they are all so cheap! I've already got swimsuits for next year and gymnastics leotards for a few years to come. And shoes--too many too count!!!!!!!!!

Well, the school bell is ringing. I don't want to be late. :D

Eat and learn

2010-11-08T09:28:00.003-05:00

Today's lessons went over pretty well. She didn't want to do her lowercase letter workbook where she traced j's and f's because she said she already knew how to write them. What she didn't realize was that she was also learning to read words by doing the assignment. I only had to threaten to put her into a real 5 day preschool once to get her to stop complaining. Hopefully, I won't do that many more times. I don't like to do it, but sometimes words come out before we really think about them, don't they? I do usually try to stick to whatever I say even if the consequence might be a little more harsh than necessary. I truly believe it is important that kids believe you mean what you say or else they won't respect much you say at all. She loved the Blues Clues workbook, as usual. I think she just really likes the little decoder things that let you know if you got it right, but whatever works for her works for me. She wrote the answers (numbers) correctly without any help or direction from me. I guess it was a good thing they didn't ask for a 7 or 4 because when I did, she tried and thought she could write them (Yay for her believing in herself!), but could not. It is neat to see where she is at and what she knows and still has to learn. She also breezed through a few mazes in her big maze book.

For breakfast, Summer made muffins. She has made them several times this past week and it seems they are breakfast of choice for her at this time. She likes the wild berry flavor. She hasn't eaten turkey and cheese in a while. I think it is funny how we all (at least me and her) go through cycles of what we eat for certain meals and then just stop eating them pretty much altogether. She and I both love to eat regular foods for breakfast - chili, noodles, grilled cheese sandwiches. Her favorite food right now is probably steak and potatoes. She also likes pasta of any sort, but I think her favorite sauce right now is alfredo. Her restaurants of choice are probably Longhorn then Olive Garden. She's definitely got some spoiled taste buds.

Well, she is aching to get to the mall so off we go.

Home school

2010-11-02T16:25:00.003-04:00

This morning Summer did her schoolwork without a fuss. She did some scissor sheets and painted by numbers. Yesterday, on the other hand, was not pretty. I'm not sure if I waited too late in the day to start the lesson I planned, but it is possible her brain was too tired at that point (around lunch time). She practiced the lowercase letter "e" for the second time and for some reason she had it stuck in her head that she "can't" do it. Despite me reassuring her that she could if she tried, she protested and refused to follow my directions or the direction of the arrows on the paper. I hope F is a better letter for us. So far, she hasn't put up any resistance to writing A, B, C, D, 1 & 2. With 3 there was a little self-doubt too, but we overcame it without a standoff. I sent her to take a nap yesterday when she refused to try. After about 10 or 15 minutes of laying in bed, she decided she would try, but not wholeheartedly. I'm going to have my hands full if she continues with the self-doubt, or unwillingness to try things she doesn't want or think she can do. Maybe I will be able to maintain the patience necessary to teach her successfully. Lord willing anyway. We have over 10 preschool books to work through together so that she will be prepared for school next year. Usually she loves doing them and I hope that continues in the months ahead. I think the key may be in timing and making sure she is not too tired when we work through them. Despite the frustration that can accompany teaching a young one new things, I am very happy to be the one doing it. I love to see her learning and growing. I love having her with me everyday. And, she loves it too!

Last day of preschool

2010-10-26T12:13:00.003-04:00

Our household could not be more happy about this day. No more notes, no more books, no more teacher's dirty looks. LOL Well, the note part is correct. Last night when we went to bed, Summer was already saying that there was something wrong with her and if it wasn't better, she shouldn't go to school. She also mentioned the fact that she doesn't learn anything again which I'm certain is not completely true. But, she does do more hands on things at home when we are having "fun." I know life can't always be fun. But, if I can make it fun, I'm going to. Anyway, she did not invent any illnesses this morning. She did say she needed a nap on the way to school. I seriously doubt she will still be wanting to nap when I pick her up from school though. We'll definitely be finding something fun to do if she has anything to say about it. It would be nice to spend the evening at home though since the rest of our week is booked solid.

Yesterday, we went to a Halloween party put on the by Candelighters. Summer decided we should be fairies. Lucky for her, I had the costume. She did donate one of her tiaras which I wasn't entirely excited about, but I was a good sport and even wore the floppy wings. Summer herself was Tinkerbelle and sported her tiara with pride and only slightly above her eyes. And, of course, we had some pretty shoes to top off our outfits. Summer decorated two pumpkins with stick on faces - a cat and a vampire. She also decorated a bag that she later trick-or-treated with. When I asked her what she drew, she said it was "abstract." I love this girl! After we ate pizza, cupcakes and cookies, it was time for the kids to get a present to take to their mother. That was sweet and we scored a Christmas blanket. It is already on the couch. Summer actually used it last night while watching the Bernstein Bears and eating her bedtime snack - turkey.

At the party, the kids got to trick-or-treat in one of the church hallways. Boy did she score big! There were only like 6 doorways in the hall that the kids trick-or-treated at, but her bag weighed about 5 pounds when she finished. Before bed, she had to go through all her candy and pick out her favorites. They were Tootsie Rolls, Laffy Taffy & a banana Tootsie Roll Pop. She didn't pick any chocolate!!! Guess who got all the Twix. :D She gave her dad all the rest of the Tootsie Roll Pops. And, Lexie is getting the Reeses Cups. I'm not sure we will even need to trick-or-treat by the end of the week. We're going to the zoo on Thursday which will probably bring in more candy. I wonder what costumes we will end up wearing. Summer has mentioned Barney, and I think Lexie may be a bumblebee. Tomorrow is Disney on Ice and the girls will be dressing as princesses. I hope I can get them into a different dress than they wore to the Monster Bash, but some minds can't be changed.

The sweetest girl

2010-10-22T09:02:00.004-04:00

Summer has been asking all week if she was going to get to go to my birthday party. She doesn't understand yet that adults don't always have actual birthday parties filled with fun activities. So, of course, I could not disappoint her by not having one and inviting her. When I told her to get dressed yesterday morning, she ran to find the perfect outfit for my birthday. I was surprised by her choice, but she, as usual, looked beautiful. When I first bought the dress, she didn't like it. But, I guess with time her taste has changed.

We had some fun jumping in an inflatable. No, 33 is not too old for that!

She wanted to pose on the cow furniture.

The main event was at Las Margaritas. Summer and Lexie ate two things of cheese dip. Summer gave Memaw the thumbs up on getting me a cake. However, instead of eating it, she mixed it and a cupcake up into a colorful, mushy mess.

The card my mom picked out from Summer was so sweet and really meant a lot to me. It made me feel like I am doing a great job parenting her. It could've only been more special if Summer picked it herself, but she can't read yet. She did sign it and drew a few hearts on it. I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful daughter who didn't want to miss a bit of my birthday. Today, she wanted to make some muffins and was going to do it by herself since it is my birthday. Looks like I could milk this one for a long time with her.

Go, go, go!

2010-10-19T08:53:00.008-04:00

We've definitely got the "go-go" around here. It seems our days are all filled with fun activities of some sort. We've definitely gotten good use of our aquarium membership over the past few years. I think this is the first time Summer has actually pet a sting ray though.

The butterflies are always one exhibit Summer doesn't want to miss. She tries and tries to catch a butterfly. Lucky for her, one day there was a man assisting people in holding a butterfly. He let Lexie and Summer both have a turn. They loved it.

Of course, my noodle would've loved to hold it all day!

On Sunday after church, we went to the Autumn Festival at the Nature Center. There were lots of games for the kids to play, each one with candy for prizes. After they played them all, we went on a nice hay ride through Reflection Riding. It was beautiful. The girls were most excited about the horse rides though. Lexie kept asking for them the entire ride. So, after our ride, we made our way to the horses. Then it was time for inflatables and then a Fun House (which was a little spooky for kids). There was a marshmallow roast and we all tried some smores. They were very messy and sticky, and I think everyone would've just preferred plain roasted marshmallows. Next was story time at the big tree house that was decorated with huge spiders. The girls both got bunnies at the face painting station. Lexie got hers on her belly though since she was shirtless due to a water spill. Summer picked out a wolf design for our pumpkin. My mom and I carved it while the girls watched the magic show. It was a pretty awesome festival and not too crowded which made it even more enjoyable.

On Saturday, we went to the playground down by the river boat. That always lots of fun for them.

Yesterday, we went to the Discovery Museum with our best buddies. Summer stopped at the face painting place, as usual, and painted herself a cat face, as usual. She did not want to play in the water part one bit and would not join her friends while they did. She did however play in the playground type area above it. I, for once, did not have to climb up and join her. Not that it isn't fun, but it wasn't really made for adult sized people. The slide is not too small for me though. When we went a few weeks ago, I got to go down it with Lexie and Summer. One of her other favorite parts of the museum right now is the outdoor discovery area they have. On our way out, we grabbed a few books. She was really excited about "Alexander Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday." One of her favorite books that we have at home is "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." I don't think she enjoyed the new one as much when we read it last night. Recently, she has gotten into a new bedtime book routine. She will pick a set of books that came together, and we read one book each night. Right now we are on the Angels on Assignment series. Before that, we read a Disney Princess series. We were missing the Sleeping Beauty book though and Summer, of course, noticed that. She's so perceptive and still amazes me every day with some of her insights.

On Saturday, Summer, Lexie and I attended the Monster Bash at the Discovery Museum.

We were all dressed as royalty.They loved the sour apples that we got while waiting to go in.They made glow in the dark painting. Summer stuck to using the brush, but Lexie used her fingers too.

Yesterday afternoon, we headed to my Grandad's farm. When we got there, the first thing she wanted to do was to see the puppies. She picked several of them up and posed for the camera.

Then we made our way down to where I can remember playing in the woods with my sister and cousins. I built a fort and she swept or "broomed" all the leaves out of it. She told me she was having a great time which made it even more of a satisfying experience.

She could not wait to get in the barns to climb on the hay. The first barn we got to where I used to play as a child (then it was the 2nd barn, now it is the 1st), the hayloft was completely full so we couldn't go in it. But, she still explored all the parts of the barn that were not full of hay. There was one donkey (or mule?) in it and we pet it for a minute or so. In the next barn, the hay loft had a little room to play/climb in. She went all the way to the top!On the way back to the house to quench our thirst, we came across this horse.And, also this donkey (mule?). We pet them and she commented that she thought they liked it because they probably don't get pet much. As we walked up to the house, she told me that my grandad had the best farm. She said she wished we had a farm at our house in Soddy. LOL I've always wanted to live on my grandad's farm, but I'm sure it will never become a reality. I married a city boy.

Pirates at the beach

2010-10-15T08:54:00.006-04:00

Last week we went Tybee Island with our best buddies and best babysitters. It was so much fun. Summer actually loved the ocean for the first time. It probably helped that Willow was running right up to the incoming waves. The waves were pretty huge though so the girls did not really go out in the ocean. One day, we did get Summer to go out and jump the waves before they crashed. She had a great time out there with her Memaw and Nanny. I was so proud of her which really isn't uncommon anyway. The girls played in the sand. Summer built a mound and stuck some sticks and feathers in it. We also made a little sand castle with the our beach toy supplies. The water in the pool was pretty cool, but the kids had fun in it. There were little squabbles over floats which Summer tried to mediate. It was neat to see her trying to accomodate everyone and keep the peace. In the mornings, she and I walked on the beach to collect shells and watch the sunrise. She wanted to find big shells which didn't happen until the last morning. We did find lots of sand dollars and other beautiful shells. She wasn't too big on picking up the normal looking shells that were "everywhere." Instead, she prefered the multicolored pieces of shells. She kept talking about the art she was going to make with them. She plans on keeping some for our family and selling some. I wonder if she really may be a great artist one day.

The girls dressed up as pirates for the pirate festival. Summer's costume was completly adorable. I don't think she could've looked more precious. Summer spotted a booth selling rings at the festival and wanted one. I couldn't say no. She picked one that is similar to my wedding ring which made me glad I decided to let her have one. I guess she wants to be like me. I wonder how long that will last.

The island has an awesome playground and one morning we took all 5 kids. The girls really loved the seesaw. I even took a turn on it and enjoyed it too. I guess I'll never grow up, at least as long as I have kids to keep me young.

A recap of the past week in pictures

2010-10-06T08:24:00.011-04:00

This is a cat (which she decided looks more like a dog) that she made out of her Memaw's old business cards. The silver heart on a ring is the collar.

Summer is watching The Lion King in her footed pajamas. She looks so adorable in them. They are from last year, so I'm surprised they still fit her. I had to leave the room because I was repeating every word and I'm sure that could be annoying even to a 4 year old. Yesterday, this is the shirt she wanted to wear (almost verbatim): It is pink with bumpy short sleeves with a white kitty cat. Pink collar with a heart that's red. Pink in ears and white around them. For the life of me, I can't remember, or find, the shirt she is talking about. I figure she has outgrown it and it is in a "too little" box. Speaking of the Lion King, she was going to put on a play with her dolls that she won from a prize drawing from last year's Autumn Children's Festival. It finally happened last night. It took her one whole day to set up the audience. Well, not the whole day, but my living room looked like a stuffed animal bin threw up all over it for two days. This morning we packed them all up, except for the Lion King animals, and sent them back to her room. There are still blankets galore everywhere, but I can deal with those as long as she is playing with them. I still think she thinks that this is a scary movie. We went to see Alpha and Omega yesterday. I had originally planned to take her to see Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, but when I mentioned it she said that her cousin Jonathan told her that people got killed in it so she did not want to see it. Well, I'm not sure that is true, but I don't particularly like to watch people die either (even though most of it is not real in the first place). So, I found another movie that I thought she would enjoy. It was cute. There were a few violent parts when the wolf packs almost fight that she thought were a little scary. But, overall we laughed and left with smiles on our faces, howling as we walked through the theater. It was kind of cool because we were the only people in the movie so we could howl throughout if we wanted. Not that I did (or didn't).

After the movie, we picked up Lexie. We all wanted sushi for dinner and Summer insisted we eat there. She took Unice her unicorn pillow pet in her baby stroller. Lexie strolled with Lolli. The girls both loved the soup and salad and chicken teriyaki. There were no leftovers.

Peek-a-boo

Gymnastics is one of the highlights of Summer's weeks. She is never too sick to go and always has fun.

The girls got their nails painted at the salon. They enjoyed picking their own colors. Summer waited patiently for her nails to be done, but Lexie was ready right away. The problem was she wanted to do it herself. But, once she figured out that wasn't going to happen she gave up and crawled in and out of my lap while I was getting a pedicure. They were both happy with the finished product and posed over and over for the camera.

I love this Halloween outfit and Summer does too. She has worn it several times in the past few weeks.

Summer and Lexie both wanted to wear princess high heels to church.

Summer was a big help with the bake sale goodies.

The art/craft activities were a favorite at the festival this weekend.

The enjoyed petting the animals too and did not even put up a fuss about using Germ-X.

She tried and tried to catch the chickens.

Lexie and Summer went down headfirst.

Is she thinking, what happened to my nap? Or, just focusing on holding on?

Summer enjoyed the ride too.

Having fun even in line!

She's ready for music class. I love the boots she picked to wear too!

Lexie picked out her own clothes too.

Discovery Museum was a hit.

You have to pet the hissing cockroaches unless your name is Lexie.