Life

My computer is dead and I haven't lugged it to the Geek Squad for help. So needless to say its been very hard to blog.

Today Rocco asked me how many days til Christmas and I told him 50. Then it hit me.. That's not a whole lot of time. I somehow have to find some significant gifts for my four and decide if I should wait til January 1st to send a New Years/Christmas Card. Each year my list gets smaller and I will probably send out about 20 cards-if that. And that completely fine with me.

We went to the mall today and the pointsettas and garland was everywhere- and I mean everywhere. I can not stand the crowds at holiday time so my plan is to get everything done before Thanksgiving.

I am proud to report that Dolly's potty training is going well. She is taking herself to the potty-even to poop. If she keeps it up she might even get a potty party. (a party to celebrate the end of pull ups, diapers, diaper cream, and diaper bags. And me, her mom going back to a small little diva purse).

It's been too long since my last post. Life has been happening full steam ahead. Besides that my computer is dead and I haven't had the Geek Squad look at it yet. Its painful to talk about since all of my priceless pictures and heartfelt treasures are up there.

The life lessons that I have been learning since I fell off the blogosphere is that Faith is not a feeling; If you have kids your faith in God-or who ever you believe will be stretched and tested, and if Jesus Christ is your Lord, then He will come and save you and answer you. If your faith is in something else or someone else, you may be disappointed.

They saved the day.

Yesterday evening two little people, a 4 year old and a 2 1/2 year old came to me when I was sitting at my desk and asked with big smiles on their faces, "Are there any chores we can do for you?" Clearly they were coached and I figured something must be up. Soon after, I was given an invitation for a Party in my bedroom but, I was told it wasn't time and NOT to go in my bedroom. So I went back to what I was doing and when the house got mysteriously quiet, I went up stairs. The lights were off in my room but, as soon as I got in the doorway, all of my little people shouted, "Surprise!!!!". Cookie then passed me a CD to put into my player and Dolly, Rocco, and Noahkeem started break dancing. This was absolutely hilarious!

There were 2 envelopes on my bed one for me and one for Big D. Inside them there were love notes from all 4 of the children. They even gave us a paper chain that they made! It was the best surprise all day!!! We danced and laughed and acted like complete bobble heads and then I headed to the gym and they headed down the hall for baths. The "party" erased away all of the mundane annoyances of the day and I walked over 3 miles on the treadmill to boot!

Low tolerance

I don't know what is worse, a cold in the summer or when my level of tolerance is quickly declining. As a child, I used to think that adults had it all together and they were to be admired but, now that I am one, I realize my childhood ideals were so wrong. Either or this post calls for a list:

Things that confirm that most adults have not grown up:

1. A person flips you the bird after they cut you off and almost cause an accident.
2. Adults who still try to convince you that they know so much more than you because they feel their old age equates more experience and not because they are self absorbed or not self-aware.
3. They feel a sense of competition and intimidation if they weren't the ones who came up with your idea, dream or vision, instead of support all they can offer is...uh...nothing.
4. If you are "real" with your feelings they assume you are manic or depressed.
5. If you buck tradition and create your own or just plain do things your way, they get offended like you committed a crime.

Am I venting? Maybe.

She can Breathe Again.

A year and a half ago, Cookie would come inside from playing wheezing and gasping for air. She couldn't breathe. I had no idea what was going on or how to help her. It was scary and as her mother, I felt helpless. Soon after that, she was diagnosed with Asthma and we were thrust into a world of inhalers, albuterol, peek flow meters and medicine. It was all encompassing and so overwhelming since I had no one in my family that had asthma. Watching my daughter suffer and not being able to breathe prior to her diagnosis, cause me to determine that "I would not let asthma ruin her life!" So we continued allowing her to participate in Karate and other activities and just monitored her breathing. Over the course of the year I armed myself with knowledge about pediatric asthma and read and read as much as I could about it from trusted sources. And even though it was inconvenient at times, I made sure she took her controller medicine and gave her her rescue inhaler when she needed it. I have to say during her last doctor's visit, her doctor indicated that she has recovered a lot of her lung function and her lungs have improved since this time last year. So I encourage you to take your medicine, even if it appears as though your asthma is under control and you no longer need it-until you get confirmation from your doctor that it is no longer necessary. Cookie also decided after her diagnoses, that she wanted to participate in a walk-a-thon. We then went on a letter writing campaign to friends and family to raise donations. We even had a few lemonade stands this summer to help raise money. It is such an honor and privilege to partner with the American Lung Association to raise community awareness and funds to help Cookie and so many others like her fight lung disease one breath at a time.