Thanksgiving

My cousin asked us to share this morning in church what we were thankful for. This is what I shared.



I am thankful for:



* The privilege to be a mother to 5 of the most amazing people God created.



* The honor of being David's wife.



* The blessing God gave me when he chose my parents.



* The advantage of being a baby sister.



* The fellowship of my church family.



* The freedom that comes from forgiveness and healing.



* The joy that comes from being able to laugh at myself.



* The excitement that each new day brings.



* The opportunity to serve others.



* The wisdom that comes from the difficult times.



* The treasure of special friendships.



* The comfort of being loved.



* The luxury of having all my needs met.



* The delight of knowing my future is taken care of.



* The peace that comes form knowing Jesus.

Out of the mouths of my kids in the past couple of days...

*Kristen: Did you know that fireflies don't really do much while they are young, and then spend most of their adult lives mating and reproducing?
*Garrett: Hey! That's just like you, Mom!

*Andy: {making a grunting noise}
*Me: Andy, are you pooping?
*Andy" {puts hand on chin, while leaning on the end of my bed} No, I'm thinking about watching tv.

*Renae: Grandma is on her way home? We made a HUGE mess at her house the other day, but we cleaned it all up so she won't be mad at us!

*Elwood: {scratching at the front door}
*Andy: {from his highchair} Mom! Elly Belly has to poop!!!
((this from the boy who "can't" tell me when he needs to toilet))

Andy's dental surgery

Andy went for his dental surgery this morning. I'm so proud of him. He was brave. We got up early so I let him go to the hospital in his jammies. I snapped a photo of him in the parking garage before we went in he was all smiles. He got to play in the fun room for a while after he had his vitals taken and got his gown on. They let him drive a Little Tykes Truck to the operating room. He was waving and smiling and said "I'm driving like Daddy". He was in surgery for about an hour, they crowned 6 teeth, four on the right side, two on the left. When I got to the recovery room he was sobbing. I was able to pick him up off the bed and hold him in the rocking chair. He cried for 20 minutes and then fell back asleep for about an hour. After he was alert we were able to get dressed and head for home. I presented him with a "thanks for being such a big boy gift" of a little stuffed moose. He squeezed it very tightly and I asked what his name was and he said, "MOOSE!" We stopped on the way home for some ginger ale, as the dr suggested he drink for the rest of the day, and on the way to the check out he picked out some tiny marshmallows... they did say ONLY soft food, they probably didn't mean marshmallows, but we balanced it out with macaroni and cheese. :) He's playing quietly now, and declined any pain medicine. His Daddy has called twice to check on him and sent me a text this morning on the way to the hospital saying "Give Andy a kiss for me and tell him I love him". These things are harder on Daddy and Mommy than they are on the boy I do believe. I am thankful to God for blessing Andy's day, to Dr. Murphy for being so kind and gentle and filling in at a moments notice, and to the staff at the Hospital for taking such good care of Andy.

Ceiling Fans and Carpet Stains

I've had my ceiling fans running pretty much non stop all summer long, so when fall arrived and the temperatures dropped into the very pleasant 70's I gave my electric meter a respite and switched the fans off. And to what should my wondering eyes should appear, but an inch of fur lay on the shiny blades there! What manner of super powered dust bunnies can attach themselves to rapidly spinning guillotines of death??? It defies all common sense. Not only can they jump on there but they set up camp and seemingly breed at the speed of light and multiply like their rodent bunny cousins. It's disgusting. The blades are so hairy they resemble the leg of an Eastern European factory worker. I'm not sure if I should go after them with the vacuum or a straight razor! Lucky for me I have a tall, dark, and handsome husband that is a genius with the vacuum attachments. He went after my ceiling fans like a squirrel goes after a newly filled bird feeder. After and hour of the vacuum humming and the husband buzzing from room to room, my fan blades were as shiny as a baby hiney! I've got the upper hand (or paw as it were) on the ceiling fan dust bunnies for the moment so the next battle is that of the stench monster left by my basset hound, who has apparently lost control of his bodily functions. Phase one of operation de-funk is to replace the foam insert on one of my couch cushions. A trip to the fabric store yesterday accomplished that. Now to shampoo the carpet...AGAIN. Between my anti-potty toddler and my basset with the weak bladder, my carpet has seen more pee than a urinal at a rest area... its to the point I'm considering removing the carpet and installing a cement floor with a drain in it, that way I can just take the hose to it in the event of a "accident" or in most cases in my house an "on purpose" . ((insert furrowed eyebrows here))

Cars, Dr's and Exercise

* So I took my teenage daughter to the Dr the other day for an appointment regarding her migraines and when the nurse called her in, she looked over her shoulder at me and said, "I don't want you going with me". So I sat in my chair while the nurse held the door open for me, and I said, "I'm sorry, she doesn't want me to go with her". To which the nurse replied, "She doesn't have a choice. This way please". Once escorted to the room, and the door closed behind us I was treated to the 'angry eyes'. She's not a baby! She doesn't NEED me in her Dr appointment! I must say I'm not surprised at her independence. In fact she's been independent right from childbirth. She was quite annoyed that we took her out of the hospital in a carseat, she wanted to walk out and carry her own bag.

* Speaking of Dr appointments, I went yesterday for my physical along with 'Lady tune-up' as a bonus! I dare anyone to tell me I don't have talent! It's a skill to carry on small talk while your innards are being manhandled! I also exercised great restraint when I stepped on the scale, I just mumbled "seriously?" under my breath, instead of doing what I really wanted to do which was to spit on it and call it a filthy liar! I have a theory though, my Dr. is Superman (Christopher Reeves ~ NO JOKE)So I think his scale is showing what I weigh on the planet Krypton! It's got to be that... I couldn't possibly weigh that much on Earth!

* Its official! My car is possessed! Yesterday when Garrett and I came out of his therapy appointment I noticed the lights got left on and I was having a time trying to start the car. It wouldn't turn over, but not only that... once I turned the key my gauges started swinging around wildly and my windshield wipers starred going back and forth very slowly and they weren't even on!!! I asked Garrett to go get the security guard inside and ask him for a jump start. Secretly I was hoping he was packing heat so he could shoot my car if it tried to strangle me with the seat belt. Obviously, once the nice man came out my car took the jump start with ease, and showed no signs of the dementia it had moments before.

* My Dr told me yesterday that I suffer from anxiety... NO KIDDING! My dog could have diagnosed me! It's not a deep dark mystery. I'm a wide open, in your face, here for the show NUT! I'm honest and up front about it, so maybe that's why I don't scare people as often as is possible. Sort of like if someone points out a snake on the ground, once they've warned you ~ you can take measures to keep at a safe distance (or run away screaming). Most people don't run away after I fire my warning shot, but rather observe me with cautious curiosity, much the same as viewing an eclipse.

* I was also told yesterday that I'm supposed to be exercising 3 hours a week. That's swell! I sleep 3 hours a week too, so I should balance itself right out! Does crying in the shower count as exercise???