White Milk

Grace asked for plain white milk for the first time in probably 1 1/2 years.  And that is all.  :) 

See previous post if this makes no sense.

Down Home

The kids and I headed back to my hometown for a nice visit.  We had lists of things to return with (ne'r a trip past Bowling Green or Glasgow without stopping for buckets upons buckets of ice cream and blocks upon blocks of cheese).  The van was loaded w/ coolers needless to say.  We arrived and found my dad out in the field on his tractor.  He was bush-hogging, if my memory serves me correct.  I wish I had taken pictures of him.  He is the quintessential country poppa.  He had on his well-worn straw hat, was shirtless, and chugged along at a snail's pace, as happy as could be.  Grace always squeals like a pig when we arrive in Monticello...well this visist she really squealed 'cuz she awoke when I honked the horn as a polite summons to open the gate please! The gate slowly drew opened.  I watched in my rear-view mirror as it closed behind me.  I felt safe and secure and knew...as it thudded shut...there is NO PLACE like home. 

This trip home was an especially special one because we were there to celebrate and attend my dad's deacon ordination.  Three years ago, to the very day, my dad transformed his life into a life of sobriety.  To.the.day.  July 25.  Tell me God isn't into details!  He numbers our days.  Oh, yes he does.  My mom knelt down on her knees as they prayed daddy in.  The deacons layed their hands on him...and I know from how full my heart was...God was happy.  He said "welcome home, son."

That afternoon, Dad, Grace, and I headed to the waterpark in Somerset.  My brother and Amanda and the girls were there as well.  We enjoyed a hot Sunday evening and stayed very busy keeping up w/ Grace and Isabelle.  Thankfully Grace was in a very, very bright pink suit...she was easy to spot.  At first, she was not comfortable playing in the water but by the end of the evening, she ran circles around and up and down the kiddie area, up and down the slides.

Unfortunately Noah John got sick and had a fever nearly the whole time we were there.  Lucky for him, nobody plays nurse any better than his Nonna.  :)  We thought he had an ear infection, as was suspected by my good friend and nurse prac Sarah.  (Sidenote:  We rarely ever, ever, ever go home without a trip or a call to Sarah!  Seriously!  And that is saying a lot, because thankfully, my kids are pretty healthy!)  When we returned, I had to work the next morning and my mother in law pointed out a rash on Noah's back.  Sure enough, it spread all over his trunk, and was indicative of an allergic reaction to the antibiotic.  So...we stopped the med and he slowly got better (his fever had subsided a few days prior).  We don't know for sure if he had an allergic reaction so the next time he's sick, guess what doc suggests, giving him the same med again to see if he reacts again.  Sounds cruel ... sheesh.  Of course I'll be all over him like a duck on a june bug, just to make sure he doesn't have any respiratory problems in the case it is an allergy!

Over the last 2 months, Noah John has stolen my heart.  It's true that I fell in love the first moment I saw his pink chubby self!  But this stage he's in here recently, has completely made me swoon.  He is just so...well, sweet.  And he has a little mischief in his blood that he seems to enjoy.  It's hard to put into words.  He loves to be silly and to laugh...as well as make others laugh.  He is a really fun baby boy and I'm going to have to go now because he has been awake for awhile!!!  Haha.

KIDSWAP

As I type, the little one who made me an aunt for the very first time and who was the first baby in our family is lying on the couch beside me :) .  She is 9 now and I can't believe how fast time has flown by.  I vividly recall her being a little one...her 3rd year is the one I recall most vividly because that is the year that I lived in Monticello and commuted to teach in Somerset.  It was a great year; I got engaged that year as well.  I lived w/ my parents that year as well.  I appreciated our moments and time that year so much...  Irony:  I read once that people spend 18 years tryin' to get away from home & the rest of their lives trying to get back. Yep, I agree.  So...my sweet Callie Paige who is here hanging out with me for 3 days...she was itching to get away and come stay with me (which makes me feel loved-so glad for our relationship-we even wore Best Friend charms today, hehe-makes my heart smile so big)...It's wonderful to have her here...we have had lots of fun conversations (9 is the new 13 apparently), listened to some teeny-bop music *Justin Bieber no doubt*, laughed lots, survived a 'diaper explosion' episode, and best of all, SHOPPED together *Claire's* for one!  I just wanted to note right here and now...there is nothing (N.O.T.H.I.N.G.) I would trade for moments w/ family...no amount of money, no travel destination, nuttin'.  I recognize I'm blessed and I praise the BLESSER.  On the list of things to do this week:  let this tween-ager know how special and unique she is to me and that God made her juuuuust right (middle school is too close for comfort-I want her to know she's a child of the King beforehand). (I love you Callie---she wants to know what a blog is and is getting ready to read this ;o).

PS  Grace is at my brother/Amanda's.  Robert and I met at Fazoli's in BG ... had a nice (fast) meal and split ways....  Shawn is @ KY Lake for the night...so tonight it's just the two of us veggin out, since little babies go to bed EARLY!

Amazing things happen when you eat Trix cereal....

My darling Noah John stopped nursing and is a full-fledged whole-milk lover.  Bring on the red tops and the baby is happy.  Show him blue ... and well ... pun fully intended ... he is BLUE and repeatedly throws his sippy overboard (newsflash:  those cups are not spillproof if they are tossed overboard).  Anyway, I don't think we'll see any of the water-milk (fat free) for at least 6 more months (not complaining).  His big sister, however, is a bird of a different feather.  Much to her daddy's chagrin, I see soy milk in her future unless we can convince her to drink cow's milk again.  This actually started about a year ago.  Initially, I didn't worry over it for two reasons 1) I had a newborn and was preoccupied and 2) she ate cheese 24/7...  (ate: past tense).  I realized recently that uh-oh!  Grace isn't into cheese anymore and yogurt has never been a daily food for her either.  She eats it but not 24/7.  So, the last several days have been spent doing what I will call "OPERATION CALCIUM."  This has included...chasing down strawberry syrup with a Kroger employee, replenishing our chocolate syrup, buying two types of string cheese, lots of yogurt, trying new, sugar-loaded cereal, hand-feeding both food and drink, pleading, bribing, and who knows what I've blocked out.  Operation Calcium is intense, see.  Shawn says, in general, I need to ease off.  But!  Her bones!  They'll break...immediately!  I just know it.  And her teeth...oh the teeth.  I hadn't even thought of those.  Yes, I must push forward.  So far, strawberry milk has been the drink of choice (but even then, it's slow-going).  At present, she is working on the same sippy full of it for going on 3 days (ew, maybe she needs a fresh drink...maybe it's soured!)

To make a point to Grace one day, I told her when Nonna was little, they didn't have milk unless they milked a cow...I told her Nonna's bones got weak and she had to start taking medicine to make them stronger.  I went on to say that when Nonna married Poppa, he bought her all the milk she wanted anytime she wanted...and that now her bones are stronger.  Grace's reply, "I'm glad Nonna's bones don't have holes in them anymore...and I'm glad Poppa buys her milk...he even buys her chocolate anytime she wants it too."   I have pondered this for a few days.  I think she is trying to get me to buy her chocolate.  Lose the battle, win the war...  hershey syrup 'in' the milk and we both win....

Finally, to the point of the post, apparently Trix cereal has a commercial in which someone says, "Amazing things happen when you eat Trix cereal."  One night, while trying to get Grace's milk quoto in, we let her eat Trix cereal for supper.  While taking the last bite or two, she said what she heard (and believed) on the commercial, "Amazing things happen when you eat Trix cereal."  She went on to say she wondered what would happen and that she just couldn't wait for whatever it was.  I asked her what she thought might happen and she answered, "I don't know, maybe a pony or a horse...'cuz I really want a pony!"  I got up from feeding the baby and told Shawn that Grace thought something amazing was about to happen, all because of a commercial claiming if she ate Trix, then it would be so.  I said, "I feel sorry for her.  What do we do?"  We came back into the kitchen and after about 5 minutes, the door bell rang.  Shawn and Grace went to answer it and guess what!  Something amazing was there!  Not a pony.  Not a horse.  But something, or should I say, someone, amazing was there:  NONNA was surprising us with a visit!  Grace literally shrieked; I wish I had it on video.  She said Nonna was better than a pony or a horse.  (That should make mom feel good.)  The moral of this story is:  God is in the small stuff.  While something amazing may not happen each time one eats Trix, the main thing is it happened once, and for this little girl, it made her week!!!  Faith like a child.....  Shawn and I both grinned out of shock and were happy for our little girl...and glad her innocence is so apparent and so precious.  Noah John just laughed and laughed!  It was so cute!  He was so happy as well.  :D

Summer in Southern Florida

Well, I had every intention of posting all these pictures of sweltering heat and sweaty kids and pools and sprinklers, and of course, the temp dropped to 80...so here recently it's been more like a nice, comfortable summer in KY (thank GOD) than summer in southern fl.  AND I AM NOT COMPLAINING.  The pics can wait...and so can the heat!

Bluegrass Fest Take II

     In late June, we attended a bluegrass fest in Renfro Valley, Kentucky.  It's a short drive from my parents' so I sent Grace (with big cousin Isabelle) with my parents one day early.  I spent the night at the house I grew up in that is now my brother and sister-in-law's home.  It was a neat experience and felt more natural than I thought it would.  My "home" has always been so much more than a home...it's been food and friends and family and fun and ... lest I forget fights...  and FAITH...and fiddles (music) and just so much more.  Apparently those very things are inherently going to be wherever my parents are because I feel them too, although they have moved from my childhood home.  It reminds me of that saying, "Home is where your mom is."  I have found this to be true.  I'm so glad to have the house to still check in on though, and it was fun to let the "boys" play together while the middle girls were away that first night.  This was their very first playtime that was not wrought with  barbies, dolls, lip gloss, care bears, and a few "can I hold him's?"  where they are inevitably likened to a baby doll. ;-p  This brings us to the bluegrass fest!  Before we took off to hear music Saturday afternoon, we loaded all the kids onto the couch...and as you'll notice Noah John is in his 3 year old sister's lap.  After the picture, we kind of forgot who had him, and Grace (being 3 and not at fault) just let him go and he fell "smack!" into the floor!  (He was fine but I felt horrible!)  I have said it several times and it's true...he has had probably every bit of 15 more head hits than Grace.  (Firstborn syndrome had it's ups for her and not getting hurt as often was one!)  
     The bluegrass fest turned out pretty good.  It was hot, I won't lie.  But we let the kids swim for 2 or 3 hours which cooled them off while keeping them occupied!  Clark got in the water for the first time too.  I think bluegrass is probably in the five grandchildren's blood because not one of them complained during any of the concerts, or at least not for long enough for me to remember it.  The next weekend, mom and I took my two to ROMP in O'boro.  I will have to say we were uber impressed with the location and the bands.  Yellowstone Park had much more shade which, in KY, is crucial at an outdoor concert that lasts all day long!  Claire Lynch ("less grassy, very blues") was the singer we were specifically there for...and she turned out to be as good as mom bragged (I had never heard her but now am a fan)!  Noah John climbed me like a MONKEY and smiled at the guy behind us a lot...Grace finally settled in to mom's lap.  I think her favorite part was when one of the guys in Claire's band played his body....  We had a nice time...and came home to a sick Shawn, followed by Grace the next morning, and me two days after her...mom and Noah John managed to escape it (thank you God).  I truly love living in the bluegrass state, although I do miss those East TN mountains at times!   

Vacation Bible School

Grace attended VBS at our church June 6-10.  It was a hit (after 2 nights of trepidation on her part)...  I will have to say we all were a little sad when the last night came around.  We enjoyed having dinner at church at night and seeing so many friendly, familiar faces.  One of the tough things about being in a relatively big church is you don't see everyone each Sunday like you would in a smaller church.  I enjoyed preparing snacks for about 120 people each night (I had great help!)  Noah John tagged along with us but left early most nights with his daddy.  I'm going to try to attach some photos from the week but it may take me a couple days (they are in two or three different locations). 

PS VBS has inspired me to start using puppets here at home, with the kiddos.  Our first puppet show will **hopefully** be for my brother's birthday in July.