Highs and Lows

I have been a member of a local MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group for going on 3 years now. We meet at a local church and enjoy sharing our lives together...the good, the bad AND the ugly. One "tradition" this church has is to start the meetings by doing highs and lows. You basically either go around in a small group or with a partner and tell about your recent/weekly highs (good things that have happened) and lows (the not-so-good things). Well, this thread is kinda like that - my highs and lows. Luckily, there are way more highs than lows! :)

I guess the ONLY low recently came last week...I had spent all day last Wed. (9/10) catching up on laundry and was pretty well caught up. I had even started going through the boys' clothes for fall and began washing them. Doesn't exactly sound like a low, does it? I was finishing a final load for the evening around 11 p.m. when we started hearing a noise that sounded what I can only describe as that similar to a garbage disposal. Sure enough, my washing machine had given out. After reluctantly calling a handyman help service (after much of my prodding), Sean figured out what appeared to be the problem (broken cupling). However, after talking with them, Sean was convinced that this was a project he did not want to delve into. I drug my feet for several days - seeing no reason to get a new dryer when he could buy the part for this one for $30. Seeing as I was getting nowhere, though, I finally gave in...

Which leads us to the highs...We finally went shopping on Friday night, but I didn't wind up with a washing machine then. (although we had already been shopping Thurs. night and I picked out what I wanted) But, I digress...on Friday night, we actually bought a new dishwasher!!! While I hated spending the money (I never like spending large amounts like that), I was STOKED to get a new dishwasher. The one we have barely works...I have to pretty well clean the dishes before I put them in, and then sometimes it leave a powdery substance on the dishes. I have oftentimes had to rewash the same dishes twice, this after I already handwash them before putting them in! Needless to say, this 15 year old dishwasher had ran its course. As of Wednesday, it will be put to rest...and I'll be getting my new Whirlpool!!! Wahoo! I might actually do dishes then, who knows?!

Sean finally did buy me a new washing machine after having gone over 3 days without one. He and Nathan went to Lowe's on Saturday for the children's building workshop (they made a pirate ship - right up Nate's alley). Afterwards, Sean bought my washer and dryer, and they delivered them Sunday morning before church. (who knew that they delivered on Sunday and at 8 a.m.) The only problem is that they brought/ordered the wrong dryer. We bought one of the upper end GE Profiles, and they brought us the one just beneath it. So, I am using this "borrowed" dryer for 2 weeks until mine comes in. Ugh! I didn't really need a new dryer, but Sean wanted to get a new one after hearing several people comment about dryers that went out after the washer did. We held on to our old dryer and are giving it to a good friend of ours who was in need of one.

The other bit of news indirectly affects us. As most of you know, my Pawpaw Taylor has been living with my parents since May (when he was found unconscious in his home). After having a pacemaker inserted and several rounds of therapy, he was finally ready to go home to his house near Bonham. My dad found a lady who comes in and cooks his meals for him and cleans...helps him prepare for bed...the stuff he can't do on his own. So, as of last Wednesday, my parents have their house back to themselves (and my brother, Sam). Mom is back to her joyful self again; she was quite stressed with my grandpa there. So, that is definitely good news.

On one final note...the boys have their very first cousin on the way. Sean and I will become an uncle and aunt for the first time in April! We can't wait. :) Sean never had any cousins growing up except for some that lived off so I am happy that my boys will finally get to experience this unique relationship. I don't have a ton of cousins, but there are 4 older cousins on my mom's side and 3 younger ones on Dad's side.

It's late and I'm off to bed...I think you are all caught up on us now! :)

New Family Member

As an update to a previous thread, I wanted to let you know that we have a new family member. On Sept. 4th, Sean found these pictures online of a free puppy in the area. We all fell in love and scheduled to meet the owners on Sept. 6th.



As it turns out, we all did fall in love with this little puppy when we met him. We brought him home a little over a week ago, and he has fallen right in the groove of things. Yes, he is an outside dog, but he will do just fine. He doesn't yelp at night and often sits comfy in his makeshift doghouse (the boys' outdoor playhouse) while we await his real doghouse, to be delivered later this week. He was born on July 11th so he is about 9 1/2 weeks right now. He is a Sheltie/Cocker Spaniel/American Eskimo mix. We have named him Deuce.

Background on his name: Sean wanted a cool name for the dog (which he's been trying to convince me to get for over a year now) so he and I started brainstorming once we made plans to meet the owners. I had come up with the name Oakley, and Sean thought it was great. The morning we were to meet our future puppy, I asked Nathan if he liked the name we had picked out. His response?! "I like it, but we are going to call him Deuce." With that, he walked out of the room. Well, okay, then. And why would my almost-4-year-old son want to call a dog, "Deuce?" Those who know us well know that we are a baseball-loving family. Of course, we're partial to the home teams. :) So, we root for the Texas Rangers and really enjoy the family-friendly games with their minor league team, Frisco Rough Riders. We have been taking Nathan to the Rough Riders' games since he was just a little tot. Well, the Rough Riders' mascot is a prairie dog named Deuce. So, there ya' have it! Probably best, though, because Elijah can say Deuce really well; I'd be curious to see how Oakley came out!

The boys LOVE the dog. They now spend more time outside than they ever did. Elijah is a bit skiddish around him, but he is doing better. Deuce is just a puppy and loves to jump on you. Well, for a little tot like Elijah, that means that Deuce is jumping up to his face. He has knocked Elijah down a few times and pulled on his clothing. So, you can definitely see why the poor thing has a tendency to be less than thrilled around the puppy. But, he is getting better; he spent an hour outside with Nathan ("Nate") and Deuce today.

Here are a few more pictures of our new love...

Long Awaited Pics

OK, I finally got the pictures from Elijah's surgery edited and uploaded onto the laptop. So I thought I'd share a few.Looking a lot like my dad here, I think

Playing with Daddy's hat while waiting on the surgery to begin

I love this shot of my monkey man!!!

Elijah LOVED riding in the wagon so I spent 90% of our time in the hospital pulling him around the halls.

Does he LOOK like he just had surgery?

Breakfast the next morning

One last ride in the wagon while waiting on Daddy and Nate

Something Unusual I Did...

I didn't do anything unusual, per se - just something unusual for me!!! It's something that I enjoy doing but don't get to do enough. So, what did I do?! I ran myself a warm bubble bath, dimmed the bathroom lights, lit some candles, grabbed a book, shut the bathroom door and enjoyed a nice, quiet bath and a book. :) Then, I wrapped myself in a towel, put on some lotion I enjoy and got comfy in my PJ's. And you know what?! I ENJOYED it!

This weekend's plans aren't too terribly huge. We are meeting someone on Sat. to look at a puppy we may possibly be getting. It's a Sheltie mix - only 8 weeks old and really cute!!! Sean and Nate are quite sold on him already; we'll see how he does with the boys in person. We're already throwing around names for him, and so far, Nathan has come up with, "Anakin" (Star Wars) and "Optimus Prime." Needless to say, we are still working on names. I mean, our fish are already named "Peter Pan," "Tinkerbell," and "Wendy" after the Peter Pan movie(s). Surely we can come up with a "normal" name for our dog. But, really...who am I to speak?! My parents helped me name my dog, "Fred" after my hero, Mr. Rogers, when I was younger!!!

The boys' best friends (Grant and Isaac - brothers the same age as my boys) are having their 2nd and 4th joint birthday party on Saturday night. We're looking forward to celebrating with them.

MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) begins on Monday, and since I'm in leadership (Prayer/Care), I've got some planning to do for that. Luckily, Prayer/Care does not require near as much work as the children's planning did last year!!! Really looking forward to getting back into the swing of things with this...we all really enjoy it.

On that note, I do have a special prayer request. Our MOPS coordinator delivered her second daughter unexpectedly early this week at 24 weeks gestation. Little Ruth weighs 1 lb. 9 oz. and is doing well. She still has a long road ahead, though. Please keep her in your prayers when you think about it.

I know this post was a bunch of rambling and a lot about me, but hey...the title IS Pretty in Pink: Running a House of Blue so I do get some "air time" too. I'm sure I'll be updating again with puppy news/pics next. I still have Elijah's hospital pics to share from his tonsil/adenoid surgery last month. I need to post a few just to see how cute he was in that tiny hospital gown. :)

A Brother's Kiss

"Ouch!" is right!!!

We were at a store that had one of those cars for the children attached to it. This particular one had a spot for 2 kiddos - complete with 2 steering wheels. So, of course, my boys were in heaven since they could BOTH drive it. We were doing good for quite a while...and then it got quiet. I should have known that there's always a calm before the storm. Out of nowhere, I heard a blood-curdling "hurt" wail from Nathan! I ran over to see what in the WORLD was going on. (The cart was stopped while I was looking at something.) I find Nathan holding his cheek. When he sees me, he says, 'Lijah bit me! Sure enough, there on his cheek is the "kiss" of his brother...whom promptly got removed from the car and tapped on the mouth. We rubbed it in the store and put ice on it at home. It got pretty ugly several days later as it turned yellow before it went away! Elijah is NOT a biter - he's done it only a handful of times - so I do wonder what prompted this "kiss." The joys of having 2 boys...

August 10th - Day before E's Surgery

My dad said Elijah would be unhappy with me one day for dressing him in this outfit, but I thought it was cute!!! (Oh, and he was totally ready for a nap - thus the reason for the blank stare!)

Nathan's cheesy grin; still can't believe he'll be four in 8 weeks!!!

Just Boring

Things have been pretty boring around here since Elijah's surgery, and thus the reason I have not updated lately. Elijah is doing great! He bounced right back after that first week. He begged and begged for popcorn, but we made him wait until 2 weeks post-op. :) He has done fine until today. Nothing major, but he had a little nose bleed. Just very light pink runny nose. Tonight at dinner, he was eating chips and screamed in pain. Apparently, he cut his throat. Poor thing! We looked at his throat with a flashlight, but seemed to be okay. His follow-up with Dr. McDuffie is next Tuesday so we're believing for good news then. We have noticed a significant change in his breathing - no mouth breathing and NO MORE SNORING!!! Wahoo!

Besides that, nothing new has been happening. All of our friends have started MDO (and we are not) so we're a bit bored around here. MOPS will start next week so at least our Mondays will be busy. I may be babysitting for a couple of MOPS groups so that will give us a few days with things to do throughout the month. The boys' birthdays are also coming up in October (Nathan) and December (Elijah). We are planning a Capt. Hook/Pirate party for Nate and an Elmo/Sesame Street party for Elijah. With fall comes the pumpkin patch and the Texas State Fair too. We'll do both of those in October. Then, there's Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's...all the fun stuff!!! Now, if we here in Texas could get out of the 90's, I'd be soooo much happier! I love fall and get so anxious about this point when I know that it "should" be happening but isn't!!! We only have a couple of weeks of fall here.

OK - off to upload some very late photos.