The Ham

Both of my girls are quite the ham, but one is easier to catch on film than the other. Can you guess which one that would be????





If you guessed Sugar you would be absolutely correct!!! Give yourself a cookie.

Don't get me wrong, I have have pictures of Spice acting silly too but Sugar is my little drama queen and she REALLY loves to ham it up for the camera, as is evident in the above photos.

Dictionary of a three year old

Those with children know that it sometimes takes a mother to understand. Below are some of the words in the dictionary of Spice:

1. Dolphin, as mentioned in a previous blog = Golfing
2. Baby Soup, also mentioned in a previous blog = Bathing Suit
3. Flute = Fruit
4. Ruv = Rub
5. Lellow = Yellow
6. Wipe = White
7. Deuce = Juice
8. She = he
9. Bleeving = Bleeding
10. Wadg = Garage

11.Gice = Ice

She sometimes likes to play with different sounds for example: Instead of mamma call me Mamoo, or Nana will become Nanoo.

Silly little girl!

My Day of Adventure

Today was full of adventure for me....In fact, I had so many things happen it's hard to find a starting point. I guess, I should start at the beginning:

This morning I was driving to my meeting downtown, which is an area that I don't normally go. I don't know if anyone else ever experiences this, but I have anxiety when I have to drive somewhere that is unfamiliar to me. People laugh because they don't understand and I laugh right along with them. I guess you could say I'm "Directionally Challenged". ha!

The last time we had our meeting I wasn't able to find where it was and I ended up following some co-workers. Although I haven't been there since the last meeting, I felt a little better about it this go round, but as I got closer I grew more anxious and sure enough I got turned around, literally! I turned onto what I believed to be my street and looked up to find that I was going the WRONG WAY, down a ONE WAY STREET....GULP!!!! Luckily, no other cars were coming and I was able to quickly get back in the right direction.

Now, having dealt with this "disability" for the majority of my driving life I always leave early, allowing myself plenty of time for these little screw ups. Therefore, although I still have the anxiety, I don't ever panic. I simply pick up the phone and call a friend (Thank GOD for friends!!). When they see my number they usually know what's going on and that they have to help me through it....Did I mention how thankful I am for my friends?!?!? ;) I made it through my morning detour and got to the meeting on time.

Now it's afternoon and Drake (whose name I'm thinking of changing; however, if I change it to what I would LIKE to call him, my children would get in trouble every time they talked about him.lol!) is outside. Normally he doesn't react to outside activity but tonight this kid walked past with his dog and Drake decided he was going to go check him out. My husband was at the door watching him and tried to call him back but this dog is hard headed, if I haven't mentioned that before, and doesn't listen very well. Hubby, being in his underwear, asked me to run out and get him. So off I go, in my flip flops, to get this crazy dog out of the middle of the street. There's a car coming down the street but he sees the activity and slows down. Drake heads towards the sidewalk but you can see him thinking about changing his mind.....he goes to dart back in the direction of the other dog and I catch his back end, but my flip flop (not good shoes to wear when chasing after a stupid dog) somehow gets caught on the street, trips me up and I go crashing down. For those who know me, let me just go ahead and say; YES, he's still alive.

It's later on in the evening and I'm relaxing in my chair, after being all banged up from my meeting with the pavement, watching TV and I notice that it's awful quiet in the house. I walked towards the kitchen to check on everyone when I see that Sugar's bedroom door is closed and I hear her talking; naturally I assume that they are in there playing, but you know what happens when you assume...right?!?!

THIS is what I find....Sugar is in her room, on the phone, and Spice........

How was your weekend?

We made it!! The hubby and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary over the weekend. We took the girls to his mothers house while we went out to dinner. Next we were off to my favorite place......Target!

After Target we picked up the girls, went home, and everyone went to bed.....Aren't we exciting?!?!

Mom and I went to see 1408 this weekend. I enjoyed the movie; however, for it to be based on a book by Stephen King it wasn't very scary. After the movie mom and I went shopping and I found some golf clubs for Spice. She's been playing with them non-stop since the day I brought them home, AND the handle on one of the clubs has already broken. Grandaddy better hurry up and take this girl "dolphin" before they all break - good thing they were only $4.83.

I also found a small pool for the girls to splash around in, so I'm sure there will soon be pictures to follow. However, it doesn't look like it will be any time this week since, according to the weather man, it's supposed to rain for the next several days.... Oh well, we definitely needed it!

Meet Our Zoo

It occurred to me that I've told you about my family of furry friends but I've not introduced any of them to you:

Sam is our eight year old miniature Dachshund. We got him when Sugar was two and they have grown up together. I commonly refer to him as my grumpy old man, because he grumbles.

A friend told me that she wanted to get Sugar a bird for her tenth birthday. I immediately began researching different types of birds and fell in love with the Sun Conures. Although this wasn't the price range she had in mind, we found one that was meant for us so we went in halves and now we have Skittles. (Thanks Laurie!)

The hubby has always said he wants an English Bulldog: Introducing Crapper, oops, I mean Drake...

Let's see, what can I say about Drake???? He likes to Eat, Poop, Sleep and Chew (on EVERYTHING!). His first day with us, we went out and bought him all types of chew toys; however, his favorite things to chew are my furniture and our shoes. We are working on getting him housebroken, and he really enjoys being outside. In fact, we can let him out and he will stay outside and play for several minutes then, when we let him back in, he will go straight to his favorite area and pee! UGH!!!

Don't get me wrong, he has his moments when he's so cute AND good (when he's sleeping). Lol!
I remain hopeful that he will get better as time goes on; until then...THANK GOODNESS FOR CLAIROL!!!

Baby Soup

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone once again who helped to make Spice's party such a great success.

It seems that she had more fun than I originally thought. She has asked me every day since the party ended when she was going to get to slide again...

Last night she told me that she wants to put on her "baby soup" and go play in the water.

She said, "I like that slide!"

Looks like I'm going to have to look into purchasing one for the house.... If not a slide, then definitely a pool of some sort for her to splash around in.

The Party

Yesterday was the big day, and I'm happy to announce it was a huge success! The smaller kids didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped they would, they didn't like the water splashing them in the face, but they still had fun and the older kids had a BLAST! No one wanted to stop to eat, not even for cake and ice cream.

The plan was for Spice to open her presents when they finished the cake and ice cream, since everyone was already inside and relatively dry; I made this huge announcement about how NO ONE was to get back in the water until I was outside to supervise, but that plan got foiled when a couple of little rebels decided to sneak back out. When I went to check on them the others soon followed and the next thing I knew, everyone was back in the water! So, I had to round up the troops, again, and get them all dried off to go back in and open presents.

They got to play for a few more hours after the presents.....Oh well, I guess it was inevitable that I wouldn't be able to remain the "coolest mom in the world" forever, right?!?! ha!

I hope everyone who came had a good time and I would like to thank you all for helping to make this party such a huge success. Below are a few pictures of the big day: Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Spice!

Today's the day....my baby turned 3!! WOW! It's hard to believe that she was born three years ago today; they grow up SO FAST! She had spend the night tonight and they had tons of fun! They played Dora memory, watched Monster House, and ate McDonalds. Later that evening, they had fun playing on the bed while Sugar slept. Ha!

Funny story: Yesterday, when we were driving to Ms. Juwal's, Spice was telling me she wanted dolphin. Not really sure what she was talking about or where that was coming from, I just replied with my usual, "oh, okayyy!" Then she told me she didn't want to go to "Duwa's", instead she wants me to call her "drandaddy" and tell him she wants to go "dolphin".

Tee-hee! I LOVE IT!!!

This is not the first time that she has told me to call her grandaddy and let him know that she wants to play golf. Grandaddy, you better get on top of that; we may have ourselves a little, female Tiger Woods here!

I digress: I've been running around all week trying to get everything ready for the big birthday party tomorrow. She woke up this morning letting me know that she was ready for her party. Ha! How cute is that?!?!


They brought the water slide tonight and set it up - man, that thing is HUGE!!!! The kids are going to have SO MUCH FUN!! I can hardly wait....I guess I better go now; I've got to get up early in the morning for the final touches around the house. Plus we've got to run to the store to pick up the cake and ice cream - what's a birthday party without those???

I hope to have lots of great pictures to share soon!

The Countdown is on...

It's Wednesday night and the countdown is officially on...My baby will be turning three this Friday and then of course we have the BIG PARTY coming up on Saturday!! I've been extra busy this whole week trying to get everything ready.

Mom and I put our bargain hat's on and went shopping for supplies on Saturday. Sunday was grocery and hair day, Monday night was spent cleaning the play room and Spice's room, Tuesday I raked the back yard, and tonight was dusting all the furniture and straightening the spare room. Saturday is only two days away and I've still got plenty to do before it gets here.

The fun part is trying to keep the areas that I've already finished to remain clean! That is quite a challenge with my miniature tornado's running around....

Wish me luck!

The Plan

It dawned on me yesterday that my baby's birthday is right around the corner, not even two weeks away, and I hadn't done anything to plan for this special event. I had a few ideas but nothing concrete: at first I was thinking of going with the trusty Chuck E Cheese, then I thought about renting a moon bounce, she LOVES to jump in those!

The plan takes shape: I jumped online to look at pricing when I suddenly remembered that a friend of mine rented one several years back; so, I picked up the phone and gave her a call. Sure enough, she had done her homework and knew the best place in town. (Thanks Kim!!)

The plan is formed: Sadly the Dora Space Walk was already reserved for the weekend that we needed, so I had the daunting task of choosing something else. I was finally able to decide on something that everyone would love.


The plan is finalized: We're having a birthday party!!


The party is on: I don't normally do large parties, but I am so excited about this one that I have invited everyone that I know with children.

What's left: Order a cake, clean the house, invitations, buy supplies, etc. WOW!! There is still SO MUCH to do and not that much time to get it all done, so I guess I better get off of this computer... But before I go, I have intentionally left out the details so stay tuned for more to come.....

PS. Below is the link to Space Walk, if you're interested...

http://www.herecomesfun.com/

What's your favorite color?

It's been a few days since my last post - to catch you up....

Thankfully Sugar's time with the virus only lasted two days and I ended up not having to take her to the doctor as we originally thought. However, as luck would have it, I did have to go to the doctor. You guessed it......they shared!! (wasn't that nice of them??) Anyway, I no longer want to dwell on all this illness. Everyone is doing well and I am now well on my way to recovery.

Something cute did come out of our sick time together and I thought it would be fun to share:

The youngest is a big fan of the popsicle; she requests them all the time. The other day, after seeing her daddy eating a Minute Maid Juice Bar, she told him she wanted a Popsicle. When he went to get one of her Popsicles she made it very clear that she wasn't referring to her Popsicles.... She wanted one of his, and she wasn't going to have it any other way!!

After struggling with the juice bar for a while she looked over at her father and said, "this is difficult". Not yet being three, the word difficult wasn't clear enough for everyone to understand and they weren't quite sure what it was she said that I found so funny. Once I helped them understand her statement we all had a good laugh together.

Speaking of Popsicles, we've all been eating a lot of them recently to help ease the pain of our sore throats. My favorite was red, can you guess which color the girls liked?

Medusa vs. Fabric Softener??

Well folks, it's late Saturday night and my saga still unfolds... I thought Sugar was going to be okay when she woke up this morning eager to let me know how much better she was feeling; however, she has had a relapse tonight and the symptoms are stronger and worse. I put in a call to the doctor and she is pretty sure it's the same viral infection that Spice had. She wants me to bring her in on Monday for a strep test and some blood work...Here we go again.

Meanwhile, another concern of mine is that this is going to continue to ping-pong back and forth. After all, Spice's resistance is still very low because she is just now beginning to fully recover.

On a lighter note: I had the fun task of doing lots of hair this morning (if you've met my children, you understand). To make matters even more interesting for me....Sugar's episode last night happened right after she had taken a shower and it hurt too bad for her to brush her hair. As you can imagine, she was looking like Medusa when she got up this morning. Needless to say, washing her hair today was not fun, for any of us! Mom called in the middle of this chore, and between all of the screaming she told me to try fabric softener. Okay, fabric softener!?!?! in hair?!?!? Who woulda thunk?? I never, in a million years, would have thought of trying that one.....Kudos to mom; it really works!!!

We're making progress: all hair has been washed and is tangle free (for now). So...off to the movies we went, our Saturday ritual, to see Mr. Brooks. This is a movie, I had not heard of, with Kevin Costner, William Hurt, and Demi Moore. Mom told me about it and since nothing else was playing I was on board.

We were told that it didn't get very good reviews; however, being the professional movie goers that we are....we have learned not to listen to the critics. Case in point: Mr. Brooks - This was an excellent movie!! It was different and refreshingly original - mom and I both really enjoyed it!!

In summary:

• It is my hope to, one day soon, have something other than illness to report.
• If you have a child with horrible tangles in her hair - try fabric softener.
• Go see Mr. Brooks

Until next time......

I want a do-over

It is late Friday night and as this week comes to a close, and my vacation officially ends, I would like to request a do-over. Today was the first day that I left the house for something other than going to a doctor's office of some sort.... Here is my story:

On Saturday my youngest suddenly spiked a very high fever, which she continued to get several times throughout the long weekend. After all of my efforts failed to keep her fever down to an acceptable level, I decided to take her to an after hours emergency clinic. Before going I gave her some Tylenol and rinsed her off in a cool tub of water.

Upon arriving at the clinic she began playing, just as she had done many times throughout the weekend, whenever her fever became low grade, and none of these burst of energy lasted very long.... I digress.... the doctor roles up in his Jeep Wrangler, looking like he just stepped out of GQ, took one look at her and pretty much dismissed us before examining her (if you could call giving her a Popsicle and shining a light in her mouth an examination).

As we headed towards home the energy level she displayed suddenly plummets (Of Course!). She fell asleep as soon as we got home and her fever spiked again. Irritated at the quality of service we received, I gave her regular doctor a call at home (I LOVE her doctor!! She's the GREATEST!! - Thanks Jenny, for the referral!). She asked me to bring her in first thing Tuesday morning for some blood work.

The blood work done on Tuesday revealed that she has a virus of some sort - which is basically what the nurse told me at the emergency clinic; however, there was some concern about dehydration.

Tuesday night, when I was unable to persuade her to drink enough fluids and she hadn't used the restroom for 24 hours, the doctor told me to take her to the hospital for an IV.

After sitting at the hospital for a couple of hours (and overhearing a man telling someone that he had been waiting for 5 hours), she suddenly decided she was thirsty. So....off to the vending machine we went. I was digging through my purse, desperately trying to come up with a dollar in change, when a lady saw me struggling and gave us $2.00 - one for Spice and one for Sugar (So you see, kindness does still exist!!). We put the dollar into the machine, selected the Sprite button, and the magic began......SHE WAS DRINKING!!!! I called the doctor and told her the good news and back home we went.

On a sad note: I was watching the news Tuesday evening when I learned that a guy I knew had been killed. Buddy was a great guy, with an outstanding personality! He was always full of smiles and laughter; sure to brighten the day of those he came into contact with. He touched the hearts of many and I consider myself blessed to have known him. My heartfelt sympathy goes out to his wife and family during their time of sorrow.

Wednesday she was doing a great job of drinking and using the restroom, and she actually ate a hot dog (first time she has eaten anything since this saga began), but now she was congested and had green goop coming out of her eyes. When the doctor called to check on her, and learned of her new symptoms, she decided that we may need to give her some antibiotics and eye drops.

Thursday came and so did more new symptoms: now her nose was bleeding and she was coughing. On the good side, her fever stayed down most of the day (it only went up twice but I was able to give her medicine and get it back down quickly, before it got too high), and she wanted to play more.
As for me, now I'm getting the beginning symptoms of what is sure to become a sinus infection (you just gotta love it!!!!), so I begin doubling up on my meds and pray that I am successful in stopping it before it gets too bad.

Friday morning the doctor called to check on her and upon hearing about her newest symptoms she called in yet another medicine. This was a good day - she has been more like herself today than she has in almost a week. AND she is slowly regaining her appetite. We went out for a little while today and when we got home Sugar began complaining of a headache, which turned into a migraine....

It just keeps getting better: It's now early Saturday morning and I went in to help Sam (he's one of our dogs) get into Sugar's bed when she rolls over and informs me that she's not feeling well. I touch her forehead and low and behold........She has a fever!!!

UGH!!! Can I get a break????

So, I ask again........Can I get a do-over????

Letters to the President

Every since Sugar was a little girl she has been tearing up paper, "writing" on it, and leaving it strewn all over the house. I can not tell you how frustrating it is to find little pieces of paper, with scribble on them, scattered all over the place whenever you walk through the house. However, at times it can be funny - like today...When the hubby got home, he went to check the mail and in it he found three index cards. On the front of one of the cards was Sugar's name, address, and phone number with a "Presudant" stamp drawn on the top right corner. The return address listed: George W. Bush, White house.

When he entered the house he immediately fussed at her, telling her to stop writing her personal information on everything and leaving it around for anyone to find. After we explained our reason for concern he handed her the cards telling her, "tear up these letters to George Bush and throw them away"

Needless to say my curiosity was now peaked, upon learning that she had written letters to the president, so I asked her if I could see them. She had already torn them once but I, being the nosey detective that I am, was able to put them back together. They were a good source of laughter for me today, so I thought I would share (after all, couldn't we all use a little humor in our lives?!?!?). Please note I am typing these exactly as they were written, and they read as follows:

1. Dear Mr. George W Bush,

Please read this to everyone when you get on tv. I reelly hate people who litter. It's gust wrong.

Thank you,
Sugar Drama Queen Shell 8 (On the note card she had written out her full name. I believe the '8' was supposed to be &)
The full name of the boy next door

2. Dear People of America,

I wish you will stop littering. It is a crime and you are paluting the city and also it would be nice for the nature.

Thank you,
Sugar Shell
and The boy next door

3. Dear Mr. George W. Bush,

I want you to tell everyone what I said when you get this and the other card.

Thank you,
Sugar Shell and
The boy next door

P.S. We are big fan's