Upside Down Squirrel

I'm sorry I have a crappy camera. But the kids caught this squirrel hanging upside down from a tree AND eating. Pretty impressive. Can you see him?

Smitten....

Sometimes, when I'm feeding Adley she will grab my hand and place it over her heart. I am almost always moved to tears. It makes me think about the very first time we saw her heartbeat on the ultrasound monitor. It was truly a glorious sight. And she was just the size of a peanut, but we could see her little arms waving around in there too. Now that she is here, I have to say my favorite of her features are her hands and her heart. There were 4 pregnancies in which I looked at a motionless heart on an ultrasound monitor. Throughout my pregnancy with her, I had plenty of opportunities to both see and hear her heartbeat. It is so wonderful to have her here and healthy. I think about her tiny little bones and her tiny little heart and how everything just works exactly the way it is supposed to. It truly is such a miracle. I am so in love.

'Round here, We pray for poop....

I need advice: Adley has started only pooping every 5 days. The doctor says this is fine and even normal. Here's the problem; The day Adley poops, that night she sleeps pretty dang good-only getting up 1-2 times. Then for the 4 days that she doesn't poop, she gets up 4-5 times each night. She is pretty miserable during those in-between days. When she does go, she strains to get it out and it doesn't even seem like that much to me. Not that I WANT a giant mess to clean up, but if it would make her feel better, I am all for it. I just want my baby to feel good...every day. Our family has been praying for Adley to poop. I can only imagine how miserable it must be for her. Does anybody have any home remedies or ideas for making this better? I would LOVE your feedback either here or on facebook.

I'm the queen of the world!!!!

Last week Olivia came home and mentioned that she was in a book club which was required for class and that her group had chosen the book "The Golden Compass". I didn't think much of it, until she mentioned that "in the beginning of the book the author says something about how Jesus isn't real". That's when I remembered all the hoopla about this book and movie (starring Nicole Kidman) a few years ago. I googled it and found that it is the first in a series of books. At the conclusion of the 3rd book, the characters actually kill God. My daughter is in 4th grade. I e-mailed her teacher and told him that Olivia's dad and I would prefer that she not read the book. He replied with "No problem, just have her return it. I actually think that book is too long for our first book club of the year, so I will be having her group choose a different book." And then I stewed. I talked to other moms and they were mad about it too. Why is this book being offered in an elementary school? And what about the kids who don't talk to their parents about what they are doing (and reading) in school? What about the parents who don't research what this book is about? So, I e-mailed him again. I stated that "I would like to be so bold as to ask that this book be removed from the classroom library." The teacher called me on Friday and said that upon further review of the book, he decided that maybe it was in fact not appropriate for 4th grade children...Ya Think?!?!? He said that he was glad Olivia was talking to me about the books she is reading and that if there is ever anything being done or taught at school that I don't agree with to please let him know. I felt like I could take on the world...sick, wicked, disgusting place that it is.

Shanaynay The Flour Child

Yesterday we went to lunch with the Grants and for some reason got to talking about the little project some High School girls have where they bring home a "computer baby" that requires a lot of attention, and keeps track of the "nurturing" it receives. As I was putting Adley to bed, I started thinking about a similar project I did in Junior High. Of course, I am "old school" so we didn't have the computerized babies yet and had to use a 5 pound sack of flour. I was in 8th grade and taking Home Economics. For my "Flour Child" I decided to make a poly-filled head and body out of pantyhose. She had googly eyes and a pacifier glued in the place of her mouth. She wore a little pair of pajamas. I named her Shanaynay. She was special. In my History class, a girl named Jennifer wanted to hold Shanaynay. The teacher, Coach Baker, detested the entire project. He had already warned us not to let the babies disrupt class. I allowed Jennifer to hold the "baby" and she started talking to it and playing with it. So Coach Baker snatched it up and without saying a word dropped it out the window of our second story classroom. Poor baby Shanaynay busted. I don't think any amount of counseling could have healed the battered and broken child. It was a sad day. Especially since I would be getting a bad grade for having a busted flour sack. But, being the sneaky girl I was, I simply took her home and replaced it with a brand new sack of flour. he he he.

Christmas Eve

11 years ago, I had NO idea what was about to take place. The ring had been purchased, the parents had been asked, the proposal had been carefully thought out and planned. The secret had been beautifully kept...from me. Many of the people in my world knew all about what was going to take place on Christmas Eve 2001. I was just thinking about that night. It still makes me happy. This Christmas is a pretty close 2nd to that one. I have everything I could ever need or want. I have 4 beautiful healthy children and a husband who loves us. I have a personal relationship with and testimony of my Savior Jesus Christ. What more could a girl ask for? Merry Christmas.

Me and my shadow...who's afraid of his shadow.

So, a few weeks ago some friends were posting a video on facebook found on youtube. It was a prank on an elevator. An unsuspecting woman gets on the elevator and shortly after the elevator shakes and the lights shut off. While in the dark, the pranksters sneak a creepy little girl into the elevator from a hidden door. She looks like something from a horror movie. When the lights come back on the woman is terrified! You really should look it up if you haven't seen it. It's hilarious. HOWEVER, as Greg was watching it, Zane was peering over his shoulder. Zane has been beyond scared ever since. He wants to be in the same room as me (or an adult) at all times. He won't even go to the bathroom by himself. He will say, "Race me to the bathroom!...and STAY in there until I'm done!" We don't even have the heart to put him in his room for time out because he is genuinely frightened. He screams and you can just see the terror on his face. Bedtime is also a nightmare! He wants to sleep in our bed but he snores and literally moves ALL OVER THE PLACE. Every night it's a fight to get him to go to bed. Friday night (after the Connecticut Tragedy) I was assuring him that he was safe and that nothing was going to happen to him. But in the back of my mind I'm thinking, "How can I promise him that? I don't KNOW that nothing is going to happen to him. Someone COULD break in. And that someone COULD be flat out crazy and hurt or kill all of us." But I just continued to try and convince him that he would be alright. It makes me so sad to think that that's the kind of world my kids get to grow up in. A world where we literally DO live in fear. I just have to keep telling them (and myself) that there is plenty of good in the world still.